Reviews - page 28

New Apple TV+ documentary Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues takes a lively and appropriately soulful look at the man who invented popular music in America as we know it today.

The film, which premieres today on Apple’s streaming service, brims with expert testimony from witnesses, fans, friends, and family of the incredibly influential jazz musician. It’s bolstered by a cornucopia of rare archival footage and photographs that root Armstrong firmly in history.

Louis Armstrong is too big a subject to think you could ever fully capture him, so director Sacha Jenkins treats this project as just one man’s look at another man. It’s remarkably successful.

Before you say it, I know – this isn’t the first time we’ve talked about gallium nitride (GaN) chargers. But the super-small, super-fast chargers are, frankly, worth getting excited about. I recently had the pleasure of taking Ugreen’s Nexode 200W desktop GaN charger for a spin, and let me tell you: This really is the puck-size charger you want on your desk.

Apple positioned the new iPad 10 as the successor to last year’s iPad 9, but the two are far more different that their names suggest. The just-released tablet has a long list of improvements, including a larger screen. But it also comes at a substantially higher price.

Both models are still in Apple product lineup so you have a choice. Let’s go head-to-head to see how they stack up.

Place the Lion 50W Foldable Solar Panel in the sun and it can power most devices with a USB-A or USB-C port. It’s portable enough to take on a multi-day hike, or to not take up much room in a closet for power outages.

I put the solar charger to the test and I’m quite pleased with how easy it is to use and how well it performs.

Early reviews of iPad 10 compliment its larger display, relocated camera and faster processor. But they also have plenty to say about the steep increase in price.

Read on to see if the new “budget” iPad, which now starts at $449, is right for you.

Updated: In spring 2024, Apple lowered the cost of the iPad 10 to $349.

Apps can be useful for a a countless number of things. From making a new parents life easier to finding new music, there’s are apps fit to help make things nearly effortless. This week, we have a couple great new (to me, at least) apps, and a really solid update to one of my favorites. As usual, I’ll put out the call for other suggestions as well. If you have something you want us to check out for a future Awesome Apps post, be sure to email your suggestion or tweet them over!

Your MacBook isn’t charging right and you can’t figure it where the problem is? Plugable’s USBC-VAmeter3 can help. Connect it to the power cable running to your Mac, iPad or iPhone to see the voltage, wattage and amperage.

I’m no electrical engineer, but I tested this miniature power meter. I found it both useful and kind of fun.

Bilingual Apple TV+ comedy series Acapulco returns this week for a second season of bright colors and frothy hijinx narrated by Eugenio Derbez. The Mexican resort is an ’80s uproar, young Maximo’s life is crumbling (though he won’t admit it), and his family is at a crossroads. And everyone, as usual, needs a favor.

The second season so far seems exactly like the first, which is to be expected, so if you like the softest possible jokes, you’re in luck. The show is fleetingly charming and expertly designed — the art direction remains Acapulco‘s greatest virtue — and little by little, it’s relaxing into a funnier groove.

This week on new Apple TV+ limited series Shantaram, based on the best-selling book by Gregory David Roberts, Lin stares a new life in the face — but fate has other plans.

The escaped con is starting up a practice in a Bombay slum with help from his reluctant and besotted friend Prabhu. A need for penicillin puts him right where the local underworld chiefs want him, in thrall to them and in need of supplies only they can gift him.

Meanwhile, local politics are heating up, Lisa’s kicking junk, and Karla’s feeling left out. It’s a perfectly respectable episode of the drama.

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.

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.

Post-apocalyptic Apple TV+ series See comes to its thrilling conclusion this week, sending off Baba Voss and his family in high bloody fashion.

With the whole of civilization in a tunnel to freedom, Haniwa, Maghra and Kofun must decide whether to let Baba go to his death by himself or stay with their people in their hour of need. Can Baba stop deposed queen Sibeth Kane before she destroys everything, or before he gets caught and killed?

It took three seasons, but See is finally worth seeing. And wouldn’t you know it? It’s over.

Bad Sisters, the Apple TV+ black comedy about the murder of a bad man and the five women who stood to gain from it, draws its delicious first season to a close this week.

John Paul’s dead. Matthew’s closer than ever to finding the killer, but red herrings abound. John Paul’s widow Grace tells a tale to her sisters. The magnificent show comes to a gripping close in typically brilliant fashion.

In new Apple TV+ limited series Shantaram, Charlie Hunnam headlines as a man on the run from Australian authorities who starts over in Bombay — only to fall into still more trouble.

The ambitious drama, based on the best-selling book by Gregory David Roberts (which in turn was partly based on the author’s own experiences), charts a man’s new life in a hotbed of sin and all-but-sanctioned crime. Along the way, he discovers himself at long last in the least likely of settings.

