Mobile menu toggle

Newsstand - page 163

How to change the feedback strength of iPhone 7’s Home button

By

iPhone 7 Home button
iPhone 7's new home button is awesome.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus deliver an all-new Home button that uses the Taptic Engine inside your device to simulate clicks. It doesn’t actually move in and out like a traditional iPhone Home button, but that’s not a bad thing.

Not only does it make your iPhone more reliable (without a moving button there’s no need to worry about it failing), but it also makes it more water-resistant. It’s also customizable; you can adjust the strength of the haptic feedback to make your clicks more noticeable.

Here’s how.

Now half off, this Bluetooth speaker is sonic gold and tough as nails [Deals]

By

These water-resistant Bluetooth speakers offer 12-hour playtime on a single charge
These water-resistant Bluetooth speakers offer 12-hour playtime on a single charge
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Bluetooth is the way we’re getting our music now, thanks in large part to the headphone jack-free iPhone 7. Lucky for us, Bluetooth speakers are keeping right up — for proof, just look at this new water-resistant, long-lasting, shock-absorbing speaker from Braven. It’s a speaker that’s up to the challenge of being a workhorse for bringing the noise, and right now you can get one for just $49.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Apple may be working on keyboard with e-ink display keys

By

The next Magic Keyboard may look something like this.
The next Magic Keyboard may look something like this.
Photo: Sonder

Apple is reportedly in talks to acquire an Australian startup called Sonder that specializes in making keyboards with individual e-ink displays on each key.

The Sonder acquisition is supposedly part of Apple’s plan to update its Magic Keyboard in 2018 with a smart keyboard module and color e-ink keys that allow programs to quickly swap characters for shortcuts or change to a different language.

Check out the e-ink keyboard in action:

How to activate Siri with ‘Hey Siri’ on macOS Sierra

By

Hey Siri macOS
Here's a workaround to bring "Hey Siri" to your Mac.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The ability to activate Siri by saying “Hey Siri” is an incredibly useful feature on iOS. Want to do it on macOS Sierra? Too bad you can’t.

Or, rather, you can’t through the usual Siri system preferences. However, if you’re really intent on being able to start up Siri without hitting a single key or mouse click, it’s possible to do it using Sierra’s Accessibility options. Here’s how.

Learn front-end web development and save almost $1,000 [Deals]

By

Spend 48 hours with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to become an in-demand front end engineer
Spend 48 hours with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to become an in-demand front end engineer
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Development for web users is one of the most lucrative and portable skills you can learn today. It can be hard to know where to start in front-end development though, making this bundle an especially great opportunity. Clocking in at 48 hours, it’s a comprehensive set of 8 lessons covering basic and advanced concepts and techniques in HTML, CSS, JavaScript and more. It usually goes for over $1,000, but right now you can get the whole thing for just $39 at Cult of Mac Deals.

This contraption makes bottled beer drink like draft [Review]

By

Beer
Mix technology and beer without worrying thanks to Fizzics.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Technology and alcohol don’t usually mix. It normally results in lost iPhones or inebriated calls to an ex. But, I might make an exception for the Fizzics Draft Beer System.

Fizzics is designed to enhance the flavor and aroma of any bottle, can or even 64 oz. growler you place inside. Without the use of any CO2 or nitrogen cartridges, the boozy contraption aims to give you the fresh from the tap experience by using sound technology. But, does it work?

I gladly took on the challenge to try out the Fizzics and put it to the test. Check out the review below.

How Steve Jobs’ swimming failure became unlikely inspiration

By

Steve King never would've guessed that he would be designing products to go with computers created by an old swim club teammate, Steve Jobs.
Steve King never would've guessed that he would be designing products to go with computers created by an old swim club teammate, Steve Jobs.
Photo: PRISM

Cult of Mac 2.0 bug Two people couldn’t have been further apart as they sat close to each other on carpool rides to swim meets. Steve King was a jock. The other kid was a geek.

But the geek did something one day that King would never forget. King watched as his teammate made a horrific turn at the wall in the backstroke and popped up in a neighboring lane.

Steve Jobs was immediately disqualified. He got back in his lane and finished the race.

New WD drive puts terabytes in the palm of your hand

By

Western Digital My Passport for Macs
Back it up! The new Western Digital My Passport for Macs holds 4 terabytes.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

The best work I ever did as a photographer resides in a collection of Western Digital external hard drives that are stored in an old, large camera bag in my closet. The images span more than a decade and with any one of the WD My Passport drives, I can confidently plug one in and quickly find some black-and-white relic of my past.

