iPhone 5s shipping times have improved this week as Apple slowly catches up with demand for the new device. At the beginning of this week, customers ordering the handset through the Apple online store would have seen shipping estimates of 2-3 weeks, but as of today, they’re down to 1-2 weeks.
Target has today revealed its Black Friday deals for November 28 to November 30, which include some incredible savings on the latest Apple devices. Consumers will be able to pick up a 16GB Wi-Fi iPad Air — usually priced at $499 — for $479 with a free $100 Target gift card.
The 16GB iPad mini (original model) can also be had for $299 with a free $75 gift card.
It’s finally here, folks — the iPad mini with Retina display is now available to order from the Apple online store. Prices start at $399 for a 16GB Wi-Fi model, which are currently shipping in 1-3 business days. Those equipped with LTE connectivity start at $529, and they’re shipping in 5-10 business days.
Tweetbot 3.1 for iOS just hit the App Store, and it comes packing a whole bunch of new features — some of which a being brought back from its predecessor. You can now view lists as timelines again, set square avatars instead of circular ones, and resize text within the app — plus lots more.
A judge has advised Samsung to prepare its defense after determining that the South Korean company probably violated a court order by leaking confidential Apple documents.
Apple provided Samsung with copies of its patent agreements with Nokia, Ericsson, Sharp, and Philips as part of the massive patent battle between the two that started last summer, but it seems the company ignored the protective order that said the information could only be used in the context of that case.
Twitterrific 5 for iOS has received a nice new update that adds a number of new features and user interface improvements. In addition to a redesigned profile layout, there’s a new pull-to-refresh animation, and users now have the ability to view profile banners by tapping on them.
If you’re worried about your iPhone getting damaged the next time you’re involved in a heavy turf war, then check out Proporta’s new case for iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s. It looks like a standard leather folio case from the outside, but it’s lined with carbon fiber that’s so strong, it will comfortably withstand a shotgun blast from 20 yards.
After Apple announced the iPhone 5s in gold, we felt sure that the latest iPads would be available in the same color, but that wasn’t to be the case. But don’t be disappointed. As long as you have lots of spare cash that you’re itching to spend, you can buy a gold-plated iPad Air or iPad mini from Goldgenie with prices starting at just $1,860.
As expected, the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c are now available on Boost Mobile — alongside the iPhone 4S. The former starts at $550 for a 16GB model, while the iPhone 5c is $100 less at $450. The iPhone 4S starts at just $300.
But if you pick up your new handset before November 24, you’ll get a cool $100 off that price.
A couple of weeks ago, I reviewed the Maclocks Lockable Cover for Retina MacBook Pro, and although I had a lot of praise for it, I mentioned it my verdict that there was another Maclocks lock I preferred. That’s the Wedge Lock Bracket, which is the closest you’ll get to an integrated lock for your Retina MacBook Pro.
Older MacBook Pros — those that don’t have a Retina display — have a Kensington lock built-in, but in an effort to save space and make the new models really thin, Apple did away with that, as well as things like FireWire, traditional hard-disk drives, and the optical drive.
That poses a security risk. If you work in a public place, or you frequent to Starbucks to get stuff done while on a caffeine high, then you need a way to prevent your MacBook Pro from being stolen when you leave it unattended.
And I think the Wedge Lock Bracket, which screws into the bottom of your MacBook Pro and almost looks like it’s a part of it, is the best and most elegant solution.
RunKeeper, one of the most popular fitness trackers for iPhone, now boasts a number of cool new features that take advantage of the M7 motion coprocessor built into the iPhone 5s — thanks to a new update that hit the App Store today. The app also supports AirDrop, allowing you to share your workouts with nearby friends.
Apple has topped the list of world’s most valuable brands for the third straight year in a row, and is now worth almost twice as much as any other brand on the planet, Forbes reports. The Cupertino company is now valued at $104.3 billion, up 20 percent over last year, which puts it way out in front of Microsoft, Samsung, and even Google.
