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Apple Lisa documentary will tell the story of Cupertino’s most important ‘flop’

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Apple prototypes
In retrospect, the Lisa was pretty darn important for Apple.
Photo: CNBC

A new documentary called Before Macintosh: The Apple Lisa promises to tell the story of one of Apple’s most important flops.

Directed by computer historian (and Apple collector) David Greelish, the movie will feature interviews with key players in the machine’s development. It also will place the Lisa in its proper context — as one of the most influential computers of all time.

Watch an adorable beluga whale rescue a phone from the ocean

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Beluga whale
Belugas are intelligent and sometimes friendly. They don’t often rescue people’s phones, though.
Photo: Wikipedia

A phone dropped in the sea is usually gone forever, but not when a friendly whale retrieves from the ocean floor. Video of exactly this happening in Norway has to be seen to be believed.

Even better, the beluga starring in the video is thought by some to be the Russian spy whale who made headlines last week.

How (and why) Jony Ive built the mysterious rainbow Apple Stage

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The colorful Apple Stage really pops in the center of Apple Park.
The colorful Apple Stage really pops in the center of Apple Park's massive "spaceship" building.
Photo: Duncan Sinfield

The mysterious, rainbow-colored stage erected inside Apple Park bears all the hallmarks of the company’s meticulous design, according to an Apple document provided to Cult of Mac.

It’s the latest creation by Jony Ive’s team — and it’s just as thoughtfully and intricately designed as you might imagine.

An article explaining the project to Apple employees sheds light on just how much thought, time and intense effort went into building the rainbow Apple Stage. And Jony Ive’s ruminations on the project show he and his collaborators put a lot of thought into it.

Your iPhone could be ‘unbreakable,’ if it were just 1 mm thicker

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Corning's Silicon Valley research center
Corning's Silicon Valley research center.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Update: Corning sent an email to clarify some of the claims made in this post, which I’ve included in the body of the post and at the bottom.

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Even though the latest iPhones are made from glass front and back, they would be “nearly unbreakable” if just a bit thicker.

That was the message from glass manufacturer Corning during an open house at its Silicon Valley research center Tuesday.

“If the glass on the latest smartphones was just a little bit thicker, it would be nearly unbreakable,” said Dave Young, a Corning marketing communications specialist, at the event.

What is your Apple Watch trying to tell you about your health?

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Apple Watch may have saved the life of a 79-year-old with heart condition
Understanding these Apple Watch stats is key to unlocking its healthy potential.
Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

If you’ve been wearing an Apple Watch for a while now, chances are you have built up a huge amount of data related to your health. But do you know what it all means? What exactly is that wrist-mounted technological marvel trying to tell you?

All those different stats Apple Watch saves to the Health app can be a little overwhelming. But if you know how to interpret them, they provide a surprisingly wide variety of insights into your health. Like how fit you are, how much stress you are under and whether you are at risk of heart disease — click here to learn more.

It’s worth taking the time to understand what your Apple Watch is telling you. It can help you improve your wellbeing — and it might even save your life.

Unusual escape room traps you backstage at an Apple keynote

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Apple escape room
This Apple Watch with dongle band was part of an Apple-themed escape room created by Chadwick Severn
Photo: Ben McCarthy

Tim Cook is 15 minutes from the start of his Apple keynote and you’ve been invited backstage because he trusts you and your friends can help the big event run without a hitch.

But then comes a crisis. Cook’s clicker is broken — and the new products Apple is set to debut are missing. It’s up to your group to quickly solve the mystery and find the devices on time.

This is not a bad dream, but an actual experience you can have during the Worldwide Developers Conference next month in San Jose, California. The nightmare scenario fuels a pop-up Apple escape room coming to AltConf 2019.

Renders offer early look at 2019 iPhone XR with two cameras

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iPhone XR successor with big battery
A bigger battery is now on the list of rumored features on the successor to the iPhone XR
Photo: PriceBaba/OnLeaks

New renders offer Apple fans an early glimpse at the rumored 2019 iPhone XR with an additional rear-facing camera.

