The second-biggest Apple keynote of 2018 is nearly here, and for some Mac fans, the wait can’t end soon enough.
Unlike last month’s iPhone XS keynote, all the details haven’t leaked ahead of the “There’s More in the Making” event. Still, we have a pretty good idea what Apple’s magic pipeline will pump out next Tuesday.
Grab your iPhone, if you’re not holding it already. Then open the Photos app, go to the Albums tab, and scroll down. On iOS 12, you’ll see a list showing pretty much every kind of photo you have: Live Photos, Panoramas, screenshots, and a lot more. This is powerful stuff, so let’s check it out
My mom, who is 75, loves her Apple technology. She’s a full-fledged member of the Cult, with an iPhone, iPad, MacBook, iMac and Apple TV. She uses them all, all the time, to do everything, just like the rest of us.
But she always had trouble with passwords — at least until I introduced her to Dashlane, the official password manager of Cult of Mac.
In our video below, you can see exactly how easy it was for her to start using Dashlane.
The iPhone XR is typical Apple. It’s an entry-level phone with a bunch of premium features. Jony Ive just cannot cut corners, even if he wanted to. This is no plasticky, cut-rate phone built to meet a price point. It’s a primo phone with primo features (and a primo price tag, TBH). It just happens to be the cheapest new iPhone in Apple’s lineup.
The XR delivers everything customers care about: a big, beautiful screen; great cameras; long battery life; and Face ID.
The iPhone XR is arguably Apple’s most interesting smartphone of 2018 because of this slightly odd bundle of budget/premium features. It’s arguably a $1,200 phone in a $750 package.
For a chance to win a brand-new iPhone XR, enter our free giveaway here.
After unboxing the brand new iPhone XR, I can confidently say that this is a fantastic phone. Apple cut very few corners. The iPhone XR is beautifully designed, with a great big, edge-to-edge display. It’s incredibly fast, and camera performance is excellent. It looks awesome. The drawbacks are mostly minor.
Basically, it’s a $1,200 phone in a $750 package.
Check out the video to see our first impressions. Then read on to find out how you can enter to win the 128GB blue speed demon showcased in the video. Yep, it’s free to enter our iPhone XR giveaway. (Frankly, it’s going to be hard to part with this beautiful machine.)
The iPhone XR is out and, for the first time in years, Apple’s most exciting device isn’t the one that commands the really big bucks. For all the talk of an “Apple tax,” 2018’s coolest iPhone starts at just $749. That’s half the price of a top-of-the-line iPhone XS Max.
And that’s seriously great news for fans.
For many people, the iPhone XR will be radically different from previous iPhones. Despite this, the iPhone setup process hasn’t changed much. However, while you might find yourself on familiar ground, there are still plenty of little things you really ought to do before you fire up your new phone for the first time (or pretty soon thereafter).
Let’s take a look at how to set up your new iPhone XR the right way.
Keep your precious Apple Watch safe, charged, and scratch-free with Just Mobile’s low-profile and totally sleek HoverDock charging bed, available in the Cult of Mac Watch Store for a modest $34.95.
Visually stunning and truly functional in the same nature, Just Mobile’s charging bed is simple to use and more importantly an absolute steal. With an integrated support for Apple Watch’s Magnetic Charging Cable, HoverDock keeps pesky cables out of sight and your precious timepiece powered up and always ready to double as a bedside alarm clock all for under $40.
We filmed an unboxing video to show you why this is the best, affordable Apple Watch charging stand for you:
The early reviews for the camera on the iPhone XR have been impressive – and that has a few who purchased the iPhone XS wishing they had waited a few weeks.
Apple, trying to accommodate more budget-minded consumers, announced the mid-range iPhone XR for $799 at the same time it unveiled the more expensive iPhone XS and XS Max.
The XS line was available on Sept. 21 while the XR, not quite ready for shelves then, went on sale today.
This week on The CultCast: With iPhone XR finally here, we’ll give you 10 reasons why it’s the best iPhone you can get. Plus: How iOS 12.1 solves “Beautygate”; new Macs leak ahead of Apple’s big October hardware event; Ming-Chi Kuo says new iPad minis, AirPods and the AirPower mat are finally on the way. Finally, we wrap up with our iPhone XS cases and a superb Thunderbolt 3 dock in an all-new Under Review.
Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. It’s simple to accept Apple Pay and sell your wares with your very own Squarespace website. Enter offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off your first hosting plan or domain.
You know how you can download a copy of all the data Apple holds on you? For many folks, this is an academic issue — it’s interesting to know about, but of little practical value. But a tool from developer Pat Murray lets you visualize your Apple Music listening habits, using a browser-based tool.
All you need is one small file from your Apple data dump — and Murray’s Apple Music Analyser.
Linea Go is the little sister of Linea, perhaps the best pick-up-and-go drawing app on the iPad. And unlike the iPad, where there are a ton of really top-end drawing and painting apps, the iPhone has far fewer, especially if you just want a great way to lay down a quick sketch.
If nothing else, Linea Go shows just how great it would be if the Apple Pencil worked with the iPhone.
Dress up your dashing new Apple Watch with a smart, stainless-steel watch band from Rilee & Lo — maker of highly stylish stretch-link Apple Watch bands.
