Happy weekend, everyone! We’ve got another insane issue of Cult of Mac Magazine for you this week, full of details on Apple’s new iMac, Magic peripherals, the best updates in iWork’s new update, fresh how-tos, product reviews, and a sad goodbye to one of Apple’s ultimate fans.
All this (and plenty more!) in this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine – be sure to download your own copy of our fantastic app today.
Here’s the latest top stories for this week.
Are you in the market for an iPhone 6 case that makes the money you spend on the phone itself look like pocket change? A limited-edition accessory can help you make that dream come true.
The Advent comes courtesy of Gray International, and it looks like every cent of its $1,500 price point. And that’s probably because it bears more than a passing resemblance to the billion-dollar stealth bomber.
Check out the fancy case in all of its overly dramatic glory in the promotional video below.
Apple CEO Tim Cook joined the CEO Council for Sustainable Urbanization this week as part of Apple’s continued fight against global warning and environmental issues.
The council is basically like an Avengers-style group (or Justice League if DC is your preferred flavor) consisting of CEOs and chairmen from the top companies in China and the West, that are hellbent on saving the planet from overpopulation, deforestation, and finite energy resources.
Kate Winslet has been earning rave reviews for her performance as Joanna Hoffman in the new Steve Jobs movie. Hoffman was one of the original members of the Macintosh (employee #5 to be exact), and was notorious at Apple as one of the few employees who boss Steve Jobs around.
In a recent interview, Hoffman revealed what it was like coming to Apple as an architect and working with Steve Jobs at the age of 25. She also dished on other doomed projects like the Lisa computer and the Apple 3, and took some questions from the audience at Maker School about Silicon Valley and startup culture.
Watch Joanna tell developers about how she met Steve and other juicy tidbits below:
The next stage of Apple Maps’ Transit roll-out is live today. The latest update includes public transportation in Boston and, more interestingly, select Amtrak train routes in the northeastern U.S.
OK, well it’s all pretty interesting. But, you know. Trains.
Apple banned over 250 apps from the App Store that were using software to access users’ personal information. These apps managed to get through the App Store approval process with private APIs, which are against the rules. Apple took action shortly after news broke this morning that a security firm discovered these apps.
Apple doesn’t do a lot of explaining on the website about its watch bands. You get a gallery of styles with mentions of material and a price, all under the headline, “Thoughtfully Designed Bands.” Apparently, great thought goes into water exposure.
Avid Apple product deconstructor Greg Koenig recently put Apple’s quilted Venezia leather Loop band to a soak test for his blog, atomic delights. After four soaks, Koenig was impressed to find no visible damage.
Fingerprint scanners on Android devices have been hit-or-miss (mostly miss) in recent years, but they’re getting a whole lot better. There’s no better example of that than the new Nexus 5X, which is even faster at recognizing your print than the new Touch ID sensor in iPhone 6s.
El Capitan has a ton of neat new features, but no OS ever arrives completely error-free. This year’s OS X update is no different — leading some impatient online types to go so far as to label it “El Crapitan.”
Some of these problems have been solved. Others haven’t. But we’ve compiled a list of some of the most widespread complaints. Check out the hall of shame below.
Love Hultén has created a beautiful replica of the original 128k Macintosh made almost entirely out of American walnut. Known for his craftsmanship in building replicas and concepts of gaming consoles among other gadgets, Hultén has taken that love and applied it to one of Apple’s most beloved products to date. He calls it the Golden Apple.
Samsung is expected to follow Apple’s footsteps and build a pressure-sensitive display into next year’s Galaxy S7, according to recent reports — and now a new patent backs up those claims with proof that the South Korean company has been hard at work on a similar technology for over a year.
Older people are more likely to subscribe to Apple Music than their younger counterparts, claims a new survey by Jackdaw Research.
According to Jackdaw’s findings, 62 percent of survey respondents under the age of 35 have already canceled Apple’s streaming music service. However, an impressive 67 percent of respondents aged 35 and up have transitioned to paying subscribers after the three-month trial period.
Kyle Wiens thinks the iPad should be banned. It’s a “highly immoral” product, he says, because it can’t be opened and repaired when the battery dies. It’s a throwaway device, and he wants governments to prohibit it.
“It’s not designed to be long-lasting,” said Wiens, who is the co-founder and CEO of iFixit. “It’s like selling a car that has to be replaced when the tires wear out.”
Wiens is the Bernie Sanders of the electronics industry. He doesn’t just want reform — he wants revolution!
