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Take your fitness and training to the next level with ActionSleeve

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There are so many different sports and workouts, and some just aren’t ‘wrist-watch friendly’.
There are so many different sports and workouts, and many just aren’t ‘wrist-watch friendly’.
Photo: Twelve South

Apple Watch is the new paradigm of health and fitness in tech. It’s a powerful workout companion and has revolutionized the way we calculate fitness goals and monitor health stats.

For those of us who want to take workout regiments to the next level, ActionSleeve may just be the answer. It moves Apple Watch from wrist to bicep, optimizing 100 percent wrist mobility for the most intense workouts.

Not to mention it’s 10 percent off for a limited time on the Cult of Mac Watch Store.

Kickboxers, weight-lifters, cross-fitters, or any other gym head can fulfill their most intense workout with safety and efficiency. Don’t believe us? Watch the video for yourself:

Apple massively expands its global recycling programs

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Apple iPhone recycling
Apple has already recycled nearly 1 million devices.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s efforts to be the greenest company in tech continue with a major expansion to its global recycling programs.

It will be easier than ever for customers to send old iPhone units off for recycling. Apple is also opening a new Material Recovery Lab in Austin, Texas. The lab will use robots and machine learning to improve the company’s recycling processes.

2019 iPhone could bring hidden 12MP selfie cameras

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Apple Watch
You’ll want this year’s iPhone for its cameras.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s next-generation iPhone lineup could feature 12-megapixel front-facing cameras for even sharper selfies, according to one reliable analyst.

Apple is also expected to use a new coating that will hide the iPhone’s lenses behind its screen.

Save 97% on a lifetime of powerful VPN protection [Deals]

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Score a lifetime of VPN protection that's full of protective features, and available for just 20 bucks.
Score a lifetime of VPN protection that's full of protective features, and available for just 20 bucks.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

At this point, if you’re not going online through a VPN, you’re doing it wrong. The threats to security and privacy are growing, so the time is now to protect your digital life. And this deal offers the ideal opportunity to start.

These bone-conduction smart glasses make headphones unnecessary [Review]

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Lucyd Loud review
For some people, Lucyd Loud smart glasses are a better option than AirPods.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Headphones are so ubiquitous we often don’t think about their disadvantages. Lucyd created a pair of smart glasses that let you listen to music or podcasts while still allowing you to hear what’s going on around you. This Bluetooth accessory also lets you access Siri from your iPhone, as well as make and receive calls.

Don’t miss our hands-on review of the Lucyd Loud tech frames.

How to find that great song you heard on TV last night

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Somebody’s been doing some really hard listening here.
Somebody’s been doing some really hard listening here.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

If I’m watching a TV show and a great song comes on, I usually try to find my iPhone in time to shazam it. I almost always fail, as 1) TV shows don’t tend to play entire songs without people talking over them and 2) I can never find my phone in time. Or rather I’m too lazy to look for it.

A similar thing happens for movies, only I promise myself that I’ll check the credits at the end, and I seldom do.

My dad, old-school guy that he is, likes to call up the TV company and ask them. Maybe I’ll do that when I’m retired, if there are still TV companies with phone numbers.

But did you know that there’s an almost 100% foolproof way to find that awesome track that played in that TV show you saw last night? It’s called Tunefind, and it’s great.

Revamped Find My iPhone app may get Tile-like item tracker

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Tile will speak out against Apple in Congress antitrust hearing
A Tile tracking tag can be used find lost items. Apple is reportedly designing a rival.
Photo: Tile

Find My iPhone and Find My Friends are currently separate applications, but Apple is reportedly going to merge them in future versions of iOS and mac OS, and add useful features.

In addition, the company is supposedly developing its own tracker tag that will apparently compete with Tile.

You’ll still have to wait until 2020 for an iPhone with 5G

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iPhone XS crazy performance means speed at your fingertips.
Apple can
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple has settled it’s long-running legal dispute with Qualcomm. It almost certainly means that Qualcomm will again supply modem chips for the iPhone. But we won’t see a 5G iPhone any sooner.

A new report warns that Apple will still struggle to catch up with rivals like Samsung, which have already launched 5G handsets, and that the first iPhone with 5G still won’t arrive before 2020.

