With iPhone SE, Apple delivers something Android doesn't. Photo: Apple
Die-hard Android fans probably had little interest in Apple’s keynote Monday, but believe it or not, plenty will be interested in the new iPhone SE.
With high-end specifications and a 4-inch display, it’s a compact smartphone for those who want the latest features without a supersized screen — and there’s nothing like it on Android.
Tired of screenshots cluttering your Mac's desktop? Here's how to change where they're saved! Photo: Ally Kazmucha/The App Factor
I take a lot of screenshots on my Mac. This typically results in my desktop being cluttered with files I don’t really need to be there once I’m done with them.
That’s why I decided to change the location where my Mac screenshots are stored. My desktop is now clean and I still have quick access via a folder on my desktop. Here’s how you can do the same.
The iPhone SE comes with a low, low price. Photo: Apple
I was wrong. I can admit that now.
When I first wrote about the rumors that Apple would launch a new, improved 4-inch iPhone way back in 2014, I was skeptical that there was enough of a market to make Apple rush back to the 4-inch form factor so soon after abandoning it with the 4.7- and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
Readers immediately wrote to correct me: They (or, often, their wives, girlfriends or children) wanted nothing more than a small iPhone they could easily clutch in the palm of their hands. Well, we got exactly that!
Here's how to turn the lights down and settle in for the Night Shift. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
Yesterday, the launch of iOS 9.3 added Night Shift to Apple’s mobile devices. It’s a really cool feature that might help make you healthier. Jailbreakers have enjoyed an app with the same functionality for years, but now it’s legitimate and poses less of a risk of completely jacking up your iPhone or iPad.
Night Shift gives you the option of warming up the light your display emits so that you get less harsh, blue rays before bed. The idea is that your screen’s usual output tricks your body into thinking that it’s still daytime, and that can make it harder to fall and stay asleep. So if you’re used to checking some e-mails or reading some news before you conk out, it might help you rest easier.
Here’s how to activate Night Shift’s soothing beams.
Never lose a key or forget a combination again. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
Best List: Noke padlock
Padlocks are essential for sheds, locker rooms and bicycles, but damn do I continue to forget my combination or lose my key.
Noke (the “e” is long, for “no key”) has this problem solved for iPhone-toting folks like me with its fantastic, easy-to-use smartlock that will never ask you for a combination again. Heck, even if your iPhone is missing, you can use Noke’s special key fob that ensures you’ll never be locked out from your gym clothes (or lawnmower) again.
Size does matter, says Phil Schiller. Photo: Apple
The new iPad Pro packs Apple’s fastest chip ever, but it turns out the tablet is actually slower than the 12.9-inch version.
Both iPad Pros use the A9x processor. However, when Phil Schiller was gushing about the new 9.7-inch iPad Pro’s “grunt” during Monday’s iPhone SE keynote, he didn’t mention that Apple underclocked the new processor and reduced its horsepower.
Two giants going head to head. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of MacTwo giants going head to head. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Android
After unboxing and filming the review for the Samsung Galaxy S7, I realized that I had never used Android as a daily driver. I had always sided with iOS in any “fanboy” debates, and I had never given the little green robot a chance.
To change this, I set myself the challenge of using Android and the S7 for a week as my primary smartphone. Check out the video down below to see how it worked out.
The new MacBook Pro might be thinner than the MacBook Air. Photo: Apple
Sad that Tim Cook didn’t unveil a sleek new MacBook Pro yesterday?
You’re not alone, but you won’t have to wait much longer to throw down some money on a new ultra-thin MacBook, according to the latest rumor from Asia.
Enhance your resume my preparing for this key certification in project management. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
The robots haven’t taken our jobs yet, but as we wait for that glorious (or terrible) day it’s getting more and more important to keep up with an increasingly competitive professional marketplace. Luckily, there are a lot of great resources for learning the new skills of today’s trades, and we’ve gathered a handful of the best. From project management to coding and data analysis, there’s not a resume that can’t benefit from these courses.
Chromecast is now Google Cast. Photo: GoogleChromecast is now Google Cast. Photo: Google
Google’s Chromecast platform has been given a brand new name: Google Cast.
The new name makes more sense given the platform’s ability to stream more than just Chrome tabs, but the Chromecast dongle lineup will retain the old moniker for now.
Apple hopes to take GPU design into its own hands Photo: Chipworks
Apple is reportedly in “advanced talks” to acquire Imagination Technologies, the British chip design company which creates the PowerVR graphics chips Apple uses for its iOS devices.
If it is able to acquire the company, it would mean that Apple would be able to bring GPU design in-house, much as it has done with its internally-developed ARM-based CPU cores.
Apple takes privacy pretty darn seriously. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Are you a third-party dev, advertiser, or Apple employee hoping to use targeted ads or personalized recommenders based on Apple customer data? There’s an app for that. Good luck with that!
That’s according to a new report, which states that Apple has an internal committee consisting of three expert “privacy czars,” who have have to sign off on any and all collection of Apple user data.
And if you thought the App Store review process could drag on, you’ve got another thing coming: debates over individual uses of data at Apple can, in some cases, continue for upwards of one year.
Say goodbye to "peak iPhone" and hello to the iPhone SE. Photo: Apple
Bigger isn’t always better. With the iPhone SE, Apple has designed a tiny smartphone that’s destined to become a gigantic hit.
The device, unveiled during Apple’s “Let us loop you in” event Monday, looks like a totally amazeballs iPhone — and it comes with an Android-low price. Here’s why this little dynamo will take the world by storm.
