Check out the latest tweaks in iOS 10 beta 5 Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
We’re gradually getting closer and closer to the public release of iOS 10 later this fall, which means developer betas are dropping fast. Just a week after beta 4 was released, beta 5 is already here.
Some ideas have a combination of common sense and innovation that it feels good just to think about. An example: since you’re charging your smartphone while you drive, why not turn that charger into a locator so you know where your car is after you get out? That’s exactly what this car charger from Zus does, a brilliant, simple device built for double duty that can be yours for almost half off — get one for $29.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.
Apple’s decision to sell national flag-themed Apple Watch bands exclusively in Rio may look like an official Olympics tie-in, but it’s actually a smart bit of guerrilla marketing that’s having the (unintentional?) side effect of drawing attention away from rival Samsung, a.k.a. the official phone sponsor of the Olympic games.
Japan Display is running into problems. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple display maker Japan Display continues to suffer setbacks, with the latest being a fall in its share price after it was revealed that the company is seeking financial support from a Japanese government-backed fund.
Japan Display has been hit by the triple whammy of iPhone sales falling, a damaging rise in the Japanese yen currency, and seemingly betting on the wrong horse by hanging onto LCD technology for too long while rival companies were ramping up their OLED facilities for next year’s big iPhone refresh.
iTunes hit a major milestone in 2004. Photo: Apple
August 10, 2004: The iTunes Music Store catalog grows to 1 million songs in the United States, a first for an online music service.
Stocking music from all five major record labels and another 600 indies, and with more than 100 million songs downloaded, the iTunes Music Store is officially established as the world’s No. 1 online music service.
“The iTunes Music Store offers the world’s most extensive collection of downloadable music with over one million tracks available,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of applications, in a press release. “With more than one million songs, over 600 independent labels and dozens of innovative features, iTunes is the ultimate destination for discovering and downloading music.”
Australian banks aren't all happy about hopping on the Apple Pay bandwagon. Photo: Cult of Mac / Picturesofmoney
Apple is less than happy about Australian banks’ unwillingness to say “G’day” to Apple Pay. In fact, it’s accusing them of acting like a “cartel,” and arguing their demands pose a security risk to Apple and its customers.
Now is a great time to buy the iPad Pro. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Buying a gigantic new iPad Pro just got a bit more affordable because Apple has finally made refurbished units of the 12.9-inch model available online.
Apple wants to help you monitor even more. Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac
Apple is developing a “killer” new health device that is scheduled to make its debut in 2017, according to a new report. The device will reportedly monitor heart rate and blood sugar, and will somehow be baked into next year’s iPhone.
Apple is making revolutionary batteries for its car. Photo: Motor1
Apple might team up with “expert technologists in batteries” from South Korea to create hollow lithium-ion power cells that will fuel the upcoming Apple Car, according to a new report.
While the name of the South Korean company hasn’t been revealed due to a nondisclosure agreement with Apple, it’s supposedly comprised of just 20 people. The South Korean team reportedly joined Apple’s secretive Project Titan automotive effort earlier this year, and the battery innovations could help the Apple Car stand out from the competition.
macOS Sierra puts Tabs everywhere. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
One week after releasing macOS Sierra beta 4, Apple is already back with a new beta build of its future operating system for Mac that is set for public release later this fall.
Apple mentions in the release notes that it has made bug fixes for Apple Pay, iTunes, Keychain Access and even Microsoft OneDrive in the new build. The upcoming update brings a ton of new features, including Siri for Mac, auto-unlock with Apple Watch, Apple Pay, better iCloud integration and more.
Searching your photos just got easier! Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple is giving its Photos app a massive overhaul for macOS Sierra, adding cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology to make searching for individual pictures far, far smarter than it’s ever been before.
The Photos app can now search upward of 4,432 scenes and objects, letting you pull just the pictures shot in your backyard, for instance, or only those that include your car. Although the feature’s not working in Apple’s beta releases just yet, the finished version of macOS Sierra also promises to recognize seven different facial expressions — including greediness, disgust, smiles, neutral, surprise, screaming and suspicious.
Here’s how to use Apple’s smart photo search when running the new operating system, which is currently in public beta and will be released this fall.
iOS 10 beta 5 has arrived. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
Developers received a brand-new batch of betas from Apple this morning after the company released the fifth builds of iOS 10, watchOS 3 and tvOS 10, which bring a number of changes and performance improvements to Apple’s platforms.
The updates come just over a week after Apple dropped the fourth beta of iOS 10, which included more than 100 new emoji, new sounds for keyboard clicks, quicker animations and tons of other improvements. We can’t wait to see what improvements Apple has made this go-round.
Only two of these will go on sale this fall. Photo: NowhereElse
Apple really has been working on three different versions of the iPhone 7, according to sources familiar with its plans — but only two of them will go on sale this fall.
The rumored “iPhone 7 Pro” has reportedly been cut from the final lineup, but we’ll still see Apple’s new dual-lens camera.
Has time run out for more expensive smartwatches? Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
The Apple Watch is one of the more affordable devices Apple makes. But a lot of people are still understandably hesitant about shelling out a few hundred bucks on a first-generation gadget they’re not sure they need.
If this describes you, check out our video review of a $63 Chinese Apple Watch clone, the (deep breath) Lemfo Bluetooth Smart Watch Phone GSM Pedometer Fitness Tracker. You may even come away surprised …
This is why you shouldn't take pics with an iPad. Photo: Deklyn Kai
Next time you visit SeaWorld make sure to keep one eye on the dolphins and the other on your Apple products.
It turns out one of the most intelligent species of the ocean is just as crazy about iPads and iPhones as humans are, as seen in a new video from Orlando, Florida where a dolphin jumps out of his pool to steal a spectator’s iPad while she’s taking a photo.
This pair of apps will let you take control of your online security. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Going online is automatically risky, what with data thieves, snoops and location restrictions, among plenty of other hazards. One great way to make sure you’re protected is to regularly change up your passwords, and another is to connect through a virtual private network, or VPN.
Either move can take a lot of effort. But with this duo of apps — Dashlane Premium and Hotspot Shield Elite VPN — taking these precautions becomes effortless. And right now you can get three years of both for just $69.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.
Your Apple Car? Probably not, to be honest. Photo: Wikipedia CC
With Project Titan reportedly gathering momentum, it might come as no surprise to hear that Apple was granted a vehicle-related patent today.
What might surprise you a bit more is that this doesn’t relate to the Apple Car many people are expecting — but rather to robust steering controls for an articulated truck, originally filed by a company which manufactures and sells military vehicles.
Everyone will be able to create Twitter Moments soon. Photo: Twitter
Twitter is taking the fight to Snapchat and Instagram by opening Moments up to all. The feature will initially be available to influencers, partners, and brands — but all Twitter users will be able to get their hands on it “in the coming months.”
Apple can expect to get a final verdict on whether it can continue development on its proposed 850 million euro ($960 million) data centre in Athenry, Ireland later this month.
An oral hearing concerning the major development took place earlier this year, and inspector Stephen Kay has now submitted his recommendations to the Irish advisory board about the project.
iPhone 7 Plus could get a big resolution improvement. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Display panels that are apparently bound for the upcoming iPhone 7 handsets have appeared on Chinese social media — suggesting that the larger iPhone 7 Plus will boast a 2K or Quad HD display.
Do you remember Netscape Navigator? Photo: Netscape
August 9, 1995: The Netscape Communications IPO floats shares of the company behind Netscape Navigator, the Macintosh’s default browser, on the stock market.
While not totally an Apple-centric moment, this was big news for Mac fans in 1995. The success of Nestcape’s $2.9 billion IPO also sweetened Wall Street on technology companies. Plus, the experience of using Netscape Navigator to surf the internet on a Macintosh is something many older Apple users will still remember fondly.
Google has decided to attack Apple directly in a funny new ad that rips the iPhone for its paltry 16GB of storage on entry models.
The new ad has been played heavily during NBC’s Rio Olympics coverage and promotes Google Photos “free up space” feature the upload an unlimited number of pictures to the cloud so users have more storage for apps, videos, music and other content. Apple has a similar feature with iCloud, but you have to pay for it.
Russia is investigating Apple. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple doesn’t sell iPhones directly in Russia, but it’s being investigated by the country’s federal Anti-Monopoly Service for colluding with resellers to fix the price on its devices.
The government agency revealed today that it has opened a case against Apple and 16 major resellers that all had identical prices for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus models when they launched in Russia in October 2015.
Apple will seamlessly integrate Touch ID into the MacBook Pro. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple’s upcoming MacBook Pro refresh won’t just bring a fancy OLED touchbar for customizable function keys, but also the first Touch ID sensor on a Mac, according to a new report. And it will be built into the notebook’s power button.
Watching The Handsmade Tale just got cheaper. Photo: Hulu
Getting your weekly fix of new TV shows from Hulu is about to get more expensive, as the streaming video service plans to phase out its free tier that was supported with ad revenue.
After letting users watch thousands of episodes for free since it launched nine years ago, Hulu has partnered with Yahoo to offer up its content for a new service called Yahoo View, an ad-supported service that will give viewers the ability to watch the five most recent episodes of shows from ABC, NBC and Fox.