Just three days after seeding the last betas of iOS 10.3 and macOS 10.12.4, Apple is back with yet another new build.
Signaling that a public release is just around the corner, the new updates come with a number of bug fixes and under the hood improvements to go with new features that were added in previous versions.
If you want to get the absolute best tech support for your laptop, pay the Apple tax and get a Mac.
In the latest annual Tech Support Showdown rankings, Laptop Magazine has awarded Apple the number one spot for the third straight year. Apple beat out nine other companies, but it’s starting to get some serious competition from companies like Acer that are focusing more on online service.
This week on The CultCast: Are you yearning for a more powerful Mac? Well, friend, Tim Cook is promising to make Apple “pro” again. We discuss! Plus: iPhone 8 ditching Lightning for USB-C; Spotify about to go Hi-Fi; why your next iPhone screen might read your fingerprints; and the best iPhone bumper case in the land!
Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. It’s simple to accept Apple Pay and sell your wares with your very own Squarespace.com website. Enter offer code “CultCast” at checkout to get 10 percent off any hosting plan.
A recent rumor claimed Apple could swap its Lightning port for USB-C connectivity with iPhone 8 later this year. That’s already been debunked by one reliable analyst, but is it a move Apple should consider making in the foreseeable future?
Lightning and USB-C both have their pros and cons. One has been around since iPhone 5 and we’re all familiar with it; the other is an open standard that anyone can use, which makes accessories, cables, and peripherals more affordable.
Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight as we battle it out over whether Apple should give Lightning the boot in 2017.
iPhone fanboys will have you believe that exploding batteries are exclusive to Samsung Galaxy smartphones, but that’s not true.
Even Apple devices go bang from time to time — like this 2015 Retina MacBook Pro, which was completely destroyed when its battery catastrophically failed and caught fire.
This week on The CultCast: It’s been five years of CultCasts! We’ll regale you with some of our favorite stories from past shows. Plus: Our hardware expectations from Apple’s rumored March event; why iPhone 8’s wireless charging will probably be lame; Apple has five teams working on next-generation charging tech; why iPhone 8’s camera could pump out industrial-grade slow motion; and Steve Jobs gets a beautiful new home on Apple’s new spaceship campus.
Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. It’s simple to accept Apple Pay and sell your wares with your very own Squarespace.com website. Enter offer code “CultCast” at checkout to get 10 percent off any hosting plan.
Apple’s new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar may have some serious keyboard problems.
A number of 2016 MacBook Pro owners are reporting issues with the new keyboard, which features a redesign of the butterfly mechanism that Apple introduced on the super-thin retina MacBook.
The jury’s still out on whether the MacBook Pro’s new Touch Bar is a useful upgrade or a fancy gimmick. But according to recent rumors, Apple is already planning to bring similar functionality to this year’s iPhone 8.
To make this happen, the company would almost certainly have to drop Touch ID. Would a mini Touch Bar be worth the sacrifice, or would contextual shortcuts and buttons make iOS more complicated than it needs to be?
Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight as we discuss whether a Touch Bar would be a useful addition to the iPhone!
Microsoft is now rolling out support for the MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar in Office for Mac.
Word, Excel, and PowerPoint users will get to take advantage of it first, but Microsoft will be adding shortcuts and other features for Outlook and Skype later on.
Apple is making major changes to the iPhone this year as the device celebrates its tenth anniversary. According to the latest claims from one reliable analyst, the iPhone 8 will offer a larger OLED display and a new “function area” that replaces its Touch ID button.
The partnership between Apple and LG has gotten off to a rocky start, thanks to a design defect in the companies’ new 5K monitor designed for Macs.
Apple reportedly suspended all sales of the new LG 5K UltraFine monitor, which was announced last year alongside the new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar.
A Safari Technology Preview rolled out this week brings changes that make battery life even better on the MacBook Pro.
Release 23 of Apple’s web browser is better at switching between GPUs for WebGL content, which means your MacBook’s dedicated graphics chip carries out less work.
Microsoft has started testing support for the MacBook Pro’s new Touch Bar in Office. Preview testers can enjoy it in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook starting this week — and it’s scheduled to rollout to everyone in the coming months.
Apple’s next-generation MacBook Pros with Intel Kaby Lake processors have been all but confirmed by references in the latest macOS beta release.
Files point to a trio of new machines that are likely to make their debut in the coming months, succeeding the existing models powered by Skylake CPUs.
Apple is developing a custom ARM chip for future Macs, but it won’t replace the Intel processors that have been powering its computers since 2005, according to a new report.
Instead, the chip is expected to work alongside a machine’s primary CPU, handling “low-power mode functionality.”
Apple managed to shock Wall Street today by beating its own expectations for Q1 2017, the most profitable quarter in the company’s history.
There was good news all around as iPhone sales, services and even the Mac all performed better than predicted. During today’s earnings call, Tim Cook and Apple CFO Luca Maestri revealed some of the secret sauce that made Apple’s earnings one for the history books.
Here are the top takeaways from today’s call.
Apple may be more of a smartphone company these days, but its legacy product, the personal computer, continues to be popular.
In an upbeat Q1 earnings report with investors Tuesday, Apple said it sold 5.4 million Macs en route to an all-time quarterly revenue record of $78.4 billion dollars.
Apple is set to reveal its first quarterly earnings report of 2017 and, if Wall Street’s estimates are any indicator, it could be Apple’s biggest quarter ever.
After multiple quarters of declining revenues, today’s call could see the company return to growth, lifted by strong iPhone sales over the holidays and a burgeoning services business that has quickly become Apple’s second-biggest moneymaker.
Tim Cook and Luca Maestri are scheduled to hold an open call with investors today at 2 p.m. Pacific. As usual, Cult of Mac will be here liveblogging and analyzing all the action. Get prepped for the call with our guide on what to expect, and join the fun in the liveblog below.
A number of U.S. states have banned the new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar from law exams due to the predictive text feature that suggests words as you type. However, others will still allow it so long as predictive text is disabled.
Here’s how to turn off the feature on your machine.
After being snubbed by some professionals for its 16GB RAM limit and lack of traditional USB ports, the new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar has now been banned from bar examinations in a number of U.S. states.
A testing company has warned that the Touch Bar — specifically its predictive text feature — compromises exam integrity, so students are forced to use another laptop.
Apple has made accessories companies busy working furiously to create the perfect dongle or hub for users furious over a new MacBook Pro will only USB-C ports.
We crave change and innovation from Apple, then moan when we are not ready for it. SCOSCHE Industries hopes to ease your transition with a new USB-C AV multiport adaptor with three ports for your peripheral devices.
Satechi hopes to prevent dodgy USB-C accessories from causing damage to your MacBook with its new USB-C Power Meter, which shows you exactly how much power is being pulled from and passed into your machine in real-time.
When Apple reveals its first quarterly earnings report of 2017 next Tuesday, the company could shock us with another record-breaking quarter.
The Q1 2017 earnings will cover Apple’s first full quarter of iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus sales, and Apple should also get a big boost from the holiday shopping season, according to some Wall Street estimates. During its last earnings call, Apple predicted its revenue slump will end as the company finally returns to growth this quarter, but will it be enough to satisfy investors?
Here’s what to expect from Apple’s January 31 earnings report.
Microsoft’s decision to wage a new war against Macs with premium Windows PCs is paying off, the company says. Thanks to high-end devices like the Surface Book and Surface Studio, Microsoft managed to steal market share from Apple last quarter.
We’ve got the best unlocked iPhone 7 and 6s Plus prices ever, as well as a freebie for all you heavy sleepers. You’ll find these hot buys and more in this week’s roundup of best Apple deals.