Cult of Mac

This week on The CultCast: Is iPhone XS the worst Apple “S” phone of all time? We compare the XS to Apple’s other flagship “S” releases. Plus: We round up what reviewers are saying about iPhone XS and Apple Watch 4; reveal which Apple Watch feature is giving people a serious case of FOMO; and discuss a leaked detail in iOS 12.1 that all but confirms a new iPad event this fall.

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With no mention of it during the iPhone XS keynote, and little sign of it on Apple’s website, it was beginning to look like AirPower had been wiped entirely from Apple’s plans. But it seems the wireless charger isn’t quite dead yet.

AirPower is mentioned in the iPhone XS user guide, early adopters have noticed today. A reference in the latest iOS 12.1 beta also provides hope for the device.

Chinese smartphone maker Huawei recently stole Apple’s crown as the world’s second biggest smartphone maker on volume. But it’s still keen to position itself as a scrappy young upstart, jabbing away at the larger, trillion dollar Cupertino giant.

With that goal in mind, the Chinese manufacturer today trolled Apple at the launch of its iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. How? By parking up a Huawei van outside Apple’s flagship retail store in London to engage with prospective customers.

Chris “Captain America” Evans is the latest star to sign on for an original Apple TV series. Evans will star in and executive-produce Defending Jacob, a limited series based on a best-selling novel from 2012.

It follows the story of a father whose teenage son is accused of murder. Defending Jacob will be Evans’ first non-movie role since he starred in the Opposite Sex miniseries way back in 2000.

Some iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and Apple Watch Series 4 buyers are disappointed after finding out that their shiny new devices won’t be arriving today as expected.

A number of customers are reporting that their delivery dates have slipped to Monday, September 24 — but that may not be the case, after all.

Forget Amazon’s Prime Day, Black Friday, or Cyber Monday — if you’re an Apple fan, the biggest non-holiday day of the year is new device day. And it’s finally here!

As of 8am local time on Friday, September 21, the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and Apple Watch Series 4 go on sale around the world. While we’re still a few hours away from that time rolling around in the U.S, a number of places in the world have already received their devices. And, boy, do their customers look happy!

Hordes of Apple fans hoping to get their hands on the new iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max are starting to form massive lines at the company’s stores all over the globe.

The two new iPhones and Apple Watch Series 4 go on sale Friday, September 21 but there will only be a limited supply available. Some of the iPhone XS Max models sold out within the first few minutes of preorders being opened, but that hasn’t stopped some fans from trying their luck by waiting in line, even if it means standing in the rain for hours.

Check out some of these huge lines:

The iPhone XS is already being delivered to some lucky customers on the far side of the globe.

Apple fans in the U.S. still have over 12 hours to wait before their iPhone XS pre-orders start being delivered, but in New Zealand that pre-ordered the iPhone XS, XS Max and Apple Watch Series 4 are already reveling in their new devices.

One fantastic new feature of iOS 12 is that password manager apps can integrate into the built-in password autofill. You know how when you tap a password field in Safari, and it offers to fill the password in from your iCloud Keychain? It’s pretty handy right?

Now it can also serve up passwords form third-party apps like Dashlane and 1Password. And that’s not all.

While the camera upgrades have some Apple fans considering paying the price of a MacBook for an iPhone, Samsung announced a three-camera smartphone today that will retail for about $400.

While Apple is reportedly on track for a three-camera iPhone sometime next year, the Samsung Galaxy A7 2018 joins Huawei’s P20 Pro as the only handsets to feature a third rear-facing lens.

Amazon hosted its annual “secret” event this morning in Seattle where the company unleashed a tidal wave of new Alexa-powered Echo products that are designed to take on pretty much every major tech company in the world.

From its new microwave to a pricey new subwoofer, Amazon has a new product for pretty much everybody at every price point. The event was so action-packed it was hard to keep up with the catalog of new options, but we’ve rounded them all up so you can figure out what Alexa products you should splurge on next.

Check out all these new goodies:

Anyone who’d like to try out iOS 12.1 can now do so. Apple just seeded the first public beta, a couple of days after the developer-only version.

Be warned: those who are going to trade in their current iPhone for a shiny new iPhone X’s tomorrow absolutely should not install this.

If you record podcasts, audio interviews, or anything else were you need to record and edit a bunch of people talking, then you may already know about Ferrite Recording Studio. It’s an app designed for the exact purpose, making it easy to gather your audio “footage,” edit it, and then post it to your outlet of choice.

