Apple is more aggressively encouraging users to update to iOS 15 by stopping security updates for those who don’t.
Cupertino previously made security improvements available as a separate release — and vowed to keep delivering them for those who stick with iOS 14 “until you’re ready to upgrade.” Just a few months later, that’s changed.
Apple TV+ earned six nominations across five series in the 2022 Writers Guild of America Awards. These honor outstanding writing in TV series.
The film nominations will be announced later in January, and Apple might pick up some additional nominations then.
Amazon has an answer for what to do with that gift card you received over the holidays. The recently released AirPods 3 are once again selling for their lowest price ever: $139.99.
And there are significant deals on AirPods Pro and AirPods 2 as well.
The Chargeasap Flash Pro Plus is for those who want a single battery that can replenish all their gear. All at once. It holds 25,000mAh and can charge a MacBook at up to 100W though USB-C, and has three other ports. But that’s just the start, as there’s a built-in MagSafe iPhone charger and an Apple Watch charger, too.
The power pack went through a round of crowdfunding but has moved past that stage. It is available to order now.
First a robotics engineering student made a splash late last year by modding an iPhone X with a USB-C port instead of a Lightning port — and sold the device for big money. Now someone else is touting a similar modification, but this time the handset boasts a reinforced port that includes waterproofing. And yes, the tinkerer’s going to sell it soon — probably for more money than most people make in a year.
Apple won’t build the Touch ID fingerprint recognition system into the 2022 iPhone, according to a very reliable tipster. That’s bad news for those who aren’t fans of Face ID, or who just want a second option.
There haven’t been any specific reports that the iPhone 14 will include Touch ID, but Apple is supposedly working on an in-screen version.
Audio company SVS rolled out new wares at CES 2022 — Prime Wireless Pro Speakers and an accompanying SoundBase multi-room amplifier. Both have added support for Apple’s AirPlay 2 streaming over previous Prime Wireless models’ capabilities, among other new features.
The developer of battle royale hit PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, more commonly known as PUBG, is suing Apple and Google for refusing to remove an alleged clone from the App Store and Google Play.
Krafton Inc of South Korea and PUBG Santa Monica have filed a complaint that focuses on Free Fire, a battle royale game developed by Garena Online. They want the game pulled from Android and iOS, plus monetary damages.
Fortnite is returning to iPhone and iPad — but you won’t find it in the App Store. Starting next week, the hit battle royale game will be available to stream through Nvidia’s GeForce now, complete with brand-new touch controls.
Players will initially have to sign up to join the closed beta, which requires an active GeForce Now membership, designed to help Nvidia test server capacity and performance. But Fortnite eventually will roll out to all GeForce Now subscribers.
The move is somewhat of a kick in the teeth for Apple, which has been determined to block Fortnite on its own platforms since it booted Epic Games, the game’s creator, from the App Store for breaking the rules.
Apple is missing out on another major revenue stream by ignoring cloud gaming services, according to market experts.
While rivals like Amazon, Nvidia and Microsoft are reaping the rewards of a gaming industry boom that’s only expected to get bigger, Apple is leaving money on the table. But there is a simple way it could enjoy a piece of the pie.
Another key chip designer has left Apple for Microsoft. Mike Filippo, who joined Cupertino in 2019 after a decade with Arm, is the second processor engineer Apple has lost in as many weeks after Jeff Wilcox left to join Intel.
Filippo will reportedly work on server chips for Microsoft’s Azure group, which is said to be pushing forward with its own silicon for cloud computing services.
Worldwide Mac shipments grew 22% in 2021. That’s the highest annual growth rate of any computer maker, according to a market-analysis firm.
It continues a year-over-year strong growth trend that started in 2020 and resulted in a 55% increase in shipments over two years.
Keychron, already known for affordable mechanical keyboards that work easily with both Mac and Windows, turned some heads when it came out with the high-quality, heavily customizable Q1 mechanical keyboard a few months back. Now, in case that didn’t get you to try going mechanical, the Hong Kong-based company is out with the sleek new Keychron Q2.
