News - page 95

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: With the many AI-powered features reportedly coming in iOS 18, a Siri revamp sounds possible — and promising! We talk about OpenAI’s startlingly good GPT-4o demos and wonder if Siri will ever amaze us like that.

Also on The CultCast:

• Who will be Apple’s next CEO? Cupertino reportedly has a couple familiar faces on its short list.
• New features in iOS 17.5 are … OK. However, some of the accessibility features coming later this year — including Vision Pro-style eye tracking for iPhone — look pretty incredible.
• Those rumors of future folding iPhones just won’t stop.

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.

Apple reportedly found ways to “significantly” slim down the iPhone. The result will reportedly be part of the iPhone 17 series when it reaches customers next year.

The news comes hot on the heels of the M4 iPad Pro, the “thinnest Apple product ever,” according to the iPhone-maker.

This week someone paid about $1,000 on eBay for an allegedly fake Apple employee badge masquerading as the 1977 ID of employee number 10.

The employee badge is a convincing phony, according the an intrepid blogger and the longtime Apple employee (number 8) he contacted to confirm the forgery. And the proof of provenance the blogger sought from the seller appeard to be fake, too, according to several sources.

KRK Rokit 5 speakers are the crown jewel among the audio gear in today’s M1 Max MacBook Pro setup. The rig belongs to an iOS and macOS developer who only counts music production as a hobby. But we’ll take his vote of confidence in a fine audio product.

We’ve seen the Rokit 5 boxes in setups a few times, not often, but we have no doubt they sound great and look good doing it.

M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air users are justifiably excited by Apple Pencil Pro’s fantastic and highly functional new features. But now they’re discovering a delightful feature Apple didn’t highlight at its recent “Let Loose” event. The stylus casts a shadow of the selected tool in use on the screen.

That feature may not equal the functional importance of the new squeeze gesture or haptic feedback, but judging by user reactions in the videos below, it’s pretty much the coolest thing ever.

The first trailer for Apple TV+’s The Big Cigar, below, looks like so much fun I almost don’t want to know how true the “incredible true story” about Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton actually is. And as of Friday, the show’s on with its first two episodes.

The upcoming drama series tells the tale of Newton enlisting a Hollywood producer to fake out the FBI, providing cover for the political activist’s escape to Cuba in 1974. That came after Newton jumped bail on murder and assault charges he called false.

UPDATE: The Big Cigar now airs on Apple TV+. The first two episodes came out Friday. The third episode airs May 24.

Apple could use higher-density cells for the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s battery. This would allow the company to improve battery life without increasing the battery size. Or it could reduce battery capacity without negatively affecting the phone’s runtime.

Also, for the first time, Apple might use a stainless steel battery case on the upcoming iPhone.

Western Digital expanded its WD, WD_BLACK and SanDisk Professional product lineups with 2.5-inch portable HHDs that, for the first time, can hold 6TB of data.

Despite what some might expect, pricing is not through the roof. The new high-capacity hard drives (not SSDs) are available for under $200,and all cost less than $230.

Three new videos test just how “bend-but-don’t-break” Apple’s new super-thin M4 iPad Pro is, and the answer is “very.” Reviewers came away impressed by how well even the ultra-thin 13-inch M4 iPad Pro performed. And the 11-inch model did well, too.

JerryRigEverything performed bend tests as part of a teardown of the 13-inch M4 iPad Pro. AppleTrack stuck with comparing bends of 11- and 13-inch 2024 iPad Pro models against the 2022 versions. And MobileReviewsEh showed new models held up under massive pressure about as well as older models despite being about 20% thinner.

Those who want to play classic retro games on iPhone or iPad have a couple of new options. RetroArch can emulate a wide variety of consoles, while PPSSPP is a PlayStation Portable emulator.

There’s been something of a flood of these since Apple dropped its ban on them.

Samsung’s new “UnCrush” ad aims to capitalize on the backlash to Apple’s “Crush!” ad for the M4 iPad Pro. The South Korean company’s ad, released Wednesday, is a clear response to Apple’s controversial video, which showed a hydraulic press crushing musical instruments, toys and art supplies.

Samsung’s ad shows a woman playing a song on a battered guitar — using a Samsung Galaxy tablet to display the sheet music, naturally. You can see both ads below.

When Ubisoft launches Assassin’s Creed Shadows this November, Mac will be on the list of platforms supported by the action-packed role-playing game.

