New Year, New Audio Setup: SoundSource 6 from Rogue Amoeba
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are upon us, and we’ve prepared something truly special to celebrate the occasion at MacStories: starting today through Monday, November 29, MacStories Shortcuts Icons and Perspective Icons are available at 40% off their regular price.
To purchase MacStories Shortcuts Icons at $17.99 rather than the usual $29.99, click the ‘Buy’ button below:
To purchase our Perspective Icons at $14.99 rather than the usual $24.99, click the ‘Buy’ button below:
Every year, Apple publishes a heartwarming holiday ad that shows off its products in some way. This year, Saving Simon, directed by Jason Reitman, shows off the iPhone 13 Pro, which was used to film the three-minute spot.
Saving Simon tells the story of a small snowman that a girl saves from destruction in her yard by storing it in her family’s freezer. In the months that follow, the girl checks in on Simon, who lives in the freezer alongside the family’s frozen food.
When the winter comes again, the girl takes Simon back outside to the family’s front yard. I won’t spoil the ending, but it ends with the family coming together to help the girl and her snowman friend.
The holiday season is upon us, and as you shop for gifts for friends and family, we wanted to remind everyone that Club MacStories memberships can be given as gifts all year long. Every tier of the Club extends what we publish at MacStories, which makes it the perfect gift for someone who wants more of the kind of in-depth app, automation, and other coverage you find on the site every day.
This year saw the introduction of Club MacStories+ and Club Premier, which join the original Club MacStories as gift options for this holiday season.
As always,Club MacStories delivers weekly and monthly newsletters by email and now, on the web, packed with our favorite apps, themed collections, tips, Shortcuts automations, and more. Club members also receive MacStories Unplugged, our monthly Club-only podcast, plus periodic giveaways, discounts, and downloadable exclusives like our annual iOS and iPadOS and macOS reviews.
Club MacStories+ offers bonus content, a brand new, powerful web app to read Club articles on the web with advanced search and RSS features, exclusive discounts, and a new Discord community.
Club Premier is the ultimate plan that includes all of Club MacStories, Club MacStories+, and the new extended, ad-free AppStories+ podcast in a single package. It is the best value and the easiest way to get access to everything we do. It is, effectively, the MacStories all-access pass.
To learn more about each tier, visit plus.club.
This year we’re doing something new too. Gift accounts are available all year long. However, through November 30th, if you’re already a Club member at any tier and purchase an annual membership for someone as a gift, we’ll extend your membership one month.
The process is simple:
That’s it. We’ll confirm your gift purchase based on your Club email address and extend your membership one month as a thank you from the MacStories team for helping spread the word about Club MacStories.
So, if you have a MacStories reader on your holiday shopping list this season, consider a Club MacStories membership that they can enjoy all year long.
Annual gift memberships can be purchased using the links below:
Annual Club Premier Gift Membership: $120
Annual Club MacStories+ Gift Membership: $100
Annual Club MacStories Gift Membership: $50
We also offer monthly gift memberships too, although they aren’t eligible for the special offer above, which can be purchased here:
Monthly Club Premier Gift Membership: $12
Monthly Club MacStories+ Gift Membership: $10
Monthly Club MacStories Gift Membership: $5
Finally, thanks to all our loyal Club members who have joined since the Club’s debut in 2015. You’re an essential part of what we do here at MacStories, and we hope you’ve enjoyed the Club as much as we enjoy creating its special content for you all year long.
Happy Holidays!
– The MacStories Team
This week on AppStories, we explain how Shortcuts for Mac differs from other automation tools, cover some of the roadblocks we’ve hit, and discuss how we’re adapting existing shortcuts to the Mac and building all-new ones.
On AppStories+, we cover the third-party apps we are using with Shortcuts for Mac and Federico explains his Mac shortcut that works like Split View on iPadOS.
We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week.
To learn more about the benefits included with an AppStories+ subscription, visit our Plans page, or read the AppStories+ FAQ.
This week on MacStories Unwind:
This week on AppStories, we dive back into our favorite iOS and iPadOS 15 and macOS Monterey tips.
On AppStories+, John is back home, which means we’re resuming our normal routines, John covers the gear relied on while traveling to Rome, and Federico shares his first impressions of the M1 MacBook Pro and Shortcuts for Mac.
We deliver AppStories+ to subscribers with bonus content, ad-free, and at a high bitrate early every week.
To learn more about the benefits included with an AppStories+ subscription, visit our Plans page, or read the AppStories+ FAQ.
Apple announced today that its customers will be able to order tools, parts, and manuals to make repairs to iPhones, and later, M1 Macs beginning early next year:
Available first for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 lineups, and soon to be followed by Mac computers featuring M1 chips, Self Service Repair will be available early next year in the US and expand to additional countries throughout 2022.
The initial phase of the program will focus on the most commonly serviced modules, such as the iPhone display, battery, and camera. The ability for additional repairs will be available later next year.
Repair materials will be offered in a new store:
The new store will offer more than 200 individual parts and tools, enabling customers to complete the most common repairs on iPhone 12 and iPhone 13.
Also, the company will offer a credit toward new part purchases when used parts are sent back to encourage recycling.
It’s excellent to see Apple expanding customer repair options. As the company notes in its press release, the number of authorized repair providers has expanded in recent years, but not everyone has easy access to existing alternatives. More repair options also address complaints that Apple’s devices are too hard to repair, although there remains room to make more kinds of repairs easier. Still, today’s move is a step in the right direction and one that will be interesting to follow in the coming year.
This week on MacStories Unwind:
Soon, we’ll announce the fourth annual MacStories Selects Awards, honoring our favorite apps in a wide variety of categories. Winners will receive a physical MacStories Selects award designed by MacStories’ Silvia Gatta. As with last year, awards will be selected in the following eight categories:
We’re also making a couple of changes this year to expand the awards and Club MacStories member participation.
First, we’re introducing an all-new Lifetime Achievement Award to recognize an app that has had an important impact on the world of apps. We’ll be choosing an app beloved by users and inspiring to developers, which has left its mark on the App Store’s history.
Second, we’re adjusting the Readers’ Choice Award to incorporate Club MacStories’ new structure.
All Club members can nominate their favorite apps for the Readers’ Choice Award. A link to the nomination form and details about which apps are eligible for the award can be found in Issue 297 of MacStories Weekly right at the beginning of the issue. Nominations will be accepted until 5:00 PM Eastern US time on Monday, November 15th.
After nominations close, we’ll tally the submissions and open voting on the top five nominees to Club MacStories+ and Club Premier members via our Discord community. Voting will conclude at Noon Eastern US time on Thursday, November 18th.
For more details on Club MacStories, please visit plus.club.
Every year, we look at hundreds of terrific apps. MacStories Selects is our way to call out a handful of our absolute favorites that are shining examples of the best apps on Apple’s platforms.
We look forward to sharing our selections and our Club members’ pick. We’ll be handling announcements a little differently this year, too, so keep an eye on all we do here and elsewhere for the big reveal in December.
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