First introduced with the iPhone 5s, Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint sensor is one of the easiest and most convenient ways to unlock your iPhone and iPad. And now, thanks to a new app, it’s also one of the easiest and most convenient ways to unlock your Mac.
This week: Gobble gobble y’aall! Ever wonder what a Thanksgiving meal with Tim Cook might be like? Ok, probably not, but come imagine it with us anyway. Then: why Apple quietly included 4K support in iPhone 6 and iPad Air 2; Amazon is building an ad-supported Netflix streaming competitor; plus stay tuned for our favorite products of the year in the CultCast gifts-we’d-love-to-get gift guide.
Heartily guffaw your way through each week’s best Apple stories! Stream or download new and past episodes of The CultCast now on your Mac or iDevice by subscribing on iTunes, or hit play below and let the chuckles begin.
Our thanks to Fracture for supporting this episode. Fracture prints your photos directly onto glass so they really pop. And they come ready to hang on a wall or sit on your desk and make great gifts. Check them out at Fracture.me and save 15% off any order with code CultCast.
Thanks to a money-hungry decision to split the final season, a la Breaking Bad, the last episodes of Mad Men won’t air until next year. On the plus side, that means this is the perfect time to play catch-up before the world goes Don Draper crazy one last time.
If for some incredible reason you’ve never seen Mad Men before (and how I envy you if that’s the case), the show follows the lives of a few Madison Avenue ad men and women during the 1950s and '60s. We’ve now reached the point of the Apollo 11 moon landing, and things are set for a grand finale.
Photo: HBO
Enough reports have accumulated for us to say with fair certainty that there will be a larger iPad ‘Pro’ in the first half of next year, although nothing super concrete has been agreed upon regarding specs.
Now Japanese magazine Mac Fan has published what it claims are schematics for the “iPad Air Plus,” but here’s to hoping Apple doesn’t actually give its rumored 12.2-inch tablet that name.
Steve Jobs was a visionary, a futurist and a business genius … but he was also an inventor with more than 458 patents to his name. What better way to spend this holiday weekend than getting yourself up to speed with the inventions of one of the most prolific patenters of the 20th century?
Star Wars looks like it’s in good hands. The first teaser trailer for J.J. Abrams’ upcoming The Force Awakens has been released, and it’s sure to make your jaw drop.
What’s that random guy dressed as a stormtrooper doing in the desert? Who is that mysterious woman on the flying contraption? And WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THAT WEIRD RED LIGHTSABER OMG?!?
Here at Cult of Mac, we’re big fans of GBA4iOS, an app by developer Ryan Testut that allows you to play Gameboy and Gameboy Advance titles on your iPhone or iPad. But pretty soon, it’s possible that GBA4iOS won’t be the only way to play emulated Gameboy games on your iOS device: Nintendo looks like it might be moving into the iOS emulation scene too.
The availability of cheap smartphones and tablets might mean that Android has a larger market share than iOS, but iOS users certainly spend more.
Analyzing sales trends from Thanksgiving, IBM notes that iPhones and iPads were responsible for far more payment activity online, with average orders worth $118.57 compared to $95.57 for Android.
But that’s not where iOS’s sales triumph ends. iOS also generated more site traffic at 36 percent versus 16 percent for Android. Even more impressive, iOS devices accounted for 25 percent of all sales — next to a minuscule 7 percent for Android.
Chances are, the first time you try your hand at Vainglory you’ll get ganked almost immediately by a crystal-toting Glaive.
If you’d rather avoid that ignominious end, you’ll want to read our guide to all things Vainglory. It’s loaded with tips and tricks on how to kick ass in this excellent iOS game, an Apple favorite that showcases the awesome fun possible in the multiplayer online battle arena genre.
You’ll find basic and advanced gameplay tips, plus a special top 10 list for every hero in the game, right from the developers themselves.
Pretty soon you’ll be the one pwning your enemies with nonchalant ease, just like Scarf Guy.
The first vehicles to support Apple’s CarPlay infotainment system are just starting to appear on the market, but a clever hack from developer Adam Bell means you may be able to get your hands on it sooner than most — and without the need for a compatible in-car infotainment system.
Despite not quite being ready for primetime just yet, Bell’s nifty jailbreak means that users will be able run Apple’s CarPlay software on iPhones and iPads, as seen in the above picture.
It follows hot on the heels of Pangu’s recent iOS 8 jailbreak, which Apple has subsequently (and most likely temporarily) patched.
One of the neatest and most innovative features of Apple’s new iPads is the unique Apple SIM feature, which allows users to easily switch between different carriers and plans using iOS.
A newly uncovered patent application dates elements of Apple’s concept back to 2009, before Apple even debuted the iPad. Called “Provisioning an Embedded Subscriber Identity Module,” the invention describes a method of obtaining and personalizing an embedded eSIM card, which can be provisioned over-the-air, rather than the pre-provisioned nature of physical SIM cards.
And in true Apple style it was all about one thing: simplicity.
