The music streaming service accused Apple of “causing grave harm to Spotify and its customers” after its App Store review team rejected a recent Spotify update for iOS.
The Siberia 350 heads phones are light and comfortable. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
Massive over-ear headphones are the best way to immerse yourself in a video game, whether you’re managing the minutiae of Civilization V, hiding from the xenomorph in Alien Isolation, or blasting your way across multiplayer maps in Call of Duty: Black Ops.
Huge sound is a big part of gaming on your Mac, PC or PS4, and these fantastic-sounding and incredibly comfortable Siberia 350 headphones from SteelSeries are the best way to get your game on without sacrificing on comfort.
Now's your last chance to save on these top-notch Mac creativity and productivity apps. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Summer’s here and last season’s deals are heading out the door. Don’t let these deals expire before you’ve had your chance to get in on them: top notch data recovery software, Dragon’s industry-leading transcription software, comprehensive digital design lessons, and a private phone line. Take a look:
Bon Iver is no fan of Apple Music. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
From Taylor Swift to Drake, Apple’s pretty adamant on coming across as artist-friendly when it comes to Apple Music. But one artist who’s apparently less than impressed with Apple’s streaming music service is Bon Iver singer-songwriter Justin Vernon.
In a pair of tweets sent today, Vernon referred to Apple Music as “literally a horrid platform” and slammed Apple for its “commercialization.” Check out his comments below.
One of today's surviving Apple 1 computers. Photo: Christie's
July 1, 1976: The Apple 1 goes on sale, becoming the first computer ever sold by the Apple Computer Company.
Arriving the same month Jimmy Carter was nominated for U.S. president, Family Feud debuted on TV, and the United States celebrated the 200th anniversary of its Declaration of Independence, the Apple 1 is only produced in small numbers, and sells for the unusual price of $666.66.
A Tidal acquisition would give Apple Music even more artist exclusives. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Jay Z and Apple might be joining forces.
Apple has dominated the jigga man’s streaming service, Tidal, ever since the launch of Apple Music one year ago, but a new report claims that the iPhone-maker is in exploratory talks to acquire the music streaming service.
A black iPhone 7 would be killer. Photo: Martin Hajek/Flickr
Apple might be going back to black with the iPhone 7, making it the darkest iPhone since the days of the iPhone 3Gs.
We got a major crush on the deep blue iPhone 7 earlier this month, but now that mockup artist Martin Hajek has whipped up this Space Black creation, we’re torn between what Apple’s new iPhone color should be.
Just when you thought Tim Cook couldn't climb any higher... Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple CEO Tim Cook is moving up in the world of Nike, where he’s been serving as a member of the board of directors.
Nike revealed that starting today, Cook will be the lead independent board member at the athletic apparel company, which is undergoing some big leadership changes.
The Prisma app for iPhone lets you apply the painting style of a famous artist. Photo: Prisma
An AI-powered app that turns any boring photo into an art masterpiece is taking the app world by storm.
Prisma is an iOS app that not only transforms an ordinary photo into a painting, it does so in the styles of different famous artists, from Van Gogh and Picasso to Edvard Munch of “The Scream” fame.
Developed in Russia, the app is taking off like a rocket, doubling its servers, topping the charts and inspiring the #Prisma hashtag. It even counts the Russian President among its enthusiastic users.
Music and space have a lot more in common than you'd think. Photo: Apple
NASA’s Juno mission is set to arrive at Jupiter on July 4th, so to celebrate the space agency did the most sensible thing it could think of: team up with Apple and Weezer to make awesome videos about space and music.
While Weezer created the patriotic rock anthem “I Love the USA” to mark the occasion, Apple created a hypnotic short film called “Visions of Harmony” that explores the link between space travel and music. The soundtrack for the hypnotic film was created by Nine Inch Nails frontman and Apple VP Trent Reznor and collaborator Atticus Ross.
Apple Campus 2 is coming along nicely. Photo: Matthew Roberts
New drone footage of Apple Campus 2 reveals the impressive progress that has been made in recent months. The research and development center and many of the other buildings around the campus are now starting to take shape — and they look glorious in 4K!
Apple is making it harder for Spotify to compete on iOS. Photo: Spotify
Apple is allegedly stopping Spotify from competing with Apple Music by blocking the streaming service’s latest iOS app update from the App Store.
Spotify sent Apple’s general counsel Bruce Sewell a letter this week claiming that Cupertino is inflicting great harm on its streaming music competitor (and Spotify’s customers) by not allowing Spotify to use its own billing system for subscriptions.
The set of Time to Pay Off Debts, a film short made with the iPhone 6s. Photo: Conrad Mess
Apple guaranteed the iPhone would reinvent the phone. But filmmaking?
Writer and director Conrad Mess said the iPhone’s red record button turned him into a filmmaker. It helped another cash-strapped director win praise and wide distribution for a feature film he shot on the iPhone 5s that was the buzz of last year’s Sundance Film Festival.
The iPhone also is reshaping video journalism, especially across Europe, where news organizations are using the iPhone video camera for an increasing number of stories — and live stand-ups, selfie stick in hand — because the mobile journalist can shoot, edit and share on one device.
Apple is today celebrating one year of Apple Music and Beats 1 radio. The company has put out a new video that showcases some of the station’s highlights, like big interviews with stars like Drake, Adele, Taylor Swift, Will Smith, and Alecia Keys.
Amazon will host its second annual Prime Day on Tuesday, July 12, the retail giant confirmed today. It promises to be the “biggest Amazon event ever,” with big discounts to be had worldwide on over 100,000 products.
Get two years of VPN protection to keep all your data and browsing activity private. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
If you go online (and now is not the time to pretend you don’t), you’re vulnerable to data violations of all sorts: identity theft, activity monitoring, geo-restrictions.
A great way to secure yourself against these problems is to connect to the internet via a virtual private network, or VPN, that carefully channels and anonymizes your traffic. And right now we’ve got a great VPN, with a great name, at a great price: two years of Hide My Ass! VPN for $69.99.
Suppliers can't wait for iPhone 7. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
One of Apple’s biggest chipmakers expects its revenue to rise during the third quarter of 2016 around the launch of the iPhone 7 series. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) likely will start shipping new A10 processors soon.
These photos of Lightning EarPods have done the rounds recently. Photo: Weibo
The iPhone’s 3.5mm headphone jack, rumored to be conspicuous in its absence from the upcoming iPhone 7, has lasted more than twice the length of a regular Apple port.
Having first appeared in an Apple product with 1984’s Macintosh, the headphone jack has been a staple of Apple devices for 32 years at this point. The average Apple I/O standard, on the other hand? According to a new report, that number averages out at only around 15 years. With the transition away from wired connections, many travelers are now looking for thebest airplane Bluetooth adapter to keep using their favorite headphones seamlessly.
Steve Jobs wasn't at Apple in 1993, but this pic sums up Cupertino's classic attitude to IBM. Photo: Andy Hertzfeld
Given its position as the company’s earliest arch-nemesis, Apple’s partnership with IBM was massive news when it was announced a couple of years ago. But it wasn’t the first time the two companies had agreed to help one another.
On 30 June 1993, Apple and IBM shipped their first collaborative product: the catchily-named “SNA.ps 5250” emulation software package, which for the first time let Mac users run software available previously only for IBM PCs. It was the first step in allowing Macs and PCs to talk to each other in a way that didn’t trap their respective users in proprietary ecosystem hell.
Mysterious unmarked vans roaming the Bay Area have been linked to Apple, and are likely generating detailed 3D maps for robot cars. Photo: Business Insider/Stephen Smith
Some new data-gathering vehicles are roaming the streets of San Francisco. They’re unmarked, but are suspected to be Apple’s. They are laden with sensors, but what kind of data are they gathering, and what for?
Experts contacted by Cult of Mac say the mystery vans are next-generation mapping vehicles capable of capturing VR-style, 360-degree street photos. Plus, the vans use Lidar to create extraordinarily precise “point clouds,” a prerequisite for self-driving cars. Mesh those two databases together and you’ve laid the groundwork for an autonomous vehicle’s navigation system.
Is Spotify being treated unfairly? Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Sen. Elizabeth Warren took shots at Apple, Google and Amazon during a speech in Washington today, claiming Silicon Valley’s big fish are making it impossible for the small fry to compete.
“The opportunity to compete must remain open for new entrants and smaller competitors,” said Warren. During her rant against Apple, the senator specifically mentioned the unfair advantages Apple Music enjoys against its competitors.
After the speech, Spotify rallied behind Warren with some Apple bashing of its own.
Did Evernote just shoot itself in the foot? Photo: Evernote
If you haven’t already ditched Evernote for Apple Notes, now is the time. Changes to the company’s subscription plans mean the basic Evernote account is now next to useless for the vasty majority of users who don’t want to pay up.
EarPods might get a Lightning upgrade this year. Photo: Buster Hein/Cult of Mac
Transitioning to a future when iPhones no longer come with 3.5mm headphone port is going to be a lot easier thanks to one Apple supplier that is ready to make Lightning headphones a thing.
Cirrus Logic, which makes analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits, revealed that it has created a new headset development kit that will allow accessory makers to quickly develop Lightning-headphones that are made for iPhone and iPad.
Refurbs, open-box items and a great Groupon sale mean hot deals on Apple gear. Photos: Apple, Groupon, Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
This week’s best Apple deals include some amazing offers on hardware, from refurbs to open-box devices to brand-new MacBook Airs. Read on to see these savings and more.