News - page 679

The Microsoft Dial, one of the innovative features of the company’s Surface Studio, is coming to Mac. Well, kind of.

Taking the form of a hockey puck-style knob, the Dial offers another way to interface with your computer. That means things like turning up and down volume, rotating images, or adjusting brightness.

While Microsoft isn’t actually bringing the device to Mac, a very similar product — called the Orbital 2 — is coming to Mac next year. And, by all accounts, it’s pretty darn brilliant.

Walmart will overtake Apple to become the third largest e-commerce retailer in the United States over the holiday season, analysts at eMarketer predict.

According to the firm, Amazon will remain in dominant position as the number one retailer, accounting for a massive 48 percent of online retail spending. Amazon is followed by eBay, with a projected 7.2 percent of the market, followed by Walmart, and then Apple.

A pair of avid runners turned engineers have reinvented the watch band into something kind of genius, and we’ve got it in the Cult of Mac Watch Store.

Your Apple Watch provides a torrent of information – so why wear it in the same spot as the watch your great-grandfather wore? Putting key stats and info in your natural line of sight is not only easier to read, it’s easier to use and it’s safer.

This week on The CultCast: You need to be prepared if you want to lock down the best prices on the best gadgets this Black Friday. We’ll tell you the strategies to use to grab all the good deals most shoppers miss. Plus: The new MacBook Pro GPUs are a huge upgrade, but we’re pissed. (We’ll explain.) Also: Why Apple’s stock has fallen off a cliff. And we’ll wrap up with a Steve Jobs story so mundane, the internet has become fascinated with it.

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. It’s simple to accept Apple Pay and sell your wares with your very own Squarespace website. Enter offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off your first hosting plan or domain.

Apple has debuted a new look for its Certified Refurbished Online Store, giving it bigger pictures and easier navigation options.

Previously, Apple’s Certified Refurbished was nothing special, potentially since Apple was hoping that you would skip over it and buy the new, full-priced items. Now it’s changed it mind — with a new design that places a bigger focus on this part of Apple’s retail business.

Switzerland is opening up an investigation into whether major banks colluded to fight off the threat of mobile payments services such as Apple Pay.

The banks, which include Credit Suisse and Switzerland’s top bank UBS, supposedly wanted to boost the Swiss mobile payment service TWINT. As a result, they are alleged to have blocked their credit cards from working with Apple Pay and the rival Samsung Pay service.

Sources with knowledge of two of the touch module suppliers for the iPhone XR say the companies expect to see a slowdown in shipments in the first quarter of 2019.

The two companies are TPK Holding and General Interface Solution (GIS), both of whom have worked with Apple for several years. It feeds into concerns that the iPhone XR is experiencing weaker-than-expected sales. Things might not be quite what they seem, however.

The public just got their hands on the third beta of iOS 12.1.1, which developers were able to access to this morning. This doesn’t bring new features, but makes some tweaks.

Developers can also download macOS 10.12.2 beta 3, tvOS 12.1.1 beta 3, and watchOS 5.2.1 beta 2.

The iPhone XR camera isn’t as advanced as the one in Apple’s pricier XS series, but you’d be hard pressed to see the difference in some stunning images Apple is showing off today.

These pictures were contributed to the “Shot on iPhone” campaign that highlights what these phones can do.

One of the hottest indie movie studios in Hollywood is joining forces with Apple to make a series of movies.

A24, the studio behind the Oscar-winning film Moonlight, has inked a multi-year deal to produce a slate of films, in what is the first major movie deal for Apple.

The iPhone XS and XS Max are undeniably the most gorgeous phones ever created. But when it comes time to actually shell out your own hard-earned cash for an iPhone in the year 2018, there’s one clear winner: the iPhone XR.

Even though it doesn’t have the same amazing OLED display as the iPhone XS Max, there’s a lot to love about the iPhone XR. And we’re not just talking about the price tag. The CultCast host Erfon Elijah breaks down why you should consider going all-in on the colorful iPhone XR.

One of Apple’s oldest wireless chip suppliers is now facing a huge threat of having employees poached by the iPhone-maker.

For the first time ever, Apple has started advertising engineering jobs in Qualcomm’s backyard, San Diego, California. The move comes as the two companies have been feuding for two years regarding royalty payments and Apple’s hiring spree could deepen the riff.

