If a picture is worth a thousand words, a GIF must be worth… well, a lot more. And they’re only getting more popular, which is why you need Giphy’s new keyboard for iOS, which puts all the GIFs you could ever need at your fingertips.
These lovely, leather folios are delightfully classy. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
SurfacePad for iPhone and iPad solves a problem I have with most folio-style cases.
These tend to cover up too much of the gorgeous Apple design without giving much in return. There’s always a trade-off between form and function. If you’re going to hide the gleaming Apple devices behind a case, at least make it look as classy and useful as Apple does.
The SurfacePad for folio cases from Twelve South are delightfully minimal, covering the front and rear of your iPad or iPhone in luxurious leather without sacrificing a refined look.
Why is Apple so optimistic? Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple’s executive team is optimistic about the company’s future, despite a bleak earnings call. And why wouldn’t they be? Apple’s slump brought in more money than most other tech companies out there.
Read all about the positive spin in this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine, along with a trick to making your iOS folders look round with no jailbreak required, a frank appraisal of the Apple Watch one year in, 8 killer Instagram tips, the world’s biggest Apple Museum and much, much more.
Right now, that’s just a small blemish on an otherwise darn near perfect record. But the concern is that it could signal the start of a much greater decline, ushering in an era in which Cupertino is no longer the overwhelmingly dominant force in all things shiny and aluminum.
Should Tim Cook and Co. really be worried about declining demand, and should fans be worried about Apple’s future? Or will our favorite gadget maker be back with a bang?
Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we throw hands (not literally) over these topics and more!
Don't call them 'iPhones' Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple’s VP of Marketing Phil Schiller has revealed that pretty much everyone pronounces Apple’s product names completely wrong — and they don’t even know it.
Saying the plural form of “iPhone” seems like a fairly straightforward deal. It’s “iPhones,” right?
Not so, says Schiller, who unleashed a tweetstorm lecture on the official way to tell your friends that you own lots of Apple smartphones.
It turns out the iPad can be a pretty great piano player. Photo: Buster Hein/Cult of Mac
It’s pretty darn cool watching talented human musicians bust out music using an iPad, but one thing we’re all limited by is the ability to react perfectly to 120 frames of motion each second.
Which is why it’s awesome to see the work of YouTube user DenverFinn, who recently built a D.I.Y. robot with the express aim of breaking the record for iPad piano game Piano Tiles. With the aid of an iPhone and a homemade machine able to hammer a specific tile on the screen when asked to, DenverFinn’s robot shows prodigy levels of piano-playing excellence.
Apple earnings calls are usually a time for celebration and gloating, but for the first time in over a decade the company is poised to post declining profits.
Tim Cook warned Wall Street that this would likely happen due to declining iPhone sales. Have we really reached “peak iPhone”?
Analysts and reporters will be grilling Cook and Apple CFO Luca Maestri during today’s Q2 2016 earnings call. Investors will be looking for signs that Apple still has room to grow. And Cult of Mac will be right here, liveblogging the entire Apple earnings call — and translating the financial gibberish — when the big event starts at 2 p.m. Pacific.
Investors just got some bad news. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple’s phenomenal run of growing profits has come to an end. For the first time in 13 years, Apple announced that its profits declined year-over-year during the last fiscal quarter.
The company just posted its earnings report for Q2 2016 and, as predicted, iPhone sales took a serious hit. Apple only shipped 51.6 million devices last quarter, resulting in $50.6 billion in total revenue and a quarterly net income of $10.5 billion.
Apple CEO Tim Cook admitted the company had a challenging quarter but is still incredibly optimistic, despite what many analysts are calling “peak iPhone.”
Kate Appleton will be in charge of getting more businesses to use iPhones and Macs. Photo: BlackBerry
Apple’s push to become a great company for large companies as well as consumers is getting a big boost this week with the hiring of former Box employee Karen Appleton who has joined the company in an enterprise-focused role.
Appleton revealed last week that she was leaving Box after working with the company since 2007 as employee number 8, but she hasn’t said what exactly she will be doing for Apple.
Well, you can add one more to the list — as police in Bangkok recently captured a violent armed gang responsible for a string of vicious robberies in the country’s northern region — all thanks to their ill-advised decision to steal an iPad mini with the feature enabled.
Apple is being transparent about government requests. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple has released its latest report on government information requests, showing how many times it has been asked to hand over data on its users over the six month span running from July to December 2015.
At a time when Apple was increasingly finding itself at odds with the Justice Department over the topic of encryption (something which exploded earlier this year with the San Bernardino shooting case), U.S. law enforcement made requests relating to 5,192 individual Apple accounts.
How many years do you use your iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or Mac before shutting it down for the last time and sending it to the big Apple Store in the sky?
While Apple products are typically far more solid and long-lasting than those made by rivals, the company offers a clue in a newly released document concerning Apple and its commitment to the environment.
