Twelve South's HiRise Duet is a primo charging dock for iPhone and Apple Watch. Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac
Twelve South’s HiRise Duet iPhone and Apple Watch Stand is one of the best high-end charging stands on the market.
It charges fast, keeps my Apple Watch in nightstand mode, and takes up minimal room on my bedside table. Constructed from premium materials, the HiRise Duet makes decluttering sleek and stylish.
New iMac concept will make you ask, why isn‘t the base of the iMac already an iPhone charger? Photo: Daniel Bautista
A new iMac concept design offers good suggestions for where Apple should be taking this Mac desktop. But also included is a small-but-genius improvement: make the base of the iMac an iPhone charger.
A leather band that doesn't disappoint. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
If you want a leather Apple Watch band that feels great, looks spectacular, and is built to last you years, you should really do yourself a favor and check out the wonderful Ingenium band from Strapa.
It’s made using leather sourced from one of the finest tanneries in Italy, plus 316L surgery-grade stainless steel buckles and adapters. I’ve been using one for months now, and I highly recommend it.
For long-time Apple fans like myself, Tuesday marked the end of an era. Phil Schiller stepped down from his role as VP of worldwide marketing.
Schiller was the last of the OG — a stalwart onstage companion to Steve Jobs, long before it was fashionable to watch Apple keynotes. Schiller was there at all the seminal moments in Apple history, including the launch of iMac, iPod, iPhone and iPad. Back in the day, he and Jobs were a remarkable double act. Jobs would announce the products, and then Schiller would stride in to perform the demos.
Fortunately, Schiller’s not gone for good. In his new role as an Apple Fellow, he will still keep an eye on the App Store and Apple Events. But I wanted to take this opportunity to remember the man, the legend, that is Phil Schiller. Here are the top 10 reasons why I’ll miss him.
There are some features in the new Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra that Apple should put in the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Samsung’s newly unveiled Galaxy Note 20 Ultra will have to take on the iPhone 12 Pro Max after Apple launches it this autumn.
Samsung’s top-tier handset offers seven features iOS fans should hope will show up in Apple’s next flagship iPhone. But the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra also has some real problems.
Phil Schiller is far from the only Apple Fellow in company history. Photo: Apple
On Tuesday, it was announced that Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, will transition into a new role as an Apple Fellow. This honorary position is one that Apple recognizes for a person’s outstanding contribution to the company in some capacity.
But while many newer Apple fans may not be familiar with the role, it’s one that’s been part of Apple dating back to the 1980s — even if this is the first time in more than 20 years that Apple has inducted someone into the club.
Here’s what you need to know about the other Apple Fellows:
It’s surprisingly easy to make a copy of everything in your Gmail account. Photo: Killian Bell/Ed Hardy
There are lots of reasons you might want to make a copy of everything in a Gmail account. Maybe you’re done with Google and are switching to an Apple email account. Or you’re leaving a job or school where you were issued a Gmail account. You don’t want to leave behind years of messages.
Fortunately, it’s easy to back up everything in a Google email account. But it’s not quick. Plan accordingly.
The new iMac looks just like the old one (only faster). Photo: Apple
The wait for Apple’s newest iMac is over. Cupertino today dropped a faster all-in-one with an even more glorious Retina 5K display, an upgraded 1080p FaceTime camera, and improved speakers and microphones.
You can order your new 27-inch model today, starting from $1,799,
Jason Sudeikis is the titular Ted Lasso in the mostly winning comedy series. Photo: Apple TV
Created for a diverting if not particularly funny web short, Jason Sudeikis‘ clueless coach Ted Lasso now has his own Apple TV+ series. The question is: Is there enough meat on the bones of the premise to support a comedy series?
Like the NBC Sports promos that spawned the character, Ted Lasso is about an American coaching football in England — and being sorta kinda unfit for the demands. Fish-out-of-water, culture-clash comedies are as old as film comedy itself. And there’s certainly potential in the idea of an old-fashioned Southern gentleman dropped into tough-as-nails, hyper-masculine soccer culture. But ultimately, the high-concept stuff isn’t what works in Ted Lasso’s favor. You must get past the show’s premise to get to the good part.
Apple Pencil isn’t the only iPad stylus. With Adonit Note+, you can draw Tippy. Or take notes, sign PDFs, and more. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
iPadOS 14 includes Scribble, finally allowing you to hand write text on an iPad with a stylus. If you don’t already have a stylus, there are some great options out there besides the very expensive Apple Pencil.
Here are some of the best available, so you can take full advantage of your iPad’s capabilities without paying too much.
Don't let Podcasts eat up all your storage. Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
For most podcast listeners, there comes a time when you have way too many unplayed shows, taking up way too much space on your iPhone or iPad. Fortunately, this is a problem with an easy fix.
Take back precious storage space by deleting episodes you don’t need to have saved locally, and prevent the Podcasts app from hoarding content in the future. We’ll show you how.
Time to dust off your Apple Watch and start closing those rings again. Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac
If you’ve let your fitness slide during the lockdown, you’re not alone. The Activity app’s constant nagging to close your rings is not very helpful when all the gyms are closed and you’re stuck at home.
