Apple is getting out of the router business. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
The biggest tech company in the world is getting out of WiFi. Kind of…
Apple decided to finally put the nail in the coffin for its lineup of AirPort routers that haven’t been updated in years. We’ve known this day has been coming for nearly two years, but Apple just officially gave us the bad news.
The handy but not vital tricks that come with 3D Touch are reportedly going away. Photo: Apple
Say goodbye to 3D Touch. A very reliable analyst predicts one of the iPhones coming in autumn won’t have this pressure-sensitive technology, and none of the 2019 devices will.
Ming-Chi Kuo says it’s all because Apple is changing the components of its displays to make them lighter and less likely to break.
Steve Jobs’ brief for iPad: A piece of glass for emailing on the toilet Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
Ever since iOS 9, you’ve been able to block ads, trackers, and other content in Mobile Safari. But as websites fought back, and the content-blocker apps added yet more rules in return, the war escalated. Blocker apps started to hit Apple’s hard limit of 50,000 rules.
Probably the most popular and comprehensive blocker is 1Blocker, which just got superseded by 1Blocker X. The new app splits off itself into seven “extensions,” each of which have 50,000 rules, bringing the total to 350,000 rules.
This doesn’t just allow 1Blocker X to boast in the app store. It also allows whole new categories of content blocking. The new setup works slightly differently, so let’s see how to get things started.
Maybe you’ve heard of this thing called cryptocurrency? Besides an investment craze, it’s a scene that may well define the future of money. One of the most popular and promising coins out there is Ethereum.
Maciej Kocemba, Opera Touch product manager, demonstrates how easily this mobile browser does a search. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
The Opera Touch web browser tries to solve one problem: people want to use their phone one-handed, but searching the Web takes both hands. The whole focus of this just released app is one-handed searching and browsing.
Also announced today was Opera Flow, a simple method for synchronizing the new mobile browser with this company’s desktop one.
Screenshots can be saved anywhere, including iCloud. Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
On your Mac, screenshots are pretty automatic. You hit the shortcut of your choice, and the resulting picture is saved to your desktop as a PNG image file. But what if you want a JPG? We’ve already covered that. How about saving the image to somewhere other than your desktop. Like iCloud maybe? Today we’ll see how to change the Mac’s default screenshot location to an iCloud folder.
If an EU law goes into effect, a dispute between Apple and Spotify over subscription fees would go to mediation. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Spotify objects to Apple collecting a share of all the subscription fees paid by iOS users.A law proposed today in European Union would force Apple and Spotify into mediation on this issue.
And it’s not just Spotify. Under the proposal, Apple, Google, and other tech giants would have to appoint mediators in all their disagreements with smaller companies.
Two of the iPhone SE 2 images shared online. Photo: Letemsvetemapplem
If you’re on the lookout for a new iPhone with 3.5mm headphone jack, your dream may be answered with the upcoming iPhone SE 2.
Despite a previous report stating that Apple would ditch the popular port for the new handset, photos circulating on Chinese social media suggest this may not be the case after all. Whether that’s a good thing or not will largely depend on whether you’re still mourning the arrival of earbuds with a Lightning connection!
With 6 e-Books and 12.5 hours of content, learn the latest in machine learning. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Machine learning is shaping up to reshape the world, and there’s plenty of opportunity for developers. So it’s a great time to learn how machine learning works.
Startup will then sell your solution to (friendly) governments. Photo illustration: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
A new startup, based in the United Arab Emirates, promises to give $3 million to anyone who can successfully hack iOS devices.
The Crowdfense startup is looking for zero-day exploits, referring to hacking tools which exploit vulnerabilities unknown to the system creators. In addition to iOS, the company is seeking zero-day exploits for Windows, MacOS, iOS, and Android.
Charlotte Prodger is just the latest artist to use an Apple device for her work. Screenshot: Film London
One of the works nominated for this year’s Turner Prize, an annual award given out to the best British visual artist, is a short film that was shot on an iPhone.
Shortlisted Scottish artist Charlotte Prodger filmed her video Bridgit on an iPhone. It’s just the latest example of how Apple’s devices can be used by creators to make art.
The iPhone X hasn't sold in the quantities many expected. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Samsung has joined the chorus of voices complaining about weak iPhone X sales, citing the “slow demand for flexible OLED panels” in its earnings report as one of the reasons for its performance in the past financial quarter.
Although the display making part of Samsung’s business experienced 3.4 percent increased sales over the three month period, this was less than the 20 percent growth of Samsung in its entirety.
Qualcomm will share manufacturing duties with Intel. Photo: Qualcomm
Breakups can be complicated. If you’ve built a life together, then extricating yourself from the other party isn’t necessarily as easy as ripping off a band-aid.
That’s a life lesson which applies to Qualcomm and Apple. Despite spending the last year-and-a-half feuding with one another, it seems that 2018-era iPhones are still going to rely on Qualcomm for a certain number of chips.
