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Cult of Mac Magazine: Speed up iPhone and Apple Watch + Why Apple shouldn’t kill headphone jack + more

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Quick tips to save you time and energy.
Quick tips to save you time and energy.
Photo: Stephen Smith/Cult of Mac

Another week, another Cult of Mac Magazine – the best place to get your Apple fix in one place.

This week, we’ve got quick tips to speed up your iPhone and Apple Watch, our take on the stupidity of killing the iPhone’s headphone jack, new how-tos for Apple Music and Apple TV, a hilarious bit of Star Wars fever that Siri’s picked up, and the latest rumors about iPhone 6c and iPhone 7. That not enough? There’s tons more inside.

Here’s the rundown for this week’s cover stories:

Speed test puts every iPad ever made under the gun

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Ready, set, unlock!
Ready, set, unlock!
Photo: EverythingApplePro/YouTube

The iPad lineup has seen a ton of changes since Apple introduced its first tablet in 2010. Not only have the form factors evolved ever so slightly, but the internal components have pushed the product line from a cool reading/gaming device into a powerhouse machine that can replace your laptop.

To see just how much iPad has progressed, EverythingApplePro created a speed test using every iPad ever made. It’s no surprise that the iPad Pro comes out on top, but the original iPad off a shocker by beating some of its successors.

Check it out:

Lego will pay you to build models for new Michigan store

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If you're good with this child's play, you could get some adult pay.
If you're good with this child's play, you could get some adult pay.
Photo: Lego

Maybe you played with Lego bricks as a kid and moved into adulthood building with computer graphics, steal and concrete. Lego always promised it could inspire future builders.

Now the toymaker loved around the world is looking for someone who still likes to hit the bricks. Lego is looking for a master model builder for a new Legoland Discovery Center in Michigan and is holding a two-day tryout next month to find the perfect candidate.

Dropbox is giving up on Mailbox and Carousel

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dropbox-is-giving-up-on-mailbox-and-carousel-2-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201404mailbox-android-c0_standard_10200-jpg
One of the nicest email clients on mobile is dead. Photo: Dropbox
One of the nicest email clients on mobile is dead. Photo: Dropbox

Dropbox has announced that it is killing its Carousel and Mailbox apps in early 2016.

The company says it will use what it has learned from these products to improve its core Dropbox service, and to increase its focus on Paper, the tool that allows you to create new documents and collaborate on them in real-time in the cloud.

Data is everything, now learn to master it as a developer [Deals]

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original_2948_DatabaseDevBundle_MF

Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Understanding and working with data is key to how organizations large and small make and measure their impact. Mastering data can give you new insights and make you an invaluable asset to any team. If you’re intimidated by the thought of big numbers and spreadsheets, this massively discounted collection of lessons will give you the solid grounding you need to work with data like a maestro, covering the essentials of extracting, managing, and analyzing data. It’s a comprehensive bundle of lessons going for just $39 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Slash might be iOS’s most powerful keyboard, and it’s free

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Slash Keyboard makes it easy to add GIFs, emojis and just about anything else to your messages.
Slash Keyboard makes it easy to add GIFs, emojis and just about anything else to your messages.
Photo: Slash Keyboard

I’m not usually a big fan of third-party iOS keyboards because they’re often clumsy and perform worse than iOS’s default keyboard. But I like Slash Keyboard. It’s fast, it’s accurate, and it allows you to search for and insert nearly anything on the web – GIFs, stickers, YouTube videos, Foursquare locations, you name it — into an email or text message, without once changing screens.

Apple in talks to secure OLED panels for iPhone 8

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3D Touch provides super useful home screen shortcuts.
OLED iPhone displays are coming.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

It’s hardly speculation to suggest that, as soon as Apple is rumored to be entering a new area of production, every manufacturer with capacity wants to get in on the new opportunities.

