Mobile menu toggle

Fair criticism of iPhone 7 camera might not matter to photographers

By •

What makes a better sunrise, the iPhone 6s Plus or the iPhone 7s Plus? The photographer sees the difference.
What makes a better sunrise, the iPhone 6s Plus or the iPhone 7s Plus? The photographer sees the difference.
Photo: Cielo de la Paz

I was raised by careful shoppers in a home where Consumer Reports magazine was like a second Bible. Cars, a new washer and dryer, and a vacuum cleaner to handle the then-new orange shag carpeting were not purchased without first consulting this venerable institution of objective product testing.

So I hit the pause button on my excitement for the iPhone 7 camera when I read a Consumer Reports review that claimed the iPhone 7 represents “no major leap in camera performance” from the 6s.

For one day only, get 10% off already discounted gear and gadgets [Deals]

By •

This Apple Watch charging station charges your timepiece wirelessly, but it's also a USB hub for your other devices.
This Apple Watch charging station charges your timepiece wirelessly, but it's also a USB hub for your other devices.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

The Cult of Mac Store gets regular shipments of great deals, but once in a rare while there are special deals. This is one of those days — but it’s just one day. Today all four of the deals below is 10 percent off their already reduced prices when you use the coupon code THUR10 at checkout. It applies to a wireless Apple Watch dock, a pack of MFi-certified Lightning cables, water resistant Bluetooth earbuds, and a seamless 64GB expansion for your MacBook. Read on for more details:

Buy Steve Jobs’ first Apple stock certificate for just $195,000

By •

applestock
It's not quite the equivalent of getting Jobs' 1980 fortune, but it's not too far off.
Photo: Moments in Time

If you’re a fan of rare Apple memorabilia, how about this for a collector’s piece: the first ever AAPL stock certificate given to Steve Jobs after Apple went public in 1980.

Yours for the house-remortgaging price of $195,000, this genuine slice of tech history reportedly hung on Jobs’ office wall at Apple until he left/was booted out of the company in 1985.

Apple could troll Samsung by putting a store in its backyard

By •

Samsung
This could very well be a future arial shot of the Seoul street layout.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple has been opening plenty of Apple stores in China, but it could go even further into East Asia with a brand new retail store — based directly across the street from Samsung’s headquarters in Seoul, South Korea.

We guess Tim Cook’s been taking trolling notes again!

Apple could transform historic Washington DC building into new store

By •

2008-0601-dc-citymuseumcarnegielibrary
It's not a giant glass cube, but it's not too shabby!
Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri/Wikipedia CC

Residents of Washington D.C. could be about to get a stunning new Apple flagship store, located at the historic 113-year-old Carnegie Library in Mount Vernon Square.

Negotiations between Apple and the the Events D.C. organization have reportedly been going on since the start of the year, and seem to be working in Apple’s favor.

Week’s best Apple deals: Save hundreds on refurb iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches

By •

If you want to save cash, go refurb!
If you want to save cash, go refurb!
Photos: Apple

One of the big reasons we love Apple is because the company’s devices hold up so well over time, meaning that used items are often almost as good as new.

You can save hundreds this week buying used and open-box Apple devices, including a refurb Mac mini directly from Cupertino itself. This and more are in this week’s best Apple deals.

Apple Watch Series 2 review: A tick closer to perfection

By •

apple watch series 2
Trade-in that old Apple Watch for money off at the Apple Store.
Photo: Ste Smith/CultofMac

I finally have a reason to stop cheating on my Apple Watch.

For the past 16 months, Apple’s wearable and I have had an on-again, off-again relationship. The Apple Watch looks great. It helps me stay fit. It tells the time really well. But it hasn’t been the complete wrist solution I need.

With the Apple Watch Series 2, a lot of the compromises of Apple’s first-gen smartwatch have finally been fixed. You can get GPS without carrying your iPhone. The new Apple Watch is water-friendly. And it’s built for speed. But with the new, less-expensive Apple Watch Series 1 getting some of the same features, is the Series 2 seriously worth the upgrade?

While working on this Apple Watch Series 2 review, I’ve been wearing the new device everywhere I go ever since it came out Friday. The short answer is, “hell yes.”

If Macs don’t need cleaning, why does macOS Sierra come with cleaning tools?

By •

macOS Sierra offers new tools to clean your Mac.
macOS Sierra offers new tools to clean your Mac.
Photo: StockSnap/Pixabay

This is a guest post by Vera Tkachenko, a software team lead at MacPaw.

For the first time, the Mac operating system comes with cleaning tools. The new Optimized Storage feature in macOS Sierra might not sound like much at first, but its very presence in the new Mac operating system undermines the long-held notion that OS X is self-cleaning and remains fast and glitch-free on its own.

Why did Apple add this functionality? Let’s check under the hood of the new macOS cleaning tools to find out what they do, why they do it — and how they might have done it better.

Apple drops new betas for iOS, tvOS, watchOS and macOS

By •

Hold off on iOS 10 for now.
The first iOS 10.1 beta is already here.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple just released macOS Sierra to the public yesterday, but work on a fresh new update is already underway after Apple seeded macOS Sierra 10.12.1 to developers this morning.

Along with the new macOS Sierra beta, Apple has also released the first beta builds of iOS 10.1, tvOS 10.1 and watchOS 3.1, bringing a slew of bug fixes to every single platform as well as Portrait Mode for the iPhone 7 Plus dual-lens camera.

Telltale’s eagerly anticipated Batman game finally hits iOS

By •

wallpaper-2
Check out the gorgeous, rotoscoped-style artwork.
Photo: Telltale

Promising to take you inside the “fractured psyche” of Bruce Wayne, a gorgeously animated new Batman iOS game plunges players into a branching narrative that features plenty of DC Comics’ favorite Bat-characters.

The first episode of Batman: The Telltale Series — from Telltale Games, maker of great iOS titles like Tales from the Borderlands and The Walking Dead — lands today, and it looks like another story-driven winner. Check out the trailer below.

Apple may be about to buy a world-famous supercar maker

By •

mclaren-p1-bahrain-773-crop5184x2670
The new McLaren P1. Will it be owned by Apple?
Photo: McLaren

Apple is said to be in talks with British supercar manufacturer McLaren over a possible takeover. It’s thought Cupertino chiefs approached the firm, which is renowned for its Formula One racing team, several months ago and discussions are still ongoing.

These Bluetooth headphones will blow your ears away [Deals]

By •

These headphones bring the beat and the best of Bluetooth.
These headphones bring the beat and the best of Bluetooth.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

When scoping out a new set of headphones, the balance between quality, convenience and cost is always at play. These headphones from Franklin manage to hit the intersection of all three, with a foldable yet solid build, sonorous sound and all the convenience of Bluetooth. Right now you can pick up a set for just $39.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.

iPhone 7 has already been jailbroken

By •

iPhone 7 jailbreak Cydia
A sight Apple won't be pleased to see.
Photo: Luca Tedesco

The iPhone 7 has been on sale for less than a week and hackers have already been able to jailbreak it. Photos posted on Twitter show Cydia, the home of jailbreak apps and tweaks, installed on a device running iOS 10.0.1.

iOS 10 users complain of poor battery life after updating

By •

iOS
Is iOS 10 draining your battery?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

A number of iOS 10 users have taken to social media to complain about the fact that their iOS devices are running out of juice far more rapidly after upgrading to the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system. “iOS 10,” writes one Twitter user. “More like iOS 10% of my battery left.”

Fortunately, there’s a logical explanation — which means things may not stay like this for too long.

One of Apple’s biggest display makers on the verge of cracking

By •

iPhone 7 front
iPhone 7 display maker is in trouble.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Japan Display, one of Apple’s main component makers for iPhone displays, is struggling and could lose the financial support of the Japanese government if it’s not able to drum up more non-Apple biz.

The company has been hit by a triple threat: a rise in the Japanese yen, a reluctance to shift from its LCD technology while rival companies ramped up OLED facilities, and slowing iPhone sales.

You can now pick up rare fine art prints of Steve Jobs during his NeXT days

By •

screen-shot-2016-09-21-at-13-42-47
Jobs celebrates a visit to the NeXT Computer factory.
Photo: Doug Menuez

If you’ve ever wanted to populate your home with rare fine-art prints of Steve Jobs, this is your lucky day!

That’s because Doug Menuez, an award-winning documentary photographer who made an unprecedented number of pictures of Jobs between 1985 and 1994, is selling a limited quantity of black-and-white prints for the first time.

iPhone 7 components only cost Apple $220

By •

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

The iPhone 7 features some of the most incredible tech found in a smartphone but the components only cost Apple about $220.

Including the basic manufacturing costs of $5, Apple’s total bill to manufacture the 32GB iPhone 7 reaches a total of $224.80, according to a teardown by IHS that found the device is $36.89 more expensive to produce than the iPhone 6s.

Photokina highlights: More megapixels to hit camera market

By •

Fujifilm caps off a big year with the GFX 50S digital medium format camera.
Fujifilm caps off a big year with the GFX 50S digital medium format camera.
Photo: Fujifilm

The iPhone 7 Plus may be the only camera you need, but it’s not the only camera that’s making news this week.

Some of the very brands affected by the iPhone’s popularity showcased new gear at Photokina 2016 in Cologne, Germany, this week. They demonstrated innovation and an ability to adapt to the parts of the photography market that demand more than a smartphone.

This tool reveals which Apple Stores have iPhone 7 in stock

By •

iPhone 7 Plus jet black
The jet black iPhone 7 Plus is in low supply.
Image: Apple

Getting your hands on the jet black iPhone 7 Plus is practically impossible right now unless you were one of the first to pre-order. But Apple fans hoping to pick one up in stores now have a new tool that can track down the exact model you want as soon as it’s available.

Apple adds real-time collaboration to iWork apps for Mac

By •

Real-time collaboration is now on the Mac.
Real-time collaboration is now on the Mac.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s iWork productivity software received a huge update today alongside the launch of macOS Sierra.

Pages, Keynote and Numbers all got upgraded with the new real-time collaboration Apple gave us a glimpse of at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference. The new feature is still in beta, but it makes the apps more powerful than ever in the workplace by allowing teams to edit documents simultaneously.