Mobile menu toggle

News - page 646

Apple’s new retail boss awarded $8 million of restricted stock options

By

Deirdre O’Brien, a 30-year Apple veteran, will lead Apple’s Retail and People teams.
30-year Apple veteran Deirdre O’Brien will handle the company's retail push.
Photo: Apple

Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s new retail boss, received a nice bonus alongside her recent promotion. According to filings made by Apple, O’Brien was awarded restricted stock options valued at more than $8 million.

In total, she was given two sets of 23,922 restricted stock units: one performance-based, and one which will vest across three years through August, 2021. Well, that’s one reason to stay in the job!

Tim Cook will deliver commencement address at New Orleans’ Tulane University

By

Tim Cook and Ivanka Trump
Tim Cook is quite the in-demand commencement speaker these days.
Screenshot: Apple

Along with his work running the world’s top tech company, Tim Cook is carving out quite the niche for himself as an in-demand commencement speaker.

Having previously given commencement addresses at George Washington, MIT, and former alma mater Duke University, Cook will next deliver a keynote speech to graduating students at Tulane University in New Orleans.

Angela Ahrendts reveals surprising post-Apple plans

By

Angela Ahrendts.
Don't expect Angela Ahrendts to work for another tech company.
Photo: Apple

Apple retail boss Angela Ahrendts is wasting no time making plans for what to do once she leaves Apple.

News that the former Burberry CEO plans to leave her post at Apple just surfaced this week. Ahrendts is set to hang around Apple Park until April, but once her time to leave is here, you won’t catch her hanging out around Silicon Valley.

What 35 million days of real-world use tell us about which hard drive to buy

By

Backblaze shares data it’s collected on failure rates of over 104,954 hard drives running continuously.
Backblaze shares data it’s collected on failure rates of over 104,954 hard drives running continuously.
Photo: Backblaze

Statistics on hard drive reliability just released by data-storage company Backblaze would seem to indicate it’s not a good idea to buy a Seagate hard drive. Of the 104,954 drives it uses, Seagate’s are the least reliable by a wide margin.

On the other side of the coin, this company has found drives made by Western Digital’s HGST to be much more reliable.

Apple hires famous OB-GYN to boost women’s health efforts

By

christine curry
Dr. Christine Curry at her old office in Florida.
Photo: Sammy Mack/WLRN

Apple might be planning to come out with some new health features that are specifically geared toward women, based on the company’s newest big hire.

Dr. Christine Curry — an obstetrician-gynecologist that made a name for herself by treating women with the Zika virus — has reportedly been hired by Apple to bolster its women’s health projects.

Netflix finally makes downloads smarter for iOS users

By

75% of Netflix users have no plans to jump ship to Apple TV+ (right away)
The Netflix app can now be sure you always have the next episode of your favorite show downloaded.
Photo: Stock Catalog/Flickr CC

A handy Netflix feature announced last summer has come to iOS at long last: the app can automatically download episodes of your favorite shows.

With Smart Downloads, watching a TV episode offline results in the next episode automatically being transferred as soon as a Wi-Fi connection is available.

Cinematic iPhone XR video shows intimate side of NYC

By

Andy To iPhone XR
Andy To loves New York City and here's the proof.
Screenshot: Andy To/YouTube

Andy To is a rising creative with a poetic touch to video and quickly becoming a name to know.

His name is now on the mind of Apple CEO Tim Cook, who gave the young filmmaker a shoutout on Twitter for a short on life in New York City captured all on the iPhone XR.

Instagram removes tool that let users see who’s ‘stalking’ them

By

Instagram lawsuit
It just got harder to tell who's Insta-stalking you.
Photo: Pixabay

The Instagram viewers list — a popular feature for keeping tabs on who’s stalking you on the photo-sharing service — quietly disappeared overnight.

The move infuriated some Instagram users after they lost the ability to see the full list of who viewed their Stories after 24 hours. Users also can no longer see who viewed their Highlights, causing some to take to Twitter in anger.

Millenials pick YouTube over Apple as top brand

By

YouTube in Safari on iMac Pro
Apple lost to YouTube in a brand-ranking survey among millenials, but slipped only to second place.
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

YouTube is labeled the new “most intimate brand” according to a survey of millennials. Apple took the title last year, but now drops to second place.

Other brands that did well include Netflix and Disney,  Android-maker Google came in at ninth place. Samsung didn’t make the top ten.

How Apple could fix the iPad home screen in iOS 13 [Opinion]

By

Ipad home screen
It this really an appropriate home screen for the powerful 2018 iPad Pro?
Photo: Apple

According to rumors, iOS 13 will bring a redesigned home screen to the iPad. It’s about time. The grid of apps might have worked fine on the iPhone before the App Store, but after nine years of using the expanded version on the iPad, the joke is starting to get old.

So, if Apple is finally ready to make a home screen worthy of the iPad, we have a few suggestions.

Apple finally squashes nasty FaceTime eavesdropping bug

By

2018 iPad Pro Animoji
You can safely FaceTime with friends again.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s fix for the huge FaceTime flaw that allowed people to eavesdrop on other iPhone and iPad users is finally here.

iOS 12.1.4 was released to the public this morning, bringing a crucial fix for the bug found by a 14-year-old boy who tried to contact Apple for 10 days before the company eventually clued in on the huge flaw.

iPhone could be key to Apple Car (and that’s just the start)

By

Project Titan
Apple is invested heavily in self-driving tech.
Photo: Idiggapple/Twitter

The iPhone could transform into a secure version of a key fob that not only unlocks your vehicle, but it could also summon a parked vehicle to come to you.

