Today is May the 4th.

May the Fourth ... be with you!

If you didn't know, today is Star Wars Day, the annual celebration of all things Skywalker.

Joining in the fun, Apple has a new video detailing how Macs help with the sound design of the movies and TV shows.

Turns out, Macs and Star Wars go a long way back.

“I started out with a Macintosh SE, way back,” said Ben Burtt, known for sound-design work on the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises.

It's a fun and instructive video, and it reveals some of the secrets behind the series' iconic sounds.

-- Leander Kahney, EIC.

Apple shows off sound artists’ use of Macs for Star Wars Day — www.cultofmac.com

Happy Star Wars Day — even if you didn’t know that was a thing. Apple is celebrating the nerdy holiday by showcasing the widespread use of Macs and iOS devices at Skywalker Sound. Festivities include the release of a “Behind the Mac” YouTube video and a feature article about the audio artists at George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch, along with a special online “Today at Apple” session about creating Star Wars sound effects.

Apple takes title as world’s No. 1 computer-maker — www.cultofmac.com

Apple shipped more computers in the first three months of 2022 than any of its rivals, according to a market research firm. Increasing Mac sales helped Apple take the top spot away from Lenovo in the global market for laptops, desktops and tablets.

Apple isn’t the only company that thrived during the pandemic — www.cultofmac.com

During the pandemic, Aria Benefits not only held its own, but business growth more than doubled to almost 20% during the last year. An important ingredient was a customer relationship management and productivity app called Daylite.

MacBook assembly restarts after COVID-19 lockdown — www.cultofmac.com

Everyone waiting for a new MacBook Pro to be delivered can take heart from a report that Quanta Computer is back up and running.

Anker’s bulked-up battery pack broadens charging options — www.cultofmac.com

If you’re one to suffer charging anxiety while out and about, Anker has your cure. Its latest MagSafe-compatible charging bank packs a 10,000mAh capacity.

You can feel good about these tough and compostable iPhone cases — www.cultofmac.com

If you think something that’s “compostable” must be easily “destructible,” well, that may be true of your coffee filters. But it’s not true of everything. Take Casetify’s Ultra Compostable iPhone Cases, for example. These things are tough as hell. They’ll protect your iPhone as well as many other iPhone cases. And the ultimate beauty of them is, once you move on to another iPhone and discard the case, it won’t hurt the environment.

Save a whopping $100 or more on latest iPad mini — www.cultofmac.com

There’s never been a better time to buy an iPad mini 6, the brilliantly redesigned model from 2021. You can pick up Apple’s smallest tablet at its smallest price yet.

Apple TV+ 'Greatness Code' trailer looks at what drives top athletes — www.cultofmac.com

Ever wonder how champions overcome all odds to win? The trailer for the second season of Emmy Award-winning sports documentary series Greatness Code gives you a glimpse at what drives top athletes to succeed in impossibly competitive scenarios.

Recovering PC gamer converts to Mac and loves it [Setups] — www.cultofmac.com

“Conversion” stories are fairly common in computing, with people deciding to switch from one “ecosystem” or another. Given Apple’s recent rash of hugely popular products, a fair number of folks are switching from PC-and-Windows-based setups to Apple-centric ones. An avid PC gamer — strike that, a former avid PC gamer — owns today’s featured setup.

Tweet o' the day

One more thing ...

"Our goal is to make the best devices in the world, not to be the biggest." -- Steve Jobs