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Juice up two MacBook Pros with one USB-C charger [Deals]

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This sleek battery has enough juice to charge four devices at once, including two laptops via USB-C.
This sleek battery has enough juice to charge four devices at once, including two laptops via USB-C.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Power is everything, especially when it comes to portable technology. So as we leave outlets behind, it pays to have a battery that can make up the difference. Luckily, batteries have been evolving along with the rest of the tech we use.

macOS Mojave flaw puts your Keychain passwords at risk

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macOS Keychain
Apple still won't cough up a reward.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

A new flaw discovered in macOS Mojave puts your sensitive Keychain data at risk.

One security researcher has demonstrated an exploit that could allow anyone to access saved usernames and passwords without administrator access. He won’t share the details with Apple, however, because there is no reward on offer.

Bring wireless charging to your desk and dashboard [Deals]

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Bring the futuristic convenience of wireless charging to your car, home or office.
Bring the futuristic convenience of wireless charging to your car, home or office.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Wireless charging is the way of the future, but you can have it today. Below you’ll find a pair of wireless chargers from Cresuer: one for the desk, and one for the dashboard. They both offer an affordable way to add modern convenience to your life, so read on for more details:

What you need to know about Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s new head of retail

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Deirdre O’Brien, a 30-year Apple veteran, will lead Apple’s Retail and People teams.
30-year Apple veteran Deirdre O’Brien will handle the company's retail push.
Photo: Apple

Apple tapped Deirdre O’Brien to be its new retail boss today in light of the news that Angela Ahrendts plans to leave the company.

While O’Brien may not be a household name to most Apple fans, she’s been with the company for more than three decades. From the days of Steve Jobs saving Apple from bankruptcy to watching Tim Cook leading the company to a first-ever $1 trillion valuation, O’Brien has seen huge changes during her tenure with the iPhone-maker. Now she’s set to be one of the most powerful people in Silicon Valley.

Here are six things you didn’t know about the new Apple retail boss.

Apple names new retail boss as Angela Ahrendts exits company

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Angela Ahrendts.
Angela Ahrendts at the iPhone X keynote.
Photo: Apple

Longtime Apple retail boss Angela Ahrendts is leaving the company after reshaping Apple’s online and retail strategies over the last five year.

Apple revealed today that it has named Deirdre O’Brien as the new senior vice president of Retail + People. Ahrendts, who was once looked at as a possible successor to Apple CEO Tim Cook, is leaving the company for new personal professional pursuits.

Spoil your Valentine with Casetify’s sweet Apple Watch bands

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Whether you're crushing, dating, celebrating your partner, or just loving yourself, we've got gorgeous gifts for you and your valentine.
Whether you're crushing, dating, celebrating your partner, or just loving yourself, we've got gorgeous gifts for you and your valentine.
Photo: Casetify

Already splurged on the latest Apple Watch last Christmas? Valentine’s is the perfect opportunity to gift your special someone (or even yourself) a fresh new accessory without breaking the bank.

Cruise Casetify’s gorgeous designs and give big heart and love to anyone who’s lucky enough to unwrap these bands and wear them on their wrist. From stunning in stainless steel to sweet in Saffiano leather, pick the perfect present for you and your beau from the Cult of Mac Watch Store this Valentine’s Day.

Side Kick cable manager eliminates usual tangled mess

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Side Kick cable manager
If you miss the pop out tabs, Side Kick will bring order to your MacBook cord.
Photo: Fuse Reel

Logan Bailey will not rest until he has tamed every last tangled MacBook charging cord.

He made inroads in 2017 with the Side Winder, a reel that mounts the charging brick in the middle and pulls in both ends of the cord with a few twists.

Now, Bailey returns with the Side Kick, a square-shaped collapsible cable winder that sticks to the side of the charging brick. It comes to the rescue of new MacBook Pro users who are discovering Apple made changes to the charging cord.

These are some of the things which inspired the original iPhone

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2G iPhone on eBay
Apple clearly wanted to create something iconic.
Photo: jdinman1/eBay

Pop quiz: What do the original Mac, Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, supersonic airplane Concorde, the Sony Walkman, and the Braun ET66 calculator have in common?

Give up? The answer is that they’re all cited as inspirations for designing the original iPhone back in 2007. The full list was recently shared by Imran Chaudhri, one of the software designers who helped create Apple’s breakthrough smartphone.

AirPlay 2 support could make your Roku way better

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AirPlay 2
Streaming TV from your iPhone could soon be as easy as getting an inexpensive Roku box.
Photo: Apple

iPhone, iPad and Mac should soon easily stream video to Roku boxes if an unconfirmed report is correct. Roku is reportedly talking with Apple about adding AirPlay 2 to its products. 

Apple has recently been working to significantly broaden the availability of its proprietary video and audio protocol.

HoloLens creator leaves Apple AR headset team

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With HoloLens, Microsoft enters the age of holographic computing. Photo: Microsoft
There’s been a slight setback at Apple’s secret team creating augmented reality smartglasses, like the ones being demonstrated here.
Photo: Microsoft

One of the designers of Microsoft’s HoloLens augmented reality (AR) smartglasses has left Apple.

Although exactly what Avi Bar-Zeev was working on is a secret, it was almost certainly a project to develop Apple’s own AR glasses.

How to back up your iCloud Photo Library

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Back up your precious — and totally non-creepy — memories.
Back up your precious — and totally non-creepy — memories.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Wait, what? Why would you want to back up your iCloud Photo Library? Apple takes care of that, right? After all, the clue is in the name — the library is stored in iCloud.

