This week:

• Why Apple’s October event could be totally insane!
• Something very strange is going on with the Mac…  we’ll talk about it.
• MacBook Pro Touch Bar: our brutally honest opinions
• Surprise!  Apple’s planning to give away its $1 billion TV shows
• And stay tuned for an all-new CultCast 2nd Hour: Siri Shortcuts, explained!

  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.   CultCloth will keep your iPhone X, 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.   Thanks to Kevin McLeodfor the music you hear on today’s episode.   On the show this week @erfon / @lkahney / @lewiswallace / @bst3r   Mac sales declined in Q3, despite new MacBook Pros https://www.cultofmac.com/582236/mac-sales-q3-2018-gartner/

• The third quarter of this year wasn’t a particularly good one for Apple, with Mac sales dropping a significant amount, even though the new MacBook Pros debuted this summer.
• Apple shipped 4.9 million laptops and desktops in the July-to-September period, according to preliminary figures from market-research firm Gartner. That’s an 8.5 percent decline from the same quarter of last year.
• But Q3 is supposed to bring fairly strong sales, as it includes the back-to-school shopping season. Not so much this year. At least not for Apple. Its three biggest rivals all saw increases in laptop/desktop shipments.

  Apple plans to give away its $1 billion TV shows https://www.cultofmac.com/582218/apple-tv-free-streaming/

• Apple’s new TV streaming service will allegedly debut in early 2019
• Some have suggested the company would bundle it in with Apple Music for an extra fee or that it would create it as a separate subscription option like Netflix.
• But according to a recent report, Despite planning to spend more than $1 billion on original content this year, Apple will supposedly give away its original content to customers that already own an iPhone, iPad or Apple TV.
• Because Apple is giving the shows away for free it’s aiming to create “PG” quality content that has wide audience appeal. Apple is currently making TV shows that are free from gratuitous sex, profanity or violence, although some shows may break this standard.

    How to create your first Siri Shortcut https://www.cultofmac.com/579560/how-to-create-siri-shortcuts/   This Siri shortcut keeps an eye on police during a traffic stop https://www.cultofmac.com/578615/shortcuts-siri-traffic-stop/   Siri Shortcuts can now control your HomeKit devices https://www.cultofmac.com/570105/siri-shortcuts-ios-12-homekit/   Use Siri Shortcuts to quickly send photos to your family https://www.cultofmac.com/571411/siri-shortcuts-send-photos/   Use Shortcuts to download YouTube Videos https://www.cultofmac.com/501134/how-to-download-youtube-videos-directly-to-iphone/   How to run Siri Shortcuts from Reminder alerts https://www.cultofmac.com/565129/how-to-run-siri-shortcuts-from-reminder-alerts/