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Tim Cook: Anti-U.S. bias is ‘one reason’ for Apple’s giant tax bill

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Tim Cook
Tim Cook is not happy about the tax decision against Apple. Like, at all.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Tim Cook says that Apple is among the biggest Irish taxpayers, and claims anti-U.S. bias is “one reason” the company was targeted by the European Commission.

Cook was responding to this week’s news, in which Apple was handed an enormous tax bill of €13 billion ($14.52 billion) after an investigation into its reportedly illegal “sweetheart deal” in Ireland, giving it an unfair advantage over rivals.

Apple pushes its AI expert hiring spree into overdrive

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Latest AI acquisition shows Apple isn’t sacrificing privacy for machine smarts
Apple's catching up when it comes to all things AI.
Photo: Universal

Don’t tell Tim Cook, but the perception of Apple is that it’s been lagging behind other tech companies like Google and Facebook when it comes to cutting-edge artificial intelligence research.

Things are unlikely to stay that way for long, however, since Apple is currently in the midst of a massive recruitment drive to hire machine learning experts for a variety of different posts throughout the company.

Today in Apple history: iPod touch is ‘iPhone without the phone’

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Screen Shot 2016-09-01 at 13.31.19
The fourth-gen iPod touch closed the gap between iPod and iPhone.
Photo: Apple

Sept 1September 1, 2010: Apple announces its fourth-generation iPod touch, a version of the portable music player which closes the gap between the iPod touch and the iPhone.

Along with being thinner than ever, the fourth-gen iPod touch’s main innovations include a redesigned form factor, Retina display, FaceTime calling via WiFi, HD video recording, and the same A4 chip found in the iPhone at the time.

Week’s best Apple deals: Lowest-ever prices on MacBook Pro, iPad Pro and more

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Apple deals
Get the lowest prices we've ever seen on current-gen Apple gear.
Photos: Apple, Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

We are already dreaming about the iPhone deals we’ll be able to bring you in coming weeks, after the iPhone 7 debuts on September 7 and retailers slash prices on older models.

But for now, we’ve got four Editors’ Choice deals with some of the best prices on Apple hardware we’ve ever seen.

Irish throw fruity protest against Apple tax breaks

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Member of Sinn Féin Republican Youth in Dublin.
Member of Sinn Féin Republican Youth in Dublin.
Photo: An Phoblacht

The headquarters of the ruling government party of Ireland, Fine Gael, was the site of recent apple massacre after angry citizens flocked to the offices to protest Apple’s massive tax breaks.

Members of the youth wing Sinn Fein impaled apples of the orange and red variety on the fences of Fine Gael’s Dublin offices following the revelation from the European Commission that Ireland intentionally lowered Apple’s tax burden.

Check out the horrific scene:

Nearly all BMWs now offer CarPlay option

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Apple Car
BMW is finally embracing CarPlay.
Photo: BMW

CarPlay hasn’t taken off quite as quickly as Apple hoped for, but if you’re in the market for a brand-new BMW, you can finally get Apple’s car infotainment system on pretty much any new model.

But it’ll cost you.

Recover lost iPhone data the simple way with this free-to-try Mac app

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iMyfone
So many ways to lose your iPhone data; one simple way to get it back.
Image: iMyfone Technology Co.

This post is brought to you by iMyfone Technology Co., maker of iMyfone D-Back.

Conversations, photos, notes — with the iPhone, the data we rely on most has never felt closer or more convenient. But when something goes wrong and that data disappears, it’s anything but convenient. And iTunes, with its tricky backup scheme based on bulk syncs rather than individual selections, doesn’t always help.

Samsung stops shipping Galaxy Note 7 after phones explode

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x
Apple should steal a lot of the Note 7's features, except the exploding one.
Photo: Samsung

Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 7 smartphones have barely made it into the wild, but early reports of the devices exploding in customers’ homes may have caused the company to delay shipments.

In a statement to news outlets today, Samsung said it delayed shipments to do product-quality tests, however, local reports from South Korea reveal the company may be investigating whether the device is prone to spontaneously burst into flames.

World’s fiercest iPhone jailbreaker can be shy in the spotlight

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Jay
Jay "saurik" Freeman, maker of Cydia, says there are legit reasons to jailbreak your iPhone.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Cult of Mac 2.0 bugThis is the first in a three-part series on jailbreaking iOS.

The leading figure in the jailbreak community has the ideal name in defending your right to circumvent your iPhone’s operating system.

Jay Freeman is known to serve his community with a Braveheart-like passion, defending the practice with the sharp edge of his intellect and a seemingly inexhaustible energy for argument.

