All of Arrow & Board's products are handmade in a tiny workshop in Austin. Photo: Traci Dauphin/Cult of Mac
Best List: Triple Tour Split Strap by Arrow & Board
With the deluge of Apple Watch bands on the market, I wanted to wrap my wrist in leather for a reasonable price.
Unwilling to drop $500 on the luxe Hermès Double Tour, I was delighted to discover the wares of Arrow & Board, a tiny company from Austin, Texas, that produces made-to-order, handcrafted leather accessories at modest prices.
Bids for this Apple I started at $370,000. Photo: Christie's
Starting a collection of Apple’s past is relatively easy and often affordable. But once you get started and a pricey, rare object presents itself, will you be able to control yourself?
Here’s a list that will test whether you have the fever and an intense desire to hold personal computing history in your hands. It may also test your fiscal fitness.
Free up some disk space easily and quickly thanks to these apps! Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
No matter the size of your Mac’s hard drive, there will come a time when you need to free up some space. Having a full hard drive can make your Mac feel sluggish, and running out of space can be terrifying.
Sifting through your archive of files may seem like a daunting task. But don’t fear — these three super-simple and effective Mac disk cleanup apps can help you out.
Check them out in the Cult of Mac video review below.
Use an external hard drive to free up space on your Mac. Photo: Ste Smith/ Cult of Mac
If you’ve got a tiny hard drive on your Mac and a large-capacity iPhone or iPad (or both!), you might worry that you’re about to run out of space due to all the stuff you want to back up from your iOS device to your OS X one.
You won’t have to worry any longer. This trick makes your Mac back up your iPhone or iPad to an external drive, which will ensure you never run out of space to keep your data backed up.
Feeling nosey? Take a tour around my iPhone. Photo: Ste Smith / Cult of Mac
The iPhone is one of the most personal devices around, with so many apps out there that there’s near limitless scope for customizing the device with whatever tools we need to make it fit our requirements.
With that in mind, here are the apps that I’m currently running on my iPhone SE. Looking for some tips on what to download for Apple’s latest smartphone? Interested in a tour to see what your favorite Liverpudlian Cult of Mac team member has on his handset?
Whatever your reasons, check out my latest video below.
Has the rumor-mill been lying to us? Surely not! Photo: Eric Huismann
One of the most widely-circulated rumors about the upcoming iPhone 7 is that it will ditch the 3.5mm headphone jack in favor of Lightning or wireless headphones.
But don’t be so certain that this is the case: a newly-published photo, reporting to be a shot of the next-gen iPhone internals, appears to show the headphone jack still hanging on despite rumors of its demise.
Everything at Apple is great. Promise... Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Future iPhones are going to be so amazing, you probably haven’t even thought of the features Apple is going to add, Tim Cook claimed in a recent interview.
The Apple CEO appeared Monday on Mad Money in an effort to abate the company’s bleeding stock price following last week’s less-than-stellar earnings call. Cook reassured investors that the rumors of Apple’s demise have been greatly exaggerated once again.
While lackluster iPhone sales last quarter have scared off mega-investors and analysts alike, Cook promised some incredible innovation is in the pipeline. In addition to touting upcoming iPhone features, Cook’s wide-ranging conversation with Mad Money host Jim Cramer touched on everything from the Apple Watch being (inaccurately) dubbed a flop to Apple’s growing interest in India and much more.
These lovely, leather folios are delightfully classy. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
SurfacePad for iPhone and iPad solves a problem I have with most folio-style cases.
These tend to cover up too much of the gorgeous Apple design without giving much in return. There’s always a trade-off between form and function. If you’re going to hide the gleaming Apple devices behind a case, at least make it look as classy and useful as Apple does.
The SurfacePad for folio cases from Twelve South are delightfully minimal, covering the front and rear of your iPad or iPhone in luxurious leather without sacrificing a refined look.
Alex's Apple Orchard occupied the basement of the family home. Photo courtesy of Alex Jason
A 10-year-old kid in Maine finds an iMac G5 on Craigslist and arranges to trade a minibike and a snowblower for it.
The computer was supposed to be for games and homework. It instead proved to be the first piece in what is becoming one of the most significant private collections of Apple devices in the United States.
Right now, that’s just a small blemish on an otherwise darn near perfect record. But the concern is that it could signal the start of a much greater decline, ushering in an era in which Cupertino is no longer the overwhelmingly dominant force in all things shiny and aluminum.
Should Tim Cook and Co. really be worried about declining demand, and should fans be worried about Apple’s future? Or will our favorite gadget maker be back with a bang?
Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we throw hands (not literally) over these topics and more!
One of the world's most impressive collection of Apple artifacts belongs to a 15-year-old kid. Photo: Alex's Apple Orchard
This week on The CultCast: Apple’s 13-year record revenue streak is broken; our best picture yet of iPhone 7’s features; rumors point to a faster, untethered Apple Watch 2; Apple has a huge increase in R&D spending, but where’s the money going? And stick around for more stories from the Cult of Mac. This time, a 15-year-old builds one of the world’s most impressive Apple collections.
Our thanks for Freshbooks for supporting this episode. FreshBooks is the easy-to-use invoicing software designed to help small business owners get organized, save time invoicing and get paid faster. Get started now with a 30-day free trial.
All you need are your photos, an iPad, and these apps. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
When you’re looking to create special, one-of-a-kind photo on your iPad, you might be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of choices out there. We’ve taken some time to find the best apps for photo editing on the iPad and create some step-by-step how-tos to ensure you get the best results.
