‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’ is drawing a big audience for this murderous classic from the Bard. Photo: Apple TV+
The Tragedy of Macbeth was the third most watched movie on all the streaming services in the United States during January. And it was only available for half the month.
The Apple TV+ version starring starring Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand is also getting rave reviews from critics.
This Apple Car concept is unrelated to the patent, but at least it shows a sunroof. Photo: Vanarama
The rumored Apple Car may not be on the verge of rolling off the assembly line, but someday a version of it may have sunroof glass that you can darken or lighten with the touch of a button or with a Siri command.
That’s according to a patent the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted Apple this week for a sunroof with variable-opacity glass. That means a driver could adjust its transparency.
That display is not wall mounted. And it's not levitating, either. It just looks like it is. Photo: jck1634@Reddit.com
Who doesn’t love good optical illusions? And they’re especially cool when they result from an unexpected action that works as well as the expected action. Today’s featured computer setup surprised us with a floating display.
Thing is, though, the screen is not mounted on the wall. And it’s not levitating, either.
In the first image released from season two, we see the characters Demerzel, Hari Seldon and the emperor together. Could it be a flashback? Photo: Apple TV+
Apple TV+ released a tantalizing first look in photographic form at the highly anticipated second season of Foundation. The epic series is based on Isaac Asimov’s award-winning stories. And the streaming service revealed 10 new cast members set to join Emmy Award nominees Jared Harris and Lee Pace in the new season.
The much-lauded and often-pirated adaptation chronicles the stories of four individuals transcending space and time. They overcome deadly crises, shifting loyalties and complicated relationships that will ultimately determine the fate of humanity.
It looks like users will have six emoji to choose from. Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
WhatsApp is readying message reactions on iOS and Android that will roll out in a future app update. Screenshots of the feature have appeared ahead of its release, showing the ability to react to messages with select emoji.
It’s much like the message reactions feature already available to iPhone users inside iMessage. WhatsApp seems to be following Apple’s lead by only making certain emoji available, rather than allowing all of them, like Instagram.
Carrot Weather can give you global view. You don't want to miss anything. Photo: CARROT Weather
The award-winning app Carrot Weather, known for a touch of the snark in its forecasts, rolled out a series of major updates in version 5.5 Wednesday. Set to launch at 7 a.m. PT, they include rebuilt weather maps and some firsts for a general-purpose weather app, creator Brian Mueller told Cult of Mac.
“The maps have been completely rebuilt from the ground up to make them more readable and faster to load,” he said. “I also added a ton of major new features, some of which have never appeared in a general-purpose weather app like Carrot before.”
It "just works," and it does so magnificently. Photo: Apple
Universal Control, which is finally in testing ahead of its public debut, lets you control a Mac and an iPad with the same keyboard and mouse, bringing the two computers closer together than ever before. It’s particularly handy if you rely on both macOS and iPadOS apps and find yourself regularly switching between them.
The feature looked pretty ambitious and exciting when Apple previewed it during its Worldwide Developers Conference keynote back in June. And now that it’s here (mostly) and we’ve had the chance to try it out, we firmly believe it is one of Cupertino’s most magical features to date.
Here’s why Universal Control will knock your socks off.
Get some bugs out of your Apple Watch with the watchOS 8.4.1 update. Photo: Cult of Mac/Brandon Phan /Pexels
Apple introduced watchOS 8.4.1 on Wednesday, and promised that it offer “bug fixes.” It didn’t reveal what these are, but Apple Watch users are hoping it takes care of a nasty problem with the Wallet app.
What a cute group. One of them is about to die. Photo: Apple TV+
The lineup of Apple TV+ shows coming in the near future now includes Now and Then, which just got a May debut date. The thriller series is about a group of college friends who reunite 20 years after one of their group was killed.
The show is set in Miami, and was shot in Spanish and English.
Joby's new Wave Pro microphone offers "broadcast-caliber audio." Photo: Joby
Known for its flexible tripods and mobile lighting, Joby is now covering the content creator market for audio recording like a blanket. It rolled out five new microphones in its Wavo lineup to take on rivals like Rode, Shure and Sennheiser at several different price points.
The new mics mean more options for vloggers and audio streamers of all stripes. Four of the mics are available now and one, the Wavo Pro DS, comes out in March.
Joby’s deeper embrace of the microphone market doesn’t come as a complete surprise. After all, its parent company, Vitic, recently bought two microphone brands — Rycote in 2018 and Audix in January.