You can see the progress of time in the pictures (clothes and hair styles) as well as in the design and sizes of the WD drives. Each year, the drives offered more storage space in the same basic compact housing.

So I was astonished a couple of weeks back when the UPS driver dropped off a WD My Passport sized just a little bigger than a deck of cards — with a whopping 4 terabytes of storage.

How to get the lowest prices from Amazon

By

Amazon plays tricks with pricing, but you can beat the system.
Amazon plays tricks with pricing, but you can beat the system.
Photo: Thoroughly Reviewed/Flickr CC

Shoppers frequent Amazon every day, trusting the site’s algorithms to show the best deals. But a recent Pro Publica report suggests that Amazon is becoming more biased, with its own products and “Fulfilled by Amazon” offerings being prioritized over those from other vendors — even if the other vendors have the cheapest prices.

Revamped iPads and next-era Apple tech, this week on The CultCast

By

Apple's bold vision of future tech inches closer to reality.
Apple's bold vision of future tech inches closer to reality.
Photo: Apple

This week on The CultCast: Revamped iPads coming this spring; Apple lays the groundwork for the next era of personal technology; how smart homes get hacked; Google’s Pixel phone versus iPhone 7; and we reveal our favorite new iOS and Mac apps!

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. It’s simple to build a website that looks beautiful on any device that visits at Squarespace.com. Enter offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10 percent off.

Can Apple Watch get you in shape? Here’s what the science says.

By

Does the Apple Watch activity app have all the answers?
Does the Apple Watch activity app have all the answers?
Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

If you’ve considering buying a shiny new Apple Watch Series 2, you might be wondering if it can really help you to get in shape. Especially if you’ve seen the recent headlines claiming that fitness trackers don’t work.

So what does science really have to say about wearables? I decided to investigate the science behind Apple Watch fitness assumptions.

The perfect 4K USB-C monitor for your MacBook [Review]

By

lg
This stunning 4K LG Display plays nicely with USB-C.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The upcoming 2016 MacBook Pro is rumored to feature only USB-C ports, much like last year’s MacBook refresh.

If you’re hoping to get an external display to go with your shiny new laptop, right now the options are somewhat limited. Luckily, the stunning new LG Electronics 27UD88 monitor will provide you with everything you need.

Check out our video review below.

Best List: Udoq charging station keeps everything organized and topped up [Review]

By

Udoq's docking station
Udoq's docking station is compatible with just about any mobile device.
Photo: Lyle Kahney

Best List: Udoq universal charging stand

There’s a constant war in our house for charging bricks and cables. I like to keep chargers in certain places so I know where they are — beside the bed for example. But they constantly disappear, thanks to my light-fingered kids.

It drives me bananas, which is why I like the Udoq, a universal charging stand that neatly organizes and charges between two and eight devices. It can’t be easily half-inched.

iPhone 7 smashes Pixel in early benchmark tests

By

Google Pixel
It's in talks to buy HTC, maker of the Pixel lineup.
Photo: Google

Google’s Pixel and Pixel XL may pack the fastest smartphone camera, but when it comes to raw processing power the iPhone 7 leaves the new handsets in the dust.

Early benchmarks for the Pixel have already leaked for the device, which was unveiled Tuesday. And according to the tests, Google’s phone can’t even top the performance of the iPhone 6s and iPhone SE.

The future is AI, and Google just showed Apple how it’s done

By

Under CEO Sundar Pichai, Google is betting big on AI.
Under CEO Sundar Pichai, Google is betting big on AI.
Photo: Google

After decades of showing us the best ways to interact with computers, Apple is lagging on the UI of the future — voice controls powered by smart, conversational AI.

Google, on the other hand, is placing artificial intelligence, in the form of Google Assistant, at the center of its new Pixel smartphones and Google Home smart speaker.

Cupertino’s mastery of the user interface is legendary: Macs, iPods and iPhones made the GUI, the mouse, the scroll wheel and multitouch mainstream. But Apple needs to get into the AI conversation if it’s serious about securing a place in our gabby future.

