A new Spotlight feature in Apple’s Podcasts app will promote “singular voices in podcasting” to help new listeners discover them. Apple plans to profile a new creator each month. The first is Celebrity Book Club podcaster, comedian and filmmaker Chelsea Devantez.
Whether it’s the iPhone 12 mini or the high-end iPhone 12 Pro Max, Apple’s latest handsets are pretty darn great when it comes to taking photographs. To show just how good, on Tuesday Apple released a lineup of images, snapped using its latest iPhones.
From hyper-detailed close-ups to moody interiors to gorgeous landscapes, they show off just how versatile Apple’s new camera phones actually are.
Hyundai’s Kia Corporation will reportedly be the company responsible for working with Apple on the electric, self-driving Apple Car project, a new report states.
As per the South Korean news outlet, eDaily, “If Kia decides to do this, the Apple Car production base will be at Kia’s Georgia plant in the US.”
Popular Apple TV+ comedy series Ted Lasso earned three nominations in the upcoming 26th annual Critics Choice Awards.
The show, about a hapless Kansas football coach who is somehow hired to lead a U.K. soccer team, earned nods for Best Comedy Series, Best Actor in a Comedy Series (lead actor Jason Sudeikis, who plays the title role) and Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (for Hannah Waddingham, who plays club owner Rebecca in the show.)
Apple has quietly extended a free repair program covering faulty 13-inch MacBook Pro models introduced in 2016. The laptops in question suffer from a problem related to the display backlight.
Initially, Apple’s repair program — announced in May 2019 — covered the laptops for up to four years after they were purchased. Now Apple has extended that to five years.
Apple’s new MagSafe system for iPhone 12 makes magnets magical, and with the right accessories, it can be even better. Check out Elago’s brilliant new MagSafe stands, which hold your iPhone in a comfortable position while it’s charging for a mere $29.
Apple will build even more magnets into the 2021 iPad Pro, according to a tipster. The same source also rendered images supposedly based on CAD drawings of the upcoming 12.9- and 11-inch versions.
Other changes rumored for Apple’s next top-tier tablet include an improved screen and optional 5G.
Foxconn is building a $270 million factory in Vietnam, likely in response to Apple’s desire to move some iPad and MacBook production out of China.
December was a good month for Call of Duty: Mobile, which topped the iOS App Store list of most-downloaded games, according to a new report from app analytics platform Sensor Tower.
Samsung’s 52-year-old heir, Lee Jae Yong, has been sentenced to 2.5 years in prison related to a bribery case. Lee was found guilty of bribery, embezzlement, and concealment of criminal proceeds worth $7.8 million.
Lee has already served some time in prison while waiting for the trial. This leaves him with 18 months still to serve. He was first arrested back in early 2017 over a political scandal linked to the then-president of South Korea, Park Geun-hye. The case has been ongoing since then, leading to Monday’s decision by the Seoul High Court.
Apple has commemorated Martin Luther King Jr. Day by changing up the image on its homepage to showcase a photo and quote from the legendary civil rights leader.
“True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice,” reads the quotation. To this, Apple ads, “We honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his leadership in civil rights.”
The Coalition for a Safer Web, a Washington DC-based nonprofit, is suing Apple for not removing messaging app Telegram from the App Store.
In a lawsuit filed Sunday, Marc Ginsberg, a former U.S. ambassador to Morroco, and the coalition say the app remains in the App Store “despite Apple’s knowledge that Telegram is being used to intimidate, threaten, and coerce members of the public.”
Apple CEO Tim Cook refused to take the bait about Apple Car during a Sunday interview with Chris Wallace of Fox News. After Cook commented that Apple continues “making the best products in the world,” Wallace asked if that would include an Apple Car.
Cook responded by laughing, and said he “can’t comment on rumors and so forth.” Wallace then pushed back, saying that Cook could comment, he was just choosing not to. “You’re right,” Cook said, ending the exchange. “I choose not to. Touché.”
