Mobile menu toggle

This backpack makes lugging life light work [Review]

By

Shift Pack
The Shift Pack by Alpaka.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

My closet floor resembles a bullpen. But instead of pitchers, it houses a rotation of backpacks and bags ready to be activated for work, day-long excursions or extended travel. Depending on the week, I could shift between four or five bags.

But when Shift Pack recently arrived for a tryout, it threatened to retire a couple of my veterans. It is a single backpack that aims to cover all the bases, work, play and travel or all at once if necessary.

Wall Street analyst thinks Apple will hit trillion-dollar valuation next year

By

France fines Apple $27 million for intention iPhone 'throttling' controversy
The iPhone 8 may drive Apple stock prices to new heights.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple stock might be down slightly from its crazy record-breaking high earlier this year, but that’s not dampening Wall Street analyst Brian White’s belief that it’s just 12 months away from becoming the world’s first ever trillion dollar company.

In a research note to clients, White refers to Apple stock as one of the “most underappreciated stocks in the world.” We’re pretty certain that’s an invitation for people to buy!

Europe wants to loosen Apple’s control on device repairs

By

iPad Mini 4 teardown by iFixit
The EU wants gadgets that are easier to fix and upgrade.
Photo: iFixit

Future iPhones and MacBooks will be more robust and easier to repair if the European Commission has its way.

Parliament is pushing for gadget makers like Apple to prolong the lifespan of their products by eliminating planned obsolescence and making it easier for consumers to repair and upgrade their devices.

Former Apple Watch rival Jawbone is entering liquidation

By

Jawbone
Were you a Jawbone user?
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Electronics company Jawbone is reportedly closing shop after years of financial pressures.

Having started life in 1998, Jawbone initially made Bluetooth-equipped earpieces and wireless speaker, before transitioning into wearable devices for use in fitness tracking. It was best known for the UP series of wearable devices, and at its height was valued at a whopping $3 billion.

Alas, no more!

How Apple made the iPhone magical, this week on The CultCast

By

The Original iPhone
It was a thing of beauty, but the software made it magical.
Photo: Apple

It’s easy to ignore how intuitive it is to use an iPhone. But a team of designers painstakingly crafted the vast array of simple swipes and taps that give the iPhone its magic.

This week on The CultCast, we’ll tell you the stories behind inertial scrolling and Swipe to Unlock. And we’ll talk about Bas Ording, the man who brought iOS to life using the physics of our natural world.

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. It’s simple to accept Apple Pay and sell your wares with your very own Squarespace.com website. Enter offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10 percent off any hosting plan.

Think you need pro gear for great iPhone photos? That’s fake news.

By

iPhone rig
You don't necessarily need expensive gear to make a great iPhone video.
Photo: Marques Brownlee/YouTube

You can make great photos and videos with just an iPhone. There is nothing fake about that statement. Thousands of great iPhone photos appear on our camera rolls and Instagram feeds every day to prove it.

Nevertheless, a recent YouTube video suggested Apple uses more than just iPhones to create its “Shot on iPhone” commercials. The video quickly went viral. Headlines it generated sowed seeds of doubt about the authenticity of Apple’s claims.

So, are we really getting the great camera Apple says it puts in its iPhones?

Apple speaks out about Imagination’s ‘misleading’ claims

By

Apple isn't happy with Imagination Technologies.
Apple isn't happy with Imagination Technologies.
Photo: Apple

Apple has finally hit back at British chipmaker Imagination Technologies for its “inaccurate and misleading” claims.

Imagination, which has been manufacturing graphics chips for iOS devices for the past decade, has been taking stabs at Apple since it revealed the company will be developing its own mobile GPUs. Now Apple is setting the record straight.

Samsung likely to smash previous records with Q2 profits

By

Samsung
...and Apple may have helped.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Samsung’s Q2 operating profit rose 72 percent from this time last year, setting a new record for the South Korean tech giant in the process.

Operating profit likely sits around the 14 trillion won ($12.1 billion) mark, according to the company. Revenue meanwhile increased 18 percent from a year earlier to 60 trillion won — beating analyst forecasts in the process.

Qualcomm demands ITC ban iPhones powered by Intel

By

iPhone 6s teardown
Pegatron will team up with an Indonesian manufacturer..
Photo: iFixit

The ongoing fight between Apple and Qualcomm could result in an import ban on all new iPhones powered by Intel.

Qualcomm requested today that the U.S. International Trade Commission place a “limited exclusion order” on all iPhones that use Intel’s 4G wireless modem. iPhones powered by Qualcomm’s chip would be excluded from the ban.

How to switch off app review requests forever in iOS 11

By

review request settings
Here's how to switch of ratings prompts, but you might want to leave them on.
Photo: Cult of Mac

In iOS 11, app developers will no longer be able to beg you to rate their apps. Or rather, they will be forced to use the official new Apple rating system, which promises to be a whole lot less annoying. And one of the benefits of Apple’s built-in rating/feedback system is that you can switch off all review requests in one place, so you never have to see another pleading pop-up again.

How to use Photos’ Shared Albums for team projects

By

shared albums on iOS and mac
Here' our hastily-created Cult of Mac album. Imagine the productivity we're about to achieve.
Photo: Cult of Mac

The Photos app is where all your memories live, and the place you go to share photos. But did you also know that it can make a great professional tool? Any time you need a group of people to have access to the same pictures, you can use Photos, and Photo stream sharing, as a great, slick alternative to clunky collaborative tools like Pinterest. Here’s how.

Battlezone 98 Redux blasts its way onto iPad and Mac

By

Battlezone 98
This takes us back!
Photo: Rebellion

Sure, there are a ton of great new games available for both macOS and iOS, but sometimes it pays to revisit the classics. That’s what users get with Battlezone 98 Redux, a remastered version of one of the best sci-fi strategy first-person shooter games of all time.

This was hot stuff back in the halcyon days of 1998, back when the iMac G3 was the hottest computer going. And now that it’s landed on both Mac and iPad, it remains pretty darn good!

Get ready mobile developers, iOS 11 is coming [Deals]

By

PRE-SALE- The Complete iOS 11 Developer Course + iOS Mastery Bundle
Developers: get on top of iOS 11 before it drops this fall, with these five comprehensive courses.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

We all knew this day would come. Apple will soon release their latest and greatest mobile operating system yet: iOS 11. It’s packed with updated interfaces, expanded 3D Touch and Siri functionality, drag and drop, and lots more. That means developers have a lot of cramming to do before it drops this fall.

The magic behind HomePod gets revealed in new patent

By

Apple's new HomePod smart speaker is ready to rock your house.
Apple's smart tech will let the HomePod smart speaker perfectly rock your house.
Photo: Apple

According to Apple, its upcoming HomePod smart speaker will “reinvent the way we enjoy music” thanks to its seven-tweeter array, 4-inch woofer, and smart “spatial awareness” technology that lets it “read” its environment.

If you want to find out more about how Apple’s smart speaker works, check out this new patent application. It describes an Apple speaker that uses digital signal processing, microphones and algorithms to play perfectly equalized music.

Apple recruits Samsung to resolve iPhone chip problems

By

Samsung
Apple is leaning more heavily on Samsung.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple is turning to Samsung to resolve some of the yield issues it is having with its NAND flash storage chips for the upcoming iPhone, claims a new report.

Existing suppliers SK Hynix and Toshiba have reportedly both experienced lower-than-expected yield rates for the next-gen iPhone chips. As a result, the overall supply of NAND flash chips bound for Cupertino has fallen short of demand by as much as 30 percent.