Mobile menu toggle

Newsstand - page 114

iPhones’ blazing A12 Bionic chip powers ‘new era of photography’

By

A12 Bionic chip
Phill Schiller showing off pictures from the new iPhone Xs
Photo: Apple

Any mobile photographer wearing an Apple Watch likely received a notification about an irregular heartbeat as they watched Phil Schiller talk this morning about the iPhone Xs series’ new camera.

Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, flashed several stunning images on the screen during today’s Gather Round keynote at the Steve Jobs Theater. The images showed depth, detail and colors not seen from previous-gen iPhones, including the current flagship iPhone X.

What you need to know about Apple’s big iPhone XS keynote

By

Apple
Apple busted out three new iPhones at its keynote.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s big 2018 iPhone keynote was short on surprises this morning thanks to the bevy of leaks that came out ahead of the show.

About the only truly shocking moment was Tim Cook’s mysterious tweet before the event that turned out to be a bunch of hullabaloo about his missing slideshow clicker. Despite the lack of shocking new products, there was a lot to love at the iPhone XS event, from electrocardiograms to Liquid Retina displays.

These are the biggest takeaways from the Gather Round keynote

Apple’s new iPhone lineup is bigger and better than ever

By

iPhone Xs Max
This is what we've been waiting for.
Photo: Apple

Apple just unveiled its biggest and best iPhone lineup to date.

iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max come packing a brand new A12 Bionic chip with greatly improved performance and sound, as well as Apple’s best displays and even better designs. They can also juggle two SIM cards simultaneously.

Meanwhile, the new iPhone XR delivers the flagship iPhone look and some of the best features from iPhone XS at a more-affordable price.

Apple Watch Series 4 goes big with edge-to-edge display and ECG

By

Apple
The Apple Watch Series 4 is gorgeous.
Photo: Apple

The Apple Watch received its biggest update yet this morning with the announcement of Apple Watch Series 4.

Not only does it pack a bigger display, but Apple is also adding new health sensors and new internal tech. All the updates make it the fastest, biggest, most beautiful wearable on the block.

How to recycle, reuse, give away, or sell your old iPhone

By

sell your old iPhone
Buying a new iPhone? Time to sell the old one.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

The new iPhone has almost arrived, and for Cult of Mac readers that means one thing — time to ditch the old iPhone to make way for the new. But what should you do with that old iPhone? Today we’ll look at the options, from selling it, to recycling it, to giving it away. Here’s how to sell your old iPhone, and if you’re wondering what to do with old iPhones, here are more ideas.

How Apple Watch apps’ death spiral nearly killed my iPhone app

By

Developing watch apps ain't easy
Developing watch apps ain't easy
Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

Two years ago, my partner and I launched an Apple Watch app to complement our iPhone fitness app. Little did we know that our embrace of Apple’s smartwatch would threaten the very existence of the gym app we’d been developing since 2012.

Each year since we launched Reps & Sets, we updated it to keep up-to-speed with all the cool new features Apple rolled out at its Worldwide Developers Conference. That all changed last year, though. That’s when we discovered that, by adding support for Apple Watch, we had inadvertently taken a poison pill that could effectively kill our iPhone app.

It doesn’t have to be this way. With a few key changes, Apple could turns things around and reinvigorate the Apple Watch app ecosystem.

How Apple Watch Series 4 will raise the bar for wearables [UPDATED]

By

Apple Watch Series 4
Somehow, this official photo of Apple Watch Series 4 leaked out early.
Photo: 9to5Mac

Apple’s biggest keynote of the year is just days away and while the iPhone XS will be the main attraction of the event, Apple Watch Series 4 could steal the show with a bevy of new features.

Rumors about the Apple Watch Series 4 have been heating up leading up to next week’s event. Leaked images of the new wearable have already surfaced online, but there’s still a bit of mystery surrounding the new gadget.

Here’s everything we know about Apple Watch Series 4:

How to stream NFL games on Apple devices in 2018

By

How to watch NFL draft 2017
It's never been easier to stream NFL games.
Photo: Skitterphoto/Pexels CC

By Chris Brantner

With the football season heating up, it’s time to make sure you have a way to catch all the biggest matchups. Luckily, watching NFL games no longer requires you to pay for an overpriced cable subscription. And Apple users have a plethora of options to stream pro football without cable this season.

No matter which Apple device you use, you’ll find a wide range of apps to let you watch NFL football. Here’s a rundown of some of the best options for streaming NFL games this season.

What to expect from Apple’s ‘Gather Round’ event next week

By

What to expect from Apple Sept. 12
You should be very, very excited.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The annual Apple event we’ve all been waiting for is right around the corner.

On September 12, the company will host a special keynote from the Steve Jobs Theater in Apple Park, where it will reveal all the hardware it has planned for this fall.

We’re expecting a slew of big announcements, including updates for the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. Here’s our roundup of everything Apple is likely to deliver at its “Gather Round” event.