Get the Cult of Mac Fitness Handbook, an exclusive free ebook

By

Check out our free ebook
Check out our free ebook
Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

After undergoing successful chemotherapy treatment for cancer, Apple’s fitness gadgets helped me turn my life around and get fit in middle age. So I know from personal experience just how important they can be. That’s why I focus on fitness for Cult of Mac, and it’s why I’ve written The Cult of Mac Fitness Handbook: Get in Shape With iPhone and Apple Watch.

Today, I’m in the best shape of my life, and I rely on my iPhone and Apple Watch to help keep me that way.

They are powerful tools for getting fit and losing weight — if you know how to use them.

With new hardware trio, Google makes major play for your home

By

google home speaker
Google Home is taking on the Amazon Echo.
Photo: Google

Not only does Google want to replace your iPhone with a Pixel, the search giant revealed today that it plans to invade homes with three new products that directly compete with offerings from Apple and Amazon.

During an event in San Francisco today, Google unveiled a new Wi-Fi router, an improved Chromecast and a new Google Home device that’s a lot like Amazon’s Echo smart speaker, only it’s powered by Google Assistant.

How Google’s Pixel phones stack up against iPhone 7

By

Pixel
Pixel and Pixel XL.
Photo: Google

Google’s new Pixel smartphones have landed, and they’re here to show the world that Android is stepping up its fight against the iPhone.

The Pixel lineup shares a lot in common with the Nexus family it replaces, but it’s not designed with pure Android enthusiasts in mind anymore. Google wants to reach everyone with its new Pixel and Pixel XL, and it has gone all out to make that happen.

But does the Pixel duo have what it takes to beat iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and other high-end rivals? Find out in our smartphone comparison below.

Top 10 iOS 10 features you may not have discovered yet

By

ios_10_hidden_features
Have you discovered all that iOS 10 has to offer?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Hidden among the updates to the Messages app, Apple Music and everything else we’ve all heard so much about, there are a handful of new iOS 10 features you may not have stumbled across.

Check out the video below to see the top ten iOS 10 features that currently rank as iOS’s best-kept secrets.

October brings new Macs and MacBook Pros, this week on The CultCast

By

New Apple hardware in March on The CultCast
New Apple hardware in March? Reports say yes, indeed.
Image: Erfon Elijah/Cult of Mac

This week on The CultCast: reports point to a big Mac event coming in October! We’ll tell you why we expect more than just overhauled MacBook Pros… Plus: we remember Steve Jobs, and what made him so damned good; why the jet black iPhone 7 is impossible to find; and stay tuned for drone chat, where we discuss the super cool new drones hitting the market.

This episode is supported by Dollar Shave Club, delivering amazing razors right to your door for a third of the price of what the greedy razor corporations charge. Get your first month free at DollarShaveClub.com/CultCast.

Name your price for 13 award-winning Mac apps, and more [Week’s Best Deals]

By

Drive Genius 4, The Hit List, and a slew of other award-winning apps will make your Mac a productivity powerhouse
Drive Genius 4, The Hit List, and a slew of other award-winning apps will make your Mac a productivity powerhouse
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

This week’s best deals are your opportunity to upgrade your digital workspace without downgrading your checking account. We’re looking at more than a dozen award-winning productivity apps for whatever you’re willing to pay, a charging hub that does double duty as a device organizer, a terabyte secure cloud storage, and a keyboard shortcut app that can vastly improve efficiency on your Mac. It’s all going for cut-rate prices, read on for more details:

$50 Bluetooth speaker … is it any good? [Review]

By

Bluetooth Speaker
Want a cheap speaker that can blow your socks off? Look no further.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The speakers in our iPhones and iPads keep getting better and better, but they’re not close to replacing Bluetooth speakers just yet. If you’ve just splashed out hard-earned dollars for a new iPhone 7 or 7 Plus, a low-priced, quality speaker may come as a welcome relief.

There are a few rare finds out there that deliver good bang for buck, and the $60 DKnight Big MagicBox is one of them.

Check out the full video review below.

These fans wear Apple love on their fingertips

By

most loved brands
Apple gets plenty of love from its customers according to the Netbase report of Most Loved Brands.
Photo: Viktoria Fomchenkova

Cult of Mac 2.0 bugLauren Wilkin’s life was about to get better. So she decorated her fingernails to reflect her shift in social status much like women of royalty did 7,000 years before.

Upper-class Egyptian women may have had a front-row seat to a growing civilization, but none experienced the excitement of trading in an iPhone 4 for an iPhone 6.