Former Apple CEO John Sculley has confirmed that he and a group of investors were lining up a bid for BlackBerry, but they waited too long and lost out. In an interview on Bloomberg Surveillance, Sculley reveals how he was surprised when the struggling smartphone maker announced a $1 billion investment deal earlier this week.
Apple is reportedly teaming up with new suppliers to boost production of the iPhone 5c and the iPad mini to meet strong consumer demand, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Wistron Corp., a manufacturer based in Taiwan that already produces smartphones for BlackBerry and Nokia, will be tasked with assembling the iPhone 5c; while Compal Communications, which currently works with Acer, Dell, Lenovo, and others, will manufacturer the iPad mini.
Rdio promised us back in September that recommendations were on their way, and you’ll find them now inside the app’s latest iOS update. The release also delivers a redesigned stations player, various user interface improvements, and some bug fixes.
Music streaming service Deezer has today announced that it now has more than 5 million paid subscribers worldwide, and it’s launching a new native Mac app that will improve the Deezer experience on your desktop. The app will sync with your existing iTunes library, and it will allow you to store music locally for offline access.
Apple pushed out a nice new update to its Apple Store app for iPhone on Tuesday, which brings Apple Store gift cards to Passbook in the United Kingdom and other countries. The feature made its initial debut just over a year ago, but until now, it was only available to users in the United States.
Thinking about upgrading your old iPad to an iPad Air, or a new iPad mini with Retina display? Well, Target wants to help. The retailer is now offering customers at least $200 in store credit when they trade in any old iPad, including the original model.
Spotify for iOS has today been handed another new update with several nice improvements. In addition to adding artist tour details, it brings a much-improved search function, support for the Japanese language, and lots of bug fixes.
When Apple announced iTunes Radio at WWDC this June, it looked like a lot of subscription radio services would take a massive hit. But for Pandora, things couldn’t be better. Since Apple’s new service made its debut alongside iOS 7 back in September, listening has increased by 9 percent.
The iPhone 5s wasn’t the first smartphone to offer a fingerprint scanner, but it’s undoubtedly the most popular one to date. In fact, it’s so popular that Touch ID is now driving massive growth in the smartphone fingerprint scanner market, with sales of fingerprint scanning handsets expected to reach 525 million units in 2017.
Google has tightened security inside the latest Chromium build for Mac, blocking access to all of your saved passwords until you’ve provided your system password. Under previous releases, users simply had to enter a special address to access all of the login credentials they had saved inside the browser, providing access to anyone who uses your computer.
The creators of The Simpsons love poking light-hearted fun at Apple and its devices, so when Siri made another guest appearance alongside our favorite animated family this weekend, she was never going to be on her best form. But that’s okay, because as you’ll see in the clip below, it makes for an hilarious joke.
[Editor’s note: This review has been stickied to the top of Cult of Mac. Scroll down for more news.]
Let’s face it, we’ve been waiting for Apple to make drastic changes to the iPad since it released the third-generation device in early 2012. While it did introduce a high-resolution Retina display with that model, and it has made nice improvements in speed and other areas since then, we’ve all been clamoring for improvements to its design.
We’ve got those with the iPad Air — and a whole lot more. The new slate looks just like a larger version of the iPad mini. It maintains its 9.7-inch Retina display, but it has narrower bezels, a substantially thinner design — it is now just as thin as the iPad mini at 7.5mm — and it’s 28% lighter than its predecessor at just one pound.
In addition to that, we get Apple’s incredible 64-bit A7 processor that promises up to two times the power and graphics performance of the A6X, the new M7 motion coprocessor that made its debut in the iPhone 5s last month, and two W-Fi antennas with MIMO technology. And all of this will cost you just $100 more than the iPad 2.
Wondering what to download first on your new iPad Air? If you’re an Angry Birds fan, you’ll probably want to get the new Angry Birds Star Wars II update, which adds a bunch of new “secret” levels, new characters — including silver C3PO and Darth Sidious — and more.