Cult of Mac

Apple will report its quarterly earnings this Thursday and, according to analysts, it could be about to beat its own record for most profitable quarter in corporate history.

The current forecasts call for Apple to announce a net income of at least $19 billion for the three months leading up to December 2017. The holiday quarter, which is traditionally Apple’s biggest, was the quarter in which Apple introduced its next-gen iPhone X and iPhone 8 handsets. Up to now, Apple’s most successful quarter of all time was in 2015.

In a weekend report to investors, reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities reiterates that Apple is planning two OLED iPhones and one LCD model for this year. The two OLED models, he says, be 5.8- and 6.5-inches in size, while the LCD model will be 6.1-inches.

This differs from a report last week suggesting that Apple is leaning toward two LCD iPhones and a single larger OLED model for its 2018-era iPhones.

A game in which you stick to surfaces in order to capture slices of pizza, while avoiding enemies? Yep, it’s another oddball (but brilliant) iOS puzzle game.

That’s just one of the picks we’ve highlighted for this week’s “Awesome Apps” roundup. We’ve also got major upgrades of Logic Pro X and Apple’s educational Swift Playgrounds, and a Friday the 13th title which really shouldn’t work, but totally does. Check out our picks below.

Watching people like Elon Musk change the world every few seconds, it’s easy to feel less than productive. But even the top entrepreneurs and creatives are human, so their output is the result of habits that anyone can develop.

Update: Juuk’s added five new Vitero Apple Watch bands now available for preorder, which will ship the first week of February. The new finishes available for preorder are: Vitero Cosmic Grey, Vitero Granite, Vitero Ruby Silver, Vitero Silver and%20Vitero%20Ruby%20Grey.%20Many%20of%20the%20original%20Vitero%20finishes%20are%20sold%20out%20until%20June: Vitero%20Fire, Vitero%20Cerulean, Vitero%20Ruby%20Grey,%20Vitero%20Citron, Vitero%20Sapphire and%20Vitero%20Crimson. 

Best%20List:%20Juuk%20Design%20aluminum%20Vitero%20Apple%20Watch%20band

Our%20friends%20at%20Juuk%20have%20done%20it%20again!%20The%20Hong%20Kong-based%20company%20has%20created%20a%20totally%20unique,%20aluminum%20Apple%20Watch%20band%20with%20an%20aggressive%20design%20inspired%20by%20motor%20racing.Juuk’s%20Vitero%20band%20looks,%20feels%20and%20performs%20like%20no%20other%20Apple%20Watch%20band%20on%20the%20market%20–%20or%20any%20watch%20band%20for%20that%20matter.%20When%20these%20bands%20debuted%20a%20few%20months%20ago,%20they%20sold%20out%20quickly%20and%20a%20new%20batch%20won’t%20be%20back%20from%20production%20until%20June.Until%20then,%20Juuk’s%20satiated%20customers%20with%20five%20brand-new%20finishes%20available%20now%20for%20preorder%20to%20ship%20the%20first%20week%20of%20February%20— Vitero Cosmic Grey, Vitero Granite, Vitero Ruby Silver, Vitero Silver and Vitero%20Ruby%20Grey. These%20will%20sell%20out,%20so%20reserve%20yours%20today! 

In this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine: Don’t make the mistake of comparing HomePod to rival smart speakers and lamenting its $349 price tag. There are good reasons why the device costs more than three times as much as an Amazon Echo — and yet is still an absolute steal.

In this week’s issue, you’ll find that story and more. Learn awesome Apple Watch tricks and tips to get the most out of your wearable. Discover how to add sketches to emails in iOS 11. Get your free subscription to Cult of Mac Magazine from iTunes. Or read on for this week’s top stories.

The HomePod presales have begun, but we’ll tell you why Apple’s new smart speaker may be a huge flop, this week on The CultCast. Plus: Audiophiles are comparing HomePod’s tech to speakers that cost $85,000; Apple adds some long-awaited features to iOS 11; how to back up your iCloud photo library to your PC (and why you should). And we wrap with another episode of Drone Chat! This time, we’ll tell you why DJI’s Mavic Air is the perfect drone for almost everyone.

Our thanks to Pitney Bowes for supporting this episode. Print postage from your office and take advantage of special shipping discounts at pb.com/cultcast, and beat the postage rate increase with exclusive discounts on letters. Plans start at just $5 a month!

Logic Pro, GarageBand’s big brother, just got a big update to coincide with the NAMM music trade show. In addition to lots of new effects plugins, and a couple of relaxed new Drummers is something called Smart Tempo. This banishes the click track, and lets you create music that is much more organic, but still perfectly in time.

Apple has whipped up some new commercials to celebrate the upcoming Grammy Awards by combining some of today’s best artists with the iPhone X’s new Animoji feature.

