Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but a rival tech company is invoking Apple’s name when it comes to claiming its latest products are going to be the greatest yet created.
This time it’s HP, which is set to unveil a new notebook this week that many predict will be even slimmer than Apple’s ultra-thin MacBook.
“For years, Apple has been seen as the innovator and the driver of innovation,” said Ron Coughlin, president of HP’s personal systems group. “HP is really taking over that mantle.”
This week on The CultCast: Apple’s new iPhone SE is an insane value; the significant differences between the big and small iPad Pros; new rumors point to major MacBook Pro redesigns in June; future keynotes need more yak; and the cool features in the new tvOS 9.2 update.
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This week on The CultCast: Will we see new Macs? Perhaps the elusive “One more thing”? Don’t miss our March 21 Apple event predictions and expectations. Plus: How Instagram is about to be ruined; reports of an Apple Car price and ship date surface; why pirates are excited for the AyeCar; and some new iPhone 7 leaks echo familiar rumors.
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The invites are out and the rumors are in. Apple’s first event of 2016 is going down March 21, when the company will loop fans in on some shiny new products coming soon to Apple Stores.
Apple is expected to introduce a new 4-inch iPhone aimed at budget customers and people who want to be able to hold their smartphone with one hand, but a new 9.7-inch iPad that’s every bit as impressive as the iPad Pro could steal the show (along with some other new goodies).
Here’s what to expect from Apple’s big event.
This week on The CultCast: it’s official, Apple is going to “loop us in” at their March 21 press event. Join us as we decode the mysterious event invitation. Plus: some new leaks give us glimpses at the iPhone SE and iPhone 7 designs; the incredible size and scope of Apple’s new spaceship campus; and don’t miss the stuff we’re embarrassed to secretly love in an all-new Get To Know Ur Cultist.
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Selfie sticks are bad enough, and while we’ve not seen anyone taking photos with an iPad and a long stick yet, here’s something even wackier: a MacBook on the end of a stick.
Created by an artist collective and showing on the streets of New York City, the oversize selfie sticks seem to be making the point that perhaps the technology that serves our obsession with selfies should be as outsize as our egos.
The time I spend hacking away on my laptop at coffee shops, hotel lobbies and conference room floors I inevitably spot another MacBook user with a cooler-looking laptop than mine, filling me with envy.
Well, dbrand has the goods to make the other coffee shop patrons jealous.
This week on The CultCast: Major MacBook Pro and Air redesigns may be coming in June; the magic of the MagSafe adapter; the best Mac for college; Apple versus the FBI; Apple explains “Error 53” and offers up a fix; and stay tuned for our favorite shows and apps in an all-new What We’re Into!
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Apple’s new retina MacBooks uniquely charge by the new standard, USB-C. Unfortunately, many of those cables are faulty, and Apple is looking to replace them. But now, Apple is starting to send out their replacement cables.
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.
If you’ve got one of those fancy new Macbooks with the USB-C charging cable, Apple is ready to replace it for you if it’s one of the defective ones.
“A limited number of Apple USB-C charge cables that were included with MacBook computers through June 2015 may fail due to a design issue,” says the Apple web page announcing the program.
Your MacBook might not charge (or only charge intermittently) when it’s connected to one of these faulty cables.
There’s never been a better time to buy Apple’s gorgeous gold Retina MacBook, thanks to a new deal from authorized retailer B&H that cuts up to $350 off the price tag of the sleek little notebook that debuted last year.
The price cut is the biggest discount we’ve ever seen on the new MacBook. At $999, the baseline MacBook model with a 1.1GHz Intel Core M processor and 256GB of storage is now the same price as the baseline MacBook Air that comes with only 128GB storage.
Apple is expected to updated the Retina MacBook later this year, but with prices this low, the super-light MacBook is incredibly tempting.
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Sitting, or standing, in the correct position while working behind a Mac, or any computer, is incredibly important to your overall health — and ergonomic accessories can help. As I’ve come to learn over the past year, incorrect posture and bad ergonomics can result in back, neck and even foot injuries.
When I started struggling with neck and shoulder tightness, I never thought how I was working could be to blame, but after some back and forth with my doctors, the root of the problem had everything to do with my posture and how I was sitting and standing, particularly while working on my iMac or MacBook.
The MacBook is a work of art, but looking at all that pretty brushed aluminum might get old for some.
A Belgian design firm is here to help. Any MacBook owner can quickly give their laptop a unique look with wooden skins that can be customized with initials, a favorite sports figure — even their spirit animal!
Apple is set to release new MacBook models within the coming months, claims reliable KGI Securities Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Following on from recent news suggesting Macs are one of the only PC makers on an upwards trajectory, Kuo also says that Apple’s MacBooks have had “solid growth” among enterprise customers in recent months.
Although we’ve been skeptical of the idea of ARM-based Macs in the past, rumors have been heating up that Apple will switch to ARM processors for all Macs this year due to massive performance gains. But as great as Apple’s A-series chips are, are they really ready to power Macs?
The answer isn’t entirely clear-cut, but a new series of benchmarks suggest that Apple’s ARM chips are starting to compete with Intel’s Core M chips, which power the 12-inch Retina MacBook. If this pace keeps up, iPads might be faster than Macs in just a few generations.
If you’re willing to buy refurbished, you can now score a killer deal on Apple’s Retina MacBook knocking as much as $240 off the price of the newest member of the MacBook family.
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?
Smartphones 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!
This week on Cult of Mac’ podcast: Super-sized drones, app-controlled robot bartenders, smart coffee mugs and the coolest of gadgets from CES 2016. Plus, don’t miss our picks for the absolutely, positively, you-should-install-them-today, most essential Mac and iOS apps.
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Most of the time you hear about another tech company “borrowing” from Apple’s design language it’s a Chinese smartphone maker creating an iPhone knockoff. Not so with HP, which just unveiled its gorgeous new EliteBook Folio notebook — which happens to look a whole lot like a MacBook.
If you’ve ever fancied a MacBook that runs Windows, this is probably the closest you’re ever going to get!
In making a smaller MacBook, Apple took away one little thing that could have us tripping – literally. Gone with all the ports on the slim 12-inch MacBook with a single USB-C port is the magnet in the connector that kept your charging cord securely plugged in.
Trip over the cord on earlier MacBooks and it broke away cleanly without sending your laptop flying. Foreseeing the accidents, tech accessory company Griffin has created a USB-C power cable with a quick-release magnetic feature.
2015 was a bold year for Apple. The company jumped into new product categories, polished its existing hardware and software lines, and wowed us repeatedly.
Apple also made most of us throw up in our mouths a little bit now and then, due to some questionable (and some undeniably bad) choices.
These are Apple’s biggest wins and most epic fails of the past year, as remembered — fondly and otherwise — by Cult of Mac staffers.
This time of the year typically means gifts, both giving and receiving them. Surely some of you have gotten a brand new Macbook, iMac, iPhone or iPad (Pro, anyone?).
If so, you might be looking at a lovely morning playing with your shiny new toys. But where to start? What essential tweaks, software tricks and necessary little tips do you need to make sure they’re set up the right way?
Well, we’ve got your back, with roundups to help you easily set up your iPhone 6s or 6s Plus, iPad (Pro, Air 2 or mini), Apple Watch or new Apple TV the right way. Here’s the list of setup guides to get you up and running with your brand new Apple gear.
Apple gave the world its first-ever peek inside Jony Ive’s super-secret design studio last night on 60 Minutes, but eagle-eyed Apple fans think the company may have revealed more than it intended.
During a very brief shot, taken during Apple’s weekly leadership meeting, a MacBook is seen in the background behind Apple’s general counsel Bruce Sewell that some speculate could be the upcoming 15-inch MacBook Pro.
See for yourself below:
Unlike any other consumer electronics company, Apple has been nailing product design for decades. Jony Ive and his incredibly talented team have produced countless iconic gadgets that rivals can only dream of, and it’s the biggest reason why the company is so successful today.
But there are suggestions that Apple’s design prowess is beginning to slip away. Under new leadership, Apple has rolled out a number of products — most recently the butt-ugly Smart Battery Case — that have led some fans to question various design decisions.
Are those fans right to be concerned? Is it downhill from here for Apple’s design team, or is this a whole lot of fuss over nothing?
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 — and weigh in with your thoughts down in the comments section!