John Sculley drew a 'Mac phone' concept for Steve Jobs back in the 80s. Photo: Web Summit/Flickr CC
Former Apple CEO John Sculley dropped some interesting new tidbits about Apple’s history in a recent interview. He said that all the way back in 1984, Jobs was dreaming up the idea of a “Mac phone.”
This “Mac phone” would be a desktop device that acted as a phone, but ran a version of the Mac’s software.
Apple is turning to both long-time manufacturing partner Sharp and long-time “frenemy” Samsung to help build the displays for its eagerly-anticipated 12.9-inch giant-sized iPad Pro, according to a new report.
Sharp is said to have provided a small test batch of the enormous 264ppi, 2,732×2,048 displays in June, which met with Apple’s high production standards. However, Cupertino is also said to have given Samsung a back-up role building screen panels — suggesting that Apple is expecting big things with this next-gen device. Pun intended.
Finally, a boot camp where you’re encouraged to get your head in the clouds…er, the cloud. If you’re trying to establish any kind of cloud-based service, for yourself or a client, Amazon’s Web Services takes away the massive problem of actually having to build a server farm. That simplifies the work of setting up any service or application, and can help save (or make) you a lot more money, but only if you know how to use it. To help get your rear in gear, Udemy is offering the Amazon Web Services Engineer Bootcamp Bundle, a set of four critical courses. Clocking in at 24 hours’ worth of instruction on how to tap the potential of Amazon’s cloud, right now it’s 89% off the usual price — but like a vapor, this deal will disappear before long.
Brad Mangin's portrait of a high school football player was selected for Apple's "Shot on iPhone 6" ad campaign. Photo: Brad Mangin/Apple
Cult of Mac’s Photo Famous series introduces you to the groundbreaking photographers featured in Apple’s “Shot on iPhone 6” ad campaign.
Brad Mangin’s friends gave him a good ribbing as “the last photographer on the planet” to carry a flip phone. They all had iPhones and couldn’t believe it took him so long to not only own one but discover the picture quality of the phone’s camera.
Laughter would turn to admiration in less than a year’s time. Mangin would go on to use his first iPhone to produce a robust baseball essay for Sports Illustrated and get a book deal with his iPhone pictures.
El Capitan coming to an iPad near you? Photo: Cult of Mac
Hidden in the dense verbiage of Apple’s latest trademark filing for OS X El Capitan is an intriguing detail not previously seen in similar filings for OS X Mavericks or Yosemite — revealing that Apple’s next-gen OS X could possibly be on its way to the iPad.
Seth Rogen plays Steve Wozniak in the forthcoming Jobs biopic. Photo: Universal
The Woz wasn’t exactly the world’s biggest fan of the Ashton Kutcher-starring 2013 movie Jobs, whose script he infamously dismissed as “crap.” But what did he make of the trailer for Danny Boyle’s Steve Jobs, which landed earlier this week?
In an email correspondence, Wozniak gives something of a mixed view — essentially dinging the film for its accuracy, but arguing that its heart is in the right place.
iPhone 6s is on the way. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple will ship 50 million iPhone units in the fourth quarter of 2015, according to a new report published today which claims that companies in the iPhone 6s supply chain have started delivering finished components to Foxconn and Pegatron for final assembly.
If accurate, this means that the iPhone 5s, 6, 6 Plus, 6s and 6s Plus will hit combined shipments of 230-240 million units in 2015 — up from the 192 million units Apple shipped last year.
Hey Siri, what shenanigans are you pulling now? Photo: Apple
Siri has become an accessory to even more bullcrap from the Internet as pranksters have found another way to trick Apple’s digital assistant into contacting emergency services. And it’s only slightly less dumb than you think.
The prank claims that “something funny” will happen if you say “112” to your iPhone. North American users probably don’t know that 112 is the European equivalent to the 911 emergency number, and Siri will respond to the request by placing a call to your local switchboard.
Snohomish County, Washington’s Sheriff has taken to Twitter to put an end to the madness.
Golden Dreams will take your standard Apple Watch to new levels of class. Photo: Golden Dreams
If you like the look of the high-end Apple Watch Edition, but the $10,000+ price point makes your heart and wallet hurt, a Swiss company might have a nice alternative for you.
Golden Dreams of Geneva specializes in classing up iPhones, cases, and bags, and it’s turned its monocle-rimmed gaze to Apple’s new smartwatch. The company can take a standard version of the wearable and make it fancy at a fraction of the cost of its more precious sibling.
Humans react to innovative things like the Apple Watch fairly predictably. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
If you’re one of the people out there who haven’t taken the plunge on an Apple Watch, you’re not alone. While Apple’s latest wearable has gotten a ton of press and sold really well, a lot of the rank and file out there might think it’s a toy, or only for rich folks.
In fact, says journalist Morgan Housel over at Time, most people throughout history have pretty predictable responses to new things.
He has a list of reactions to new innovative inventions, each of which are reactions we’ve all heard (or had) when the Apple Watch (or the iPad, or the iPhone) was launched.
Touch ID could be a big part of Apple's supposed personal payment plan. Photo: Apple
In a few years, “Sorry, I don’t have any cash on me” may no longer be a good enough excuse to give that chronically money-strapped friend when they come around asking to borrow a few bucks.
That’s because a newly released Apple patent suggests that the iPhone maker may be getting into the person-to-person payment game in future versions of its hardware.
Kate Winslet, middle, praised the portrayal of Steve Jobs by Michael Fassbender (right). Photo: Universal Pictures
Actress and one of the stars in the upcoming biopic aptly named Steve Jobs Kate Winslet, dished about some details of the movie. It seems she’s pretty enthusiastic about it, proudly boasting about how the film was made. She also had kind things to say about co-star Michael Fassbender, who plays Steve Jobs in the movie.
