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Best docks to cradle your iPhone 8 or iPhone X

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8_Roundup_Docks
Your new iPhone deserves a dock that's equally as beautiful.
Photo: Grovemade/Cult of Mac

Apple’s new iPhones are its most beautiful yet. And as such, they deserve to be docked in nothing but the finest cradles ever crafted.

Find the perfect dock can be a bit of challenge considering there are a dizzying array of options to choose from. Not all docks are created equal though, so we’ve rounded up the best options for users of all budgets.

These are the docks you should buy:

iPhone 8 takes a beating in first torture test videos

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iPhone 8
The iPhone 8 still looks great.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The new iPhone 8 isn’t just the most beautiful phone Apple has ever made. It’s also one of the toughest ever.

iPhone 8 buyers have already put the new device through a number of torture tests after it went on sale across the globe this morning. Even though the new design sports glass in the front back, early stress tests have shown its more durable than the iPhone 7 in bend test.

Check it out:

iPhone 8 gets lukewarm reception around the world

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iPhone
The iPhone 8 queues in Australia weren't what they've been in previous years.
Photo: S Marshall-McCormack/Twitter

Fans queuing for the latest iPhone is something customary for new launches, but according to reports from across the globe, demand isn’t what it has been in previous years.

Interest in the new handset seems to be muted, with Apple stores seeing a fraction of the lines that have greeted previous iPhone launches. At Apple stores in New York City, where typically hundreds of fans are queued up for hours to buy the iPhone, the entire line was gone within the first hour of the store opening.

‘Best-ever’ smartphone camera is the iPhone 8 Plus

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iPhone 8
The camera on the iPhone 8 Plus gets a "best-ever" grade from DxOMark Labs.
Photo: Apple

The cameras onboard the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus are the “best-performing” smartphone cameras ever tested, according to a report by DxOMark Labs.

Both iPhones surpassed what DxO once declared the best, the Google Pixel. The 8 Plus scored a 94, two points higher than its single-camera sibling. The Pixel and the HTC U11 both rated a 90 while the iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone 7 scored an 88 and 85 respectively.

iPhone 8 teardown reveals smaller battery, 2GB of RAM, more

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iFixit iPhone 8
If your iPhone 8 looks like this when it arrives, you're probably not going to be too happy!
Photo: iFixit

Most people haven’t even laid their hands on one yet, but the good folks at iFixit have already gotten hold of a new iPhone device and cracked it open to see what its insides look like.

While the new handset is very similar to the existing iPhone 7, it does include a few notable differences, which can be described as follows:

Apple donates $1 million to Mexico earthquake relief

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Mexico City
Search and rescue teams are still looking for people trapped under collapsed buildings.
Photo: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Flickr

Apple’s generous spirit and its bank account continue to keep on giving in light of another major disaster, this time in Mexico.

The company already donated millions of dollars to relief efforts for hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Now Apple CEO Tim Cook has revealed that the company is sending money to Mexico to help clean up the damage done by the recent earthquake.

Bose takes on AirPods and Beats by baking in Google

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Bose
Bose's Quietcomfort 35 II wireless headphones are the start of a partnership with Google.
Photo: Bose

Apple’s AirPods and Beats headphones are getting some fresh competition from one of the biggest audio companies in the game. And they’re getting a little help from Apple’s rival, Google.

Bose unveiled two new products today. One is its first ever foray into the world of truly wireless earbuds. The other is a pair of brand new noise-canceling headphones that are also designed to work with Google Assistant.

Safari 11 privacy feature gets advertisers fuming

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specify settings on a per-site basis
Enable settings on a per-site basis.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Apple is out to “sabotage the economic model of the internet” as it protects users from shady tracking while browsing the internet, according to several organizations representing digital advertisers.

Six different digital ad and marketing trade associations recently signed and sent an open letter to Apple opposing a pending Safari update aimed at protecting how your browsing data is used.

Angela Ahrendts named one of world’s most powerful women

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Angela Ahrendts.
Angela Ahrendts at the iPhone X keynote.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s boss of retail is finally getting some recognition for her large role at the world’s most powerful tech company.

In its latest rankings of the most powerful women in business, Fortune has placed Angela Ahrendts in the top 20 of influencers, raising her up one spot from last year and putting her ahead of executives at companies like Google, JP Morgan Chase, Microsoft, and Boeing.

iPhone 8, Apple Watch 3, Apple TV 4K pre-orders have shipped

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latest iPhones
More iPhone buyers selected a newer phone, like the iPhone 8, than when the iPhone 7 line was new.
Photo: Apple

Apple has begun shipping early orders for iPhone 8, Apple Watch Series 3, and Apple TV 4K.

All three devices make their official debut tomorrow, September 22 — one week after they were made available to pre-order. If you haven’t already claimed yours, you’ll now have to wait at least three weeks for it to ship from the Apple online store.

3 big problems with Apple Watch Series 3

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There's still work to be done to perfect Apple Watch Series 3.
There's still work to be done to perfect Apple Watch.
Photo: Apple

The Apple Watch has come a long way from the first model. With each update, Apple adds important missing ingredients, like GPS, a faster processor, cellular and an altimeter.

So has Apple Watch finally reached its true potential? Cupertino certainly thinks so. Apple COO Jeff Williams described Series 3 with cellular as “the ultimate expression of Apple Watch” at last week’s special event.

But three big problems still remain (not including the cellular connectivity glitch Apple is scrambling to fix ahead of this Friday’s ship date).

You can now download bigger iOS apps over cellular

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iOS 11 iPad Pro
Look out for the changes next month.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple has finally increased the cellular download limit for iOS apps.

Following the release of iOS 11, you can now download titles up to 150 MB in size without a Wi-Fi connection. That’s still not enough for many apps and games, but it is a step in the right direction.

Apple promises Dolby Atmos is coming to Apple TV 4K

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Apple TV 4K
Apple TV 4K may look amazing, but its sound doesn't quite match. Yet.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s new Apple TV 4K set-top box doesn’t currently support Dolby Atmos surround sound, an early review reveals. However, this is something Apple plans to add in a future update.

Atmos, along with competitor DTS:X, are next generation surround sound formats, referred to in the industry as “object-based surround.” In contrast to regular surround sound, which sends specific audio tracks to different speakers, Atmos lets sound engineers place their sound “objects” in 3D space, and then makes your sound system work out how to replicate this.

Qualcomm suffers double defeat in fight against Apple

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Qualcomm patents
Qualcomm has been battling Apple since the start of the year.
Photo: Qualcomm

Qualcomm has suffered a blow in its patent royalty battle with Apple after losing two hearings.

The first hearing means that Qualcomm cannot force Apple’s manufacturing partners to make royalty payments before the total quantity of royalties are settled. The second means that it cannot stop Apple from seeking antitrust cases against Qualcomm in other countries.

Manufacturing problems mean final iPhone X production hasn’t started yet

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iPhone X
Building the iPhone X hasn't been without its challenges.
Photo: Apple

The iPhone X may be Apple’s most exciting iPhone refresh in years, but it’s causing the company no end of production issues. According to a new report, the iPhone X has run into more late stage manufacturing problems, causing an additional “incremental” delay for shipping.

The result? Final production on the handset hasn’t even started yet.

Apple’s whimsical ads welcome users to the new App Store

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App Store
The App Store has undergone major renovations.
Photo: Apple

Big changes have been made to the App Store with the release of iOS 11 and Apple is ready to help users get acclimated in its latest series of ads.

The company published four new videos that showcase some of the new features. iOS 11 users will immediately notice the layout of the store is completely different thanks to the new Today section that makes finding new apps easier. Some of the UI changes have taken some cues from Apple News and Apple Music.

Check it out:

The best ARKit apps to try on iPhone and iPad

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The Machines
The Machines is the coolest AR game you'll find on the App Store.
Photo: Directive Games

The first wave of ARKit-powered apps is crashing into the App Store this week to change the way you use your iPhone.

With iOS 11, Apple has turned the iPhone and iPad into the world’s biggest augmented reality platform and some of the first offerings from developers are pretty mindblowing. You’ll need an iPhone 6s or above to take advantage of ARKit’s incredible powers, but these apps might convince you it’s worth the upgrade.

Here are 7 ARKit apps you should download right now:

iOS 11 brings 5 different types of tap, but don’t panic

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five touches
Both of these were caused by tap-and-hold, which sounds confusing but isn't.
Photo: Cult of Mac

When the iPhone launched 10 years ago, there were two kinds of tap. A regular tap for everything, and a special press-and-hold to get the Home screen icons jiggling and ready to rearrange. That was it. Now, with iOS 11, I have counted at least five different types of tap and press, and that’s just on the iPad. If you count the iPhone, then you also have 3D-Touch to deal with.

Partly this comes down to the new systemwide drag-and-drop capability baked into in iOS 11, and partly it has to do with Apple trying to mimic 3D Touch’s pressure sensitivity on the iPad.

The biggest surprise, though, is that Apple managed to pull it off, even in the early iOS 11 beta I’m running now. Not only are these gestures all intuitive, but the overall feel of interaction has gotten way better.

Intel’s Cannon Lake processors may be delayed, again

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Intel Coffee Lake
Intel's Coffee Lake processors have a lot of potential.
Photo: Intel

The next great update for the MacBook Pro may not happen until late 2018 thanks to a delay in Intel’s highly anticipated Cannon Lake processors.

Intel has allegedly decided to push back the launch of its Cannon Lake processors yet again, according to a new report that claims the company is now looking to launch them toward the end of 2018.

Apple teams up with Microsoft to fix iOS 11 Mail issues

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Mail app inbox
You might have problems with Exchange and Outlook accounts.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple has confirmed that it is working closely with Microsoft to resolve an issue with Mail syncing in iOS 11.

Some users have discovered that they are unable to send emails using their Exchange or Outlook accounts since updating their devices. Apple promises a fix will be available in a future iOS 11 release.

Amazon could launch Alexa smart glasses this year

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Google Glass 2.0
Creator of the Google Glass is behind Amazon's new initiative.
Photo: Google

Amazon is working on developing a pair of smart glasses that will come with its virtual assistant Alexa built in, a new report claims.

It’s not clear the exact functionality that the smart glasses will offer, but among them will be to the ability to let users converse with Alexa at any time. This will work via a bone-conduction audio system so that the user does not have to wear headphones to hear Alexa’s responses.

Connectivity fault hampers new LTE Apple Watch Series 3

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Apple Watch Series 3
There's a fix coming, but it's not here yet.
Photo: Apple

A fault with Apple Watch Series 3 LTE models can make cellular connectivity unreliable, Apple admits.

“We have discovered that when Apple Watch Series 3 joins unauthenticated Wi-Fi networks without connectivity, it may at times prevent the watch from using cellular,” Apple said in a statement. “We are investigating a fix for a future software release.”

Apple VP slams Trump’s EPA over lack of transparency

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Jackson
Apple should focus on building durable products, Lisa Jackson says.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s VP of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives Lisa Jackson has criticized the Trump administration for hurting the Environmental Protection Agency. Jackson worked as an administrator for the EPA during the first term of President Obama’s presidency, prior to taking her current job at Apple.

“The EPA has been run by Democrats, by Republicans, but has never, in its history — that is 40+ years old — been run by someone who seems to be determined to do the one thing that could destroy its credibility, which is not making it transparent,” Jackson told the audience at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference.