Cult of Mac

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Apple could be banned from selling iPhones on its home turf of California if a new bill banning unbreakable encryption is passed.

Called bill 1681, the proposed law was put forward by California assembly member Jim Cooper, who wants any smartphone sold in California after July 1, 2015 to be “capable of being decrypted and unlocked by its manufacturer or its operating system provider.”

For our money, Night Shift is one of the coolest additions to iOS 9.3 beta 1. In fact, it could be the most important UI/UX improvement iOS has added in years.

Even the guys Apple ripped off to come up with the feature are cool with it. But it could get even better before iOS 9.3 is finally released to the general public.

After gloomy early reviews and alleged lower-than-expected orders by Apple, it seems the iPad Pro may have struck a chord with users after all.

A research firm claims that Apple’s giant tablet performed impressively over the all-important December quarter, despite its high price point.

A lot of “next-gen iPhone” concepts are pretty crappy. Whimsical fancies that have nothing to do with the reality of industrial design. And hey, that’s true of this iPhone 7 concept, which imagines an edge-to-edge display that totally ditches a physical home button. You will not see an iPhone like this anytime in the near future.

But that’s not to say the concept isn’t cool. Because eventually, Apple will release a full-screen iPhone. And when it does, this concept has a lot of cool ideas about how future iOS UIs will work, once the hardware catches up.

What should we call the next 4-inch iPhone? The iPhone 7c? The iPhone 6c? The iPhone 5se?

No matter what it’s called, there’s every indication it’s coming. And if this video is to be believed, this might be our first glimpse of what it looks like.

Foxconn is looking to take over more of the iPhone manufacturing process as it has offered ¥625 billion ($5.3 billion) to acquire Japanese manufacturer Sharp, which currently manufactures displays for Apple devices.

Apple may not spend the same percentage of its revenue on research and development as rivals like Google, Facebook and Qualcomm, but that’s not stopping it from opening new offices dedicated to R&D projects.

The latest of these is based in Canada, with Apple apparently leasing space at a Kanata office complex as a way of establishing a presence in Ottawa. And for those hoping for an Apple Car, that location may turn out to be a significant one.

Apple building an alleged Apple Car is supposedly an “open secret” in the automotive industry, but even if it’s true we’re still a few years away from actually seeing it.

That’s too long for the folks at Luca Wrede and ConceptsiPhone, who have taken it upon themselves to create a tantalizing 2020-era concept ad showing an Apple Car with Apple Watch and iPhone integration, plus the Apple Maps, Safari, and other software features we’d expect.

You may not be able to get your check book out just yet, but you can watch it below.

Apple constantly talks about how many jobs its created through the App Store, and it’s putting its money where its mouth is by creating Europe’s first iOS App Development Center in Italy — designed to give students the practical skills and training necessary to help them develop apps for the iPhone and iPad.

Some informal testing reveals that if you’re still rocking an old iPhone, you should probably upgrade to iOS 9.2.1.

iApple Bytes put three different models of older iPhones — the 4s, 5 and 5s — up against each other in a variety of tests designed to see which of them was faster starting up, using apps and running Siri, Apple’s digital assistant. Half were running the brand-new iOS 9.2.1, which arrived yesterday, and half were still on iOS 8.4.1, which has been around since August 2015.

You can see their results below in iApple Bytes’ series of videos.

Two high-tech companies are joining forces for the latest development in immersive VR porn: goggles plus machines.

The partnership is between virtual-reality porn producer BaDoinkVR and “teledildonics” maker Kiiroo. And once you get past the basic idea of it, it still sounds super weird. But that’s just kind of how the future works. The deal will allow BaDoink’s content to sync up with one of Kiiroo’s “personal devices” to create an experience so authentic that the companies assume you will forget about all of the fancy mechanical rigs you’ve attached to yourself.

Apple’s new app, Music Memos, is hands-down the best free music-creation app I’ve ever used on my iPhone. The amount of tech packed into this tiny little iOS app is nothing short of amazing, and it shows Apple’s continuing commitment to the creative community.

Music Memos lets you sit down with your iPhone, tap the screen, and record music. Then it will totally figure out what you played, and supply fairly decent drum and bass tracks to complement your chords. Wow.

