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How does Apple Watch’s innovative eSIM work?

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Apple watch series 3
The Apple Watch's cellular connectivity is the big new feature. But how does it work?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple Watch Series 3 is Apple’s best smartwatch yet. It’s faster, packed full of new features in watchOS 4, and it boasts amazing new cellular connectivity (if you pay more for the LTE model). This is all made possible with a built-in antenna, a UMTS radio, and an eSIM. But how does it work?

Check out the video below to find out.

Simple Android app lets AirPods activate Google Assistant

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AirPods in ear
AirPods now work even better on Android.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

AirPods can be paired with any smartphone, just like other Bluetooth headphones. But you don’t get full functionality on third-party platforms. On Android, however, they just became a lot more useful.

You can now use AirPods to activate the Google Assistant — thanks to one simple app.

The great lengths Apple goes to for eco-friendly packaging

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EarPods
Apple's EarPods packaging is some of its most environmentally friendly.
Photo: Apple

Apple has taken big steps toward making its products more sustainable. As part of that mission, it just released a new “Paper and Packaging Strategy” white paper, which lays out the various measures the company is taking to lower the environmental impact its packaging has on the world.

Tim Cook: Don’t expect a standalone AR headset anytime soon

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Tim Cook
ARKit is as big as the App Store and Multitouch, Tim Cook says.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple’s augmented technology platform ARKit is going to be as big as the App Store and multitouch, but the technology’s not yet there to make a standalone AR headset.

Those are the biggest takeaways from a wide-ranging interview Apple CEO Tim Cook gave to the U.K.’s Independent newspaper as part of his trip to Europe this week. The interview also covered his love of the military, and why Apple shouldn’t stay silent on issues it disagrees with.

Wells Fargo brings Apple Pay to 5,000 ATMs

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Wells Fargo is embracing Apple Pay at its ATMs.
Wells Fargo is embracing Apple Pay at its ATMs.
Photo: Mike Mozart/Flickr CC

One of the largest banks in the U.S. is embracing Apple Pay and contactless payments by finally adding it to its ATMs across the country.

Wells Fargo revealed today that more than 5,000 of its ATMs have been upgraded recently to support Apple Pay, allowing customers to get cash without having to carry around a physical debit or credit card.

MacFly Pro’s suite of apps keeps your Mac decluttered

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Clean up your Mac the easy way with MacFly Pro.
Clean up your Mac the easy way.
Photo: MacFly Pro

This post is presented by MacFly Pro.

Despite the clean lines and sleek exteriors of our Macs, the insides often look like a real mess. Cluttered photo libraries; old web caches; broken extensions; unused configuration files — the list of data that can gum up our Macs is long. That makes staying on top of it all nearly impossible, unless you’ve got time and energy to spare.

Apple taps Steven Spielberg for original sci-fi show

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Steven Spielberg takes the stage at Comic-Con International in 2017.
Apple is reportedly ready to whip up some new amazing stories with Steven Spielberg.
Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr CC

Apple is set to make its biggest push into original content yet by inking a deal with one of the biggest directors in Hollywood history.

Steven Spielberg and Apple reportedly will create new episodes of Amazing Stories. The science fiction anthology series originally ran in the 1980s on NBC, but will be relaunched with all-new episodes.

Titanium pens, aquarium robots and more [Crowdfund Roundup]

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The Model A
The ultimate universal VR headset.
Photo: The Model A

Crowdfund Roundup bugThe Model A is the first universal virtual reality headset for your smartphone that you won’t want to ditch within hours of buying it. It’s designed to be lightweight and comfortable to wear, and has a high-fidelity audio system built right in.

It’s just one of the awesome ideas in this week’s Crowdfund Roundup. We also have the world’s best pen machined out of titanium, a gadget that keeps all your devices secure online, the ultimate camping companion, and more!

Trump administration will weigh in on Apple antitrust case

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App Store
The Supreme Court's ruling could have a huge impact on the App Store.
Photo: Apple

The highest court in the U.S. is debating whether or not it should hear an appeal from Apple on a class-action lawsuit that it lost in a lower court.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court asked the Trump administration’s Justice Department for its opinion on the case. Apple is accused of charging illegally high commissions on the sale of apps in its App Store, but the group suing Apple isn’t developers, it’s a bunch of consumers who purchased the apps.

5 ways to quickly switch apps on iPad with iOS 11

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iOS 11 iPad Pro
The iPad is insanely flexible in iOS 11.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

In iOS 11, there are four ways to switch apps on the iPad. Five, if you count the old-school way: hitting the home button to return to the home screen, and tapping an icon to launch a different app. Some of these methods have been around a while, and have changed drastically in iOS 11. Others are brand new, and exclusive to the iPad. Today, we’re going to look at them all.

