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Tim Cook reflects on Steve Jobs’ legacy on 10th anniversary of his passing

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Steve Jobs only turned off his phone while hanging out with Apple design chief Jony Ive.
Steve Jobs only turned off his phone while hanging out with Apple design chief Jony Ive.
Photo: Ben Stanfield/Flickr CC

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs passed away on October 5, 2011. Ten years later, Apple’s current CEO Tim Cook sent a memo to all employees about his former boss and friend. In it, he says that Jobs’ passion to change the world for the better lives on in the company.

Let’s close the doors on the Church of Steve Jobs

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Let’s close the doors on the Church of Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs was brilliant but let’s stop making him the patron saint of computing.
Photo: Cult of Mac/acaben/Flickr CC

While Steve Jobs died 10 years ago today, he lives on as a way to criticize Apple’s current management.

In some people’s misguided memories, Jobs did no wrong. Ever. And members of this reality-challenged group — let’s call it the Church of Steve Jobs — frequently post comments on social media like, “Apple would be so much better if Steve Jobs were still in charge.”

But in reality, Jobs made plenty of mistakes. Here are some of his worst foul-ups.

Last chance! Win iPhone 13 and a bundle of MagSafe-compatible cases from Speck [Cult of Mac giveaway]

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iPhone 13 giveaway: Cult of Mac x Speck: Enter for your chance to win an iPhone 13 and three awesome Speck cases.
Enter for your chance to win an iPhone 13 and three awesome Speck cases.
Image: Cult of Mac

For this week’s giveaway, we teamed up with Speck to offer Cult of Mac readers the chance to win an iPhone 13 and a bundle of three nifty MagSafe-compatible cases.

Speck is a long-standing case manufacturer for Apple devices, going all the way back to the original iPod. These days, the company makes tough, handsome cases for a range of smartphones, tablets, laptops and watches. Speck will send one lucky reader an iPhone 13 in Starlight, plus a bundle of three MagSafe-compatible cases from its new Presidio line.

If you want to win an iPhone 13, you better enter right now. The giveaway ends Tuesday night!

Apple’s coding education tools now extend from kindergarten to college

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Apple’s coding education tools now extend from from kindergarten to college
Teach small children about coding doesn’t have to involve screen time.
Photo: Apple

Apple released new coding education resources for elementary school students and educators on Tuesday. With them, the company now offers coding curriculum tools for kids all the way from kindergarten up to college.

In addition, teachers can try a new one-hour Inclusive App Design activity to introduce young children to the world of coding and app development.

Facebook’s 6-hour outage is the result of one small slip-up

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Facebook outage
Oops.
Photo: Sofitel/Flickr/Cult of Mac

“A faulty configuration change.” That’s all it takes to bring three of the world’s biggest social platforms to their knees for more than six hours, according to an apology issued by Facebook after Monday’s disastrous outage.

Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp became unavailable worldwide between approximately 9:15 a.m. PDT and 3:30 p.m. PDT on October 4. Facebook said it has no reason to believe user data was compromised during this time.

Why Apple didn’t crash and burn after Steve Jobs’ death

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Steve Jobs typeface portrait
Apple is made in Steve Jobs' image.
Photo: Dylan Roscover

Ten years after Steve Jobs’ death on this day in 2011, Apple is thriving when many predicted it wouldn’t.

Go back and look at articles published in the wake of his death, and it’s all gloom, gloom, gloom. But a decade on, the company is worth more than $2 trillion, revenues have nearly tripled, the stock is up more than 1,000%, and there’s no end in sight.

Apple’s success has many fathers of course, but one big one is that Jobs’ personality has been deeply embedded into the company and how it does things. It’s called “the routinization of charisma,” and it helps explains why Apple continues to prosper.

A15 Bionic chip is even better than Apple claims

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iPhone 13 Pro
Good luck, Qualcomm.
Photo: Apple

It’s great when a company releases a product that meets its expectations. It’s even better when it exceeds them. But that’s what you can expect when you buy a new Apple device with the latest A15 Bionic chip.

