The release of Apple Maps with iOS 6 was so disastrous it led to the firing of Scott Forstall, former SVP of iOS, and to a rare public apology from CEO Tim Cook.
Almost four years on, Maps is in a very different place. Apple has worked hard to iron out the kinks and add new features that help the service compete with rivals like Google Maps. But is Apple Maps still the laughing stock of maps apps?
Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fights as we battle it out over the state of Apple Maps.
Apple’s efforts to build a self-driving electric car hit another speed bump recently after the company lost its navigation engineer to electric car startup Faraday Future.
Computer vision and vehicle navigation specialist Bart Nabbe was working with Apple’s not-so-secret Project Titan team for nearly the last two years, but his LinkedIn profile now shows that he’s at Faraday Future serving as the director of strategic partnerships.
Apple continues to polish macOS Sierra and tvOS 10, seeding the sixth beta builds of the new software updates to developers today.
The new betas come a week after Apple dropped the last batch of betas, which brought a number of new bug fixes and performance improvements to the gigantic releases that are set for public launch this fall.
A brand new operating system with a colorful name is currently under development at Google, according to a new project page found on GitHub.
Google hasn’t officially acknowledged that it’s working on the project, but the new operating system could possibly replace Chrome OS and Android by being able to run on pretty much everything.
Apple has today rolled out its sixth beta updates for iOS 10 and watchOS 3 ahead of their public debuts this fall. iOS 10 beta 5 is also available for public testers, and all releases promise improvements to performance and stability.
iPhone sales continued to decline in China during the second quarter of 2016, despite a slight rise in overall smartphone shipments. High-end devices from Samsung are also struggling, and it seems unlikely the situation will change soon.
The secondary speaker grille on recent iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus mockups has led us to believe Apple’s next-generation smartphones will get an extra speaker, but according to a new leak, one of those grilles may be just for show.
Twitter has inked a deal with the NFL that will allow it to live-stream content to iOS and later the Apple TV. It’s thought the company has paid around $10 million to stream ten games — all of which are Thursday night fixtures.
Apple will ship three new iPads next year, according to well-connected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo — including a low-cost 9.7-inch iPad, upgraded 12.9-inch iPad Pro, and a new 10.5-inch iPad Pro variant as well.
But the really big changes, he claims, are planned for the year after…
Due to Apple’s secrecy, and the company’s marketing-driven need to stay “on message,” interviews with senior execs can often be frustratingly free of revelations. That’s not the case with the recent in-depth interview the Washington Post did with CEO Tim Cook, however.
Here are the 10 most interesting tidbits we learned from Cook’s most revealing chat yet.
From a promising smart journal app to a fantastic auto-runner game, we’ve sifted through this week’s most exciting apps to bring you the ones you absolutely need to download now.
Check out our picks below. Trust us, this is the way you want to spend Sunday!
If you’re thinking of buying a new iPhone right now, don’t do it! You could save yourself a small fortune by delaying that purchase until September, when Apple is set to unveil the next models of its world-conquering smartphones.
Saying that any new device gets cheaper the longer you wait to buy it may sound like stating the obvious, but we’ve been digging into our research. We’ll tell you when and how far iPhone prices will likely fall after the iPhone 7 launch so you can get an idea of whether it’s really worth waiting.
This week on The CultCast: New MacBook Pros, incoming! We have even more details to share on the “significant” updates coming soon to Apple’s MacBook Pro line. Plus: iPhone 7 may get a Quad HD display and pressure-sensitive home button; Apple’s plans for a “killer” new health device; and we review our favorite new hoverboards and smart scales on an all-new Under Review.
Our thanks to Casper for supporting this episode. Casper’s American-made mattresses have just the right amount of memory foam and latex, and people everywhere love them. Learn why and save $50 off your order at casper.com/cultcast.
Calorie-tracking apps like MyFitnessPal and MyNetDiary are no fun to use. Logging all your meals is a tedious chore, and unlike fitness apps that praise you for your hard work, diet apps tend to just tell you off for eating too much.
But when you are trying to lose or gain weight, these apps provide indispensable insights into where your calories are coming from and how you can optimize your diet to get the best results. So I’ve compared the leading calorie trackers to find out which one you should count on.
Amazon and Microsoft could get some big competition in their own backyard from Apple soon, based on a new real estate rumor that claims the Silicon Valley titan is eyeing a huge office expansion in Seattle.
Details on exactly where Apple is planning to plant its flag in Seattle aren’t clear yet, but the company’s new offices will reportedly be “huge” with several hundred thousand square feet of space.
Spotify has launched a new music portal that puts the soundtracks to your favorite videos games in one place. It features original music from titles like Grand Theft Auto, Halo and No Man’s Sky — plus curated playlists from Spotify and the community.
After a period of delays and an official hearing with Irish regulatory body An Bord Pleanála, Apple has finally been given permission to move ahead with its 500-acre data center site near the west coast of Ireland.
Apple’s case was heard back in May this year, but it took until recently for inspector Stephen Kay to submit his recommendations to the Irish advisory board about the $960 million project.
Disney dropped a brand new trailer for the upcoming movie Rogue One: A Star Wars Story during the Olympics tonight, giving fans of the Force their first glimpse at Darth Vader’s return to the big screen.
The action-packed trailer is full of new bad guys, droids, and rebels, some of which have teamed up to steal plans from the Empire right before it begins testing the dreaded Death Star. James Earl Jones is returning to provide the voice of the Chosen One who is probably not going to be happy by the end of the film that’s set before the events of A New Hope
Behold:
The lifting of sanctions on Iran could turn into a gold mine for American companies, and Apple is set to be one of the first through the gates as the country plans to lift is ban on iPhone sales.
Score an amazingly low price on a MacBook Pro, or the best deal we’ve ever seen on the iPad Air 2 16GB WiFi. These and more are in this week’s best Apple deals.
Boy, iPhones sure do grow up fast. There’s a brand new model out almost every six months, while the one in your pocket gets sluggish and senile.
If you’re looking to upgrade and aren’t sure what to do with your hobbled old phone, sell your iPhone to us first! Most of the time, Cult of Mac’s Apple gear buyback program can get you more money for your outdated, used or even broken devices than Gazelle, Walmart, Best Buy, and Apple themselves.
A display assembly purportedly destined for the iPhone 7 has leaked out ahead of the handset’s official debut next month. The part gives us an early glimpse at the changes Apple has made, like flipping the LCD panel upside down.
Apple famously wants no part in a museum dedicated to its revolutionary products. However, one key contributor to Apple’s early years feels differently — and is helping a Maine teenager elevate his basement computer collection into a thriving technology museum.
Jerry Manock, Apple’s first design guru, will serve on the board of directors for the future Maine Technology Museum, which will house the collection of 15-year-old Alex Jason, who has established what many serious collectors say is one of the best Apple collections anywhere.
With the iPhone 7 just weeks away, new high-resolution pictures have popped up online revealing what appear to be the finished handsets as they’ll appear on launch day.
In terms of what we can expect from Apple’s new handset, these photos don’t reveal anything new, but instead apparently reconfirm reports like the dual-lens camera on the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus and the availability of a range of colors.
Apple has confirmed that its new World Trade Center retail store will open on Tuesday, August 16. The new location at 185 Greenwich Street in lower Manhattan will become Apple’s tenth store in New York City.