A fingerprint scanner might once again be part of Apple’s iPhone line, according to a reliable source. Touch ID might appear in 2021 alongside Face ID, not in place of it.
Also, Apple reportedly has a folding screen in the prototype stage.
A recent restoration project brought vintage Mac MP3 player Audion back from the edge of oblivion. You can get Audion, and its more than 800 wild and wooly custom user interfaces, for free.
If you’re interested in how software design has evolved, you’ll love this totally trippy flashback to the bad old days when we all crammed our hard drives full of downloaded MP3s.
If you’d rather deal with more pressing matters, we’ve got other new apps to showcase in this week’s roundup. EZ Estate will help you get your final affairs in order. A new RSS reader will make you fall in love with an otter. You can display your HomeKit scenes in iOS widgets and more.
Apple just added up to five months to current Apple TV+ free trials. If your free access to the streaming video service was about to expire, it’s instead been extended until the end of June.
And Apple is giving monthly rebates to those who paid for an annual subscription.
From CES product unveilings to juicy rumors, this week suffered zero shortage of new for Apple fans. You’ll find the cream of the crop in this week’s issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. As always, it’s free — and it’s ready for consumption on your iOS device of choice.
I don’t want to slow you down on your way to the week’s top news stories. But if you use Safari (and you really should), don’t miss our new series of how-tos on getting the most out of Apple’s web browser. Those Safari Pro Tips are in the mag as well.
Or you can get it all, plus our reviews of the new Apple TV+ seasons of Servant and Dickinson, in your browser at the links below.
Apple is reportedly considering a for-pay podcast subscription service. It would join other Apple services offering premium content, like Apple TV+ and News+.
The news sent shares of rival Spotify down over 7% on Friday.
The iMac is about to get the dramatic redesign so many people have been hoping for, according to a highly reliable source. Smaller bezels and an M-series processor are highlights.
Apple is also reportedly planning a significant redesign of the Mac Pro desktop.
A powerful processor and 5G wireless networking will force Apple to build a cooling system into the 2022 iPhone, according to an analyst and trusted Apple prognosticator.
But the system Apple is reportedly investigating won’t be ready in time for the iPhone 13, expected this autumn.
Smartwatches such as Apple Watch could detect COVID-19 infections a week before the wearer feels sick or would test positive for the novel coronavirus, two medical studies suggest.
Since such devices can identify subtle changes in heart rate that might indicate an early infection, they could spot asymptomatic individuals, who make up a sizable proportion of COVID-19 cases.
If you don’t want your Apple Watch to look just like everyone else’s, pair it with a unique band unlike any other. Choose a Wood Mark strap from the Cult of Mac Store — made almost entirely out of wood — and enjoy 25% off the usual price for a limited time.
They’re wonderfully comfortable, long-lasting, and kind on the environment. This discount ends later today, so enjoy it while you can!
Apple’s MagSafe branding technically made a return last year with the iPhone 12. But the MagSafe fans most fondly recall — the neat magnetic charging system for the MacBook — is also gearing up to make a comeback.
According to a Friday report from Bloomberg, Apple is bringing back MagSafe for this year’s MacBook Pro refresh. The connector will reportedly be similar in design to the “elongated pill-shape” original MagSafe. It will provide faster charging for the MacBook.
Apple’s A14 chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) is gearing up for “risk production” of its next-gen chips, Digitimes reported Friday.
The chips in question are TSMC’s 3-nanometer chips, expected to be the eventual successor to the current 5-nanometer chips. Risk production refers to the dress rehearsal process for manufacturing, in which things appear ready to go, but are not quite ready to go into mass production just yet.
According to reliable TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the next-gen MacBook Pro will come in 14- and 16-inch sizes, feature more ports and bring back the MagSafe charger in some form (!). And, of course, the high-end laptops will run on new Apple Silicon chips.
But the first big MacBook Pro redesign in half a decade also do away with the Touch Bar, the controversial — and never entirely successful — innovation Apple debuted back in 2016.