This week: on the cusp of its release, authors Leander Kahney and David Pierini regale us with stories from their new book, The Cult of Mac 2.0, and we hear of the strange and often unbelievable lengths fans go through to celebrate their love of all things Apple.

This episode supported by

Easily create a beautiful website all by yourself, at Squarespace.com/cultcast. Use offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

Cult of Mac's watch store is full of beautiful straps that cost way less than Apple's. See the full curated collection at Store.Cultofmac.com

CultCloth will keep your iPhone 11 Pro, Apple Watch, Mac and iPad sparkling clean, and for a limited time use code CULTCAST at checkout to score a free CleanCloth with any order at CultCloth.co.

On the show this week

@erfon / @lkahney / @lewiswallace

This week's stories

Steve Jobs, the opera 

Kansas fest, the world's largest gathering of nerds celebrating Apple, and swapping old software, hardware, and copies of Nibble magazine. 

The story of Alex Jason, a teen who used lawn-mowing money to build one of the most rare and impressive collections of Apple devices in existence.

Dmitry Lischina, a man who built a career pimping out the iPhones of the rich and fabulous 

Simon Pierro, a magician who weaved his iPad into his mesmerizering act

This week: another Apple event is coming December 2! We’ll tell you what to expect. Plus: the benchmarks prove it—the new 16-inch MacBook Pro is the powerful update we’ve all been waiting for. And, finally, it’s hard to admit, but Apple’s new Mac shows there may be some advantages to a post-Ive era. We discuss.

This episode supported by

The NETGEAR Orbi WiFi 6 router gives you ultra-fast speeds and wider coverage throughout your home – it’s the biggest revolution in WiFi ever. Check it out today at your local Best Buy and at Netgear.com/bestwifi6.

Easily create a beautiful website all by yourself, at Squarespace.com/cultcast. Use offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

Cult of Mac's watch store is full of beautiful straps that cost way less than Apple's. See the full curated collection at Store.Cultofmac.com

CultCloth will keep your iPhone 11 Pro, Apple Watch, Mac and iPad sparkling clean, and for a limited time use code CULTCAST at checkout to score a free CleanCloth with any order at CultCloth.co.

On the show this week

@erfon / @lkahney / @lewiswallace

This week's stories

Apple to host surprise event for apps and games on December 2

• Members of the press received surprise invitations from Apple this morning to attend a first-of-its-kind event to honor 2019’s top apps and games on December 2 in New York City.

16-inch MacBook Pro beats predecessors by overcoming thermal throttling

• The higher tier MBP has the same i9-9880H process as previous model.
• In a 30 minute stress test, Dave 2D measured the CPU average speed at 3.1Ghz where previous model was at 2.7GHz.
• Other stress tests show a similar result, the same CPU is about 10% faster in the 16-inch MBP.

13-inch MacBook Pro dropping horrible Butterfly keyboard

• The smaller MacBook Pro will reportedly be upgraded next year with a keyboard that users can trust, just as the new 16-inch version recently was.
• If true, it means the current 13-inch MacBook Pro will be the last with the infamous Butterfly keyboard.
• This improved version is supposedly scheduled for the first half of 2020.

How a Magic Keyboard made it into the new 16-inch MacBook Pro

• In a new interview, Apple marketing SVP Phil Schiller talked about redesigning Apple’s notebook keyboard. And whether or not the non-butterfly keyboard will make it to other Apple laptops anytime soon.

16-inch MacBook Pro shows the advantages of a post-Jony Ive Apple [Opinion]

• Now that Jonny’s stepping away, will Apple tempter the enthusiasm of the design team make their products more practical?

This week on The CultCast: everything you need to know about the new 16-inch MacBook Pro!  Plus our first impressions of this hot new machine...

And we discuss Disney+, and why it may beat Netflix and Amazon as the best streaming service available.

This episode supported by

Easily create a beautiful website all by yourself, at Squarespace.com/cultcast. Use offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

Cult of Mac's watch store is full of beautiful straps that cost way less than Apple's. See the full curated collection at Store.Cultofmac.com

CultCloth will keep your iPhone XS, Apple Watch, Mac and iPad sparkling clean, and for a limited time use code CULTCAST at checkout to score a free CleanCloth with any order at CultCloth.co.

On the show this week

@erfon / @lkahney / @lewiswallace

This week's stories

16-inch MacBook Pro: MacBook is finally PRO again!

16-inch MacBook Pro wows writers in first hands-on reviews

• Apple finally unleashed its long-rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro on the world this morning, and according to some lucky people who got to play with it early, it was well worth the wait.

16-inch MacBook Pro surprises: No Wi-Fi 6, 720p webcam, 96W charger

• There are some interesting surprises with the 16-inch MacBook Pro that you won’t find in Apple’s press release. So we’ve rounded up the big ones here so you don’t miss anything before buying.

