Getting into the San Bernardino iPhone may be pointless. Photo: Apple
Apple and the FBI are locked in a bitter legal battle over San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook’s iPhone 5c that was recovered at the terrorist event, but according to San Bernardino’s chief of police we’re all overlooking one very important issue: there might not be any useable intelligence on it.
The game of ‘what is Apple going to call it’s next cheap iPhone’ just took another turn today with a new rumor that claims the new 4-inch device won’t be called the iPhone 6c, or the iPhone 5se.
Why buy an iPhone when you can get so much more? Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
After Samsung and LG announced exciting new iPhone rivals at Mobile World Congress this week, we’ve had heated debates behind the scenes hereover whether Apple’s smartphone can still compete against the big guns in an increasingly competitive smartphone market.
Without features like wireless charging, water-resistance, and expandable storage, will it be harder for Apple to reverse slowing iPhone growth? Or are these things just gimmicks that the iPhone doesn’t need, and will have been forgotten just a few years down the line?
Solartab will fit in your bag. But it won't leave much room for the things you might want to charge. Photo: Evan Killham/Cult of Mac
Solartab 5.5-watt solar charger
It’s a problem when you get caught away from home with a dead phone. And it’s a bigger problem when you find yourself stranded with a dead phone and a flatlined portable charger. But one company has come up with a solution to both of those problems.
Solartab is a power source with a massive capacity and a handy ability: It draws energy from the sun like Superman. It can hold an impressive 13,000 mAh, which is enough to recharge an iPad Air 2 twice or an iPhone more than five times, depending on your model. And the best part is that all of this power is basically free.
The worst part, though, is that the Solartab is massive.
Apple Music Apple Music’s competition might be changing owners. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android
Tidal, the high fidelity music streaming service owned by Jay Z, has been struggling to compete with Spotify and Apple Music, but according to a new report Samsung is planning to throw the fledgling company a lifeline with a new acquisition deal.
This is the first installment in a series of memoirs on the intersection of technology and daily life.
When my fraternity brother Grant and I began a drive from Arkansas to Los Angeles to visit friends on the West Coast, I believed it would be the greatest road trip of my life.
Get better selfies with the Galaxy S7. Photo: SamsungGet better selfies with the Galaxy S7. Photo: Samsung
Samsung’s new Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge have a front-facing flash feature that helps you shoot brighter selfies, but it doesn’t come from an extra LED. Instead, the new devices have stolen the same trick Apple uses on iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.
SnapPages makes it easy to build a beautiful, responsive website with no coding knowledge. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
For many people interested in creating a place to express their ideas or work online, knowing how to code is a major impediment. SnapPages cuts the coding completely, making creating, designing and hosting a gorgeous website a simple matter of drag-and-drop. And right now you can get a lifetime subscription to SnapPages’s Pro Plan for only $49.
Your mother was a hamster, and your father bought elderberries with Apple Pay. Photo: Apple
Apple Pay is likely to launch in France by the end of 2016, according to a new report — claiming that it will be a gradual rollout over the course of several months.
There’s no exact date cited, but it is quite possible that it will take place by September, before Apple ships the iPhone 7.
Easily find businesses near you thanks to the updated glances on WatchOS 2.2 Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
The fourth beta for watchOS 2.2 adds cool new features that work with the latest version of iOS 9.3 as Apple continues its push to make Apple Watch even more powerful. In today’s video, we’re going to take a tour of all the new changes and improvements the latest beta has in store.
This week on The CultCast: With the FBI-versus-Apple privacy battle heating up, some lawyers say Tim Cook could land in jail; why Siri in the next version of OS X may point to redesigned MacBooks; and, just how much would you pay for a box of Steve Jobs’ old crap? Plus we pitch you our favorite tech and apps in an all-new Faves ‘N Raves!
Apple avoided a potentially embarrassing incident by altering OS X marketing materials on its website to make the word “click” in the slogan “There’s more to love with every click” look … well, less like a certain term for the male sexual apparatus that begins with a “D.”
If you start work now, you'll be in line for "Best Picture" at next year's Academy Awards. Photo: Appsolute Inc.
More and more videos are being shot on iPhones and iPads, and if you’re looking for a great video editing app to help you make the most out of your footage, you’ll find it with Videoshop — the ultra-popular movie editing app which currently carries a 4.5-star rating in the App Store, following more than 2,100 reviews.
The best news? Right now, it’s available for free, down from its usual price of $1.99.
Jef Raskin's original concept for the Mac was very different. Photo: Apple
Everyone associates the Mac’s creation with Steve Jobs (with very good reason), but there is another person without whom we wouldn’t have Apple’s iconic home computers: user interface guru Jef Raskin, who passed away on February 26, 2005 — exactly 11 years ago today.
