Mobile menu toggle

Use the iPhone’s camera as a tricked-out magnifying glass

By

iPhone magnifier app
The iPhone's built-in Magnifier makes short work of unreadable text, and tiny objects.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

There’s a little-known but awesome trick you can do with the iPhone’s camera: triple-click the Home button to turn it into a magnifying glass. This is great if you don’t see so well, either because you’re farsighted or because you’re just getting old and doddery.

Today we’ll see how to switch on this awesome feature so it’s ready to deploy, and also take a look at some of the extras Apple built in to make the Magnifier tool even more powerful.

What your favorite apps might look like on iPhone 8

By

Instagram will look great on the iPhone 8.
Instagram will look great on the iPhone 8.
Photo: DailyTekk

You can get a good idea of what the iPhone 8 might be like to use, thanks to a new concept video that imagines how redesigned apps will look on the device.

Apple is supposedly going with a bezel-free design this year, which could give developers more space for new features. Viewing pictures will also be an incredible experience if Apple includes an edge-to-edge display that makes it feel like you’re holding a photograph.

Check it out:

Warren Buffett stays high on Apple despite iPhone slump

By

Buffett
Warren Buffet is Apple's biggest investor.
Photo: CNBC

Apple’s big pause in iPhone sales leading up to this year’s new models isn’t worrying one of the company’s biggest investors.

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett says he loves what Apple is doing with its buyback program for investors and even though sales are slow, the stock is still a great buy.

Netflix tops this list of potential Apple takeover targets

By

Apple adds 5 new vice presidents to its executive lineup
Apple adds 5 new vice presidents to its executive lineup
Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac

A Citibank analyst says Apple is sitting on so much cash, a likely change in tax code could see Cupertino use its “Merger and Acquisition firepower.” The most likely target would be Netflix.

Citibank puts the odds of a Netflix buyout at 40 percent, according to analyst Jim Suva in a note to clients titled Addressing the Problem of Too Much Cash.

3 reasons you should be using a VPN

By

CoM - TigerVPN
Guard yourself from snoops, thieves, and annoying content restrictions for life.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Among the many, many troubling stories in the news these days is the vote by Congress to lift regulations that require your internet service provider to get permission before selling your private data. This, along with a slew of malicious hacks reported over the past few years, has helped make the public aware of the critical importance of internet security.

Now many people are looking for ways to stay safe and anonymous. Here’s one obvious solution: Get a virtual private network. Here are three reasons you should seek out a VPN solution today.

Amazon Prime Video may come to Apple TV this summer

By

appletv
Deal may have been agreed directly between Tim Cook and Jeff Bezos.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Amazon will reportedly bring its Amazon Prime Video app to Apple TV sometime in the third quarter of this year.

Although it’s not confirmed, some industry observers have suggested that such a move would have had to be worked out directly between Apple and Amazon CEOs Tim Cook and Jeff Bezos.

PC World worker charged with stealing $30,000 of Apple gear

By

MacBook Pro
MacBooks were among the stolen items.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

An employee of PC World, a U.K.-based computer superstore, has admitted to stealing 27,000 euros ($30,000) worth of Apple products from his workplace. Oh, the irony!

21-year-old Eoin Giles of Dublin, Ireland, pleaded guilty to stealing 21 MacBooks, six Apple Watches, and seven iPads Pros, and then selling them on. Giles described it as a “stupid” attempt to make money.

Apple may switch iPhone motion chip orders to German company Bosch

By

iPhone 7
This could have a big impact on current manufacturer InvenSense.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple is reportedly switching some of its iPhone motion sensor orders from InvenSense to German firm Robert Bosch.

It comes as the latest example of Apple shaking up its supply chain, which has already seen Apple distance itself from GPU maker Imagination Technologies and power-management chip company Dialog Semiconductor.

Apple overtakes Fitbit to be crowned world’s largest wearables vendor

By

Apple Watch nylon bands
Apple Watch is big business.
Photo: Apple

Apple has overtaken Fitbit to be crowned largest wearables vendor in the world, according to Strategy Analytics.

The market research firm claims that Apple sold around 3.5 million Apple Watches in the first three months of calendar 2017. That’s an increase of a massive 59 percent from the 2.2 million units Apple sold during the first quarter 2016. It means the company currently holds 16 percent of the worldwide market share.

Use Apple Pencil to mark up PDFs in Mail app

By

PDF-markup-in-mail
Fixing up a PDF in Mail is way easier than you might think.
Screenshot: Cult of Mac

Today we’ll learn how to open and edit a PDF right in the iOS Mail app, and then send it on its way, all without opening any extra apps. Given that a lot of PDFs we receive are documents that need to be checked over, or signed, and then returned, this tip is a real time-saver.

Instead of waiting until you get back to your Mac, you can take care of things right from your iPhone.

ExxonMobil stations now accept Apple Watch payments

By

Juuk watch band
It's now even easier to pay for your gas.
Photo: Juuk Design

ExxonMobil stations throughout the U.S. are now accepting Apple Watch payments.

Customers will need to download the Speedpass+ app, which lets you settle your gas bill with a tap of your wrist. You’ll have the option to use Apple Pay, or input your credit card information manually.

iPhone 8 concept shows how fantastic Function Bar could be

By

The Function Bar would be a game changer.
The Function Bar would be a game changer.
Photo: iDropNews/Benjamin Geskin

Getting rid of the home button could be one of the greatest things Apple could do for the iPhone 8.

Rumors have been swirling for months that Apple plans to embed Touch ID into the screen in order to ditch the home button. A fantastic new concept imagines how Apple could use that extra screen real estate to make navigating the iOS faster than ever.

iPad rules the steadily shrinking tablet market

By

Rapha designer Alex Valdman uses iPad Pro for everything.
Rapha designer Alex Valdman uses iPad Pro for everything.
Photo: Apple

The iPad continues to dominate the tablet market, but the tablet market continues to decline.

