Mobile menu toggle

It’s not just you, iCloud is down now for some users

By

icloud-music-library-itunes-match
iCloud is down.
Photo: Apple

Are you having a hard time backing up files to iCloud or listening to songs on Apple Music? You’re not alone.

It appears that Apple’s iCloud services are currently impacted by a major Amazon web services outage that has crippled the internet on the East Coast. It’s unclear what is causing the problem but Apple says only 0.04 percent of users are effected by “slower than normal performance.”

Here are all the Apple services that are down:

Developers get fourth beta of tvOS 10.2

By

apple tv and siri remote
New beta software is out for Apple TV.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple seeded a new beta build of tvOS 10.2 to developers today, bringing a number of bug fixes and performance improvements to the Apple TV.

The new tvOS beta update comes just over a week after Apple released the last beta for tvOS 10.2. Because of the tricky installations requirements the beta is not available to public testers.

Tim Cook: Pro users remain incredibly important to Apple

By

Apple HQ
This is the last shareholders meeting at Apple's old campus.
Photo: Ryan B/Flickr

Apple hosted its annual shareholders meeting today at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino where a number of new proposals were presented by investors before Tim Cook took questions from the audience.

During his Q&A session, Tim Cook discussed how Apple plans to fight for net neutrality. He also assured shareholders that Apple plans to come out with new products that appeal to professionals and creatives, but insisted that the Mac and iPad aren’t destined for a merger.

Should Apple swap Lightning for USB-C with iPhone 8? [Poll]

By

This kevlar-encased Lightning cable is built to last.
USB-C has its pros and cons.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Apple is rumored to be making major changes for iPhone 8, like doing away with Touch ID in favor of a mini Touch Bar. Another big move, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal today, could be a switch from Lightning to USB-C.

An iPhone with USB-C instead of Lightning would have its pros and cons. But which would you prefer? Let us know in the poll below.

Apple’s AR ambitions may be bigger than we thought

By

Apple is diving into AR.
Augmented reality could arrive with the iPhone 8.
Photo: Metaio

Apple “may have over 1,000 engineers working on a project in Israel that could be related” to augmented reality, claims UBS analyst Steven Milunovich in a new note to clients.

Because of this, Milunovich suggests that Apple is viewing AR as one of the next big areas of tech innovation. One possible application could be, “moderate 3D mapping” which might arrive as soon as this year’s iPhone upgrade — along with an AR software development kit.

Samsung chief faces possible 20 years behind bars for bribery

By

samsung-steals-iphones-upgrade-program-for-galaxy-s7-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads2016024_vr-homepage-desktop-size-a-letterbox-v1-jpg
Bribery case goes all the way up to the highest levels of South Korean politics.
Photo: Samsung

Samsung Vice-Chairman Lee Jae-yong has been charged with bribery, embezzlement, hiding assets overseas, and perjury by South Korean prosecutors.

Lee — who is the heir apparent to the Samsung Group and only son of Samsung’s incapacitated chairman — was arrested on February 17 for his role in a scandal involving the country’s impeached president Park Geun-hye. Today was the last day of the investigation that Lee was able to be charged following his arrest.

Bill Gates says he didn’t copy Steve Jobs

By

https---blueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com-uploads-card-image-397526-14cc227c-5195-4fef-a37e-f5984d8d1711
Gates answered fans' questions on Reddit.
Photo: Bill Gates

Among questions on his favorite sandwiches (“Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger”) and whether he can still jump over a chair (probably not), Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates got asked whether his company had copied Steve Jobs during a Reddit Q&A on Monday.

Gates denied copying Cupertino — but reminded everybody that Microsoft and Apple both borrowed liberally from another Silicon Valley pioneer.

Goodbye Lightning? 2017 iPhones may rely on USB-C connector

By

iPhone 6 Plus_8
Apple may be bringing UBC-C to iPhone.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

This year’s iPhones may boast USB-C connectors, claims a new report from The Wall Street Journal.

If true, this would bring next-gen iPhones in line with the company’s push to embrace the industry-standard connector — as seen with recent MacBooks, which ditched legacy connectors in favor of a single USB-C port for both power and data transfers.

Mozilla buys Pocket in first ever acquisition

By

pocket_dribble2
But don't worry; Pocket is going nowhere!
Photo: Pocket

Mozilla, the company behind the Firefox web browser, just snapped up Pocket in its first ever acquisition.

Pocket will remain an independent subsidiary and promises to continue delivering the service fans know and love. However, the Mozilla takeover will allow it to add “fuel to the rocketship” and build an even greater product.

MacBook Pro destroyed by exploding battery

By

exploding-MacBook-Pro
The machine was hot enough to melt its owner's fingers.
Photo: Daniel Dourvaris

iPhone fanboys will have you believe that exploding batteries are exclusive to Samsung Galaxy smartphones, but that’s not true.

Even Apple devices go bang from time to time — like this 2015 Retina MacBook Pro, which was completely destroyed when its battery catastrophically failed and caught fire.

Leaked Galaxy S8 video reveals Samsung’s new iPhone rival

By

These are Samsung's new phones.
These are Samsung's new phones.
Photo: SlashLeaks

While Samsung isn’t expected to unveil the Galaxy S8 until the end of March, a supposedly leaked video purports to show exactly what the upcoming phone looks like.

The video appears to show both the Samsung Galaxy S8 and the larger S8+. Both devices seen in the video sport curved edge-to-edge displays. Samsung replaced physical buttons on the front with virtual ones, but the 3.5mm headphone jack is still there.

How indie devs at Smile won 100,000 happy customers

By

Greg Scown, CEO of Smile
Smile CEO Greg Scown leads the team that created popular Mac apps TextExpander and PDFpen.
Photo courtesy Smile

Our App Business section is brought to you by MacPaw, maker of proven Mac apps.

Smile, the indie development team behind super-popular productivity apps TextExpander and PDFpen, cut its teeth writing software for technology that barely exists anymore. But thanks to a user-focused attitude and a wholehearted embrace of the third-party tools that power modern offices, the company has been able to keep ahead of the curve as technology changes.

Apple seeds new betas for iOS, macOS and watchOS

By

iOS
iOS 10.3 is full of new features.
Photo: Ste Smith

Developers received two new beta builds from Apple today for iOS 10.3, watchOS 3.2 and macOS 10.12.4, just one week after the last versions were released.

The new builds for iOS 10.3 beta 4 and macOS 10.12.4 beta 4 can be downloaded by registered developers directly from the Apple’s dev portal. iOS 10.3 beta 4 can be installed directly to your iPad or iPhone if you have the previous build on your device.

iOS widgets: 6 of the best to replace Apple’s own

By

These apps' iOS widgets will give your iPhone superpowers.
These apps' iOS widgets will give your iPhone superpowers.
Photo: Gilles Lambert/Unsplash CC

iOS widgets are a great way to check in on your day. Apple gave us its own take on widgets with the core apps built into iOS 10, but you can do better.

If you’ve never taken a look at some of the great third-party iOS widgets available, you’re missing out. Here are six of our favorite iOS widgets to replace the stock Apple widgets. (If you don’t know how to add widgets, go to the bottom of this post for instructions on adding and using them.)

Apple TV jailbreak for tvOS 10.1 is coming soon

By

apple tv and siri remote
Will third-party tweaks follow?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple TV owners still running tvOS 10 or tvOS 10.1 will soon get a jailbreak that allows them to run unauthorized third-party software. Hackers have confirmed that work on the tool is finished and that it will be available to download soon.

Samsung’s answer to iPhone 7 lands March 29

By

Galaxy-S8-invite
Galaxy S8 will be one of the hottest handsets of 2017. (But hopefully not too hot.)
Photo: Cult of Mac

Samsung has issued invites to a press event in New York City on March 29 where it will unveil the much-anticipated Galaxy S8 series.

