Apple has already improved performance and battery life once. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple has chosen its manufacturer for the next-generation Apple Watch and tasked the company with delivering better battery life, according to a new report.
Apple Watch Series 3 is also expected to bring improved performance, but its hardware is unlikely to come with any major changes.
Each year at CES, tech's biggest players show off their latest, greatest gear. (Except for Apple, of course.) Image: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Just because Apple ignores CES, the gigantic electronics show that slams Las Vegas each January, doesn’t mean you should. If you’re interested in the next wave of tech innovation, the annual show should definitely be on your radar.
You won’t glimpse the next iPhone or the rumored Apple Car, but there’s plenty of great tech breakthroughs that should get you salivating over next week’s big event. Here’s a rundown of all the cool stuff we expect to see at CES 2017.
'Appy new year everyone! Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Happy 2017 everyone! Facebook may have been last year’s most popular app, but there’s plenty more for you to explore in the App Store.
Check out our picks for the most exciting new apps of the week below. Whether you’re looking for a great game to usher in the New Year or something a bit more serious and useful, we’ve got you covered!
Thank Jobs, 2016 is finally over! Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
2016 sent Apple for a wild ride full of fantastic new products, crazy controversies and tons of extra drama with its rivals.
Tim Cook and his colleagues probably can’t wait to jump into 2017. But before we start looking toward Apple’s future, let’s take a quick look back at all the stories that made 2016 a year Apple fans will never forget.
ElevationLab created DraftTable because a steady drawing hands needs a steady stand for the iPad Pro. Photo: ElevationLab
Frank Lloyd Wright didn’t create innovative home designs by drawing from his couch. He sat at a drafting table, its surface supporting his paper at the angle of his choosing.
So what would he do with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil? He might try the new DraftTable by Portland, Oregon-based Elevation Lab.
2016 might have sucked overall, but not for games. Image: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
When it comes to games, Apple trails behind Microsoft and the broader PC market. Though Cupertino’s hardware often sports cutting-edge specs, the fact is that gaming was never really the intended use for Apple machines.
Why this is, and whether it should prevent top titles from gracing Mac screens, is enough for its own article. Luckily, things are changing: From sprawling strategy games to genre-bending first-person titles, 2016 gave Apple fans a harvest of great titles for Mac and iOS alike.
Nielsen's sample of the year's most popular apps. Photo: Nielsen
With 2016 coming to a close, Nielsen has ranked the year’s most popular mobile apps in the U.S. and — wouldn’t you know it! — Facebook takes the top two spots with its Facebook and Facebook Messenger apps.
Despite the growth of other social media services, Facebook saw growth of 14 percent from last year, with more than 146 million average unique users each month. Facebook Messenger also picked up over 129 million unique users every month.
Affordable first drones and our favorite gadgets on The CultCast! Photo: 3DR
This week on The CultCast: It’s our epic final episode of 2016! We’ll wrap up the year with our hands-on review of the hotness themselves, Apple’s AirPods. Then … is Apple’s “Golden Era” drawing to a close? We discuss. And finally, ya’ll know we review a lot of products during the year — we’ll reveal our absolute favorite gadgets of 2016!
AirPods are selling like hot cakes. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple manufacturing partner Inventec is planning to expand its AirPods production capacity to meet strong demand from consumers.
Impressive sales of the hot new wireless earphones over the holiday period are expected to give the Taiwanese firm a boost in revenue, but its plants are already working overtime to deliver Apple’s orders.
2016 wasn't all missed deadlines and mysterious battery problems for Apple. Image: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple pissed off a lot of people in 2016. In hindsight, some of Cupertino’s moves look clumsy, and others seem truly clueless, but Tim Cook and Co. also made some brilliant moves during this turbulent year.
Let’s go to our happy place and relive the smartest moves made by Apple in 2016.
It's really easy to crash other people's iPhones. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
A new nefarious text message has been discovered that has the power to completely crash iPhones, even those running the latest version of iOS 10.
Instead of using infected links or weird text like previous iMessage hacks, this new one allows attackers to disable a person’s Messages app by simply sending a large contact file. When iPhone users tap on the file, it’s so big and complicated that it overloads the CPU and crashes the app.
Samsung's ready to take on AirPods. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Samsung is planning to take on Apple’s fancy new AirPods with its own wireless earbuds that will launch alongside the Galaxy S8, according to a new report.
