The Apple TV app tries to do too much. It tries to be too much. And this lack of focus damages the Apple TV+ streaming service. Still, a design change in iOS 14.3 and the iPad equivalent makes it just a little bit easier for subscribers to find Apple TV+ shows and movies.
The small tweak doesn’t go far enough, though. It’s only a tiny step in the right direction. What’s truly needed is a dedicated Apple TV+ app.
It’s a big day for Apple fans — there are software updates for iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple TV.
With an update, iPhone 12 Pro gets support for Apple’s new ProRAW image format. And all iPhone and iPads display new privacy info about third-party apps.
But primarily, the new versions are about adding support for AirPods Max and Apple Fitness+ to a range of operating systems. And bug fixes too.
With Apple Fitness+ set to launch Monday, a handful of early reviews say the subscription service is a winner that makes fitness fun.
If you’ve got an Apple Watch and access to gym equipment in your home, it’s practically a no-brainer at $9.99 a month. Could this be a Peloton beater?
Apple Music teamed up with the iconic British artist David Hockney to create a portrait of Beethoven for the artist’s 250th birthday.
Hockney, whose painting “Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)” is the most expensive work of art by a living artist to ever sell at auction, created the Beethoven image using his trusty iPad.
Riots broke out over the weekend at a Wistron factory in southern India that produces iPhones, resulting in around 100 people being arrested. Thousands of iPhones were stolen during the incident.
The riots were reportedly related to allegations about unpaid wages and other exploitation. Workers were allegedly not paid for several months, and made to do mandatory overtime. Protestors broke windows at the factory on the outskirts of Bangalore, pulled down CCTV cameras, and flipped cars onto their sides.
Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly stepped in to squash an Apple TV+ series that would have chronicled the rise of controversial blogging network Gawker Media.
Earlier this year, Vanity Fair reported that Apple TV+ execs were working with former Gawker writers Max Read and Cord Jefferson, among others, on the series. Not much in the way of details were published. However, it sounds like it could have been a scripted show about the “glory days” of a blog known for “skewering the powerful.”
One of the potential problems? Apple and Cook could have been among the powerful in question.
Since leaving Apple in the middle of last year, Sir Jony Ive has launched a new design agency, LoveFrom, and taken on clients including Airbnb. Now he could be headed for the figurative driver’s seat at Ferrari — as the Italian luxury carmaker’s next CEO. Possibly.
According to a report from Reuters, Ive — by far the best-known designer in Apple history — is in the running to take over as Ferrari’s next CEO. Given Ive’s love of high-end cars, that has to be a job he would be tempted by!
Apple’s new over-the-ear headphones are kind of over the top. From the high-end design to the sky-high price tag, AirPods Max certainly made quite a splash this week.
They sold out almost immediately after Tuesday’s unveiling. And that weird AirPods Max case got mercilessly mocked online, as people compared it to a bra and a sleep mask, among other things.
It’s not all AirPods Max this week, though: Apple TV+ started streaming Wolfwalkers, which our reviewer called the “best animated film of the year.” Plus, Apple’s mysterious self-driving car project raced back into the rumor fast lane.
Read up in this week’s free edition of Cult of Mac Magazine. Download it now for your iOS device. Or use the links below to get to the stories on the web.
With Facebook facing a federal antitrust lawsuit, and a new administration headed for the White House, should Apple be worried about a crackdown on big tech?
While the specifics might be far different for the two companies, D.C.’s apparent thirst for regulation should get Tim Cook sweating.
Disney has announced that its Disney+ streaming service will increase in price by a single, solitary dollar per month. That takes the monthly cost of the streaming service to $7.99 per month — or $79.99 per year if you buy an annual subscription.
Meanwhile, the price of the Disney Bundle, which also ties in Hulu and ESPN Plus, will add the same $1 to its price tag, bringing it to $13.99 per month. These price changes will kick into effect come March 26, 2021.
Woot is offering cracking discounts on a whole bunch of new, open-box iPad and MacBook models today only. You can save up to 35% on 2019 and 2020 devices, including the newest iPad Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro.
Stock is selling fast so enjoy this sale while you can!
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Head off with a little girl as she wanders a Mediterranean island rescuing animals in Alba: A Wildlife Adventure. She’s supposed to be on vacation, but she’s ready to start an environmental movement instead!
The game, which hit Apple Arcade on Friday, is from Ustwo Games, the creator of the classic Monument Valley.
It’s way too early to have a sense of how many units Apple will sell of its newly announced AirPods Max headphones. But according to a rumor from Digitimes, two of the manufacturers involved with production are “not expecting much” from the “niche” product.
The report cites sources from Compaq Manufacturing and Unitech, two companies reportedly making printed circuit boards for the new headphones. Unsurprisingly, both firms declined to give official responses with their verdicts.
Remember how cool it was the first time you used Apple’s Cover Flow feature to flip through artwork for albums you bought on iTunes? More than a decade after Apple introduced that feature, Apple Music is rolling out a cool update: animated album covers.
Apple added the feature in the beta versions of iOS 14.3 and macOS 11.1. As you might expect, the animated covers are not available across the board on day one. So far, they’re just starting to appear for certain artists — with beta users starting to find them and share them online.
Apple has started building its own cellular modems for use in future devices. Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware technologies, made the announcement to employees Thursday during a virtual town hall meeting.
The company currently relies on Qualcomm modems, after restoring its relationship with the company following a prolonged clash over patents and royalties. However, Apple has made no bones about its desire to bring this part of its manufacturing in-house. It even bought Intel’s modem business for $1 billion in 2019, the second-largest acquisition in Apple history.
Apple engineers used remote control robots and iPads equipped with custom augmented reality software to guide technicians in overseas factories, due to the coronavirus lockdown.
Usually Apple engineers make frequent visits to places like China, where Apple carries out manufacturing. However, this year’s coronavirus lockdown has made this impossible — leading to Apple having to make some tech-savvy adjustments.
Allan Hagen is a New York-based professional magician and amateur photographer with a serious setup. His favorite part of the setup is the big, stunning Antoccino Desk by RH Modern, which helps him concentrate.
“A big desk with a fairly minimalist setup really lends itself to focusing on the tasks at hand,” he said.
Julia Roberts is the latest star putting in an appearance on Apple TV+. She’ll reportedly take the lead in an adaptation of the mystery-thriller The Last Thing He Told Me.
Update November 12, 2021: Jennifer Garner has replaced Julia Roberts as the lead in this upcoming series.
Update: The wait for macOS Big Sur 11.1 is over. It and operating system updates for quite a few other Apple computers launched Monday.
Apple seeded a macOS Big Sur 11.1 Release Candidate to developers on Thursday. That’s good news for those who hold off upgrading their Mac to each new big new macOS release until after it gets its first major revision.
In addition, there are second release candidates for iOS 14.3 and iPadOS 14.3 available.
Jay Freeman, developer of the Cydia software store for the iPhone, filed a lawsuit accusing the Apple App Store of being a monopoly. His company asks a U.S. District Court to force Apple to let iPhone users get apps from rival software stores.
Apple Pencil makes an ideal holiday gift for any iPad owner. And for a limited time only, you can enjoy a rare $15 discount on the second-generation model. Order today to pay just $114.
Sometimes, when Apple passes a major financial milestone, I’ll have a pang of regret at not having invested all the money I could lay my hands on on Apple back in the mid-1990s.
But that’s far from the worst missed opportunity involving Apple investment. A new article for Fast Company tells the story of seven early investors who sold their AAPL holdings on the day of the company’s IPO in December 1980.
The “first impressions” reviews of the AirPods Max are out, and, well, they’re pretty darn good.
From the high-quality sound to the stainless steel and other luxury materials to the neat use of magnets to connect the ear pads, the consensus is that the AirPods Max are a premium product in (almost) every way.
As for that wallet-damaging $549 price tag? “Judging from materials execution alone, the AirPod Max feels like it should be more expensive if anything,” says TechCrunch‘s Matthew Panzarino. Check out some of the other initial thoughts below.
Apple has secured the rights to a new scripted anthology series about climate change called Extrapolations.
According to trade publication Variety, the series will reveal the “intimate, unanticipated stories of how the upcoming changes to our planet will affect love, faith, work and family on a personal and human scale.”
The series is created by Scott Z. Burns, a screenwriter, producer and director who wrote The Bourne Ultimatum and Contagion. He also produced the Academy Award-winning climate change documentary An Inconvenient Truth.
Apple could have to ensure that 30 percent of Apple TV+ content is produced in Europe in order to sell in that market, suggests new potential regulation in the works.
Under the General Scheme of the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill, which has not yet been passed, all streaming platforms would have to abide by these rules.