Apple has acknowledged the existence of a somewhat bizarre bug which bricks any iOS devices that has its date set back to 1970 — and confirms that a fix is on the way.
“An upcoming software update will prevent this issue from affecting iOS devices,” Apple notes on one of its support pages.
While there’s no word on exactly when this software update will be made available, it’s good to know that Apple is on the case.
Honestly, you know things are grave when the U.S. government thinks we’re behind on something. According to the Government Accountability Office, the United States has dismally low recycling rates for used TVs, computers and other devices.
There’s no national infrastructure for a strong recycling program, so states are left to take on the problem themselves, leading to a patchwork of regulations and inconsistencies on how to deal with it. Luckily, Cult of Mac can help Mother Earth and you at the same time — check out our Apple devices buyback program to either sell or straight-up recycle your used or broken gear.
Your next MacBook will get more than just a speed bump, with Intel’s powerful new Skylake chips bringing intense performance (and maybe better battery life) to the new laptops we’ll all be drooling over soon.
Find out exactly how these new processors will make new MacBooks rock, plus what you need to know about iOS’ brick-inducing “Error 53,” how to make Siri work even harder for you on your Apple TV, and which are the best ergonomic accessories for your Mac in this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine.
Here are the week’s top stories.
You ever seen Taxi Driver? In it, Robert DeNiro’s Travis Bickle created a sort of holster to keep a pistol up his sleeve, so just by flicking his wrist, it would leap to his hand.
The Tusk is kind of like that, except it’s not for your gun. It’s for your iPhone.
Samsung hopes to reverse declining Galaxy sales and tackle the iPhone head-on by making its upcoming Galaxy S7 more affordable.
The leaked price list below claims the entry-level option with 32GB of storage will start at just €699.99 ($787) in Europe — a full €50 ($56) less than a 16GB iPhone 6s.
The Apple Watch could soon turn into an automatically adjusting volume control for your iPhone.
In a new patent filed by Apple with the USPTO, the iPhone-maker has found a way to ensure all your iPhone notifications get played at just the right volume level by using ambient audio samples from Apple Watch.
Snapchat — love it or hate it, chances are you’re using it to playfully stay in touch with your friends and family via real-time photo updates of your best duck face selfies.
One of the ubiquitous app’s features is that your images disappear within a set amount of time, letting you be creative, silly or racy as you see fit without worry about those images sticking around or getting posted to the ‘net.
Savvy users, however, know that they can take a screenshot of any Snapchat and save it to their Camera Roll. Snapchat countered by letting the person you’re connected with know when you try to sneak a screenshot of their photo.
If, however, you’re looking to work around this new “feature,” there’s a simple trick that lets you save Snapchats without your friends knowing.
Many of this year’s high-end Androids will come with Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 820 processor. It’s up to twice as fast as the Snapdragon 810 that powered many of last year’s flagships — but it still can’t beat the iPhone 6s.
According to tests carried out on GFXBench, Apple’s A9 processor outperforms Qualcomm’s best alternative — despite slower clock speeds and fewer cores.
Apple Stores in the U.S. are now offering machine-applied screen protectors for iPhone. The service, which uses a Belkin protectors and the ScreenCare+ applicator tool, starts at $18 and is available for iPhone 6 and up.
Your next iPhone probably won’t have a headphone jack, and Sean Nelson is telling you to get over it. But he says so gently by offering iPhone fans a glimpse of what a jackless future might look like.
The industrial design student has drawn up one way Apple or any other third-party company might bridge the 3.5mm gap with a small Bluetooth headphone puck. Under Nelson’s concept, our soon-to-be-outdated headphones would plug into a small, clip-on disk.
If you want to clean up your contacts list so you can better utilize the power of keeping track of people’s contact info on your iPhone, you’ll need to clean it up.
My contacts list has always been a mess. I’ve kept a running list, saved to various services and such, since my first iPhone in 2007.
It’s annoying enough that I went looking for an app that will destroy all the crazy duplicates I have on my iPhone. When I found an app called Cleanup Duplicate Contacts, I took it for a spin and found out how easy it really is.
Here’s how it works.
