Mobile menu toggle

iCloud - page 9

Beware phone scammers who warn of iCloud hack

By

Hacker who tried to extort Apple for $100k is spared prison
Hacker who tried to extort Apple for $100k is spared prison
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Got a call from “Apple Support” to say your iCloud account was hacked? Hang up and ignore it.

Phone scammers are calling unsuspecting iPhone and iPad users and trying to trick them into handing over their iCloud account details. Once they have them, they can purchase whatever they want, and it’s you who foots the bill.

iOS 10.3 is out with Find My AirPods, Apple File System and more

By

iPhone 7
Grab iOS 10.3 while it's hot!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The first big iPhone and iPad update of 2017 has finally arrived.

Apple finally released iOS 10.3 to the public today after months of beta testing the new software. iOS 10.3 can be downloaded now as an over-the-air update, or installed via iTunes. iPhone and iPad owners can expect a rash of new features that not only make iPhone and iPad easier to use, but also more secure.

Here’s everything that’s new:

Alleged hackers raise their Apple ransom to $700,000

By

A photo of an iPhone with U.S. money on the screen
Hackers have upped their demands.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The so-called “Turkish Crime Family” hackers who claim they’ve got access to hundreds of millions of Apple customer accounts have raised their ransom demand from $75,000 to a whopping $700,000.

The group, which is apparently based in the U.K., has threatened to remotely wipe users’ devices, or reset iCloud accounts, if it’s not paid by April 7. Apple has denied that the hackers have breached iCloud, although the accounts themselves are real.

Apple denies that millions of iCloud accounts have been hacked

By

The CIA has a team of more than 5,000 hackers.
Hackers have threatened to remotely wipe devices belonging to millions of users.
Photo: Brian Klug/Flickr CC

Apple is denying reports that hackers have gained access to up to 559 million customer accounts, and are extorting the company by promising to remotely wipe devices of their data.

Hackers identifying themselves as the “Turkish Crime Family” this week demanded $75,000 in cryptocurrencies Bitcoin or Ethereum from Apple, or else $100,000 in iTunes gift cards. In exchange, they have said they will delete their alleged data cache.

Hackers try to extort Apple with threats of resetting iCloud accounts, wiping devices

By

Apple offers up to $1.5 million to anyone who spots a software flaw
Hackers claim they have access to up to 559 million Apple accounts.
Photo: Hackers, United Artists

Hackers who claim to have access to millions of iCloud and Apple email accounts are reportedly trying to extort Apple, threatening to remotely wipe individuals’ devices if their demands aren’t met.

Identifying themselves as the “Turkish Crime Family,” the attackers are demanding $75,000 in cryptocurrencies Bitcoin or Ethereum, or else $100,000 in iTunes gift cards. In exchange, they claim they will delete the data cache.

iOS 10.3 and macOS 10.12.4 inch closer to public release

By

iPhone 7 in hand
Apple's new iOS update is nearly ready for primetime.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Developers received new beta software updates today for iOS 10.3 and macOS 10.12.4, possibly signaling that a public release is just around the corner.

The new updates come just a few days after Apple dropped the last betas of macOS 10.12.4 and iOS 10.3 on developers. Both updates come with a number of bug fixes and under the hood improvements to go with new features that were added in previous versions.

Apple seeds macOS 10.12.4 beta 5 to developers

By

macOS Sierra logo
A new macOS beta is out.
Photo: Apple

Registered Apple developers received some new beta software from Apple today with the release of macOS 10.12.4 beta 5.

The new beta comes one week after Apple released macOS 10.12.4 beta 5, bringing a number of new bug fixes and performance improvements to the Mac.

It’s not just you, iCloud is down now for some users

By

icloud-music-library-itunes-match
iCloud is down.
Photo: Apple

Are you having a hard time backing up files to iCloud or listening to songs on Apple Music? You’re not alone.

It appears that Apple’s iCloud services are currently impacted by a major Amazon web services outage that has crippled the internet on the East Coast. It’s unclear what is causing the problem but Apple says only 0.04 percent of users are effected by “slower than normal performance.”

Here are all the Apple services that are down:

Apple buys iCloud domain from Chinese social network

By

iCloud site
Breaking news: iCloud's closing. (Not that one!)
Photo: iCloud.net

In an attempt to crack down on confusion and protect its intellectual property rights, Apple has acquired the website iCloud.net, previously the home of a small Chinese social network.

The web address now displays a message revealing that the site as it currently exists will be closing at the end of the month, and that all existing user data will be destroyed.

macOS 10.12.4 beta 3 arrives for devs and public testers

By

macOS Sierra is here!
Grab the new macOS beta while it's hot.
Photo: Apple

Developers and members of Apple’s public beta software program can now install the latest beta of macOS 10.12.4 after Apple seeded the new update to testers this morning.

The new beta comes just one day after Apple gave developers a new fresh of software update for iOS 10.3, tvOS 10.2 and watchOS 3.2, bringing a bunch of bug fixes and under the hood improvements.

iCloud secretly stores your deleted Safari history for years

By

Hacker who tried to extort Apple for $100k is spared prison
iCloud knows what you were looking at last summer.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

iCloud has been caught storing “deleted” browser history from Safari for well over a year.

