iPhone Studio will make you 🤤

May 07, 2022

Around the Cult of Mac office, we just love ogling wild Apple concept art. Whether it's goofy/nostalgic Apple car designs or possibly legit VR headset renders, it's fun to imagine what future Apple products might look like.

This week, we got a kick out of concept artist Antonio De Rosa's "iPhone Studio" design. Its flat back, with no gigantic camera bumps, looks like a dream.

It's inspired by the clean lines of the Mac Studio. And, sure, De Rosa's iPhone Studio is a pure flight of fancy.

But imagine what people would have thought if you gave them a sneak peek at the original iMac before its unveiling back in 1998. They wouldn't have believed that bulbous, Bondi Blue beauty was a real computer, either.

A fella can dream ...

-- Lewis Wallace, managing editor

A new design concept marries elements of the recently released Mac Studio desktop computer to everyone’s favorite handset, the iPhone. The resulting renders, by prolific Italian concept artist Antonio De Rosa, show a sleek “iPhone Studio” with a powerful array of features.

News and opinion

Apple celebrated the nerdy holiday by showcasing the widespread use of Macs and iOS devices at Skywalker Sound. Festivities include the release of a “Behind the Mac” video about the audio artists at George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch, along with a special online “Today at Apple” session about creating Star Wars sound effects.

Third-party iPhone apps scored significantly lower than their Android counterparts, according to an analysis of user reviews of 4,400 top mobile apps. iPhone users simply expect more from their apps.

The extra-long cable connects Macs to peripherals at up to 40Gbps and 100W of power. And it costs $159, or two to three times the cost of a high-quality 2-meter Thunderbolt 4 cable from rival companies.

Apple developers are trying to enable the upcoming Apple Watch Series 8 to sense the wearer’s body temperature, according to a trusted analyst. But it’s not a done deal.

Accelerating work on its self-driving electric vehicle project, Apple recruited veteran Ford engineer and executive Desi Ujkashevic to join its secretive Project Titan.

How-tos

There’s a good chance that some company’s lax security has already let hackers steal the password you use for their website. And it could have happened with a bunch of them. Fortunately, your Apple devices make it easy to find out which of your passwords have leaked out so you can change them.

Fortnite got kicked out of the App Store as part of a legal battle between Apple and Epic Games, but now you can play it on your iPhone for free. Microsoft added it to Xbox Cloud Gaming, so the combat game is playable on iOS and iPadOS devices.

Before handing off a device to a child, you might want to disable or limit access to the wide-open internet and App Store. Here's how to quickly block explicit content on iPhone and iPad.

Deals

To make the most of your iPhone’s MagSafe charging capabilities, you need a great battery pack. And the Speedy Mag is one of the best. Right now, you can grab it on sale for just $48.99, which is a 59% discount off the regular price of $119.

Get great discounts on genuine Microsoft products at CDKeylord.com with code CULT.

Plus, more great software deals:

This Charge & Fold 3-in-1 Docking Station will charge multiple devices simultaneously and without wires. It’s also on sale with a huge 70% discount, making it just $35.99 (regular price $119).

Your mom deserves nice things every day of the year, but Mother’s Day is coming up fast. You get the card (and maybe some flowers), and we’ll take care of the present.

Reviews

Apple TV+’s new documentary series is a too-earnest, too-cute look at the biggest scandal to ever hit the Social Security Administration. The story is fascinating and filled with interesting people. But the approach taken represents the very worst tendencies of modern nonfiction.

Plus, more Apple TV+ recaps:

The Transcend JetDrive Lite 330 is a memory card that sits flush in the SD slot in the 2021 MacBook Pro. Use it to add up to a terabyte of storage to the notebook or for backups. It’s ideal for people who otherwise have no use for the SD card slot.

In the world of watch bands, nylon is sometimes overlooked in favor of steel, leather or silicone, but it’s an exceptionally good material for the job. Done right, nylon is soft, comfortable and durable.

Our reviewer spent years searching the App Store for the best email app. Spark won out because it equips users with accessible power features, which make wrangling email on iOS, iPadOS and macOS as easy as ABC.

If you think something that’s “compostable” must be easily “destructible,” well, that may be true of your coffee filters. But it’s not true of everything. Take Casetify’s Ultra Compostable iPhone Cases, for example. These things are tough as hell.

Setups

“Conversion” stories are fairly common in computing, with people deciding to switch from one “ecosystem” or another. Given Apple’s recent rash of hugely popular products, a fair number of folks are switching from PC-and-Windows-based setups to Apple-centric ones. An avid PC gamer — strike that, a former avid PC gamer — owns this featured setup.

This setup includes rarities in the form of its input devices. One of the peripherals is a high-quality Leopold mechanical keyboard and the other is an original Apple Mighty Mouse, which first came out in 2005.

This dark and brooding setup caught our eye. A 13-inch MacBook Pro and a 34-inch LG curved ultra-wide display sit at its center. But it also features excellent input devices, formidable audio and a rather nice standing desk.