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Apple Inc. - page 14

For Apple collectors, pricing is a crapshoot

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Is it worth $3,000? How about $500?
Is it worth $3,000? How about $500?
Photo: garmont2222211/eBay

The lucky few who have heard the audio from Apple’s new HomePod say it’s spectacular. Does it sound as good as the Hi-Fi stereo boombox Apple made for the iPod?

One way to find out is to buy one currently on eBay – for $2,999.99.

HomePod leads to string of Twitter jabs

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HomePod
Samsung doesn't want to fight HomePod... yet.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s HomePod is sure to fit in our surroundings. It already resembles a couple of items found around the home, as many astute Twitter users pointed out when Phil Schiller unveiled the new smart speaker at WWDC 2017 Monday morning.

Many thought it looked like a ball of string while at least one saw its look inspired by a roll of toilet paper.

Mac lover’s funny video throws serious shade at Apple

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Roberto Hoyos is singing out of desperation.
Roberto Hoyos is singing out of desperation.
Photo: Roberto Hoyos/YouTube

Roberto Hoyos has a message for Apple that is made in fun but is deadly serious and is said – well, sung – on behalf of many frustrated Mac users.

The founder and CEO of Throwboy, the maker of emoji pillows and other plush toys inspired by digital culture, has made a music video that parodies Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You, but warns Apple that Mac users will soon turn to PCs if they don’t get a major update on iMacs and MacBook Pros soon.

Trade-up to the iPhone 7 and capture all of your trips this summer in perfect clarity

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iPhone 7 vs iPhone 7 Plus cameras
The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus helped Apple reverse a three-quarter sales decline.
Photo: Apple

Summer is finally upon us and staying up to date with the latest devices is essential for vacation season.  With long awaited trips rapidly approaching, having a great camera to document all your adventures is paramount. Do yourself a favor this summer, sell your old device, and upgrade to a new iPhone 7 or 7 Plus just in time for that beach trip!

Why I love Apple’s hideous Smart Battery Case

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iPhone case
Apple's Smart Battery case has got me charged!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s own battery case, cleverly titled the Smart Battery Case, has been on the market for over two years now. I had never really taken an interest in it;  it was just another battery case, only this one looked like it was pregnant with an iPod.

That was until last week, when I was desperately in need of some form of charger for my iPhone and decided to pick one up. Since then, my thoughts on what was just an ugly, overpriced battery case have totally changed.

Check out the video below to find out why it’s earned a place in my heart — and is now my favorite iPhone case.

Up your charging game for iPhone, Apple Watch, and more [Deals]

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collage-2017-05-10 (1)
We've rounded up some of the best deals on essential accessories for your charging-related needs.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

For all the convenience of mobile technology, it can be a drag having to keep our devices juiced up. Whatever your situation, we’ve rounded up some top shelf charging upgrades that’ll offer new ways to juice up your most-used devices. We’ve got a universal Lightning dock, a wireless charging station for Apple Watch, a set of extra long set of Lightning cables and super sleek USB charging hub for your car. Everything’s going for a healthy discount, read on for more details:

Apple extends service for buggy Smart Keyboards

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You can thank Microsoft for this... apparently.
You can thank Microsoft for this... apparently.
Photo: Apple

Apple says it will service “functional issues” on Smart Keyboards for the iPad Pro for up to three years, according to internal memos sent to Apple stores and service providers recently.

The company, in the memo sent last week, acknowledged that some Smart Keyboard owners experienced stuck or unresponsive keys as well as non-working Smart Connectors. Apple says it will fix any qualifying keyboards free of charge within three years of the date of purchase. The company will also give a refund to any customer who already paid for service on a Smart Keyboard.

This red hat aims to Make Apple Great Again

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Make Apple Great Again hat
Like a thinking cap, but better.
Photo: Throwboy

A simple message on a red hat helped Donald Trump win the presidency. Could the same work for Apple?

The company Throwboy has thrown down a challenge to the tech giant by offering for sale a red hat sure to land on the heads of at least a few Apple fans. On it in white lettering is the phrase “Make Apple Great Again.”

Netflix tops this list of potential Apple takeover targets

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Apple adds 5 new vice presidents to its executive lineup
Apple adds 5 new vice presidents to its executive lineup
Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac

A Citibank analyst says Apple is sitting on so much cash, a likely change in tax code could see Cupertino use its “Merger and Acquisition firepower.” The most likely target would be Netflix.

Citibank puts the odds of a Netflix buyout at 40 percent, according to analyst Jim Suva in a note to clients titled Addressing the Problem of Too Much Cash.

Twitter flips out over mysterious Tim Cook tweet

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Tim's got a lot to be happy about.
Tim's got a lot to be happy about.
Photo: Twitter

Apple CEO Tim Cook set Twitter ablaze with speculation today — and all it took was a simple smiley face emoji.

Cook sent out a tweet with just a smiley face emoji this morning. No other context was provided, and the tweet got deleted shortly later, leading Apple fans on Twitter to wonder what the most powerful man in tech was really trying to say.

These are the most popular theories:

Apple to open online store in India to sell iPhones

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india
Apple is doing all it can to grow in India.
Illustration: Cult of Mac

Apple will open an online store in India to start selling iPhones, which it may begin making locally within the next couple of week.

Selling iPhones it makes in India is Apple’s first big step in competing for market share in a country with rapidly growing smartphone sales.

Merriam-Webster calls Apple fans ‘sheeple’

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Sydney
Some Australian sheeple photographed in the wild.
Photo: Apple

It is officially proper English to call compliant people — including Apple fans — “sheeple.”

The wordsmiths at Merriam-Webster revealed “sheeple” as the newest entry in the dictionary this morning. And according to the definition, Apple fans are a prime example of sheeple in the real world.

This toy Mac built for dolls now runs Photoshop

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This tiny toy Mac runs Photoshop for work on tiny pictures.
This tiny Mac can run tiny Photoshop for work on tiny pictures.
Photo: Javier Rivera

Javier Rivera has a daughter, but the American Girl doll accessory he found on eBay was for him. It was a miniature Macintosh computer, a non-working toy for an 18-inch doll, and he had to have it.

The nerd in him believed he could make it run Photoshop.

Meet Steve Jobs’ alter ego on the opera stage

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Ashton Kutcher and Michael Fassbender played Steve Jobs in movies. Now Edward Parks III brings his rich baritone voice to the Steve Jobs opera, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs.
Ashton Kutcher and Michael Fassbender played Steve Jobs in movies. Now op
Photo: Dario Acosta/Santa Fe Opera

Edward Parks III will likely be the first singer on an opera stage to perform in running shoes, jeans and a black mock turtleneck shirt.

Yet Parks knows there is nothing casual about playing Steve Jobs. He is soaking up all he can about the late Apple co-founder as he prepares to bring his much-heralded baritone voice to the role this summer in the world premiere of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs at the Santa Fe Opera.

“I’m taking in everything that is out there and stuffing it in my head so that I can come away with my own thoughts of who he was and what he means to us,” Parks, 33, told Cult of Mac. “I think at first it was a little daunting. This is going to have a lot of attention, not just from the opera world but in the tech community.”

Watch a rare Apple I power up like it’s 1976

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This is one of six Apple I computers in the world that actually work.
This is one of six Apple I computers in the world that actually work.
Photo: Victoria & Albert Museum/YouTube

Take a good look at that slim iPhone 7 in your hand, or the powerful MacBook Pro balanced on your knees. Then imagine the very first circuit board that flipped the switch to power a revolution that put those devices in your possession.

A video recently posted to YouTube by the Victoria & Albert Museum in London shows a working Apple I computer, one of only six known in the world today.

These cases will protect your (RED) iPhone without covering the color

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Casetify offers elegant and quirky designs for a clear iPhone case to bring out the red on the new PRODUCT(RED) iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.
Casetify offers elegant and quirky designs for a clear iPhone case to bring out the red on the new PRODUCT(RED) iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.
Photo: Casetify

Surely, you’re not going to order the special edition iPhone 7 and then slap on a case that covers up that beautiful red aluminum.

Accessories company Casetify is offering a clear case for the (PRODUCT)RED iPhone 7 and 7 Plus with 40 different designs that turn the red back plate of the housing into an artistic canvas.

