News - page 698

Largely thanks to Tim Cook’s operational wizardry, Apple has carved out a reputation as a master of manufacturing: able to deliver products in massive quantities, exactly when it says it will.

The notable exception to this rule? Apple’s AirPower wireless charger. Announced in late 2017, the next-gen charging mat was promised to ship some time in 2018. Needless to say, that hasn’t happened.

Growing concerns about how much companies are spying on us tops our list of the most significant tech trends of 2018. Also on the list are some big changes in applications, a trend in phone design, and a new type of device that became nearly ubiquitous. 

As the new year begins, let’s take a look back at what changed for Apple and the tech world over the past 12 months.

An Ohio man is contemplating legal action against Apple after his 3-week-old iPhone XS Max allegedly exploded in his pocket.

J. Hillard reports that his iPhone XS Max started emitting a strange smell before he felt a “large amount of heat” in his pocket. He eventually got a new device from Apple — as well as burns on his buttocks.

If you were lucky enough to get new Apple devices for the holidays, it’s time to turn your old ones into cash — and fast!

Your old iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or Mac could be worth a small fortune — and Cult of Mac wants to buy it! We typically pay more than other trade-in services, and we won’t leave you waiting ages for your money.

New Netflix users can no longer pay for their subscription through iTunes.

You will need to sign up for the service using a browser like Safari instead — but nothing needs to change if you’re paying for Netflix through iTunes already.

This week we find out what music we’ve loved in 2018 with Music Year in Review, make some music with Ultimate Circle of Fifths, take a walk with the brand new hike search in Gaia GPS, and more.

It’s been one heck of a busy year for Apple, and we’ve got the devices to prove it! Truth be told, despite Apple’s fluctuating share price, this has been one of the company’s best years in a while for hardware. What was the cream of the 2018 Apple crop? Here’s how we rank Apple’s major new product launches for 2018.

Find the best goods from 2018 and learn how to set up all your new hardware in the latest free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. Get it now on iTunes, or keep reading for the week’s best Apple news, reviews and how-tos.

There are only a few days left in 2018 but Apple just dropped one of its best ads of the year to promote the iPhone XR.

The new ad, titled “Color Flood,” featured a motley gang of hundreds of parkour runners in colored jumpsuits mobbing through a desolate city. Music for the ad is provided by Cosmo Sheldrake’s song “Come Along.”

Check it out:

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, the close friend of Steve Jobs who Jobs’ kids called “our rich friend,” has joined Tesla as a member of its board.

Ellison was the first person Jobs sought to join Apple’s board of directors after Jobs resumed control of Apple in the 1990s. He stayed until the early 2000s. Interestingly, in recent years Tesla and Apple have been considered rivals more often due to both of their work in building tech-heavy car projects.

There’s no shortage of people getting stolen iPhones back, courtesy of Apple’s “Find my iPhone” feature. However, a person from Nashville, Tennessee recently improved on this — by using the geotag-locating feature to also get back his stolen car.

Apple is reportedly interested in next-generation 3D sensor manufactured by Sony. These chips will power the next generation of front and rear-facing 3D cameras in multiple phones launching in 2019.

And it opens up some pretty exciting new applications in the process.

The female broadcaster and voice artist whose voice is used for the Hebrew version of Siri is reportedly suing Apple. Galit Gura-Eini, who has also provided the local voice for Waze, claims that Apple used her voice without permission.

Her lawsuit also claims that people have used the Siri voice to make her voice say various sexual, racist, or violent things.

Fortnite may be free-to-play, but that hasn’t stopped it from becoming a well-oiled money-printing machine. According to a new report, developer Epic Games raked in an incredible $3 billion in profit this year, largely on the back of the 2018 smash hit game.

Apple’s camera team set the bar higher still with three new iPhones in 2018. But even Apple’s best gets better if paired with good mobile photography accessories.

The brands devoted to smartphone shooters don’t exactly have an easy mission. They have to enhance the iPhone photo or video experience without compromising one of its greatest features – portability.

It’s been one heck of a busy year for Apple, and we’ve got the devices to prove it! Truth be told, despite Apple’s shrinking share price, this has been one of the company’s best years in a while for hardware.

What was the cream of the 2018 Apple crop? Here’s how we rank Apple’s major new product launches for 2018.

Apple’s former Senior Marketing Director Michael Gartenberg has chimed in on the company’s latest “bendgate,” this time related to its iPad Pro. In a recent tweet, Gartenberg said that he returned his iPad Pro after spotting a noticeable bend.

“Perhaps it was within Apple tolerances but Apple tolerances shouldn’t allow for a clear noticeble bend,” he wrote. “Much as monitors with noticeble dead pixels aren’t acceptable either.”

Compared to the lawless wilderness that is certain other app stores, Apple’s App Store is a well-regulated place, free from dodgy fake apps masquerading as the real thing.

Clearly someone in Cupertino got a little too merry with the egg nog recently, however, since a phony version of the Amazon Alexa app was recently granted permission to enter the App Store. It even managed to hit the #6 spot in the App Store’s utilities section over the holidays.

Apple is expanding iPhone manufacturing in India, including building its flagship handsets, a new report claims. This will supposedly be carried out at a Foxconn plant in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

To accommodate the new manufacturing lines, Foxconn will invest an additional $356 million to expand the factory. At present, it builds phones for Xiaomi at the plant.

Want a summary of your year in Apple Music listening? A new app will help with that — although it’s not one that’s made by Apple.

Mimicking the concept behind Spotify’s yearly “Wrapped” feature, the free “Music Year in Review” app will delve into how many minutes you spent listening to your top artists on Apple Music. It will also tell you your top five songs and artists, along with your most listened genre.

Apple got a late Christmas gift on Wednesday, when its AAPL stock experienced the stock’s biggest rise in five years.

While AAPL is still down considerably from the $1 trillion+ high point it hit earlier in 2018, it’s a strong positive move. And one analyst thinks that Apple’s set to be the top-performing FAANG stock in 2019, too.

The iPhone XR got off to a fairly strong start. In November, this just-launched model made up 30 percent of Apple’s U.S. sales, slightly higher than the iPhone X in Nov. 2017.

But the standout aspect of the XR’s launch is this new model drew in a higher percentage of Android fans than any Apple device in years.

The iPhone and iPad have become insanely powerful devices, with new A-series chips delivering even faster performance every year. That means mobile gaming keeps getting better and better, and 2018 had more than its fair share of groundbreaking releases.

Here’s our roundup of the best games from the past year, which features smash hits like Fortnite, as well as some lesser-known titles that every mobile gamer has to try.

Got a new iPhone? Then get started with these five amazing apps for your new device. Whether you’re taking photos, listening to podcasts, making notes, or just out taking a walk, we’ve got you covered.

The iPad can be so may different things. I use mine for reading, writing, making music, watching movies, and if I have any time to waste, I might play a game. The iPad is pretty much the ultimate creative tool, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t sit back and “consume” the odd “content” every once in a while.

There are almost 2 million apps available on iOS today, and yet in 2018, 10 years after the App Store opened its doors, developers continue to deliver new and unique titles that blow us away.

We’ve rounded up the very best from the past year right here. We have terrific text editors, fantastic photography apps, amazing utilities, and lots more.