Grab this stylish, Qi-compatible leather AirPods case for a steal

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Not only do they perfectly fit into AirSnap, but even in-case the charging status light is still visible.
AirPods fit perfectly into the AirSnap case, and the charging light remains visible.
Photo: Twelve South

AirSnap is back on our radar with a new 10% discount. As part of our Watch Store’s limited-time deals and discounts, over the next few days we’ll be offering price slashes on some of your favorite products and tech accessories.

A clear customer favorite, AirSnap is a super-tough, ultra-stylish leather case for AirPods. Compatible with Qi charging pads and your new wireless charging AirPods case (pictured above), this compact, portable case became a megahit in the Cult of Mac Watch Store.

Snap these up fast for a real deal before they sell out.

Skip the long reads with hundreds of book summaries [Deals]

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This service offers comprehensive summaries of the important books you don't have time to get to.
This service offers comprehensive summaries of the important books you don't have time to get to.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Reading is one of the best things we can do to stay informed and keep our minds sharp. But it’s also one thing for which there’s never enough time. Instead of stressing over the books you can’t get to, this service gives the gist so you’re not in the dark.

5G iPhone now virtually certain in 2020 [Opinion]

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2020 could be Apple's greatest year so far
While a 5G iPhone won’t come as soon as we might hope, the wait won‘t be as long as we might fear.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Most people probably shrugged their shoulders at the news Apple and Qualcomm ended their long, bitter legal war. But this is actually going to benefit every iPhone user.

It means that Apple is almost guaranteed to introduce a handset with super-fast 5G next year. Before now, there was some question about whether that was possible.

Unlock all your PDFs with one powerful app [Deals]

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This app makes PDFs as easy to edit as any Word document.
This app makes PDFs as easy to edit as any Word document.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

If you work on a computer, you deal with PDFs. The universal document format is great for sending and consuming written and visual content of all kinds, from simple reports or tax files to entire books. But try to edit one, and you’ll likely hit a wall.

MacBook Air display mysteriously brightens after macOS update

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MacBook Air 2018
If your MacBook Air seems a little brighter recently, you’re not imagining it.
Photo: Apple

Installing the latest macOS version on a 2018 MacBook Air increases the maximum screen brightness.

Apple’s own description of this notebook indicates that the highest potential brightness level is now 400 nits. That’s much higher than with this laptop launched.

How to make music with an iPad and a ‘classic’ Swedish synth

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These two will make beautiful music together.
A perfect music-making combo.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

At first glance, the decade-old OP-1 synthesizer from Swedish musical instrument makers Teenage Engineering looks about as standalone as it gets.

The tiny device couples a short, piano-style keyboard with a screen. And it contains a drum machine, several synthesizers, a sampler, a handful of sequencers, a virtual four-track tape recorder and even an FM radio. You can create entire tracks on it with no other gear, or you can hook it up to electric guitars and microphones and bring the outside world in.

But it also pairs surprisingly well with an iPad. You can record audio back and forth, but things go much deeper than that. You also can use the OP-1’s hardware keyboard to play instruments on the iPad, and use iPad MIDI apps to control the synthesizers on the OP-1.

Making music with an iPad and a synth

If you own both pieces of gear already, hopefully this how-to will give you some new ideas about making music with an iPad. But if you only own an iPad, this in-depth article will provide tips for using your tablet with other music gear.

And if you know nothing about the OP-1, or about Teenage Engineering’s work in general, you’ll learn why the company is kind of the Apple of the synth world. Teenage Engineering is known for its incredible interface design — and for having a quirky personality similar to 1984-era Apple, when the brand-new Mac was making waves.

Sell your old iPad and bag a bargain upgrade today

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The new camera dumps all over the one in the first-gen iPad Pro.
It’s a great time to upgrade your iPad.
Photo: Andrea Nepori

Amazon and Best Buy are now offering some of the biggest discounts we’ve seen on Apple’s latest iPad Pro lineup. And you can make yours even more affordable by selling your old model when you upgrade.

Cult of Mac offers real cash for your old Apple devices, and we typically pay more than anyone else. What’s more, it’s incredibly quick and simple, and we will even buy back battered tech in need of repair.

10 hidden Activity app features that will take your fitness to the next level

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Discover the secrets of the Apple Activity app.
Discover the secrets of the Activity app.
Photo illustration: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

At first glance, the iPhone Activity app seems pretty simple. It’s basically just a calendar to keep track of your daily Activity Rings. But if you know where to look, you’ll find a surprising number of pro features buried beneath that slick, simple interface.