A new threat targeting iOS devices has been discovered by security researchers Patrick Kelly and Matt Harrigan, promising to “brick” your iPhone or iPad if you happen to log onto malicious Wi-Fi networks.
Why would anyone log onto a malicious Wi-Fi network? Because by exploiting the auto-reconnect feature found on iOS — whereby your Apple device will automatically log into Wi-Fi networks it thinks it’s previously connected to — you might not even realize it’s happening.
Make your own fun collage with Pixlr right on your iPad. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
Don’t let the backlash against scrapbooking get you down — photo collages are fun. You can go to the store and buy a multi-framed monstrosity to put your hardcopy photos in and mount it on your wall, or you can use an app on your Mac or iPad to take some of the work out of it.
If you’re looking to make your own collage on your iPad, Pixlr is a fantastic choice, as it makes putting various photos together and adding fun effects incredibly simple and fun.
"Android? Whatever!" Photo: Yoga Hosers/Kevin Smith
iPhone sales may be slowing down, but the popularity level of Apple’s handsets among teenage customers is higher than ever — and increasing all the time.
In an extensive new survey carried out by analysts at Piper Jaffray, entitled “Taking Stock with Teens,” a whopping 69 percent claim to be iPhone owners. Better still, 75 percent of teens say they expect their next phone to be an iPhone.
According to a new report, a plan to provide around 20,000 iPads to London’s Metropolitan Police Service in the U.K. has failed to materialize — despite $8.6 million spent developing custom software, licenses and training.
Control your Mac (or PC) from your iOS device with this slick new system. Photo: Quadro
I just used my iPad to control my MacBook Pro. I watched a video on YouTube, did some image manipulation with Lightroom and edited an essay in Microsoft Word, all without touching my laptop.
Sounds like something you’d expect with a screen sharing app, but Quadro makes it even simpler with a new iOS app that will let you connect to and control your Mac or PC with a grid of commands that look like something out of Star Trek.
Finally the reason for no native calculator app adds up. Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac
As crazy as it sounds given the wide range of use-cases Apple makes possible with the iPad, it has never shipped with a built-in calculator app. And, according to a recent post on Twitter from a user claiming to be an ex-Apple employee, we may finally have an explanation.
Shock horror: it involves Steve Jobs being a perfectionist.
This flash drive will connect to your Mac and your iPhone. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
Best List: Xtra Drive by Naztech
We’ve all been using flash drives on our Macs for ages, ever since Apple dropped the disk drives from its computer lineup.
iPhones and iPads don’t have a USB port, so it’s hard to use the same external thumb drives on the go.
The new Xtra Drive from Naztech is the best of both worlds, providing a single microSD card-based solution that has both a USB and a Lightning connector that will let me back up and transfer files from my iOS device to any computer.
But it seems the Transportation Security Administration has yet another use in mind: It spent $1.4 million on a TSA iPad app to determine which passengers to randomly search when they’re about to board a flight.
iPad Pro is even better at 9.7 inches. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple really, really wants you to replace your laptop with an iPad — especially if that laptop is powered by Windows. But before that switch can even be considered, the iPad needs to do everything your laptop can and more. That’s where iPad Pro comes in.
With its new A9X chip, it’s the most powerful iPad to date. It does everything your old iPad did, but it does it better. It’s compatible with the Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard, and now it’s available in a smaller form factor with a 9.7-inch display.
This new model is easier to carry around all day, but it packs almost exactly the same punch as the 12.9-inch iPad Pro — and the same stellar speakers. It has also adopted the incredible 12-megapixel iSight camera from iPhone 6s, with the dual-tone LED flash.
Apple is 40 years old today. In that time, the Cupertino company has delivered some incredible products and services, and revolutionized smartphones, tablets, and music players. But is it boring now?
Some say Apple’s innovation has stalled in recent years, and it has become too predictable. The surprises we used to see during its big keynotes no longer show up, and despite its secrecy, you can almost predict its product roadmap for the next year.
Are those claims harsh? Is Apple really past its best, or will it deliver groundbreaking new products again that can shake up the consumer technology industry?
Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we fight over Apple at 40.
Admiring fans check out the first iPhone in its public debut. Photo: Traci Dauphin/Cult of Mac
Apple turns 40 years old today, and what a journey it’s been: from a promising homebrew startup to an underdog fighting off bankruptcy to an industry-straddling behemoth with $233.7 billion in revenue, all thanks to the vision of theco founder of apple.
It’s impossible to boil down every significant Apple event into one story, but we did our best to pick out the 40 most significant moments in the company’s past.
Check out these key moments in Apple history below.
Get your fill of high-quality film recommendations here. Photo: Tribeca Shortlist
Looking to watch peerless films on your Apple TV? Look no further than Tribeca Shortlist, a service for film lovers that showcases a high-quality, curated list of films that are worth watching.
Already chosen as a Best New App for iPhone and iPad by Apple, Tribeca Shortlist is now available on the biggest screen in your home via Apple TV.