We aren't sure the world could handle two Steve Jobses. Photo: FamousBrick
A two-pack of custom Lego figures has made late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs into Elvis Presley.
Not appearance-wise, we mean. That would be super weird. But the new set, which comes courtesy of custom-Lego company FamousBrick, pays tribute to Jobs by showcasing both young and old versions of the tech legend.
Erase with the touch of your finger. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
The iPad Pro has become a huge favorite of illustrators and artists all over the place, and as these talented individuals get their Apple Pencils, they’re starting to see the joy of drawing directly on Apple’s massive and powerful tablet.
Thing is, the Apple Pencil doesn’t have an eraser on the end of it, unlike competitor artistic styluses (including 53’s own Pencil stylus, which features a big, soft eraser on the end opposite the drawing part).
Luckily, if you’re using an app like Savage Interactive’s Procreate, you can tweak things to make your finger do the magic eraser job.
Make any kind of music you like, at any tempo and to any length. Photo: Jukedeck
I just made three custom, royalty-free soundtracks using nothing more than a website and my Mac. I’ll be able to use these in any video project I like. This is some super-simple music making; if you make videos that need music, you’ll want to check this out.
Jukedeck Make is an amazing online tool for making basic soundtracks using artificial intelligence. A team of experts in machine learning, music composition and audio production came together around this system, initially conceived of and built by a couple of classmates from Cambridge University.
Which fork does one use for seppuku, again? Someone get Miss Manners on this. Photo: Steve Buissinne/Pixabay
The ever-expanding holiday season is upon us once again, and Cult of Mac wants to help make your obligatory family dinners the least awkward they can be.
We know that a certain amount of discomfort is unavoidable. Kids might have tantrums, Grinches might get a bit too much “holiday spirit,” or some cousin with a beef might have been waiting for everyone to be in the same room before they announce how they really feel about Grandma.
Family drama aside, we have a few tips for conversation tech topics to avoid during dinner to keep everyone as happy and un-yelled-at as possible. It was a big year for tech, but some topics are best left in Internet forums and the comments of your favorite Apple blog.
Hair Force One wants everyone to become a coder. Photo: Apple
Teaching your kids how to code is pretty much as important as teaching them to write, according to Apple’s senior VP of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi, in an interview promoting the company’s Hour of Code project.
Apple is turning all of its retail locations into coding centers for kids this week. The classes will offer hands-on instructions into the basics of coding that Federighi says will hopefully set of a spark with the young learners.
The iPhone in close at dirt level on a motocross track. Photo: Freeride Entertainment/Vimeo
The fact that professional-level photos and videos can be made with the camera on the iPhone is old news. However, the amazement never gets old with professionals when they forgo conventional equipment to use iPhones on a shoot.
The cinematographers who capture breathtaking action sports for Freeride Entertainment were in awe of the results with the iPhone after filming some of the most daring skiers, wakeboarders and motocross athletes for a promotion for HITCASE.
Poison Maps exposes more potential in 3D Touch. Photo: Poison Maps
The developers of the Poison Maps app figured out a new way to implement 3D Touch that goes above and beyond what we’re used to seeing. They use two patent-pending gestures called “context zooming” and “context panning.” The first lets you quickly see the surrounding area of a particular location you’re zoomed in on without leaving that location, while the latter lets you move around in the surroundings and effortlessly focus in on somewhere new.
These gestures work using long presses. Since 3D Touch can sense varying amounts of force, Poison Apps cleverly uses the technology to adjust the zoom based on how hard you press.
Apple in talks to bring Apple Pay to Israel Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple Pay is showing up in more places these days, but if you live in a town like mine, it can be hard to know exactly where those places are.
Want to know whether that hip restaurant down the street or your local pharmacy supports Apple Pay before you get there? Here’s a super easy trick using either your iPhone or your Mac.
The holiday shopping season is usually a huge boon for PC manufacturers, but according to the latest estimates from the International Data Corporation, shoppers have decided to skip the PC upgrade as a gift this Christmas.
Google Calendar is bringing your appointments and to-do list together with a new update that adds support for reminders. Calendar will display your tasks and to-dos alongside meetings and events so they’re harder to forget, and sync them across Inbox, Gmail, Google Keep, and Google Now.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Japanese Apple Store in Tokyo’s upmarket Ginza district had to be evacuated and a promotional event canceled over the weekend after it received a bomb threat.
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!
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.
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.