Instant Pickup offers "need-it-now" items in record time. Photo: Amazon
Amazon is making last-minute shopping even more convenient with its new Instant Pickup service.
Available for free for Prime and Prime Student subscribers, the service lets you order “need-it-now” items that are available to collect in two minutes or less, including food, cold drinks, and of course, Amazon gadgets like Echo and Fire TV.
MacBook sales are up again around the world. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Recent upgrades to the 12-inch MacBook helped provide Apple with a 17.1 percent notebook sales boost during the second quarter of 2017. The company remains fifth in overall market share, but it has been able to widen the gap between itself and sixth-placed Acer.
Street Fighter IV: Champion Editionlanded on iOS last month and, true to its promise, it’s already introducing updates designed to keep the gaming experience fresh.
This week, the game will introduce fan favorite characters Evil Ryu, Guy, and Gouken, all of whom will be available to players as free downloads.
Apple wants to make life harder for scalpers. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple has tightened up its online sales policy in Hong Kong, noting that it will not “accept return for online orders placed on, and after August 15th, 2017.”
The move comes ahead of the launch of the eagerly-anticipated iPhone 8, and is intended to deter scalpers from buying up massive quantities of the iPhone to sell at a premium, and then returning those they don’t manage to sell.
It's easier to commute if you're an Android user. Photo: Oemaix/Flickr CC
Apple hasn’t always had the easiest time in China, and the latest reminder of this is the launch of a new scheme allowing users of Beijing’s transport system to pay through an app — although it’s not available on Apple Pay, or even iOS.
Instead, the service is only available via Android app, with the likely reason for the iOS lockout reportedly being because Apple sticks to its proprietary Apple Pay system, rather than supporting third-party payment apps.
Aurora HDR from Macphun will soon have a new interface and great power. Photo: Trey Ratcliff/Macphun
Imaging software company Macphun today announced a faster, more powerful version of its popular Aurora HDR.
Available for pre-order next month, Aurora HDR 2018 includes a redesigned user interface, speed upgrades in RAW imaging processing and merging and masking performance, and a lens correction tool that fixes chromatic aberration, vignetting and other forms of distortion.
Amount will bolster Apple's services business. Photo: Google
Google could pay Apple as much as $3 billion this year in order to remain the default search engine on iOS devices, a new report claims.
The claim comes from Bernstein analyst A.M. Sacconaghi Jr. If true, it would represent a sizable increase from the $1 billion that Apple was paid by Google for the same reason back in 2014.
Apple Watch Series 3 will look exactly the same as its predecessors. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple Watch Series 3 will be a significant upgrade thanks to LTE connectivity, which will allow you to use apps and receive notifications without being tethered to your iPhone over Bluetooth.
But one reliable analyst warns that the new model will look exactly the same as its predecessors.
HomePod will launch in December, but supplies will be constrained. Photo: Apple
Apple HomePod manufacturer Inventec Appliances warns that the device will be in limited supply when it launches this December.
Analysts expect the company to ship just 500,000 units by the end of 2017. However, supplies are anticipated to improve in 2018, when Foxconn will help with manufacturing duties.
A redesigned Control Center is one of many changes to look forward to in iOS 11. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple’s sixth betas for iOS 11, macOS High Sierra, tvOS 11, and watchOS 4 are now available to download for registered developers.
This rollout comes just one week after Apple seeded its fifth beta releases, which indicates the company is close to finalizing these updates for their public debut this fall.
It will deliver a big boost to one Apple supplier. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple Watch Series 3 is on track to launch this fall, with shipments expected to begin in the fourth quarter of this year.
Apple partner Quanta Computer will enjoy a successful end to 2017 as a result, with revenues already up as a result of increased demand for notebooks and servers.
Pika the new Snapchat filter to turn yourself into a Pokémon Photo: Snapchat
Snapchat has paired up with The Pokémon Company to debut a Pikachu filter that turns users’ faces into that of the famous yellow electric Pokémon.
Best of all, whenever you open your mouth you’ll hear Pikachu’s instantly recognizable voice as the animated character leaps onto the screen to strike a pose!
Apple's a money-printing machine right now. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Excitement over the iPhone 8, and Apple’s better-than-expected iPad sales, have driven a number of Apple suppliers in Taiwan to experience massive growth in the last financial quarter.
Taken in their entirety, the strong financial performance of Apple’s suppliers was enough to increase Taiwan’s overall export revenue to the United States in July by a massive 12.5 percent year-on-year in U.S. dollars. For those keeping track at home, that’s pretty darn impressive!
