Coming Soon: What’s Next on Apple TV in November

By John Voorhees

There is a variety of new content coming to Apple TV+ this month, and this is your handy guide to all of it, including trailers and calendar links you can use to be sure you don’t miss their premieres.

Pluribus (November 7)

Vince Gilligan, creator of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, is back with a highly anticipated series set in the future. The nine-episode premiere season stars Rhea Seehorn as Carol Sturka, an author who seems to be immune to a virus that causes everyone else to be endlessly optimistic.

Two episodes will drop on day one, with the remaining seven coming weekly on Thursdays. By all appearances, Apple seems confident that the show will be a success because it has already ordered as second season.

Add to your Calendar:

Palm Royale, Season 2 (November 12)

Emmy award-winning comedy Palm Royale returns for a second season set in 1969 Palm Beach. Kristen Wiig stars as Maxine Dellacorte who strives to climb the social ladder of the local country club after a fall from grace. Along the way, Maxine discovers secrets, lies, and crimes in this star-packed comedy that also includes Laura Dern, Allison Janney, Ricky Martin, Carol Burnett, Josh Lucas, and Leslie Bibb.

Add to your Calendar:

Come See Me in the Good Light (November 14)

Come See Me in the Good Light is a documentary that tells the story of poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley following Gibson’s diagnosis of terminal cancer. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this year where it reviewed well and won the event’s Festival Favorite Award.

Add to your Calendar:

The Family Plan 2 (November 21)

Mark Wahlberg is back as Dan, a retired assassin living the dad life. In this holiday season sequel, Dan takes his family to London, where his best-laid plans collide with a mysterious stranger. The action-packed movie spins into a wild chase across Europe, thwarting what was supposed to be a relaxing family vacation.

Add to your Calendar:

WondLa (November 26)

The animated series WondLa kicks off its third and final season with war breaking out between humans and aliens on the planet Orbona. Eva’s mission is to retrieve the Heart of the Forest, which has been stolen, by forming alliances to protect her world.

Add to your Calendar:

Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age (November 26)

The latest installment of Prehistoric Planet, which is executive produced by Jon Favreau and Mike Gunton. Narrated by Tom Hiddleston and scored by Hans Zimmer, Anže Rozman, and Kara Talve for BBC Studios’ Natural History Unit, the third season of the docu-series includes five episodes that explore the ice age.

Add to your Calendar:

That’s up for now. Also, if you’re not listening to MacStories Unwind, please give it a try. I’m sure you’ll hear more about some of these shows and movies from me and Federico in the coming weeks as they debut.

More Than Just a Camera Grip: Belkin’s Stage PowerGrip for iPhone

By John Voorhees

For the past week, I’ve been testing the Belkin Stage PowerGrip. It’s an iPhone accessory that adds a DSLR-like grip to your iPhone while simultaneously charging it. Belkin isn’t the first company to make an accessory like this, but the Stage PowerGrip delivers a bigger battery at a more affordable price than its competitors. That’s why it initially caught my eye. However, what I didn’t expect was for the device to make a compelling case to become part of my everyday on-the-go setup, which it absolutely has. Here’s why.

Finding the Best Sleep Tracker →

Linked By John Voorhees

Earlier this year, Andrej Karpathy wrote an in-depth analysis of four sleep tracking methods that Federico recently recommended I read. I’m glad he did, Karpathy, an AI researcher who has worked at OpenAI and Tesla, took the kind of nerdy, data-driven approach that I love.

Over the course of two months, Karpathy plotted sleep tracking results from:

an Oura ring
a Whoop fitness band
an 8Sleep Pod 4 Ultra smart mattress cover
the Apple Watch running the app AutoSleep

Karpathy got the best results from the Whoop band and Oura ring, but just as interesting were how the data correlated to how he felt after a good night’s sleep:

…my sleep scores correlate strongly with the quality of work I am able to do that day. When my score is low, I lack agency, I lack courage, I lack creativity, I’m simply tired. When my sleep score is high, I can power through anything. On my best days, I can sit down and work through 14 hours and barely notice the passage of time. It’s not subtle.

