It is shaping up to be a spectacular month for battle royale games on iOS. After the hugely popular Fortnite landed in the App Store last week, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds has made its way to iPhone and iPad.
After a round of beta testing in Canada, the free PUBG Mobile is now available on iOS (and Android) in the United States and other locations around the world.
The iPhone X looks great in gold. Photo: Ben Geskin
Gold lovers might be able to get their iPhone X gold fix much sooner than expected.
Images of an alleged ‘Blush Gold’ iPhone X have leaked online this week. The images supposedly come straight from the production line, which could mean an official launch isn’t far away.
Google location data is being used by investigators, apparently. Photo: Google
If you find yourself within the immediate radius of a crime that’s committed, you could find your personal data seized by police, with a helping hand from Google.
That’s the takeaway from a recent report about how Raleigh police have presented Google with broad search warrants, requesting user data from all mobile devices with a certain vicinity of particular crimes. In one case, Google was reportedly asked for unique data for all homes and businesses within a 17-acre area of a gun-related incident.
MicroLED could eventually replace OLED displays on Apple devices. Photo: Apple
Apple reportedly operates a secret manufacturing plant in California where it produces MicroLED displays, a new type of screen that could make future gadgets “slimmer, brighter and less power-hungry.”
Right now, the company is said to still be in the testing phase, manufacturing small quantities of the displays. The tech likely won’t arrive for years. But by developing its own custom displays, Apple could further differentiate its devices from rival products.
Wouldn't this look awesome in your study? Photo: Moonimal
So you’ve got your iMac, iPad and iPhone at the ready. Your bookshelves are heaving under the weight of all the Steve Jobs biographies, and you’ve got a cabinet containing various rare vintage Apple products, like the ill-fated Pippin games console and that weird vertical Mac display from back in the day.
Now all you’re searching for is a little Apple-themed something for the wall to say to visitors “I’m a little bit too into this Cupertino-based tech company.” Well, look no further — because we’ve got the poster for you!
Fortnite is awesome on mobile. It just needs tweaking. Screenshot: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
If it took you a while to sign up for early access to Fortnite on iOS, you’re probably still waiting to get an invite — but you may be able to play already.
Lots of fans have reported that they’ve been able to gain access to the game without receiving an email from Epic. If you haven’t already, you might want to try it yourself.
Before Steve was, well, this guy, he was a teenager with no phone, no car, and no job. Photo: Apple
A job application filled out by 18-year-old Steve Jobs in 1973 has sold at auction for $174,757 — significantly more than the $50,000 it was expected to raise.
The application reminds us the there was once a time when Jobs was just a regular kid with no employment, no phone, and no car. You know, before he became the billionaire head of the world’s most exciting tech company!
'Appy weekend, everyone! Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Fortnite, arguably the most anticipated iOS game of 2018, is just one of our selections for “Awesome Apps of the Week.”
In addition, we’ve got Google’s AI assistant newly landed on iPad, a neat update to one of the most popular third-party keyboards around, and a great basic text-editing app for iOS. Check out our picks below.
Happy St. Patrick's Day! Today only, take 20 percent any green Apple Watch band in Cult of Mac's Watch Store. Photo: Clessant
As St. Patrick’s Day imbibing commences, Cult of Mac offers up all things green for your Apple Watch band-buying pleasure.
We’ve scoured the Watch Store to feature eight special bands in green from these great companies: Casetify, Clessant, E3 Supply Co. and Ullu. Today only, save 20 percent on these Irish-inspired Apple Watch bands by using code IRISH2018 at Watch Store checkout!
Steve Mnuchin and Tim Cook at the new campus. Photo: Steve Mnuchin
U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Steve Mnuchin, paid a visit to Apple’s new spaceship campus in Cupertino today.
Mnuchin got a tour of Apple Park accompanied by Tim Cook. The Ape CEO has a history of both working against and with Donald Trump’s administration, and in the duo’s photo that was tweeted this afternoon, it doesn’t look like Tim is particularily stoked.
An analyst predicts increasing demand for the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. Photo: Apple
The number of MacBooks shipping in 2018 will grow by double digits, if a reliable analyst’s prediction proves correct. That would give Apple’s laptops stronger annual growth than iPhone or iPad.
T-Mobile and Verizon are battling it out to see which will offer the best 4G. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
A quick and reliable LTE connection is a necessity for any iPhone. Verizon and T-Mobile offer the best 4G performance, with AT&T and Sprint not able to keep up.
All four of the national carriers’ networks show improvement over 2017, but some haven’t yet recovered from the deluge of usage that came when they began offering unlimited data plans several years ago.
Face ID completely changes the way users interact with their iPhone, but imagine if every physical lock could be opened with just a glance.
In Apple’s newest iPhone X ad, the powers of Face ID get unleashed on the real world after a high school girl discovers (or imagines?) she has the power to open anything with her face.
iOS 11.3 finally brings Messages to iCloud. Photo: Apple
The public launch of Apple’s biggest iOS update in 2018 so far might be just a few weeks away, now that developers just received another beta build for iOS 11.3.
Apple seeded iOS 11.3 beta six to developers this morning, bring a bunch of bug fixes and under-the-hood improvements to the iPhone and iPad.
Everyone should welcome skill-based matchmaking. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
My plan to get to bed early last night was ruined when Epic Games dropped a Fortnite Battle Royale invite in my inbox. I had been itching to play it since I signed up for early access on Monday, so I ignored my body’s desperate calls for sleep and dived right in.
I had already played Fortnite on PlayStation 4 and PC, so I had a good idea of what to expect with the mobile version. Epic promised it would deliver exactly the same experience. But I had no idea what the game would look like, or if it would even be worth playing with touch controls.
I was blown away. Here are my first impressions of Fortnite on iOS.
All your favorite features at the tap of a button. Photo: SwiftKey
SwiftKey, one of the most popular third-party keyboards on iOS, has just gotten even faster and more efficient — thanks to an update which adds a new Toolbar for giving you super-speedy access to the keyboard’s most popular features.
Apple issued invites Friday for an education-themed event in Chicago on March 27.
The invite promises “creative new ideas for teachers and students.” That could indicate the arrival of more-affordable Apple devices — like the new MacBook Air and iPad we’ve been hearing about.
Epic Games has started rolling out the first early access invites for Fortnite Battle Royale on iOS. It seems a large number of fans have been lucky enough to get one, but a handful have been left heartbroken after discovering they can’t play it.
It turns out Fortnite doesn’t support jailbroken devices.
You'll need access to the Edge beta. Photo: Microsoft
Microsoft Edge for iOS now boasts support for iPad. It took four months to arrive, and it’s only in beta for now — but it’s exactly the tablet interface you’ve been waiting for.
Siri and HomePod will oblige children in China when they ask for a story. Photo: Apple
This week on The CultCast: Siri sucks, Apple knows it, and Cupertino isn’t sure how to fix it … but there’s still hope. Plus: Our 2018 WWDC hardware expectations!
Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. It’s simple to accept Apple Pay and sell your wares with your very own Squarespace.com website. Enter offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off any hosting plan.
Speaking at the recent Roth Investment Conference in Laguna Beach, California, Zerella said that, “I have yet to meet anyone who owns an Apple Watch who’s passionate about the product.”
New book will offer a very different view of Steve Jobs: that of father. Photo: Ben Stanfield/Flickr CC
Steve Jobs’ daughter, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, is writing a coming-of-age memoir.
Given his immense significance as the CEO who turned around Apple’s fortunes, there are many books about Steve Jobs. This newly announced one written by his daughter will offer a different, more personal take on the late Steve Jobs than most of its bookstore rivals.
"Well, you could start by not slating Siri!" Photo: Apple
Any time you slate a product that a lot of people worked hard on, you’re bound to get some pushback.
In the wake of a recent damning report, suggesting that Siri is broken, and has pretty much been that way since the start, Siri’s co-founder Dag Kittlaus has hit back at one of the article’s claims.