It’s thought Samsung is unlikely to follow Apple’s decision to drop the 3.5mm headphone jack, but it will still push wireless alternatives as they become increasingly popular.
These are our favorites! Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Accessory makers churned out some awesome new gadgets for the iPad in 2016. From cases to Star Wars toys, loads of new gear came along to boost the capabilities of the world’s favorite tablets.
Whether for the Pro line or the less-powerful Air or mini models, these are the best iPad accessories of 2016.
There is another sticking point in Apple's India expansion. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple has a new demand for the Indian government as it barters about stepping up its investment in the country: getting rid of the detailed product information it is asked to print onto its devices — thereby cluttering its minimalist design.
Apple recently made the request to the country’s Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), which forwarded the message to the Department of Revenue and Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeITY) for consideration. No response has yet been issued.
Wistron will help build the iPhone 8. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple has added a third manufacturer to its stable for the 2017-era iPhone 8, according to a new report.
The newcomer? Wistron, which previously gained experience as an Apple supplier on secondary iPhone handsets such as the iPhone 5s and, reportedly, the iPhone SE. It will join established Apple suppliers Foxconn and Pegatron working on the next-gen tenth birthday iPhone, which will likely launch next September.
GameSir's M2 GamePad is the company's first iOS-dedicated hand controller. Photo: GameSir
It didn’t take Super Mario Run and its nearly 3 million downloads on day one in the iTunes Store to recognize how serious iOS users are about gaming.
App developers submit hundred of games each day to Apple for iTunes and with a dizzying number of iOS games available, there is an equally impressive number of accessories companies making gamepads for mobile games.
One, GameSir, will debut its first iOS-centric hand controls at next week’s CES in Las Vegas after five years of developing gamepads that have been well received among Android users.
This isn't your normal stress test. Photo: The Backyard Scientist
Apple’s iPhone empire has been made possible thanks to the magic of aluminum. But under certain circumstances, Jony Ive’s favorite metal can be the iPhone’s worst enemy.
The folks behind the YouTube channel Backyard Scientists decided to see what happens when you dunk the iPhone in molten aluminum. Seeing the iPhone get a Terminator 2 type of death is oddly beautiful.
Getting your hands on AirPods is almost impossible. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple CEO Tim Cook was all smiles during a brief appearance at the New York Stock Exchange this morning. While taking a quick tour of the floor with his nephew, Cook revealed that AirPods are so popular Apple can’t make them fast enough.
Apple's 2016 wasn't exactly inspiring. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
2016 hasn’t been Apple’s best year by a long shot. While the company is still making money hand over fist and has seen its Services division go from strength to strength, Apple also consistently stumbled for the first time in years.
While we remain loyal to the Apple brand, here are our picks for the year’s biggest disappointments.
Truffles served on an iPad plate. Photo: Richie Nakano
A restaurant in San Francisco has begun serving food on iPads. Quince is using the popular tablets as plates in an apparent effort to appeal to younger diners. Each iPad plays a video of a water dog searching for truffles while you eat your meal off its screen.
This is a sight you're not likely to see in your local Apple store. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Our take on Apple’s new wireless AirPods may be that they “just work,” but one thing that isn’t quite so seamless is picking up a pair in person at your local Apple store.
That’s according to airpods.isinstock.com, a website dedicated to providing at-a-glance stock levels for Apple’s AirPods at every Apple retail store in the world. The current grand total of stores stocking the AirPods? A big fat zero.
More iPhones and iPads were activated over the festive season than any other company’s handsets and tablets, according to data published by analytics firm Flurry.
Analyzing data about phone and app activation throughout the week leading up to Christmas day and the start of Chanukah, Flurry found that 44 percent of all new activations were for Apple devices — more than twice the number of nearest rival, Samsung.
Apple Watch owners will be rewarded with a special achievement medal for completing the New Year Challenge. Users will have four attempts to complete the challenge, which starts on January 2 and runs through to the end of the month.
Although things may not be quite as they seem. Photo: Sonny Dickson
The name might not make sense, but a “Jet White” iPhone 7 could soon be on the way, according to renowned Apple leaker Sonny Dickson, who posted pictures of just such a handset online this week.
The Jet Black iPhone 7 was one of the hottest iPhone models when the handset first launched back in September. A similarly glossy handset in white could therefore prove to be a nice mid-year iPhone sales booster should Apple choose to go in this direction.