I recommend reading the entire post for all the details of how each tracking method compared on variety of metrics. I’ve long been intrigued by the Whoop band and Oura ring as a companion to the Apple Watch. There’s overlap between the devices, but Karpathy has planted a seed in my brain that may lead to my own multi-device experiments.

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Sky Acquired by OpenAI

By John Voorhees

Source: OpenAI

Sky, the AI automation app that Federico previewed for MacStories readers in May, has been acquired by OpenAI.

Nick Turley, OpenAI’s Vice President & Head of ChatGPT said of the deal in an OpenAI press release:

We’re building a future where ChatGPT doesn’t just respond to your prompts, it helps you get things done. Sky’s deep integration with the Mac accelerates our vision of bringing AI directly into the tools people use every day.

I’m not surprised by this development at all. OpenAI, Anthropic, and Perplexity have all been developing features similar to what Sky could do for a while now. In addition, Sam Altman was an investor in Software Applications Incorporated, the company behind Sky.

Ari Weinstein of Software Applications Incorporated, who was one of the co-founders of Workflow, which was later acquired by Apple and became Shortcuts, said of the acquisition:

We’ve always wanted computers to be more empowering, customizable, and intuitive. With LLMs, we can finally put the pieces together. That’s why we built Sky, an AI experience that floats over your desktop to help you think and create. We’re thrilled to join OpenAI to bring that vision to hundreds of millions of people.

It’s not entirely clear what will become of Sky at this point. OpenAI’s press release simply states that the company will be working on integrating Sky’s capabilities.

Claude Adds Screenshot and Voice Shortcuts to Its Mac App

By John Voorhees

Claude’s new in-context screenshot tool.

Anthropic introduced a couple of new features in its Claude Mac app today that lower the friction of working with the chatbot.

First, after giving screenshot and accessibility permissions to Claude, you can double tap the Option button to activate the app’s chat field as an overlay at the bottom of your screen. The shortcut simultaneously triggers crosshairs for dragging out a rectangle on your Mac’s screen. Once you do, the app takes a screenshot and the chat field moves to the side of the area you selected with the screenshot attached. Type your query, and it and the screenshot are sent together to Claude, switching you to Claude and kicking off your request automatically.

Instead of double-tapping the Option key, you can also set the keyboard shortcut to Option + Space, or a custom key combination. That’s nice because not all automation systems support two modifier keys as a shortcut. For example, Logitech’s Creative Console cannot record a double tap of the Option button as a shortcut.

Sending your query and screenshot takes you back to the Claude app for your response.

I send a lot of screenshots to Claude, especially when I’m debugging scripts. This new shortcut will greatly accelerate that process simply by switching me back to Claude for my answer. It’s a small thing, but I expect it will add up over time.

My only complaint is that the experience has been inconsistent across my Macs. On my M1 Max Mac Studio with 64GB of memory, it takes 3-5 seconds for Claude to attach the screenshot to its chat field whereas on the M4 Max MacBook Pro I’ve been testing, the process is almost instant. The MacBook Pro is a much faster Mac than my Mac Studio, but I was surprised at the difference since it occurs at the screenshot phase of the interaction. My guess is that another app or system process is interfering with Claude.

Am I talking to the Claude chatbot or lighting my Dock on fire.

The other new feature of Claude is that you can set the Caps Lock button to trigger voice input. Once you trigger voice input, an orange cloud appears at the bottom of your screen indicating that your microphone is active. The visual is a little over-the-top, but the feature is handy. Tap the Caps Lock button again to finish the recording, which is then transcribed into a Claude chat field at the bottom of your screen. Just hit return to upload your query, and you’re switched back to the Claude app for a response.