The latest example of this is Japan Display, which is reportedly in the early stages of converting one of its factories in Ishikawa factory into an test production line to try and win iPhone orders when Apple switches to using OLED displays in the near future.

iPad was 2015’s most popular Twitter tech hashtag

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iPad mini 4
We're talking about iPads more than ever.
Photo: Buster Hein/Cult of Mac

Given its slowing sales and the continued record smashing of its iPhone brethren, it’s easy to think of the iPad as the “also ran” of Apple’s iOS devices.

In fact, people continue to talk about the iPad an enormous amount — more than any other topic in tech, if you believe Twitter’s freshly-released list of 2015’s top trending topics.

Reports of slowing iPhone production may be greatly exaggerated

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iPhone camera
The makers of the iPhone 6s' metal casing are reporting big earnings.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Reports that iPhone 6s production may be slower than expected may be plain wrong, if you go by the record earnings one iPhone supplier recorded last month.

Catcher Technologies supplies the metal casings for the iPhone 6s. In November it recorded sales on $254 million — representing an increase of 1.4 percent from the previous month, and a massive 50.3 percent increase from this time last year.

Find my iPhone hunt ends with family being assaulted

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iPhone 6s
This Find my iPhone story did not end well.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

There’s no doubting that Apple’s “Find my iPhone” feature can be pretty useful at times. But a recent story highlights the feature’s potential dark side — as a family was attacked after a group of people knocked on their door, erroneously claiming their lost handset was inside the family’s home.

Top Apple analyst believes a 4-inch iPhone isn’t worth Apple’s time

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Will the iPhone 6c be a flop like the 5c?
Would the 4-inch iPhone be a waste of time?
Photo: Gadgetmac/Flickr

We’ve heard plenty of conflicting reports about when we should expect a new smaller, 4-inch iPhone “c” from Apple, but Piper Jaffray’s resident Apple analyst Gene Munster suggests that Cupertino would be wasting its time by releasing a sequel to 2013’s iPhone 5c.

Why? Because, Munster claims, customers don’t really want smaller handsets at all.

PhotoPanda, Groove Planet and other awesome apps of the week

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If you're appy and you know it, check our list!
If you're appy and you know it, check our list!
Photo: Cult of Mac

From a photography app with a difference to a math training app with human curation and a fantastic classic iOS puzzle game going free, we’ve sifted through this week’s most exciting apps to bring you the ones you absolutely need to download now.

Check out our picks below. Trust us, this is the way you want to spend Sunday!

This micro drone turns flight on its head, literally [Deals]

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The Micro Drone 2.0+ is easy to use, durable, and can fly right side up or upside down.
The Micro Drone 2.0+ is easy to use, durable, and can fly right side up or upside down.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Drones are becoming so common and easy to use that they’re almost impossible to break. Take the Micro Drone 2.0+ with HD-Camera: Inverted Flight Edition — just toss the thing into the air and it’ll automatically right itself, no matter the angle. Want to fly it upside down? It’s cool with that, in fact that’s what it’s built for. It’s an acrobat of a drone that’ll make your jaw drop, and so will the price, just $99.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Magic Flute bike pump is a magical tool you shouldn’t ride without

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The Magic Flute bike pump is as gorgeous as it is practical.
The Magic Flute bike pump is as gorgeous as it is practical.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Best List: Magic Flute bike pump by Portland Design Works

The magic of the Magic Flute is its ability to do two things with equal aplomb.

On the one hand, it is a solidly built hand pump that lets you fill your bike tire the old-fashioned way. On the other, it is a handy CO2 cartridge adapter that lets you fill your tire quickly without the need for elbow grease.

Apple starts raising iTunes Match limit to 100,000 tracks

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icloud-music-library-itunes-match
iTunes Match will expand to 100,000 songs by year end soon.
Photo: Apple

Back in June, Apple’s Eddy Cue promised that iTunes Match – Apple’s song matching service that syncs local music files to the iCloud for streaming anytime – would soon phase out its 25,000 track limit in favor of 100,000 tracks.

Sadly, we haven’t heard anything more about that since. But Apple might now be soft-launching the higher 100,000 track limit.