Whether you’re just looking to out-game your Instagram buddies or create a stunning double exposure photo on your iPad, here are the 7 best ways to make your photos pop.
The All About Apple Museum in Savona, Italy. Photo: All About Apple Museum
For years, Apple has been under pressure to open an Apple museum. The company’s rich and storied past has its fans clamoring for a central repository of that history.
Word from the company: No. Apple’s leaders say they are more interested in the future than the past.
In fact, the most complete historical collection of all things Apple is nowhere near Cupertino. The serious Apple fan must travel to, of all places, Savona, Italy.
Keep your notes secure in OS X. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Lots of us were excited to keep our Notes private when iOS 9.3 added the feature to Apple’s mobile devices. We all store private details in our notes such as bank details, pin numbers and more within the notes app for convince. Knowing this information is now more secure than ever is one less thing to worry about.
But did you know that you can do the same on your Mac?
In this week’s Quick Tips video, I’m going to help you with your peace of mind and show you how to secure your notes in OS X.
The iTunes Store was a revolution. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
The iTunes Store turns 13 year old today, having originally opened its virtual doors on April 28, 2003 — back when 50 Cent’s “In Da Club” was riding high in the music charts, Anger Management and Bulletproof Monk were in theaters, and Saddam Hussein had just been ousted from power.
Who could’ve guessed that, years later, it would become the largest music vendor in the world, with well over 25 billion songs sold worldwide? Steve Jobs, that’s who!
Check out Jobs’ original unveiling of what was originally called the iTunes Music Store below.
Man, that looks weird. Photo: Evan Killham/Cult of Mac
Usually, if you want to change the shape of your iOS folders, you need to jailbreak your device or squint really hard or something. But one person has found a way to make your app holders cool-looking and round, and all you have to do is change your device’s wallpaper.
You can see the cool circles in action in the video below.
Work healthier with the Pro Plus 48. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
Spending countless hours sitting in front of a computer every day is bad for your body. Not only do you have to worry about bad posture when sitting for extended periods, but also the fact that you’re probably going to die faster (according to some studies).
A standing desk is a great way to alleviate some of these problems and keep your body active during a long day in the office. And with the Varidesk Pro Plus 48, you can turn almost any standard desk into a height-adjustable standing desk in a snap.
This particular desk is one of the largest models offered by Varidesk, which makes it ideal for multi-monitor setups and those who need plenty of room. It’s also pretty pricey at $495 — but is it worth that price tag?
Is it time for Apple to get spiritual? Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac (original image: Wired)
With quarterly revenue declining for the first time in more than a decade, Apple execs Tim Cook and Luca Maestri put on their game faces during today’s Apple earnings call to tell us why things aren’t really all that bad in Cupertino.
The sad truth is that slumping iPhone sales, which joined the iPad and Mac lineups in the down column, will likely take a toll on Apple’s image — and on its stock price.
Still, there were plenty of other intriguing and optimism-inspiring things we heard during Apple’s Q2 2016 earnings call. Here are the most important takeaways from this historic Apple moment.
Lucy Kelly's purchase of an iPhone 6s at the Sydney Apple Store was a global news story. Photo: Atomic 212
The lines outside Apple Stores across the globe will be long later this year when the much-anticipated iPhone 7 goes on sale, a guaranteed media spectacle ripe with companies seeking inexpensive advertising of their products.
No guerrilla marketing stunt set the bar higher than one in Sydney last fall, when a telepresence robot with the cheerful face of a woman named Lucy framed in an iPad took her place in line to buy an iPhone 6s.
Time flies when you're having fun. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
I’ve decided to take a step back and take a good, hard look at what I’ve been wearing on my wrist for an entire year. It feels like it was just yesterday the Apple Watch was revealed to the public, and everyone wanted one.
Has it become an essential bit of kit on my wrist, or is it another gadget for the junk drawer, left to gather dust?
Here’s my take on the year I’ve spent with Apple’s magical wrist computer.
Botvac Connected is the world's most thorough cleaning bot. Photo: Buster Hein/Cult of Mac
My dog has a new archenemy, and its name is Botvac.
Neato’s tiny automated robotic vacuum stirs my dog into a fit of worried anger every afternoon I send it out for a round of sweeping and vacuuming. It’s so magical my dog doesn’t trust it.
I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords. Mostly because I’m too lazy to be bothered with tasks like vacuuming.
What do you want to see unveiled at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference? Photo: Apple
This week on The CultCast: Why the new iPad Pro screen is “practically perfect”; stories from The Cult of Mac; our most anticipated WWDC 2016 announcements; a look at Apple’s newly updated MacBooks; Apple’s secret plan to create hit TV shows; and, have you ever wondered how rich you’d be if you invested in Apple’s IPO instead of buying its computers? We break down the numbers.
Our thanks to Freshbooks for supporting this episode. FreshBooks is the easy-to-use invoicing software designed to help small-business owners get organized, save time invoicing and get paid faster. Get started now with a 30-day free trial.
There's no barcode on this doughnut so it doesn't count Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac
Most fitness apps seem obsessed with calories. Go for a run, and your Apple Watch tells you how many calories you burned. Scan a barcode and MyFitnessPal tells you how many calories are in the food you are about to eat.
So what exactly are calories, and does counting them really help you achieve your fitness goals?