★★☆☆☆
Apple TV+’s second season of Physical draws to a merciful close this week. Though she’s finally gotten John Breem out of her bedroom, Sheila still has to deal with him. He’s still making Danny crazy — and he’s still the only man in town with power enough to satisfy Sheila’s needs.
Wouldn’t it be funny if she had to wind up trapped with him in a business agreement? Well, no, it wouldn’t, and it isn’t, but that’s where we’re headed.
★★☆☆☆
Trying, the Apple TV+ comedy about middle-class ghouls making the once-a-generation decision to start families, plans a birthday party for special little boy Tyler this week.
Tyler’s party is too overwhelming at first, but with a little help from a lot of people it becomes fun. Elsewhere, Karen is pregnant and nervous, Nikki resents her fertility, Scott has to quit a burgeoning career, and Jason is still on the hook for a dream house.
★★★★☆
Apple TV+ murder mystery Black Bird draws to a pulse-pounding close as jailhouse informer Jimmy Keene’s last-ditch efforts to stay alive are being threatened at every turn.
Serial killer Larry Hall is inches from confessing, Jimmy’s about to get shanked — and nobody’s coming to help either of them. Plus, Jimmy’s dad Big Jim is dying in a hurry outside prison walls.
The limited series saves its best mechanics for last as the clock runs out on all of our heroes. Black Bird concludes on a high note indeed.
★★☆☆☆
Apple TV+’s newest film is the streamer’s big flagship collaboration with Skydance Animation under the new leadership of disgraced former Pixar chief John Lasseter.
Can the film’s relative charms tip the scales in favor of a new endeavor, instead of back toward the hasty assembly of a company around a man who never really answered for his allegations? Unfortunately, Luck, which premieres Friday on Apple TV+, would have had to have a lot more going for it to get people talking about the movie on pure merit.
★★★★☆
The Soundcore Motion Boom Plus is a powerful, portable outdoor speaker you might want to nab before summer’s over. The boombox-style Bluetooth speaker brings the brawn — 80 watts of power — along with a bit more heft than some competitors.
When you factor in the excellent sound quality, some sporty features and the relatively low price of $179.99, it’s a worthy choice for outdoor use. Some folks might even use it indoors, but many never would because of its black plastic design. It might look at home in a college dorm, but probably not in most living rooms.
★★★★☆
It might be time to get a new backpack. The British company Troubadour Goods makes just just what you need. It recently released four of its sustainable bags in a limited-edition color, a dark khaki.
They sent me the Troubadour Pioneer Backpack to try out. And it’s a stunner, fit for taking to work or outdoor hikes and trips to the gym in between.
★★★★☆
It’s not easy to get super-excited about chargers. But the current wave of ever-smaller and ever-more-potent gallium nitride (GaN) chargers gets the heart pumping a little faster than that or your average sleeping person, at least.
And if anyone’s keeping us awake and watchful regarding the charger market, it’s Anker.
The company recently held a special event to release six chargers in its new GaNPrime line. The first to arrive in my hands is the Anker 747 GaNPrime Charger, which pumps out 150W of power through four ports. But it’s just small enough to toss in your computer bag or knapsack without a second thought.
★★★★★
Thunderbolt hubs add super-fast ports to your Mac, speeding up your workflow. But these hubs also require a really bulky power adapter … usually. The just-announced Sanho HyperDrive Thunderbolt 4 Power Hub is the exception. It’s small enough to travel with.
I tested the Thunderbolt hub in my home office for a couple of weeks to see how it stands up to real-world use.
★★★★☆
In its entire 46-year history, Apple has made only one truly great keyboard: the Apple Extended Keyboard II. Dating from 1987, the Apple Extended Keyboard II has been dubbed “the greatest computer keyboard of all time.“
For me, the Extended Keyboard is the ultimate Goldilocks keyboard: it offers the perfect amount of travel, feel and sound. Alas, it was discontinued in 1994 and Apple hasn’t made a mechanical keyboard — with switches and springs beneath each key — since.
But fear not. The Matias Mini Tactile Pro keyboard is the Extended Keyboard’s spiritual successor: a modern mechanical keyboard in a mini package that plays nice with modern Macs.
But is it any good?
★★★★☆
Apple TV+ miniseries Black Bird finally reveals the killer this week, along with the evidence that might hang him … or might not be enough to do anything but frustrate the people working to expose him.
Superlative work from actors Paul Walter Hauser, Ray Liotta and Laney Stiebing in the episode, titled “The Place I Lie,” pulls the show into greatness just before its final installment.
Black Bird covered a lot of ground in a little time — and now it’s time to bring it home.
★★★☆☆
For All Mankind has a Martian crisis on its hands this week’s episode, “The Sands of Ares.” Ed and Danny are trapped, Danielle has to come get them, and Karen, Jimmy, and Amber wait on tenterhooks for news of the rescue.
It’s all hands on deck at NASA in the meantime, in the Apple TV+ space soap. People start confessing dark things as they face down death. And there may not be enough people left to make any sense of the Mars mission when it’s over.
★★☆☆☆
Apple TV+’s Physical, the story of would-be workout icon Sheila Rubin, is in recovery this week. Can Sheila finally combat her inner critic? Can she make Danny forgive her? Will she make friends at a retreat? Can she finally be honest with herself about her life and her problems and her image of herself?
The answers probably won’t shock you in this perfectly ordinary episode.
