Once the crown jewel in Apple’s treasure chest, the iPod continues its slow march to the end. This week, the last generation iPod nano, which debuted with new color options in 2015, officially debuted on Apple’s “vintage” list.
Rashida Jones and Bill Murray star in On the Rocks, an upcoming Apple TV+ movie by director Sofia Coppola. Photo: Apple TV+/A24
On the Rocks, the Apple Originals movie co-produced with A24, debuts in select theaters today, ahead of its debut on Apple TV+ later this month.
The movie reunites director Sofia Coppola with star Bill Murray for the first time since their brilliant 2003 movie Lost in Translation, which won an original screenplay Oscar for Coppola and received an acting nomination for Murray.
The App Store is a massive economic engine in its own right. Photo: Apple
Despite far fewer installs than the Google Play app store, Apple’s iOS App Store raked in $19 billion to Google’s $10.3 billion in the third quarter of 2020, according to a new report by Sensor Tower.
Overall spending grew 32 percent in the quarter across both platforms. Meanwhile, overall installs increased 23.3 percent to a total of 36.5 billion. These record-breaking numbers likely had a lot to do with the coronavirus pandemic, which shut down large parts of the economy, but caused a spike in interest for developers while people were stuck home.
Tiny World on Apple TV+ looks at some of Earth’s smallest creatures. Photo: Apple
Apple TV+ wildlife documentary series Tiny World landed on the streaming service Friday, alongside multiple new episodes of current shows.
In addition to all six episodes of Tiny World — which is narrated by everyone’s favorite actor, Paul Rudd — Apple TV+ viewers also can enjoy new episodes of acclaimed spy drama Tehran and the Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman travel series Long Way Up. Friday also brings the season finale of hit comedy Ted Lasso.
When it comes to Apple earnings, CEO Tim Cook seems to operate a reality distortion field of his own. Photo illustration: Cult of Mac
When Apple holds its fiscal Q4 2020 earnings call on Oct. 29, can the company deliver another pandemic miracle?
We’ll all find out at 2 p.m. Pacific that day, when Apple live-streams its earnings call. (Actually, we’ll undoubtedly find out a half-hour earlier than that, when Cupertino issues its press release outlining its quarterly results).
Following last quarter’s record-setting results, Wall Street will be waiting with bated breath to see if Apple once again found a way to spin gold amid the economic disaster caused by COVID-19.
No clutter equals no distractions. Photo: u/TDMarsh
Tyler Marsh has a setup that would make even Marie Kondo proud. He has nothing on his desk besides a couple of family photos and a scented candle, which both spark joy.
The linchpin of Marsh’s rig is an LG 34-inch UltraWide Curved Monitor. It’s the only thing in the setup that isn’t minimalist. He uses the massive screen to run a 2017 MacBook Pro for personal use. He also has a Lenovo ThinkPad T480 14-inch Business Laptop as his work machine.
A Canadian company that had agreed to disassemble and recycle iPhones, iPad, and Apple Watches allegedly sold over 100,000 of them instead. Geep admitted the products were sold not recycled, but blames the theft on three of its employees.
iPadOS limits Home screen widget placement. A concept artist shows there’s no reason for this limitation. Photo: A Better Computer Trailer
While Home screen widgets came to iPad first, the release of iOS 14 offered iPhone users much more flexibility in widget placement. A concept designer showed what iPadOS 15 could look like with the same flexibility.
Surface Pro X is Microsoft’s chief rival for the iPad Pro. A new version should offer improved performance. Photo: Microsoft
Microsoft unveiled a faster version of the Surface Pro X on Thursday. This updated tablet/laptop has an improved version of the Arm-based processor that debuted in the original last autumn. Performance of first-generation model didn’t impress reviewers or power users. Hence the new iteration.
The Surface Pro X competes head-to-head with Apple’s iPad Pro line. Both even use similar processors.
Of course a folding iPhone screen won‘t develop a crease. But Apple is still exploring how to make this possible. Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac
Apple is working on a solution for the biggest drawback of folding displays. The first generation of foldable handsets made by rival companies develop a crease where the screen bends, but Apple engineers want to put a bendable display that includes a self-healing material in a folding iPhone.
What could be more sleekly minimalist? (You get a set of lighter icons, too.) Photo: Traf
San Francisco-based graphic designer Traf was one of the first to jump on the idea of creating high-quality icons for iOS 14 users to customize their Home screens — and he’s reaping the benefits.
In a new blog post, Traf writes that it took him just six days to rack up 3,626 sales of his stunning monochrome icon set. Because he charged $28 for them, he made $101,528 — officially passing the six-figure mark.
Here’s a slightly crazy statistic: Gamers around the world have spent a combined 10.4 million years playing Fortnite, according to a new report. That’s considerably longer than the 6 million years humans have been around in some form.