Ted Lasso, The Morning Show and CODA racked up multiple nominations in the 2002 Screen Actors Guild Awards, helping to further polish the reputation of the Apple TV+. The Tragedy of MacBeth wasn’t overlooked by the SAG wards, either.
Apple’s streaming service was a standout, with Ted Lasso tied for the most nominations for any series.
A device shown at CES 2022 that made some publications’ “weirdest stuff from the show” lists is the Pozio Cradle. It’s a “listening blocker” that wirelessly charges smartphones. It ensures your gadget and its voice assistant can’t hear or record what you say, according to the company.
iPhone users got small “bug fix” update on Wednesday. iOS 15.2.1 takes care of problems with Messages and CarPlay. And a HomeKit bug that made the news recently. In addition, iPadOS 15.2.1 is also out to take care of the same Messages bug.
Both updates are available for all, and are ready to be installed immediately.
iPhone 14 Pro will feature a strange “hole + pill design” for its front-facing camera and Face ID sensors rather than a notch, according to an analyst.
It was previously believed that Apple would use a hole punch cutout, like a lot of rival smartphone makers. Then that changed to a pill-shaped camera cutout. Now, one analyst, who has proven reliable in the past, says we should expect both.
With all due respect to some of the whiz-bang, over-the top computer setups we’ve looked at here at Cult of Mac, you don’t have to spend a zillion bucks and a year of your life putting together a highly effective workstation.
Today’s featured setup is not without flair and it gets the job done — all for the price of an M1 MacBook Air plus a few hundred bones, more or less.
Wyze Labs launched a new pay-what-you-want subscription tier Tuesday for its Cam Plus Lite lineup of home security cameras. And the company touts the fact that you can pay nothing if you like.
Wyze said it also plans to remove its cameras’ 32GB microSD card size limit and add new rewind and skip buttons to make it easier to scrub through footage saved locally.
Microsoft has confirmed that it is throwing in the towel on the only Forza game we got for mobile devices. The free-to-play Forza Street will get its final update this month before closing this spring, just two years after it landed.
“We’re proud and grateful for the community of players we were able to build with Forza Street,” Microsoft said. “We want to use what we learned on building new and exciting Forza products.”
Sick of sticky smudges all over your Apple devices? The company’s pricey Polishing Cloth is now back in stock for those who didn’t get a chance to buy one before it quickly sold out last fall.
The $19 purchase is designed to safely and effectively clean any glass display. It’s one of the only cloths Apple recommends for nano-texture panels.
Apple swiftly reacted to shameful clones of popular online game Wordle by booting them from the App Store.
Josh Wardle’s original version of the word game, available to play for free in a web browser, went viral in recent weeks. Some developers saw an opportunity to capitalize on that by charging for knockoff versions on iPhone and iPad.
Many of the clones, which quickly rose to the top of the App Store’s charts, used exactly the same name as Wardle’s game — and charged players as much as $30 per year in subscription fees. But they didn’t last long.
Apple TV+ got the rights to The Beanie Bubble, a film about the ‘90s toy craze. Zach Galifianakis and Elizabeth Banks will lead a star-studded cast.
The film will recall when collecting the stuffed animals from Ty, Inc. were a sensation that led to some of the products rising tremendously in value. And then falling.
Apple is preparing for a future where you put on a pair of glasses and they automatically adjust themselves to your eyes. It received a patent on Tuesday for a system to handle this process. Self-adjusting lenses are likely intended for the augmented-reality glasses that Apple is rumored to be working on.
This could be the end of trips to the eye doctor to get a lens prescription. The glasses will take care it.
Whether you’re using an iPad, iPad Pro or iPhone, the just-released Adonit Neo Duo stylus is compatible. Its small writing tip mimics a pen, and the accessory clings magnetically to several iPad models.
It’s part of a new series of styli. The Adonit Neo has many of the same features as the Neo Duo but is intended specifically for iPad. And the inexpensive Adonit Neo Lite works with all touchscreen devices.