Skipping workouts for a few months is understandable under the circumstances, but you don’t want to become a permanent couch potato. So now that we’re all adjusting to the “new normal,” it’s the ideal time to dust off your Apple Watch and get back in shape.
People around the world turned to Apple products at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. And the result was an 11% increase in Apple revenue during the June quarter. Some products contributed to that growth more than others.
The pandemic sent people buying Mac and iPad in huge numbers. But it hurt handset sales, despite a relatively strong launch for the iPhone SE. And Apple services experienced something of an off quarter, too.
Don't let your WhatsApp messages end up in the wrong hands. Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
Worried your WhatsApp conversations might end up in the wrong hands? Give them an additional layer of security by enabling Face ID or Touch ID protection for the WhatsApp app.
Eddy Cue met with Jeff Bezos to talk about the deal. Photo: CNBC
Apple agreed to halve its App Store fee for Amazon so the company would bring its Prime Video app to iOS and Apple TV, emails reveal (.pdf).
Apple exec Eddy Cue and Amazon boss Jeff Bezos personally negotiated the deal in 2016, it was revealed during Wednesday’s antitrust hearing looking into tech giants’ business practices. They agreed that Apple would get a 15% revenue cut from day one for customers who signed up through the app. Apple normally gets a 30% cut for the first year of an app’s subscription. It then claims a 15% commission for subsequent years.
Using an external display with a MacBook is a breeze with the Plugable USB-C to HDMI Adapter. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
MacBooks don’t have HDMI ports, but the Plugable USB-C to HDMI Adapter makes it easy to connect your laptop to an external monitor. Even better, this accessory is inexpensive and very portable.
I tested the adapter for work, watching video, and playing games. Here’s how it held up.
Things didn't get too hot during Tim Cook's virtual visit to Capitol Hill. Photo: C-SPAN
Apple CEO Tim Cook mostly avoided questioning during Wednesday’s historic congressional antitrust hearing on the business practices of Big Tech.
Cook took only a handful of questions from the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee. Lawmakers directed most of their questioning — which capped a year-long investigation into antitrust issues — at Cook’s fellow CEOs from Facebook, Google and Amazon.
Enjoy complete control of PiP yourself. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
Picture-in-picture (PiP) makes it easier to watch videos while you do other things on iPhone (with iOS 14) and iPad. But it can begin to get annoying when every video you close ends up in a PiP window.
Here’s how to disable automatic picture-in-picture so that you have complete control over when it’s used.
Don't settle for a slow and unstable connection. Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
If your Mac is struggling to maintain a stable Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection, it could be because of wireless interference. The good thing is that there are many different things you can do to eliminate this problem.
In this guide, we’ll detail how you can identify wireless interference, and some of steps you can take to prevent it from causing problems in the future. The tips also can prove useful for iOS devices.
Return to the thrilling days of yesteryear with a Mac OS 8 emulator loaded with games from the 1990s. Photo: Felix Rieseberg
Anyone wanting a serious dose of nostalgia should install a just-released emulator of a classic Apple desktop computer running Mac OS 8, first released in 1997. There’s even a bunch of games and productivity applications from the same era.
Apple exec Phil Schiller calls the App Store a good deal for devs. That's just one of the reasons Apple deserves a fair commission for powering the App Store. Photo: Globovisión/Flickr CC
When Apple CEO Tim Cook takes questions from Congress on Wednesday, he’ll surely get an earful of software developers’ complaints about how the App Store operates. Chief among the criticisms will likely be the fact that Apple charges a percentage of revenue earned from in-app sales.
There’s not a bit of justification for any of these highly publicized complaints. They come from companies that want to have their cake and eat it, too.
A faster, more reliable connection. Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
Did you know it’s possible to merge multiple Ethernet ports into one on a Mac? The feature is simple to set up and can greatly increase speeds for those with super-speedy network connections.
Both Jennifer Aniston and Steve Carell received Emmy nominations for their work on Apple TV+’s The Morning Show. Photo: Apple
Apple TV+ earned 19 Emmy Awards nominations, including several for The Morning Show, a star-studded drama that was a highlight of the streaming service’s launch last autumn.
That’s not bad for the first year of eligibility for Apple TV+. However, Netflix totally dominated the 72nd annual Emmy Awards nominations, which were revealed Tuesday by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The world’s biggest streamer took home an astonishing 160 Emmy noms. HBO limited series Watchmen scored the most nominations of any single series with 26.
Give your Apple Watch a great place to rest. Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
Your beloved Apple Watch deserves more than to be slapped on top of its included charging cable every night. Treat yours to an actual charging stand without breaking the bank and give it a better place to rest.
Here are seven stellar options, handpicked by Cult of Mac, for $30 or less.
An iPad mini concept drops the size of this tablet even more by cutting the bezels. Concept: Parker Ortolani
The iPad mini has a 7.9-inch screen surrounded by bezels. Big ones. So a concept artist drew up some images that show how much smaller this tablet could be with an edge-to-edge display. The result is a device that’s nearly 20% smaller.
But Apple might be going in the opposite direction: making a mini with a larger screen.