Apple may have kicked butt on Black Friday, with reports of its strongest Friday sales in history and more online purchases made using iOS devices than Androids by a giant margin.
There was one area of Apple’s business where Black Friday wasn’t a day of triumph, however, and that’s Apple Pay. According to a new report, only half the total percentage of Apple customers who used Apple Pay at last year’s Black Friday used it during this year’s sales bonanza.
Despite the fact that they frequently contain things we should be concerned about, it’s rare that we pay much (if any) attention to what we’re agreeing to when we hit “Accept” on the Terms & Conditions section of some new app we’ve downloaded.
However, a fun viral video by YouTube prankster Jena Kingsley shows why we should read a bit more carefully, with members of the public unknowingly “agreeing” to do everything from adopting a child (who’s standing right there!) to giving up an organ — all in the name of trying to win an iPad.
Check it out below:
Tremendous iOS puzzle game Monument Valley has just gone free on iOS for the first time in its history.
Inspired by the surrealistic designs of M.C. Escher, the title is a triumph of isometric design, in which the player guides a princess through a series of impossible structures in a game that Apple lyrically described as, “akin to a walk through a museum or listening to a music album.”
Seriously, download it now.
iOS 9 adoption is continuing to limp slowly towards 100%. A couple weeks after we reported that iOS 9 adoption had “run out of steam” at 67%, it’s gained a few more percent points. But iOS 9 adoption still falls short of total.
Apple is positioning the iPhone 6s as both incredibly user friendly as well as ridiculously powerful in a couple of new spots appearing on YouTube Tuesday evening.
The first ad, “Ridiculously Powerful” admits that the iPhone 6s is essentially the same as the iPhone 6, except now it’s incredibly high-powered.
Check it out below, along with a second video that focuses on friendliness via the Hey Siri feature of the new iPhones.
There are many who claim that the iPhone 5c, Apple’s plastic-backed “budget” iPhone, was a disappointment, especially compared to the sales of iPhone 6/6s/Plus. Yet rumors continue to circulate that the iPhone 6c will be released next year.
Here’s another rumor to throw on that fire: Supply chain sources within Foxconn are allegedly saying the iPhone 6c is on track for a February 2016 debut.
Noticed a sudden drop in your WiFi speeds as the holiday season approaches? According to a new report from a telecom watchdog your ISP isn’t at fault. Blame your Christmas lights.
A tongue-in-cheek (we assume) iPhone 7 concept video shows a feature that may be too awesome to ever actually exist.
YouTube user Sonitdac has discovered a way to keep the sure-to-be-expensive device safe from even the clumsiest of owners. They call it the “Parachute System,” and we really wish it were real. Not because it would be useful or practical but because it would be a ton of fun to play with.
Check it out in computer-generated action below.
If you bought an Apple Watch that now collects dust on your dresser, you are not alone.
Web-based research firm Wristly, which found a 97 percent user satisfaction rate among early adopters, took equal interest in the unhappy 3 percent. What it found from 340 former Apple Watch users could provide valuable insights for Cupertino as it works on future generations of the smartwatch.
The reasons people gave up the watch include:
Samsung is working on its first app for iOS, and it’s going to allow iPhone owners to use its new Gear S2 smartwatch. The South Korean company is working on the Gear Manager app now, according to sources — and Samsung is keen to make it available as soon as possible.
A mysterious Gmail bug is putting a skull and crossbones emoji inside users’ inboxes. Hovering over the icon displays creepy messages like “Component Spy,” “Chat Spy,” and “Data Spy” — but it’s actually totally harmless, and Google is already working to fix it.
Microsoft’s rivalry with Apple heated up this year when the company opened a flagship store on Fifth Ave in New York that looks a lot like an Apple Store. In the spirit of Christmas though, the company is calling for peace, and to show they mean it, they sent their employees caroling to the Fifth Ave Apple Store.
In Microsoft’s new holiday ad, employees selected across the country gather at the new Microsoft 5th Ave Store and join NYC’s children’s youth choir to spread some holiday cheer. Their march ends at the steps of the iconic Apple Store on Fifth Ave where they sing “Let There Be Peace on Earth” before being rewarded with a rousing round of high-fives from the Apple gang.
