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Apple TV+ thriller The Mosquito Coast picks up its cliffhanger and heads into ever darker territory this week. Allie is caught between a rock and a harder place than usual. Dina takes her anger out on Margot, but Charlie would rather take it out on Richard.

Margot’s stuck between trying to win back her family’s approval and not caring enough to get it back. The Foxes may still be in hot water with the U.S. government after all, which means there’s a clock ticking faster than they imagined.

It all adds up to a white-knuckle episode of the drama about a family of terrorists on the lam in Central America.

Apple TV+ comedy Mythic Quest rings in the holiday season with a very special Christmas episode this week. The Mythic Quest offices are full of misery as David makes everyone stay and work through Christmas Eve. His attempts to cheer them up come to naught. And when Poppy and Ian try to salvage things at their old company, they go too far.

Meanwhile, Poppy and Rachel must learn what Jo’s definition of friendship is, and Rachel has her first brush with success. All in all, “The 12 Hours of Christmas” stands tall as a stellar episode of Apple TV+’s funniest show.

Just in time for the holidays, DJI released a tiny, more affordable version of its DJI Mini 3 Pro drone. Just subtract the world “Pro” from the name.

The new DJI Mini 3 weighs in at a svelte 249 grams (8.78 ounces) or less and shoots detail-rich, 4K HDR video, the company said.

Little America, the easygoing Apple TV+ series about the immigrant experience in America, returns this week for a second season of predictably uplifting storytelling.

This parade of hard-luck stories features happy endings that range from gentle to ecstatic. Just like last season, the show is largely successful — if frequently too well-behaved for its own good.

Some setups are no-nonsense, just the facts, ma’am — strictly utilitarian. Others are fanciful and full of toys. Today’s featured setup leans toward the latter, with its burgeoning population of Transformer figures crowding the shelf above the display and even related wall art.

And there’s plenty of gaming going on there, too, via a custom gaming PC and Nintendo Switch OLED in addition to an M1 MacBook Air and 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

Oh, and it has one of the coolest speaker systems ever made, too.

“Get your bling on with the Casetify Glitter Apple Watch Band!” says Casetify in its listing for the distinctive band. And at this time of year, the festive bands — available in four fun colors — seem especially merry.

But you can rock the sparkling band any time of year for whatever festivities you’re into. Just head to the Cult of Mac Store.

Puppy Place returns to Apple TV+ this week with a second batch of adorable, low-stress hijinks centered on a family that fosters cute pooches.

The Petersons and their four-legged charges once again set out to teach us to love dogs — and ourselves in the process. The puppies are cute and plentiful, the lessons come hard and fast, and no problem is so difficult that it might stress out a child.

The show remains a pretty good afternoon time-waster for kids under 10.

Is there a better gift you can give this holiday season than a career level-up? An app for constructing the perfect  résumé is a great gift idea for doing that. And you can also get lifetime access to Resoume, an AI-based résumé writing assistant, for just $39.99 (regularly $600). ´

Based on a true story about a slave’s quest for freedom during the Civil War, Apple TV+’s oddly positioned Oscar contender Emancipation pairs action with an unflinching look at slavery’s brutality.

It stars Will Smith, whose bizarre post-Slap apology tour makes for strange bedfellows with Emancipation’s stark subject matter and the film’s action-oriented director, Antoine Fuqua. But this cautiously made movie is probably the best possible film this team could have produced. And indeed, it’s quite a bit better than an Oscar-ready slavery drama made in today’s Hollywood has any right to be.

New episodes of Carpool Karaoke: The Series just popped up on Apple TV+, with zero fanfare or build-up or warning, because, well, who’s going to stop them? You? I didn’t think so.

Still, the showrunners did the one thing possible to entice me to review this new batch: They snagged some interesting guest stars. And you know what? A few actually charming moments emerge, despite the cringe-inducing artifice and sheer laziness of Carpool Karaoke’s premise and production.

Not sure what to get the person who has everything this Christmas? Forget useless gifts they’ll never unbox and give them something they’ll appreciate. This mega-bundle of piano and guitar lessons from top instructors has earned rave user reviews and doesn’t require any shipping time, making it a fantastic last-minute gift.

During our Last Chance Sale, you can purchase the collection for just $29.99 (regularly $1,600).

Are your Apple accessories and cables becoming a messy hassle, especially when you travel? Mujjo, known for its vegan leather products, unveiled a new collection of eco-friendly nylon tech organizers Thursday.

The Mujjo Tech Kit and Tech Case help keep your growing gaggle of tech accessories tidy and untangled, the company said.

Apple TV+ offered a first look at season 3 of its award-winning drama Truth Be Told Thursday, introducing a new cast member in the process.