Intelligent Energy is a company with a mission: It wants to get fuel-cell battery technology in smartphones everywhere to dramatically improve battery life. Today, it signed a joint development agreement with an anonymous smartphone manufacturer to put that plan into action. The two will work together on embedded fuel-cell technology, which would be capable of delivering a staggering seven days of battery life to smartphones.
Apple didn’t shell out for a super-expensive Super Bowl commercial last night, but CEO Tim Cook still managed to bring tons of attention to the iPhone — just not in the way he intended.
Celebrating the Bronco’s ugly victory over the Panthers last night, Cook tweeted a picture of the post-game festivities from the 20 yard line. It’s a position millions of people would’ve died to be in, but the only thing Twitter seemed to care about was how horribly blurry Tim’s photo turned out, leading to a flood of “shot on iPhone” jokes.
The most popular social network in the world is ruining your iPhone’s battery life.
Facebook’s iOS app is in the hot seat again this week thanks to a new report that reveals iPhone users can get up to 15% more battery life if they simply delete Facebook’s resource hogging app and just use the Safari app instead.
The new Apple TV has been on sale for just over three months now, and the growing catalog of tvOS apps and games looks incredibly promising. It’s what Apple TV fans have been calling out for for years, and it doesn’t disappoint.
But does tvOS and a strong backing from iOS developers make Apple TV a good game console? Is it an ideal buy for casual gamers, and can it mount a real threat against the latest and greatest consoles from Sony and Microsoft? Do we even need another console?
Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we battle it out over those questions and more for your entertainment!
Apple is rolling out several new programs in its retail store locations that will give credit for iPhones with pretty severe damage, according to a report. The program will allow customers with a cracked screen, damaged buttons or damaged cameras to trade in their faulty device without issue. Apple previously wouldn’t accept this kind of damage in its Reuse and Recycle trade-in program.
Ringtones are passé; why not wake up to the sound of a music video in the morning?
You’ll be the envy of everyone who hears your alarm go off with this neat iOS 9 feature. Here’s how to enable it.
iPhone users will soon be able to get their chicken fix without busting out their wallets.
Apple revealed today that Apple Pay is now accepted at more than 2 million locations across the US, and it’s continuing to grow by adding new retailers like fast-food chain Chick-fil-A, Crate & Barrel, as well as Au Bon Pain.
The iPhone 7 may not look that much different from the iPhone 6s, according to a new rumor claiming that Apple’s next smartphone will only feature two big design changes.
The iPhone might not be the only device getting an incremental upgrade at Apple’s next keynote, which is rumored to take place March 15.
In a note to investors this morning, Apple analyst Gene Munster claims Apple Watch may get a slight hardware upgrade this spring that will include a better processor, improved battery life and other new internal components.
Apple is supposedly working furiously on product ideas to enter the Virtual Reality market. There have even been reports of several prototypes of VR headsets created by a secret research team said to be comprised of hundreds of engineers.
If Apple has been mind-bogglingly quiet about VR, it did offer a sign of interest recently when the View-Master VR headset appeared for sale on Apple’s website.
Google’s flagship Nexus 6P delivered significant design improvements last year, putting its hardware on par with the best devices from rival manufacturers. But Google wants the Nexus lineup to be even more like the iPhone.
To make that happen, the company will reduce its reliance on third-party manufacturing partners like Huawei and LG and assume greater control over Nexus hardware, according to one report.
The grand unveiling of Apple’s newest iPad and iPhone is reportedly just over a month away.
Although the iPhone-maker usually waits until fall to reveal its latest and greatest iOS devices, a new report claims Apple has set its sights on March 15 as the date for its first big keynote of 2016.
Don’t count on Porsche to enter the self-driving car craze anytime soon.
In an interview with a German newspaper, Porsche’s CEO Oliver Blume turned up his nose at the idea that one day humans will no longer be in command behind the wheel, saying the company does not plan to develop self-driving vehicles.
To make the point clear that Porsche will not team up with a tech company, the CEO then dropped a not so subtle dig at Apple’s electric car project.
I just walked into my living room and the lamp came on, welcoming me in from a cold, dark morning at the gym.
When I leave for lunch later, it’ll turn itself off.
The home of the future is here, and it’s easier than ever to create with the Nyrius Smart Outlet, a Bluetooth wall plug that lets you turn any device with a plug into a smart device.