Soon after Apple officially killed the iPod on Tuesday, users flooded Twitter with remembrances of the little music player that changed the world when it barged onto the scene in 2001.
From tech influencers to industry analysts to garden-variety music lovers — you know, the folks whose ears lit up when Apple gave them a device that put 1,000 songs in their pockets — it was a genuine iPod lovefest.
Here are some of the finest tributes to the iPod.
The robotics engineering student who made a name for himself replacing an iPhone’s Lightning connector with USB-C is at it again. But this time he’s bringing a USB-C AirPods charging case into the world for the first time.
Ken Pillonel got $86,000 for the iPhone. No word yet on whether crazy money will come his way for the AirPods case.
It’s the end of an era — Apple has stopped making the once-iconic iPod. The little music player helped save Apple, and made the company a powerhouse in the music industry, but its day is over.
The last model is the iPod touch, which “will be available while supplies last,” Apple said Tuesday in a press release.
Editor’s note: We originally published this illustrated history of the iPod to celebrate the device’s 10th anniversary on Oct. 22, 2011 (and updated it a decade later). We republished it on May 10, 2022, when Apple finally pulled the plug on the iPod.
The iPod grew out of Steve Jobs’ digital hub strategy. Life was going digital. People were plugging all kinds of devices into their computers: digital cameras, camcorders, MP3 players.
The computer was the central device, the “digital hub,” that could be used to edit photos and movies or manage a large music library. Jobs tasked Apple’s programmers with making software for editing photos, movies and managing digital music. While they were doing this, they discovered that all the early MP3 players were horrible. Jobs asked his top hardware guy, Jon Rubinstein, to see if Apple could do better.
Six months after its launch, people are still griping about Apple Watch Series 7. Even our own Lewis and Erfon recently agreed on The CultCast that Series 7 wasn’t worth the upgrade.
Many have moaned that it lacks new features, with some even suggesting it was a last-minute rush-job on Cupertino’s part. Personally, I don’t believe a word of it. I love my Series 7 and I think the haters have got it all wrong. Here’s why.
For a brief period, the Saudi Aramco oil giant took over from Apple as the world’s most valuable company. A rally on Tuesday has since put the Mac-maker back on top, but all it would take is another bad day on Wall Street for Apple to lose the title again.
This comes after Apple has lost over 14% of its value in 2022, while Aramco gained about 28%.
DJI launched its newest consumer drone Tuesday, the compact and lightweight Mini Pro 3. It’s just light enough so you don’t have to register it with the Federal Aviation Administration. Folded up, it fits in the palm of your hand.
And it packs features associated with bigger, pricier drones, like a 48MP camera, 4K 60fps video and obstacle sensing.
Apple has started developing an OLED panel without a polarizer that will make them thinner than traditional displays.
Reportedly, these slim OLED panels are ideal for use in foldable displays. Samsung already uses OLED displays with similar technology on the Galaxy Z Fold3.
Eddy Cue, Apple’s SVP of Services, is reportedly looking to restructure the company’s offerings to make a more significant push in streaming and advertising.
Apple’s services business has been growing rapidly over the last few years. It currently boasts more than 825 million paid subscribers.
Soundcore’s new Motion Boom Plus boombox is built to blast out the tunes wherever you go this summer. The 80-watt Bluetooth speaker packs an array of new features designed to deliver “punchy bass and detailed high end,” the company said.
“Combining an IP67 rating with its upgraded woofers, newly added tweeters, more power,
and portable carry handle, the Motion Boom Plus is the ideal Bluetooth speaker for the park
or at an outdoor pool or beach party,” said Frank Zhu, general manager of Soundcore’s
speaker division, in a press release Monday. “We’ve also made it two times louder than its predecessor to help keep the party going, all day and all night long.”
Plus, you don’t need to worry about losing it in the pool or the lake. It floats!
For anyone who wants to use their iPad like a desktop computer or laptop, with proper ergonomics in mind, the SwitchEasy MagMount Magnetic iPad Stand can help.
