Send us a text!

This week: BeautyGate—what it is, and why it’s undoubtedly the dumbest “gate” in the history of iPhone. Plus: how have we liked our one week with Apple Watch 4 and iPhone XS? WE’LL TELL YOU. And the shockingly low production price of the XS Max proves the deadbeats at Apple owe us more storage space!

This episode supported by

A business is only as strong as its people, and every hire matters… go to LinkedIn.com/cultcast and get a $50 credit toward your first job post.

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

Imagine a place where you can slip into your silk robe, fez, and enjoy the company and fellowship of other CultCast listeners and tech enthusiasts.

A club, if you will. A Cult Club.

https://discord.gg/DbKApv

iPhone XS Max: A condensed review

https://www.cultofmac.com/579035/iphone-xs-max-review-condensed/

iPhone XS Max is fast, fast, fast

Everything is very fast and responsive. Apps spring right open. Photos scroll without delay. Maps render without a hiccup. Everything is basically instantaneous, and it’s a joy.
It’s all thanks to the A12 Bionic chip. Apple is so far ahead in mobile chips, it’s head-spinning. One benchmark shows the iPhone XS is faster than the new iMac Pro, a $5,000-plus pro workstation!

It’s definitely not too big

For such big phone, it doesn’t feel too big. Having used an X all last year, and liking it, I thought the Max would be too big. But it doesn’t feel as big as the old Plus iPhones used to
iPhone XS Max camera

The camera is excellent

Especially the new Portrait mode with advanced bokeh and Depth Control. The Max is less a phone, and more an advanced, near-DSLR camera with a cellular connection.

The big screen is amazing

The screen is so big and clear, there’s no need to take your laptop or iPad on flights any more. The Max will do nicely.

It deserves to be caseless

Despite dropping my old iPhone X numerous times, it has just a few scuffs and no cracked screen (it was, however, often in a case). But this time, because the Max is so thin, I’m going to try it caseless for a while. I’d like to enjoy Apple’s design for a change, without a bulky wrapping. (I know; I may regret this later.)

iPhone XS selfie cam is so beautiful it spawned an ugly conspiracy theory

https://www.cultofmac.com/579503/iphone-selfies-xs/

The iPhone XS and its front-facing camera are supposed to help its owners m

(Preview) The Grim Implications of Xi&#39;s Week in Moscow and the Continuing Adventures of TikTok on Capitol Hill

(Preview) The Grim Implications of Xi's Week in Moscow and the Continuing Adventures of TikTok on Capitol Hill