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News - page 731

Apple T2 chip might crash iMac Pro, MacBook Pro

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The Apple T2 chip could be the source of mysterious crashes afflicting two of Apple's newest computers.
The Apple T2 chip could be the source of mysterious crashes afflicting two of Apple's newest computers.
Photo: IFIXIT

Some iMac Pro units are subject to occasional hard crashes. The reasons are hard to pin down, but fingers are starting to point at the Apple T2 chip inside this computer. 

There’s also one in the 2018 MacBook Pro, and this new device is seemingly prone to the same problem.   

Tim Cook is ready to rock LoveLoud fest – with wise words

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LOVELOUD
Apple CEO Tim Cook will introduce the band Imagine Dragons Satuday at the LOVELOUD Festival in Utah.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple CEO Tim Cook will be among the speakers this Saturday at the second LoveLoud Festival in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The music festival is staged by the LoveLoud Foundation, which was started in 2017 by Dan Reynolds, lead singer of pop band Imagine Dragons. The fest began as a way to promote acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community.

Unearthed interview shows Steve Jobs knew the iPhone would be ‘huge’

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jobs figure
This plastic model of Steve Jobs has a better vision of the future of smartphones than many rival CEOs.
Photo: DAM Toys

Ten years ago, Apple co-founder and  then-CEO Steve Jobs understood that smartphones were going to be a big deal. And he realized software would be an important part of that.

With 20/20 hindsight, it’s easy to dismiss that vision. But Jobs was talking in August 2008, a year after the release of the first iPhone, and only a month after the iOS App Store debuted. Most people had flip phones, and PCs dominated the computing landscape.

iPhone gobbles up 8 of 10 top-selling smartphone spots for Q2

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iPhone X
iPhone X sales are still booming.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The iPhone absolutely dominated its Android competition in the United States during the second quarter or 2018.

According to the latest data from the folks at Kantar, iPhones took 8 of the top 10 spots in smartphone sales, helping iOS gain market share at Samsung and LG’s expense.

IQ test of virtual assistants shows Siri’s smarts are on the rise

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Siri Alexa in voice report
So selfless, that Siri.
Photo: Apple

If Siri seems to be of greater service to you lately, an annual IQ test comparing virtual assistants shows its definitely getting smarter.

Loup Ventures annually peppers the various digital assistants with five categories of questions and when it comes to accuracy and comprehension of a user’s question, Google Assistant remains the best. Siri, however, is right behind Google while Amazon’s Alex and Cortana lags behind in that order.

YouTube tests confirm MacBook Pro’s thermal throttling issue is fixed

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MacBook Pro
Dave Lee was the person who first diagnosed the problem.
Photo: Dave Lee

The YouTuber who sounded the alarm over serious thermal throttling on the new Core i9 MacBook Pro confirms that Apple corrected the performance-killing problem.

Following the macOS High Sierra update Apple issued yesterday, YouTube tech reviewer Dave Lee uploaded a new video showing that the patch did its job. After the upgrade, his new MacBook Pro is running faster!

Apple display maker slashes its budget after second quarterly loss

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RED iphone
LG Display is one of Apple's main display makers.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple display maker LG Display supposedly faces an “uncertain outlook” after posting its second quarterly loss, based on falling prices for its services.

As a result of the disappointing earnings, LG has cut investment plans by $2.7 billion for the period through 2020. In an earnings call, LG’s CFO Don Kim blamed “uncertainty around the mobile market” for the firm’s decision.

Steam fights Discord with new Chat service, coming soon to iOS

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Steam Chat
Steam just made it a lot easier to talk to your teammates.
Photo: Valve

Steam is taking the fight to Discord with a new Chat service that makes it easier to communicate with teammates.

Chat can be used for voice and text, negating the need for third-party services, and it’s (obviously) designed with gamers in mind. It’s also headed to iOS soon.

New iPhone display causes problems for Apple suppliers

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2018 iPhone screen protectors
A look at the screen sizes for this year's new iPhones.
Photo: Benjamin Geskin

Mass production is gearing up for Apple’s 2018-era iPhone refresh, but as per usual it’s not without its problems. According to a new report, the 6.1-inch LCD handset is causing Apple particular trouble with an LED backlight leakage. The issue has pushed back manufacturing by one month.

The claim is from Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty, who cites sources in Apple’s supply chain. But don’t worry: Apple’s apparently got the problem covered.

Yet another grab-and-run theft hits Apple Store

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Apple Store robbery
The thieves accosted an off-duty officer outside the store.
Photo: Mesa Police Department

The recent spate of Apple Store robberies has continued, as five men stole iPhones and iPads valued at $29,000 from an Apple Store in Southern California this week.

The robbery took place on Monday night, when the hoodie-wearing men walked into the store at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, Orange County. They quickly began ripping display items out of the display tables, before fleeing the location.

Bluetooth security flaw requires updating to recent iOS, macOS versions

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It's necessary to update your iPhone, iPad, or MacBook to remove a Bluetooth security flaw.
No more procrastinating. It's necessary to update your iPhone, iPad, or MacBook to remove a Bluetooth security flaw.
Photo: Apple

Many people are slow about updating the operating system on their phone or laptop, sometimes from fear of bugs. But a security flaw in Bluetooth requires updating to recent versions of iOS or macOS to fix.

This flaw could allow a hacker to access information exchanged over Bluetooth. And it affects recent and older iPhones and MacBooks.