Independent tests confirm that the A15, which can be found inside iPhone 13 and the newest iPad mini, is even more impressive than Apple led us to believe, easily outpacing the newest mobile chips from the competition.

Apple pays touching tribute to Steve Jobs a decade after his passing

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Apple celebrates Steve Jobs
Thanks for everything, Steve.
Photo: Apple

Apple today commemorates its co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs ten years after he passed away from pancreatic cancer. The company’s homepage has been adorned with images of Jobs throughout his years at Apple, as well as an official film and a statement from the Jobs family.

“We miss him profoundly,” the statement reads. “We were blessed to have him as a husband and father.”

Want Apple Watch Series 7? Sell your old model for fast upgrade cash

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Man’s brand new Apple Watch turns out to be toilet plunger
Find out how much your old Apple Watch is really worth today.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple confirmed on Monday that Apple Watch Series 7 will finally be available to preorder on Friday, October 8. Desperately want to bag your own? Sell your old Apple Watch to Cult of Mac today to raise some quick upgrade cash.

Cult of Mac’s buyback program makes it easy to sell your old Apple devices, and we typically pay more than other buyback services. What’s more, we cough up real cash. Get a quote for your old Apple Watch today.

Apple swallows iPhone 13 Pro’s higher production cost

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The iPhone 13 Pro is as powerful as it is beautiful.
The iPhone 13 Pro cost much more to produce than a similar model from two years ago.
Photo: Apple

About 60% of the price of an iPhone 13 Pro goes into producing it, according to a analysts’ estimate. That figure comes from examining the cost of each component in Apple’s new high-end smartphone. It’s much more than Apple used have to pay.

And note that the rest of the selling price isn’t pure profit.

The fine art of getting your workstation just how you like it [Setups]

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They finally got it just like they like it. How would yours look?
They finally got it just like they like it. How would yours look?
Photo: [email protected]

There’s nothing like toiling over a computer setup until you get it just how you like it. Of course, that can mean many different things to different people. Some folks’ setups are as austere as a monk’s workbench while others look like Mission Control on steroids.

Redditor PlaZma64 recently drew attention to their newly completed setup with a post entitled, “Finally got my setup how I like it.” It’s centered on a MacBook Pro, an iPad Pro and a slew of Apple peripherals.

Apple Watch Series 7 is available to preorder on Friday, October 8 [Updated]

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Apple Watch 7 preorders start October 8
Prices start at $399.
Photo: Apple

Apple on Monday confirmed that Apple Watch Series 7 will be available to preorder on Friday, October 8 at 5 a.m. PDT/8 a.m. EDT. Deliveries and Apple Store availability are scheduled for one week later on Friday, October 14.

The new device will be available in more than 50 countries initially, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and China. But if you want one on launch day, you probably should be prepared to pounce when preorders start Friday.

Apple Watch Series 7 tester posts real-world photos ahead of launch

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Apple Watch Series 7 real-world photos
The first time Apple Watch 7 has been pictured in the wild.
Photos: Anonymous/MacRumors

Apple Watch Series 7 has been pictured in the real world for the first time since last month’s unveiling. The images show that the device’s new display is noticeably larger and curvier than on previous models.

Apple’s newest smartwatch could finally be available for preorder later this week ahead of its official debut this fall.

Extensions to make Safari even better [Awesome Apps of the Week]

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Awesome Apps of the Week
iOS 15 brings plenty of new features to iPhone and iPad. Safari Extensions in iOS 15 make Safari the best mobile browser.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

iOS and iPadOS 15 have been out for a couple weeks now, and as with most new iOS releases, they usher in plenty of new apps to take advantage of the latest features. This week, we’re talking all about iOS and iPadOS Safari extensions.

Mini-LED display heads for 11-inch iPad Pro in 2022, but no OLED for iPad Air

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2021 iPad Pro has an amazing mini-LED display
The 11-inch iPad Pro could join it’s larger brother in having a mini-LED screen.
Photo: Apple

An 11-inch iPad Pro with a mini-LED display will debut in 2022, according to a trusted analyst. It will join the 12.9-inch model that already has this type of screen that looks better than a standard LCD.

