iOS 12 public beta 4 lets you try out all the new iPhone and iPad features months before the full release, expected this fall. Photo: Apple
You don’t have to wait to get the new features of iOS 12. You could install a pre-release version and start tinkering with Siri Shortcuts or Memoji now.
Apple just introduced iOS 12 public beta 4, hopefully the most stable version yet. There are both iPhone and iPad iterations.
Ken Segall worked in advertising with Steve Jobs for more than a dozen years. Now he'd like CEO Tim Cook to Think Different about marketing. Photo: Doug Schneider Photography
Quick, what’s the advertising slogan Apple uses for the iPhone X? How about for the iPad? What was the theme of the last Apple ad you saw?
If you shrugged your shoulders at all these questions, then you’ll understand why a former Apple ad man sees problems with the company’s current advertising strategy.
Hacker who tried to extort Apple for $100k is spared prison Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
The latest phishing scam targets iCloud users, trying to scare them into installing malicious software on their iOS devices.
Some users have received emails recently that push them to fake Apple Support websites. Once there, the sites prompt them to call “Apple Care” because their devices are supposedly “locked for illegal activity.” Here’s how to avoid the scam.
State-controlled media in China is accusing Apple of failing to act to block content that is pornographic, gambling-focused, or intended to promote the selling of counterfeit products. At least five news agencies in the country have jumped on the accusations.
The Galaxy S9 isn't selling as well as expected. Photo: Samsung
Despite releasing a series of iPhone-bashing commercials, Samsung’s own smartphone sales are beginning to decline drastically. And investors are not pleased.
Samsung posted a second-quarter earnings report Monday that put an end to its streak of record-breaking financial results. While the company’s memory chip business is doing well, sales of its flagship Galaxy S9 smartphone and display panels are slipping after the company saw huge profit growth in 2017.
Referring to the so-called FAANG stocks of Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google, analyst Larry McDonald warns that the tech giants have the potential to lose more than a third of their value. Is this the time to quit AAPL while you’re ahead? McDonald says you might want to get the hell out of Dodge.
Tim Cook may wow investors with a better-than-expected Q3 earnings report. Photo: Apple
When Apple unveils its latest earnings report Tuesday, some analysts think the numbers may be even better than expected.
Q3 is usually Apple’s weakest quarter of the year as the iPhone sales cycle starts to come to an end. However, this week’s call may hold a number of surprises and hints about the 2018 iPhone lineup as Apple gives investors guidance on next quarter. As usual, Cult of Mac will liveblog the entire call with all the pithy analysis we can muster.
We’ll be watching for these key details in the report (and so should you).
A new “Personal Requests” setup screen now displays an additional icon where the Phone app will sit, and reads “make phone calls” in its list of abilities. It indicates HomePod users will be able to initiate calls for the first time when iOS 12 makes its public debut this fall.
Sadly, we've still got a couple of months to wait! Photo: TigerMobiles
One day after Benjamin Geskin’s dummy photos of the forthcoming iPhone X Plus and new LCD iPhone hit the internet, a pair of videos showing Apple’s 2018 lineup have emerged, too.
Like Geskin’s iPhones pics, these ones depict mockups, rather than the real thing — but are still supposedly based on in-depth schematics from sources in Apple’s chain. Check out the videos below.
Enjoy group calls on WhatsApp today. Photo: WhatsApp
WhatsApp’s new group video calling feature is now available to users on Android and iOS.
Users can chat with up to three others simultaneously, regardless of their location. WhatsApp says the feature has been designed to work even over unreliable network connections, so you have no excuse not to stay in touch.
It’s your turn to make the rules. Photo: Epic Games
Fortnite’s controversial guided missile is back in today’s big content update.
You can enjoy it in regular Battle Royale matches, as well as in the brand new Fly Explosives game mode, filled with jetpacks and explosive weapons. Slurp Juice issues have also been fixed in this release.
Apple has long been based in Cupertino, where Steve Jobs grew up. Photo: Apple
Apple is the reason why most non-locals know the name Cupertino. Just in case free international advertising wasn’t enough, however, the company just sent a letter to the Cupertino City Council, outlining all the nice things Apple does to benefit its hometown.
Although it doesn’t mention it, the letter conveniently arrives on the eve of a discussion on whether to impose a “head tax” on Apple employees in the area.
Is this your experience of using macOS? Google suggests it is. Photo: Google
Tensions between Google and Apple may have cooled since Steve Jobs declared “thermonuclear war” on the search giant, but that doesn’t mean hostilities have ceased altogether.
In its latest Chromebook commercial, Google fires shots at both Apple and fellow tech giant Microsoft. Both companies are mocked for the error messages their operating systems supposedly bombard customers with, and more. Chromebooks, on the other hand, represent, “a laptop you can count on.” Check the ad out below.
An Apple VR headset like this one might be in development. Photo: Cult of Mac
The rumors of an Apple virtual reality headset just got a boost. The company hired the developer of a VR painting application. An app that can’t run on any device Apple currently offers.
It’s not easy to see why Apple would need the talents of the creator of Cyber Paint if it’s not prepping some kind of VR hardware.
The long-delayed wireless AirPods charging case could finally be out soon, along with the AirPower charging mat. Photo: Apple
Last September, Apple unveiled an AirPods case that can be wirelessly charged. We’re still waiting for it almost a year later — but there’s fresh evidence that it’s coming soon.
For a few thousand dollars, you can give into temptation. Photo: Caviar
Every time Vladimir Putin so much as sneezes, Russian luxury brand Caviar commemorates the occasion with a gold-plated iPhone sporting the president’s intimidating mug.
But the designers and meticulous jewelers took a pause of Putin for its latest blinged out iPhones to tell a Biblical story about temptation in the Garden of Eden.
The Dropbox vs iCloud competition just got tighter now that some plans from Dropbox offer a lot more capacity. Photo: Dropbox
Dropbox just added terabytes of storage to some of its offerings without increasing their cost. This makes its plans stronger competitors against iCloud.
The company is doubling the amount available through a Professional account to 2 TB. Business Standard teams now have 3 TB to share, up from 2 TB.
The new and improved Photos app on iOS 12. Photo: Apple
Apple’s new betas for iOS 12 are coming out like clockwork with the fifth beta build arriving this morning nearly two weeks after the last beta dropped.
Developers received iOS 12 beta 5 this morning along with new betas for tvOS 12, watchOS 5 and macOS Mojave. Each new build contains a number of fixes as Apple readies the new software for a public launch this fall.
View all your messages individually if you prefer. Photo: Google
Gmail got a lot of awesome new features during its recent redesign, but there’s a big one that’s still missing. Email scheduling has never been an option for those who choose Google as their email provider — at least not without the help of a third-party service.
Spend like a rock star these 24K yellow gold AirPods. Photo: Brikk
Lose one of your AirPods and you might be mad that you have to pay the Apple Store for a replacement.
But basic anger and $69 won’t begin to cover the loss of an AirPod when the set was purchased through accessory company Brikk, which offers a pair in 24K yellow gold for $10,000.
Because Intel can't get its act together, Apple's apparently going to release a low-cost MacBook that's slower than it should be. Photo: Apple
After waiting years, Apple is reportedly given up on using some of Intel’s long-delayed processors in the budget MacBook expected this fall. Instead, the device will include chips that debuted last year.
Problems like this could be one of the reasons Apple is supposedly going to move macOS onto its own ARM-based processors and away from Intel.
Want a possible early glimpse at what appears to be this year’s fancy new 6.5-inch iPhone X Plus and 6.1-inch LCD iPhone? Renowned Apple leaker Ben Geskin is here to help!
Geskin posted the images on Twitter. He describes the iPhones in the pictures as “dummy models,” meaning that they are models he has made based on leaked Apple schematics. Check out more images below.
Apple Pay is putting rivals to shame. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
By 2020, Apple Pay could make up one of every two mobile wallet users globally, a new report suggests.
At the time, the estimated total number of people using contactless payment solution created by a mobile device maker is estimated as being in the vicinity of 450 million people worldwide.
Steve Jobs was off the Adobe Flash train way back in 2010. Photo: Adobe
Whether it was imagining a computer in every home in the 1970s or talking about selling software online before the internet was a thing, Steve Jobs was way ahead of his time.
The latest example? That a whole eight years after Jobs’ penned his open letter about the perils of using Adobe Flash, the U.S. government is finally getting around to abandoning the plugin; concerned about Flash’s “inherent security vulnerabilities” as it reaches its final days.