It’s no longer necessary to specify a wireless provider when you purchase an iPhone XR.

Apple has begun offering its latest handset unlocked, so that it can be easily swapped to any carrier.

It hasn’t been a great month to own shares of Apple. But if you’ve been considering getting in, one analyst says now is the time to buy.

Shares of the iPhone-maker have dropped 17 percent in less than two weeks. But this an overreaction to bad news from parts suppliers.

I’ve owned an Apple Pencil since I bought the first iPad Pro a few years ago. There’s nothing to touch it when it comes to drawing and painting on the iPad, but I found I didn’t ever use it for that. I mark up PDFs, make selections when editing photos, and sketch the odd diagram.

This time around, I’m saving my $130 by not buying the Apple Pencil mkII. Why? I don’t need it. Instead, I’m using the cheap, dumb stylus I found in my jam jar of pens and pencils. Let me tell you why.

If you love Apple Watch Series 4’s streamlined body but crave some color and vibrancy to up the fashion ante, look no further than these saffiano leather Apple Watch bands from Casetify.

The Cult of Mac Watch Store partnered with Casetify — big believers in self-expression through tech accessories — for a while now. But this season the company smashed the refresh button and completely revamped its brand and its Apple Watch band designs. Now, dreamers, playmakers and game-changers can fulfill their style needs with Casetify’s artful Apple Watch bands.

The Anti-Defamation League is awarding Tim Cook with its first ever “Courage Against Hate” award for his work championing causes of unity, diversity, and social progress.

Cook will receive the award in a December 3 ceremony in New York City, as part of ADL’s annual “Never Is Now Summit.” Along with receiving the award, Cook will also deliver the keynote address.

Apple’s Champs-Élysées retail store opens this Sunday, and from the look of some pictures Apple has released, it may be the most spectacular Apple Store yet.

The store eschews the glass and modernism of the company’s newly built stores for vintage grandeur, mixed with a few high tech flourishes. It is housed in a Haussmann-era apartment building, dating back to the 1800s. Check out some images of the new retail space below.

Insurance company UnitedHealthcare is offering customers the chance to pick up a free Apple Watch Series 3 in exchange for walking 10,000 steps per day. While this does sound quite intriguing to apple users, personally I don’t think it will be of any use to the people who love watches for their simplicity and style statement which can be found on this Hotrate website.

The offer is open to people on the company’s “Motion” program, which hands out rewards in exchange for customers committing to daily exercise. Customers can choose any Apple Watch model up to last year’s Series 3 model, asking only that they pay taxes and shipping for the device.

One of the neatest features of the new 2018-era iPad Pro is something you can’t even see from outside. That’s the fact that it’s studded with 102 small magnets, which allow you to attach the Apple Pencil, stick it to the Smart Keyboard Folio, or even adhere it to your fridge door if you’re feeling brave.

But just how are the magnets distributed inside Apple’s next-gen tablet? Using some special magnet paper, tech vlogger Marques Brownlee found out.

Two hackers have netted themselves a $50,000 bounty for discovering a flaw on the iPhone X, allowing for the recovery of recently deleted photos (and potentially other information) supposedly removed from the device.

There was a lot of confusion after Facebook revealed last week that users would soon be able to unsend comments made in Messenger. With this feature starting to roll out, the details of how it will work have come to light.

Turns out it’s not a magic wand that will let you take back what you just said to your now ex-girlfriend.

Long trips and podcasts go well together, and Google’s Waze navigation software just added support for controlling some popular streaming audio services from right within the app.

The goal of the new Waze Audio Player feature is making it less dangerous to adjust what you’re listening to while driving.

For the next month, you have a lot longer to return items purchased from the online Apple Store.  This is intended to allow shoppers to buy holiday gifts now and not have to worry about returns until January.

Holiday shoppers should also be aware that Apple offers free two-day delivery on items bought through its website.  Returns are always free.

Having a hard time deciding between whether to buy the new Mac mini or the new iPad Pro?

Why not get both and merge them into one workstation?

Luma Display revealed that its iPad app can be used with the new iPad Pro to turn it into a display for the new Mac mini. The end result is a workstation that gives you the best of both worlds for iOS and macOS.

Check out this brilliant setup: