Apple’s long-running battle with patent-holding entity VirnetX took another expensive turn Friday as Apple was ordered to pay $502.8 million for infringing on the company’s patents.
The verdict was decided by a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Apple and VirnetX have been battling back and forth since 2010.
In its latest 10-K annual report, detailing its 2020 financial reports, Apple warns investors that if it’s made to reduce the commission it charges in the App Store, this could have a “materially adverse” affect on Apple’s bottom line.
Apple includes the clause, which seemingly hasn’t been in previous 10-K reports, at a time when Apple’s commission is being challenged. A number of developers and politicians have suggested that Apple’s control of the App Store in unfair, and that it charges too much.
Over the weekend, the first (and arguably best) actor to play James Bond in a movie, Sean Connery, passed away at the age of 90.
Almost immediately, a story began doing the rounds online about the time, in 1998, when Connery told Steve Jobs that he flat-out refused to participate in an Apple ad. Why? Because Jobs was “a computer salesman” and Connery was “f*cking James Bond.”
It’s a great story. It’s also totally untrue.
Apple’s new Intercom feature for HomePod (and HomePod mini) sounds really interesting and useful. Depending on what Apple gear you own, and what software versions you’re running, you might be able to give it a spin right now.
Our lead story this week will show you how to get Intercom set up (and why you’ll want to). But there’s also plenty of Apple news, rumors and recommendations. Highlights include our iPhone 12 review and a wrap from this week’s surprising financial update: 7 nuggets of truth from Apple’s latest earnings call.
It’s all in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. Download it now to read on your iOS device, or get the headlines below in your browser.
Apparently there was something to all those complaints about active noise cancellation in AirPods Pro. Apple just launched a program to replace defective AirPods Pro earbuds that have audio problems, including sucky ANC.
Apple on Friday gave developers access to iOS 14.2 golden master, along with the iPadOS equivalent. This is the last step before releasing these new versions to the public.
When available to all, iOS 14.2 will offer plenty of fun new emoji, as well as Shazam music recognition integrated into the Control Center.
This week on The CultCast: Next-gen AirPods might bring massive changes — we’ll tell you what we know!Plus: The original HomePod remains absolutely outstanding, but the new Intercom feature needs work. And we’ve got another update on Erfon’s $100,000 AAPL stock investment!
The CultCast is now available in video! Or subscribe to our audio episodes if you don’t like our faces.
Treat yourself to one of the best Apple Watch upgrades money can buy: A luxury leather band made just for you by the fine folks at Form Function Form. You can now get 15% off the entire lineup in the Cult of Mac Store’s Halloween Sale.
This limited-time sale must end this weekend, so enjoy it while you can.
Forget Halloween. And what election? The biggest event happening is the premier of The Mandalorian season 2 on Friday. You can celebrate with a Star Wars-themed case for your iPhone, including one just released for the latest model.
South of the Circle is a narrative adventure game that starts with a plane crash in Antarctica in 1964. Its animation style results from motion-captured performances from a cast of actors.
The story begins Friday on Apple Arcade, this company’s subscription gaming service.
The app economy has done well during the coronavirus pandemic but some categories have done better than others. According to a new report by app analytics platform Sensor Tower, one category of app that has done exceptionally well are home improvement apps.
In the United States, first-time installs of the top home improvement apps doubled year-over-year between the months of March and September. Monthly active users also grew by 35% during that time.
Mark Zuckerberg isn’t happy about an iOS 14 feature that will make it harder for developers and advertisers to track iPhone users — on the basis that the anti-tracking tech could hurt small businesses already struggling in the age of coronavirus.
In Thursday’s earnings call, the Facebook co-founder and CEO said that actions planned by Apple “could have a meaningful negative effect on small businesses and economic recovery in 2021 and beyond.”
Apple has won another Emmy Award — but, no, it’s not for any of the great shows you’ll find on Apple TV+. Instead, on Thursday Apple was awarded an Engineering Emmy Award for its ProRes video codec, the high quality video compression format Apple developed — which is now standard issue in the movie business.
The award was given to Greg Wallace, director of video apps engineering at Apple. The awards show also featured a short video from Apple engineers Peter Chou and Mitchell Oslick. Check out the video below.
Apple’s celebrated spy drama Tehran reaches the end of the road Friday as the Apple TV+ airs its season finale.
The episode, titled “Five Hours Until the Bombing Run,” is one of three new shows on Apple TV+ this week. It means that, for the uninitiated, the entire series is now available for viewing. (Plus non-subscribers can tune in to watch the Halloween animated classic It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.)
COVID-19 both helped and hurt Apple earnings in the company’s most-recent financial quarter. CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri discussed the nitty-gritty details of the results Thursday. They also shared what’s really going on with Apple as it tries to keep releasing best-selling products in the middle of a pandemic that’s upended the world economy and ordinary people’s lives.
Here are seven things we learned from Apple’s Q4 2020 earnings call.
Apple pulled in more revenue last quarter than in any previous July-through-September period, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Growth came from sales of Mac and iPad, as well as revenue from services.
But iPhone revenue was down dramatically because of the delayed release of the iPhone 12 series. That hurt earnings significantly.
To get audiences primed for Wolfwalkers, Apple debuted on Thursday a “Legendary Prologue” for what will be first animated movie on Apple TV+. It introduces viewers to a medieval world where humans can transform into wolves.
Watch the video preview now.
Ahead of Apple postings its latest quarter results today, two of the company’s rivals — Samsung and Spotify — have published their own calendar Q3 results. And they’re good. But there’s a catch in both cases.
To put it mildly, 2020 hasn’t been the best year on record. It’s been a year that, at various times, makes you mad enough to throw things — like, err, bacon?
This oddball bacon-tossing concept is at the center of a game called *ahem* Bacon — The Game. Created by the excellent indie developer Philipp Stollenmayer (Sometimes You Die), it’s a strangely addicting game which I’ve played, off and on, for the past couple of years.
Today, Stollenmayer cranked up the crispiness by adding another 30 levels to the quirky game. If you’ve not played it before, this is a great time to give it a whirl. Or a toss.
Apple was seemingly banking on the iPhone 12 being its most popular new handset this year. But it appears the company may have underestimated just how popular the new iPhone 12 Pro is with users.
According to Digitimes, Apple is ramping up orders for the LiDAR Scanner exclusive to the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max models.
The iPhone 12 mini won’t ship until November 13, but a video doing the rounds on Chinese social media shows an unboxing of Apple’s new miniature iPhone. Well, kind of.
The joke video shows the unboxing of an impressively accurate, shrunk-down copy of Apple’s iPhone mini. It’s reminiscent of the tiny cellphone in 2001’s Ben Stiller comedy Zoolander. And it’s kind of awesome.
Apple temporarily shuttered its Apple Walnut Street retail store in Philadelphia as the city is rocked by protests and riots following the killing of a black man, Walter Wallace Jr., by police.
According to Apple’s website, the store is closed from now through at least November 4. An asterisk on the page lists this as “special store hours.”
According to Apple leaker Jon Prosser, Apple could almost double the storage of its current top-of-the-range iPhone — by introducing the first 1TB iPhone.
At present, Apple’s maximum iPhone storage option tops out at 512GB. The storage for Apple’s top iPhones has been capped at this figure for the past three years since the iPhone XS and XS Max. This year, the base option of the iPhone 12 Pro was doubled to 128GB from the minimum 64GB of the iPhone 11 Pro.
Weak iPhone sales likely pulled down Apple earnings in its last financial quarter. But the COVID-19 pandemic almost certainly pushed up demand for iPad and Mac. Still, total revenue is expected to be down slightly.
We’ll find out for sure Thursday when Cupertino announces its financial results from the July-through-September period.
Apple Clips 3.0, released on Wednesday, includes an improved user interface to make it easier to record video and then add effects to it. There are enhancements for both iPhone and iPad users.
This free software helps users combine video clips, photos and music into fun videos. It’s aimed at producing eye-catching content for TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and more.