Top stories - page 94

Three years after the influential Jony Ive vacated the role of hardware design chief at Apple, it’s opening up again, according to a report.

Vice President of Industrial Design Evans Hankey, who stepped into the top job in 2019, plans to step down. And Cupertino hasn’t said yet who will take over when she goes.

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As winter shambles coldly toward much of the U.S. and the world, feast your eyes on a beautiful, custom-built backyard shed housing a hot Mac mini computer setup (in the photo above). It doesn’t even need heating because it’s in California. Jealous yet?

Today’s featured setup pairs a Mac mini with dual HP displays, a Logitech webcam designed for the Pro Display XDR and some slick audio gear we haven’t seen before.

In aimless new dramedy Raymond & Ray, Ethan Hawke and Ewen McGregor play half-brothers who must bury their father — and decades of trauma — over the course of a long, late-summer day.

Directed by Rodrigo García, and produced by Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity, Roma), the film is never believable for even a second. Inessential by design and pleasant enough, this one’s built to go in one ear/eye and out the other just as quickly.

From office work to home maintenance, personal obligations have a way of getting between you and a good reading session. Fortunately, advanced book-summary service Four Minute Books created a new approach to staying entertained and informed from anywhere, even with limited free time.

A lifetime subscription to Four Minute Books is on sale for $39.99 a fraction of its standard cost of $399.

Apple’s newest iPad features a redesigned chassis, a bigger 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display and faster internals. Thanks to these changes, the iPad 10 carries a significantly higher starting price tag of $449.

Meanwhile, Apple sells the M1 iPad Air, with more powerful internals, for $599. So, should you spring for the Air and pay that additional $150, or save your money and buy the new 10th-gen iPad?

There’s nothing like leather to add stylish protection to your iPhone. If you have a new iPhone 14, it’s a good idea to dress up that pricey device in a high-quality leather case that’ll protect the handset and look good doing it.

For whichever iPhone 14 model you have, you can find eight Mujjo leather and leather-wallet iPhone 14 cases in the Cult of Mac Store.

Apple Fitness+ will finally become available to iPhone users starting next week. The subscription service, which offers an array of recorded workouts for a wide range of health levels, previously focused on Apple Watch, showcasing users’ performance metrics in real time.

The expansion to iOS handsets is not the only move in the works to make Apple Fitness+ more mainstream. Music by Taylor Swift is also coming to Fitness+, with workouts focused on the artist’s new album, Midnight.

Keychron launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign Wednesday for its slim, highly customizable new K3 Pro mechanical keyboard. The company called it “the first-ever low profile mechanical keyboard to come with wireless connectivity and support QMK/VIA.”

And it’s “the first keyboard to ever be equipped with double-shot PBT low profile keycaps,” the company added.

The funding campaign has already eclipsed its initial campaign goal, so the product is likely to ship, just as the original K3 did.

If you’re on a quest to boost your efficiency during daily computer-related tasks, there’s a limited-time bundle to know about leading up to Apple Day, which comes on October 21.

During our Apple Day sale, we’re dropping prices on our favorite Apple refurbs. This includes a 2015 MacBook Pro for just $449.99. And it comes with lifetime access to Microsoft Office Home & Business 2021 for Mac.

If you want a tactical-looking Apple Watch band that doesn’t skimp on comfort, the Mifa Nylon Sports Leather Band is for you. In this week’s giveaway, you can win one — along with an Elkson Quattro Bumper Case that will protect your Apple Watch from whatever mayhem you might get into.

We teamed up with Mifa and Elkson to give four lucky entrants the chance to win one of these great Apple Watch accessory bundles worth $36.99.

If you want to transfer files between devices, an SD card can do the job in a pinch, but not all are created equal. They all vary in speed and capacity, so you have to do your homework and consider your use case before purchasing.

If you’re looking for an all-rounder offering excellent bang for your buck, consider the SanDisk Extreme Pro. For a limited time, this 128GB SanDisk SD card is on sale for $24.99 (regularly $31).

With Apple’s top-shelf AirPods Max over-ear active noise cancelling (ANC) wireless headphones due for a refresh, competitors keep coming with hot new products.

High-end audio maker KEF jumped into the market for the first time this week with its KEF Mu7 headphones, not long after venerable brand Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) rolled out its newest flagship, the PX8.

Once you shell out a couple thousand bucks or more for a marvelous Mac Studio desktop machine, how do you add an ultra-wide display without running up your already-tortured credit cards?

