iPhone - page 19

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: We dissect the latest Apple rumors, which go from incredible bummer (Apple Watch) to potential breakthroughs (iPhone and HomePod).

Also on The CultCast:

• The latest iOS 18 beta brings some welcome new changes.
• A teaser trailer and a release date get us psyched for season two of Severance.
• Griffin tells us all about a keyboard with a peculiar name in a new Under Review segment.

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.

With the major Photos app redesign coming in iOS 18, Apple aims for simplicity. However, the version  of the Photos app in iOS 18 developer beta 3 is a hodge-podge of design that will confuse users. I think that if Apple doesn’t revise its approach, the company will face significant backlash when it releases the updated app to the public this fall.

Yes, iOS 18 is still in beta. And Apple very well could change the Photos app before its anticipated release in September. I certainly hope Apple tweaks things — I’m writing this as more of a wish list than a design critique. In fact, I already filed my suggestions through the official channel of Apple’s Feedback system (submitted as FB14289280).

As of iOS 18 developer beta 3, Apple has already made a few little tweaks to the Photos app redesign. But unfortunately, there’s been no movement on any of my major criticisms from beta 1. For that reason, I feel obligated to outline the goals of the new Photos app, applaud what it gets right, point out where the design fails, and explain what aspects prove confusing.

I don’t think Photos needs to be reverted entirely to the way it worked before. But these key features need changing ASAP. Keep reading or watch my video.

For all the bargain hunters and late adopters out there, Woot just launched another iPhone and Apple Watch sale on great (but not new) gear. The big sale on Apple refurbs runs through July 31 at 10 p.m. Pacific. It’s your chance to grab refurbished models at great prices.

Woot calls it the “Big Value Little Price iPhones and Apple Watches.” The cheeky Amazon site says “now E.T. can phone home in style!”

Indeed, you can find refurbished iPhones in all shapes and sizes, including the discontinued iPhone mini. Same goes for Apple Watch. Don’t dally, though. One of the deals already sold out!

Apple’s chip-maker TSMC will begin trial production of 2 nm processors next week. This is months earlier than expected, and raises the possibility that the company’s next generation production process will be ready in time for the A19 chip in the iPhone 17.

The improvement over the current 3nm process should bring a jump in performance without affecting battery life.

Final Cut Camera is a new Apple app that offers incredible manual control over your iPhone’s camera system. If you use your phone for professional videography — or even for a hobby project — you should use this free app to take videos rather than sticking with the stock Camera app.

Final Cut Camera comes absolutely packed with professional features the Camera app can’t match. The new app gives you finer control over exposure, white balance, color temperature and more. You can enable image overlays to see which parts of the frame are in focus or overexposed. In short, it’s a highly versatile camera. You can even pair it with Final Cut Pro for iPad to capture footage from multiple iPhones simultaneously.

Final Cut Camera is totally free on the App Store. Keep reading to learn how to use it. 

If you’ve never tried making your own Siri Shortcuts, I’ve compiled a short list of the best shortcuts for iPhone to introduce you. Shortcuts can quickly run automated actions on your phone (and on your iPad or Mac). They’re made using Apple’s Shortcuts app, where you can visually piece together actions offered by the apps installed on your device.

You can run a shortcut by asking Siri or by putting a widget on your iPhone’s Home Screen. Not a lot of people know this powerful feature exists — or what it can do for them. For eight examples of what you can do with shortcuts, keep reading or watch our video.

There are some photographs you just can’t get — or get well — without a selfie stick. And if that selfie stick is also a portable tripod and a camera remote, all the better, right? That’s the SwitchEasy EasySelfie. It does it all.

If you hurry, you can get it in the Cult of Mac Store for just $34.99 (22% off). However, this sale ends next Wednesday!

It won’t be long before parents can hand their iPhone or iPad to a small child and be sure they don’t go on the web or accidentally make a phone call. The ability to lock apps so that they require Face ID to open is coming in iOS 18 and iPadOS 18. Apple has consistently introduced new features to enhance privacy and security, as seen in updates covered by apple.news.

I tested the new feature, and while it isn’t as useful as being able to make separate accounts for different users would be, it’s still a welcome change.

Apple only shows off its finished products, which makes the company’s secret prototypes and early concepts all the more fascinating. Details of these first-draft designs usually don’t come out until years after Apple dreams them up and discards them. Even if you’re well-versed in Apple history, these alternate-history unreleased Apple products will intrigue and confuse.

The wild and crazy ideas go back more than 40 years. If anything, it proves that Apple continuously skates toward the next hit. The quest for innovation continues, no matter whether the company is in dire straits or cruising on success. Keep reading or watch our video to see the wildest Apple products that might have been.

If you own an iPhone 14 or iPhone 15, it’s time to test one of its best abilities: Apple’s Emergency SOS via satellite service. This allows users of these iOS handsets to exchange messages with emergency services while outside of cellular and Wi-Fi coverage.

Getting a compatible iPhone in contact with a satellite isn’t complicated. But it’s something users should know how to do before they need this potentially lifesaving feature.

Here’s how to use the iPhone’s Emergency SOS via satellite feature.

The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will be able to run Apple Intelligence features, but no other current phone can handle the upcoming AI-powered features. Apple’s reasons for the limitation seem somewhat vague, at least so far. They don’t fully explain why a 2-year-old iPhone chip isn’t up to the job but a 4-year-old Mac chip is.