Learn app development for iOS 12 in just 10 days [Deals]

By

Spend 10 days learning the inner workings of the iOS 12 beta.
Spend 10 days learning the inner workings of the iOS 12 beta.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

iOS 12 is coming soon, so now’s the time for developers to get familiar with all the new features in Apple’s next-gen mobile operating system.

This course offers a 10-day tour of the tools and concepts behind building apps in iOS 12. It’s suitable for all skill levels, and right now it’s available for just $15 at the Cult of Mac Store.

iPhone Max, and the practical processes behind Apple’s creative genius, on The CultCast

By

CultCast MacBook 2018
Are you ready to take your next iPhone to the max?
Photo: Apple

This week on The CultCast: Get ready for the iPhone Max! Plus: Rumors indicate Apple’s new iPhones will receive a serious price cut; Apple is working on the one feature the  Watch desperately needs; and Leander reveals Apple’s secret sauce — the design and creative processes Cupertino developed over the years that help it create some of the world’s most iconic products.

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 percent off your first hosting plan or domain.

Everything we think we know about the 2018 iPhone lineup [Updated]

By

iPhone X
Behold, the iPhone Xs.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple is set to unleash its newest iPhones on the world in just a couple weeks and based on the rumors, these will be the most lust-worthy phones to ever come out of Cupertino.

Not only will the 2018 iPhone lineup include the biggest iPhone display Apple’s ever made, it will also be more colorful and more expensive than ever. We’ve been keeping our pulse on all the rumors leading up to Apple’s big September 12 unveiling and have a pretty solid idea on what’s coming through the pipeline.

This is what the 2018 iPhone lineup will look like:

How to work when it’s really, really noisy

By

Construction noise can drive you crazy.
Construction noise can drive you crazy.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

As I write this, there’s a truck outside my window using its crane to shovel molten blacktop onto the street. Its diesel engine is revving hard, and has been for the last half hour. For the past two years, there’s been an apartment building under construction across the street from my office. Starting at (and often before) 7 a.m., six days a week, I’ve enjoyed a symphony of pumped cement, circular saws screeching through thin metal sheets, over-revved forklifts, and drilling into reinforced concrete.

I mention this to tell you that I know a thing or two about writing in a noisy spot. I also know how to stop it driving you nuts.

Satechi’s new extended keyboards gives you Apple looks on a budget

By

Satechi Aluminum Bluetooth Keyboard
Satechi's Aluminum Bluetooth Keyboard is the perfect match for your Apple setup.
Photo: Satechi

Accessory maker Satechi has been around for years, offering a wide range of charging solutions, headphones, dongles, and computer peripherals for both Mac and PC. Their newest Mac accessories, the Aluminum Bluetooth keyboard and Aluminum USB keyboard offer Apple-inspired design at a fraction of Apple’s keyboard prices.

How Steve Jobs poached a Microsoft employee with a restaurant menu

By

A successful Steve Jobs recruitment pitch came from an Il Fornaio menu. (It's an Italian restaurant in Palo Alto, California.)
"Do you want to eat pasta all your life, or join me and change the world?"
Photo: Lou Stejskal/Flickr CC

It’s not exactly breaking news that Steve Jobs was a great salesman. But a hilarious anecdote from Adam Fisher’s recent oral history of Silicon Valley, Valley of Genius, gives a great example of Jobs’ next-level skills.

Want to know how Jobs persuaded a product marketing expert from Microsoft to join his company NeXT? It turns out it involved little more than a bit of patented Steve Jobs charm — and a helping hand from a local Italian restaurant menu.

This 1000X microscope connects straight to your computer [Deals]

By

This USB-connected microscope lets you get up close and personal with any object.
This USB-connected microscope lets you get up close and personal with any object.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Digital cameras sure have come a long way, but they’re limited by the realities of glass and plastic. So if you want to capture far-off subjects, you need a telephoto lens. If you want to photograph something close up, you get a macro lens.

If you want to get really close, you want a microscope.

Why you couldn’t type the F-word on iPhone and other fascinating facts from Apple book

By

Ken Kocienda's book, Creative Selection: Inside Apple's Design Process During the Golden Age of Stave Jobs.
Ken Kocienda's book, Creative Selection: Inside Apple's Design Process During the Golden Age of Stave Jobs.
Photo: St. Martin's Press

Why couldn’t you type the F-word on the iPhone? Why did Steve Jobs make weird eye movements during demos? What kind of manager was Scott Forstall?

These and other questions are answered in a new book by Ken Kocienda, a former iPhone programmer who spent 15 years at Apple helping to develop the first iPhone, iPad and Safari web browser.

Published this week, Creative Selection, Inside Apple’s Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs, is a fascinating account of Kocienda’s career that focuses on how Apple makes great software. (read our review here)

Here are some of the most interesting things we learned from the book.