The adventure is set in medieval Japan, and players can choose either a samurai or a shinobi for very different gaming experiences. For more details on the game’s setting and storyline, check out the latest updates on Assassin’s Creed Japan.

The iPad buying cycle has slowed because iPad owners increasingly hold onto their old tablets for longer periods than in the past, a new analysis showed Wednesday.

However, the just-ended wait for the latest iPad Pro and iPad Air could be a big reason why. It was a long one. The previous generations both came out in 2022.

A change in the location of magnets built into the M4 iPad Pro breaks compatibility with a wide array of accessories designed for earlier models. That includes many folio cases, clip-on keyboards, and styli. Many of Apple’s own previous offerings are on the incompatible list, too.

Apple had already warned of this, but Wednesday’s launch of the tablet allows real-world tests to confirm the full extent of the affect.

Apple showcased some remarkable new accessibility features for people with disabilities Wednesday, including Eye Tracking, Music Haptics and Vocal Shortcuts.

The new features, coming later this year to Apple devices, harness Apple silicon, artificial intelligence and machine learning. They will come mainly to iPhone and iPad, though some new ones will appear in Vision Pro’s visionOS, too.

“We believe deeply in the transformative power of innovation to enrich lives,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook in a press release. “That’s why for nearly 40 years, Apple has championed inclusive design by embedding accessibility at the core of our hardware and software. We’re continuously pushing the boundaries of technology, and these new features reflect our long-standing commitment to delivering the best possible experience to all of our users.”

Our setups coverage often reveals clues to Apple hardware’s functional longevity. An iOS and macOS developer uses today’s setup. Even though two new generations of powerful Apple silicon chips have supercharged more recent MacBooks, he’s still cranking away on an M1 Max MacBook Pro run through an OWC Thunderbolt 4 dock.

In fact, he just updated his setup. But that turned out to have nothing to do with the computer. It was all about adding decorative toy figures, an LED light strip and a new wooden countertop as a desk.

The new M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air finally make it easy to manage your tablet’s battery heath from the Settings app. iPadOS finally has a Battery Health menu in its 17.5 version, but it only works with the new iPads, not older models.

The new feature lets you limit charges to 80% capacity, which can extend the battery’s lifespan.

Apple’s new M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air are now on sale. Customers who preordered the tablets are also getting their units today in launch countries.

If you did not preorder the new iPads, you can pick one up from your nearest Apple store or authorized retail store.

OpenAI’s GPT-4o, a new version of the company’s artificial intelligence chatbot, is a significant step forward from its predecessors. Demonstrations show the AI interacting with users in ways that seem startlingly human.

Unconfirmed reports indicate Apple and OpenAI are negotiating a deal that would build some version of GPT into iOS and macOS.

The App Store prevented more than $7 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions over the past four years, Apple said Tuesday, when it published its fourth annual fraud prevention analysis report.

Apple has lost its customary lead on smartphone customer satisfaction as archrival Samsung has drawn even overall and gone ahead in one area, according to new data.

New findings from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) show Apple’s rating went up a point, but Samsung’s rose three points to tie overall and creep ahead on 5G satisfaction.

Audio specialist Denon added the Siri voice assistant to certain wireless speakers and a soundbar this week — only the second third-party product line to do so. But there’s a catch. Siri only works with the speakers if you also have a HomePod or HomePod mini speaker to act as a relay.

The same is true of the first non-Apple products that added Apple, ecobee smart thermostats. But it’s a little weirder this time because it’s all speakers. Only an Apple speaker will let you use Siri with Denon’s speakers.

Almost a year after launching the ChatGPT iPhone app, OpenAI released a native Mac app.

The free macOS app will initially be available to ChatGPT Plus subscribers, with a wider rollout planned in the coming weeks.

The first reviews of the 2024 iPad Air paint the tablet as a budget version of last year’s iPad Pro.

Here’s the consensus of the early M2 iPad Air reviews: If you want a big-screen iPad, but don’t need (or don’t want to pay for) high-end features like an OLED screen, Face ID and Apple’s most powerful processor, this is the tablet for you.

The wait to get Apple Vision Pro is apparently nearly over for consumers in more than half a dozen countries.

Although the AR/VR headset launched in the United States this winter, availability has yet to expand outside the borders of Apple’s home country. But Apple Store employees around the world are reportedly getting trained on the device. And the headset reportedly cleared a major regulatory hurdle Monday for launching in China.