Even after users clear their data, it can be found in iCloud using software that’s readily available to anyone. But has Apple been quickly trying to clear its tracks?

Apple seeds new betas for iOS, watchOS and tvOS

By

iPhone 7
There are a lot of new goodies in iOS 10.3.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The second beta of iOS 10.3 is now available for download. Apple seeded the new software update to developers this morning, alongside watchOS 3.2 beta 2 and tvOS 10.2 beta 2.

All three updates contain under-the-hood improvements as well as new features, including Theater Mode for Apple Watch, Find My AirPods and some UI tweaks for Apple TV.

10 key takeaways from Apple’s historic earnings call

By

Image of the old Apple Inc. rainbow logo atop American cash money.
Apple made a ton of money. What more do you need to know?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple managed to shock Wall Street today by beating its own expectations for Q1 2017, the most profitable quarter in the company’s history.

There was good news all around as iPhone sales, services and even the Mac all performed better than predicted. During today’s earnings call, Tim Cook and Apple CFO Luca Maestri revealed some of the secret sauce that made Apple’s earnings one for the history books.

Here are the top takeaways from today’s call.

Apple pulls tool that helped identify stolen iOS devices

By

iCloud-Activation-Lock-dead
The Activation Lock checker has mysteriously disappeared.
Screenshot: Cult of Mac

Apple has pulled its iCloud Activation Lock page which helped users find out if an iOS device was locked to an iCloud account.

The tool could be used to verify that a used iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch wasn’t stolen before you purchased it — but the website’s URL now leads to an error page.

Everything new in iOS 10.3: Hidden keyboard, AirPods finder and more

By

x
There's a lot to love in iOS 10.3.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple gave developers their first look at the next big update for iOS 10 yesterday, and it packs a surprising number of new features.

The public will have to wait a few weeks (or months) to get their hands on the new goodies packed inside iOS 10.3, which brings improvements for AirPods, iPads and more.

Here are all the new additions coming soon to iOS devices near you.

Nope, Apple won’t manufacture servers at AZ center

By

court order iCloud access
Apple isn't making iCloud servers in the US.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple says it has no plans to manufacture high-tech servers in the USA, despite a recent report claiming the iPhone-maker applied for permission to do “high-tech manufacturing” at its site in Mesa, Arizona.

The Mesa center was previously the home of Apple’s ex-sapphire supplier that went bankrupt in 2014. Instead of seeking permission to manufacture on the site, Apple clarified that it is actually just applying to renew the original Foreign Trade-Zone status of the location that brings some big tax benefits.

It’s surprisingly easy to crack iOS 10.1.1’s Activation Lock

By

When it was introduced in iOS 7, Apple called Activation Lock
When it was introduced in iOS 7, Apple called Activation Lock "a really powerful theft deterrent."
Photo: Apple

Since its introduction with iOS 7, Activation Lock has gotten stronger and stronger. But every so often, researchers stumble across a bug that allows it to be cracked. The latest is found in iOS 10.1.1, and it makes it surprisingly easy to get into a locked iPhone or iPad.

Beloved Tiny Wings takes to the skies on Apple TV

By

tinywings-1024x641
With split-screen multiplayer!
Photo: Andreas Illiger

Tiny Wings, one of the most addictive games you’ll ever play on iOS, is now available on the fourth-generation Apple TV. It costs just $2.99, and it comes with a new two-player game mode that lets you battle it out with a friend for the first time.

Liveblog: Apple reveals its (relatively) meager Q4 2016 earnings

By

Will Apple reach its own targets for Q2?
Revenues are expected to be down year-over-year.
Photo: Ste Smith

Apple is set to report its Q4 2016 earnings today, only instead of it being a time for celebration, the company is expected to announce its first annual revenue decline in 15 years.

[contextly_auto_sidebar]

Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri warned Wall Street that this quarter wouldn’t smash any records, but with the iPhone 7 doing better than expected, could relief be on the way?

Investors and analysts will grill Apple about how well the company expects to perform next quarter during today’s earnings call. And Cult of Mac will be right here, liveblogging the whole shebang when it starts at 2 p.m. Pacific.

Come join the fun — it’s livestreaming on Apple’s investor site.

Apple’s spaceship campus will hold even more employees than previously thought

By

What the finished product will look like.
"What is this?! A campus for ants?"
Photo: Apple

The epic scale of Apple’s Campus 2 “spaceship” awed many people when it was first announced — with impressive stats like the fact that it is wider than the Empire State Building is tall, and that it will house 13,000 Apple employees — or the equivalent of 35 fully-stocked Boeing 747 jetliners’ worth of people.

But according to a new report, Apple’s new HQ will now house considerably more than that number of staffers, as Apple aims to bring as many teams under one roof in the name of collaboration.

Apple adds another AI startup to its machine learning team

By

Photo of exterior of Apple store, showing the company's large, white
Apple just bought another AI startup.
Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac

Apple has bought another machine learning startup as part of its effort to boost its AI prowesses for features like intelligent search and Siri.

The company that was acquired this time is India/US-based Tuplejump. The startup’s old website has already been taken down, but it appears that it specialized in big-data technologies for businesses.