Raskin not only named the Macintosh — after his favorite type of apple, the McIntosh (even though that spelling was already being used by an audio company) — he also gave the lovable computer some of its lasting personality traits.
Dividing up the bill just got a whole lot less comfortable. Screenshot: EquiPay
Anyone who eats out with friends has likely used their iPhone to split the bill at some point, perhaps making a few extra pluses or minuses according to whether your friend ordered the gold-plated lobster thermidor while you went for a salad and a glass of water.
But a new iOS app in the making promises to make bill-paying a whole lot more contentious: by splitting it based on the race and gender of those people eating at the same table.
Because why should billionaire Oprah Winfrey have to pay the same amount as my pallid white Cult of Android friend, Killian Bell?
Apple isn't getting the Republican vote. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Color us somewhat unsurprised, but all five remaining GOP presidential candidates are siding with the FBI over Apple in the ongoing disagreement over whether Apple should help hack the iPhone of one of the dead San Bernardino shooters — thereby setting a potential precedent regarding future user security.
If you've seen these two guys who may be scamming stores, there could be a reward in it for you. Photo: Encinitas Sheriff's Department/Jim Merithew
We fully support efforts to reuse and recycle garbage, but two Apple Watch scammers are using their conservation powers for evil.
The Encinitas, California sheriff’s department is on the lookout for these men (pictured above), who have worked out an effective and completely infuriating way to convert a water bottle and a few paper towels into hundreds of dollars. And authorities are offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to their arrest.
I'll take a double-shot half-caff soy latte with a side of massive MacBook selfie stick, please. Photo: MacBook Selfie Stick
Selfie sticks are bad enough, and while we’ve not seen anyone taking photos with an iPad and a long stick yet, here’s something even wackier: a MacBook on the end of a stick.
Created by an artist collective and showing on the streets of New York City, the oversize selfie sticks seem to be making the point that perhaps the technology that serves our obsession with selfies should be as outsize as our egos.
We doubt we'll see this at any WWDC keynotes. At least, we hope we won't. Photo: Evan Killham/Cult of Mac
Apple has officially asked a judge to dismiss a court order requiring the company to unlock a terrorist’s iPhone at the FBI’s request.
We knew the legal filing was coming, but now we have the actual defenses Apple is using to defend its refusal to create what it calls a “GovtOS” that would let officials potentially bypass the security measures of millions of iPhones. The 65-page document released today details Apple’s history of assistance in the case — and the reasons it believes the original order is both bothersome and possibly illegal.
Tim Cook's tech friends are coming to Apple's defense. Photo: ABC News
The FBI’s demand that Apple build a backdoor into a terrorist’s iPhone has done the seemingly impossible by getting Microsoft, Google and Apple all on the same team.
Many of the country’s top tech firms have revealed that they will file friend-of-the court briefs in defense of Apple’s position that no company should be compelled by the government to break its own security and thus put the public safety of millions of users at risk.
The new Apple Store coming soon to San Francisco appears to be making decent progress. Leo Cheng snapped a nice photo from Solano Labs across the street from the new location and tweeted it at us. The store still looks like a hot mess, but the workers are apparently working on the glass doors for the entrance in this picture. Take a look.
Get the public betas for iOS and Mac before your friends do. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
Want to get your hands on the latest, greatest iOS and OS X features for your iPhone, iPad, and Mac before anyone else does? Do you love checking out all the new stuff in iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan so you can be the first to comment on them?
All you need to do is sign up for the Apple Beta Software Program, and you’ll be able to access the public betas of these flagship operating systems before they’re available to the rank and file.
Here’s how to sign up for (and install) Apple’s latest public betas.
The U.S. House Judiciary Committee announced both FBI director James Comey and Apple’s general counsel Bruce Sewell are testifying at a congressional hearing on encryption March 1. The saga is far from over, since both will state their cases on the matter of whether the government should have access to users’ iPhone data.
The congressional hearing ultimately revolves around a single question: how can the FBI efficiently do what’s necessary to combat threats without invading users’ privacy and potentially making iOS a more vulnerable operating system? Right now there are two polar opposite positions.
You owe it to yourself to take control of your passwords. And it's easier than you might think. Photo: Ally Kazmucha/The App Factor
As we store more and more of our information digitally, it becomes more important than ever to make sure our data is safeguarded. To ensure security, you should always use strong and unique passwords.
Password manager apps aren’t hard to use, and once you get started, they actually offer you more convenience than any other way of maintaining and storing passwords. Not convinced? Let me help you understand….
Third-gen owners deserve some love too. Photo: Apple
Apple released a very small update for third-generation Apple TV owners today. The update still shows up as iOS 8.4.1 but has a new build number, so it’s probably just a bug fix update. If you plan to stick by your third-gen Apple TV for a while, it’s probably worth downloading.