I’ve played in live bands that can’t even do that.

Take my word on this: If you can play even rudimentary guitar, piano or even ukulele, you owe it to yourself to give Music Memos a try.

Users of Google Chrome on both the desktop and mobile should see a speed improvement soon when it comes to loading web pages. A Google engineer confirms that a new type of data compression is ready to ship, with the next release of Chrome set to be the first browser with the new technology baked in.

The improved compression engine, dubbed Brotli, is said to be up to 26 times faster than the current solution, Zopfli.

It’s been a while since we’ve seen a game that looked as simultaneously adorable and mysterious as Paws, but here it is.

The upcoming title, which will drop on both Mac and PC March 24, puts you in the role of a sweet, lost lynx cub trying to find its way back home. And that sounds really sad, but the graphics in today’s announcement trailer are so charming that we could probably power through the pain.

Check it out below.

Apple posted record sales in India during the final quarter of 2015, positive financial news for Cupertino amid forecasters predicting a rough start to the new year.

Apple shipped a record 800,000 devices to India from October through December, a record spurred by a wider distribution base, discounts, buybacks and installment plans.

Old devices piling up? Ours too. If you’re not sure what to do with them, or if you’re just too lazy to get up, we have a solution. Use our device buyback program today to get a quote for your old, used or broken devices, all from the comfort of your home.

Sometimes, you look at your boring glass of ginger ale and think, “This could really use more ions.” Or maybe you don’t, but the makers of the Beverage Power have done that thinking for you.

It’s a small device that the company says will attach to any drinking glass or water bottle. It has a contact on its side that your hand activates, and you complete a circuit when the drink touches your mouth. That introduces a “small, safe electric current” that floods your drink — and, therefore, your body — with negative ions.

And here’s why the company says you’d want to do that.

Disney revealed today that Star Wars Episode VIII will be delayed until December 15th, 2017.

It’s only an extra seven months, but it means fans will have to wait two years to find out what happens next to the characters of the highest grossing movie of all time.

If you’re looking for some Star Wars awesomeness in the meantime, the folks at pipocaVFX created an incredible 8-bit video of all the death scenes in Star Wars. You can watch your favorite character die in cutesy 8-bit format below, but bewarned, it includes spoilers from The Force Awakens.

The app that has become famous around college campuses is now ready to show itself in a different form: as a desktop website. The creators have been testing a web version of Yik Yak in private beta for a while now, but as of today the site is open for public use.

If you’ve been waiting for the ultimate make-out game experience on your iPhone, keep waiting. This one looks gross.

Smooth Operator will be out just in time for Valentine’s Day, and it looks like exactly the thing to bring your festivities to a halt. It’s a co-op kissing title that is all about you and your partner following on-screen cues to make sure that your avatars keep their waggling tongues moving and … interacting.

We really can’t overstate how unsettling this thing looks, but if you want to see it in action, check out the trailer below.

Would you shell out an extra $50 for your iPhone if it were made in the United States?

Maybe, but getting consumers to pay more isn’t even the most unrealistic aspect of Donald Trump’s goal of forcing Apple to bring manufacturing back to America.

Controversial coder and data artist Josh Begley is back with a new app called Archives that shines a light on the contentious issue of police violence that’s rocking the U.S.

Archives’ premise is simple: Every time cops kill someone in the United States, your iPhone receives a simple alert containing only the victim’s name.

Best List: Leather Wallet Case 80° for iPhone 6s Plus by Mujjo

If there’s one thing about leather iPhone cases, it’s that while they wear nicely and look great when distressed, they tend to get a little floppy. The last leather iPhone case I put on my iPhone 6 Plus went all soft and let my ATM card and driver’s license fall out, forcing me to take a trip to the DMV and the bank to get replacements.

That won’t be the, well, case with this upgraded leather wallet case from Mujjo. Its molded-plastic base snuggles my iPhone 6 Plus, while its stiff, stitched pocket keeps my cards safely ensconced without too much give.

As more people learn the importance of open software and operating systems, Linux is more relevant than ever. Learning Linux can seem imposing, but even if you have no idea what a command line is, this bundle of lessons will make you a maestro of one of the most relevant software platforms in the world. The entire set of five courses, clocking in at over 22 of hours, is just $19.

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