Apple Watch is much more useful that I had thought. Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac
I never had an interest in Apple Watch. I didn’t see the point of carrying around yet another computer when my iPhone goes with me everywhere. Then I got one, and now that I’ve used Apple’s wearable, I see all the ways it makes my life easier.
Get those how-tos, plus the rest of the week’s top Apple news and product reviews, in this week’s free issue. Download it now and read it on your iPad or iPhone. Or get the links below.
Oppo Watch, shown here at its announcement today, has a higher screen-to-body ratio than Apple Watch. Photo: Oppo
The newly-unveiled Oppo Watch borrows heavily from the Apple Watch. But this China-based company nevertheless built in some features that fans of Apple’s wearable can appreciate.
The organizers of South by Southwest, desperately hoping to hold the March event in the face of a coronavirus outbreak, said Friday that the city of Austin, Texas, canceled the conference.
Event planners scrapped the music, tech and film conference, set to begin March 13, after local health officials declared a health emergency.
Drop the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra a few times and it’s junk. The iPhone 11 Pro Max survived much better. Photo: PhoneBuff
Samsung’s new flagship phone came out slightly ahead in a smash-off between with Apple’s top-tier model. The Galaxy S20 Ultra survived the early rounds of drop tests better than the iPhone 11 Pro Max.
However, at the end of multiple drops, the iPhone was still almost completely functional while the Android was utterly destroyed.
It's fine to wash newer iPhones with soap and water. Photo: Leander Kahney / Cult of Mac
Thanks to abject terror of the COVID-19 virus, I’ve started washing my iPhone along with my hands with ordinary soap and water.
It may prove to be a big mistake, but so far it’s fine. My iPhone 11 Pro Max is highly water-resistant and seems quite happy being soaped down a couple of times a day.
Home Before Dark is a murder mystery with a girl detective. Photo: Apple
Home Before Dark is a mystery/drama on the real-life adventures of a nine-year-old girl who solved a murder. It’s coming to Apple TV+ this spring, and a new trailer gives the first look at it.
Apple is recommending to employees to work from home as concerns over the coronavirus grow. Photo: Benjamin Feenstra
Apple has sent out a work-from-home recommendation to all of its Cupertino-based employees due to fears of the growing coronavirus outbreak in the United States.
It is unclear if the notice to employees at Apple Park and Infinite Loop was a suggestion and not a requirement and for how long the company is recommending its workers refrain from reporting to their offices.
The Banker was originally scheduled to debut last year. Photo: Apple
Apple-owned movie The Banker is due to land on Apple TV+ later this month. But if you want to catch it on the big screen, you can do so starting today.
The movie, which is based on a true story, stars Anthony Mackie and Samuel L. Jackson as Bernard Garrett and Joe Morris, two of the first African-American bankers in the United States. To combat systematic racism during the Jim Crow era, they hire a white man (Nicholas Hoult) as the face of their business while posing as a chauffeur and janitor.
After a few years, it’s hardly worth the hassle of reselling an Android. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
There’s an area where Android is much faster than any iPhone: losing value. A gadget trade-in service tracked the depreciation of Apple and Android handsets and found that after a year the iPhone had held on to far more of its resale value.
Apple on Friday cancelled its “Today at Apple” sessions across all stores in Italy amid the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.
Apple Oriocenter, a store in Italy’s Bergamo Province, is also closed temporarily as Apple makes efforts to help contain the spread of the coronavirus. It is currently out of action until March 8.
Apple has changed App Store rules to only accept coronavirus apps from official channels. Photo: Apple
With plenty of scaremongering about the COVID-19 coronavirus, Apple is doing its part to stop the spread of misinformation related to the outbreak. According to a report published Thursday, Apple is cracking down on non-official apps relating to the novel coronavirus.
Those are apps not made by recognized institutions such as governments or hospitals. Independent apps providing functionality like tracking of the outbreak’s spread are being rejected by Apple, developers claim.
Composing emails in Outlook never looked so good. Photo: Microsoft
Microsoft Outlook’s newest update is out on iOS with new text formatting options. It’s now possible to use bold, italic, and underlined text — as well as inline links — in your emails.
Steven Spielberg anthology series has landed on Apple TV+. Photo: Apple
Episode one of Steven Spielberg’s anthology series Amazing Stories debuted on Apple TV+ Friday.
The first episode of the five-episode season is about a person who discovers a portal back to 1919 in the storm cellar of a house they are restoring. The show promises to “transport the audience to worlds of wonder through the lens of today’s most imaginative filmmakers, directors and writers.”
