Top stories - page 293

The window to buy into AppleCare+ breakage insurance is reportedly expanding enormously. Purchasing this service adds accidental damage coverage to an iPhone, Mac or other Apple product. The deadline after buying a new device is currently 60 days, but that’s apparently lengthening to up to a year.

Wondering where you should store all your spare Apple Watch bands? You definitely don’t want to lose them, so instead, keep them safe and secure in the brilliant new Monochest case from Monowear.

The Monochest not only holds three spare bands, but it also has space for your Apple Watch and its charger. Everything stays tidy, and it’s ready to go whenever you travel.

Apple TV+ ordered its first competition series. My Kind of Country will feature “unconventional and extraordinary country music talent.”

The show hopes to revolutionize the music competition genre.

Apple TV+ subscribers in the US can now also add a bundle of CBS All Access and Showtime for only $9.99 per month more. That’s less than half the usual price for these two streaming services.

Subscribers can watch content from all three services online and offline, ad-free and on demand, only on the Apple TV app.

Apple opened the Independent Repair Provider Program to Mac. Starting Monday, Apple will provide parts and training to third-party businesses so they can fix macOS computers.

Previously, the program only made it easier for independent repair shops to service out-of-warranty iPhones.

Even before the pandemic, video had become one of the primary ways we communicate with one another. Plenty of people share their thoughts and talents through the camera. But even if you’re just taking conference calls all day, a little bit of production value goes a long way toward making your videos look professional.

When Apple Watch Series 6 arrives — early next month, if history and this week’s leak are any indication — what new features will it bring?

As usual, Cupertino’s pretty locked down. But we hope we’ll get some or all of the bells and whistles in this week’s cover story: What do you add to the smartwatch that has everything? It’s our wish list for Apple Watch Series 6.

Read it in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine or get the links below. (There’s plenty of other Apple news, reviews and how-tos in it as well.).

For iOS users, managing the contents of our phones and tablets means using iTunes. Or so we think. iTunes is often tricky, with syncing features that sometimes lead to our content and data misplaced or missing. With this wireless iOS manager, the process is a lot more intuitive.

This week on The CultCast: New Apple hardware is incoming, and thanks to a reliable leaker, we might know the release dates for iPhone 12, Apple Watch Series 6 and more. We’ll tell you what to expect. Plus, it’s Apple stock adventure, part 2! I talk about my massive Apple stock purchase, including how much I spent, why I’m buying in now, and how much my investment is now worth. We talk real numbers!

And if you’ve been thinking about getting a new Mac with the butterfly keyboard, don’t do it until you hear this episode, cause with COVID-19 shutdowns, keyboard repairs are now a total nightmare.

Our thanks to Netgear for supporting this episode. The Netgear Orbi WiFi 6 router gives you ultra-fast speeds and wider coverage throughout your home. Learn why Orbi are so insanely powerful at Netgear.com/bestwifi6.

Monowear’s newest Apple Watch band makes elegant leather affordable for everyone. The Cocktail strap is beautifully designed with a simple aesthetic, and it’s available in three gorgeous color options.

Orders yours today from the Cult of Mac Store.

Apple launched a redesigned 13-inch MacBook Pro in May, and refurb models are already available. Buying one of these refurbished Mac units from Apple.com saves up to $230.

Qi wireless charging makes topping off an iPhone as easy as setting it down on the table. It’s quick and simple, but there are ways to get better use out of your phone while it charges. With this combination case and stand, you can declutter your desk at the same time.

Apple Watch is almost due for its annual hardware update, which comes like clockwork every September. First came the addition of GPS, then cellular, a thinner case with a bigger screen, a compass, and even an ECG heart monitor.

With each new model, Cupertino’s wearable creeps closer to perfection, which presents a bit of a problem. What do you add to the smartwatch that has everything?

Here’s my top 10 wish list of features I’m hoping Apple has up its sleeve.

Best Buy is today offering some of the biggest discounts we’ve seen on Apple’s newest MacBook Pro models as part of its three-day Anniversary Sale. You can enjoy savings of up to $300.

Prices start at just $1,599.99 (down from $1,799.99) for the newest 13-inch MacBook Pro, while 16-inch models are down to as little as $2,099.99 (from $2,399.99). Get yours before the sale ends!

Shortly after Fortnite was unceremoniously ejected from the App Store Thursday, Epic Games dropped a — no pun intended — epic parody video depicting Apple as the same dystopian Big Brother it had railed against in its famous Nineteen Eighty-Four commercial for the original Macintosh.

But this is far from the first time Apple’s sledgehammer-tossing, Ridley Scott-directed Mac ad has been spoofed. Here are five more times that shows or companies satirized the imagery of what might be Apple’s best-known advert.

The hugely popular game Fortnite was removed from the iPhone App Store on Thursday. This move came in response to Epic Games instituting a direct payments system for in-app purchases in violation of App Store guidelines.

And Epic Games responded with a civil lawsuit that accuses the App Store of being a monopoly. And a video that harks back to the famous “1984” ad.

Sick of spotty Wi-Fi connectivity around your home? Fix it with the excellent Google Nest Wi-Fi router. It blankets your home with mesh Wi-Fi coverage, ensuring you get the best connection everywhere.

Order a Nest Wi-Fi two-pack on Amazon today and save $60.

Looking for work is a drag no matter how you slice it. Maybe one of the least-fun parts is putting together a resume that gets attention and hits the right marks.

This tool takes the guesswork out of the process, making it easy to build attractive resumés tuned specifically to the search algorithms used by many hiring firms.

Standing up to Steve Jobs wasn’t easy. Alternately a charmer and a tyrant, he was accustomed to winning arguments on just about everything.

But when photographer Doug Menuez found himself on the receiving end of a Jobs tirade, he stood his ground. And the result was not only the best-selling cover of Fortune magazine that year, but a newfound level of respect from Apple’s famous co-founder.

Push a button in Safari and you’re in Private Browsing Mode. Suddenly, you’re completely safe from all tracking, and no one can tell what you did online, right? Wrong.

This mode really can help protect your privacy when you’re surfing the web, but you need to know its limitations.

The deal to bring legendary director Martin Scorsese’s future films to Apple TV+ sounds like a gift for movie fans who subscribe to the streaming service.

But signing Scorsese and other top filmmakers could turn out to be a shrewd and self-serving move that benefits Apple, too. Focusing on films crafted by the world’s top directors could differentiate the fledgling Apple TV+ from dominant rivals like Netflix. And it looks like Apple might be timing the market perfectly.

Dropbox today rolled out a number of helpful new features for paying subscribers, including a password manager, a secure vault for sensitive files, and new computer backup tools. You can start using them now.

Need an iPhone that will run iOS 14 this fall? You don’t need to splash your cash on the newest models. Pick up a refurbished iPhone 8 on Amazon right now and pay just $265!

Claim yours before they’re all gone.

For many English speakers, learning Spanish is a must. But it’s also a goal that plenty of us somehow fall short of. We take classes in high school, maybe play around on apps, only to stop practicing so we forget what we’ve learned. But remembering songs and lyrics is way easier, so that’s how this app teaches language.

Best Buy is offering certified refurbished AirPods Pro units for just $194.99 today only. That’s $55 off the regular selling price, with free shipping and a 90-day Best Buy warranty.

Get yours before they’re all gone!