Office running on a Mac shows that the long fight between Apple and Microsoft has been over for years. Photo: Microsoft
Microsoft’s head of marketing says his company is no longer interested in battling with Apple. This is surely a shocking statement to anyone who remembers the days when these two brawled relentlessly. But those days are over.
The change was brought about by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who accepted the need to bring his company’s products to whatever devices could run them, not just Windows.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has urged President Donald Trump to avoid tariffs with China. Photos: White House/Apple
Apple’s CEO and the President of the United States took a meeting today in the Oval Office. Trade was at the top of the agenda for Tim Cook and Trump, as the President and China’s leaders increasingly put tariffs on each other’s products.
Cook was already in Washington to attend a White House formal dinner last night to honor the French President.
Google Play Music is reportedly merging with YouTube Music. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
In the streaming music battle, the competition is between Spotify and Apple Music. Google Play Music is barely a blip, with 4 percent of the U.S. market.
But the situation is more complex than that. Google’s YouTube video service actually dominates streaming music, though it isn’t supposed to be in that business at all.
According to unconfirmed reports, Google plan is to merge its music service with another, and also turn millions of free YouTube listeners into paying customers.
Choose your favorite hero, or villain, from Avengers: Infinity War. Photo: OtterBox
In case you’ve been living in a cave in Wakanda, tomorrow is the premiere of Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War movie. Super-fans can celebrate with new Avengers iPhone cases from OtterBox.
These feature characters from Marvel’s highly anticipated movie, including Iron Man, Black Panther, Captain America and Thanos. Plus, there’s one that combines multiple images from this blockbuster superhero team-up flick.
QuickTime Player can record all kinds of things. Photo: Cult of Mac
Today we’re going to learn how to record a movie that’s playing on your Apple TV direct to your Mac, with no wires required, no weird hacks, and not even any third-party software. The tools are all built into every Mac that ships. To record a movie off the “screen” of your Apple TV, you’re going to use Apple’s QuickTime app, and one of its lesser-known but super-powerful features.
There’s little that’s more hipster than an audio cassette. Its sound is far from perfect, it’s impractical, and — most important of all — it is easy to see that you’re using one. But that doesn’t mean that tapes were all bad. Lo-fi cassette decks actually add some rather pleasant audio artifacts to audio.
So what? Well, now you don’t need to lug around a Walkman and a bag of tapes to enjoy the retro sound of audio cassettes, because there’s a) an iOS audio plugin and b) a website that will tape-ify any track you like.
There is now a nuclear option when shopping for an iPhone. Photo: Caviar
A Cold War is all about rhetoric and saber-rattling. A Russian company called Caviar is taking advantage of growing tension between the United States and the former Soviet Union with a patriotic iPhone celebrating Russian President Vladimir Putin and the country’s newest cruise missile.
Apple's premium pricing strategy for the first-generation HomePod may keep it from ever being really successful. Photo: Apple
The fact that the HomePod isn’t selling well means that Apple has probably missed its chance to ever be a significant part of the smart speaker market, according to analysts from Deutsche Bank.
Sales of inexpensive rival devices are exploding, while Apple’s very pricy offering sits on the shelf. That may lock customers into non-Apple solutions.
iPhone naming is all kinds of broken these days. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple could be about to change the way it names successive generations of iPhone. The aim would be to simplify a naming pattern that has become increasingly unwieldy in the past few years.
It’s about time — although that doesn’t mean a new iPhone naming system will necessarily make things any less confusing. Here’s why.
Drafts is where writing starts, before moving on to its final destination. Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac
While there are dozens of note-taking and writing apps available on iOS, few strike the balance of rich features and simple design the way Drafts does. Whether you’re looking for a quick way to digitally jot down a passing thought, take notes in a meeting, or store an address or phone number, the Drafts app makes it easy to quickly capture text before taking action.
Now your little ones can get to know Alexa with the new Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition.
It’s just like a regular Echo Dot, but it comes inside a colorful protective case and a one-year subscribtion to the “FreeTime Unlimited” service that gives parents complete control over content. You’ll have to pay a premium for those extra features, though.
The editors of Cult of Mac Watch Store have rounded up a beautiful collection of Apple Watch bands, chargers and stands specifically picked for Mom in our Mother's Day Gift Guide.  Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac
Mother’s Day is on Sunday, May 13 — mark that down and get ready to pay homage to the woman who gave you life. How about a little something for her Apple Watch?
Cult of Mac has rounded up a beautiful collection of Apple Watch bands, chargers and stands specifically picked for Mom in our Mother’s Day Gift Guide.
If you mother is a nerd, a Luddite, a traveler or style maven, we’ve got you covered. There’s a unique gift for every Apple Watch-loving momma out there. Check out Cult of Mac Watch Store’s Mother’s Day Gift Guide, and shop now for on-time delivery.