Actress Gabrielle Union joins Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer on the NAACP Image Award-winning show. Season 3 kicks off on January 20.

Apple and its employees have raised more than $880 million in charitable giving for nearly 44,000 groups all over the world since the Employee Giving program started 11 years ago, the company said Thursday.

As part of that, more than 76,000 Apple workers have put in over 2.1 million volunteer hours. Apple matches employee giving and volunteer hours with donations, too, in addition to its corporate grants to organizations.

Whether you’re traveling for business or pleasure, being able to understand the local language can make your trips more enjoyable. And you don’t necessarily have to learn it, either.

You can carry a bit of fluency in your pocket with an award-winning pair of Mymanu Clik S smart translation earbuds. They can help you communicate in up to 37 languages. Order for $99 (regularly $220) by December 8 to ensure your earbuds arrive in time for the holidays.

Apple seeded the iOS 16.2 release candidate to developers Wednesday, taking a huge step toward giving iPhone users access to the Freeform collaboration app, the recently announced Apple Music Sing and other exciting new features.

The iPadOS 16.2 release candidate also went out with nearly the same feature set. Plus, Apple seeded the macOS Ventura 13.1 RC, watchOS 9.2 RC and tvOS 16.2 RC to devs, too.

Apple said Wednesday users are gaining three new security features to protect their data in the cloud, with some available now and some to come. The overall program is called Advanced Data Protection.

The three new functions to help keep data and communications safe are iMessage Contact Key Verification, Security Keys for Apple ID and Advanced Data Protection for iCloud, the company said.

Independent developers working to get Linux running on Apple silicon have made a significant breakthrough — the release of the first graphics driver. This is an important step toward running operating systems other than macOS on Apple’s powerful new computers.

“We’ve been working hard over the past two years to bring this new driver to everyone, and we’re really proud to finally be here,” wrote developers Alyssa Rosenzweig and Asahi Lina in a Wednesday blog post announcing the GPU driver release. “This is still an alpha driver, but it’s already good enough to run a smooth desktop experience and some games.”

The Critics Choice Association showered Apple TV+ Tuesday with 10 nominations for the upcoming 28th Annual Critics Choice Awards. They include Best Drama Series nods for workplace psycho-drama Severance and dark comedy-drama Bad Sisters, plus Best Foreign Language Series noms for Pachinko and Tehran.

Nominations honored six series in total. The other two nominations covered acting in prison suspense thriller Black Bird and family drama The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey. See more specifics below.

In today’s featured computer setup, owned by a web developer, a 2012 Mac mini shares the spotlight with a new 16-inch M1 MacBook Pro.

Before you think, “Wow, the Mac mini must be amazing, competing with that sleek new laptop,” nah, this is more like take-your-great-grandfather-to-work day for the elderly little desktop machine.

It’s around because it still works for light lifting. And it does indeed show impressive longevity.

Apple’s iPad Pro has been a game-changer since it arrived on the scene in 2015. Powerful and portable, these devices make a great personal upgrade or gift, and you can purchase one at a surprisingly low price. During a 48-hour window in our December Deal of the Day series, you can get a refurbished iPad Pro from 2017 for just $189.99.

No coupon is necessary, but you only have until December 8 to claim this deal.

Who doesn’t want to make their life easier this month? After all the holiday shopping, we could all use a virtual butler to turn on the lights and play music on command. If that sounds like Alexa — many techies’ favorite voice assistant — you’re right. And you’re right on time.

Thanks to our December Deal of the Day, you can get a refurbished Amazon Echo Dot for just $18.99. Act fast, though. When we say Deal of the Day, we mean today only — the discount ends after 24 hours.

Apple said Tuesday the App Store is undergoing “the most comprehensive upgrade to pricing capabilities” since its launch, allowing prices to be set as low as 29 cents and as high as $10,000.

It will start offering developers 700 new price points to apply to the apps they sell, plus new tools to make international selling easier to manage.

Just ahead the holidays, Sabrent offered a new set of solid state drives (SSD) that could be a perfect little gift for any techie on your list — the updated Sabrent Rocket Nano V2.

The redesigned version, no larger than a “fun-sized” candy bar, supports fast data transfer speeds and can store up to 4TB. And they can fit in someone’s pocket.

Apple Music Sing gives you the real-time lyrics you need to sing along to your favorite tracks. The upcoming feature will show the words to songs so you can easily join in. It will even adjust the volume of the original singer so you take the lead.

It’s coming in December to Apple Music subscribers worldwide. The feature will work with millions of songs in the streaming service’s catalog, Apple said Tuesday.