One of the greatest strengths of modern AI chatbots is their multi-modality. What Anthropic has done with these new Claude features is made two of those modes – images and audio – a little bit easier, which gets you from input to a response a little faster, which I appreciate. I highly recommend giving both features a try.

Remess Visualizes Your Life in Texts

By John Voorhees

Text messages are a chronicle of our lives. But by the same token, those conversations remain locked away in Messages. The app’s search has improved with macOS Tahoe, which I appreciate, but finding past snippets of a chat log doesn’t allow you to understand the full arc of conversations across your entire family and friend group.

That’s where Remess by Fahmi Omer comes in. It’s a Mac app that accesses your Messages and Contacts databases locally to paint a picture of your life in text messages.

To run Remess, which is an open source project that you can inspect on GitHub, you need to run a Terminal command that bypasses Apple’s Gatekeeper protection and give it both full disk access and access to your contacts. The developer says the app only accesses your information locally, but there’s an element of trust there that’s worth considering before you take the plunge. That said, if you go for it like I did, Remess is a lot of fun.

Let’s take a look.

The app starts out very high level with the total number of messages sent and received:

Then, it digs into the details. This is what writing at MacStories for nearly a decade looks like:

From all-time numbers, Remess digs into what a typical day of texting looks like for you:

The app also calculates the year you sent the most messages and how many people you’ve exchanged texts. After this brief tour of your life in texts, Remess lands on a dashboard with additional data, a graph of your texting totals, a word cloud of most frequently-used words, and a ranking of your contacts and groups ranked by texting totals.

You can filter texting totals by year, too, which is an interesting way to spot patterns in your messaging habits.

The word cloud should probably filter out common words, but the rest is about what you’d expect from me: Mac, app, shortcuts.

I’m not sure I learned anything about my texting habits from Remess that I didn’t already have a sense of based on my day-to-day messaging. Still, it’s interesting and fun to see the magnitude of the number of texts and the way they’ve accumulated over time.

Remess is available as a free download directly from its developer.

Hands-On with the Kuxiu X40 Turbo Qi 2.2 3-in-1 Travel Charger

By John Voorhees

Wireless charging is great, but historically it’s been slow. That’s starting to change for the iPhone with Qi 2.2, the latest wireless charging standard that the iPhone 16 and 17 series phones support. With Qi 2.2, a compatible iPhone charges wirelessly at 25W. By comparison Qi 1 charged at 5–7.5W and Qi 2.0 and the original MagSafe charged at 15W.

So far, though, there have been precious few chargers, besides Apple’s MagSafe puck charger, that support Qi 2.2’s faster charging, which is why I was interested in trying the Kuxiu X40 Turbo, when Kuxiu offered to send me a review unit. As advertised, the compact 3-in-1 charger delivers the fastest wireless iPhone charging around, but that’s not its only selling point.

In addition to fast charging an iPhone 16 or 17 series phone at 25W, the X40 Turbo, which retails for around $80, charges AirPods and an Apple Watch at 5W. However, what I wasn’t expecting was just how small the X40 Turbo is when folded for travel. The entire package is about twice as thick as an iPhone 17 Pro Max and fits neatly into the palm of your hand. At the same time, though, the X40 Turbo feels sturdy. It’s made of metal with soft-touch pads to avoid scratching your devices or tabletop. Here’s a closer look at what Kuxiu sent me:

When it’s time to charge your iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch, the X40 Turbo unfolds into a z-shaped configuration from which the Watch pad flips down horizontally. So far, I’ve used the X40 Turbo on my nightstand and at my desk, where it takes up minimal space. I also plan to take the X40 Turbo on my next trip because it takes so little room in my bag.

Kuxiu isn’t the first company to make a charger in this form factor, but the X40 Turbo is one of the best built that I’ve tried, and as one of the first Qi 2.2 models, it’s notable, and a great upgrade to your charging setup.

The Kuxiu X40 Turbo is available directly from Kuxiu and Amazon.

Apple Strikes Broadcast Deal with F1

By John Voorhees

Apple announced today that it will be the exclusive U.S. broadcaster for Formula 1 racing. The five-year deal begins next year and will also include integrations with Apple News, Maps, Music, and Fitness+.

Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Services, said of the deal:

We’re thrilled to expand our relationship with Formula 1 and offer Apple TV subscribers in the U.S. front-row access to one of the most exciting and fastest-growing sports on the planet. 2026 marks a transformative new era for Formula 1, from new teams to new regulations and cars with the best drivers in the world, and we look forward to delivering premium and innovative fan-first coverage to our customers in a way that only Apple can.

Apple says that its streaming subscribers will have access to all practice, qualifying, Sprint sessions, and Grands Prix and that certain races and practice sessions will be available for free in the TV app. Apple TV subscribers will also have exclusive access to F1 TV Premium, F1’s premium content service, at no extra cost. Apple says it will release more information about F1 product integrations in the coming months.

This deal has been rumored for a long time and makes a lot of sense for Apple, which has been working to add internationally popular sports to its lineup for some time. Along with MLS and select weekly baseball games, the company has a much more robust sports package than ever before, which should make Apple TV attractive to a broader audience.

Apple Announces New M5 iPad Pros

By John Voorhees

Source: Apple.

The MacBook Pro wasn’t the only Apple computer to receive an M5 update today. Both the 11” and 13” iPad Pros were updated with the company’s latest chip, too.

As you’d expect, the performance boosts to the iPad Pro line closely resemble the enhancements to the 14” MacBook Pro, with up to 3.5× performance gains on AI workflows compared to the M4 iPad Pro and 5.6× the performance of an M1 iPad Pro, which is slightly less than the bump from an M1 Mac to the M5 MacBook Pro. The base RAM configuration has been increased to 12GB, too, and the M5 chip enables the iPad Pro to run external displays up to 120Hz with Adaptive Sync.

The new iPad Pros also feature Apple’s N1 networking chip, which supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread and was first seen in this year’s iPhone updates. For users who buy a cellular-capable iPad Pro, that feature is now powered by Apple’s C1X modem, which the company says is up to 50% faster and more power efficient.

Source: Apple.

Like with the MacBook Pro introduced today, the M5 is the star of this update. The chip features a 10-core GPU architecture that has dedicated Neural Accelerators for each GPU core. The 16-core Neural Engine, unified memory bandwidth, storage, and charging are faster too.

According to Apple that equates to substantial real-world performance enhancements:

Up to 6.7x faster 3D rendering with ray tracing in Octane X when compared to iPad Pro with M1, and up to 1.5x faster than iPad Pro with M4.

Up to 6x faster video transcode performance in Final Cut Pro for iPad when compared to iPad Pro with M1, and up to 1.2x faster than iPad Pro with M4.

Up to 4x faster AI image generation performance in Draw Things for iPad when compared to iPad Pro with M1, and up to 2x faster than iPad Pro with M4.

Up to 3.7x faster AI video upscaling performance in DaVinci Resolve for iPad when compared to iPad Pro with M1, and up to 2.3x faster than iPad Pro with M4.

(See the press release for footnotes regarding testing details).

Source: Apple.

The iPad Pro line’s new M5 chip should be a meaningful performance boost for users coming from older models, though less so for M4 iPad Pro users. Regardless, it’s good to see Wi-Fi 7 continue to spread across Apple’s hardware lineup. Between multi-windowing and the M5, users will undoubtedly be pushing the iPad Pro further than ever, which often means large files that will benefit from a faster chipset, Wi-Fi, and internal storage.

The new 11” and 13” iPad Pros come in Space Black and Silver and start at $999 for the 11” Wi-Fi model and $1,299 for the 13” Wi-Fi model, with cellular models costing $200 more. Education customers can save $100 on each model, too. Pre-orders can be placed today, with deliveries and in-store availability beginning October 22.