Apple won't make a 2-in-1, but Microsoft has more up its sleeve. Photo: Microsoft
A leaked Microsoft memo confirms that Consumer Reports was right to retract its recommendation rating from the Surface lineup due to reliability concerns.
Microsoft previously denied that users were experiencing an abnormal number of issues with its devices, but an internal document reveals that the Surface Book and Surface Pro 3 both have unusually high return rates long after launch.
One of Foxconn's many factories, where devices like the iPhone are built. Photo: CBS
For most of us, the iPhone 8 will arrive in a pristine box, as if it materialized out of nowhere to land in our local Apple store.
Things are a bit different if you’re working on the iPhone production line, however. Two new videos give us a glimpse of what that looks like, as Foxconn employees work on the iPhone 8 rear shells. Check out the videos, which showed up on Chinese social media, below.
Apple Watch Series 3 needs to be special. Photo: Apple
Apple Watch Series 3 is under pressure to recapture a larger share of the wearables market after Apple was overtaken by Xiaomi and Fitbit last quarter.
Despite wearables shipments increasing 8 percent year-over-year in the second quarter of 2017, Apple fell to third place, shifting just 2.7 million units.
The rumored copper gold iPhone 8 may be called “blush gold,” according to a supposed Foxconn insider. The report, initially posted on China’s Weibo microblogging app, suggests that’s the internal name used to refer to a new iPhone 8 color.
'Appy weekend everyone! Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Remember the innocent joy of gaming in the 1990s? You can relive it this weekend, courtesy of two rereleases of forgotten console gems from the decade of Nirvana and dial-up internet.
Those are just two of the picks we’ve highlighted for this week’s “Awesome Apps” roundup. We’ve also got a great update to an iOS email client and a livestreaming app for Mac.
Not all apps should use subscriptions, but for some, it’s the best choice. Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
Ulysses, one of the best writing apps on the Mac and iOS, just switched to subscription pricing. It’ll now cost you $5 per month, or $40 per year. This is fantastic news for Ulysses users. It means the app will generate enough income to support itself. And it minimizes the risk of the developers abandoning the app when the flow of new users dries to a trickle.
Yet despite this good news, the internet lost it mind after yesterday’s announcement of the pricing change. Currently the Ulysses blog is only serving a single post, the one detailing the change, because the traffic has been enough to collapse the servers. What happened?
Hopefully I won't need to carry this stuff around after Apple Watch Series 3 arrives. Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac
The latest rumors about the next-generation Apple Watch indicate it might come with LTE cellular data in a slick new design. But Apple Watch already offers data connectivity via iPhone, and Cupertino’s marketing tends to focus on benefits, not features. So how will Apple craft a new product story around built-in cellular?
My guess is it will all be about replacing the need for a very old technology: pockets. Apple Watch Series 3 will move all the contents of our pockets into the cloud.
All kinds of iPhone 8 details have been discovered in Apple’s HomePod firmware ahead of the handset’s official unveiling. Photo: Ste Smith
Saying goodbye to the physical Home button won’t be easy, but going virtual offers some clear advantages. Clues buried in HomePod firmware reveal one of iPhone 8’s coolest features.
In this week’s issue of Cult of Mac Magazine, you’ll find that story and more. Get all the new tweaks in iOS beta 5. And check out Nomad’s brand-new Sport Strap for Apple Watch. Get your free subscription to Cult of Mac Magazine from iTunes. Or read on for this week’s top stories.
As if the iPhone 8 wasn't enough reason to wait ... Photo: Rhys Adams/Pixabay
By Angela Moscaritolo, DealNews
If you’re in the market for a new iPhone, you may want to wait awhile. Apple’s 10th anniversary iPhone, widely referred to as the iPhone 8, is expected to be released soon. Rumors suggest it’ll boast an all-new design. And if history is any indication, we’ll definitely see discounts on the iPhone 7 once the iPhone 8 makes its debut.
So when should you pounce on that new handset? Read on for our full analysis.
The Triple Tour is handmade from a solid piece of vegetable-tanned leather, and can be worn three ways. Photo: Traci Dauphin/Cult of Mac
In a tiny workshop in Austin, Texas, one of my all-time-favorite leather straps for Apple Watch is made carefully by hand. The Triple Tour Band by Arrow & Board is a “split” version of the ubiquitous Double Tour strap — popularized by the beautiful albeit monstrously-priced Hermès version.
Beware the Surface Laptop's reliability. Photo: Microsoft
Consumer Reports has pulled the “recommendation” rating it awarded to four Microsoft Surface devices.
The publication says the change was made as a result of “poor predicated reliability,” and said the estimated breakage rate for Microsoft tablets and notebooks was higher than that for most other brands.