Apple's luck just won't change in China. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
iPhone sales continued to decline in China during the second quarter of 2016, despite a slight rise in overall smartphone shipments. High-end devices from Samsung are also struggling, and it seems unlikely the situation will change soon.
Don't get your hopes up for a second speaker. Photo: NowhereElse
The secondary speaker grille on recent iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus mockups has led us to believe Apple’s next-generation smartphones will get an extra speaker, but according to a new leak, one of those grilles may be just for show.
Hey, presto! No more typing in passwords. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
The devices in Apple’s ecosystem always work really well together, and macOS Sierra doesn’t buck that trend. In fact, the upcoming desktop operating system lets Apple Watch owners automatically unlock their Macs using the wearable device — no lengthy password needed.
It’s a small, but incredibly useful, new feature that rewards Mac owners who have taken the dive and invested in an Apple Watch. Here’s how to use it when running macOS Sierra, which is currently in public beta and will be released this fall.
Twitter really wants you to keep coming back. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Twitter has inked a deal with the NFL that will allow it to live-stream content to iOS and later the Apple TV. It’s thought the company has paid around $10 million to stream ten games — all of which are Thursday night fixtures.
This tough but sleek battery pack will charge any USB-connected device, anywhere. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Traveling puts you in many situations where your mobile device or laptop need juice but there’s none to be found. It’s a problem you can avoid entirely by bringing the power you need with you, which is a lot more convenient than it sounds.
These two battery packs by Mophie — one a sleek power brick with multiple charging levels, the other an iPhone 6 case with built-in charger — carry enough power to vastly extend the road life of your devices without being bulky. Take a look:
A new size of iPad Pro is on the way, apparently. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple will ship three new iPads next year, according to well-connected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo — including a low-cost 9.7-inch iPad, upgraded 12.9-inch iPad Pro, and a new 10.5-inch iPad Pro variant as well.
But the really big changes, he claims, are planned for the year after…
Tim Cook had a lot to say. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Due to Apple’s secrecy, and the company’s marketing-driven need to stay “on message,” interviews with senior execs can often be frustratingly free of revelations. That’s not the case with the recent in-depth interview the Washington Post did with CEO Tim Cook, however.
Here are the 10 most interesting tidbits we learned from Cook’s most revealing chat yet.
From a promising smart journal app to a fantastic auto-runner game, we’ve sifted through this week’s most exciting apps to bring you the ones you absolutely need to download now.
Check out our picks below. Trust us, this is the way you want to spend Sunday!
Work out and groove without worrying about wearing out your heaphones thanks to these Bluetooth buds. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
What’s that wafting on the summer wind, approaching over the horizon? Ah yes, it’s the week’s freshest deals on gears and gadgets from Cult of Mac. This round we’ve got water-resistant Bluetooth earbuds, a year of Carbonite cloud storage, a sleek iPhone charging station, and the solution to pretty much any media compatibility issue you’ll ever face. Take a look:
If you’re thinking of buying a new iPhone right now, don’t do it! You could save yourself a small fortune by delaying that purchase until September, when Apple is set to unveil the next models of its world-conquering smartphones.
Saying that any new device gets cheaper the longer you wait to buy it may sound like stating the obvious, but we’ve been digging into our research. We’ll tell you when and how far iPhone prices will likely fall after the iPhone 7 launch so you can get an idea of whether it’s really worth waiting.
New Apple hardware in March? Reports say yes, indeed. Image: Cult of Mac
This week on The CultCast: New MacBook Pros, incoming! We have even more details to share on the “significant” updates coming soon to Apple’s MacBook Pro line. Plus: iPhone 7 may get a Quad HD display and pressure-sensitive home button; Apple’s plans for a “killer” new health device; and we review our favorite new hoverboards and smart scales on an all-new Under Review.
Our thanks to Casper for supporting this episode. Casper’s American-made mattresses have just the right amount of memory foam and latex, and people everywhere love them. Learn why and save $50 off your order at casper.com/cultcast.
Turn your iPhone into a remote for basically any WiFi or IR enabled device in your home. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
August is humming along and it’s already time again to take a look at the best deals of the last week. This round, we’ve got an app that turns your iphone into a universal remote, a duo of apps for protecting your online identity, a set of premium glass lenses for your iPhone, and a mobile charger that’ll also help you find your car. Intrigued? Read on:
A 10-mile run or a tasty bun — track your calories in and out. Table: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac
Calorie-tracking apps like MyFitnessPal and MyNetDiary are no fun to use. Logging all your meals is a tedious chore, and unlike fitness apps that praise you for your hard work, diet apps tend to just tell you off for eating too much.
