Apple's supersize tablet may not be headed for supersized sales. Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac
Apple may be hoping that the iPad Pro can help turn around its flagging tablet sales, but according to a new report sales are off to a somewhat disappointing start — with just 49,000 units selling in the first month in Apple’s much-emphasized China region.
Disconnect your iPhone while still connected via USB and charge without iTunes bugging you. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
Sometimes you just want to plug your iPhone into your Mac without having to deal with all that iTunes stuff, like synchronizing or backing up.
Or, maybe a friend of yours needs to sip off your Macbook’s power and you don’t want to have iTunes sync their iPhone.
Either way, you can eject the connected iPhone, thereby avoiding all the iTunes stuff but still letting the physically connected iPhone pull power from the USB port. Even better: when you’re done charging, just pull the USB cable out from your Macbook without any worry.
And the ugly camera bulge is gone too. Photo: Eric Huismann
Designer Eric Huismann has an an awesome idea of what the iPhone 7 might be like. It’s one that supports recent rumors. Get ready, because if he concept design ever becomes reality, your next iPhone might be missing one crucial hardware feature: the headphone jack.
Kim Kardashian wants to takeover your keyboard. Photo: Kimoji
Ever been in texting conversation and found yourself completely unable to express yourself because there’s just not an emoji of Kim Kardashian’s breasts?
It’s unfortunate that society has come to this point, but if you answered ‘yes’ to the question above, there’s finally an app for that. Kim Kardashian now has an official emoji app — called Kimoji (get it?) — that brings more than 250 emoji and sticker designs to help you convey the deepest thoughts of your soul.
Your Facebook News Feed is about to liven up. Photo: Facebook
A few months after Apple birthed Live Photos into existence with the release of the iPhone 6s, Facebook is catching on to the idea. The social network is building the feature right into its iOS app so iPhone 6s and 6s Plus owners can start uploading their animated photos and viewing others. But it’s not all good news, since there are two issues with Facebook’s implementation.
Apple TV 4 brings iOS apps to the big screen. Photo: Apple
Amazon, Google and Roku are all battling to win over your TV, but according to the Disney CEO Bob Iger, the new Apple TV tops them all, not only because it’s great for consumers, but also because it’s a win for content creators.
“One of the most important things that the industry needs to do is demand a better user experience,” Bob Iger told Bloomberg in an interview this morning. “The Apple TV box and the interface that it provides is the best user experience I’ve seen ever for television users.”
Did Apple accidentally reveal a new MacBook? Photo: Apple
Apple gave the world its first-ever peek inside Jony Ive’s super-secret design studio last night on 60 Minutes, but eagle-eyed Apple fans think the company may have revealed more than it intended.
During a very brief shot, taken during Apple’s weekly leadership meeting, a MacBook is seen in the background behind Apple’s general counsel Bruce Sewell that some speculate could be the upcoming 15-inch MacBook Pro.
Draw on your Mac via your iPad Pro. Slick! Photo: Giovanni Donelli/Astropad
Digital artists know that there’s no substitution for a graphics tablet when trying to draw on your Mac, except maybe the iPad Pro and Pencil.
Astropad co-founder Matt Ronge thinks his company’s $20 app, when combined with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, can match and even exceed the current champ of the tablet world, the Wacon Cintiq.
“iPad Pro is an amazing drawing platform but iOS is far too limited for the professional artist,” says Ronge. “So we wanted a way where we could get the best of both worlds, the power and flexibility of the Mac coupled with the touch interface of the iPad.”
Learn to crack into computers for the good side with this white hat hacking lesson bundle. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
The term ‘hacker’ has been hijacked by popular culture to be synonymous shady, nefarious people using their mastery of computers to wreak havoc. Obviously that’s not true, and hacking — which really boils down to the act of taking something apart to see how it works and how it might work better — operates on a spectrum like any other discipline. If you’d like to learn the arts of hacking, from the basics of hacking to specifics on how to hack Node.js apps, Windows, Wi-Fi devices, and a lot more. Name your price for this bundle of 7 courses full of invaluable knowledge — what’s more, portion of what you spend goes to support the work of Save the Children. Doesn’t get much more white hat than that.
Apple is trying to get the iPhone 6s into more people's hands in India. Photo: Apple
Apple has slashed the price of the iPhone 6s in India, reportedly after lower than expected sales over Diwali.
The handsets are now at least 16 percent cheaper than when they first launched two months ago — with the the basic 16GB iPhone 6s now costing between Rs 52,000 and Rs 55,000 ($785 – $830), down from the Rs 62,000 ($935) launch price. Many retailers are additionally offering other incentives to try and get customers to buy.
These are our favorite iOS games of 2015. Image: Stephen Smith/Cult of Mac
It’s an age of abundance in the iOS gaming scene, with everyone from Apple to indie enthusiast blogs weighing in on what the best games are for our beloved iOS platform.
We’re here to focus on the best mobile games we have actually played and loved, rather than just the blockbusters everyone’s already heard of. If we kept a game on our iPhone for more than a few days and dug right in on a regular basis, it’s on the list.
Here are Cult of Mac staffers’ choices for the 10 best iOS games of 2015.
