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Ed Hardy - page 246

Next MacBook might take unfortunate performance hit

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MacBook Internal makeup
Because Intel can't get its act together, Apple's apparently going to release a low-cost MacBook that's slower than it should be.
Photo: Apple

After waiting years, Apple is reportedly given up on using some of Intel’s long-delayed processors in the budget MacBook expected this fall. Instead, the device will include chips that debuted last year.

Problems like this could be one of the reasons Apple is supposedly going to move macOS onto its own ARM-based processors and away from Intel.

Wirelessly power up your iPhone on the go with this travel charger [Review]

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The mophie Charge Stream Travel Kit uses inductive charging to bring your iPhone back to 100 percent, at home or on the go.
The mophie Charge Stream Travel Kit uses inductive charging to bring your iPhone back to 100 percent, at home or on the go.
Photo: mophie

A wireless charger for your iPhone is very convenient, and now you don’t have to miss out when you’re on the road. The mophie Charge Stream Travel Kit includes a travel-size Qi wireless charger and the add-ons to use it in a hotel room or even your car.

This mobile charging kit currently sells for $49.95 on Amazon, and is compatible with the iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus. It also works with any Qi-compatible phone or accessory. Don’t miss our hands-on review. 

2018 iPhone with 6.1-inch LCD might boast slender screen bezels after all

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The 2018 iPhone may sport a new type of LCD from Japan DIsplay with thinner screen bezels.
The 2018 iPhone may sport a new type of LCD from Japan Display with thinner screen bezels.
Photo: Japan Display

There’s good news and bad news about the more-affordable 6.1-inch iPhone supposedly in development. The good new is it may have bezels almost as thin as the iPhone X. The bad news is it’s not expected until November.

Apple is reportedly turning to a new type of LCD for this upcoming model. This will enable the slim bezels, but the supplier has run into production problems.

2018 iPad Pro might make a change you’ll hate

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2018 iPad Pro concept art
Smaller bezels will reportedly be a highlight of the 2018 iPad Pro, but will that make up for a huge drawback?
Photo: Álvaro Pabesio

The next-generation iPad Pro is going to have some nice improvements, like smaller screen bezels resulting in an edge-to-edge look.

But not every change is likely to go down well with fans. Apple is also supposedly going to remove the headphone jack, as it has done in its iPhone line. But that’s probably not the move that will draw the most criticism.

Philips Adore mirror brings HomeKit automation into the bathroom

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The Philips Adore bathroom mirror can e controlled through Apple's HomeKit home automation.
The Philips Adore bathroom mirror can be controlled through Apple's HomeKit home automation.
Photo: Philips

Think about how nice it would be to have the best lighted bathroom mirror and dim the lights without having to get out of the tub. That’s one of the promises of the Adore Bathroom lighted mirror as it can be controlled from your iPhone or iPad.

The center of this product is a standard mirror that’s about 20 inches across. This is surrounded by a while LED light that can be dim or bright.

Apple wants to turn all its devices into wireless chargers

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Adding wireless chargers to the MacBook Pro seems a no-brainer.
Adding wireless chargers to the MacBook Pro seems a no-brainer.
Photo: Apple

What if your every Apple device could wirelessly charge almost every other one? Engineers came up with plans to put wireless chargers in MacBooks, iPads, and iPhones so they could charge each other, or an Apple Watch.

Building inductive chargers into macOS laptops is such an obvious idea it’s a bit surprising the 2018 MacBook Pro doesn’t include them. But Apple took this idea to its logical extreme.

Trump administration takes a first step toward regulating Facebook, Google

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Facebook employees
The US government may soon be looking over Facebook's shoulder to better protect your privacy. Unless Facebook and Google can prevent it, of course.
Photo: Facebook

The Commerce Dept. is reportedly talking to social networking companies and consumer advocates about rules to protect online privacy. Also included are possible protections for companies that have data breeches.

This is supposedly laying the groundwork for legislation that might be proposed this fall.

Huawei could beat Samsung and Apple to a foldable phone

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Chinese company Huawei wants the media buzz that would come with releasing the world's first foldable phone.
Chinese company Huawei wants the media buzz that would come with releasing the world's first foldable phone.
Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns/Flickr CC

Both Samsung and Apple are reportedly working on foldable phones, but China’s Huawei could be the first to get one on the market.

Phones that can unfold to the size of small tablets have the potential to shake up the mobile device industry in the coming years.

What happened to Facebook today won’t happen to Apple

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Facebook owns 4 of the top 10 apps of the past decade
Wall Street hammered Facebook today. But the privacy concerns that pushed the company's share price down almost 20 percent aren't an issue for Apple.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Facebook lost more value today than any other company in history: $120 billion. The massive selloff came after CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that the growing privacy concerns of the public, and the likely response of lawmakers and regulators, will hit the company where it hurts: in the pocketbook.

