Face ID can be used for more than just unlocking your iPhone X. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
The iPhone X’s TrueDepth camera system could soon make capturing Hollywood-quality motion capture as easy as snapping a selfie.
In a demo showing you don’t need millions of dollars in studio equipment, Big Screen VR founder Darshan Shankar tweeted a demo of some motion capture work that is being done using nothing more than an iPhone X and commodity body trackers.
Use your MacBook for 24 hours in between charges. Photo: MagC
If you’re not getting enough use out of your MacBook in between charges, you need the MagC Boost, the world’s first MacBook battery case. This baby will keep you going for more than 24 hours before you need to plug in again.
It’s just one of the awesome ideas in this week’s Crowdfund Roundup. We also have an amazing graphene battery pack, carbon fiber webcam covers, and more!
Apple just released a new iOS beta. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
It took Apple nearly no time to go from beta 4 to beta 5 on the latest update for iOS 11 that’s currently in development.
Developers were surprised to receive iOS 11.2.5 beta 5 this morning, just two days after Apple released the last beta build full of bug fixes and performance improvements for the iPhone and iPad.
A magnifying glass is the OG zoom for paper Photo: theilr/Flickr CC
It’s not just old folks or people with bad eyesight that like big text on their iPhones and iPads. Maybe it’s late and you’re getting sleepy. Or perhaps you have your iPad propped up on the desk during the day and would appreciate larger text because it’s quite a bit farther away than when you hand-hold it. Or maybe you’ll try this tip and realise that zooming text is as useful as zooming photos.
iOS has long allowed you to zoom text, but it was buried deep in the Accessibility section of Settings, making it hard to adjust on the fly. Ever since iOS 11, though, you’ve been able to zoom text as easily as adjusting the screen brightness. Let’s take a look.
The TRACK+ earbuds pack premium audio. Photo: Libratone
The company behind some of the best AirPlay speakers on the market is ready to give Apple’s AirPods a new challenger.
Libratone revealed its new set of wireless earbuds at CES 2018. And while the Track+ earbuds pack as much good design as the AirPods, they come with a feature Apple’s own wireless headphones can’t match: noise cancellation.
Apple's Health app was used to recreate a murder suspect's movements. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Data from the Apple Health app is being used as evidence in a trial concerning the rape and murder of a 19-year-old woman in Germany. The individual accused of the crime is Hussein K., an Afghan refugee, who has been on trial since September.
The trial has been complicated by the fact that aspects of Hussein’s life are not clear, including his real age and a period of time — when the crime was committed — during which his whereabouts are unknown.
This popular app curates custom playlists specifically designed to keep you focused at work. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Time at the computer is a constant fight to stay focused. Keeping distractions at bay and your mind on task has a lot to do with your environment. So the right music can make all the difference.
Here's how Apple protects our iOS devices. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple “jerks” have been labeled “evil geniuses” by an FBI forensics expert. Stephen Flatley slammed the iPhone-maker this week for making it even more difficult to hack into iOS devices.
Targus' Thunderbolt 3 dock promises to be one of the best yet. Photo: Targus
Mobile computing accessories company Targus has used CES to debut its new Thunderbolt 3 dock, a model that is aimed at multi-platform users.
Letting you plug in two ultra high-definition computer monitors, the DOCK220USZ dock boasts a whole lot of ports. These include a pair of USB-C outlets, along with a full-sized DisplayPort, twin USB 3.0 type A ports, audio in and out, and one Gigabit Ethernet port.
Apple is migrating Chinese iCloud accounts to a locally-owned server in February. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
There appears to be a bit of confusion regarding who is and isn’t going to be affected by Apple’s migration of China-based iCloud accounts to a server operated by a Chinese company next month.
According to a new report, the migration of iCloud accounts is also affecting a number of accounts that were opened in the U.S., are paid for with U.S. dollars, and are connected with U.S.-based App Store accounts.
Apple could save $4.1 billion due to the date-related quirk. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
A possible quirk of the recent U.S. tax law change could net Apple an extra $4.1 billion, claims a new report.
A timing loophole in the tax overhaul that enables repatriation of companies’ overseas cash piles, means businesses whose fiscal years don’t follow the calendar year will get an extra one-off tax break. This includes Apple, whose tax year starts in October, but excludes Alphabet, whose fiscal year begins January 1.