Fans are expecting two devices, both of which will attempt to outshine the iPhone 7 with curved glass designs, Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon processor, and features like iris recognition.

Flyover reveals Apple Park is still dirty ahead of April opening

By

Screen Shot 2017-02-27 at 15.57.10
Apple Park's name pays tribute to the legendary Xerox PARC.
Photo: Matthew Roberts/YouTube

A new Apple Park drone video shows just how close Apple’s spaceship office complex is to completion.

Installation of hundreds of solar panels on the roof of Apple Park’s cavernous garage is now done, while those being positioned on the main building’s roof are almost finished as well. With the bulk of the work on buildings like the Steve Jobs Theater now complete, workers are now moving on to landscaping elements, like planting the trees that will decorate the massive HQ.

Check out the spectacular new Apple Park flyover video below.

Get grooving with this glorious audio gear [Deals]

By

collage-2017-02-23 (1)
We've got the best in Bluetooth earbuds, headphones and streaming hubs at the Cult of Mac Store.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

One of the most important uses of our digital devices is bringing sweet, sweet sounds to our ears. Whether you want to listen to a favorite album or podcast, we’ve gathered some of the best delivery systems for top-shelf sound.

From two different Bluetooth earbud sets to a home audio streaming hub and a set of high-fidelity Bluetooth headphones, there’s plenty here to please your ears.

OPPO’s new camera puts iPhone 7 Plus zoom to shame

By

Oppo-5x-lens-periscope
Oppo's camera uses periscope-style lenses for 5x lossless zoom.
Photo: Oppo

Chinese smartphone maker OPPO today announced a new smartphone camera with even greater zoom capabilities than iPhone 7 Plus.

The module uses two camera sensors just like Apple’s, but they’re positioned differently to allow for “groundbreaking” 5x lossless zoom. They’re also 10 percent slimmer than the typical 2x zoom lenses used in smartphones.

Warren Buffett more than doubles AAPL holdings this year

By

Apple is worth more than the entire US energy sector combined
Buffett sure knows an opportunity when he sees one.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Warren Buffett’s investment firm Berkshire Hathaway has more that doubled its Apple share holdings this year — with its $17 billion share of Apple now representing Berkshire’s second biggest holding in a company.

In 2017 alone, the firm has purchased 120 million Apple shares.

Third-party display repairs no longer void iPhone warranties

By

apple-iphone-cracked-security-mac-ios-malware-flaw
Apple eases up on third-party screen repairs.
Photo: Faris Algosaibi/Flickr CC

Getting your iPhone screen fixed by a third-party repairer no longer voids its warranty entirely.

An internal memo distributed among Apple employees confirms stores and authorized service providers can now accept handsets for repair following a third-party display replacement as long as the issue is not related to the screen.

Replica of Steve Jobs’ timepiece costs less than an Apple Watch

By

img_top_watch01
Which watch would Steve wear? This one, apparently.
Photo: Seiko

Back in 1984, Steve Jobs didn’t wear an Apple Watch. Instead, he wore a Seiko Chariot timepiece, as seen in an iconic photo used on the cover of Time magazine after Jobs’ 2011 death.

While Jobs’ “heavily worn” original sold for $42,000 at auction last year, Japanese watchmaker Seiko and Tokyo retailer Nano Universe are teaming up to produce a small batch affordable replicas.

Skipper crashes his boat after ditching his compass for an iPad

By

iPad Pro 2
Not a replacement for compasses, apparently.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

A skipper has been fined $3,700 for crashing his 50-foot Second World War boat into a ferry — after setting off on a journey taking no compass, and only an iPad, for navigation.

The problem? The 34-year-old boatman didn’t bank on the fact that there was a chance Wi-Fi connectivity could drop out. And then it did.