Watch the full ad below:
For the fifth year in a row, Apple Stores across the globe are showing their support for World AIDS Day today by turning their logos red.
The global event is used to raise awareness about the ongoing fight against AIDS and help fundraising efforts in the race to find a cure for the disease that has already killed 39 million people.
David Sawyer knows two very interesting things about his grandfather: he ran track fast enough to qualify for the Olympics and he once saved two men drowning at sea while working on a lobster boat.
But the details that would make those two events precious stories for generations to come were never shared. When Sawyer’s grandfather died, it was as if he died twice.
Light paintings are a fun technique, dating back to the 19th century and used by luminaries such as Pablo Picasso, Mark Rothko and Andy Warhol. By waving a light source, like a flashlight, in front of a camera set for a long exposure, you can seemingly create static paintings of light in mid air.
Your iPhone is both a camera and a flashlight, but you usually need two of them to make a light painting. Now a new web app called Air Pencil is set to change that, allowing you to create incredible three-dimensional light paintings, no external camera required.
Apple’s refusal to release any hard and fast Apple Watch figures (it has most likely sold in the region of 7 million) has led some people to dismiss the wearable as a failure, despite the company’s vague assertions otherwise.
Now British Airways has thrown out its own stats, noting that its Apple Watch app saw usage increase by a massive 386 percent between June and October, demonstrating that Apple Watch app usage is most definitely on the rise.
What will the iPhone 7 look like? Even Apple doesn’t know. According to a new rumor out of China, Apple is currently experimenting with at least five distinct iPhone 7 models, each with a totally different combination of hardware, including a possible AMOLED screen, a USB Type-C connector instead of Lightning, and a fingerprint reader built into the display.
The share of Apple’s iPhone Plus models is gradually growing compared to “regular size” iPhones, according to a new report.
Research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners notes that the percentage of iPhone customers who bought the larger iPhone 6s Plus in its first 30 days on sale increased to 37 percent, up significantly from the 25 percent who bought the iPhone 6 Plus.
If Apple is really planning to kill the iPhone headphone jack in the model it reveals next year, it’s ditching 60 years of history.
Rumors that the next iPhone could do away with the industry-standard 3.5mm port in Apple’s relentless pursuit of thinness have been around for a while, but they’re seeing a resurgence thanks to a post on a Japanese blog. The article cites “a reliable source” that claims the Cupertino company will shave 1mm off the phone’s thickness by dropping the just-way-too-fat jack in favor of proprietary Lightning connectors.
But if Apple actually does this, it’s kind of a huge deal.
Many of us here at Cult of Mac would argue that the iPad is pretty much the pinnacle of design and form factor. Brian Solis, the author of a new book on design, agrees. That’s why he designed his book to be shaped like an iPad Air.
If you’re one of the lucky sods who is still grandfathered into an AT&T unlimited data plan, you’re about to pay a little bit more for it.
Apple has expanded its Personal Pickup scheme — which allows customers to order products online and then pick them up in their nearest brick-and-mortar Apple Store — to six new countries in the European Union, including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.
OnePlus is today launching a new smartphone case with its signature Sandstone finish — but it isn’t compatible with any of the company’s own devices. Instead, it’s made for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s, and we love it!
Check out our hands-on gallery below.
Black Friday may have handed Apple its strongest Friday sales in history, thanks to third party retailers heavily featuring the company’s products in their own promotions.
According to a note sent out by analyst Trip Chowdhry from Global Equities, the Apple Watch is likely to emerge as the M.V.P. of the shopping holiday — as the result of retailers offering big discounts on the device, as well as free shipping and zero sales tax.
A 68-year-old O.A.P. has been awarded £1,200 ($1,800) in compensation after Apple Store employees accidentally deleted the photos and contacts on his iPhone.
Newly-married Deric White took his iPhone 5 to the Genius Bar at Apple’s flagship London retail store after it suffered a technical fault — only for staff to delete his data, which contained photos of his recent honeymoon and 15 years of contacts, without White having a backup. A judge ruled that Apple staff had been “negligent.”