Your favorite songs may sound even better next year. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple users may get a music quality upgrade in 2016, with a new report claiming that the company has been developing hi-res audio streaming up to 96kHz/24bit.
Apple is stepping up its focus on accessibility. Photo: Apple
Apple is reportedly set to start selling new accessibility-related peripherals and accessories for both Mac and iOS in its brick-and-mortar Apple Stores as well as online.
The accessories, which are reported to be going on sale in the first quarter of calendar year 2016, are designed to help users with disabilities to better engage with Apple products.
Finally Ericsson execs will be able to afford Christmas presents. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
It’s nearly Christmas: the time of mince pies, good cheer, and, apparently, settling patent disputes with the potential to cost you hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
With that in mind, Apple has agreed a patent licensing deal with Swedish telecom company Ericsson, ending a dispute in which Ericsson was accused by Apple of engaging in, “abusive licensing practices.”
Jony Ive shows Charlie Rose the company's secret design studio. Photo: CBS
60 Minutes host Charlie Rose took a deep dive into all things Apple in an episode that aired Sunday.
Featuring interviews with Tim Cook, Jony Ive, Phil Schiller, Angela Ahrendts and others, the show explored everything from the iPhone’s inner workings and Apple’s manufacturing in China to Cook dancing around the question of whether Apple is building a car.
These lessons cover web development top to bottom. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
‘Tis the season to take advantage of soon-to-end deals, and boy have we got some good ones. These are the top five deals of the year on comprehensive lesson bundles on several facets of web development plus a few other goodies, including a couple you can buy for whatever price you want. From learning to code for iOS to securing your internet connections with a VPN, it’s well worth checking out these top five deals.
For the last 18 years — since Steve Jobs returned to the company in 1997 — most of them have come out of Apple’s Industrial Design studio, a small and secretive group of creatives headed up by celebrated British designer Sir Jony Ive.
Learning piano was never this much fun. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
Best List: The ONE Light smart keyboard
Who doesn’t want to play piano? Learning to tickle the ivories must be right up there with writing the great American novel: Many of us have a hankering to become more musical.
The fantastic $299 ONE Light smart keyboard is the way to go if you want a piano that will show you how to play without hiring a teacher.
Who're you callin' "scruffy-lookin'?" Photo: LucasFilm
This week: the force is looking very strong with the new Star Wars movie; live football may be coming to the Apple TV; the tvOS app store hits a major milestone; why you shouldn’t expect 3D touch in the next iPad Air; and with 2016 on the horizon, we’ll review our favorite games, gadgets, and books of 2015. Hit play, you must!
Our thanks to FreshBooks for supporting this episode, the easy-to-use invoicing software designed to help small business owners get organized, save time invoicing and get paid faster. Get started with a free trial at Freshbooks.com/cultcast.
The epic shockproof, rain-resistant, external battery with solar charging. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
There’s not much time left to buy gifts but still plenty of amazing deals in the Cult of Mac Store to check out. If you’re looking for some new techy toys or tools that are guaranteed to please, let us make it a little easier on you. Have a look at the five best deals on gadgets and gear from 2015 on sale now:
All good streaks must come to an end Photo: Graham Bower / Cult of Mac
For many of us, Christmas is a time for relaxing with family, sitting in front of the TV, overindulging and generally moving as little as possible. In other words, all the things your Apple Watch hates you doing.
So if you have a nice streak going in the Activity app, chances are it is about to come to an abrupt end. And that may not be a bad thing.
Hush it down, Siri. Hush it down. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
You know how it is: You press and hold the Home button to set a quick timer and Siri comes back all loud, “OK! Setting the timer! I’m in suspense!”
Or some such nonsense. Sure, you want to confirm that Siri’s not, say, adding an event to your calendar or calling your Aunt Tilly instead of setting a timer, but maybe you don’t need Apple’s AI helper to be all chatty about it.
Here’s how you can tamp down Siri’s sometimes-annoying banter.
Get a glimpse behind the iron curtain with this week's Cult of Mac Magazine. Cover design: Stephen Smith/Cult of Mac
Happy holidays, everyone! No matter what you celebrate (or don’t), we’ve got a ton of great stuff in the latest issue of Cult of Mac Magazine, right here for you.
There’s a sneak peek inside Apple’s secret design studio to start you off, plus the best games for your Mac from 2015, a deep dive on what the management shake-up means for you, how to maximize your MacBook trade-in, a look at new Siri-style voice technologies coming down the pike, and a bunch of how-tos and tips to keep you rocking all the way through your season.
Tim would rather you not ask about taxes. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Tim Cook will sat down for a wide-ranging interview with 60 Minutes host Charlie Rose for Sunday night’s episode inside Apple HQ, and it appears that the two will have a heated exchange about Apple’s tax practice.
In a preview of the interview released this afternoon, Tim Cook defended Apple’s tax policies, noting that the company pays more taxes in the United States than anyone. Rose also prodded Cook about the company’s massive pile of cash stashed overseas, asking why the CEO doesn’t bring all that money back home.
“It would cost me 40% to bring it home, and I don’t think that’s a reasonable thing to do,” replied Cook, before launching into a rant against the US tax code that was built for the industrial age and not the digital age.