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‘Leaked’ iPhone 7 confirms what we all feared

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iPhone 6 Plus_5
The iPhone 7 is on its way. But a major redesign apparently isn't.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The iPhone 7 is still four months away from debuting, but a new picture “leaked” online appears to give us another early glimpse of the next-gen handset — suggesting once again that this might not be a significant redesign from the current iPhone 6s.

Check it out below.

Larry Ellison: Steve Jobs shot down my Apple takeover plans

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Why Salesforce chief gave up AppStore.com for Apple
Oracle's founder says Steve Jobs didn't re-join Apple for the cash.
Photo: Ben Stanfield/Flickr CC

Oracle Chairman and CTO Larry Ellison gave the commencement speech at the University of Southern California late last week, and among other things he talked about a plan with his best friend, Steve Jobs, concerning a mid-1990s bid to stage a takeover of Apple.

And how Steve talked him out of it.

iOS 9 adoption hits 84 percent, weeks before iOS 10 arrives

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iOS 9 is good, but iOS 10 needs to be spectacular.
More than 8 out of 10 users are now running iOS 9.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

With WWDC (and, presumably, iOS 10’s debut) weeks away, Apple has revealed that 84 percent of possible users are now upgraded to iOS 9, currently the latest version of its mobile OS.

For those keeping track at home, not only is that an extra 4 percent increase from the numbers announced at Apple’s iPhone SE launch event in March, but it also puts Android’s fragmented adoption figures to shame.

The unreal price of old Apple tech and our Best List of the gadgets we covet on The CultCast

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Want to trade your iPod for a sports car?
Want to trade your iPod for a sports car?
Photo: Listener @YSR50

This week, on The CultCast: Apple aims to end music downloads; you can now live stream your aerial drone flights to iDevices worldwide; staggering facts about who’s making money in the app store; creators of Siri demo an even smarter AI; the ridiculous resale value of old Apple tech; and we reveal our Best List of the gadgets we’re currently coveting.

Our thanks to Freshbooks for supporting this episode. FreshBooks is the easy-to-use invoicing software designed to help small business owners get organized, save time invoicing and get paid faster. Get started now with a 30-day free trial.

The many faces of Steve Jobs, ending ‘wrist rage,’ and the weird world of iPod collectors

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Art comes in many forms.
Art comes in many forms.
Photo: Stephen Smith/Cult of Mac

But is it art? There’s a whole new way of looking at these works, in the form Steve P Jobs himself–or at least his likeness.

Learn all about these odd yet interesting portraits of the late Apple co-founder, including tattoos, technology-art, and the bubble wrap portrait you see above, as you browse this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine.

Inside this deliciously digital magazine-style app, you’ll find out more about possibilities for the new Apple Watch OS, how to retrain Siri to make better sense of your verbalizations, inside the weird world of iPod collectors, and all the reviews and how-tos you need to stay up to date on tech through an Apple lens.

Here are this week’s top stories.

Should Apple kill off iTunes music downloads? [Friday Night Fights]

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fnf
Are you ready for a world without music downloads?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

iTunes music downloads still rake in millions of dollars every quarter for Apple, but they’re falling fast.

FNF-bugAccording to sources who claim to be actively working with the company, it is already mulling the idea of chopping music sales completely in as little as two years, and instead placing an even greater focus on Apple Music.

Is it a good idea for Apple to boot such a popular service in the same way it massacred floppy discs and FireWire, forcing users to stream all their music? Or should it keep iTunes alive until downloads die out naturally?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight as we battle it out over the future of the world’s most popular music store.

Google I/O iPhone app is perfect for switch-hitting coders

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Google-IO-iPhone
I/O on iPhone.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

If you’re an iPhone user who loves Google, or you just like to keep up with the competition, then you’ll be pleased to know there’s now an official iPhone app for next week’s Google I/O conference.

You can use it to keep track of events, navigate your way around if you’re going to be there, and to watch the keynote and sessions live if you’ve been following from home.

This might be the geekiest Steve Jobs portrait ever

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A familiar face to Apple fans made from familiar technology.
A familiar face to Apple fans made from familiar technology.
Photo: Jason Mercier

Cult of Mac 2.0 bugApple fans felt a deep sense of mourning in 2011 when Apple founder Steve Jobs succumbed to cancer. With the fifth anniversary of his passing approaching, Cult of Mac looks at the artistic tributes that followed.

Artist Jason Mercier is yet another creative person to use Apple devices — and maybe the only one to literally break them into pieces for his work.

Mercier has made a name for himself around the San Francisco Bay Area by creating mosaics with trash befitting his celebrity subjects. So when his cousin commissioned him to do a portrait of the late Apple founder, Mercier knew he had to construct it with the very products and components Jobs had a hand in creating.