This month’s top deal: A sleek MacBook storage upgrade [Deals]

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Instantly and seamlessly add up to 200GB of storage without a bulky external drive.
Instantly and seamlessly add up to 200GB of storage without a bulky external drive.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Coming up short on storage is frustrating and all too common, and the solutions often come with their own drawbacks. Upping drive space usually means adding a bulky external drive to your computer bag, or having an SD card sticking out the side of your laptop. Nifty’s MiniDrive Air offers a much less irritating solution, with a MicroSD adapter that disappears into the contour of the computer while adding serious storage. No wonder it’s been one of our hottest deals this month — right now you can get a MiniDrive for $33.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Apple’s giant tax bill has potential to bring down the Irish government

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Irish flag
Shockwaves will be felt for a long time.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The shockwaves from yesterday’s massive announcement that Apple must pay 13 billion euros ($14.52 billion) in back taxes in Europe are still rippling — but nowhere are they being felt more keenly than in Ireland.

Although the Irish government wasted no time in saying it planned to appeal the EC decision, a new report notes that internal disagreements on this issue could have the potential to have an enormous impact. Like, tearing-the-government-apart enormous!

Curved glass 2017 iPhone is already keeping suppliers busy

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Galaxy Note 7 S Pen
Apple could be borrowing one of Samsung's big design features for next year's iPhone.
Photo: Samsung

The iPhone 7’s not even been officially unveiled yet, and already suppliers are prepping for next year’s tenth-birthday iPhone refresh, according to a new report.

Specifically, an equipment maker called Mirle Automation has reportedly been working on the necessary technology to replicate the 3D curved glass chassis seen on devices like the the Galaxy S7 edge and the new Galaxy Note 7. And it’s paying off.

Logitech’s new Silent Mice might stop you from strangling your co-worker

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These new Silent Mice from Logitech take the fight to mouse-induced misophonia.
These new Silent Mice from Logitech take the fight to mouse-induced misophonia.
Photos: Logitech

SAN FRANCISCO — You might call Logitech’s latest peripherals the mice that didn’t roar. Or rather the mice that don’t click or swoosh or make that annoying ratcheting sound that triggers you to fantasize about strangling your fidgety-fingered co-worker.

This new breed of pointing device is as quiet as the proverbial church mouse, without sacrificing precision or tactile “click” — and apparently that’s a bigger deal than you might imagine.

Griffin’s new adapter fixes iPhone 7’s most hated feature

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Griffin iTrip Clip adapter
Get ready to see more adapters like this.
Photo: Griffin

Apple is set to kill the century old headphone jack when it unveils the iPhone 7 during an event on September 7th, which is bad news for your favorite pair of wired headphones, but great news for accessory makers like Griffin.

The popular iPhone accessory maker is already prepared to cure your headphone jack woes this fall with the introduction of its newest adapter that gives your old headphones new Bluetooth 4.1 powers.

How to join the ‘Touch IC Disease’ class-action lawsuit against Apple

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iPhone 6S
A legal battle is brewing over 'Touch IC Disease'
Photo: Buster Hein/Cult of Mac

Owners of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus units afflicted by the alleged design defect dubbed “Touch IC Disease” won’t get much aid from the Genius Bar, but a U.S. law firm is looking to help users take Apple to court.

After filing a class-action lawsuit against Apple on Saturday for not fixing iPhones with Touch IC Disease, McCuneWright LLP says it’s searching for more iPhone 6 owners who have suffered from the defect.

How much does in-house app development really cost?

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How much does in-house app development really cost?
Putting a price tag on in-house app development can be tricky.
Photo: MacPaw

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

If you’re developing a Mac app, you’re faced with a major either/or decision: whether to distribute inside or outside of the Mac App Store (MAS). Sticking to the MAS means you’ve got access to tools for licensing, hosting, crash reporting and other necessary tasks. However, Apple’s tools may not be what’s best for your app.

Why Tim Cook’s open letter about taxes struggles to paint Apple as the underdog

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A still from the classic Apple
Who is Big Brother and who's the rebel freedom fighter?
Photo: Apple

With his open letter defending Apple’s Irish tax strategy, Tim Cook positions his company as a sledgehammer-tossing freedom fighter at battle with Big Brother-style EU bureaucracy.

But unlike Cook’s previous missives on LGBT rights and the importance of privacy, this open letter seems unlikely to be met with near-unanimous support. While railing against the EU’s massive assessment of €13 billion euros in back taxes owed by Apple, Cook ignores the facts of the matter — and seems tone-deaf about painting the world’s biggest company as an underdog.

Snapchat just made it super-easy to create your own geofilter

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Snapchat
Snapchat got some smart new features this week.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Creating your own Snapchat geofilter for parties and other special occasions just got a whole lot easier thanks to a new web-based tool Snapchat unleashed on the world today.

With competition intensifying from Instagram’s new Stories feature, Snapchat is expanding the revenue it gets from geofilters by charging a small fee to create your own for a short period of time. The tool lets users either upload their own art or modify existing templates, setting up custom filters to be the next big thing.