So check out our top 10 iPhone Activity app tips and discover some indispensable stats that will help take your fitness to the next level.

Huawei confirms it has had no contact with Apple over 5G chips

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The iPhone XS Max screen delivers more of that OLED awesomeness.
iPhone 11 will do little to reverse falling shipments.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Huawei says it has had no contact with Apple regarding the supply of 5G chips for a future iPhone lineup.

The Chinese smartphone-maker has previously stated it would be willing to work with its rival on a 5G iPhone. However, Apple has not been in touch — despite its struggle to obtain chips elsewhere.

How I wrote a shortcut to calculate the length of playlists

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Shortcut sign.
Shortcut sign.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

This weekend I made a shortcut that takes a list of songs, adds up the total duration, and shows it in a notification.

The first part was easy. The Shortcuts app has a great action that can tell you anything about an iTunes Media file (or any other media file), including its duration. I whipped up a shortcut to cycle through a list of music tracks, adding up the durations along the way. It took five minutes, tops.

Then things started to go wrong. The shortcut returned the total duration in seconds. I don’t know about you, but for me, a number like 4,166.867 isn’t that useful. I prefer something like 01:09:26, or 1 hour 9 minutes and 36 seconds. The problem was, I couldn’t get from one to the other.

Founder of Apple’s most famous supplier is stepping down

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Terry Gou
Foxconn founder Terry Gou (right) says he's making the U.S. a bigger focus in 2020.
Photo: Voice of America/Wikimedia Commons

The founder of Foxconn, whose biggest customer, Apple, helped it rise to be the world’s top contract electronics manufacturer, says he plans to step aside to allow a younger executive to take over.

CEO Terry Gou did not give a timeline when he confirmed to a Reuters reporter his plans to resign from the Taiwan-based company he started with a loan from his mom around the same time Steve Jobs launched Apple.

Get some tax relief with 10% off select products [Watch Store]

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The Strapa Crocodilus leather Apple Watch band gives you that alligator look.
Taxes got you down? Time to save some quick cash on Apple accessories.
Photo: Strapa

Today is the dreaded deadline for filing U.S. income tax returns, and we know how much of a drag that is. So the Cult of Mac Watch Store is bringing you some tax relief with discounts on select watch bands, chargers, stands and cases.

We’ve rounded up offerings from these great companies: Ottm, Strapa, Twelve South and Wiplabs. Save 10% on these products at the Cult of Mac Watch Store this week!

iOS 13 details leak in juicy new report

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Logitech Slim Folio Pro review
Apple's market share climbed 4% last quarter.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

iOS 13 will bring big improvements and a whole bunch of new features to iPhone and iPad users this fall.

Many of the changes have been spilled in a new report that cites people familiar with the update. You can look forward to a real dark mode, better multitasking, a font manager, and more.

Apple vs. Qualcomm court case could be worth up to $30 billion

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Qualcomm patents
This could be the most expensive case of its kind.
Photo: Qualcomm

Apple’s battle with Qualcomm is a meeting of two tech titans — and the monetary amounts involved reflect that.

According to a new report from the Financial Times, the amount of money at sake dwarfs any previous IP or antitrust case. Apple and four companies in its supply chain are seeking $30 billion in damages from Qualcomm. Since Qualcomm generated “just” $5.7 billion in 2016, the fallout could be absolutely enormous.

A13 chips for 2019 iPhone move toward mass-production

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Right to Repair
Apple's first 5nm chips are expected to ship in iPhone and iPad this year.
Photo: iFixit

Apple chip-maker TSMC is almost ready to start mass-producing next-generation A13 chips for this year’s new iPhone lineup.

The A13 will employ an “enhanced version” of TSMC’s N7+ fabrication process, according to a new report. It is likely to be Apple’s last 7-nanometer chip following the launch of TSMC’s new 5nm foundry at the Southern Taiwan Science Park.

Apple could invest $500 million in Apple Arcade

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Apple Arcade is something of a loot box for Apple.
Apple Arcade is something of an expensive loot box for Apple.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s upcoming game service could be getting some major seed money. A new report indicates the iPhone maker might be spending over $500 million to build its stable of games.

And analysts from HSBC predict Apple Arcade will bring in more revenue than Apple TV+, this company’s streaming video service.