The long, long wait for YouTube picture-in-picture support for iPhone could be near its end. Graphic: YouTube
YouTube might be about to follow through on its promise to allow all iPhone users to watch video from its application in a small window while another app is open. The feature is already available for YouTube Premium subscribers, but the testing period expires soon. That suggests picture-in-picture is about to become available for all iPhone users.
When it finally launches, PiP will make YouTube videos easier to enjoy because they’ll allow people to use their iPhone to multitask while also watching.
Get yours in one of four color options. Photo: SwitchEasy
SwitchEasy’s new MagSkin case protects your new iPhone 13 with silky smooth silicone to keep it in pristine condition while adding extra grip that’ll stop it from slipping out of your hands. It also plays nicely with all your MagSafe accessories.
Get yours in one of four color options from the Cult of Mac Store today.
If you're an audiophile, the Chord Mojo 2 may provide the boost you need for your wired headphones or speakers. Photo: Chord
Following up on its popular and pricey Mojo portable digital-to-analog (DAC) converter and headphone amp, Chord Electronics now claims a world-first “lossless DSP” (digital signal processor) with zero sound-quality degradation in its new Mojo 2.
If you really want your wired headphones or speakers to sound amazing when paired with a digital audio source like an iPhone or MacBook, you might even pay the new gadget’s hefty $725 price.
The movie is a super-hero satire about a guy who can levitate apples (the fruit). Photo: Apple-Man-Vasyl Moskalenko
Apple is no stranger to aggressive legal actions meant to protect the company’s image. In its latest move, the company filed a lawsuit against Ukrainian indie film director Vasyl Moskalenko, who wrote a comedy film titled Apple-Man.
And no, the film, currently in production, does not talk about the Cupertino tech giant or its products. It’s a superhero satire about a guy who can levitate apples. You see, in a bit of classic superhero movie plotting, his DNA got blended with DNA from the fruit.
You need to wait for Dropbox and OneDrive updates. Image: Microsoft
Think twice about rushing to install macOS 12.3 if you use Dropbox or Microsoft OneDrive for cloud storage. Both services use kernel extensions that Apple is deprecating in its next Monterey update.
Dropbox and Microsoft are working on updates that will eliminate this problem. However, those are also in beta and could come with issues of their own.
The Ophidia case brings “vintage and contemporary together through its archive-inspired design elements” — whatever that means. It’s also emblazoned with a pretentious quote (in Latin, of course) on the inside. Order yours now for $980.
A big improvement for mobile apps on the web. Photo: Apple
Apple’s first iOS 15.4 beta, rolled out to registered developers last week, lays the groundwork for web apps to deliver push notifications.
The feature, long available in Safari for macOS, always stood out as a notable omission on iPhone and iPad. Fortunately for those who use mobile web apps frequently, that looks set to change in the near future.
Pretzel and the Puppies scampers onto Apple TV+ on February 11 . Photo: Apple TV+/HarperCollins Productions
Beloved dachshund Pretzel from Pretzel and the Puppies is hopping from the classic book of the same name to an Apple TV+ series. He and his family are set for new adventures!
A trailer released Monday shows how much fun preschoolers will find in the series, which will debut soon on Apple’s streaming service.
A new 27-inch iMac Pro could look something like this. Concept: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
The new iMac Pro with a mini-LED display rumored to launch this-coming spring might not come along so soon. It now looks more likely to show up sometime during the summer, display analyst Ross Young said Monday.
What if the next Mac looked like the original Macintosh? Concept: Ian Zelbo
Suppose Apple made a Mac that harks back to its early days. A concept designer floated the idea of a computer with the latest tech, including an M2 processor, but in a casing that mimics the original Macintosh from 1984.
It’s certainly a fun idea, especially to those who remember those days. But the practicality is questionable.
The Apple Store in Canberra Centre was burglarized by some fairly incompetent thieves. Photo: Apple
A couple of scofflaws broke into an Australian Apple Store and made of with thousands of dollars in computers. But the hapless burglars — allegedly including a 16-year-old boy — were soon tracked down by police.
They got caught because they apparently made nearly every possible mistake.
Apple celebrates Heart Month across an array of products and services. Photo: Apple
In recognition of Heart Month, aka February, Apple is rolling out a series of new activity challenge and heart-health resources to support users’ efforts to stay healthy.
Also toward that end, the company hopes you’ll learn a thing or two from preliminary trends shown in the Apple Heart and Movement Study.