India won’t give in to Apple’s tax break demands

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India
Apple wants to dramatically improve its 2 percent share on the smartphone market in India.
Photo: Tim Cook/Twitter

Apple’s goal of snagging a sizable piece of the growing smartphone market in India may prove more expensive than hoped.

India’s Department of Revenue rebuffed Cupertino’s requests for 15 years’ worth of tax concessions to set up manufacturing facilities, according to published reports. The bad news comes a month before Apple is set to begin building the iPhone SE in that country.

Meet the artist who turned Apple legalese into a fun comic book

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Terms and Conditions: The Graphic Novel
Watch as Steve Jobs is transformed into a different comic book character while wearing the same clothes.
Photo: R. Sikoryak

Artist Robert Sikoryak has a knack for introducing skittish readers to dense classic literature with comic book adaptions. Try Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment with a 1950s-era Batman with blood on his ax.

But would you consider reading Apple’s terms and conditions user agreement for iTunes as a graphic novel — all 20,699 dry, legalistic words?

Apple absent from new legal brief opposing Trump’s latest travel ban

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Yeah, we're pretty incredulous about your ideas, too, Mr. Trump.
The brief has been successful despite support from big companies.
Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr CC

Apple’s name is notably absent from a new legal brief opposing President Donald Trump’s latest travel ban.

Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, and more than 60 other companies are also missing from the lawsuit that hopes to block a second, “watered-down version” of the controversial executive order.

Apple tops tech support rankings for third year in a row

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The Genius Bar is one of the best things about buying a Mac.
The Genius Bar is one of the best things about buying a Mac.
Photo: Apple

If you want to get the absolute best tech support for your laptop, pay the Apple tax and get a Mac.

In the latest annual Tech Support Showdown rankings, Laptop Magazine has awarded Apple the number one spot for the third straight year. Apple beat out nine other companies, but it’s starting to get some serious competition from companies like Acer that are focusing more on online service.

WikiLeaks vows to share CIA ‘cyberweapons’ so tech firms can fix holes

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Wikileaks'
Wikileaks' "Vault 7" data dump allegedly reveals CIA hacking tools used to compromise iPhones, Android phones and other devices.
Image: Gordon Johnson/Pixabay

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has vowed to give technology firms like Apple access to the CIA’s “cyberweapons” arsenal so they can develop fixes that make our devices more secure.

Earlier this week, thousands of leaked documents and files revealed the full extent of the CIA’s cyber attacks on smartphones, computers and even smart TVs. WikiLeaks says the spy agency has lost control of it all in a “historic act of devastating incompetence.”

Artist creates with Macs and lets nature take its course

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The artist known as Monsieur Plant prompts nature to override the power of the computer.
The artist known as Monsieur Plant prompts nature to override the power of the computer.
Photo: Christophe Guinet

Cult of Mac 2.0 bug Apple designs its products with an affinity for creatives of all kinds. But a French artist known as Monsieur Plant uses Macs to take “Think Different” to another level.

The Apple computers used by Christophe Guinet, 39, are not the tools but the subject in a body of work that integrates life-giving plant matter with life-altering technology.

Apple tops list of most admired companies for 10th year running

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Apple is worth more than the entire US energy sector combined
Fortune likes a company with a fortune. Who would have thought it?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple once again tops Fortune’s annual list of the world’s admired companies.

Other tech companies in the top 10 include Amazon (No. 2), Alphabet (No. 6), Facebook (No. 9) and Microsoft (No. 10). The company that’s nowhere in sight? Samsung, which is coming off a disastrous year in which its Note 7 smartphones exploded and had to be recalled.

For Apple, on the other hand, this marks the 10th year in a row at the top of the list. Do you think Tim Cook gets bored of winning at some point?

Nostalgia fuels these wacky Apple Car concepts

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iCar concept
The color iMac G3 is classic, but could it be a classic car?
Photo: NeoMam Studios

Part of you wishes you still had a blueberry iMac G3 sitting on your desk. But would you buy a car that looked just like it?

A marketing company, joining in on the excitement surrounding longtime rumors of an Apple car, came up with five concepts that are inspired by landmark Apple products.