Oklahoma City next in line for a ‘next-gen’ Apple Store

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AppleStore_6
Apple is continuing with its Apple Store refresh.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The Penn Square Mall Apple Store in Oklahoma City is set to become the next brick-and-mortar Apple retail store to receive a “next-gen” makeover.

Planning documents suggest that Apple is spending upwards of $2.5 million on the renovation, which saw the Penn Square Mall site close its doors on April 18.

Apple invests $1 billion in Chinese Uber rival

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money
Apple just made a big investment in China.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Apple has invested $1 billion in Chinese Uber rival Didi Chuxing in a move that continues Apple’s push into China and confirms the company’s interest in shaking up the automotive industry.

According to Tim Cook, the deal “reflects our excitement about their growing business … and also our continued confidence in the long term in China’s economy.” Perhaps more importantly, it could give Apple strategic insights and competitive advantages when it comes to Apple Pay and a possible Apple Car.

Steve Jobs’ biographer says Apple’s next big thing is ‘long overdue’

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walterisaacson
Walter Isaacson doesn't much like the Apple Watch either.
Photo: Bloomberg

Walter Isaacson, a.k.a the author of the gajillion-selling 2011 Steve Jobs biography, says that Apple is “long overdue” coming out with its next great innovation; speaking at a time when Apple stock continues to fall in the wake of declining iPhone sales.

“I got the [Apple Watch], but I don’t use it that much,” Isaacson told CNBC. “I don’t think the watch is the next big thing.”

Android 3D Touch clone gets put on hold

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googles-next-nexus-to-rip-off-iphones-3d-touch-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads2016033D-Touch-iPhone-6s-jpg
Google is in no rush to support pressure-sensitive screens.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Android users will have to wait for Google’s native 3D Touch clone.

Sources familiar with plans for the upcoming Android N upgrade say support for pressure-sensitive displays won’t be available at launch.

iPad Pro and iPhone 6s hit new lows in this week’s best Apple deals

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deal news collage
Looking for hot deals on Apple gear? You found 'em!
Photos: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac, Apple, Logitech

Micro Center comes out swinging this week with a pair of all-time lows on Apple devices (although you’ll need to find them at a store near you). Or, you could grab the best price we’ve ever seen for a new, unlocked iPhone 6s.

See these hot Apple deals and more in this week’s roundup of the best bargains on Apple gear.

Insane iPhone 7 concept is too awesome to be real

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Screen Shot 2016-05-12 at 19.13.58
Don't get your hopes up.
Photo: DBS Photography

If you could design your own iPhone 7, without compromises and limitations, it would probably look a little something like this insane concept. It doesn’t just look amazing; it’s also packing out-of-this-world features that make your existing model look like a relic.

Weak iPhone demand punishes Apple suppliers

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iPhone 6 Plus
Apple isn't the only one suffering due to weak iPhone sales.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Weak demand for the iPhone is causing earnings to fall for a number of suppliers in Asia, and few of them are hopeful that the situation is going to change.

Foxconn, the biggest assembly partner for the iPhone, saw its profit fall 9.2 percent last quarter, while Pegatron’s nosedived a whopping 35.1 percent.

Bubble wrap portrait of Steve Jobs gives new meaning to pop art

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Bradley Hart injects paint into bubble wrap for photo-realistic portraits, like this one of Steve Jobs.
Bradley Hart injects paint into bubble wrap for photo-realistic portraits, like this one of Steve Jobs.
Photo: Deukyun Hwang/Arte Fuse

Cult of Mac 2.0 bugApple fans felt a deep sense of mourning in 2011 when Apple founder Steve Jobs succumbed to cancer. With the fifth anniversary of his passing approaching, Cult of Mac looks at the artistic tributes that followed.

From afar, the colorful portrait of a smiling Steve Jobs looks like a pixilated portrait made with an early digital camera. Get closer and those pixels take on a shape familiar to your thumb and forefinger — bubble wrap.

Jobs would appreciate Bradley Hart’s “Think Different” approach to bubble wrap as well as the hyper-focus attention Hart pays to inject each bubble with a different color of acrylic paint to form a famous face.

Cola is the smart messaging platform that makes life easier

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Cola is getting even smarter with help from third parties.
Cola is getting even smarter with help from third parties.
Photo: Cola

We could all use a personal assistant who’s there to make life that little bit easier, and thanks to Cola, the world’s first smart messaging OS, we can all have one.

Cola is designed to take care of all the small but important things you have to do throughout your day, like arranging meetings and managing to-do lists. And for the first time, it’s opening up to third-party services to become even more powerful.

Google’s first iOS keyboard has built-in search, GIFs, and more

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gboard_gif_regularSearch
You can get your hands on Gboard today if you live in the U.S.
Photo: Google

Google just launched its very first keyboard for iPhone and iPad — and it’s awesome.

Called Gboard, and designed to look a lot like the default iOS keyboard at first glance, it’s jam-packed with useful features, including the ability to type with glide gestures, send GIFs, and search Google from almost anywhere.