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Siri-ously? Apple’s virtual assistant finally coming to Mac

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Siri
Your Mac is about to get a new virtual assistant.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Siri spread from the iPhone to the Apple Watch and Apple TV in 2015, but this may finally be the year Apple’s virtual assistant lands on Mac.

Apple is planning to make Siri this year’s big OS X feature, according to a new report that claims Siri integration into OS X 10.12 will be unveiled at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June.

Clever translation, a great tennis game, and other apps of the week

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appsoftheweek_1024
'Appy weekend everyone!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The weekend is halfway over and — if the weather in your area is anything as dismal as it is in mine — thoughts naturally turn to amusing ourselves with the latest apps.

But which ones to sample? Whether you’re looking for a clever translation app, one of the best games of the year so far, or a nifty tool for blasting music from any Bluetooth speaker in your house, we’ve got something for you.

Check out our picks below.

Apple fights the FBI, get more HD space, secret iPhone emoticons and more

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Apple takes on the FBI.
Apple takes on the FBI.
Cover Design: Stephen Smith/Cult of Mac

Tim Cook sparked an internet controversy when he penned his open letter to Apple customers about why the tech giant was pushing back against a court order to create an FBI-friendly version of its iOS software.

Find out more about Apple’s epic battle over iPhone encryption, along with how to unlock your iPhones secret emoticons, 10 hard drive space-saving tips, the best news and RSS apps for your iOS devices, and a bit about John McAfee’s bid to hack the iPhone for the FBI.

All that and much more in this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine. Here are the top stories this week.

New browser brings picture-in-picture to Mac [Reviews]

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fluid-header - 2
Fluid Browser comes in handy for graphic design. And workplace distraction.
Photo: George Tinari/Cult of Mac

With iOS 9, Apple introduced a whole slew of multitasking features including picture-in-picture, so I can watch a video while using another app. Even though this was technically already possible on the Mac, there hasn’t been an easy way to get a video to overlay another window so I can focus on both at the same time. Well the new Fluid Browser solves that problem, quite magnificently I might add.

Fluid is its own web browser, but it’s not meant to replace Safari or Chrome for my main usage. Instead, I open up Fluid and go to a website where I want to play video, like YouTube or Netflix. The video itself will enlarge to fit the width of the browser window. Then magically, if I click somewhere else on my desktop, Fluid will float above the other windows and even has adjustable opacity so I can make the video as prominent on screen as I want.

AirFoil 5 lets you stream from your Mac to literally any speaker in your house

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Rogue Amoeba's AirFoil just got a lot more powerful.
Rogue Amoeba's AirFoil just got a lot more powerful.
Photo: Rogue Amoeba

Rogue Amoeba’s AirFoil has long been one of the Mac apps we can’t live without. The app allows Mac users to pump audio on an app-by-app basis to any AirPlay speaker within range.

Now, AirFoil 5 is here. And it’s a huge update. Not only does it introduce functionality that allows AirFoil to send audio to Bluetooth speakers and headphones (not just AirPlay devices, like the Apple TV), it can also send audio to multiple speaker groups at once.

Firewatch could be the prettiest mystery you play this year

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firewatch-could-be-the-prettiest-mystery-you-play-this-year-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201602Firewatch-png
Firewatch is already raising the bar for 2016. Photo: Campo Santo
Firewatch is already raising the bar for 2016. Photo: Campo Santo

If you’ve forgotten why it’s great to be a gamer, you just have to take one look at Firewatch.

The first-person mystery set in the Wyoming wilderness is a visual masterpiece that’s being praised by just about everyone — and you can get it today on Mac, PC, Linux, and PlayStation 4.

Classic Mac gets saved from dumpster only to become a trash bin

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Excuse me, where's the trash?
Excuse me, where's the trash?
Photo: HahaBird/Imgur

We’ve seen old busted Macs get transformed into everything from aquariums to planters, but have you ever seen a Mac go from the dumpster to a trash can you can toss all your rubbish in?

One Redditor has created a trash can fit for Steve Jobs by taking a Macintosh that had been sitting in his attic for 15 years and giving it a second life as a receptacle for all his garbage, complete with a swinging door that looks just like a Mac display.

How to find out which Mac apps are using your location

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Find out when your Mac is looking at your location data.
Find out when your Mac is looking at your location data.
Photo: Apple

As our digital lives converge across mobile and desktop devices like our iPhones and Macbooks, we rely on them knowing where we are at any given time. Safari suggestions, for example, count on knowing your location, as do any Maps searches or such.

You might want to know when your Location data is being used, however, for privacy reason. If you enable the Location Services menu bar, you’ll be able to see when any app is accessing your private location data, making it more possible to lock down any sources you don’t want using it.

