Apple still intends to remove iPhone applications it considers outdated from the App Store, but has given developers more time to update their software. The deadline has changed from 30 days to up to 90 days.
And Apple says it focuses the App Store Improvements process on applications that are hardly ever downloaded.
![Apple AirTag: What a difference a year makes [Review]](https://www.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/0D3A2FEB-1E7E-40F6-BDA8-FFFB94B3ABCC.jpeg "Apple AirTag: What a difference a year makes [Review] ★★★★☆")
★★★★☆
A year ago today, I reviewed the AirTag on launch day. I was unimpressed. Now that I’ve used Apple’s item tracker for 12 months, I can say it’s better than it seemed in my first impressions.
That said, there’s still room for improvement when Apple releases an AirTag 2 or AirTag Pro.
The Peanuts gang is about to star in their first Mother’s Day special. To Mom (and Dad), With Love will focus on Peppermint Patty, who doesn’t have a mom. Or does she?
A trailer dropped on Friday so you can get a glimpse of the troubles Charlie Brown and his friends will have celebrating this special day.
The global market for Android phones shrank considerably in the first quarter of 2022, even as iPhone shipments rose.
Shipments from every major Android maker declined, from Samsung on down. Their combined drops were enough to reduce world smartphone shipments in Q1 by around 10%.
An image supposedly showing the front screen panels of all four iPhone 14 models has leaked out. It gives a side-by-side comparison of some of the most significant changes coming this fall to Apple’s 2022 handsets.
The new “hole and pill” design for the Pro models is clearly on display, as is the first iPhone Max that isn’t part of the Pro series.
The first three months of 2022 were good to Apple, with revenue setting a quarterly record. But the company warned on Thursday that problems getting components and assembling products will take a nasty chunk out of revenue for the current quarter. The hit will to be between $4 billion and $8 billion.
But there’s also plenty of good news in from the conference call CEO Tim Cook had with investors after Apple’s March quarter results were announced.
Apple brought in $97.3 billion in revenue during the January-to-March period. That’s a new record for March-quarter revenue. And it’s an increase of 9% over the same period of 2021.
The company also set March-quarter records for iPhone, Mac, wearables and more.
The HyperDrive USB4 Mobile Dock offers ports for both HDMI and DisplayPort, giving users additional options for an external monitor. And the just-launched USB-C hub also includes dual USB-A ports, Ethernet and more.
And all this fits into a package not much larger than a Magic Mouse.
The iPad Air 5 has only been out a month and you can already buy it at a nice discount. The 10.9-inch mid-range tablet is available at $40 below the usual cost.
And this deal is on the base model, so you don’t have to pay more to save more. Though you can also get discounts of up to $70 on versions with 5G or more storage.
Wall Street analysts harbor modest hopes for Apple’s most-recent financial quarter. They predict the company saw its revenue rise by 5% versus the same quarter of 2021.
The iPhone-maker will announce the results of the January-through-March period ahead of Thursday’s quarterly earnings call. Investors will be looking closely to see how the company is managing the ongoing chip shortage, COVID-19 lockdowns at assembly plants, inflation and other challenges.
The European Union reportedly plans to accuse Apple of violating the law by limiting access to the iPhone’s NFC capabilities to the company’s own payment system. The goal is to give rival systems like PayPal access to the iPhone’s convenient tap-to-pay function.
Apple claims the limitation is there to protect users’ financial information. The EU calls it anticompetitive.
An intrepid Apple expert set out to convert an iMac on its last legs into a useful external monitor with the same general design and functionality as a new Studio Display. The inspiration comes from Apple’s recently released monitor using a 27-inch 5K LCD, as do all the iMacs made for many years.
Watch a video of this DYI project to see if this is something you’d like to do with that old iMac you have gathering dust.
People who ordered a top-tier MacBook Pro in February are being notified that it won’t be delivered until June. The delay results from COVID-19 lockdowns in China hampering notebook assembly.
New orders also face delays of several months, making a refurbished 2021 MacBook Pro a better option for some buyers.
Your iPhone battery has run out, you absolutely must make a call or text, and there’s no wall socket anywhere. If you have an iPad, the solution is easy: Connect the iPhone to the tablet.
Using your iPad to give your handset an emergency charge is a trick you might not have thought of. But maybe it’ll get you out of a jam sometime.
The iPhone Self Service Program that Apple announced last fall launched Wednesday. It provides customers with the parts and tools they need to repair their own handsets. And it marks a major shift in the company’s approach to hardware fixes.
The program is for individuals, not small businesses.
Apple built a fix for the webcam quality issues on its new Studio Display into macOS 12.4, which is in beta testing. This will fulfill Apple’s promise to improve the look of video conferencing done with the camera.
Early tests with the pre-release software show definite improvements.
The first trailer for the upcoming historical drama The Essex Serpent dropped Tuesday. It gives a preview of a very complicated relationship between characters played by Claire Danes and Tom Hiddleston. Also, there might or might not be a giant sea serpent involved.
The limited series premieres May 13 on Apple TV+.
The Samsung T7 Shield is a a credit-card size external SSD intended for outdoor content creators or travelers. It’s drop, water and dust resistant, and offers up to 2TB of capacity.
This new rugged version joins other SSDs in the Samsung T7 line.
Apple is reportedly working with Littler Mendelson, a law firm with a history of helping companies prevent their employees from unionizing. The move comes in the wake of workers at several Apple stores moving to form unions.
If true, then Apple is going to do what it can to prevent the thousands of employees at its 250+ retail locations in the United States from organizing for collective bargaining.
Anyone experiencing trouble with the App Store or Apple Music on Monday can relax. Apple reports that it resolved the issues that plagued these services earlier in the day.
This is after they were down for about eight hours.
Diablo fans will be soon able to answer the call to battle on their iPhone. On June 2, Blizzard Entertainment will launch Diablo Immortal, a massively multiplayer online action role-playing game for phones and tablets.
There’ll also be a PC version, and players will be able enjoy the game across platforms.
The Apple M2 processor hasn’t yet been released and the first report of an M3-based Mac is already out. It could launch as soon as 2023.
This might be an indication that Apple will release new versions of its Mac/iPad chip more quickly than it has until now.
Numerous developers report that their applications that aren’t being actively updated will soon be kicked out of the App Store. This is apparently part of an ongoing effort by Apple to remove “outdated” software from the store.
Devs must submit new versions of their applications to stay in the store, which means they’ll have to comply with newer Apple policies.
Physics-based puzzlers are all the rage, and the latest Apple Arcade game takes the concept to the stars. In Moonshot – A Journey Home, players use a slingshot to reunite a wandering moon with its home planet.
It debuted Friday on Apple’s gaming service, which now offers more than 200 titles.
iPhones will continue getting smaller, faster and more efficient processors for years to come. TSMC, the company that manufactures all Apple’s chips, says it should be able produce processors in 2025 that are an amazing 2nm. These should make today’s fastest Macs and iPhones look like slugs in comparison.
Rival Intel is working hard to keep up. It says it’ll pass TSMC in a few years – but it’s missed plenty of similar self-imposed deadlines over the years.