AirPower is officially dead.
It’s been about 1.5 years since Apple titillated fans by revealing a wireless charging mat that supposedly would charge not one, not two, but three Apple devices at the same time.
Frankly, it looked too good to be true at the time. And after a year of avoiding the subject, Apple confirmed today that AirPower will never caress the backside of your iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods at the same time.
This is an unofficial guide to why AirPower failed.
Someone who helped make the iPad and iPhone as powerful as they are has reportedly departed Apple. Gerard Williams III led the team that created every A-series processor since the A7, but no more.
Apple unveiled four new services last week, including its much-anticipated lineup of TV shows, but the Apple credit card apparently stole the show.
A survey found that a whopping 85 percent of iPhone users are at least somewhat interested in this card, which is an adjunct to Apple Pay.
The days of worrying about someone stealing your credit card number during a transaction are about to be long-gone once Apple Card launches.
New details about Apple Card and its features were revealed today and one of the most surprising tidbits is that the credit card number can be regenerated with a push of a button to protect you from fraud.
RIP AirPower.
iPhone lovers have been waiting more than a year for Apple’s wireless charging mat to finally launch, but the company announced today that it has officially canceled its AirPower project because it’s simply too dang hard to make it.
Order one of Apple’s latest tablets now and it won‘t be delivered until the middle of next month. But ask for in-store pickup and you can have it today.
The iPad Air 3 and iPad mini 5 just launched, and demand seems to be fairly high.
Apple will close down Texture in May following the recent launch of Apple News+.
Texture, another magazine subscription service, was acquired by Apple for an undisclosed sum last spring. Cupertino encourages existing subscribers to migrate to its new platform. But those who don’t use Mac or iOS will have to find their magazines elsewhere.
Apple’s second-generation AirPods may be better than ever, but they’re certainly not any more repairable. A new teardown reveals that the next-gen wireless earphones aren’t “designed to be serviced” in any meaningful capacity.
The challenge of repairing them doesn’t necessarily guarantee a short lifespan. However, it does suggest that these probably won’t be hanging around long-term.
The official Gmail app for iOS finally boasts handy swipe gestures that make dealing with your email easier. You can swipe to snooze, mark as read, archive, and more. There’s also the ability to customize the actions if you don’t like the default setup.
As countries, it’s fair to say that China and Taiwan aren’t exactly BFFs. For evidence of this, look no further than the recently released macOS 10.14.4. Eagle-eyed users in China have noticed that their Mac devices can no longer display the Taiwan flag emoji.
The flag ban can’t even be circumvented by changing the region in your Mac’s System Preferences.
AirPods aren’t just a massive hit for Apple, they’re a giant in the overall “wireless hearables” market. According to new research from Counterpoint, AirPods made up a massive 60 percent of the overall market in Q4 2018.
It would have been even bigger, too, if customers hadn’t been waiting on Apple’s updated AirPods 2 at the time!
This week on The CultCast: News+, TV+, Arcade, Card … we react to it all. We’ll fill in the details on Apple’s new services. And, just when you thought it was safe to type, Apple apologizes for yet more MacBook Air and MacBook Pro keyboard issues.
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Tim Cook will offer testimony as part of Apple’s legal battle with Qualcomm. Cook will discuss Apple’s business practices, strategy, agreements with cellular network carriers, and more.
He’s not the only senior Apple executive ready to talk, either. Former hardware boss Bob Mansfield, current COO Jeff Williams, SVP of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller and others will chime in as part of the case.
Newly leaked schematics might provide our first look at Apple’s next-generation “iPhone 11.”
The technical drawing lends credence to rumors of a major camera upgrade for the upcoming device. However, if the iPhone 11 schematics prove legit, fans might not be happy with the placement of the smartphone’s camera lenses.
Here’s your chance to get a signed and personally-engraved copy of my new Tim Cook biography.
If you preorder a copy of Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level, I’ll sign and inscribe the book for you.
Apple may be launching a plethora of new Services, but its established App Store business also continues to boom.
According to new figures released by analytics platform Sensor Tower, the App Store will more than double its revenue by 2023. That would mean bringing in a global revenue of $96 billion, a 104 percent increase over last year’s $47 billion.
An update to Apple’s free iOS alternative to Powerpoint allows iPad users with an Apple Pencil to easily draw an animation path for any object in Keynote.
At the same time, quite a few features were added to this software and the other iWork applications, Pages and Numbers.
Everyone who signed up for early access to the hotly-anticipated iOS game The Elder Scrolls: Blades should start compulsively checking their email for an invitation: the company started a public beta test.
Bethesda Softworks’ free-to-play RPG set in the Elder Scrolls universe promises console-quality graphics on an iPhone or iPad.
Microsoft has banned employees from participating in April Fools’ Day pranks.
The stunts “have limited positive impact and can actually result in unwanted news cycles,” an internal memo explains. This comes just days after Microsoft resurrected Clippy, the famous Office assistant, only to remove it a day later.
Apple has one more major update for iOS 12 before it unveils iOS 13 at WWDC 2019.
Developers just received the first beta build of iOS 12.3 this morning, bringing a bunch of new features and bug fixes to iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. There is also a new beta for tvOS 12.3 available.
UPDATE: The public beta is out now too.
Mega-investor Warren Buffett doesn’t sound too confident in Apple’s ability to dominate the entertainment industry.
The Oracle of Omaha said in a recent interview that there are so many big players trying to grab eyeballs in the streaming industry that he wouldn’t want to play that game himself. Even though he’s not gung ho on Apple’s TV service, he also doesn’t sound worried if Apple doesn’t knock it out of the park.
Apple received the highest possible score on the Human Rights Campaign’s 2019 Corporate Equality Index. This means it took steps to provide greater equity for LGBTQ workers and their families.
It’s one of 571 businesses earning the CEI’s top score of 100, meeting new and higher benchmarks.
Apple is again using humor to get across a serious message. Its latest video has a young man using his iPhone to answer a personal question, and assures him that he isn’t being tracked while he’s doing so.
Watch it now:
Apple has been publicly opposed to a rapidly growing movement known as “Right to Repair”
But internally, the tech giant is slowly loosening its grip on parts for repair as 20 states consider legislation that would make it easier for consumers to repair their electronic devices, such as iPhones and MacBook computers.
The iPhone makes a pretty nice picture underwater. Whether it’s with a 6s in a waterproof case or the latest submersible iPhone XS, you can record an image that rivals any picture produced with a dedicated underwater camera.
But only in a limited range of conditions and with a little luck.
Now, Apple believes it can improve future iPhone cameras to automatically sense when a picture is being made underwater and adjust according to light, depth and the degree of murkiness.