Apple tablets almost came with dual docking ports from the very beginning. New images of an early prototype iPad show it sports a charging/data port on its bottom edge and a second one on its left edge.
The final version released in 2010 only packed a single port, but this prototype shows how the initial Apple tablets could have gone in a different direction. Which is an interesting tidbit with the anniversary of the first model coming up.
Over a platter of sushi, Steve Jobs once bragged to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos that Apple had created the greatest Windows application ever built. The Apple co-founder then suggested, in a roundabout way, that the software could kill a major stream of revenue for Amazon.
Jobs was referring to iTunes for Windows, which Apple introduced in October 2003 (and which Jobs later referred to as the equivalent of “giving a glass of ice water to somebody in hell.”) Bezos got a look at iTunes for Windows before the rest of the world did. And he also endured a typically Jobsian dig about CDs and Amazon’s future.
There’s a trio of Apple TV shows that critics absolutely love, according to review-aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes. The current seasons of each of them racked up 100% approval ratings.
Cult of Mac is giving away a stunning Apple Watch band from our friends at Goldenerre. The crystal pavé link band is the newest piece in Goldenerre’s collection, and it comes in shiny gold, rose gold or silver.
With more than 820 brilliant crystals, the sparkle factor is off the charts with this band! And to sweeten the deal, Goldenerre is including one stacking bracelet of your choice for every winner.
Lads, if you want to win points with the lady in your life, you need to enter this giveaway!
It seems early, but we’re already deep into rumor season when it comes to this year’s iPhone. This week alone, we heard tantalizing tidbits about a massive storage upgrade, a cool black finish and more.
And that’s just for the iPhone. We’re also knee-deep in rumors about upcoming upgrades for AirPods, iMacs and Apple Watch, as well as as-yet-unconfirmed products like AirTags and Apple’s AR headset.
Get up to speed on the latest Apple rumors in this week’s issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. It’s packed with Apple news, reviews and how-tos. Download it to read on iPhone or iPad, or get the stories below in your browser.
The just-released Farm It! manages to set itself apart from the plethora of other farming games with one big advantage. Because it’s on Apple Arcade it won‘t nag players to pay real money to buy in-game items.
The premiere season of Home Before Dark pleased critics and audiences alike, and Apple TV+ revealed on Friday that season two will play on the streaming service in summer 2021.
The show follows Hilde Lisko, who doesn’t let being a child stand in the way of being an investigative journalist.
Apple has a fix for a serious bug in the mobile version of its Safari web browser. Hackers have reportedly already used it, which makes a high-priority of installing iOS 14.4.2, iPadOS 14.4.2 and watchOS 7.3.3. All three hit Apple servers Friday morning.
Hitchhiker asks players to travel the highways exploring the unknown while also confronting new dangers. It’s sort of a mystery novel in the form of a game. But unlike a book, choices you make when speaking to people you meet affect how it all comes out.
The game launched Friday on Apple Arcade.
With the recent arrival of a dual-monitor stand, Oxford, England-based Russ Hicks completed an overhaul of the setup that powers the one-man business he has run for 25 years: Genesis Marketing Services.
He specializes in printing equipment suppliers and packaging services. And his business now runs on a Mac mini M1 and dual curved screens.
Multiple sclerosis has made Hicks’ work more challenging recently, but Apple products have helped him deal with it.
Apple’s location-tracking AirTags could retail for $39, and measure a diminutive 32mm x 32mm x 6mm, making them smaller than the rival Tile Pro item trackers.
Apple leaker Max Weinbach shared the information in a new video from EverythingApplePro. The video notes that the information comes from a “retail source,” and that, while the price is “an estimate,” it is likely that AirTags will retail for approximately this figure.
Interestingly, there’s no mention in the video of a rumored two sizes of AirTags. This is something that Apple leaker l0vetodream suggested last year. That earlier report also suggested that the AirTags keychain will be sold separately.
Apple’s newest MacBook Air is its fastest, most impressive to date. And now is a great time to buy one, with some retailers offering the biggest discounts we’ve seen so far. What’s more, we can help make your upgrade even more affordable.
Sell your old Mac to Cult of Mac today and you’ll get a nice stack of cash to put toward a new model. We typically pay more than anyone else, and we’re fast!
A new report claims that Apple’s next-gen AirPods won’t arrive until the third quarter of 2021. This backs up a recent report from renowned Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who recently said that the AirPods 3 are unlikely to launch until Q3 2021.
Prior to this, AirPods 3 had been heavily rumored as being part of Apple’s next product event — originally rumored for March, but then pushed back to April.
Apple could ditch the gray “graphite” option seen in the iPhone 12 Pro for a new matte black color with the iPhone 13, claims Apple tipster Max Weinbach.
In a video posted to the EverythingApplePro YouTube channel Friday, Weinbach shared mockups of the new premium black finish. This would be similar to the black color option available for the regular iPhone 12, but in a high-end matte finish.
It reportedly also will boast a new anti-fingerprint coating to ensure the handset looks its best at all times.
Apple is considering whether to launch a more ruggedized Apple Watch aimed at athletes and people doing outdoor activities in extreme environments, Bloomberg reported Friday.
This device could potentially be launched as early as this year or 2022. Inside Apple, the project is referred to as the “Explorer Edition” Apple Watch. It would offer the same basic functionality as the regular Apple Watch, but with added rubberized impact-resistance and protection — similar to Casio’s G-Shock line of watches.
We’ve all been there. You eagerly place an order for a new iPhone online, then eagerly wait by the door for its arrival, only to have your fun ruined when it turns out that your new iPhone is, in fact, a table.
OK, so we’ve not all been there. But an unnamed Thai man apparently has, after he bought what he thought was a cheap iPhone 7 that turned out to be a novelty desk.
Apple reportedly bought more companies developing artificial intelligence technology over the past five years than anyone else. A prime goal is to make the Siri voice assistant smarter, according to GlobalData, the market-research firm that compiled a list of AI-related acquisitions by many companies.
Consumer Reports on Thursday revealed its “Best Smartphones of 2021.” And Apple’s biggest and most expensive model beat every other iOS device. The iPhone 12 Pro Max was named the “Best iPhone”
According to a recent complaint filed with a U.K. antitrust regulator, Apple and Google are working a bit too closely for comfort. The complaint alleges “collusion at a very senior level” of both companies when it comes to search engines.
But make no mistake: While things certainly cooled down since the days when Apple co-founder Steve Jobs threatened to go to “thermonuclear war” against Google, the two companies remain on a collision course. And the conflict will come over the exact same issue they’re currently allegedly colluding on.
It’s all about the future of search as we know it.
Canadian Angie Carriere dropped her iPhone into a lake while she was ice fishing. A month later, she retrieved off the bottom of the still-frozen lake. And it works.
Watch a video showing the amazing rescue.
For the first time ever, the Steve Jobs Theater is about to become a, well, proper theater through the airing of a play filmed at the Apple Park venue usually used for Apple keynote events.
The play, 12 Angry Men… and Women, is based on the book 12 Angry Men: True Stories of Being a Black Man in America Today. It will be available to watch for free via the Apple TV app from Friday, March 26 through April 22.
One of the big criticisms leveled at Apple over its control of the App Store is that it doesn’t allow ways of side-loading apps. That is to say that, if you want an app on iOS, it’s Apple’s way or the highway.
Apple, however, disagrees. In a response made as part of the Australian consumer watchdog’s probe into the App Store, Apple argues that this is not true at all — because people can create web apps or the internet.
Oprah Winfrey will interview National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman on her show The Oprah Conversation this Friday. The 23-year-old inaugural poet, author, and activist wrote the poem “The Hill We Climb,” delivered at the inauguration of President Biden and VP Kamala Harris.
“Amanda Gorman is a young woman who stepped into a moment in history with enormous grace and dignity,” said Winfrey in a statement. “I was enthralled by her youthful spirit from the first moment we met, and very much looked forward to hearing her unpack all that has happened to her the past few months.”
Apple has long talked up the strides it’s making when it comes to being an inclusive workplace. However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t examples of this not being the case.
As reported by Bloomberg Thursday, Apple has lost the early round of a discrimination lawsuit brought against the company by a female engineer from India. She alleges that her two male managers, one from India and the other from Pakistan, treated her as a subservient.
Apple ads consistently find fun, accessible ways of showcasing features without having to resort to technobabble. Case in point: Its new ad showing off the Ceramic Shield for the iPhone 12.
Apple could easily fill a 30-second ad talking about how this specially engineered glass is heat-treated so as to develop nano crystals similar to the ones found in ceramics, which are embedded into the glass matrix of the display. It could talk about the difference between hardness and toughness, and give percentage improvements over last year’s model.
But it doesn’t. Because most people only want to know whether this means they can drop their iPhone without it breaking. That’s where the “Fumble” ad comes in.