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Leaked Apple repair videos cough up some secrets

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Apple repair techs have access to a lot of gear other people don't.
Apple repair techs have access to a lot of gear other people don't.
Screenshot: Apple

Editor’s Note: Not surprisingly, these internal Apple videos are now gone from YouTube. The iPhone maker undoubtedly asked that they be removed.


What appears to be a collection of Apple’s internal video guides to repairing various devices has been posted on YouTube. These show the company’s methods to fix some components of the iPhone X, the iMac Pro 2017, and the MacBook Pro 2016 and 2017.

Apple doesn’t show anyone outside of the company how to service its products. Third-party repair companies have to figure it out for themselves. So this is a rare look inside official Apple repair procedures.

Bag this Apple job and Jony Ive will be your boss

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Apple job
Apple's Industrial Design team at the Apple Watch unveiling.
Photo: Leander Kahney / Cult of Mac

If you have design chops and believe your ideas belong in the same room as Jony Ive, Apple has an opening on the team that creates some of the world’s most important tech.

Apple is currently accepting applications for an industrial designer to join the Industrial Design Group in Cupertino. This is a tight-knit group of around 20 designers headed by the legendary Ive that are seen as the principal inventors of Apple’s iconic devices.

This great stand turns your iPad into a tiny iMac [Review]

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Sturdy and stylish, the AboveTek iPad stand is super-adjustable.
Sturdy and stylish, this stand is also super-adjustable.
Photo: AboveTek

This is less of a review, and more of a heads-up. If you’re looking for a desktop iPad stand, then you should probably just go ahead and buy the AboveTek Elegant Aluminium iPad Stand Swivel Stand.

Yes, I’m serious. It may be a no-brand Chinese commodity gadget, sold under different names by different sellers, but it’s also the best iPad desk stand I’ve ever used.

Sony’s monstrous 48 megapixel sensor could boost iPhone camera

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The detail you can get on Sony’s new sensor is astounding.
Photo: Sony

Future iPhone cameras could soon rival the pixel count of high-end DSLRs thanks to a new 48 megapixel sensor created by Sony.

Sony says it has created the highest pixel count sensor for a smartphone with its new IMX586 sensor. Usually higher pixel count means lower quality low-light photos, but Sony has managed to merge the best of both worlds. And it might make you want to toss your DSLR.

Your iPhone X is still worth almost as much as you paid for it

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Ex-student sentenced to 3 years in prison for massive iPhone scam
Your used iPhone value might surprise you. You could resell your iPhone X and recoup most of the cost of a new 2018 model.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

You may have gulped a bit when you put down $999 for your iPhone X. But turns out it was a good investment. Half a year later, your device has depreciated surprisingly little.

B-Stock, a B2B company selling used computers, says that the iPhone X has held its value better than any Apple phone in its experience. And iPhones do better than their rivals.

Your iPhone is your time card with Hours [50 Essential iOS Apps #41]

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The Hours app running timer
Time tracking is as easy as hitting "start" with the Hours app
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

50 Essential iOS Apps: HoursIf you’ve ever done a freelance project, worked as a consultant, or spent any time being self employed, you know how important keeping track of time spent working can be. Some people prefer to log their time on a sheet of paper, while others have little routines to mark the start and stop of work. Hours for iPhone is a time tracking app designed to make logging your time easy.

Gorgeous concept shows off Apple Watch Series 4’s big display

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Apple Watch Series 4’s display will be bigger.
Photo: Concept Creator

The grand unveiling of the Apple Watch Series 4 could be just a couple weeks away and based on a new mock-up, you’re going to love the way it looks.

Based on leaked info of Apple’s upcoming wearable, the gorgeous concept shows what the device will look like with its bigger, bezel-free display and rounded corners.

Take a look:

Planet of the Apps star trashes Apple’s marketing of show

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Planet of the Apps
Gary Vaynerchuk was one of the judges on the Apple reality show.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s reality TV show Planet of the Apps was disappointing, but one of its stars, Gary Vaynerchuk, blames the show’s failure on something other than its misjudged content.

In a new episode of his podcast, entrepreneur and internet personality Vaynerchuk says that Apple failed to properly market the show.

Apple lags behind its biggest rivals in mobile download speeds

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iphone x
The iPhone has a disadvantage compared to its rivals.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

When you take into account the build quality, design, hardware features and, of course, mobile operating system, the iPhone is our pick for the world’s greatest smartphone product line. But it’s not no. 1 in everything — as speed tests make clear.

In download speed tests carried out by Ookla LLC, the company behind the Speedtest app and website, the current-generation iPhones lag behind the top smartphones made by both Samsung and Google. This means slower website loading, movies starting more quickly, and higher quality video calls.

Start designing whether you know how or not [Deals]

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No graphic design skills? No problem. This web based app makes graphic design accessible to anyone.
No graphic design skills? No problem. This web based app makes graphic design accessible to anyone.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Graphic design is one skill with a million uses. Whether you’re building your brand, designing a website, tightening up a resume, or anything else that involves images, knowing how to make a great looking image goes a long way. With the right software, you don’t really need to know what you’re doing anyway.

Apple could ruin iPhone’s fast charging feature this year

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iPhone 18W fast charger
Choose your iPhone fast charger carefully.
Photo: Chongdiantou

Apple finally brought fast charging to the iPhone last fall, but with this year’s refresh, one big change could ruin it.

Recent reports have claimed Apple will ship 18W fast charging adapters with all 2018 devices, which would be terrific — but if yours breaks or disappears, don’t think about replacing it with a cheaper model from another manufacturer.

Fortnite is getting another new SMG, big Slurp Juice improvements

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Fortnite Slurp Juice
Slurp Juice will become even more useful in the next Fortnite patch.
Photo: Epic Games

Epic Games is introducing another new submachine gun to Fortnite this week as it continues its mission to change close-quarters combat.