Apple has a bold new program, according to Jimmy Kimmel Live. Photo: Jimmy Kimmel Live
Apple has no shortage of products and gadgets to show off lately. The company recently released the Apple Watch, its music streaming platform came out this week, and we’re closing in on the reveal of the next iPhone.
But late-night host Jimmy Kimmel has a line on another daring product from Apple, and he revealed it in a bit on his show on Tuesday. It involves customers just giving Apple money for no real reason.
You can check out the full gag in the video below.
The Blade by Maclocks lets you secure your MacBook in place. Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac
For my car, I have an anti-theft device called the Club. It is a telescoping device that hooks on each side of the steering wheel and locks in place with a key. Can it be broken? Probably, but the idea is to present a time-consuming obstacle to the thief who relies on speed.
For my MacBook Pro, I have the Blade by Maclocks. The Blade sits inside a bracket that affixes to the bottom of my computer. The Blade folds out from the bracket, providing a slot in which I can attach a lock tethered to a cable.
It is most secure when you loop the cable through an anchored object, like a pole or, in the case of one coffee shop from which I like to work, a table support that is bolted to the floor.
The artist currently known as Prince has pulled all of his music from streaming services, except for one: Jay Z’s Tidal, which reputedly has the best terms for mega artists like the Purple Rain lead.
Turns out that doves will cry after all, since they can’t listen to Prince on Apple Music or Spotify.
Did Apple remove Home Sharing from iOS so you'd have to try Apple Music? Screen: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
If you’ve upgraded your iPhone or iPad to iOS 8.4 in order to take advantage of the insanely great Apple Music, you won’t be able to use Home Sharing to play the iTunes music from your Mac via your iOS device any more.
Several fans took to the Apple discussion pages to note that Home Sharing is no longer accessible on their mobile devices, killing their media setups.
“Before today,” writes forum user ddrucker, “I could bring up the entire library on my iPhone/iPad and play it through my earphones.”
Like our mobile devices, cars have been getting faster and smarter, so it makes sense that the connection between the two should do the same. When charging on the go, it’s a safe bet that you’ll want to be at full power by the time you get where you’re going, without frying the battery in the process. The MPOW 3-Port Intelligent Car Charger has you covered, and for just a few more hours you can get it for a price that’ll keep your wallet charged too.
Get ready for a major camera upgrade for the iPhone 6s. Photo: Apple
Rumors that the iPhone 6s will receive a new 12-megapixel camera with 4K video recording got a boost today — thanks to a document allegedly leaked by a Foxconn employee.
The document also suggests that the iPhone 6s’ front-facing camera will receive a massive upgrade from the 1.2-megapixel sensor found in current iPhones thanks to a new 5-megapixel sensor.
A flying machine from the 1860s drawn with shading, colors and detail not seen in today's patent illustrations. Photo: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
The illustration that accompanies a patent application is a first glimpse inside the head of the inventor. Finally, an idea becomes a possibility, and even if an invention later proves to be impractical or an outright failure, the drawing serves as a tangible record of humanity’s quest to solve problems and move forward.
But the modern day patent sketches are stark chicken scratches compared to the intricately detailed, da Vinciesque artworks that once accompanied applications to the United States Patent & Trade Office, which first opened in 1790.
Apple Watch 2 will focus on battery improvements instead of display.
If for whatever reason you’re unhappy with the image quality, screen size, and square display of the current Apple Watch display, don’t expect any of your quibbles to be fixed with next year’s Apple Watch 2.
According to a new report, the display of the next-gen Apple wearable will remain identical in size, shape and resolution to its predecessor — although the display will be marginally thinner to allow for a larger battery.
"If you send me back the iPhone prototype, that'll be the end of it. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you." Photo: Universal Pictures
Universal dropped its first full-length Steve Jobs trailer yesterday, giving us a closer glimpse than we’ve yet had at the Aaron Sorkin-penned biopic, set to hit theaters this October.
Being the fans that we are, Cult of Mac scoured the 2:40 trailer to pull out the juiciest details. Read on for everything we learned.
If you've used Apple's iBooks store, you might have a check due to you. Photo: Apple
This week, Apple lost its appeal on the antitrust case that the federal government and several state attorneys general filed on it concerning price fixing on ebooks. And now that that’s out of the way, it’s time for the company to pay up.
The green states in the map below were listed as plaintiffs on the class-action lawsuit, which means that if you live in one of them and have bought anything from iBooks, you may be entitled to a cut of the settlement.
Taylor Swift fans aren’t the only ones with reasons to celebrate Apple Music.
Apple’s new streaming service boasts over 30 million songs. That’s according to the company, anyway; we definitely haven’t counted them. And even though it’s only a day old, it’s looking like it could have a chance to cut into the business of rival streamers like Spotify. And part of how it’s doing that is by landing content for its library that the other people don’t have.
Here are five albums Apple Music can brag about. Other than 1989, we mean. Because everyone knows 1989 is on there.
iCloud Music Library is almost identical to iTunes Match with one glaring issue. Photo: Apple
Well iCloud Music Library is pissing people off already. The new service almost identical to iTunes Match has a DRM problem. Turned on, iCloud Music Library is taking the music you rightfully own and place in your iTunes library and automatically adding DRM protection to it. In essence, it’s placing a lock on music that’s already yours.
Now Hyundai owners can start their cars while sitting in their cars but using an Apple Watch. Photo: Hyundai
Hyundai has good news for Apple Watch owners who also drive late-model Sonatas: You can now use your wearable to control parts of your car.
The auto manufacturer has rolled out an update to its Blue Link app, which already creates an interface with an iPhone, to expand the connected-car functionality to Apple’s new smartwatch.