For a 10th-straight quarter, year-over-year sales of tablet computers fell to a five-year low, according to the market research firm IDC. Even with enviable sales figures, iPad revenues have had a year-over-year slide for the last 13 quarters, according to the IDC report.

TV shows are coming soon to Snapchat

By

Snapchat is taking TV serious.
Snapchat is taking TV serious.
Photo: Snap

Snap Inc apparently wants in on the hottest new trend among tech companies: TV shows.

Following the lead of Amazon and Twitter, Snapchat reportedly plans to start showing vertical short films in its app. Only instead of doing all the work on its own, the company is inking deals with some of the biggest names in media.

These are the countries to avoid when buying an iPhone

By

iPhone 7 back
Get yours before they're all gone!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

You may be able to barter with merchants for good deals in Turkey’s famous markets. But if you’re looking for a deal on an iPhone 7, you will want to pick another country.

An iPhone 7 in Turkey costs more than any other country in the world and is about one and half times more expensive than here in the U.S., according to an annual report by Deutsche Bank comparing prices on common goods.

This unashamed iPhone 7 clone is a fraction of the cost

By

Don't expect iOS 10.
Don't expect iOS 10.
Photo: UMIDIGI

iPhone clones just hit a new low.

Meet the UMIDIGI G, a device that isn’t ashamed to be a complete ripoff of Apple’s latest smartphone. It runs Google’s latest Android 7.0 Nougat operating system, and it’s super-affordable at just $79.99. Its specifications aren’t bad, either — but you shouldn’t buy one.

James Comey says FBI can’t hack half of mobile devices

By

FBI director James Comey is chasing smartphone backdoors again.
Photo: CNN

The FBI was unable to access the contents of “nearly half” of mobile devices it tried to hack in the first half of the fiscal year, FBI Director James Comey revealed at a Senate oversight committee hearing this week.

That added up to more than 3,000 mobile devices.

These are the Star Wars deals you’re looking for [May the 4th Deals]

By

collage-2017-04-26 (1)
May the 4th be with you as you drool over this awesome bundle of Star Wars swag.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

There’s been an awakening. Have you felt it? Star Wars is back, and the return of the year’s biggest nerdfest is upon us. May the 4th is when fans of the galaxy far, far away get a chance to revel in their fandom with their fellow fans around the world. And with the next Star Wars movie mere months away, the Force is strong with this one.

Part of the festivities is the chance to get great deals on Star Wars swag, and the Cult of Mac Store is no exception. We’ve got deals on a bundle of some of the best Star Wars games ever made, a treasure chest of Rogue One collectibles, and a floating speaker worthy of Darth Vader’s desk. Everything is dramatically discounted and worth nerding out over.

Landscaping Apple Park continues in new drone flyover video

By

spaceship
Apple Park isn't this, well, park-like just yet.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s fantastic Apple Park campus reportedly opened to some employees last month, but construction crews are still racing to bring the project to completion.

As shown off in a gorgeous new drone flyover video by UAV filmmaker Duncan Sinfield, the buildings are virtually complete, but there are more construction vehicles than ever on site.

Check out the campus as it looks this month below:

Apple won’t be slashing all commissions for App Store referrals after all

By

App Store
Decision only affects in-app purchases.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

It appears that Apple won’t be slashing commissions it pays when affiliates redirect customers to buy apps from the iOS App Store, after all.

Despite Apple previously noting that, “Starting on May 1st 2017, commissions for all app and in-app content will be reduced from 7% to 2.5% globally,” it seems that the change applies only to in-app purchases.

Imagination Technologies files formal dispute with Apple

By

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

Imagination Technologies, the British company that has been designing Apple’s mobile GPUs for years, has started a “dispute resolution procedure” with the Cupertino company over a licensing standoff.

Imagination has already confirmed that Apple will be dropping its graphics chips within two years and adopting its own instead. But the company suspects Apple has stolen its intellectual property.

Apple has created more than 2 million jobs in U.S.

By

Screen Shot 2017-05-04 at 10.45.26
Apple's new minisite emphasizes its role in job creation.
Photo: Apple

Apple may be the world’s most valuable tech company, but it’s also a major contribution to the U.S. jobs market. And it wants you to know about it!

In a newly-launched website, Apple shares some details about the “two million … and counting” jobs in the United States that it has created across the country.

“The numbers tell the story,” it notes. Here are just a few of them:

Tim Cook reveals $1 billion fund to boost U.S. manufacturing

By

Apple wants to help spark a manufacturing boom in the US.
Apple wants to help spark a manufacturing boom in the US.
Photo: CNBC

Apple is making a $1 billion investment aimed at boosting high-tech manufacturing jobs in the United States, CEO Tim Cook said today.

“We asked ourselves, ‘How can we get more people to do advanced manufacturing in the United States?'” Cook said during an interview with Mad Money’s Jim Cramer at Apple Campus today. “And I’m proud to tell you that we’re creating an advanced manufacturing fund. We’re initially putting $1 billion in the fund.”

Twitter flips out over mysterious Tim Cook tweet

By

Tim's got a lot to be happy about.
Tim's got a lot to be happy about.
Photo: Twitter

Apple CEO Tim Cook set Twitter ablaze with speculation today — and all it took was a simple smiley face emoji.

Cook sent out a tweet with just a smiley face emoji this morning. No other context was provided, and the tweet got deleted shortly later, leading Apple fans on Twitter to wonder what the most powerful man in tech was really trying to say.

These are the most popular theories: