Cult of Mac

A test to pit the two different iPhone 6s models against each other — one with a TSMC chip and the other with a Samsung chip — has officially debunked Chipgate. It turns out there are no discernible differences in battery life between the two.

Consumer Reports acquired an iPhone 6s with an A9 chip made from TSMC and another from Samsung. They made sure all settings were equal on both devices including the carrier, brightness settings, wireless connections, iOS version, running apps and more. Then they got to work.

Intel wants to win part of Apple chip business, and according to a new report, it’s dedicating a small army of engineers towards creating a new LTE modem that could be destined for the iPhone 7

Over 1,000 employees have been assigned to the project to build a 7360 LTE modem chip for the iPhone 7, reports VentureBeat which also claims that if everything goes well, Intel could provide the modem and fabrication for Apple’s system on a chip.

Ford owners with a second-generation Sync infotainment system can now get Apple’s Siri Eyes Free feature for iPhone on the car dashboard, thanks to a new Sync 3.8 update.

The second-gen Sync system is found on Ford vehicles made since 2011 and earlier, but the company is just now making Siri Eyes Free available on its vehicles, even though Apple rolled out the feature with iOS 6 back in 2012.

The tools inside the business traveler’s carry-on luggage have changed. The luggage itself has not.

Two companies are hoping to take off through crowd-funding with modern roller bags that fit all the essentials and charge your devices. One even has a router to give you a Wi-Fi hotspot where ever you land.

Looking to get a new computer this Fall? Microsoft thinks it has an unbeatable offer with its new Windows Tradeup program offers customers $200 to trade in an old PC and buy a new one at a Microsoft Store.

The deal is even sweeter if you got a Mac though, because Microsoft says it’s willing to toss you an extra $100 your way to get you to defect from  Apple.

Apple delivered the 4K iMac many fans have been waiting for this week, but it’s not quite the all-in-one powerhouse some were expecting. Look past its beautiful design and you’ll find a lot of drawbacks you probably wouldn’t (and shouldn’t) expect to get with a $1,500 computer.

The upside is, this gives another great topic for a slanging match.

So join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we go head to head over one question: Is the 4K iMac a total ripoff?

Apple still hasn’t given us an official release date for the upcoming Apple TV 4 and the iPad Pro, but if you live in Europe you can already pre-order the new devices.

Some of the most important scientific instruments of the past 700 years are hitting the auction block later this month, but one of the newest creations in the lot — one of the very first computers created by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak — is expect to fetch the highest bid.

Apple’s magical new Mouse, TrackPad and keyboard have been given the official teardown treatment from the guys at iFixit today, revealing the minuscule components inside the rechargeable new peripherals.

The teardown on the keyboard reveals the tiny new battery Apple squeezed in that has some design similarities to the iPhone’s battery. iFixit also took a closer look at the new Taptic Engine in the pricey Magic TrackPad 2, and filleted the Magic Mouse 2.

Check out what’s inside each device:

Perhaps as we continue to evolve, our thumbs will grow longer so future generations will be able to reach the back menu arrow at the top of the iPhone. But we can’t wait hundreds of years for that.

We either need to lift an extra finger, god forbid, or purchase a glass screen protector that essentially gives our struggling thumb invisible back and forward buttons.

These days, it’s all too easy to feel vulnerable whenever conducting a transaction, sending a message, or even just idly surfing the web. One way to feel secure is with a secure virtual private network, and for those of us without the IT chops to set one up ourselves there’s proXPN VPN. Right now you can get a lifetime subscription to proXPN’s VPN service for a full 98% off the normal price, $39 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Apple will snub Samsung and call upon TSMC to exclusively produce all of its next-generation A10 processors for 2016’s iOS devices, according to a new report. It’s thought Apple considers TSMC’s chips to be superior to Samsung’s in performance and efficiency.

Apple has released a new ad for iPhone 6s, focusing on its incredible new 3D Touch technology.

The 30-second video highlights the Peek and Pop gestures, and demonstrates the many ways in which that can be useful during everyday use.

You’ll never be without an Internet connection in U.K. towns and cities in the future, thanks to Wi-Fi-emitting sidewalks.

Chesham in Buckinghamshire has become the first town to deliver Wi-Fi at speeds of up to 166 Mbps, seven times the average broadband speed in the U.K., through “Smart Pavements” courtesy of broadband provider Virgin Media.

Apple’s super-sized iPad Pro is one step closer to going on sale after securing the approval of the Federal Communications Commission. Both the Wi-Fi and LTE-equipped options were given the green light this week.

All three of Apple’s productivity apps just came out of beta on iCloud.com, and Apple’s also updated all of them for both iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan. There’s a host of improvements and fixes both large and small for each app on each platform.

All the full specifications are over at Apple’s productivity suite landing page, but here are ten of the best improvements for this long-running, venerable suite of word processing, presentation, and spreadsheet apps from our favorite Cupertino-based company.

Steve Jobs will be remembered as much for his negative personality traits as for his marketing genius, says Steve Wozniak in a new featurette for the upcoming movie, Steve Jobs.

The Woz waxes nostalgic about his friend and co-founder of Apple as his own recollections are interspersed with scenes and quotes from the movie.

“Steve Jobs is known for having some negative personality characteristics,” says Wozniak, “but did he balance the good with the bad or did the bad lead to the good?”

Check out the video embedded below to hear what Woz thinks.

Dropbox has just entered the competitive space of online collaboration software, and it hopes to overcome its late start with a simple, intuitive tool called Paper.

Currently in private beta, Dropbox’s Paper is part Google Docs and part Slack, which just goes to show you how late the company is — describing a new product with an already ubiquitous competitor is never a sure sign of success.

It’s with great sadness that I heard about the passing of Gary Allen this morning. I met Gary several times over the years and called and corresponded with him many times. He ran IFOAppleStore.com, by far the best website about Apple’s incredible chain of retail stores, a topic that proved a rich hunting ground, given its size, influence and global reach. Gary had an encyclopedic knowledge of Apple’s stores and his site — now sadly offline — was an incredible resource.

Gary was also known for traveling all over the word to attend store openings, often camping out the night before. He visited London, Paris, Tokyo, Istanbul, Beijing and many, many other cities. Some saw this as eccentric, but the point was not the store opening itself, but the chance to socialize with a bunch of like-minded people. To get some idea of his devotion to his hobby, check out his Twitter and Flickr feeds, still online and full of pictures from his travels.

I wrote a profile of Gary a few years ago that is now also offline, so I’m resurrecting it below.

You might not think of IBM as a Mac-friendly place to work, but Fletcher Previn, VP of Workplace-as-a-Service at IBM might beg to differ.

Previn used to think like you do: that Apple PCs are more expensive, they’re challenging to support, and require a ton of re-training for help desk staff (who serve a 50,000 employee global work force on Windows PCs)

Turns out, that’s all fairly inaccurate.

iPhone users who have been suffering from worse battery life since upgrading to iOS 9 may want to try deleting Facebook’s iOS app.

The social network confirmed reports that surfaced earlier this week claiming the iOS app uses a heavy amount of resources in the background to run processes. The big problem with the battery drain is that it occurs even if iPhone owners have background app refresh disabled. It’s actually worse with the setting turned off. because Facebook is sneakily creating channels to continue refreshing its app in the background, even when users tell it not to.

All-knowing soothsayers, there are a pair of apps that will let you register your predictions and even gloat when they come true. Then again, you probably saw this coming.

Called It! and Sage both appeared in the iTunes store this month as social networking apps. Each lets people make predictions on everything from the next big game (the World Series is right around the corner) to the 2016 presidential election. Followers comment on your visions of the future, affirming you or calling you plain nuts.

Apple lost its biggest fan ever this week. Gary Allen, creator of the beloved ifo Apple Store blog, died Sunday at the age of 67 after battling brain cancer.

Allen was one of the most respected voices in the Apple community when it came to the company’s retail presence worldwide, and often made long trips to Apple Store openings across the globe. He attended more than 140 openings, and knew more about Apple Stores than any other outsider — insight he gladly shared with fans on his now-defunct blog.

Best List: AllDock USB charging station by AllDock

I have a gadget-friendly family. We’ve all got an iPhone, a few of us have iPads, and I’ve got an Apple Watch. All of these devices require charging, and all of them need a place to hang out when they’re not being used.

The AllDock is a gorgeous wooden universal charging station that lets me store and charge all the family devices in one location with ease, making it simple to grab any device and use it at a moment’s notice.

Like any skill or discipline, being effective at getting projects done is something that can be learned and refined. This certified course in project management by the Management and Strategy Institute focuses on lean process and project management. It’s basically a master course in keeping any operation efficient and nimble, an invaluable perspective that’s just $49.99.