These are the six colors rumored for this year’s LCD iPhone

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iphone5c
Color was a big selling point for the iPhone 5c.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s 6.1-inch LCD iPhone is likely to be the least exciting of the company’s 2018-era handsets from a features and hardware perspective. However, it’s also bound to be the cheapest of Apple’s new iPhones and, if you believe the rumors, will feature one other big selling point: color.

Like the bright iPhone 5c which launched in 2013, the 6.1-inch LCD handset will reportedly come in various bright colors. The question is which colors will it come in? A new report possibly sheds some light.

Twelve South first to put Apple Watch on your arm

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actionsleeve
Made of neoprene and silicone for comfort and durability, ActionSleeve from Twelve South puts Apple Watch on your arm.
Photo: Benjamin McKay/Cult of Mac

Note: Twelve South does not ship outside of the United States. 

The Apple Watch is an ideal workout partner, but it’s not a good idea to have things around your wrist during certain activities. An Apple Watch armband would be perfect.

Now you can wear your Apple Watch on your arm with ActionSleeve from Twelve South. It’s the world’s first armband for Apple Watch, and it is now available in our Watch Store.

iPhone sales expected to remain strong throughout 2018

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Apple could be a $2 trillion company by end of 2021
iPhone sales could give Apple's Q3 earnings a big boost.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple might be about to post another better-than-expected earnings report next week driven by strong iPhones sales and Apple’s booming services business.

With Apple’s earnings call for the third fiscal quarter of 2018 slated for July 31, Guggenheim Partners analyst Robert Cihra predicts Apple will have another solid quarter of growth with 43 million iPhone units sold.

Learn to code like a wizard with this Harry Potter wand kit

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Harry Potter Kano Coding Kit teaches muggles to code
Progammus Swiftus: Harry Potter Kano Coding Kit teaches muggles to code
Photo: Kano

You can’t go to Hogwarts to learn magic, but the Harry Potter Kano Coding Kit teaches programming as if you’re in the Wizarding World.

It comes with a wireless wand, and you flick and swish through the basic concepts of real-world programming. Professor Flitwick would be so proud.

AT&T’s 5G coverage dominates competition (for now)

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AT&T store2
Verizon is behind arch-rival AT&T in deploying mobile 5G. Sprint and T-Mobile are trailing.
Photo: Steve Rhodes/Flickr CC

Verizon just reveled that Houston will be the third city getting its super-speedy 5G service before the end of this year. But there’s huge caveat: this is fixed service, only for homes and businesses.

In contrast, AT&T will launch mobile 5G service in six cities this year. This shows how far ahead it is than the competition.

Huge PUBG Mobile update adds War mode and lots more

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PUBG Mobile 0.5.0
PUBG Mobile is bigger and better.
Photo: PlayerUnknown

PUBG’s mission to fight back against Fortnite continues today with a massive update that brings a whole host of awesome new content to mobile.

Players can enjoy a fast-paced War mode and a brand new sniper rifle, join clans, chat with friends, earn new achievements, and lots more.

The future of high-speed broadband is in your iPhone X

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VCSEL
The laser in the iPhone X's Face ID could one day transform the speed of broadband.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

That nifty little laser in the iPhone X that scans your face to create a custom animated emoji could also connect cities with ultra high-speed broadband.

That’s what a team of researchers in Europe have discovered by combining the laser with silicon photonics to create long-wavelength, high-capacity communications. If implemented, it could make data logjams a thing of the past.

Apple issues thermal throttling fix for 2018 MacBook Pros

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2018 MacBook Pro
Apple just released a fix that will speed up every 2018 MacBook Pro, no matter the processor or screen size.
Photo: Apple

Ever since the debut of the 2018 MacBook Pro, there’s been controversy about the top-tier version suffering thermal throttling. Apple today apologized for this problem, and released a fix.

It also seems every version of the new Apple laptop will down-clock itself to prevent overheating. The slowdowns occur even when it’s not totally necessary to stop the machines from being damaged.

Watch this itsy-bitsy spider get stuck inside an iMac screen

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iMac
Yes, that's a real spider stuck behind the screen.
Photo: Timothy Buchanan

Apple’s iMac computers make a surprisingly good home for spiders. Or at least one really tiny spider that found its way in between one shocked owner’s LCD panel and front glass.

The spider can be seen crawling around inside the iMac on a video posted to YouTube. At first, the owner thought it was a digital prank. But when he starts moving different app windows over it and the spider starts running around, he realizes this is no joke.

If you have arachnophobia you might not want to watch:

Future iPhones may pack moving camera sensors for external lenses

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Moment lens on iPhone
Don't retire that wide-angle lens attachment just yet.
Photo: Moment

A lens attachment can extend the view of your native iPhone camera. It can also botch an otherwise nice image if not attached properly.

Apple is suggesting hardware and software changes to the iPhone and iPad camera systems that can reduce operator error and aid an extra lens in delivering that promised DSLR quality.

Trump may not spare iPhone from trade war

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Apple waives developer fees for nonprofits, others in 8 additional countries
iPhones could get caught in crossfire of U.S-China trade war
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Tim Cook was reportedly assured that the iPhone wouldn’t been among the items to be hit with an import tariff as part of the United States’ burgeoning trade war with China.

However, according to a new report, it may wind up being hit with two sets of charges: one on iPhones imported from China, and another tax levied in China itself. Ouch!