Top 40 tips that make you love the Touch Bar

• Once you get in touch with your Touch Bar, it turns out to have some genuinely useful time-saving features. Especially if you use apps that support it, like Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft Office. Here are 40 top Touch Bar tips.

Disney+ races past 10 million sign-ups in first day

• After launching on November 12, the Mickey Mouse company revealed this morning that it has already surpassed 10 million sign-ups, making the “millions” Apple TV+ pulled in during its first week look pretty weak.
• Demand for Disney+ exceeded even Disney’s highest expectations. Technical problems plagued the service on launch day as customers flooded servers to watch new shows like The Mandolorian, or old classics from Disney’s huge vault of content. Disney shares are up more than 3% on the news.

This week on The CultCast: SEE, Morning Show, For all Mankind—here are our reviews of Apple’s new TV shows—spoiler free! Plus: the one part of AppleTV+ that needs a total overhaul; and Apple’s new HomePod update includes a new hidden talent.

This episode supported by

The NETGEAR Orbi WiFi 6 router gives you ultra-fast speeds and wider coverage throughout your home – it’s the biggest revolution in WiFi ever. Check it out today at your local Best Buy and at Netgear.com/bestwifi6.

Our thanks to Linked In for supporting this episode. A business is only as strong as its people, and every hire matters… head to LinkedIn.com/cultcast and get a $50 credit toward your first job post.

Cult of Mac's watch store is full of beautiful straps that cost way less than Apple's. See the full curated collection at Store.Cultofmac.com

CultCloth will keep your iPhone XS, Apple Watch, Mac and iPad sparkling clean, and for a limited time use code CULTCAST at checkout to score a free CleanCloth with any order at CultCloth.co.

On the show this week

@erfon / @lkahney / @lewiswallace

This week's stories

Apple TV+ blesses us with highest-quality 4K streams

• Apple’s new service streams the highest-quality 4K content yet. Better than all the rest.
• That’s according to new tests that measure the bitrate of video streams. They reveal See has the highest bitrate so far, closely following by The Elephant Queen.
• See’s average bitrate of 29 Mbps, which can peak to 41 Mbps, is the highest measured so far. The Elephant Queen averages around 26 Mbps, while Dickinson peaks at around 24 Mbps.

Opinion: The worst part of Apple TV+ is the TV app

• The idea of the TV app, introduced in 2016, was to combine all the TV shows and movies from all of the apps and unify the viewing experience into a single interface, with a combined Up Next queue.

How to play relaxing, ambient sounds with your HomePod

• How about a nice, relaxing rainstorm to help you fall asleep? Or some white noise to fill the space left by your grownup children when they left you behind to start their own lives? If you have a HomePod running iOS 13.2 or later, your smart speaker stands ready to help blank out the soul-bleeding silence of your empty life. You just need to ask.

This week on The CultCast: AirPod Pros! You want them, we got them. We’ll tell you what’s new, what’s good, what’s not, and how they compare to the regular AirPods. We've got LOTS to say… Plus: the first AppleTV+ reviews are trickling in, and, well… they’re not great.

This episode supported by

Our thanks to Belkin for supporting this episode. Belkin Cables are built to last and supported with a 5-year warranty. If you're tired of broken and burnt-out cables, switch to Belkin, and save 30% off your order with code CultCast at checkout.

Easily create a beautiful website all by yourself, at Squarespace.com/cultcast. Use offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

Cult of Mac's watch store is full of beautiful straps that cost way less than Apple's. See the full curated collection at Store.Cultofmac.com

CultCloth will keep your iPhone XS, Apple Watch, Mac and iPad sparkling clean, and for a limited time use code CULTCAST at checkout to score a free CleanCloth with any order at CultCloth.co.

On the show this week

@erfon / @lkahney / @lewiswallace

This week's stories

Unboxing the floating DeLorean from Back To the Future 2!

AirPods Pro — EVEN BETTER than I hoped! (unboxing, first impressions, sound test REACTION)

Apple’s new AirPods Pro with noise cancellation are already here

• Apple has unleashed AirPods Pro with an all-new design and active noise cancellation, but are they worth the premium price tag?

First damning Apple TV+ reviews indicate an alarming lack of vision [Opinion]

• The first Apple TV+ reviews are out — and, broadly speaking, they’re not great. Critics generally slammed the marquee shows on the Apple TV+ slate. Anyone wanting to pull together a movie poster with positive pull-quotes would need to do some serious wading through bile to emerge with choice excerpts.
• For example, The Morning Show — Apple’s pricey, A-list newsroom drama — got slammed in one review as a “painful belly flop.”
• The Telegraph, meanwhile, slams See, Apple’s answer to Game of Thrones, as “likely to collapse under the weight of its own self-importance.” TVLinedescribes a “largely incoherent story” filled with “goofy confidence
• Variety writer Daniel D’Addario had this to say:
• • “None of the shows, to my eye, are truly successful because each feels in its own way curated to death, overworked with an eye on transmitting quality rather than actually allowing it to spontaneously happen.