Apple Watches are functional, fun and engaging, and now totally fashion-friendly. Rilee & Lo’s exclusive watch bands fuse tech and fashion brilliantly, for both men and women, and we filmed an unboxing video to give you an inside look into what makes these bad boys so special. Grab a band for yourself or as a gift. Check out the full lineup of Rilee & Lo’s stunning bands in our Watch Store.
We’ve all taken the perfect photo, only to have to have it ruined by some unwanted element. A pole sticking out of someone’s head. A passing car in the background of an otherwise-perfect street scene. Or a political enemy in one of Stalin’s portraits.
But whereas the Soviet regime employed a team of photo retouchers to chop the gulag-bound dissidents from Stalin’s selfies, iPhone apps can remove clutter in seconds. Today we’ll see how to use my favorite: TouchRetouch.
Here’s a great little shortcut that uses the new Set Reminder action in the newest v2.1 of Apple’s Shortcuts app. Tell Siri that you want to take a nap, and it will ask you for how long. It’ll then set a timer, and schedule Do Not Disturb for the duration. Get ready to clock some serious ZZZs with our power nap shortcut.
The iPhone XS might be Apple’s best phone yet, but the iPhone XR will probably be Cupertino’s best-seller ever. It could even beat out the record-breaking iPhone 6, which proved so successful it skewed Apple’s sales numbers for years after its launch.
Why? Because the XR is cooler, cheaper and bigger than the top-of-the line iPhone XS, and nobody who buys it will care about the other differences. I almost wish I’d waited and bought one of these instead of the iPhone XS.
The first iPhone XR reviews are out just a few days before the handset makes its official debut, and one thing’s clear: This is one of Apple’s best smartphones to date.
Despite being a more affordable alternative to the iPhone XS, the iPhone XR is just as good in many areas, and even better in a few others. It makes some sacrifices to be more affordable, but it certainly lives up to the promises where it counts.
Here’s what the early reviews are saying so far.
Let’s have a bit of weekend fun today. We’re going to jam out on GarageBand for iOS with our friends. Imagine it’s 20 years ago, and you and your friends all get together with your instruments, hook them up to a little four-track cassette recorder, and get to rocking out.
Returning back to 2018, you can do something similar. GarageBand’s Jam Session lets you connect up to four iPhones and iPads together, wirelessly, and jam. All four performances are recorded one of the devices, and everything is in sync. And of course you can use any instrument available in GarageBand. One of you can take care of beats, another can lay down a fat bassline, and so on.
Let’s get started.
Jony Ive says he is “truly proud” of Apple Watch, which he describes as a powerful computer filled with sophisticated sensors that we strap to our wrists. And we can expect Apple to continuing delivering products that are just as special in the future.
Apple Park is a game-changer for designers that will allow better collaboration than ever before, Ive reveals in a new interview.
If you’re looking for a uniquely beautiful watch band to transform your Apple watch from a time piece to a jewelry statement, look no further. Bezels & Bytes fuses tech and style seamlessly with their collection of stunning, luxury Apple Watch Bands. Just ask Oprah!
We unboxed their gorgeous Chainlink & Leather Apple Watch band in rose gold, and it was awesome. Check out the live unboxing video on our YouTube channel here:
Apple began taking pre-orders for the iPhone XR early this morning, and there are still plenty of them left hours later. Contrast this with the iPhone XS launch which saw some configurations sell out in minutes.
While this doesn’t automatically indicate that demand for the iPhone XR is slow, it’s not a very good sign either.
At first glance, the Silver Pinstripe Pocket Watch by Bucardo may look like a forgotten relic from your grandfather’s musty closet.
Except, it’s not.
This wondrous, little trinket is the new and improved 2018 version of vintage accessory. It’s a uniquely stunning way to wear your Apple Watch, bucking current trends by melding vintage style and tech. The pocket watch transforms your Apple Watch into a classic yet “on trend” look. Watch us geek out at this marvel in our YouTube unboxing video:
Millions have watched Scotty Allen build an iPhone from parts mined from the electronics markets of Shenzhen, China.
DIYers and hackers write Allen, eager to repeat his geeky feat. So do people from third-world countries looking for an affordable way to get their hands on a pricey device that imparts status.
Allen, 39, loves the wild enthusiasm his YouTube videos have sparked, but the scratch iPhone isn’t the point.
This week on The CultCast: Waiting for new AirPods? Need that AirPower charging mat? Don’t you dare miss our “More in the Making” hardware event predictions, cause we bring out the crystal ball, and all is revealed.
Then: Seventeen reasons the iPhone XR should be your next phone; the world’s largest Mac collection could be yours for free; and we pitch our favorite games, shows and scooters in an all-new “What We’re Into”!
Our thanks to Casper for supporting this episode. Learn why Casper makes the internet’s favorite mattress, and get $50 towards select mattresses at casper.com/cultcast.
Apple finally made its October keynote official this morning with one of the most unique event invites we’ve ever seen. Instead of just using one standard design, Apple sent nearly every journalist an invite with an Apple logo that was unlike the one sent to others.
We’ve tracked down over 20 variations of the Apple logo on the invites and compiled them below. You can also go to Apple’s updated event website and every time you refresh the page a different Apple logo will show up.