In the fast-growing world of increasingly compact-yet-powerful gallium nitride (GaN) chargers, Ugreen is a player. The company has expanded its line of multiport chargers and recently sent me its Nexode 140W model to try out.

I found it potent, reasonably compact and a fine purchase for most people who need to charge laptops, tablets, smartphones and other devices — especially if they can get it at the discount below, which makes it an exceptional value.

Apple’s modern keyboards are perfectly adequate but pretty unremarkable. They are anything but fun. But thanks to the wide selection of modern USB adapters from TinkerBOY, you can liven up your setup with long-lost keyboards and mice of yore.

You can use the legendary Apple Extended Keyboard II, with its unique key switches that make typing an almost ecstatic experience. You can get an adapter for the original Macintosh Mouse, for clicking and dragging like it’s 1984.

I get a fair share of products for review at Cult of Mac but none had me excitedly checking the mailbox every day like these. Read on for my experience using TinkerBOY’s keyboard and mouse adapters with a modern Mac.

The iPhone 14 Plus combines two popular phone features: larger screens and lower prices. With a 6.7-inch screen, it offers Apple’s largest display but for a lot less money than any previous model this size.

I replaced my iPhone 13 with the larger Plus. The large screen and lengthy battery life make me happy with the change, and they’re why I recommend others choose a larger iPhone, too.

The sky is falling this week on See, Apple TV+’s fantasy epic about a world with no sight. In the penultimate episode of the series, Baba Voss and Maghra have precious few resources left at hand to defend themselves from Sibeth Kane and Tormada’s explosives.

Harlan has one last gift to give Maghra. And Tormada learns what governing next to Sibeth really looks like. Plus, we get flashbacks to Baba and Maghra’s courtship. All in all, it’s a pretty good episode of a very silly show.

Apple TV+’s Bad Sisters has one last twist of fate in store for the Garvey girls and their target, dastardly brother-in-law John Paul.

This week, Roger finds out who’s the architect of his misfortune, Ursula swears it’s over with Ben, Theresa’s in the hospital, Matthew’s dripping with determination, Becka’s a liability, and Eva makes a choice.

The best part? Nothing, somehow, is at all what it seems. It’s another magnificent installment of the delectable dark comedy.

The OWC Envoy Pro mini is a small external SSD with both USB-C and USB-A connectors so it works with Mac and iPad but also Windows, Android and more. It’s rugged, fast and comes with up to 1TB of storage.

I ran the tiny drive through a battery of tests. It passed with flying colors.

From the three bands Apple designed especially for the chunky Apple Watch Ultra to several other worthy options, you have plenty to choose from when it comes to a rugged band that can handle whatever you throw at it and Apple’s toughest timepiece.

In our roundup below, we cover Apple’s best options for bands to pair with the high-performance Apple Watch Ultra. Plus, we found other great (and more-affordable) choices from brands like Carterjett, Kordiz, Mifa, Nomad, Pinnacle and Spigen.

Early reviews of the iPhone 14 Plus praise its long battery life and large display. There are also positive comments on the camera and the smartphone’s weight.

Apple’s first 6.7-inch non-Pro handset reaches store shelves on Friday.

The Gamevice Flex is an iPhone game controller that mimics the design of the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con with the controls set on either side of the display. Similar iPhone controllers make you take the case off your handset to play but the Flex wraps around the handset even if it’s in a protective case.

The wired controller includes a full set of buttons, sticks, bumpers, etc. so you can enjoy games like Fortnite from Xbox Cloud Gaming or similar services, or almost anything from Apple Arcade.

I spent quite a few hours testing Gamevice Flex – here’s why I like it.

Bad Sisters, the Apple TV+ black comedy about Irish women who might have killed their terrible brother-in-law to save their whole family from him, takes a cold turn this week.

Becka has a new plan for offing John Paul. Ursula’s lover finds out about the blackmail. Gabriel thinks Eva betrayed him, Roger’s in hell. And John Paul is finally getting some of the revenge he deserves after a life of doling out misery to everyone else.

It’s highs and lows all the way to the grave with this one.

It’s wedding bells for lovely new couple Sibeth Kane and Tormada on this week’s episode of See, the Apple TV+ show set in the not-too-distant future in a world full of blind people. The deposed queen has consolidated her power and is ready for her next move.

Elsewhere in this dystopian world, Lord Harlan recommends a fateful shortcut, Maghra’s done playing Mr. Nice Guy, Lucien’s luck runs out, and Baba Voss kills lots and lots and lots of people.

It’s an above-average outing for the Nietzschean, not-quite-samurai epic.