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.
At CES 2022, Samsung Electronics showed a new portable screen and entertainment device it’s calling “The Freestyle.” The company also called the device the first of its kind. It’s a small projector and smart speaker that works with iOS and Android devices to stream video or sync audio to ambient lighting.
It seems it’s not that difficult to make millions of dollars on the App Store if you’re willing to charge people for a “free” service and you have money to spend on blatantly fake but seemingly effective reviews.
That’s how one developer, which offers an app that claims to make your music louder, has collected a cool $13 million — and somehow been featured by Apple multiple times in various countries — in under four years.
The first trailer for Suspicion, a new Apple TV+ thriller starring Uma Thurman, sets up the series’ intriguing storyline.
After the son of a prominent American businesswoman, played by Thurman, is kidnapped from a New York hotel, four seemingly ordinary British citizens who just happened to be there that night find themselves caught up in an investigation.
Apple has discontinued the Beats Pill+ wireless speaker — one of the first brand-new products it launched after acquiring Beats in 2014. It was the only speaker available under the Beats brand, and there is no replacement.
You can still buy a Pill+ from third-party retailers while stocks last. However, you won’t find one in the Apple Store.
Apple’s first mixed-reality headset will ship with the same 96W power adapter that you get with some 14-inch MacBook Pro models, according to an analyst, who says that’s proof the device will pack plenty of computing power.
TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also expects Apple’s “metaverse headset” to be around two to three years ahead of competing products. And he says it could sell as many as 3 million units during its first full year of availability, rising to 20 million units in 2025.
Apple has confirmed that it will allow developers to offer third-party payment systems for app purchases in South Korea, according to a new report.
The move comes after Korean regulators last August ruled that smartphone makers, including, could not force users to make purchases through their own app marketplaces exclusively. But Apple won’t give up its cut of revenues.
If you want to call an Uber, you’ll have to do it from your iPhone — the Apple Watch app was disabled on Monday. Apparently permanently.
Uber gave no reason for the change.
Apple TV+ might be ready to play in the big leagues. Major League Baseball, to be exact. The company reportedly engaged in “substantial talks” with MLB about acquiring the rights to stream games.
If such a deal comes together, it would be a game-changer for Apple’s streaming service.
Apple TV+ renewed the hit series The Morning Show, starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, for a third season, the company said Monday. The streaming service also signed a multiyear deal with WGA Award winner Charlotte Stoudt to be the third season’s showrunner and executive producer, and to produce other scripted series.
In addition to Stoudt (whose credits include Fosse/Verdon, Homeland and House of Cards), Aniston and Witherspoon serve as executive producers on The Morning Show, which has won Emmy, SAG and Critics Choice awards. It is directed by Mimi Leder and produced by the studio Media Res, Hello Sunshine and Echo Films.
Rumor has it the iPhone 14 Pro will dump the screen notch for a pill-shaped camera hole. A concept artist turned the unconfirmed report into a possible design for Apple’s 2022 flagship phone.
He even put the additional screen space to good use.
Why wear Apple Watch on your wrist like a filthy commoner when you can carry it like a pocket watch? Bucardo’s new Pinstripe collection takes the smartwatch back to the 16th century in the coolest, flashiest way possible.
Get yours in gold, silver or black and join the Apple Watch aristocracy.
Reader and technologist Andrew (last name redacted, so to speak) runs a “boutique AV, IT [and] cyber systems integration company from a home office” in London — though he supports sites worldwide. Clearly, he has a lot to do.
And he does it using a late-2013 Mac Pro he fondly said should be on the Death Star from Star Wars, plus a 2017 MacBook Pro he described to Cult of Mac as “perhaps the worst-constructed laptop I have ever owned.”
In 2021, Jason Sudeikis won the first-ever Golden Globe for Apple TV+. On Sunday night he repeated, again winning the Best Television Actor in a musical or comedy award for his leading role in the streaming service’s comedy hit Ted Lasso.
And just like in 2021, Sudeikis’ win was the only one for Apple TV+, despite a handful of other nominations.
While Apple is creating a VR headset, it’s reportedly not developing a complete virtual world for users. It plans on virtual reality games, video and other experiences. But these supposedly won‘t be connected into a single VR metaverse.
That sets it apart from Meta (formerly Facebook), which does hope to create a virtual world it controls.
Google is once again calling on Apple to adopt a more open text messaging standard after accusing Cupertino of benefitting from bullying.
It comes after a report highlighted the struggle some teens face when using an Android device, which results in broken group chats and green bubbles — as opposed to blue ones — when texting peers who own an iPhone.
A former iMessage manager explained the reasoning behind the differences in Apple’s defense. But some might (rightly) say the arguments hold no value today, with text messaging in a better place than it was when iMessage landed.