The new ads, titled “Amigos” and “Alien,” feature Migos singing their song “Stir Fly” and Childish Gambino performing “Redbone.” Migos appear as a fox, dog and pile of poop, while Gambino appears as an alien.

Check it out:

Apple’s recent acquisition of Shazam might be a great way for the company to drive subscriber growth, according to one early Shazam investor.

DN Capitol chief executive, Nenad Marovac, gained a deep understanding of Shazam’s business model after his firm invested in it back in 2004. Marovac says Shazam will be a great way for Apple to try to catch up with Spotify in terms of subscribers, if it can convert enough Shazam users.

One of the biggest directors in Hollywood is ready to totally embrace filming on the iPhone.

Steven Soderbergh — whose titles include everything from Ocean’s Eleven to Magic Mike — filmed his latest movie entirely an iPhone. Only instead of using it as a gimmick, Soderbergh says he’s likely going to start using iPhone on most of his future films.

Pre-orders for Apple’s new HomePod speaker went on sale this morning and it looks like there’s still plenty of supply to go around.

HomePod doesn’t hit stores until February 9th but most Apple fans have already made up their mind on whether its a must-buy. Cult of Mac is running a poll and we want to know who’s ready to plop down $349 on the first Siri-powered speaker.

Submit your vote below:

With Apple Park now completed, Apple employees are finally moving into the company’s brand new sprawling campus — although it won’t happen all at once.

Given the size of the building, which can hold 12,000 employees, the city of Cupertino has issued Apple a series of temporary occupancy permits allowing employees to move into selected parts of the main building.

Consumers have come to expect a lot from the devices we buy. So manufacturers are getting better and better at meeting ever higher demands. Headphones are no exception, with high fidelity, noise cancellation, an wireless convenience as the new norm.

Apple’s upcoming iOS 11.3 update makes App Store reviews more useful by allowing them to be sorted. Users can cut through the clutter to find the most helpful reviews, the most critical reviews, and more.

Apple has given its Clip app for iOS a minor upgrade, celebrating Chinese New Year, which takes place next month.

The app’s update includes a commemorative Chinese New Year label and poster, along with minor updates for improved stability when recording Selfie Scenes on iPhone X, and a fix for an issue that caused the “Top Secret poster” to animate incorrectly during playback.

The time to pre-order your HomePod has finally arrived. Customers in the U.S., the U.K., and Australia can place an order for Apple’s $349 smart speaker now. The device makes its official debut two weeks today, on February 9.

Apple has rolled out its first public beta of iOS 11.3, just a day after its first developer release.

The update brings a whole host of new features, including new Animoji for iPhone X, Business Chat for iMessage, Messages in iCloud, and more.

Apple has rolled out its first watchOS 4.3 beta ahead of a public release this spring. The update brings a number of welcome improvements, including a new Nightstand Mode and greater control over your music.

Apple may be rethinking plans for the ratio of OLED to LCD iPhones for 2018, a new report claims.

Apple is reportedly developing four next-gen iPhone project simultaneously: a 5.7- to 5.8-inch LCD device, a 6.0- to 6.1-inch LCD device, a 6.0- to 6.1-inch OLED device, and a 6.4- to 6.5-inch OLED device. However, only three of these are likely to ship to users. The question, therefore, is which three.

Apple Watch Series 3 with cellular capabilities is coming to two new locations, Hong Kong and Singapore, Apple has confirmed.

In Singapore, the Apple Watch Series 3 with LTE will be carried by Singtel, while those in Hong Kong will be able to choose between 1O1O and csl3 as their carrier. Apple has updated its website to show the addition of the two new markets, which brings the total number of markets with Apple Watch Series 3 with LTE to 12.

Apple’s latest update for developers, iOS 11.3 beta 1, brings plenty of new features and tweaks. It’s available now. And while it’s just the first of many likely betas to come before the iOS 11.3 release this spring, it offers a glimpse of the future.

Check out our latest video to see all the latest changes in action.

Apple’s first big product launch of 2018 is finally here after the HomePod launch was pushed back last year.

HomePod pre-orders are set to open to the public in just a few hours on Friday, January 25th. If the launch is anything like the iPhone X or AirPods, shipping times could slip quick, but it’s going to be hard to know when you can buy one.

Have some New Year’s resolutions? See if these ring a bell. You can get fit with a new Apple Watch, cut the cable cord and save money with an Apple TV, and more!

And you can do those things on the cheap, with the Apple Watch sale and o†her Apple deals you’ll find in this week’s roundup.

The Eventide H9 is a magical effects box for musicians, and it is especially relevant to iOS users because it can be completely controlled by an iOS app via Bluetooth, putting virtual knobs and dials on the screen of an iPad or iPhone. Today, we’ll review the EvenMidi, which is a box that does one thing — adds bunch of knobs the the Eventide H9 so you never need to touch a screen again.