Here’s why.
A security firm claims to have discovered 256 apps that illicitly gather user email addresses, lists of installed apps, serial numbers and other identifying information.
Apple may be obsessed with user privacy, but these apps — which violate App Store policy and have been downloaded by an estimated 1 million people — somehow got by Cupertino’s gatekeepers.
Apple Bike, anyone? According to a new report, Apple’s continued recruitment of auto experts has resulted in the closure of an electric motorcycle startup.
Called Mission Motors, the company had drawn comparisons with Tesla — only to shut down back in May after Apple raided some of its top engineers.
At least two Mission employees joined Apple in 2012, while over the past year another dozen are reported to have started work with the company.
Steve Jobs screenwriter Aaron Sorkin says his “conscience is clear” over accusations that his movie doesn’t portray events as they actually happened.
People have been split over the Steve Jobs movie, with some (like Woz, John Sculley, and Andy Hertzfeld) saying it’s a great achievement, and others (Tim Cook, Jony Ive, Laurene Powell Jobs) arguing just the opposite — despite not necessarily having seen it.
Apple is continuing its Chinese Apple Store expansion by announcing the opening of its 21st Chinese retail store in the city of Dalian, China.
A port city known for its clean air, good food, and luxurious shopping, Dalian attracts visitors from China, Japan, and Korea. In other words, it’s the perfect location for a new Apple Store — which is why it’s no surprise that it will be among the biggest Apple brick-and-mortar retail outlets in the world.
How do weekends go by so quickly? It’s already halfway through the end-of-week break but — don’t worry — we’ve got the app hookup you need, whether you’re planning on a lazy game-playing Sunday, or a day of out-and-about photo-snapping action.
What have we picked as the best apps of the past seven days? Read on to find out.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: The pros and cons of Apple’s new 4K and 5K iMacs, plus, the new Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Trackpad 2 — we’ve got our grubby hands on Apple’s new peripherals and we’re ready to share what we love (and what we don’t).
And stay tuned for CultCast 2nd Hour with guest Blake J. Harris, author of Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation, to be regaled with the story of the 90s video game war that pitted newcomer, Sega of America, against Nintendo, maker of Super Mario Brothers, Duck Hunt, and the unstoppable force that was the Nintendo Entertainment System.
Around the world, Apple Watch is helping people make life-changing improvements to their health and fitness.
I recently asked Cult of Mac readers to share their experiences getting in shape with Apple Watch, and the response has been amazing. Here are some of the inspiring stories I received — and some great insights into how you can use an Apple Watch to smash your fitness goals.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison defeated Apple in its patent lawsuit today, after a U.S. jury ordered the iPhone maker to pay the university $234 million in damages for infringing on patented microchip technology in the iPhone and iPad.
Apple’s bill for the infringement is significantly less than the $862 million fine the company was originally facing. The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) had high praise for the verdict, saying it was improtant to protect the school’s inventions.
Only found in the New York and San Francisco Apple retail stores, this new tactile table really shows off the new 3D Touch features of the just released iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.
As you can see in the video below, Apple’s got its new iPhones displayed on a new table that replicates the ripples from the fish videos shown on the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus devices on the table whenever customers push on the iPhones themselves.
It’s pretty slick – check it out.
A test to pit the two different iPhone 6s models against each other — one with a TSMC chip and the other with a Samsung chip — has officially debunked Chipgate. It turns out there are no discernible differences in battery life between the two.
Consumer Reports acquired an iPhone 6s with an A9 chip made from TSMC and another from Samsung. They made sure all settings were equal on both devices including the carrier, brightness settings, wireless connections, iOS version, running apps and more. Then they got to work.
Intel wants to win part of Apple chip business, and according to a new report, it’s dedicating a small army of engineers towards creating a new LTE modem that could be destined for the iPhone 7
Over 1,000 employees have been assigned to the project to build a 7360 LTE modem chip for the iPhone 7, reports VentureBeat which also claims that if everything goes well, Intel could provide the modem and fabrication for Apple’s system on a chip.
Ford owners with a second-generation Sync infotainment system can now get Apple’s Siri Eyes Free feature for iPhone on the car dashboard, thanks to a new Sync 3.8 update.
The second-gen Sync system is found on Ford vehicles made since 2011 and earlier, but the company is just now making Siri Eyes Free available on its vehicles, even though Apple rolled out the feature with iOS 6 back in 2012.