On otherwise flawless devices that strip away any unnecessary components, the ugly small print on the back of an iPhone or iPad — including the serial number, FCC logo, CE logo and model number — has always stood out.
Well, thankfully Jony Ive and the rest of his design-obsessed team can finally do away with it for good, thanks to the E-label Act law signed in by President Obama on Wednesday. The bill, which unsurprisingly was heavily supported by those in the tech industry, means that gadget makers can now add software-based labels as opposed to having to print the identifying information onto their hardware.
Samsung will snap up the majority of the next generation iPhone A9 chip orders, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) will manufacture the chips for the next iPad devices, according to a new report coming out of China.
This differs from the current iPhone 6 devices, where TSMC is reportedly responsible for producing the A8 chips thanks to a deal inked in 2013.
Although it was previously reported that the two companies were locked in a tussle to pick up the Apple orders, Samsung apparently beat out TSMC by quoting Apple lower prices for the 14nm FinFET process production. Samsung has upped its game to secure Apple orders following its posted dismal Q3 earnings, which were down a whopping 60 percent in operating profit from the same period in 2013.
iOS 8 adoption figures continue to creep upwards. According to the latest figures released by Apple, 60 percent of active devices are now running the latest version of the company’s mobile operating system. By comparison, 35 percent of users are running iOS 7, while 5 percent are using earlier versions.
Apple last measured iOS 8 usage through the App Store two weeks earlier, on November 10. At that time, 56 percent of users had upgraded to iOS 8. While there’s still a long way before iOS 8 adoption catches up with where iOS 7 numbers were after the same period last year, the gap is starting to narrow.
In between dessert and the traditional food coma on the couch, Thanksgiving offers everyone a great opportunity to take stock of the past year’s accomplishments.
When it comes to looking back at the previous year, sure you can stew over your failures and missed opportunities, but that’s for losers. And coming off one of Apple’s most successful years in history, Tim Cook is no loser.
So what’s Apple’s CEO going to be thinking about when he sits back in a carbohydrate-induced daze? Here are our best guesses.
We’re a bit early this week, but wanted to make sure you got all the Cult of Mac goodness in one fine compilation in time for your four-day weekend. Dig in and enjoy a whole slew of gift guides, including those for the women in your life, that special college student, and outdoor adventurers. Plus? Pro tips on surviving that modern ordeal of American culture: Thanksgiving. All that and some of the week’s biggest Apple-related news are ready for you right now. Just download and enjoy!
Dig into Cult of Mac Magazine November 28 Edition, Free on iTunes
The more iPhone 6 ads I see with Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake, the more I’m enjoying them as a comedy duo. In Apple’s latest ad for its next generation iPhone handsets, called “Voice Text,” the focus is on the new ability to send and receive audio messages, as introduced with iOS 8’s iMessage service.
For anyone who finds plain text messages somewhat lacking, the ad shows off how voice messages can add a much-neeeded element of sarcasm, let you drop some soulful lyrics, or mean that you don’t have to spell complex words like “smörgåsbord” and “arachnophobia.”
Uber has been sideswiped by a ridiculous number of controversies lately, but things are about to get even worse for the ride-sharing service. A security researcher just reverse-engineered the code of Uber’s Android app and made a startling discovery: It’s “literally malware.”
Digging into the app’s code, GironSec discovered the Uber app “calls home” and sends data back to Uber. This isn’t typical app data, though. Uber has access to users’ entire SMSLog even though the app never requests permission. It also accesses call history, Wi-Fi connections used, GPS locations and every type of device ID possible.
Natalie Portman may play a major role in the upcoming Steve Jobs movie scripted by Oscar-winner Aaron Sorkin.
The actress is in talks to join the film, reports Deadline, and while the details of her role are unknown, she’s expected to play a major part in the movie that will feature Steve Jobs’ first daughter Lisa as the main heroine.
Apple is set to discontinue the iPhone 5c next year, according to a new report from Taiwan’s Industrial and Commercial Times. The news outlet claims that Apple will continue producing the handsets until the middle of 2015, at which point assemblers Wistron and Foxconn will wind down production.
This news follows on the back of a similar report from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who claims that Apple will do away with both the 5c and 4s, despite both doing well in emerging markets. This is part of an effort to streamline Apple’s handset business, and will mean that all available iPhones will feature the Touch ID technology at the heart of Apple’s mobile payment ambitions.
iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite users have been plagued by a host of Wi-Fi problems since Apple’s two latest operating systems were released. Apple has released updates for both, but to no avail: People keep suffering through Wi-Fi drops, seemingly at random.
What the heck’s going on? According to one developer, the issue is caused by the custom technology that Apple uses for AirDrop and AirPlay on both iOS 8 and OS X. And there’s a way to fix it!
Apple has spent a great deal of time distancing itself from Google ever since its erstwhile partner launched Android back in 2008. Google Maps and YouTube haven’t been bundled as default apps on iPhones or iPads for years, and rumors keep swirling that Apple will kill its partnership with Google as a default search engine in Safari on both iOS and OS X.
But now? Now it looks like Apple might finally pull the trigger, ending all of its Google partnerships for good.