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Apple surprises Wall Street with better-than-expected earnings

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iPhone
The iPhone is a money printing machine.
Photo: Jim Merithew

There’s a lot of good news in Apple’s second earnings report of 2018 that should keep investors happy going into the next quarter.

Revenue during Q2 2018 hit an all-time high for a March quarter at $61.1 billion, thanks in large part to 52.2 million iPhones sold. Apple CEO Tim Cook says iPhone X sales are still killing it, too.

Build your own phone, make any game VR-ready and more [Crowdfund Roundup]

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Kite kit Crowdfund Roundup
Kite kit lets you build your own phone from scratch.
Photo: iSquare Mobility

Crowdfund Roundup bugIf you need an ultra-affordable smartphone that features everything you need, why not build it yourself? The Kite kit lets you create your own Android-powered smartphone from scratch, just as you want it — and it won’t break the bank.

It’s just one of the awesome ideas in this week’s Crowdfund Roundup. We’ve also got the world’s smartest wearable, an awesome mechanical gaming keyboard with a twist, and more!

Facebook makes logins easy, but at what cost?

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Maybe it's time to stop letting Facebook manage your logins.
Maybe it's time to stop letting Facebook manage your logins.
Photo: FirmBee/Pixabay CC

This post is brought to you by Dashlane.

With all of the news about data insecurity at Facebook, you might be thinking twice about using the social network to log in to other apps. Sure, using the Facebook Login feature makes it simple to create an account or log in to apps and websites.

Unfortunately, it also adds to the data dossier Facebook is compiling about you and your friends.

Optics startup claims Apple stole its design for dual-lens iPhone camera

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iPhone 8 camera
The iPhone dual-lens cameras are the subject of a lawsuit claiming deliberate Apple patent infringement.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

A small company that makes dual cameras for cellphones claims Apple is infringing on several of its patents. The Israeli startup says it showed Apple prototypes for a miniature telephone lens, and Apple used them to create its own.

According to Corephotonics, the iPhone X, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone 7 Plus all use technology for which it holds patents.

Apple drops big batch of betas for iOS and macOS developers

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iPhone X Product Red Wallpaper
Beware this iOS 12.1 bug.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Developers received a big batch of updates this morning as Apple dropped the third set of betas of its upcoming software updates for iOS, macOS, tvOS and watchOS.

iOS 11.4 beta 3 was made available to developers today, bringing a host of bug fixes and performance improvements to the iPhone and iPad. The new update adds a number of features that were missing from iOS 11.3 while also adding some crucial new goodies.

How to take long exposure iPhone photos [Quick Tips]

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live photos
Create stunning long exposure style photos in seconds on your iPhone.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

They say the best camera is the one you have with you. And when isn’t the iPhone with you? iPhone photography has created a whole new generation of amateur photographers. While you may be looking for the next great app to help produce some stunning photos, did you know you can easily recreate a long exposure style image right within the camera app?

Check out our latest Quick Tips video below to see how.

olloclip iPhone X lenses give photogs six new perspectives

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iPhone X lenses
Clip and shoot with olloclip lenses for iPhone X.
Photo: olloclip

Mobile photographers using the iPhone X can now shoot wider and closer, thanks to a new olloclip lens system.

Launched Tuesday, the newly designed edge mount aligns with both front and rear cameras on Apple’s flagship handset. It enables iPhone X photographers to quickly swap out any of the six olloclip lenses.

Fortnite season 4 shakes the game up with a meteor strike

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Fortnite iOS 14
The year's biggest iOS game just got even better.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Unless you’re living under a rock, you’re probably aware of Fortnite, the biggest game on iOS (and just about every other platform) right now.

Well, a great game is about get even greater thanks to the rollout of the 4.0 version of the iOS game, a.k.a. Fortnite Season 4. Check out the trailer below.

Apple Watch may have helped save the life of Florida teen

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Apple Watch Series 3
Teen's Apple Watch alerted her of an unusually high resting heart rate.
Photo: Apple

A Florida teenager reportedly had her life saved by her trusty Apple Watch after it alerted her to a dangerously high resting heart rate.

18-year-old Deanna Recktenwald was at church when her Apple Watch displayed a warning, noting that her heart rate had hit 190 beats per minute and that she should seek medical attention.

Lumos Helmet gets gesture controls with help from Apple Watch

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Lumos Helmet
Lumos Helmet now works with Apple Watch.
Photo: Lumos

If you want to be seen and safe on the road when you’re cycling, you need a Lumos Helmet. The world’s first smart bike helmet offers more than just protection, with built-in lights, brake and turn signals. And now it’s even better, thanks to Apple Watch.

Lumos today launched its new watchOS app, which lets you control your helmet’s lighting using simple gestures. The company also confirmed that the Lumos Helmet will soon become the first bike helmet to be sold in Apple stores throughout the United States and Europe.

Cross-platform iOS and macOS apps may not arrive until 2019

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Coronavirus could have a surprisingly positive impact on App Store revenue
Mac apps? iOS apps? There soon might be no difference.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple is supposedly working on a way to let developers create apps which work on iPhones, iPads, and Macs — but don’t expect to see it any time soon.

When news of the plan was first leaked in December, it was suggested that the feature may be announced at this year’s WWDC event. However, according to Apple watcher John Gruber, while Apple may still be working on a project like this, it is more likely to arrive with MacOS 10.15 and iOS 13 in 2019.