Not so fast. That’s true, but what if something screws up at Apple’s end? What if you lose access to your iCloud account? What if, what if, what if? In most cases, you’ll be fine, but being a good computer nerd, you probably understand the value of redundant backups. So today we’ll see how to make sure all your images are safely stored. Just in case.

Juuk rolls out aluminum bands to fit Apple Watch Series 4

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juuk
The Vitero Ruby Grey aluminum band is now compatible with Series 4.
Photo: Juuk

If you’ve got a new Series 4 Apple Watch, but have been lamenting that the precision aluminum bands from Hong Kong-based Juuk don’t fit, fret no longer.

After painstaking detective work and many hours of redesign, the fruits of Juuk’s labors are starting to hit the market. Currently the Vitero Ruby Grey, Vitero Cosmic Grey and Ligero Obsidian are available for the Series 4 Apple Watch, with more to follow.

Yet another big bank says Apple should buy Netflix

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Netflix would be a huge boon to the Apple TV streaming service, says an analyst.
Netflix would be a huge boon to the Apple TV streaming service, says an analyst.
Photo: Global X/Flickr CC

There’s an easy way for Apple to make its rumored streaming video service a hit: buy Netflix. That’s the suggestion of an analyst from J.P. Morgan, who admits it would be very expensive.

And the analyst has recommendations for two other big Apple acquisitions.

Apple will reward teen who discovered FaceTime bug

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CNBC 1
Apple's FaceTime bug allowed people to eavesdrop on others.
Screenshot: CNBC

The 14-year-old kid who accidentally discovered the recent FaceTime eavesdropping bug has been told by Apple that he will be eligible for the company’s bug bounty program.

Apple set up its bug bounty program in 2016, offering rewards of up to $200,000 for security researchers who find vulnerabilities on the company’s software platforms. It’s not clear how much Grant Thompson can expect to claim from Apple — although it will reportedly go toward his college tuition savings.

Spend just minutes a day to finally learn a foreign language [Deals]

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Backed by speech recognition, this app will help you reach intermediate Spanish in just 20 minutes a day.
Backed by speech recognition, this app will help you reach intermediate Spanish in just 20 minutes a day.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Making the resolution to learn a new language is easy. Like any commitment, seeing it through is harder. So unless you’re surrounded by native speakers, you’ll need to find another way to carve out time each day and get feedback on your progress.

Microsoft is bringing Xbox Live to Android and iOS

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Xbox One controller Apple EarPods
Controller support is better than ever.
Photo: Evan Killham/Cult of Mac

Microsoft is gearing up to release a software development kit that will allow Android and iOS developers to integrate Xbox Live features into their games.

The SDK, which will be officially confirmed by Microsoft next month, will also be available to Nintendo Switch developers. It will make Microsoft the first console-maker to open up its platform to third-party systems.

Learn to retain and read more with this speed-reading software [Deals]

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These tools and techniques are designed to help you boost your reading speed and vocabulary.
These tools and techniques are designed to help you boost your reading speed and vocabulary.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Reading is a skill, and to get the most out of what you read takes practice. But there’s no gym for the eyeballs and brain, so besides reading more, where do you go?

You can’t do much better than this massively discounted bundle of speed-reading software and exercise tools. Altogether it would normally cost almost $700, but right now you can get the 2019 Award-Winning Speed Reading Bundle for just $19.99.

What Apple’s past says about its future [Cult of Mac Magazine No. 282]

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Hey, that's no crystal ball ... Apple earnings offer a peek at Apple's future.
Hey, that's no crystal ball ...
Cover: Marty Cortinas/Cult of Mac

After enduring a rough quarter, Apple tells the world what went wrong. But even more interesting is what went right — and what that means for Apple’s future.

Get our take on what you really need to know from Apple’s latest earnings call, plus the rest of the week’s best Apple news, reviews and how-tos. You’ll find it all in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine.

Forget about passcodes with this Wi-Fi-enabled smart safe [Deals]

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With Wi-Fi connectivity, smartphone access and other cool features, the iKeyp smart safe is ideal for storing often-used valuables like meds, passports, and more.
With Wi-Fi connectivity, smartphone access and other cool features, this smart safe is ideal for storing often-used valuables like meds.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Everyone owns valuables they want to keep safe, from jewelry to passports to medication. But keeping the stuff we need on a daily basis in a traditional metal safe just isn’t practical. Ever tried to enter a passcode on a safe’s clunky dial in a rush? It’s hard, by design.

How to search Google like a boss

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Google search operators
Search like a pro with Google search operators.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

For many folks, Google is the front page of the internet. You don’t type Facebook.com into your browser. You just type “Facebook,” and then click the first Google result. Or you do a basic search by tapping in what you’re looking for.

But Google is way more powerful than that. You just have to learn a few of its secret code words, and then you can slice and dice your searches like a pro. No more wading through pages of results to find what you want. Use these tricks, and you’ll almost always get what you want on the first page. You can even ask Google to show you the weather.

This iPad Pro case is rugged without excess bulk [Review]

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The Urban Armor Gear Metropolis is both a protective case and an iPad Pro stand.
The Urban Armor Gear Metropolis is both a protective case and an iPad Pro stand.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

The latest rugged folio case from Urban Armor Gear protects the 2018 iPad Pro models without adding too much bulk. The Metropolis also adds some industrial style, and it includes an Apple Pencil holder.

Don’t miss our review of this rugged folio that starts at $59.95.