But when you are trying to lose or gain weight, these apps provide indispensable insights into where your calories are coming from and how you can optimize your diet to get the best results. So I’ve compared the leading calorie trackers to find out which one you should count on.
Apple wants to be the next Silicon Valley giant to tap into Seattle. Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac
Amazon and Microsoft could get some big competition in their own backyard from Apple soon, based on a new real estate rumor that claims the Silicon Valley titan is eyeing a huge office expansion in Seattle.
Details on exactly where Apple is planning to plant its flag in Seattle aren’t clear yet, but the company’s new offices will reportedly be “huge” with several hundred thousand square feet of space.
Keeping a digital collaboration humming can get expensive, especially as your team gets bigger and bigger. Making sure everybody has access to the same projects and files often takes a pricey subscription to a cloud platform like Dropbox. But right now a powerful solution is going for a huge discount of 98 percent — you can get a lifetime of Droplr for just $21.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.
Spotify has launched a new music portal that puts the soundtracks to your favorite videos games in one place. It features original music from titles like Grand Theft Auto, Halo and No Man’s Sky — plus curated playlists from Spotify and the community.
Apple's proposed data center as it will eventually appear. Photo: Apple
After a period of delays and an official hearing with Irish regulatory body An Bord Pleanála, Apple has finally been given permission to move ahead with its 500-acre data center site near the west coast of Ireland.
Apple’s case was heard back in May this year, but it took until recently for inspector Stephen Kay to submit his recommendations to the Irish advisory board about the $960 million project.
"The Force is strong with this one." Photo: LucasFilms
Disney dropped a brand new trailer for the upcoming movie Rogue One: A Star Wars Story during the Olympics tonight, giving fans of the Force their first glimpse at Darth Vader’s return to the big screen.
The action-packed trailer is full of new bad guys, droids, and rebels, some of which have teamed up to steal plans from the Empire right before it begins testing the dreaded Death Star. James Earl Jones is returning to provide the voice of the Chosen One who is probably not going to be happy by the end of the film that’s set before the events of A New Hope
iPhone may finally go on sale in Iran. Photo: Buster Hein/Cult of Mac
The lifting of sanctions on Iran could turn into a gold mine for American companies, and Apple is set to be one of the first through the gates as the country plans to lift is ban on iPhone sales.
Cloud Raiders, a visually stunning and endlessly addictive base-building strategy game, is now available for Mac. Image: Game Insight
This post is brought to you by Game Insight.
If you’re a fan of base-building strategy games, there’s a good chance you’ve been playing Cloud Raiders on your mobile phones and tablets in the last few years — but you might not know that Cloud Raiders recently made the jump to the Mac App Store. We’ve been playing it on Mac, and as a geeky crew of gamers, we’re impressed.
Grab a great deal on a refurbished MacBook Pro Ivy i5 Dual 13" Laptop. Photo: Cult of Mac
Score an amazingly low price on a MacBook Pro, or the best deal we’ve ever seen on the iPad Air 2 16GB WiFi. These and more are in this week’s best Apple deals.
Even if it's busted, we'll give you the best price for your old iPhone. Photo: Cult of Mac
Boy, iPhones sure do grow up fast. There’s a brand new model out almost every six months, while the one in your pocket gets sluggish and senile.
If you’re looking to upgrade and aren’t sure what to do with your hobbled old phone, sell your iPhone to us first! Most of the time, Cult of Mac’s Apple gear buyback program can get you more money for your outdated, used or even broken devices than Gazelle, Walmart, Best Buy, and Apple themselves.
The Valentine is so versatile and addictive you'll want to take it everywhere. Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
When this Valentine guitar arrived, I took a look at it, puffed out a quiet “Hmmph,” and carried on working. Even though I’d seen photos, I was still underwhelmed by the instrument’s appearance: pale, natural wood; a tortoise shell pickguard; and the kind of doughy, conservative shape that could make even an audience of meth-fueled Juggalos fall asleep.
A display assembly purportedly destined for the iPhone 7 has leaked out ahead of the handset’s official debut next month. The part gives us an early glimpse at the changes Apple has made, like flipping the LCD panel upside down.
Former Apple design chief Jerry Manock is helping Alex Jason turn his extensive Apple computer collection into the Maine Technology Musuem. Photo: Bill Jason
Apple famously wants no part in a museum dedicated to its revolutionary products. However, one key contributor to Apple’s early years feels differently — and is helping a Maine teenager elevate his basement computer collection into a thriving technology museum.
Jerry Manock, Apple’s first design guru, will serve on the board of directors for the future Maine Technology Museum, which will house the collection of 15-year-old Alex Jason, who has established what many serious collectors say is one of the best Apple collections anywhere.