Here’s how to get that menu bar notice working.

Apple expected to ship 20 million Macs in 2016

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Apple iMac
The rest of the PC industry may be shrinking, but Apple thinks different.
Photo: Apple

The rest of the PC industry may be crashing, but Apple expects Mac sales to remain relatively stable in 2016 — with sources in the supply chain claiming that Mac-series product shipments are likely to remain around the 20 million unit mark this year.

Get it now: OS X update boosts Mac performance

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A new beta is out for OS X El Capitan.
El Capitan's third big update brings performance enhancements and bug fixes.
Photo: Apple

The newest build of OS X El Capitan is now available to the public after undergoing a month of beta testing.

OS X 10.11.3 can now be downloaded and installed by all Mac users with supported hardware. It’s a free update that promises to bring a number of enhancements, including performance improvements and tons of bug fixes.

Mac sales are on the up now, but is a downfall inevitable?

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Apple's Mac business is still growing... but how?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple was the only computer maker that didn’t endure a blue Christmas, with Mac sales up 3 percent year-over-year as worldwide PC shipments declined. But for how long can the Mac business continue to fight on, immune to the growing thread from other industries?

Friday-Night-Fights-bug-2Smartphones and tablets are now capable at handling many of our daily tasks, and every year they get better. Will the iPad Pro ever be powerful enough to replace your iMac, or will we forever be reliant on powerful processors and dedicated GPUs?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we battle it out over these questions and more!

Pro Tip: How to sync iMessages across your devices

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Make sure you get your iMessages no matter where you are.
Make sure you get your iMessages no matter where you are.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre

Pro Tip Cult of Mac bug I’ve always loved being able to pick up an iMessage conversation that I started on my iPhone right on my Mac, and vice versa.

Unfortunately, I’ve been having an iMessage issue for the last few months — I can have conversations via Messages on my Mac and conversations via Messages on my iPhone, but my iMessages have stopped synchronizing across my devices.

Will Apple turn around its fortunes in 2017?

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Are you predicting big things from Apple next year?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

2016 has not exactly been a spectacular year for Apple. There have been some nice highlights, like major changes to the MacBook Pro lineup and the wildly successful AirPods, but it hasn’t really been a year to remember for fans or investors.

Friday Night Fights bugWill 2017 be different? We know the next-generation iPhone will be big, but does Apple have more up its sleeve that will help turn around its fortunes and make the next year a spectacular one?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight as we battle it out over Apple in 2017.

Why is Apple’s ancient 2012 MacBook Pro still so popular?

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We're not going to beat the original caption on this:
We're not going to beat the original caption on this: "The MD101LL/A, pixelated to simulate the quality of its screen."
Photo: Marco Arment

Without a doubt, the oldest Mac Apple still sells is the 13-inch non-Retina MacBook Pro, model number MD101LL/A. Launched in 2012, it’s still on sale from Apple for just $1,099 … $200 more expensive than Apple’s entry-level MacBook Air, which is just as powerful.

What’s the deal? Why does Apple still sell it? The 2012 MacBook Pro is still a surprisingly big seller for Cupertino. Here’s why.

Should Apple merge iOS with OS X for iPad Pro?

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fnf_1024
It's that time of the week again!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Is merging iOS with OS X a good idea? For the longest time, the answer to that question has been a resounding no from anyone who appreciates good software — but with iPad Pro on the horizon, there may well be a growing case for it.

Friday-Night-Fights-bug-2The iPad Pro has the potential to be the ultimate 2-in-1 — a laptop that could really replace a notebook when you need to get stuff done. But in many ways, it’s being held back by iOS, which is still very much a mobile platform without many of the basics we have on our desktops — like a file manager.

So, is there now room for a new platform that delivers the best of iOS and OS X, perfectly suited to a tablet that doubles as a notebook?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we battle it out over that very question!

Are Apple fans irrationally loyal to their brand?

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How deep is your love for Apple?
How deep is your love for Apple?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple fans have good reason to love the Cupertino company, which continues to revolutionize new product categories and deliver hugely successful products year after year. But how far should that love go?

Friday-Night-Fights-bug-2Some might say there is a group of fans who are irrationally loyal to the Apple brand, devoted to buying its latest products just because they sport the Apple logo, and dismissing all competitors just because they don’t. But is there really a “Cult of Apple?”

Join us as we battle it out over that very question in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac.

Apple vs. Google: Which titan will crumble first?

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Who's your money on?
Who is your money on?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Like every other company, Apple and Google have had their share of highs and lows in the past — but one thing that’s for sure is that neither of them can keep going from strength-to-strength indefinitely; they’ll both stumble at some point in the future.