Apple is helping keep your Pencil alive. Photo: Apple
Phil Schiller called the Apple Pencil “the greatest accessory Apple has ever made” during yesterday’s keynote event, and now Apple’s giving you the chance to keep your official Cupertino stylus alive for a bit longer — thanks to a new pack of four extra Apple Pencil tips.
Under Tim Cook's leadership, Apple is innovating in a new way. Photo: Apple
A cynic would call it greenwashing, but the most surprising thing about Tim Cook’s “Loop you in” event was what it said about how he’s running Apple.
When Steve Jobs was around, Apple’s product events were about the products, and little else. Yeah, Jobs would often start with corporate issues, but he usually boasted about how the company was absolutely crushing it.
By contrast, the first 25 minutes of Monday’s event — almost half of the hour-long presentation — focused on things only tangentially related to Apple products. Cook and his lieutenants discussed government snooping, privacy, recycling, the environment, renewable energy, creating platforms for sustaining customers’ health — and even protecting Chinese yaks.
Jobs used to touch on issues like these, but under Cook, they’ve taken center stage. Cook has turned Apple’s product events into showcases for corporate responsibility.
Onshape is revolutionizing CAD modeling as we know it. Photo: Onshape
Apple is always talking about how many professions increasingly rely on the iPad for work, and developers Onshape have just added another: Computer-Aided Design (CAD) modelers.
Onshape’s new app lets iPad Pro owners carry out the compute-intensive calculations and graphics for 3D solid modeling from their supercharged tablet, using their trusty Apple Pencil.
Rest in peace to a genuine Silicon Valley legend. Photo: Intel
In some sad news, Andy Grove, a.k.a. one of the founders and former CEOs of Intel, passed away yesterday at the age of 79.
The Budapest-born Grove was a mentor to many people in Silicon Valley, including Steve Jobs, who once noted that he was one of the only people Jobs would willingly work for. Grove famously arrived in the United States with less than $20 and rose to turn Intel from a startup into one of the world’s largest and highest valued semiconductor chip makers.
In a Twitter tribute, Tim Cook wrote that Grove, “was one of the giants of the technology world. He loved our country and epitomized America at its best.”
Surprise! Android update rates pale in comparison to iOS. Photo: Google
It seems there is little that Apple enjoys more than poking Google with a big stick, and the company’s been at it again, reminding everyone that just 2 percent of devices running Android are updated to the latest Marshmallow release.
During its big iPhone and iPad event this morning, Apple trotted out execs to peddle its wares, but the company just couldn’t help taking a swipe at the competition.
Apple's hearing vs the FBI just got cancelled. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
The Department of Justice is putting its battle against Apple on hold.
In a new court filing published today, the U.S. government has asked a federal court to vacate the hearing set for Tuesday between Apple and the FBI on whether the company can be legally compelled to write software that would assist the FBI in hacking the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone.
So did the feds finally see the error of their ways when it comes to weakenening iOS security? Not quite. But the government says it may have found a way to hack terrorist Syed Farook’s iPhone 5c without Apple’s assistance.
The Internet’s reaction to — and riffing on — today’s Apple event is more entertaining than the presentation was. We aren’t even sure some people even waited for the company to be done breaking all of that news we were already aware of. We know we started doodling at some points. I drew a scary dragon.
Still, it’s fun to see what people can do with even the most sedate of Apple events, and it’s also nice to take a break from pasting our old posts into WordPress minus the phrase “according to rumors.” We aren’t actually doing that; don’t worry. We’re professionals here.
Apple is putting more tools in the hands of educators today with the official launch of the new Classroom app for iPad that promises to opens up new, more engaging ways of teaching and learning on the iPad.
The new app is part of the new iOS 9.3 education features Apple has added that allow teachers to manage student devices, share work and assignments, as well as track students’ progress to help them stay on track.
The 9.7-inch iPad Pro is the best tablet Apple's ever made.
Small was the new big at Apple’s “Let us loop you in” keynote today. And while some felt the 64-minute unveiling was the most snooze-worthy event ever, Apple used it to unleash the most important iPad its made since the original tablet launched in 2010.
The new 9.7-inch iPad Pro is much more than just a smaller variant of the 12.9-inch super slate Apple came out with last year. It’s a machine built to target Apple’s next big customer pool: the 600 million people still using 5-year-old PCs.
“That’s just sad,” Apple VP Phil Schiller said onstage, describing the unfortunate souls toiling with aging Windows machines. And the new, right-sized iPad Pro is exactly what those people need.
Get your OCD on with folders on Apple TV. Photo: Stephen Smith/Cult of Mac
The latest Apple TV has 5,000 apps and every one I’ve installed on my Home screen is a pain in the ass to find.
That is, until now. Apple just introduced tvOS 9.2, which brings the organizing power of folders to your 4th Generation Apple TV, and boy are we excited.
Here’s how to organize all those media and gaming apps on your Apple TV with folders.
They kind of look like Easter eggs, is what we're getting at. Photo: Apple
One of Apple’s biggest reveals at its low-key “Let us loop you in” event today was the premiere of a new set of bands for the Apple Watch. And woven nylon was the star of the show.
These colorful, zig-zaggy straps look like they’re the “fun” options for the wearable, like if you’re going to an ’80s throwback party but you still want to know when you get texts. They’re bright, boast “a comfortable, fabric-like feel” (according to the listing on the Apple Store website), and the best news is that they aren’t super-expensive.