AI improves Microsoft Word for Mac in Office 365

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Office for Mac
There are new features for Office for Mac subscribers, and Microsoft demonstrates them in a video.
Photo: Microsoft

Microsoft has good news for users of Mac, iPad, and iPhone: there are improvements in Office 365 for all of you.

Word for Mac now uses neural machine translation to convert text between 11 different languages. This AI system is intended to produce more accurate results.

iPhone sobriety test could tell if you’re too drunk to drive

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AlcoGait
Combining alcohol with your iPhone can be fun. Combining it with driving is often tragic.
Photo: Amazon

You’ve had a couple of cold ones, then head to your car. Suddenly, your iPhone starts shrieking out an alert. It’s telling you that you’re too impaired to get behind the wheel. 

This is the goal of AlcoGait, which uses a smarthone’s built-in sensors to monitor the way the user is walking.  AI is used to detect if the person’s gait indicates they’re not up to driving.

Render shows 2018 iPhone SE in all its budget glory

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2018 iPhone SE render
This might be the 2018 iPhone SE. This image comes from @OnLeaks, who gave us an early look at the iPhone 8.
Photo: @OnLeaks

A couple of new renders and a video from a reliable source show what might be the next-generation iPhone SE. The device shown looks a lot like the earlier version, but updated with some of Apple’s newest tech.

Most notably, the Home button is gone, being replaced by a screen cutout with Face ID sensors.

Here’s how to find which apps are about to stop working on your Mac

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drill bits
Imagine 64 of these drill bits all working together.
Photo: Steven Depolo/Flickr CC

Sometime, probably quite soon, your Mac will stop running 32-bit apps. All new Macs have 64-bit processors, and Apple wants to phase out older 32-bit apps in order to “enable faster system performance” for your Mac as a whole. What this means is that, in an as-yet-unspecified future version on macOS, 32-bit apps will stop running altogether.

If you’re running macOS High Sierra 10.13.4, then you may already have seen a warning pop up onto the screen when you launch older apps. Today we’ll see how to view a list of all the 32-bit apps on your Mac, so you can either harass the developer to update them, look for a better-supported alternative, or just delete them.

Save big on iMac and other Apple gear today at Best Buy [Deals & Steals]

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iMac Pro
Save big bucks on a new iMac and much more
Photo: Apple/Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

In today’s edition of Deals & Steals, we’ve discovered a great deal on a new iMac and much more, as part of Best Buy’s 24 hour Flash Sale. You can also get your hands on the HomePod for a nice discount!

Elsewhere, save big on a bonanza of PC gaming parts and a mounted phone charger.

Note: On some of these deals, Cult of Mac might earn a small commission through an affiliate link. However, we pick our daily Deals & Steals strictly on their potential value to our readers.

Most of these deals are good for a limited time only, so act fast before the prices change!

Deals & Steals: Save on Apple accessories

Apple might make its own ultra-fast iPhone 5G modems

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iPhone 5G
Rather than going with another company, Apple might make its own iPhone 5G modems.
Graphic: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

A job post shows Apple is hiring an engineer to lead a team designing 5G modems.  This may be mean that the company is going to stop outsourcing these wireless chips.

Apple currently sources its LTE modems from Qualcomm, but there have been reports that it’s working with Intel on next-generation modems. Maybe the iPhone maker decided to kick Intel to the curb too.

2018 iPhones may not come with free headphone dongle

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iPhone-Lightning
New regulations could force Apple to ditch Lightning cables in Europe.
Photo: Tinhte

Apple might be planning to make it even more difficult to use your old 3.5mm headphones if you buy a new iPhone this year.

New iPhones have included a Lightning port adapter for headphones ever since Apple removed the headphone jack on the iPhone 7. That free dongle is about to go away this year, according to one Apple analyst.

Pro tip: Stop iOS automatically adding suggested apps to the Dock

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suggested apps dock
Suggested apps are a great Dock feature, but you can still switch them off.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Pro Tip Cult of Mac bugI love the new iOS 11 Dock. Do you love the new iOS 11 Dock? I bet you totally dig it. But maybe we love it a little too much, and end up jamming it so full of apps that every icon becomes too small to tap. If that’s the case, then you might appreciate this tip. Did you know that you can remove the three-app section on the right side of the dock? The one where iOS automatically shows apps it thinks you might want to use right now?

Is iPhone X really a flop? We’ll know for sure tomorrow

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Apple earnings
Investors are hoping for good news from Tim Cook.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The second Apple earnings report of 2018 is set to come out on May 1 and Wall Street’s top analysts are worried that disappointing news is on the horizon.

Rumors have been circulating for months that iPhone X sales have been far weaker than Apple expected. The company’s stock price has been slipping in the last two weeks leading up to the Q2 2018 earnings report. Everyone’s waiting to see if Apple can pull out another surprise, but the signs don’t look too promising.

Per usual, Cult of Mac will be here to live blog all the action as it transpires on Tuesday, May 1, at 2 p.m. Pacific. Here’s what to watch for on the call:

Steve Jobs autograph is a bargain at only $20,000

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Steve Jobs autograph
The elusive Steve Jobs autograph is an expensive pursuit.
Photo: Press Pass Collectibles

As Apple collectibles go, a Steve Jobs autograph is almost as rare as the Apple 1. Both are pricey investments.

However, a TIME magazine cover featuring Jobs and the signature he loathed giving out is kind of a bargain at a penny shy of $20,000.