New HomePod vs Original, What’s new in iOS 16.4 betas + iMessage comes to Windows! (CultCast #584)

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This week:

All the best new features in the iOS 16.4 betas, plus: the new HomePod Vs the Original! Papa Erf has some surprising sound tests to discuss…

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This week's stories

iOS 16.4 beta 1 & 2: All the new features and changes

Simple security hack keeps your iCloud account safe from iPhone thieves

A Basic iPhone Feature Helps Criminals Steal Your Entire Digital Life (The Wall Street Journal)

How Apple’s secret Exploratory Design Group makes magic happen

• Few outside of Apple have ever heard of the company’s secretive Exploratory Design Group. However, the team includes many of Apple’s brightest minds — and is developing some of its most innovative products.

HomePod 2: Does it sound better or worse than the original?

• The CultCast host Erfon Elijah finally got our hands on the coveted HomePod 2 speakers. He put the 2023 model head-to-head with the 2018 model the way it’s meant to be enjoyed: in a stereo pair.

Enter to win a high-end backpack from Harber London [Cult of Mac giveaway]

• We’re giving one lucky person the chance to win a lavish Commuter Backpack from Harber London in this week’s giveaway. This spacious, 17-liter backpack retails for $234.

iMessage is coming to Windows … kind of

• People never thought it would happen. People didn’t think it was possible. But in an update to Windows 11, you will be able to send and receive iMessages and manage your notifications through a PC.