The images, which are allegedly based on leaked information, show a significantly larger camera bump on the back of the device. But no obvious changes to its front.

Four ways to send email attachments on iPhone and iPad

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A rather poor email metaphor.
A rather poor email metaphor.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

In the bad old days, there used to be just one way to send an email attachment from your iPhone. You had to find the file or image, and use the share sheet to send it via email. Then, you’d add the address, subject line and message, and send the mail. And if you needed to add another file to that email? Tough.

Now, things are much better. There are now several ways to send mail with attachments on iOS — the exact number depends on whether you’re using the iPhone or iPad. Let’s check them out.

How Apple could turn personal data into a gold mine for the masses [Opinion]

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Apple is the best on privacy, but it's still not close to what we need.
Apple is the best on privacy, but it's still not close to what we need.
Photo: Ash Edmonds/Unsplash

Apple should be building a data marketplace for its users, not raising fears about privacy. Privacy is about preventing the leakage of personal data and does nothing about the ownership and monetization of that data.

Individuals should be getting paid for their data directly, not the companies that collect that data. And that should be the focus of Apple’s efforts.

iOS 13 concept shows how iPad file management ought to work

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iOS 13 files app iPad mount an external drive
Having an iPad mount an external drive isn’t asking for too much, is it?
Photo: Daniel Korpai

A new concept video imagines Apple’s tablet without the limitations on file management that frustrate so many iPad users. In it, the designer combines his re-imagined iOS Files app with earlier work improving multitasking.

Watch his video now:

How to block ads and malware on iOS

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This is the web without content blockers.
This is the web without content blockers.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Way back in iOS 9 days, Apple added “content blocking” to the iPhone and iPad. More commonly known as “ad-blockers,” this tech lets you use third-party apps to block ads, malware, trackers, comments, and more, in Mobile Safari. Apple itself doesn’t do any more than make blocking possible. To actual decide what to block, you need a third-party app.

Enabling ad-blocking is easy, once you know how, and you can set-and-forget it once done. Or you can keep on top of things, adding custom rules, and white-listing trusted websites. Here’s how.

Wildly customizable keyboard unleashes iPad creativity

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The new Buchla Thunder layout for the Sensel Morph.
The new Buchla Thunder layout for the Sensel Morph.
Photo: Sensel

The Sensel Morph is a different kind of “keyboard” for the iPad or Mac. It’s a pressure-sensitive panel onto which you can slap various silicone overlays, turning it from a QWERTY keyboard into a piano, a movie-editing controller or many other specialized interfaces.

It’s a customizable, wildly imaginative input device designed for musicians, video editors, illustrators, writers and other creative types.

Apple made an iPhone game just for Warren Buffett

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Warren Buffett
Get ready to sling papers till your fingers hurt.
Photo: Apple

Apple finally came out with its first new video game for iPhone since the App Store debuted in 2008, and it’s dedicated to the iPhone-maker’s largest shareholder, Warren Buffett. It’s called Warren Buffett’s Paper Wizard, and it sounded like a joke at first.

Apple CEO Tim Cook made a cameo appearance at Berkshire Hathaway’s shareholder meeting this morning to reveal the new game. In Paper Wizard, players cruise around tossing newspapers at houses as an homage to Buffett, who worked a paper route as a kid to make money. Now he’s one of the richest men in the world (and with his own paper boi video game to boot).

iOS 13 could be Apple’s biggest iPad-focused upgrade ever

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Apple Smart Keyboard Folio turns the 2018 iPad Pro into a notebook.
Details leaking out ahead of next month’s iOS 13 announcement indicate it will offer plenty for iPad, but iPhone won‘t be overlooked.
Photo: Apple

The unveiling of iOS 13 is expected in less than a month, and a new report spills details on many of the improvements supposedly coming. For iPhone users, iOS 13 is bringing refinements to already existing features. iPad users, on the other hand, are supposedly getting plenty of new capabilities.