Small Fry offers complicated portrait of Steve Jobs as a father [Review]

By

Think Steve Jobs was tough as a boss? Lisa Brennan-Jobs memoir
Think Steve Jobs was tough as a boss? Here's what he was like as a father.
Photo: Luke Dormehl/Cult of Mac

Small Fry is the memoir of Lisa Brennan-Jobs, the daughter Steve Jobs didn’t want. Frequently sad and occasionally disturbing, it’s not the airbrushed portrait of Steve that Apple would like to see in print.

But it also relays some charming moments, showing us a side of the Apple co-founder that we’ve never seen before. It’s a glimpse of Steve Jobs at his most personal.

The Apple design process of demos, decisions and feedback with Ken Kocienda [Apple Chat podcast]

By

Former Apple programmer Ken Kocienda has written a great insiders account of how the company makes its products.
Former Apple programmer Ken Kocienda has written a great insiders account of how the company makes its products.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

“It’s this long process of demos and decisions and feedback that creates this long, iterative progression … that leads you from not-very-promising ideas to products you can ship.”

Curious what it was like to work at Apple during its Golden Age of design? What exactly did the creative process look like? On this episode of the Apple Chat podcast, I sit down with Ken Kocienda, a programmer who spent 15 years at Apple during the Steve Jobs era. He worked on the first versions of the Safari web browser, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. His new book, Creative Selection: Inside Apple’s Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs, chronicles his experiences working at the company and offers an inside look at the creative process that made the team successful.

On the podcast, Kocienda discusses his role in the development of the iOS keyboard, explaining how text entry evolved and offering insight into the autocorrect algorithm. He walks us through the Darwinian process of creative selection, describing how the demo pyramid functioned to provide feedback and move an idea from prototype to product. Listen in for his experience presenting a demo to Jobs himself and learn how the original spirit of the Macintosh lives on at Apple today!

New book shows how Apple makes great software [Review]

By

Ken Kocienda's book Creative Selection is an insider's account of how Apple makes great software.
Ken Kocienda's new book offers an insider's account of how Apple makes great software.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

When Steve Jobs died in 2011, pundits wondered how the company would continue to make great products without him.

The question is partly answered by programmer Ken Kocienda’s new book, Creative Selection, which describes his 15 years working at Apple helping to develop the original iPhone, iPad and Safari web browser.

Kocienda’s book is a remarkable insider’s story that shows how Apple creates the software that it’s rightly famous for.

Celebrate Labor Day with huge savings on Apple Watch bands [Watch Store]

By

labor day
Cult of Mac Watch Store's Labor Day Weekend Sale is on!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Now’s the time to reap some massive savings on all your favorite Apple Watch bands, chargers and accessories. Today through Monday, you’ll save up to 40 percent during Cult of Mac Watch Store’s Labor Day Weekend Sale — our biggest sale to date.

You’ll find deep discounts on some of our most popular brands for Apple Watch accessories including Wiplabs (think WiDuo, BentoStack, Link Bracelets), Nyloon, Ottm, Strapa and Twelve South, just to name a few. Sale ends Monday at midnight, so check out these stellar discounts while they last, and check out our featured brands below.

Brydge keyboard seeks to turn your iPad Pro into a MacBook [Review]

By

Brydge 12.9 is almost a touchscreen MacBook
The Brydge 12.9 Series II does a better job of transforming an iPad Pro into a keyboard than any rival add-in keyboard.
Photo: Brydge

The whole purpose of clip-on iPad keyboards is to make this tablet function like a laptop. The Brydge series takes that idea and runs with it: it does everything possible to make the iPad into MacBook.

This company — also called Brydge — just released an improved version of its eponymous keyboard for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Don’t miss our hands-on review. 

Annoying iOS 12 update notification makes its musical debut

By

iOS 12 false update popup
Grab the new iOS update now!
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

For about 18 hours, iOS 12 beta testers were incessantly prompted to update to a new version of Apple’s upcoming software . Unfortunately, most found that no such update existed. The prompts, which appeared at every unlock of a users device sparked frustration, but also became fodder for musician and jingle creator Jonathan Mann.

Get a MacBook Air for as little as $399 [Deals]

By

rerun MacBook Air
Can you handle a deal this hot? Save big on a refurb MacBook Air.
Photo: MyPhonesUnlimited

MyPhones Unlimited, the company behind our successful iPhone buyback program, is offering Cult of Mac readers $50 off refurbished MacBook Airs. These laptops come in the original box with the original Apple charger. Each refurbished laptop undergoes a thorough 30-point inspection and comes with a 60-day warranty with hassle-free returns.

These lightweight Mac laptops start at just $399 with the discount. Best Buy is currently offering the very same refurbished MacBook Air for $689, so these prices are a steal. So, if you’ve been waiting for a hot deal, this is it. Use coupon code “CULT” and grab a refurbished 11-inch MacBook Air before they sell out.