The product was already a hit, Mophie just made it a little better. Photo: Mophie
mophie added fast charging for Apple Watch and a more sustainable design to its popular folding 3-in-1 MagSafe travel charger, the company said Wednesday.
So now the well-loved travel accessory gives you fast MagSafe charging for iPhone and quicker charging for your wearable.
Tap to Pay enables businesses to use an iPhone to securely accept Apple Pay, contactless credit and debit cards, and other digital wallets. Photo: Apple
French iPhone users now have access to Tap to Pay, which enables businesses to accept contactless payments from credit cards directly on their iOS handset – no additional hardware required.
The service has been gradually roiling out around the world since it launched in 2022.
Europeans will soon be able to make an end run around the App Store by sideloading iPhone applications. Image: Apple/Cult of Mac
The good news is that iPhone could finally allow users to install applications directly starting in 2024, according to a reliable source. The bad news is that being able to go without the App Store will only be an option in Europe.
To be clear, sideloading is required by EU law so it’s definitely happening. The timing isn’t clear, though.
Why Humane's introductory video for the Ai Pin begins with co-founder Imran Chaudhri shuffling a series of boxes stacked like a snowman I do not understand. And that is just the first five seconds of the dreadful presentation. Photo: Humane
Since co-founder Imran Chaudhri’s TED Talk earlier this year, where we got a vague introduction to the supposed iPhone-killer’s features, there remained a slim chance — one in a hundred — that the then-unnamed device wasn’t a total waste.
Any ounce of doubt has been washed away as this new video doubles down on the Ai Pin’s flaws and walks back its only positives. In fact, the introductory video clearly demonstrates why the device will fail: The AI gave completely wrong answers and provided no way to check their accuracy. It’s absolutely untrustworthy. This highlights the broader concerns surroundingHumane AI and its ability to provide reliable and accurate assistance.
The Humane AI Pin goes on your clothing and may or may not replace your iPhone. Photo: Humane
After months of cryptic hints and teasing demos, startup Humane finally put its supposedly iPhone-killing Ai Pin on sale Thursday for $700, plus subscription costs.
You pin it to your clothes and interact with it through voice, touch control, gestures, and laser projections on your hand. However, despite its ambitious goals, the reality ofAI pins has been met with skepticism due to performance issues and limitations.
The question is, will this thing really kill the iPhone? To those who don’t like talking to devices except when absolutely necessary, it must seem unlikely.
iPhone and other Apple devices may have much better batteries within a couple of years. Photo: PBKreviews
Apple is developing greatly improved batteries for its future devices, according to a new report. It appears the iPhone-maker wants to create a custom process in-house and own it — rather than outsourcing — just like it did with Apple silicon chips.
Here's your chance to bag great deals on Apple accessories. Photo: Woot!
Amazon bargain site Woot! launched an Apple accessories sale with something for almost everyone — and deals as good as 90% off certain iPhone cases and 61% off an Apple Thunderbolt 3 Pro cable.
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As you can see, you have to push the other gear around if you want to use Nexa as a mouse pad. Photo: David Snow/Cult of Mac
Journey recently unleashed an odd-but-useful beast — “the world’s first 4-in-1 laptop sleeve” with wireless charging, aka the Journey Nexa.
Journey Nexa Laptop Sleeve with Wireless Charging is a 4-in-1 device — MacBook sleeve, wireless charger for iPhone and AirPods, mouse pad and desk mat. But I found space limits it when you try to use it four ways at once, and it could benefit from some other improvements.
This isn't screen burn-in. It's an image retention problem that's fixed by iOS 17.1. Photo: spriteice/Reddit
Anyone with an iPhone 15 Pro should install iOS 17.1 when it launches this week, especially if their new handset seems to be suffering from screen burn-in. Turns out it’s not a hardware problem but the result of a software bug that gets fixed by the upcoming update.
Plus, there are other new features coming in iOS 17.1.
The next iPhone you buy from Apple's store could be running the latest iOS release. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Apple has developed a new way to wirelessly update iPhones in its retail stores without opening their boxes. This will ensure all iPhones sold are running the latest iOS release.
Apple could roll out the technology to its retail stores before the end of the year.
Finally, you’re on iOS 17. What’s next? Image: Apple/D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
There are a lot of awesome features in iOS 17 — Contact Posters, StandBy, Safari profiles, shared passwords and much, much more. Here’s a simple to-do list on how to make the most of Cupertino’s latest and greatest iPhone operating system.
iOS 17.1 will be here before November. Image: Rajesh Pandey/Cult of Mac
We now know the last possible day Apple will release iOS 17.1: Wednesday, October 24.
That is the date by which the iPhone-maker committed to introducing an update that reduces the amount of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the iPhone 12, as required by a French regulatory agency. And that update is part of iOS 17.1.