As it stands, some people harbor suspicions that it’s an attempt to force iPhone users to upgrade to the latest models this fall. And some iPhone 15 owners are angry that their relatively new devices won’t be able to take advantage of Apple Intelligence.

Cult of Mac asked Apple to explain the decision but we didn’t hear back. So, I’ll do what Apple hasn’t: Go through a range of hardware features and explore what role they might play in keeping Apple AI off so many iPhones.

Apple reportedly told the companies that assemble the iPhone to replace up to 50% of their employees with automation.

It’s an ongoing effort, and one that supposedly began after riots at a Foxconn plant several years ago over stringent Covid restrictions.

iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 let users reformat external drives as well as keep a copy of a file on iCloud permanently stored locally.

Both features were found by developers tinkering with the first betas of these operating systems, and should make the Files app on iPhone and iPad more useful.

The Reply button in the iPhone version of Apple Mail does a whole lot more than let you reply to messages. For some reason, Apple packed it with unrelated options.

Here’s everything lying hidden behind that simple button.

After spending a few days trying out all the new features in iOS 18, I think it really is one of the biggest updates in a long time. However, hands-on testing shows there’s a lot that needs cleaned up before September, when it’s expected to ship.

The new customizable iPhone Home Screen opens a wide world of possibilities — but you’ll have to wait for third-party apps to update their icons to really make it sing. I’m impressed with the level of customization in Control Center, too, though it’s understandably pretty buggy in this first developer beta. The new Photos app is proving controversial, and I think there are some obvious areas it could be improved, but I like where it’s going overall.

I think there’s a lot to look forward to in iOS 18.

iOS 18 will enable your iPhone to show the time even when the battery has run dry. This improvement relies on the Power Reserve function of new iPhones to work.

Thanks to Power Reserve, your iPhone is findable offline, and the NFC chip also works for Express Card functionality.

In iOS 17, you can use Apple’s Reminders app as a grocery list app on your iPhone. It automatically sorts items you add into common sections, which proves incredibly helpful when you go shopping. Just open the Reminders app, and you can easily see if you’ve got everything you need as you’re making your way through the store.

I’ll show you how to use it, including how to share your Reminders app grocery list with someone else so you can both add items and check them off the same list.

June 12, 2007: With iPhone frenzy hitting a fever pitch in the buildup to the device’s launch, journalist Walt Mossberg sends the Apple world into a tizzy by whipping out a prerelease unit during a speech. The Wall Street Journal columnist is one of a handful of tech writers given early access to Apple’s revolutionary smartphone so he can put it through its paces for a review.

Speaking at The Chronicle of Higher Education’s Presidents Forum, Mossberg says he isn’t sure whether he’ll give the iPhone a thumbs up. Worried doubters immediately fear Apple is about to drop a dud.

Apple previewed support for RCS messaging in the iOS 18 Messages app at WWDC24. Adding Rich Communication Services will bring enhanced texting between iPhone and Android users, with features not possible before.

It’s a change Apple dragged its feet on for many years. Along with RCS support, Apple is also introducing new features like polls for iMessage, enhancing group chat interactions. Learn more about these changes.

We found more precious nuggets in new software releases from WWDC24: new wallpapers for Apple devices. They include Mac versions that reference old-school icons, iPad landscape and portrait wallpapers in various colors, and similar pretty images for iPhone.

“This new dynamic wallpaper floats over old Macintosh iconography, Control Panel, and applications like the Calculator and MacWrite, Apple’s early word processor,” Basic Apple Guy said of the new-old Mac wallpaper he found.

Sending money to another iPhone user is about to get as simple as holding the two handsets near each other. The upcoming feature is called Tap to Cash.

It’s a private and secure payment system. The two users don’t even need to exchange phone numbers.

In iOS 18, you’ll be able to use the power of Apple Intelligence to generate fun, relevant images in your Messages conversations. You can create brand new emoji and personalized artwork.

Apple calls the features Genmoji and Image Playground. “The Image Playground is going to make everyday conversations a whole lot more fun,” said Cyrus Irani, Apple’s Director of Human Interface.

With the Photos app, you can more easily search through the content of your photos and videos, and build custom memory videos without pilfering through your library by hand.

Knowing how to unsend an iMessage can help you out of a pickle if you accidentally shoot off a text to the wrong person. You also can edit a message after it’s sent to fix a grave typo you didn’t catch. Like if you accidentally text your mom “Finally got laid today!” when you meant to type “paid.”

Keep reading to see how to unsend or edit an iMessage on your iPhone, or watch our quick video tutorial.

Apple just made a major change to its standard warranty terms for the iPhone and Apple Watch. Going forward, the company will no longer cover a single hairline crack under its warranty.

Instead, users must pay for the repair or claim accidental damage under their AppleCare plan.

Whether it’s wedged between the cushions or kicked far under the couch, a handy-dandy feature in iOS 17 and tvOS 17 lets you find your lost Apple TV remote using your iPhone.

Sure, you can take the L and simply use your iPhone or Apple Watch to control your Apple TV. But I like having the physical remote on hand, too.

The mind races when one imagines how many hours of human life might have been saved if everyone had this feature 30 years ago. Let me show you how to find your AWOL Apple TV remote with your iPhone.