However, the analyst rescinded an earlier prediction that an iPad Air with an OLED display will launch in 2022.

Apple TV+ gives Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Mr. Corman the ax

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Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Mr. Corman
Mr. Corman may have been too dark for audiences.
Photo: Apple TV+

The final episode of the first season of Mr. Corman premiered on Apple TV+ this week, and it turns out that’s all there’ll ever be. Cupertino reportedly canceled the show, which stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

That’s a rare move by Apple’s streaming service. This is only the second show it’s nixed.

Why you’re having trouble making an Apple Card payment [Updated]

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Apple Card in POS
You can still use you Apple Card to make purchases. But there might be problems paying the bill today.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple Card users could be running into problems paying their bill on Friday because the online portion of the service is having a problem. This might also affect other aspects of using the card, but that does not include using the card to pay for purchases.

Update: Apple reported the problem fixed on Friday evening about 7.5 hours after it first cropped up.

iOS 15.0.1 patches irritating Unlock with Apple Watch bug

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iOS 15 has been replaced by iOS 15.0.1.
iOS 15 got its very first update: iOS 15.0.1.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Apple on Friday released an update for iOS 15 that takes care of a bug that disabled Unlock with Apple Watch on the iPhone 13 series. This patch — dubbed iOS 15.0.1 — has other bug fixes too, including one that incorrectly told users their storage was nearly full.

The new version is accompanied by iPadOS 15.0.1 with its own bug fixes.

One week with iPhone 13 Pro: Real talk! [The CultCast]

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iPhone 13 Pro reviews: One week on! This week on The CultCast, Cult of Mac's Apple podcast.
We're loving iPhone 13 Pro ... mostly.
Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: After a week with the new iPhone 13 Pro, what features are knocking us out — and what’s registering a big “meh”? It’s time for some frank talk.

Also on The CultCast:

  • iOS 15 brings a blizzard of bugs.
  • The great Sierra blue iPhone 13 Pro debate.
  • iPhone 14 might get a top-to-bottom redesign.
  • Cult of Mac’s iPhone 13 giveaway ends soon!

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video livestream, embedded below.

Going all mini all of the time [Setups]

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It's all
It's all "mini" except the monitor, pretty much.
Photo: [email protected]

The new M1 iPad mini garners rave reviews for its powerful performance and easily handled size. The M1 Mac mini is well-established as a compact but capable desktop machine. The HomePod mini smart speaker has flourished after the demise of the full-sized HomePod. So it’s no wonder to see “all mini” computer setups cropping up.

BlueStacks X lets you play Android games in a browser on Mac and iPad

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BlueStacks X brings Android games to your browser
More than 200 titles are currently available.
Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

BlueStacks, the company behind the popular Android emulator for Windows, just launched a cloud-based Android game player that works inside your browser on Mac, Windows, iPad, and almost any other device.

Simply sign into BlueStacks X and you can instantly access a catalog of titles that are ready to play in just one click (or tap). There are more than 200 games available right now, and BlueStacks says it will add more every week.

AirPods 3 still on track to arrive before the end of 2021

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AirPods sales
They could drop at any time.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s next-generation AirPods refresh is still on track to arrive before the end of 2021, according to a new report. The upgrade is rumored to bring a new design, similar to that of AirPods Pro, and other improvements.

The buds were widely expected to appear alongside iPhone 13 and Apple’s newest iPad models during the September 14 event, but that didn’t happen. It has now been well over three years since the last AirPods refresh.

Apple Watch Series 7 preorders start October 8, official partner says

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California Streaming event: Apple Watch Series 7 packs a bigger, more durable screen.
Prices start at $399.
Photo: Apple

Apple Watch Series 7 will finally be available to preorder on October 8, according to one of Cupertino’s official partners. Hermès is telling customers via email that’s the date they’ll be able to secure their new smartwatches.

Jon Prosser of Front Page Tech, who has a decent track record when it comes to Apple rumors, also claims that Apple Watch Series 7 will be available to preorder “as early as next week,” with shipping to begin in mid-October.