Today in fake news: Google buys Apple

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An image of the Google beta logo with the rainbow Apple logo in place of the first O
For a brief moment, there was a report of Google buying Apple.
Photo: Google/Apple

It’s the kind of headline The Onion would write, except this one came from the Dow Jones Newswire: Google, Apple join to create tech giant

The breaking fake news Tuesday morning was eventually retracted by Dow Jones which blamed the report on a “technical error.”

Wireless meets noise cancellation in these Bluetooth headphones [Deals]

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These over-ear Bluetooth headphones include effective noise-cancellation, combining privacy and convenience.
These over-ear Bluetooth headphones include effective noise-cancellation, combining privacy and convenience.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

In the plane, on the train, on the streets. When you’ve got your headphones on, you don’t want to let the outside world in. That’s why noise cancellation has been such a popular feature in recent years. But that’s not a feature you usually see on wireless headphones.

Almost two-thirds of Americans own an Apple product

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Apple adds 5 new vice presidents to its executive lineup
Breaking news: People sure do love Apple.
Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac

64 percent of Americans own Apple products, with the average U.S. household owning more than two, a new poll claims.

The survey, carried out by CNBC, suggests that Apple ownership is a trait shared by every income group, age demographic, race, sex, and region of the United States, although the ownership rate falls below 50 percent for those on incomes under $30,000, retirees, and women over the age of 50.

Trump tax policy could make Apple a $1 trillion company

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What’s it like to have your startup bought by Apple? Stressful
Apple could soon be the world's first $1 trillion company.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Tim Cook may not always have seen eye to eye with President Donald Trump, but if a Trump policy could help push Apple toward a trillion dollar market cap that would surely help undo some of the bad blood.

This is exactly the scenario presented by analysts at RBC Capital Markets, who claim that Apple would stand to gain in a big way from the Trump administration’s planned U.S. tax changes — particularly tax deduction caps for interest expenses, tax rates on foreign profits, and a lowered repatriation tax.

No, Apple is not slowing down your iPhone to force upgrades

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5 tips to fix an unresponsive iPhone screen
Is your iPhone slower with iOS 11? It's all in your head.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Every major iOS update slows down older devices to force users to upgrade. At least that’s what recent reports have suggested.

The truth is, Apple is doing no such thing. Benchmark data proves that iPhone performance drops over time are just a myth. The 4-year-old iPhone 5s is about as fast with iOS 11 today as it was with iOS 7 when it made its debut in 2013.

Apple is working to fix annoying Reachability bug on iOS 11

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iPhone 7
Craig Federighi says a fix is on the way.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

An iOS 11 bug involving the iPhone’s Reachability feature will be fixed in a future software update, Craig Federighi has said.

The bug means that the new iOS 11 Cover Screen with Notifications isn’t accessible from the middle part of the screen, thereby removing one of the most useful features a person might want to use while employing the Reachability mode.

Tim Cook talked taxes, supporting startups with French president

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Tim Cook still hid a few surprises up his sleeve for the iPhone X event.
This was Tim Cook's first meeting with the French president.
Photo: Apple

Yesterday’s first ever meeting between Apple CEO and French President Emmanuel Macron involved discussion of Apple’s support for local startups and French economic reforms — which could result in Apple having to pay more in the countries where it operates.

Macron is one of many European leaders wanting to reform tax structures to make it more difficult for companies, including Apple, to avoid taxes by using complex shell company structures. He has previously accused tech giants of failing to contribute to a common good.

Top-rated UK TV exec in talks with Apple

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Apple original content
Jay Hunt, former creative content chief with Channel 4 in Great Britain, may join Apple's efforts to create original programming.
Photo: Edinburgh International Television Festival/YouTube

Apple is reportedly close to landing another heavy hitter to help build original content.

Jay Hunt, who recently left Great Britain’s Channel 4 after seven years as its chief creative officer, is in talks with Apple for an executive position, according to several British news sites that cover UK’s television industry.

This Pad & Quill leather MacBook bag will outlast anything you put in it

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pad and quill attache
You don't need a big beard to be a hipster.
Photo: Pad & Quill

If you want to crush your shoulder, and at the same time have all your gear and gadgets within easy reach, then a messenger bag is the way to go. Less formal than a briefcase, and less sporty than a backpack, a messenger bag is stylish and practical. And Pad & Quill’s Attache messenger bag is more stylish and practical than most. It’s a hand-stitched leather beauty which can swallow most of your Mac and iOS devices and accessories.

How to share your home Wi-Fi without a password in iOS 11

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home Wi-Fi
you no longer need a password to share your Wi-Fi in iOS 11
Photo: Alan Levine/Flickr

iOS 11 brings yet another convenient feature — password-free Wi-Fi sharing. It works like this: If a friend or other visitor needs to use your Wi-Fi, then instead of digging in the dust and yanking on the already-taut cables of your router to read the password label on the back, you can just hold your iPhones close to each other, and grant the guest access to your network. It’s super easy, and requires nothing more than that you both be running iOS 11, and have Bluetooth switched on. If you want to learn more about how to share WiFi password iPhone, check out this guide here.