This was the top-of-the MacBook Pro in its day. But that day was 8 years ago. Now it’s about to be officially labeled obsolete. Photo: Cult of Mac
The 15-inch MacBook Pro released in 2012 broke new ground, as it was the first Mac to get a Retina display. But it’s now been discontinued for many years, and is reportedly about to be classified as obsolete.
Anyone still holding onto this classic laptop needs to know what this classification means.
It may not be a Netflix in size yet, but Apple TV+ is no bust. Photo: Apple
An estimated 9% of U.S. households subscribe to Apple TV+, a recent report by analysts at Parks Associates claims.
The report places Apple’s streaming video subscription service fifth on the list of most popular streaming platforms — behind only Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Disney+.
Are you excited about the iPhone 12? Photo: Ben Geskin
The iPhone 12 is likely to ship to ship in October, rather than the usual September iPhone launch time frame, claim a report published Monday by Digitimes.
This would seem to back up a separate recent report from increasingly authoritative Apple leaker Jon Prosser. Prosser also suggested an October, rather than September, launch for the new iPhone.
A security vulnerability with “Sign in with Apple” could have allowed hackers to carry out a full account takeover of user accounts accessed using the feature. Fortunately, the bug was spotted by India-based security researcher Bhavuk Jain.
In a blog post published over the weekend, Jain noted that he made Apple aware of the vulnerability back in April. It was subsequently fixed. Thanks to Apple’s bug bounty program, he was then paid $100,000 as a thank you from the Cupertino tech giant.
A message warns thieves that stolen iPhones are being tracked. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
iPhones on display in Apple Stores run special software that renders them useless to thieves when removed from a store. Until now, however, we haven’t had a clear glimpse at what this antitheft measure looks like.
That changed over the weekend as one person displayed an iPhone seemingly taken from a looted Apple Store in Philadelphia. Here’s what the message says.
Cook says that Apple will be making several charitable contributions. Photo: Apple
As protests roiled the United States following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Apple CEO Tim Cook sent a memo to employees condemning the killing, calling for change, and offering support.
In the note, Cook expressed his wishes for a “better, more just world” for everyone. He also advised employees that are “hurting right now” that they can access mental health resources and other support from Apple. In addition, Cook said Apple will make charitable donations to groups such as the Equal Justice Initiative.
You can read Cook’s entire memo to Apple employees below.
There's an art to spoiling Apple's biggest secrets.
Jon Prosser is the hot new Apple reporter on the scene. On Twitter and his Front Page Tech channel on YouTube, he delivers Apple scoops with a healthy side helping of humor. So, is Prosser the new Mark Gurman?
Read our take in this week’s issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. As always, the free iOS mag is filled with Apple news, reviews and how-tos.
Jason Sudeik stars in Ted Lasso, a fish-out-of-water comedy for Apple TV+. Photo: Apple
Jason Sudeikis is reviving Ted Lasso for new Apple TV+ comedy that’ll debut August 14.
The show, called simply, Ted Lasso, centers on a small-time college football coach from Kansas hired to coach a professional soccer team in England, despite having utterly no experience with soccer.
The wait is over for Powerbeats Pro in summertime colors. Photo: Apple
Powerbeats Pro comes in four new colors starting June 9. Unconfirmed reports of Glacier Blue, Spring Yellow, Cloud Pink and Lava Red versions of Beats’ truly wireless headset have been circulating for weeks, but today brought the official unveiling.
But it’s still unclear if the upcoming 2020 version is different from the earlier one in any substantive way.
Jon Prosser, the up-and-coming Apple reporter. Photo: Jon Prosser/Front Page Tech
In the space of three short months, Jon Prosser went from an obscure YouTube nobody pumping out videos barely anyone watched to becoming one of the hottest Apple reporters on the internet.
On Twitter and YouTube, he’s unspooled a string of accurate predictions, including the exact dates and launch times of two of Apple’s newest products, the 13-inch MacBook Pro and the 2020 iPhone SE. That’s no mean feat, given Apple’s obsessive secrecy.
Prosser’s latest leak — revealed on last week’s episode of Cult of Mac’s podcast, The CultCast — claims Apple is working on a special pair of Steve Jobs Heritage Edition AR glasses. That wild revelation drew skepticism from none other than über-Apple reporter Mark Gurman.
“Do I even need to say that this (along with the rest of the Apple AR glasses stories in the past week) is complete fiction?” Gurman tweeted.
Jon Prosser makes headlines
Perhaps Gurman, who made his bones at 9to5Mac before moving up to Bloomberg, is feeling the heat. Prosser is starting to nip at his heels.
Apple is accused to making Tile trackers harder to use as it prepares to launch a competing product. Photo: Tile
Tile, a startup that makes location-aware tracking tags, told the European Commission’s Competition department that Apple isn’t playing fair. It claims the iPhone maker has moved to “completely disadvantage” its smaller rival, even as Apple prepares to launch its own tracking tags.