In total, the top 10 games played online have been played for some 19.2 million years. World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Grand Theft Auto V and Witcher 3 make up the rest of the top five.
iOS 14.0.1 lets you set Gmail as your default email application, and have it actually stick. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Apple’s default apps could potentially be banned from coming preinstalled on new iPhone and iPads in Europe, according to draft European Union legislation.
The so-called Digital Services Act is intended to level the playing field for smaller companies wanting to compete with “gatekeeper platforms” (aka tech giants). The EU currently has two investigations into the App Store and one into Apple Pay.
TikTok may be facing a possible extinction-level event in the U.S., but that’s not stopping its worldwide success as the popular video-sharing app just racked up yet another month as the world’s most downloaded social media app.
According to analytics firm Sensor Tower, TikTok enjoyed 63.4 million installs worldwide in August 2020. That’s up 1.7 percent from August the previous year. TikTok was the no. 1 social media app in the App Store, Google Play store, and — unsurprisingly — both combined.
Your PlayStation will be able to double up as an Apple TV+ viewer. Photo: Sony
Since the days of the PlayStation 2’s in-built DVD player, for many people their games console has been the primary media hub for their TV. Despite this, Apple TV+ is not currently available on the top games platforms.
That may soon change, according to reports that claim that Apple is supposedly working with Microsoft and Sony to introduce its Apple TV app to Xbox and PlayStation.
This setup combines new and vintage Apple products. Photo: u/jhoule1394
COVID-19 forced Jeff Houle to work remotely, which was not a problem since he prefers his personalized WFH desk rather than his drab office desk. Houle is an avid collector, whether it is Disney pins (see the cork board) or old Apple products.
But when it comes to Macs, he does not just collect them. He finds unique ways to reuse them. He held on to his iBook G4 and iMac G4 (which he got at a swap meet for $10) to play old games like the original Sim and Oregon Trail — where he probably found the iBook.
Don't miss out on these awesome new accessories. Photo: Elago
Looking for some great accessories for your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch or Mac? The Cult of Mac Store is full of them, and we’re adding new ones all the time that you won’t want to miss.
This week’s top picks include a terrific wireless charging stand from Zens, must-have MacBook protection from Elago, an ultra-cool protective sleeve for your Apple TV remote, and more!
Use virtual reality to explore an opulent but very strange mansion in HoloVista. Screenshot: Aconite
The drawback to virtual reality gaming on an iPhone is it requires players to look at the world through their handset’s screen. Rather than try to escape that limitation, the new VR game HoloVista embraces it.
The player takes on the role of a character who’s also looking at the world through their iPhone. But what they’re seeing is a strange mansion they’ve been asked to photograph.
Luna Display for Windows lets an iPad be a PC’s second screen. No wires necessary. Photo: Astropad
Windows support is coming to Luna Display. This tiny accessory can already turn an iPad into a Mac’s second screen, and a new version with the ability to do the same for PCs is in development.
iOS 14.2 beta 2 includes a random collection of new emoji. Graphic: Apple/Emojipedia
Apple seeded a second beta of iOS 14.2 to everyone on Wednesday, along with the iPad equivalent. It brings plenty of fun new emoji like ninja, the transgender symbol and a certain Italian hand gesture. And beta testers get Shazam music recognition integrated into the Control Center.
But anyone hoping to get an iPhone 12 in October might want to skip this beta.
Apple faces a tough situation in China. Photo: AllOfUs
Apple has reportedly removed a pair of RSS reader apps, Reeder and Fiery Feeds, from the App Store in China due to their ability to allow users to access information the country would rather they not see.
It’s not clear exactly what prompted this particular banning, but China has been cracking down on RSS feeds since 2007. That year, it initiated a blanket ban on all web-based RSS feed aggregators. In 2017, Apple removed RSS reader app Inoreader from the App Store in China.
In other words, this may be less a case of “What did Reeder and Fiery Feeds do wrong?” than “how did they manage to survive as long as they did?”
Apple is also reportedly developing its own AR glasses. Concept: Taeyeon Kim
Foxconn, Apple’s biggest manufacturing partner, is reportedly developing its own augmented reality (AR) smart glasses. These will be used in retail, smart factories, and smart medical care.
The AR glasses will utilize micro LED displays, one of the next-gen display technologies that Apple plans to use in future products. Apple is also said to be hard at work on its own AR glasses, tentatively dubbed “Apple Glass.”
Candy Crush Friends Saga has surpassed $200 million in lifetime player spending across both the iOS and Google Play app stores, a report from app intelligence first Sensor Tower claims.
In total, the Candy Crush franchise has earned more than $1 billion so far this year.
Tim Cook may well stay at the helm at Apple until at least 2025, according to SEC filings which detail the stock options that will vest in that time. Cook will receive 333,987 units of restricted stock options, vesting in thirds beginning April 1, 2023.
“For the first time in nearly a decade, we are awarding Tim a new stock grant that will vest over time in recognition of his outstanding leadership and with great optimism for Apple’s future as he carries these efforts forward,” Apple’s board of directors told Reuters.