Mobile menu toggle

If you can make a good coffee, you could have a job at Apple

By

coffee
Apple is looking for a new barista. Could it be you?
Photo: Mark/Flickr CC

Always dreamed of working for Apple, but lacking the necessary electrical engineering qualification or MBA to get a look in? Don’t worry: there’s a new job you can apply for to get your foot in the door.

Apple is currently searching for a Barista at its Visitor Center in the Bay Area, for a role that will fit anyone looking for a “unique role blending culinary arts with exceptional service.”

iPhone 8’s biggest features could be disabled at launch

By

iPhone 8 wireless charging
We may have to wait for an update to activate wireless charging.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Some of the iPhone 8’s biggest new features could be disabled when the handset makes its debut this September.

A new report claims Apple is struggling to iron out software issues that are rendering wireless charging and another major feature unusable for now.

Spotify negotiates lower royalty rate with major music label

By

Spotify
Spotify is currently leading the streaming music battle.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Spotfiy has managed to negotiate a reduced royalty rate with Sony Music Entertainment, and is also in talks with Warner Music Group, claims a new report.

In return, Spotify will reportedly hold back albums to paying subscribers for two weeks before making them available to customers on Spotify’s free tier. A similar multi-year deal was agreed with Vivendi’s Universal Music Group earlier this year.

Apple’s new data center will comply with strict Chinese laws

By

China iPhone sales
Tim Cook meeting with Apple store employees in China on a previous visit.
Photo: Apple

Apple is setting up a new data center in China, in partnership with local data management firm Guizhou-Cloud Big Data Industry (GCDB), in order to meet new cybersecurity rules.

The new tougher cybersecurity laws were introduced in China last month, requiring cloud services in the country to be operated by Chinese companies.

How to add new Faces to Photos in iOS 11

By

iOS 11 faces
Adding Faces is even easier in iOS 11.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

If you’re using the iOS 11 beta, you may be enjoying the new Faces and Memories features in the Photos app. But, even while the facial recognition has improved, Photos has lost the ability to recognize new people. If you look in the People album, you’ll see that Add People button has gone. How, then, do you add new faces to your library? Fear not — it’s still easy, although a little less obvious.

Why Apple Watch should be worried about its latest rival

By

Express Time
The new Ticwatch starts at just $99 if you act fast.
Photo: Mobvoi

Apple Watch has a new rival, and it’s one that Apple should be worried about. That’s not because the new Ticwatch is better, but because it’s ultra-affordable at under $100.

For that, you get a simple and colorful design, GPS tracking, heart rate monitoring, and Android Wear 2.0.

Original Apple Watch gets extended service coverage

By

Apple Watch sensors
Has your Apple Watch's sensor panel popped off?
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple has extended its service coverage for the first-generation Apple Watch. If you have a unit with a separated sensor panel, you can get it repaired for free by visiting Apple or an authorized service provider within three years of your purchase date.

Siri sheds users as AI assistants struggle to take over

By

Sorry, Alexa: Siri still the most widespread AI assistant
Siri's popular, but getting less so.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Siri remains the most widely used virtual assistant but is losing popularity, according to a new report.

What does this mean for HomePod, Apple’s upcoming smart speaker? And what type of person is an AI assistant “superuser”? The study offers some surprising insights.

Head-up display gives any car a fighter-jet feel [Deals]

By

Hudway Glass Display
Get valuable trip info and a fighter pilot vibe all at once with this HUD for your car.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Driving comes closest to the feeling of being a pilot that most of us will ever get. Given the way most people handle a car, that’s probably a good thing. But one simple way to safely bring the sense of a cockpit to the driver’s seat is to add a proper head-up display (HUD).

Train passenger using an iMac clearly hasn’t heard of MacBooks

By

train
Well, that's one way to get your work done.
Photo: Twitter

There’s dedication to Apple computers and … well, taking your iMac on the train with you.

While riding the rails in the U.K. recently, a passenger spotted a woman using a full-size Apple desktop in the first-class carriage of a Virgin train — alongside a mechanical keyboard. We’re betting her fellow passengers were pleased!

Not everyone thinks iPhone 8 will spawn the ‘supercycle’ Apple needs

By

iPhone8
The iPhone 8 may struggle to beat the iPhone 6.
Photo: Imran Taylor

Pretty much everyone thinks the iPhone 8 is going to be Apple’s biggest hit to date, with some Wall Street pundits even claiming its success will transform Apple into a trillion-dollar company.

Some analysts at Deutsche Bank don’t agree, however. In a note to investors, analysts Sherri Scribner, Adrienne Colby and Jeffrey Rand write that they think “investors will be disappointed by iPhone growth in FY-18 and FY-19.” Here’s why.

New iPhone 8 image casts more doubt over Touch ID’s future

By

Touch ID
'Leaked' iPhone 8 image shows no rear Touch ID
Photo: Weibo

An image which has shown up on the Chinese microblogging service Weibo depicts what is claimed to be an authentic backplate for the iPhone 8 — complete with missing rear-mounted Touch ID sensor.

Earlier this year, reports circulated that Apple was considering moving the Touch ID sensor to the rear of its next-gen iPhone, much as Android device makers have been doing. Provided that this image is authentic, it suggests that this is not the case.

Replace Photobucket sharing with this automatic Dropbox action

By

workflow dropbox photo bucket
Workflow makes short work of rolling your own image-hosting service.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Imagine if an almost 15-year-old image hosting company suddenly decided to deactivate all the links to the photos you had stored there. That’s exactly what happened last week, when Photobucket cut all “hot-linked” — or embedded — images, and insisted that users pony up $400 per year to get them back. That’s a big deal, because Photobucket images power much of the web. It’s not used only for posting images to forums, but to put images on Amazon store pages, and eBay listings.

Few of the folks affected by this are going to pay the ransom to get their photo links back, so the web will be littered with Photobucket placeholders reminding people of this fiasco for years to come. We can’t help with that, but we can offer a great alternative to Photobucket. Today we’ll see how to upload a photo to Dropbox and grab its direct link automatically, so you can use the image on any website you like.

Little Snitch keeps Mac apps from going rogue

By

little snitch network map view
It sounds impossible, but Little Snitch 4 makes network security fun.
Photo: Objective Development

Little Snitch, from the maker of the sublime LaunchBar, just got updated with a new Silent Mode that makes the app about a million times better to use, especially the first time you install it. Little Snitch is a network monitor that tattles on every other bit of software on your Mac, telling you when an app connects to outside servers.

That’s pretty much its only function, but Little Snitch Version 4 packs a ton of neat touches that tell you everything about how your Mac is connecting to the outside world. I’ve been using it for the past week or so, and it makes keeping your Mac safe far less annoying.

Apple seeds third betas for iOS 11, macOS High Sierra and more

By

iOS 11 Control Center
In iOS 11, the Control Center becomes a remote control for your life.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The latest batch of beta builds from Apple is now available to developers this morning. Developers can download the third betas of iOS 11, macOS High Sierra, watchOS 4 and tvOS 11.

Apple’s new software comes with a slew of new bug fixes and performance enhancements for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV to go with the new features that were unveiled at WWDC 2017. iOS 11 beta 3 also packs a couple of big changes to Siri and Control Center.

Your chance to lunch with Eddy Cue at Apple Park

By

Eddy Cue
Eddy Cue is auctioning off another charity lunch.
Photo: CNBC

Eddy Cue really likes helping out charities. Either that or he really enjoys lunches with fans.

That’s based on the fact that, just weeks after his last charity auction offering lunch to one lucky Apple fan ended, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services is auctioning off yet another charity lunch date — this time to benefit the charity Autism Movement Therapy.