How Apple out-innovates the competition, this week on The CultCast

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Just how did those Apple whiz kids get so darn creative?
Just how did those Apple whiz kids get so darn creative?
Photo: Library of Congress

Though Apple spends far less on research and development than the competition, they out-innovate them all. How? Catch the discussion on this episode of The CultCast. Plus: iPhone 7 may ditch the beloved headphone jack; Amazon Video is coming to Apple TV; the holiday accessory that could be eroding your WiFi signal; and with the year drawing to a close, we choose we our favorite Apple device of 2015!

Our thanks to Lynda for supporting this episode. Lynda is like the Apple Music of online education, with over 3000 expert-taught video courses you can stream straight to computer or mobile device. Learn how to use Logic’s new super powerful Alchemy synth, or develop Mac apps for OS X—learn all you want for free for 10 days at lynda.com/cultcast.

How to choose the right running app for you

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And the winner is… find out which running app offers the most features
And the winner is… find out which running app offers the most features
Photo: Graham Bower / Cult of Mac

There are so many iPhone apps for runners, it’s hard to decide which one to use. Should you go for a familiar brand like Nike, or a specialist like Runkeeper?

Ultimately, all running apps do pretty much the same thing: They use GPS to track how far and how fast you run. But when you take a closer look, their features and prices vary considerably. So I’ve done the leg work for you, to help you find the right running app faster.

iPad math app comes with real human tutor

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The Tabtor Math app doesn't leave you alone with your iPad. A personalized tutor is assigned to each student.
The Tabtor Math app doesn't leave you alone with your iPad. A personalized tutor is assigned to each student.
Photo: Tabtor Math

The fifth-grader who just last year was at least one grade behind in math is now a year ahead and helping his classmates. Sebastian Johnson’s grasp and meteoric understanding of math did not happen because of the tutor he met with twice each week.

It was, his father Fred said, because of an iPad app called Tabtor Math, a tutoring program that assesses skills, analyzes learning snags and designs a personalized curriculum to raise math proficiency in students grades K-8.

Beats Music subscriber, your time is almost up

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apple-is-killing-beats-music-this-month-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201511beatsmusic_ios_combo-jpg
Apple is getting rid of your data next month.
Photo: Apple

If you’re still subscribed to Beats Music instead of Apple Music, your days are numbered. Until January 19, you have the opportunity to save all of your playlists and migrate your account data over to Apple Music if you wish to do so. But after that, Apple will discard of your current data.

Apple Campus 2 drone video reveals underground auditorium

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This is where future Apple products will be revealed.
This is where future Apple products will be revealed.
Photo: Duncan Sinfield/Youtube

Drone footage of the progress being made on Apple Campus 2 has given us our first look at the underground auditorium where Apple will unveil all of its magical new products in the future.

The new auditorium won’t be visible once construction is complete, but thanks to Duncan Sinfield’s latest 4K aerial footage of the project, we can see how huge the new auditorium will be once Apple finally moves in.

Check it out:

Will Apple alienate iPhone fans by ditching the headphone jack?

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FNF2
Apple could be about to kill another technology.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple has famously killed popular technologies when it believes they’re past their best — and it could be gearing up to kill one more. According to recent rumors, next year’s iPhone 7 will ship without the 3.5mm headphone jack in favor of a thinner form factor.

Friday-Night-Fights-bug-2Understandably, a lot of fans are unhappy about that prospect, which would mean all our existing headphones wouldn’t be compatible with the next iPhone — at least not without a (pricey) adapter. But could it be a move that pays off in the long run? Are there pros that outweigh the cons?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we battle it out over these questions and more!

5 new iOS games that are more fun than Black Friday

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5 best ios games

Photo: Stephen Smith/Cult of Mac

It’s hard to find the best games out there. Every month, there’s a list as long as, well, a really long list of games on iOS that you might like but might actually suck.

Even the sheer volume of the vaunted Editor’s Choice picks can get overwhelming.

That’s why we’re here — to give you a leg up in finding just the right number of the very best new iOS games you can find on the App Store, without all the weeding you’d need to do just to find them on your own.

Here are our five favorite games from the month of November.