WWDC 2020 is in jeopardy as Apple’s local health department asks large gatherings be cancelled. Photo: Apple
The pressure on Apple to cancel its yearly developers conference and possibly a planned March product keynote has gotten a little tougher.
The Public Health Department of Santa Clara County, where Apple’s headquarters is located, recommended Thursday the postponing or canceling of mass gatherings to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus. That calls into question whether Apple will hold its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, as it traditionally does.
Poppy Parnell is coming back for a new case. Photo: Apple
Octavia Spencer’s critically-acclaimed series, Truth Be Told is coming back to Apple TV+ for a second season.
Apple revealed this afternoon that it renewed the crime drama thriller for a second season that will have Spencer reprise her role as Poppy Parnell who will investigate another mysterious murder case. The show was originally billed as a limited-series but Apple apparently thinks Poppy’s story isn’t finished yet.
It may be back, but probably not. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
Call of Duty: Mobile is losing its popular Zombies mode this month because it doesn’t meet the “level of quality” Activision expects.
It’s unclear whether Zombies, which was added last November, will return at a later date. The game’s developers are currently focused on more important aspects of Call of Duty: Mobile, like Multiplayer, Battle Royale, and Ranked Mode.
Apple Pay could make its official debut in Mexico any day now after local iPhone users on Thursday discovered they could start adding debit and credit cards to the Wallet app.
Only regional bank Banregio appears to be supported for now, which suggests Apple Pay support may be an exclusive initially.
Nicholas Hoult, Samuel L. Jackson and Anthony Mackie often drew praise for their work in The Banker. Photo: Apple
Reviews for Apple’s The Banker are generally positive, but some critics had some harsher comments about this portrayal of black entrepreneurs tricking racist white businessmen during the Jim Crow era.
This movie will hit the Apple TV+ service later this month.
Tim Cook discusses plans with Governor Gavin Newsom. Photo: Apple
The first wave of Apple-funded affordable housing projects is about to get underway in Silicon Valley.
Housing Trust Silicon Valley revealed this week that Apple has given it a $150 million grant to help projects in the Bay Area. The non-profit organization is using money from Apple’s $2.5 billion commitment to help the affordable housing crisis in Silicon Valley and they’re ready to hand out some big checks.
This week, serial rumor-tweeter CoinX predicted the imminent release of a new iMac and a new Mac mini. But what does that mean exactly? A giant, 30-inch iMac that looks like the Pro Display XDR? Apple’s first ARM-based Mac? Probably not. So what changes can we expect?
Apple is doing all it can to grow in India. Illustration: Cult of Mac
Apple became a trillion-dollar tech giant thanks to its deep and intricate ties to China for manufacturing and component supplies.
But a coronavirus that began in China has left that giant a little shaky on its feet and dizzy from renewed questions over why Apple hasn’t developed a more diverse strategy for building the world’s most popular personal computing devices.
It’s definitely not from a lack of trying as pointed out Thursday in an article by The Information, which took a deep-dive into Apple’s arduous path through India.
AirPods Pro Lite might look like Apple’s high-end wireless earbuds, or the basic AirPods. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
Apple’s next AirPods go into production very soon, according to an unconfirmed report coming out of Asia. These are the wireless headphones that are typically referred to as AirPods Pro Lite, though they are unlikely to have that name when released.
It's finally here, almost a year after it was confirmed. Photo: Mac Generation
A brand-new Facebook Messenger app has finally landed on Mac. It gives users the ability to more easily keep on top of their conversations across different devices, and it supports a whole host of useful Messenger features — including group video chat.
You might not be able to download it where you live just yet, however.
Apple faces tough decisions about a potential March product event and WWDC 2020. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
With COVID-19 spreading in the San Francisco Bay Area, and at least one upcoming event at a critical planning stage for the high-tech giant, Apple must make some tough decisions about how to proceed, according to conference experts contacted by Cult of Mac.
Apple faces mounting pressure to decide whether to cancel, delay or change the format of its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, typically held in June. The same holds true, although to a lesser extent, for Apple’s rumored March product keynote.
“There’s a lot to consider for Apple and it won’t be easy,” said Ian McGonnigal, marketing executive with Experiential Executive, who has consulted on conference and convention planning with more than a dozen Fortune 500 companies. “Reputation is a huge challenge here and that’s part of it. Companies don’t want to appear tone-deaf to what’s going on out there.”