Students attending classes at home brought an increase in iPad demand. Photo: R. Marsh Starks/UNLV Creative Services
Apple reportedly placed multiple rush orders for iPad screens with LG Display. The tablet saw increased demand in Asia this quarter, with COVID-19 forcing so many people to attend classes and work from home.
Can you handle some hot, hot beta action? Image: The CultCast
This week on The CultCast: AirPods with new sensors could be on the horizon, and that would fit perfectly with Apple’s always-on approach to health. Find out why we can’t wait for in-ear health trackers. Or for Apple to revamp the musty Messages app for Mac.
Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. Easily create a beautiful website all by yourself, at Squarespace.com/cultcast. Use offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.
Go on an epic, side-scrolling quest under the sea in SpongeBob: Patty Pursuit. Photo: Apple/Nickelodeon
If nautical nonsense be something you wish, then drop on the deck and download SpongeBob: Patty Pursuit, a side-scroller that debuted Friday on Apple Arcade.
Brighten your day by, err, wearing sunglasses. Photo: Apple
Apple’s latest Apple Pay promo will get you 30% off custom sunglasses or eyeglasses from leading brand Ray-Ban.
Since prices for glasses are over $100, that means a saving of at least 30 bucks. Not bad, considering all you need to do is pay online using Apple Pay, and use a special code.
A federal judge has thrown out a copyright lawsuit against Apple and director M. Night Shyamalan claiming that Apple TV+ series Servant stole its core idea from a 2013 independent movie.
As with the spooky Servant, the movie The Truth About Emanuel is the story of a traumatized parent who hires a babysitter to look after a baby that (spoiler alert) turns out to actually be a doll.
How does the iPhone XR stack up to the iPhone SE? Let us tell you. Photo: Apple
Apple has started selling officially refurbished iPhone XR models in the Apple Online Store. The handsets are available in 64GB, 128GB, and the discontinued 256GB storage options — for about $100 to $120 less than their current selling price.
AirPods made up for some of the Apple Watch shortfall in Q1. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple remains the king of the wearables, according to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker, published Thursday. In total, the analytics firm claims that total device shipments for all wearables hit 72.6 million in the first three months of 2020. Of these, Apple shipped 21.2 million units.
Apple Watch remains the world’s no. 1 smart watch by a wide margin. However, shipments declined as a result of coronavirus-related challenges in the supply chain. Nonetheless, the continuing might of Apple’s AirPods — helped by Apple’s Beats “hearables” — was more than enough to offset the decline.
Pres. Trump signs an executive order that seeks to overturn protections for Twitter, Facebook, etc. Photo: White House
Days after Twitter labeled a Tweet by President Trump as false, Trump on Thursday signed an executive order that seeks to overturn liability protections for social media services.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the president’s most powerful political opponent, called the move “a desperate distraction” on the day U.S. deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic reached 100,000.
Gal Gadot will put down the magic lasso and appear on Apple TV+ as Hedy Lamarr. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures
Apple nipped a 8-episode biography of Hedy Lamarr away from Showtime. The drama will star Gal Gadot as the 20th-century actress who was also an inventor who helped lay the groundwork for some of today’s wireless technologies.
The show will appear on Apple TV+, the company’s streaming video service that’s taking on the likes of Netflix and Disney+.
Apple Bridgeport Village was shut down Wednesday because of a possible bomb. Photo: Apple
A protester wrote a cryptic message on the window of the Apple Store in Tigard, Oregon, on Wednesday, and left a mysterious package. Police shut down the shopping center and sent in the bomb squad.
Fortunately, the bundle at the center of the furor turned out to be a non-dangerous bag of apples.
The Stanford COVID-19 Wearables Study looks to see if your Apple Watch or Fitbit can detect a coronavirus infection before you know you have it. Photo: Stanford University
Scientists want to know if the health data an Apple Watch collects can be used to diagnose COVID-19. There are multiple research studies currently open to those with Apple’s wearable.
Participants contribute to the goal of detecting the illness before the wearer knows they’re sick.
Transcription is one area Google's Pixel is ahead of the iPhone. Photo: Google
Apple continues to lag behind when it comes to machine learning — and voice-to-text transcription on the iPhone is just one more example of this.
In a new video posted online by journalist James Chan, the iPhone’s speech transcription skills are put up against Alphabet’s Pixel smartphone. Not only is Apple’s version significantly slower, but it’s a whole lot less accurate, to boot.
Alongside the physical health concerns during COVID-19, there’s been a massive uptick in mental health issues like anxiety. Those worries are highlighted by a big surge in mental wellness mobile app downloads, as noted in a new report from app analytics firm Sensor Tower.
The firm notes that the top 10 mental wellness apps experienced a big increase in downloads in April from the pre-lockdown January 2020. In all, apps like Calm, Headspace and Meditopia racked up a total of 10 million downloads last month.