Today’s featured dual-monitor Mac Studio setup solved the problem by going back in time. Its owner added an ultra-wide display — and much of the other gear in the workstation — from a few years ago.

It looks like something big and bad is about to happen to London, and it may fall to a team of remedial MI5 back-benchers to step up and stop it.

That’s at least according to the season 2 trailer of the darkly comedic Apple TV+ espionage thriller Slow Horses, which dropped Wednesday. The series resumes December 2. Watch the trailer below.

Apple seems to be focusing more on sports and the outdoors these days, but you don’t necessarily need a new Apple Watch to stay active. For example, if you already own an iPhone, you can turn it into a golf coach with a Phigolf swing trainer, on sale now for $199.99 (regularly $279).

The Logitech MX Mechanical Mini is a keyboard optimized for Mac. It features low-profile mechanical switches and backlighting, and can be paired with up to three computers

I’ve been using the Bluetooth keyboard in my home office for weeks. Here’s why I’ve come to love it.

When a young American scientist goes missing on the Columbia-Venezuela border, all hell breaks loose. You can get a taste of the madness and mayhem, and the intense political overtones, in the Echo 3 trailer Apple TV+ released Tuesday.

The 10-episode action series, starring Luke Evans and Michiel Huisman, debuts November 23 on Apple TV+.

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New iPads are definitely on the horizon. However, if you have a tight budget, you can still add an iPad to your kit or upgrade from an older model thanks to our Apple Day celebration. You can get a refurbished iPad mini 4 for $225.99 through Apple Day (October 21).

Apple’s “Take Note” product blitz on Tuesday did not include any Mac news. Instead, iPad stole the spotlight: a new iPad Pro with M2, a new entry-level iPad that isn’t actually priced at the entry level, a new Magic Keyboard Folio and yet another lease on life for the original Apple Pencil (now with a dongle!). A surprise entry is a new Apple TV 4K at a lower price with a USB-C Siri Remote.

But according to Bloomberg, new Macs are “highly likely to launch before the calendar turns into 2023.” What can we expect soon — and what’s on the roadmap?

Apple seeded the iOS 16.1 release candidate the developers on Tuesday. This is generally the last stage before an operating system upgrade is introduced to the public.

The iPadOS 16.1 release candidate also went to devs at the same time. As did the macOS 13 Ventura RC, the watchOS 9.1 RC and the tvOS 16.1 RC.

iPhone case maker Totallee launched a set of minimalist cases when the iPhone 14 series launched in September. Now it adds a MagSafe choice to the line in solid black and frosted clear colors that will work on magnetic chargers.

Totallee is known for its minimalism. Its exceptionally thin and light cases feature zero branding, even. Not a logo to be seen. And this new case is no different.

Along with the redesigned 10th-gen iPad that Apple released Tuesday, the company rolled out the first Magic Keyboard Folio to go with the entry-level tablet. The new iPad accessory adds function keys — a first for Apple’s iPad keyboards.

While the iPad 10 costs much more than previous versions, starting at $449 instead of $329, if you want the detachable keyboard and stand Apple now makes for it, you have to add another $249.

That completes your basic iPad experience for a pretty penny. And the new Magic Keyboard Folio only comes in white, by the way.

Apple gave the 2022 version of the basic iPad a larger screen, USB-C, a faster processor and other enhancements. And the Home button is gone. But along with the new features comes a huge 36% price increase.

“With a large 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display, powerful A14 Bionic chip, a first-ever landscape front camera, fast wireless connectivity, USB-C, and support for incredible accessories like the new Magic Keyboard Folio, the new iPad delivers more value, more versatility — and is simply more fun,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, in a press release Tuesday.

Sure, the camera on your flashy new iPhone might produce amazing images, but unless you’re a professional photographer yourself, your marketing visuals might not turn out the way you hoped. That’s where stock image libraries come in. However, gone are the days when you had to rely pictures of cheesy scenarios. Scopio changes up your stock image resources by offering diverse imagery to uses on your ads and website, and lifetime subscriptions start at $19 (Reg. $834)

Searching for the perfect transparent iPhone 14 case to protect and show off your gorgeous new handset? Look no further. SwitchEasy has a brilliant contender. They call it “Crush.” The crystal-clear case uses an air barrier for optimal shock-proofing, in addition to other treatments to increase durability.

And you can get it right now at a great price in the Cult of Mac Store.