And you can get it for 20% off the regular price in the Cult of Mac Store through May 16. That’s $20 off.
Former Apple design chief Jony Ive recently served as a guest editor for the UK’s Financial Times. In the magazine’s “How to Spend It” issue, he lists a dozen tools he finds indispensable for “making.”
More specifically, these are his top picks “for making, for marking, for measuring, and carrying with you every day.”
But don’t break your neck craning to see if he included any Apple items, or even computing products. He didn’t.
Apple has reportedly decided to push back the premiere of Emancipation. Insider sources that leaked the change did not say the delay of the historical drama staring Will Smith was the result of “The Slap,” but Smith’s shocking outburst at this year’s Academy Awards show almost certainly had to be a factor.
Emancipation is based on the real-life story of a man named Peter, whose saga of escaping slavery made headlines around the world in 1863.
Apple is now accepting requests to attend its next developers conference in person. WWDC22 in June is mostly online, but a fortunate few developers and students will be able to watch the keynote from Apple Park. The company will soon randomly select the lucky group who can attend from all the requests it receives.
The submission window isn’t open for long – don’t procrastinate.
The Apple TV 4K with 32GB storage is down to $149.99 on Amazon after a $29.01 discount.
The streaming box from Apple retails for $179, so you are scoring a sweet 16% discount on its MSRP.
Recently we wrote about a PC gamer converting to the Apple ecosystem, happily, with an M1 MacBook Pro-based setup. Now we have a lucky recipient of not one but two recently shipped Studio Displays, freshly arrived to replace a pair of gaming monitors.
Tesla drivers can add CarPlay to their vehicles, thanks to a workaround by a Polish developer. This is something Tesla itself has shown no interest in.
The hack was first shown off in January, 2022, and the developer has now made the code publicly available.
Apple reportedly intends to launch new color options for its premium AirPods Max headphones this fall.
While that sounds like a strictly cosmetic addition to the lineup, next-gen AirPods Pro might bring a full-fledged redesign around the same time.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Haters gonna hate, but digital artist Adam Duff explains why Apple’s new Studio Display is the perfect monitor — for some users.
Also on The CultCast:
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If you act fast, you can get one of Apple’s best products ever for less than $100. That’s how low AirPods 2 have dropped — that’s $59 below the usual price for these wildly popular in-ear headphones. Or you can save a nice chunk of change on AirPods Pro.
You might even be able to get the wireless earbuds delivered in time for Mother’s Day.
New video out of China shows workers at a MacBook assembly plant in Shanghai fighting with security guards. The Quanta Computer employees have been forced to live at their workplace for weeks amidst COVID-19 lockdowns ordered by the Chinese government.
The workers apparently hoped to leave the facility to go shopping.
We usually prefer to feature sunny or exotic or just-plain-fun computer setups on Fridays, but today a dark and brooding one caught our eye. A 13-inch M1-powered MacBook Pro and a 34-inch LG curved ultra-wide display are at its center.
But the “cozy productivity corner” also features excellent input devices, formidable audio and a rather nice standing desk.
The latest addition to the award-winning Badlands series is the first with online multiplayer gaming. Badlands Party is physics-based side-scroller like its predecessors – it’s just more social.
The game launched Friday exclusively on Apple Arcade.
Fortnite got kicked out of the App Store as part of a legal battle between Apple and Epic Games, but you can play it on your iPhone today for free. Microsoft added it to Xbox Cloud Gaming so the combat game is playable on iOS and iPadOS devices.
Setting up your iPhone or iPad to play Fortnite from the cloud rather than the App Store is different from what you’re used to. Not hard, just different. I’ll walk you through it.
When you want your iPhone to be visible, but you need your hands to do other things, mount your device almost anywhere with Xvida’s brilliant cases.
Built-in magnets allow it to be securely attached to a whole host of metal surfaces, as well as a bunch of companion Xvida accessories — like wireless chargers, stands, car mounts, and more.
Get yours today for from as little as $19.