Apple Watch might get its own App Store

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It’s time to cut the cable and set Apple Watch free
Apple Watches running watchOS 6 could be significantly more independent from iPhone than their predecessors.
Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

Apple Watch is reportedly going to become less tied to iPhone this fall. An unconfirmed report indicates that watchOS 6 will have its own App Store, allowing wearers to download software directly.

And this is just one of the changes supposedly in store for Apple’s popular wearable.

5 reasons Apple should dump Intel processors [Opinion]

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Intel processors have overstayed their welcome in Macs of all types, but especially MacBooks.
Intel processors have overstayed their welcome in Macs of all types, but especially MacBooks.
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

It’s past time Macs stopped depending on Intel processors. There’s new evidence to show they’ve outlived their usefulness. A switch to Apple-designed chips will make macOS devices better for a variety of reasons, including increased speed and battery life.

iPads and iPhones already use processors designed by Apple. Unconfirmed reports indicate that the company is pushing forward with plans to ditch Intel’s processors in Macs, too. The first MacBook or iMac with an Apple processor could be out as soon as 2020.

Logitech Crayon is a more affordable Apple Pencil alternative [Updated review]

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Save big by getting a Logitech Crayon for your iPad Pro instead of an Apple Pencil 2.
The Logitech Crayon costs less than the Apple Pencil, and it now works with the 2018 iPad Pro and other recent iOS tablets.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

iPad is a great educational tool, no matter the age of the student. But some children are too young for a keyboard. That’s where the Logitech Crayon comes in. It’s a digital pencil designed for students to write and draw on a variety of iPad and iPad Pro models.

We put this educational accessory to the test.

How to use Apple Watch SOS mode

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Watch out!
Watch out!
Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

If Apple Watch ever becomes as common as the smartphone, TV dramas will get a whole lot less dramatic. You know how when a beloved character is in danger — perhaps there’s a killer stalking them in their own home — and you scream at the screen, telling them what to do?

Well, the Apple Watch’s SOS Mode pretty much does everything you’re telling them to do. It can call the cops, notify a friend, and track your location, all with a squeeze (and maybe a swipe). That might not be great as a standard storytelling trope, but it’s fantastic for your personal safety.

This battle-tough backpack looks killer, too [Review]

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Thule Crossover 2 backpack
Ready for the world, the Thule Crossover 2 backpack.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

If you’re going to be seen carrying the same bag every day, its look and style are as important to many commuters as the bag’s ability to protect its contents.

Many shoulder bags and backpacks excel in one area and underwhelm in the other. Not the 20L Thule Crossover 2 backpack. It can be reviewed with just two words — ruggedly handsome.

Every audiophile’s iPad Pro needs this headphone adapter [Review]

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Satechi Type-C to 3.5mm Audio Headphone Jack Adapter review
Plug headphones or speakers into an 2018 iPad Pro, while also charging the tablet, with Satechi’s latest adapter.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

There’s no headphone jack in the 2018 iPad Pro, which is darn inconvenient for anyone who wants to hook their tablet up to a non-Bluetooth pair of headphones or speakers. Fortunately, Satechi makes a small and simple USB-C adapter with a 3.5mm jack. There’s also a second USB-C port so the tablet can charge at the same time.

In addition, Satechi just released a USB-C cable that can handle 100W of power. Be sure to read our reviews of both.

AirPod survives trip through man who swallowed it

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AirPods sales
Do not eat your AirPods.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple may need to update the specs for AirPods to include one new surprising feature: “stomach-proof”.

One unlucky Taiwanese man discovered this the hard way. After falling asleep, Ben Hsu woke up with one of his AirPods missing. Using Find My iPhone to track down the missing earbud, he started hearing a beeping sound that followed him around the room and realized he made a serious mistake. The AirPod was in his stomach.