What’s new in iOS accessibility? You might be surprised. Image: Antonio Cruz/Wikimedia Commons/D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
If you haven’t looked at any of Apple’s accessibility features because you’re not blind or deaf, and don’t think they would make your life easier, you might be surprised.
Apple built a handful of accessibility features into iOS 17 that let people with various disabilities use the iPhone in new and unexpected ways. However, absolutely anyone can take advantage of these tools, which prove surprisingly helpful in certain situations.
In iOS 17, five accessibility features take things even further. Assistive Access simplifies your phone to its bare features to make it easier to use; Live Speech and Personal Voice let you type on the keyboard to speak using your own voice; Detection Mode and Point and Speak help you get around using your iPhone camera.
Our hands-on demo will show you what these features can do for you.
Odds are your iPhone doesn't run iOS 17. Adoption of Apple's latest mobile operating system is downright anemic. Photo: Cult of Mac
In the weeks since iOS 17 launched, just a small percentage of iPhone owners have adopted it, according to an analytics firm. This is despite the fact that the new version is freely available for every iPhone going back five years.
Users may have been made cautious by Apple’s need to rush out three patches to fix bugs since the big update.
The U.S. government recently tested its emergency notification system. You can opt out of these messages. Photo: FCC/FEMA
There’s a way to prevent your iPhone from blaring out a loud alarm whenever the feds or local governments use the Wireless Emergency Alerts system. Setting your device so it ignores these alerts is actually quite easy, though it is more complicated than putting your iPhone in Silent mode.
Your iPhone will get an emergency alert Wednesday that looks a lot like this. Photo: FCC/FEMA
iPhones and Androids in the United States will receive an emergency alert Wednesday, but it’s not anything to worry about. It will come from a couple of U.S. government agencies testing the Wireless Emergency Alerts system.
This isn’t the first time the system has been tested — the feds are required to check that the system works every few years.
In short, just ignore it. Also ignore the crazy conspiracy theories surrounding the test.
iOS 17 is hard on battery life. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
iOS 17 reduces the battery life of an array of older models. The result: Users of the iPhone XR, iPhone 13, etc., running the latest operating system version need to charge up their handsets more often.
It is not normal for a new iOS version to universally reduce battery life. But a fix may be on the way.
Double the shortcuts in the small widget. Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
You can fit two shortcuts into one small widget in iOS 17, a significant change for power users of Apple’s time-saving Shortcuts app. A lot of shortcuts I make are in pairs — and now, you can put two shortcuts of a kind in one small space on your Home Screen.
Home Screen widgets are a great way to launch the shortcuts you use every day. On the iPhone, where space is limited, fitting twice as many shortcuts without losing any icons could be a game changer for your Home Screen. Let me show you how to set it up.
Jony Ive left Apple in 2019 and founded design firm LoveFrom. Photo: Vanity Fair/YouTube
Former Apple design chief Jony Ive and OpenAI are trying to raise $1 billion to build the “iPhone of artificial intelligence,” according to a new report.
The article builds on previous media items about Ive brainstorming with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on the project.
iOS 17 gives Apple Podcasts users a refreshed player and queue, episode art, search filters and the ability to connect subscriptions to top apps. Photo: Apple
Now you can listen to more than 100 new podcasts from various apps and services in Apple Podcasts, the company said Tuesday.
“Subscribers to Apple Music, Apple News+ and participating apps like Calm and Lingokids can connect their subscriptions to access new shows and more,” Apple noted.
Block unwanted images from iMessage. Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
If you’ve ever been the victim of unsolicited dick pics, or “cyberflashing,” you can now automatically hide obscene images in iOS 17. Censoring NSFW sexts can give you an extra line of defense against unwanted, creepy texts. This feature, new in iOS 17, puts suspected nude images and videos behind a blurred gray background.
Accessing the iPhone 15 Pro Max components is easier. But troubles await. Photo: iFixit
Apple designed the internal iPhone 15 Pro series to be much easier to work on than previous models, but iFixit did a teardown and found that replacing several broken components is a hassle.
In the end, the latest iOS handset got a fairly low repairablity score from iFixit.
A brighter screen is just one of many improvements in the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Those who were jealous of the Dynamic Island and 48MP camera in the iPhone 14 Pro can relax — the just-launched iPhone 15 and 15 Plus include the best features of last year’s Pro models. This makes them significant upgrades for anyone with an older handset … even one from 2022.
And dumping the old Lightning port in favor of USB-C is icing on the cake.
Apple has poured billions into making its own 5G chip, and so far has nothing to show for it. Here's why. Artists concept: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Apple’s five-year effort to make a 5G modem for the iPhone has so far accomplished little besides spending billions of dollars, according to a new report. The reasons for the failure are myriad but mostly come down to executives underestimating the complexity of the project.
That’s left iPhone-maker dependent on Qualcomm for modems, a company Apple has a very rocky relationship with.