On the same day Facebook lost 19 percent of its value, Apple’s share price was unaffected. This is because the two companies have diametrically opposing views on the privacy rights of the public. What hurt Facebook so much is actually one of Apple’s strengths.

Samsung’s battery-sipping RAM chips could be headed for iPhone

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An improved Samsung RAM will almost certainly make future iPhone models more efficient.
An improved Samsung RAM will almost certainly make future iPhone models more efficient.
Photo: Samsung Electronics

The highlight of Samsung latest mobile RAM chip is power efficiency. The second-generation LPDDR4X uses up to 10 percent less electricity without sacrificing speed. That’s almost certainly going to benefit future iPhone models.

With batteries improving only slowly, the best way to increase the time between charges is for the phone’s components to draw less energy. Hence Samsung’s efforts to make its RAM more efficient.

Why you shouldn’t keep a large Apple Pay balance

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New ad makes Apple Pay in Messages easy and funny.
Someone who has sent you money can potentially get your Apple Pay account locked. Which might be a real problem for some people.
Screenshot: Apple

Some people treat Apple Pay like a bank account. They keep a balance of cash on this payment system and use it to pay off debts or accept money from friends.

A Redditor has a story that shows a potential pitfall of this strategy, especially if a large sum of money is involved.

Samsung ads continue to diss iPhone to distract from weak S9 sales

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Samsung's ads set at an Ingenius bar criticize the iPhone rather than praise the Galaxy S9.
Samsung's ads set at an "Ingenius" bar criticize the iPhone rather than praise the Galaxy S9.
Screenshot: Samsung

When a product isn’t doing well, one marketing strategy is to sling mud at the competition. That’s why all Samsung’s latest ads don’t focus on the Galaxy S9, but criticize the iPhone instead.

There are four new ads that target some aspect of Apple’s products, such as the notch, no microSD card slot, and a lack of on-screen multitasking.

2018 iPhone won’t be as fast as it could be

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Apple Watch
Rather than Qualcomm LTE modems, the 2018 iPhone will use chips from other suppliers that aren't as fast.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The Apple vs. Qualcomm battle just escalated to the point where the next iPhones won’t include LTE modems produced by this chipmaker. That means these iOS devices will be slower accessing the Internet.

Apple certainly has other options for LTE chips. But none are as good as Qualcomm’s products.

Emmy-winning actress joins Apple’s sci-fi epic See

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Alfre Woodward at Global Green USA's 12th Annual Millennium Awards.
Alfre Woodward at Global Green USA's 12th Annual Millennium Awards.
Photo: Global Green USA/ Flickr CC

Apple’s sci-fi drama See already has Jason Momoa from Aquaman, and now he’s joined by Alfre Woodward, who has no less than four Emmys and an Oscar nomination.

Aside from some of the cast, a director, and the writer, all we know about See is that it will be an “epic, world-building drama set in the future,” according to Variety.

Apple T2 chip might crash iMac Pro, MacBook Pro

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The Apple T2 chip could be the source of mysterious crashes afflicting two of Apple's newest computers.
The Apple T2 chip could be the source of mysterious crashes afflicting two of Apple's newest computers.
Photo: IFIXIT

Some iMac Pro units are subject to occasional hard crashes. The reasons are hard to pin down, but fingers are starting to point at the Apple T2 chip inside this computer. 

There’s also one in the 2018 MacBook Pro, and this new device is seemingly prone to the same problem.   

Unearthed interview shows Steve Jobs knew the iPhone would be ‘huge’

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jobs figure
This plastic model of Steve Jobs has a better vision of the future of smartphones than many rival CEOs.
Photo: DAM Toys

Ten years ago, Apple co-founder and  then-CEO Steve Jobs understood that smartphones were going to be a big deal. And he realized software would be an important part of that.

With 20/20 hindsight, it’s easy to dismiss that vision. But Jobs was talking in August 2008, a year after the release of the first iPhone, and only a month after the iOS App Store debuted. Most people had flip phones, and PCs dominated the computing landscape.

Bluetooth security flaw requires updating to recent iOS, macOS versions

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It's necessary to update your iPhone, iPad, or MacBook to remove a Bluetooth security flaw.
No more procrastinating. It's necessary to update your iPhone, iPad, or MacBook to remove a Bluetooth security flaw.
Photo: Apple

Many people are slow about updating the operating system on their phone or laptop, sometimes from fear of bugs. But a security flaw in Bluetooth requires updating to recent versions of iOS or macOS to fix.