CEOs aren't happy about the possibility of DACA coming to an end. Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr CC
Tim Cook joined more than 100 prominent CEOs who signed an open letter urging Congress to pass legislation to protect young immigrants threatened by the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
Branding the situation a “crisis,” the letter asks lawmakers to pass a bill supporting “Dreamers”
Apple's TV lineup is starting to take shape. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple’s original content creation machine is starting to churn at full steam, based on a new report that the iPhone-maker has inked a deal for yet another original series.
Apple ordered a straight-to-series TV show this week that will be written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight and directed by Francis Lawrence, who helmed the first two movies in The Hunger Games franchise.
Mesh networks are the future of Wi-Fi. Photo: Linksys
Stick a fork in Apple’s router business. It looks dead.
In another sign that Apple is just too damn busy to update its outdated AirPort line of routers, the company is now selling a new mesh router system made by Linksys.
Tiny, and made to work with the iPhone and the Apple Watch. Photo: Roland
You iPhone is pretty handy for making quick audio recordings. Many musicians use the Voice Memos app, and some have upgraded to Music Memos. Unfortunately, the quality of the recordings from those apps isn’t good enough for actual music making.
For a start, it’s not stereo. Second, the iPhone’s mics are fine, but nowhere near as good as even a cheap external microphone. But using your iPhone to record is so convenient. Roland’s R-07 is a pocket audio recorder that works either alone or in tandem with your iPhone. It gives you the quality of a proper recorder with stereo mics — and the convenience of an iPhone app.
The Type-C 75W Multiport Travel Charger is a handy accessory for business travels. Photo: Satechi
Satechi is doing its part to ease our move to USB-C. The consumer electronics company’s latest device is a 75-watt USB Type-C travel charger smaller than a deck of cards.
The space gray charger, which made an appearance at this week’s CES in Las Vegas, can charge up to four devices at once. It packs four charging ports: one USB-C, two USB-A and one Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0.
Mac accessory maker Matias unveiled its next-generation keyboard at CES this week and it comes with some cool new features you won’t find in its competitiors.
Bubbles show you where you have visited. Photo: Cult of Mac
Your iPhone knows where you are, and it remembers where you have been. It keeps a record of your frequent hangouts — aka “significant locations” — and uses this data to make location-based suggestions using Siri and to power other features. Don’t panic, though: This data is kept on your phone, not collected by Apple.
Maybe you want to switch it off anyway, though. Perhaps you’re having an affair and don’t want your suspicious spouse to find out where you and your lover hook up. Or you’re an undercover cop and don’t want your visits to the police station to show up on your phone. Today we’ll see how to access your recent locations data, remove it, and switch it off altogether.
Apple is said to be working on a fix. Photo: Apple
Yet another serious security flaw has been discovered in macOS High Sierra.
The bug, which remains present in Apple’s most recent public release, allows anyone to change the App Store settings in System Preferences by entering anything as your password.
Update:Nvidia reached out to Cult of Mac to explain that “recent press accounts about our latest software patches are incorrect.” We have updated the article below to clarify.
Nvidia has rolled out security updates for its graphics cards following widespread chip flaws. Its most popular products, including GeForce and Quadro, are being updated to combat the Meltdown and Spectre memory vulnerabilities.
This convenient app saves time and effort by securely storing and retrieving your passwords whenever you need them. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Another day, another password to remember. With all the sites and services we use everyday, it can be tough to keep track of the passwords we need to access them. And the more that happens, the less secure we become.
Niantic Pika-chooses to freeze out old iPhones and iPads. Photo: The Pokémon Company
Pokémon Go will drop support for aging iOS devices in its next major update, developer Niantic has confirmed. Only iPhones and iPads compatible with iOS 11 will be able to run the game as of February 28.
That’s bad news for players who don’t have an iPhone 6 or later.
New Mac and iOS app will debut in the first half of 2018. Photo: Philips
At CES, Philips has announced that it will debut a brand new Hue 3.0 app for iOS, along with a Hue Sync app for Mac.
Both apps will arrive in Q2 2018. The redesigned Hue 3.0 app will offer owners of Hue lights the ability to alter the color of their smart lights with a color picker. They will also be able to instantly access their last used scenes, and to group lights and more easily select their desired color temperature or color.