Apple drops a breadcrumb on the path to an autonomous vehicle future, offering a possible glimpse into its Project Titan with a patent application for a keyless entry system.

189 million iPhones are currently in use in the U.S.

By

iPhone sales
There are a whole lot of iPhones in the U.S.
Photo: Apple

The days of crazy iPhone growth may be over, but the U.S. install base continues to tick upward — growing 14 percent relative to the December 2018 quarter.

According to new research published by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, Apple’s total U.S. install base (the number of active iPhones being used) currently stands at 189 million units. With the U.S. population in the vicinity of 325.7 million people, that’s more than one iPhone for every two people in the country.

Why iOS is the best way to play Fortnite on the go

By

Fortnite on iPad with SteelSeries Nimbus
It's the end of the road for Legacy Look Controls.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

If you want to play Fortnite when you’re away from your console, do it on an iPhone or iPad. The mobile version of the game now offers the best portable experience by far.

The recent addition of controller support makes Fortnite better on Apple devices than it is on Nintendo Switch. Here’s why you’re missing out if you’re not playing it.

Apple’s awesome chip team is now designing iPhone modems

By

Apple A4 chip
Johny Srouji’s team is in charge of modem development.
Photo: Apple

Apple has shifted to in-house modem chip engineering led by senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji, according to a new report.

The move all but confirms that Apple will develop its own cellular chips for future iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch models after years of sourcing them from Intel and Qualcomm.

India’s decision to defer manufacturing tariffs could help Apple

By

Foxconn moving additional iPhone production to India as coronavirus disrupts work
Designed in California. Made in India.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

More and more Apple suppliers are considering building devices in India, and a new concession might make that possibility even more plausible.

According to a new report, India has deferred a plan which would have introduced tax on touch panel imports. These tariffs were supposed to be introduced in February, but have supposedly been delayed until at least April 2020. This follows lobbying from smartphone makers.

Some popular iOS apps recorded users’ screens for analytics

By

iOS 11 iPad Pro
Report raises important privacy questions.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple came down hard on Facebook when it was found to be behind an iOS app that was gathering large amounts of user data. But it’s not the only app to gather information about what users are up to, and to feed this back to developers.

According to a new report, apps including those for Air Canada, Abercrombie & Fitch, Expedia, Singapore Airlines, Hotels.com, and others utilized analytics software that employed “session replay” technology to reveal how users interact with the apps.

Take a peek at Samsung’s AirPods rival ‘Galaxy Buds’

By

Galaxy Buds 2
Samsung is ready to take on the AirPods.
Photo: Winfuture.de

Apple’s AirPods have been a massive smash hit since they launched a couple years back. It’s therefore unsurprising that rival companies would be keen to get themselves some of the sweet wireless cash — by launching their own wireless earbuds.

One of these companies, Samsung, is reportedly set to show off its own “Galaxy Buds” at its upcoming February 20 press event. And thanks to a leaked image, we have a good idea of what they’ll look like.

Cupertino mayor jokes about building border wall round Apple’s hometown

By

Apple leases new offices near to Apple Park
Predictably, the comments backfired.
Photo: Duncan Sinfield

Depending on who you are, jokes about “building a wall and making [insert name] pay for it” range from trollish to downright offensive. Apparently no-one told the mayor of Cupertino, however — since he invoked the Donald Trump meme during his recent state of the union speech.

Predictably, his quip about building a wall around Apple’s hometown city and making surrounding communities pay for it — as a way of solving local traffic problems — hasn’t exactly gone down a storm.

Safari dumps failed ‘Do Not Track’ privacy setting

By

Do Not Track is gone, replaced with Prevent Cross-Site Tracking.
Do Not Track is gone, replaced with Prevent Cross-Site Tracking.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Safari’s “Do Not Track” setting was supposed to protect us from advertisers following us from website to website but it never worked like it was supposed to and Apple has given up on it.

Instead, the web browser has what Apple calls Intelligent Tracking Prevention.

Apple reclaims crown as most valuable public company

By

Tim Cook earnings apple
Tim Cook likes his currency the old-fashioned way.
Illustration: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple is back to being the world’s most valuable publicly traded company once again.

The company’s stock price has been rising steadily since Apple revealed its first earnings of 2019 last month. Worried investors ditched the stock at the beginning of the year due to slumping iPhone sales, but it just passed Amazon and Microsoft today, putting Apple back on top.

Quit or canned? Why is Angela Ahrendts leaving Apple? [Opinion]

By

Ahrendts
Did Angela Ahrendts jump or was she pushed?
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

When Apple fires an executive, the company is rarely straightforward about the situation. Apple never puts out a press release stating plainly that the executive was canned. So Tuesday’s unexpected announcement that Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s head of retail, is leaving in April led many to suspect she was fired.

That’s because the announcement came as a surprise and seems rushed. She’s certainly not retiring or quitting to join another company. The press release phrase “new personal and professional pursuits” sounds like code for “canned.”

Watch for password phishing if your iPhone gets stolen

By

GrayKey can bypass iPhone security
The thief who has your stolen iPhone will use surprisingly sophisticated means to trick your passwords out of you.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

If your iPhone is ever lost or stolen, be extra careful about scammers attempting trick your Apple ID password from you. iPhone thieves reportedly have an elaborate system set up to scam this information, as it’s needed to make a stolen device much more valuable.