This flaw could allow a hacker to access information exchanged over Bluetooth. And it affects recent and older iPhones and MacBooks.

Learn to code like a wizard with this Harry Potter wand kit

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Harry Potter Kano Coding Kit teaches muggles to code
Progammus Swiftus: Harry Potter Kano Coding Kit teaches muggles to code
Photo: Kano

You can’t go to Hogwarts to learn magic, but the Harry Potter Kano Coding Kit teaches programming as if you’re in the Wizarding World.

It comes with a wireless wand, and you flick and swish through the basic concepts of real-world programming. Professor Flitwick would be so proud.

AT&T’s 5G coverage dominates competition (for now)

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AT&T store2
Verizon is behind arch-rival AT&T in deploying mobile 5G. Sprint and T-Mobile are trailing.
Photo: Steve Rhodes/Flickr CC

Verizon just reveled that Houston will be the third city getting its super-speedy 5G service before the end of this year. But there’s huge caveat: this is fixed service, only for homes and businesses.

In contrast, AT&T will launch mobile 5G service in six cities this year. This shows how far ahead it is than the competition.

Apple issues thermal throttling fix for 2018 MacBook Pros

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2018 MacBook Pro
Apple just released a fix that will speed up every 2018 MacBook Pro, no matter the processor or screen size.
Photo: Apple

Ever since the debut of the 2018 MacBook Pro, there’s been controversy about the top-tier version suffering thermal throttling. Apple today apologized for this problem, and released a fix.

It also seems every version of the new Apple laptop will down-clock itself to prevent overheating. The slowdowns occur even when it’s not totally necessary to stop the machines from being damaged.

Apple will answer HomePod owners’ burning questions during live Q&A

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Apple will provide HomePod tech support at a special online event in a few days. Get your questions ready.
Apple will provide HomePod tech support at a special online event in a few days. Get your questions ready.
Photo: Apple

The HomePod is a new product and Apple wants to be sure owners of this smartspeaker are getting all the benefits. That’s why the company scheduled a live chat with HomePod specialists for later this week. It’s open to anyone with questions.

A lot of people get tech support on their electronics from friends, but the $349 HomePod is struggling to compete against the much cheaper Amazon Echo, so many users probably don’t know someone else with this device.

Consumer Reports says MacBook Pro thermal throttling is a feature not a bug

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The new MacBook Pros feature True Tone technology for
The 2018 MacBook Pro with a Core i9 processor is subject to thermal throttling, but it's hardly alone in that.
Photo: Apple

The top-of-the-line MacBook Pro with an Intel Core i9 processor has gotten some bad press. The new laptop reportedly is subject to thermal throttling, which is a fancy way of saying that its CPU gets so hot that it slows itself down before burning up.

But before anyone criticizes Apple too much, Consumer Reports came to the company’s defense. The consumer-testing organization points out that other laptops with top-tier processors are also subject to thermal throttling.

Leaked Apple repair videos cough up some secrets

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Apple repair techs have access to a lot of gear other people don't.
Apple repair techs have access to a lot of gear other people don't.
Screenshot: Apple

Editor’s Note: Not surprisingly, these internal Apple videos are now gone from YouTube. The iPhone maker undoubtedly asked that they be removed.


What appears to be a collection of Apple’s internal video guides to repairing various devices has been posted on YouTube. These show the company’s methods to fix some components of the iPhone X, the iMac Pro 2017, and the MacBook Pro 2016 and 2017.

Apple doesn’t show anyone outside of the company how to service its products. Third-party repair companies have to figure it out for themselves. So this is a rare look inside official Apple repair procedures.

Your iPhone X is still worth almost as much as you paid for it

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Ex-student sentenced to 3 years in prison for massive iPhone scam
Your used iPhone value might surprise you. You could resell your iPhone X and recoup most of the cost of a new 2018 model.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

You may have gulped a bit when you put down $999 for your iPhone X. But turns out it was a good investment. Half a year later, your device has depreciated surprisingly little.

B-Stock, a B2B company selling used computers, says that the iPhone X has held its value better than any Apple phone in its experience. And iPhones do better than their rivals.

Chinese company could compete with Samsung on OLED iPhone screens

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BOE Technology Group already makes LCDs for Apple, and this Chinese company now wants to produce OLED iPhone screens.
BOE Technology Group already makes LCDs for Apple, and this Chinese company now wants to produce OLED iPhone screens.
Photo: BOE Technology Group

One of the most important components of the 2018 iPhone could be produced by a company with very strong ties to the Chinese government.

BOE Technology Group already makes some LCD screens for Apple, but also wants to manufacture OLED displays used in flagship iPhone models.