Version 2.0 just launched, and it makes the app better than ever.

In an attempt to prevent fraudulent purchases from the iTunes Store, Apple has begun giving each iOS device a “trust score.” Exactly how this is computed isn’t known, but one of the factors is how many phone calls and emails are sent and received by the phone or tablet.

Despite the laudable goal of preventing fraud, an iPhone trust score is something likely to raise the hackles of privacy advocates. Still, Apple promises that it’s not tracking its users.

The iPhone XS debuts tomorrow, but a video showing this device being disassembled is already available. This not only gives the first look at the internal components but reveals some of the details about this smartphone.

Perhaps the most unusual feature of Apple’s new high-end model is the L-shaped battery.

Many of the folks who set their alarms to pre-order Apple’s new products last week are receiving alerts stating that their orders have shipped. These include orders for the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and Apple Watch Series 4.

The earliest delivery dates for the devices are for September 21. This is the same day they should theoretically go on sale in stores, although the most popular models are unlikely to be available straight away.

There are tons of tools for creating or publishing digital content, from Photoshop and WordPress to Sketch and HTML. Anyone looking to break into the digital content industry faces a steep learning curve. That makes this massively discounted lesson bundle a very valuable resource indeed.

If you’ve wondered how Apple set about creating its stunning new Apple Watch Series 4 motion faces, a new behind-the-scenes video will shed some light.

The biggest shocker? That the high resolution videos — incorporating fire, water, and vapor — weren’t generated on a computer. In fact, they were shot in a studio with real elements. And they look all the better for it.

The iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max go on sale tomorrow morning, and — as has become tradition — fans are already lining up.

One report published today claims that, by noon local time on Thursday, around 250 people had already lined up outside an Apple Store in Singapore. The person at the front of the line had flown from Vietnam the previous day, and had started queuing at 6 a.m. Thursday.

Deliveroo, a popular online food delivery company which operates in 84 cities around the world, has come up with an ingenious idea to appeal to folks with money to spend: Deliver food to people as they queue up waiting for the next iPhone.

The service is letting people order food from relevant eateries by Deliveroo, and then have it delivered to their precise spot in the line. It’s available in a total of 12 countries. Sadly, the U.S. is not one of them!

Florida Senator Marco Rubio isn’t happy about Mac apps. Specifically, he’s not happy about Mac apps stealing user data and sending it off to remote servers in China. And he’s perhaps most unhappy that Apple failed to act sooner than it did.

In a letter sent Wednesday, Rubio voiced his complaints to Apple CEO Tim Cook. In it, he asked why Apple failed to immediately act upon information it had about an app, Adware Doctor, which was behaving in a malicious manner.

If you’re still using your iPhone’s alarm clock to wake you up in the mornings, you’re about to be amazed at how awesome waking up can become. Right there inside the Clock app is a Bedtime tab, which will make using olde-timey iPhone alarms seem like carrying a wind-up travel alarm clock with you on a business trip.

Not only does Bedtime wake you up with soothing sounds, it also tracks your sleep. It even reminds you when it’s time for bed! Let’s check out what it does and how to use it.

Need more proof that the iPhone XS and XS Max are the most amazing cameras Apple’s ever made?

John M. Chu, director of the breakout hit movie Crazy Rich Asians was enlisted to shoot a new short film shot entirely on the iPhone XS Max. This is not the first time an A-list director has only used the iPhone to make a movie, but what stands out about Chu’s short is he used zero equipment. No lenses. No lights. No stabilizers. Just the iPhone in his hand.

Watch the full short film right here:

The new Walkie-Talkie app is being lauded by Apple Watch owners as the best new feature that came out as part of watchOS 5. But for some wearers, there’s a serious problem: they can’t find anyone to talk to.

Walkie-Talkie gives Apple Watch owners the ability to turn their wrist into a sort of digital two-way radio transceiver to talk with friends and family. It’s a super-convenient way to have short bursts of conversation when you don’t want to talk on the phone. If you don’t have any friends with a compatible Apple Watch, though, there’s no way to get in on the action.

Twitter has been full of people feeling the pains of Walkie-Talkie FOMO the last few days:

Weak HomePod sales caused it to fall off of the list of top 5 smartspeakers during the second quarter of this year. But there’s a very important metric where this product is beating all its rivals.

And it’s a category where Apple excels: making money.