★★★☆☆
Apple TV+ comedy Loot has family and romance on the brain this week. Molly wants to get in touch with her family again after years of distance — with Howard as go-between. Arthur and Nicholas eavesdrop on a stormy night of conflict for Sofia.
It’s all fine. Indeed, the drama and comedy are handled with equal deftness for the first time this season. But there’s something that nags about the mission of a show like Loot.
☆☆☆☆☆
Apple TV+ family comedy Trying goes camping this week, and Nikki and Jason discover their strengths and weaknesses as parents by listening to things their kids need.
Elsewhere, Freddy hijacks an AA meeting to bore them with his everyday transgressions, Karen is pregnant and Scott is an idiot. More glaring than any plot point is a gaffe that hints at the hollowness at this story’s core. It is a long half-hour.
★★☆☆☆
Glossy mystery series Surface gets off to a bumpy, soapy start this week on Apple TV+. Gugu Mbatha-Raw (who you might know from The Morning Show) stars as Sophie, a woman who lost her memory after what could have been an accident or a suicide attempt.
Like Truth Be Told, another Apple TV+ series from producer Reese Witherspoon, this one is a prestige look at a woman undergoing a lot of changes in her life as the result of crime … or is it?
★★★★☆
The Apple Leather Wallet with MagSafe magnetically clings to an iPhone. And it has a useful trick: The phone shows the user the location the wallet was last detached, so it’s easier to find if it gets lost.
As a fan of Apple’s Find My application, I decided to try it out.
While we anxiously await a flurry of new and updated apps coming for iOS 16, a few great new apps and updates have hit the scene recently.
From being more productive to being more creative, this week’s Awesome Apps are sure to help you feel accomplished. And if you have something you want us to check out for a future Awesome Apps post, be sure to email your suggestion or tweet them over!
★★★★☆
Black Bird, the Apple TV+ drama about a bad guy sent to ferret out a worse guy in the rottenest jail in America, takes a turn for the confessional this week. Probable serial killer Larry Hall and police informer Jimmy Keene tell each other some truths and some lies as they clean up the mess after a prison riot.
Larry starts to see the hidden side of Jimmy. And Jimmy starts to recognize the worst parts of himself — the ones that remind him of Larry. Black Bird’s been in a good place for two and a half episodes, and this latest one finds the show indulging in its strengths for an extended conversation between the two leads.
★★★☆☆
Apple TV+ comedy Loot goes on two dates this week. Molly, the billionaire who’s discovering what it’s like to have a conscience, has a suitor. And Nicholas learns the meaning of friendship when he comes to Howard’s aid.
As usual, the show’s niceties undercut its comedy every step of the way. And that’s a problem when you’re writing a sitcom starring America’s funniest woman.
★★☆☆☆
For All Mankind spins its wheels this week until a catastrophe in the back half of the episode. Danny’s losing it. Ed’s being Ed. Jimmy commits some low-level espionage. Ellen and Larry find themselves under a microscope. Aleida closes in on the truth. And Margo is losing everything.
A surprise cameo from one of history’s greatest monsters reinforces the lack of imagination on the part of a show whose only job is to imagine greater things.
★☆☆☆☆
This week on Physical, Sheila goes on the lam with Vincent Green in a drug-fueled, disco-scored bonding session.
The wheels on the Sheila Rubin’s aerobics train are clearly about to fall off — and she’s not even going to have the voice in her head to comfort her when all is said and done. It’s another annoying week filled with failed attempts at humor and humanity on Apple TV+’s fizzling ’80s flashback show.
★☆☆☆☆
Trying, the Apple TV+ series that is the Full House to Ted Lasso’s Coach, returns this week for a richly unwarranted third season.
The show, a smug and naggingly pleasant look at two well-to-do narcissists who want to raise children for some reason, finally fulfills Jason and Nikki’s dream of parenthood after watching them not earn it for two long seasons.
Indeed there’s nothing unique or likable or notable at all about these two characters. Let’s see what happens to them now that they’ve brought a pair of children into their London home.
★★★★☆
The Satechi USB-C Slim Dock for 24-inch iMac sits on the stand for Apple’s all-in-one desktop and adds six frequently used ports. It also sports an enclosure for user-installed SSDs.
The hub and drive enclosure has been in my home office for several days. Here’s what it’s like to use in the real world.
★★★★☆
In the ongoing mania for wireless earbuds and headphones, it’s easy to forget that their older wired siblings still have distinct advantages — namely, great sound for less money.
With no need to worry about analog-to-digital conversion and compression for Bluetooth, wired-gear manufacturers can focus on audio quality at a good price.
New York City-based Strauss & Wagner sent me a pair of its EM205 wired earbuds to try out, and they didn’t disappoint. You can find cheaper wired earbuds with good sound, but you can’t really go wrong with these for $39.95. They feature excellent balance and clarity with a comfortable fit and good build quality.
★★★☆☆
Apple TV+’s newest limited series Black Bird hits its stride in a strong third installment.
Prison guards and inmates hound undercover informer Jimmy Keene as he tries to get close to suspected serial killer Larry Hall. McCauley and Miller search for harder evidence as time slips away from them. And outside prison walls, Big Jim is in a bind that affects little Jim.
Black Bird still has a little ways to go to be truly great, but so far this is a promising look at guys at the end of their ropes looking for a way out of very bad circumstances that they brought on themselves.