One developer has also confirmed that Slurp Juice will see big improvements in the game’s next content update. Here’s what you have to look forward to.

Snapchat is abandoning its payments service

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Snapcash
You'll have to find some other way to pay for your nudie pics.
Photo: Snapchat

Snapchat is shutting down its Snapcash peer-to-peer payment service, which allowed users to send money to one another.

With other services like Venmo, PayPal, Zelle, and Apple Pay Cash offering the same functionality, there was no room for another service on the market.

Apple investigates fraudulent iTunes charges worth thousands of dollars

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iTunes
Scam affected users in Singapore.
Photo: Apple

Apple is investigating complaints from dozens of customers in Singapore, who claim to have had hundreds of dollars taken from their accounts, supposedly for iTunes payments.

Some of the victims lost up to $7,000. Others lost less than this, but nonetheless had their available balance “completely wiped out” by the fraudulent charges.

HomePod update will bring phone calls, voicemail, multiple timers

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HomePod market share
The new HomePod could offer a neat new feature.
Photo: Apple

HomePod is expected to get even smarter this fall when Apple rolls out a big software update.

A new report claims the $349 device will be able to handle phone calls, retrieve your voicemail, and run multiple timers. It could also give you the ability to search for songs by using their lyrics, and to translate languages.

Chinese company could compete with Samsung on OLED iPhone screens

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BOE Technology Group already makes LCDs for Apple, and this Chinese company now wants to produce OLED iPhone screens.
BOE Technology Group already makes LCDs for Apple, and this Chinese company now wants to produce OLED iPhone screens.
Photo: BOE Technology Group

One of the most important components of the 2018 iPhone could be produced by a company with very strong ties to the Chinese government.

BOE Technology Group already makes some LCD screens for Apple, but also wants to manufacture OLED displays used in flagship iPhone models.

Score a lifetime of VPN protection at 96 percent off [Deals]

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CoM - VPNSecure- Lifetime Subscription
This great deal will land you powerful VPN protection for up to 5 devices at once.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

If the news of the last few weeks tells us anything, it’s that online security are no joke. Maybe you don’t have to worry about foreign governments snooping on your emails…or maybe you do. Either way, one great way to guard your online activity is to connect with a VPN.

Save 98 percent on a 5-course coding education [Deals]

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This bundle of coding courses will give you the basic skills you need to build great things on and for the web.
This bundle of coding courses will give you the basic skills you need to build great things on and for the web.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Coding is key to so many careers these days. It’s also just a valuable skill, whether for creative projects, building a website, gathering data, the list goes on. But learning to code can be daunting, so this massively discounted bundle of coding lessons is a must-see.

Fire up Apple Watch with this on-the-wall charging stand

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Wiplabs Apple Watch Wall Charger
Wiplabs' Wall Charging Stand will allow you to charge Apple Watch on any wall socket while neatly storing the MagSafe cable inside the charger.
Photo: Wiplabs

For those of us seeking space for yet another Apple Watch accessory, fear not. I’ve found a modern, minimal wall charging stand that powers up Apple Watch directly via socket.

Talk about a discreet and dual-use Apple Watch charging stand. Wiplabs Wall Charging Stand has no footprint. Nightstand full? Desk a nightmare? Pop this into your nearest wall socket, and voila … you’re juicing up Apple Watch.

Three more cities will get super-fast AT&T 5G this year

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AT&T logo
AT&T and arch-rival Verizon will be among the first U.S. carriers to offer 5G.
Photo: Luismt94/Wikipedia CC

AT&T promised to bring the next generation of cellular wireless technology to a dozen cities before the end of this year. It just hasn’t revealed which ones yet.

The carrier started the teasing process a few months ago, announcing that Atlanta, Dallas and Waco, Texas, will get mobile 5G.

How to make a website that fits inside its own link

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Itty Bitty could turn paper posters into web servers.
Itty Bitty could turn paper posters into web servers.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Quick question: If you wanted to publish a quick one-page website right now, how would you do it? You’d either put it up on a service like Tumblr, or you’d have to register a domain name, find a host, and Zzzzzzzz. But what if you could just create that web page, then zip it up into its own link? Whenever anyone clicked on that link, it would unpack itself, and show up in their browser like any regular web page. That’s what Itty Bitty does.

It’s pretty wild, and gets even wilder. Because while you can paste your link anywhere, like a Tweet, you can also turn that link into a QR code and print it. If you do so, then that paper QR code contains your actual website. Whenever anyone scans it, it will be unpacked, and rendered, no internet required.

Amazon’s iPhone app uses computer vision to identify and replace screws and other parts

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Amazon's new Part Finder feature for iPhone uses computer vision to identify and buy hundreds of different types of fasteners.
Amazon's new Part Finder feature for iPhone uses computer vision to identify and buy hundreds of different types of fasteners.
Photo: Sheila Sund via Flickr

Until recently, if you needed to replace a screw, nut or bolt, you’d take a trip to the hardware store. With Amazon’s latest update to its iPhone app, there’s no need.

Part Finder is a new feature of Amazon’s camera search that can identify hundreds of types of screws, nuts, bolts, washers and other fasteners. Once ID’d, they can be bought straight from the app.

iPhone lets Phillies fans order a ballpark beer by text

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It's the fullfillment of many a baseball fan's dreams: beer by text.
It's the fullfillment of many a baseball fan's dreams: beer by text.
Photo: Aramark

The Philadelphia Phillies and Aramark started a pilot program that lets fans order beer from their seats using an iPhone.

The service makes use of Apple Business Chat, a service that launched this spring designed to let customers send messages to companies without strings attached.