Friday-Night-Fights-bug-2But which will be the first to take a tumble?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we battle it out over that very question!

Are Android security scares really as bad as they seem?

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It's that time of the week again!
It's that time of the week again!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

After the discovery of several dangerous flaws in a few short weeks, Android’s security — or lack thereof — has been big news. Google has acted quickly to eliminate the Stagefright flaw that left 95% of Android devices vulnerable to attack, but others have since wormed their way out of the woodwork.

Friday-Night-Fights-bug-2Now fans are asking how these flaws made their way into public Android releases, compromising the security of more than 1 billion users worldwide. Could Google be doing more to prevent it? And are its hardware partners doing all they can to patch holes in their own software?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we fight it out over these questions and more!

Give your retina MacBook the stylish cable manager it deserves

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macbook-cable-manager
Easily store and travel with your 12-inch MacBook's power adapter and USB-C charging cord.
Photo: Above the Fray

Despite launching a few months ago, the new MacBook hasn’t gotten a tremendous amount of love from accessory makers so far. Above the Fray, a company based in Thailand, noticed a glaring omission for a 12-inch MacBook cable manager so the team took it upon themselves to create one.

Cord-protecting Juiceboxx will save you a trip to the Apple Store

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Juiceboxx is a $20 accessory tha protects your Mac charger from fraying.
Photo: George Tinari/Cult of Mac

My MacBook Air’s charging cord was basically destroyed after only about two years of owning it. I just kept putting black electrical tape around it but that only seemed to make it worse. I finally waved the white flag, went to the Apple Store and bought a new charger for a whopping $79. If you’ve been through this before, listen up, because Juiceboxx will help you out.

Juiceboxx is a plastic case that wraps around your MacBook’s power adapter and forces the cord to point straight forward at the base. That way when you need to wrap it up and go, the cord isn’t dealing with the stress of being bent and twisted. More importantly, your cord won’t fray as it tends to do, leaving you with more money in your pocket and one less trip to the Apple Store.

Meet Ming-Chi Kuo, the best Apple analyst on the planet

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KGI Securities analyst Ming Chi Kuo has become the most accurate Apple seer around.
KGI Securities analyst Ming Chi Kuo has become the most accurate Apple seer around.
Photo: Digitmes

Over the past several years, one analyst has risen above the rest to become the most reliable voice on all things Apple. His name is Ming-Chi Kuo, and his ability to accurately prophesy Apple’s future product plans is unparalleled. Fittingly, he is also incredibly mysterious.

Kuo is back in the news with a report that the iPhone 6s — due in the fall — will have a new stronger case to make it less ‘bendable.’ The iPhone 6s will be made from the same tough-but-light 7000 series aluminum used in the Apple Watch (it’s also used to make bikes and planes). Kuo also predicts the 6s will come Rose Gold and a darker space grey, again, matching the near-black Apple Watch.

Last month, Kuo reported a long list of features coming to the 6s, including a better, faster A9 processor, a Force Touch screen, a 12-megapixel camera, better Touch ID, new gestures and more.

Kuo’s track record has elevated his Apple predictions to the level of gospel. He’s been called “the most accurate Apple analyst in the world” by Business Insider; and the “most reliable industry watcher on the planet when it comes to Apple” by BGR.

How did he become so good at knowing what Apple is going to do next?

GarageBand for Mac gets big upgrade for Apple Music launch

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GarageBand update for Apple Music
GarageBand is getting a tuneup -- just in time for the Apple Music launch
Photo: Apple

GarageBand for Mac is getting a sonic upgrade with 10 new drum settings and 100 new synth sounds designed for electronic dance music and hip-hop tracks.

The new features are coming June 30 — just in time for the launch of Apple Music.

Liveblog: Will Apple’s earnings call blow Wall Street’s mind?

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iPhone
Apple's earnings from last quarter will be historic. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Photo: Jim Merithew

Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri are getting ready to announce Apple’s biggest earnings ever to investors this afternoon, and we’ll be on hand to liveblog all the action.

The results are expected to be historic, thanks to unprecedented demand for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in not only the US, but also China. Wall Street expects Apple to blow past its projected revenue of $63.5 billion to $66.5 billion and hit somewhere closer to an all-time high of $68 billion.

Analysts expect iPhone 6 sales to have topped more than 66 million, but Apple expert Ben Bajarin is predicting any number lower than 70 million would be a result of supply chain limitations, not demand. Mac sales are also expected to be strong, while the iPad remains the only wild card.

The call begins at 2 p.m. Pacific, but the liveblog action starts now. Keep this tab open and come back throughout the day for coverage of Apple’s biggest quarter ever.