Cult of Mac

With today’s tech, the general rule seems to be that if it’s broke you can’t fix it. But perhaps you could, if you just had the tools to work with the micro-sized, specialized screws and airtight seams of phones, computers, gaming consoles, and the like. Most of those tools for access are in this excellent bundle from iFixit’s, which includes a full arsenal of screwdrivers and an ultra-thin prying blade, all for $59.95 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Who would’ve thought emojis could prove so controversial?

Following on from the yellow skin color accusations and Russian LGBT emojis attempted banning, the nonprofit group New Yorkers Against Gun Violence (NYAGV) has launched a new hashtag entitled #DisarmTheiPhone — calling for Apple to “remove the gun emoji [from iOS] and take a stand for stricter gun accessibility in America.”

Check out a video for the campaign below:

No-one does ads with more consistent high quality than Apple. That’s why it’s kind of fun to go back to a time when getting the word out about new products was less about pushing out a sleek new video on YouTube and more about radio spots designed to give potential customers the hard sell.

Stephen Hackett of website 512 Pixels was recently given a stack of old Apple documents, and among them were scripts for three Apple-approved radio ads promoting the Apple IIc during the holiday quarter of 1984: the same year Apple unveiled the original Mac.

Check them out below.

In yet another apparent confirmation that the iPhone 6s will come with Apple’s Force Touch technology, manufacturer TPK is reportedly heading into mass-production of the relevant pressure-sensitives modules, after shipping off small amounts of samples last month.

It’s being a bit shy admitting which company they are for, though. (*cough* Apple! *cough*)

Around four years ago, developers Almost Human released The Legend of Grimrock, a throwback to the first-person dungeon crawlers from the 1980s (Dungeon Master, The Bard’s Tale and even the first Phantasy Star game for the Sega Master System) for Mac.

They claimed it was was coming to iPad “by the end of the year.” It actually took three. I assumed, after all that time, it would never come to iPhone, though… but as it turns out, I was wrong.

For me, it’s the burning question of 2015: “Should I buy an Apple Watch?”

As editor and publisher of Cult of Mac, everybody’s always asking me if Apple’s smartwatch is a must-buy. The simple answer is there’s no simple answer, for reasons that might surprise you.

The Apple Watch went on sale in New Zealand, Russia and Turkey today, with the wearable devices available at the countries’ respective Apple Online Stores and brick-and-mortar retailers.

In Russia, Watches can be purchased in person at iPort, Re:Store, and C-store Internet stores. In Turkey, customers can do in-store pickup at Apple Stores in Istanbul’s Zorlu Center and Akasya Shopping Center. In New Zealand, Watches are available at select Apple Stores.

Minecraft is no stranger to beautiful user-made worlds, but this recreation of the deep sea feels special, even by Minecraft standards.

It actually feels like you’re in a submarine, sinking deep beaneath the waves into an underewater world.

Apple has boosted pay for its contracted shuttle bus drivers ahead of a vote this weekend, in which unionized drivers in Silicon Valley will vote on a package for improved wages and benefits.

Drivers are demanding hourly pay increases to $21-$25, which will then increase again to $22.50-$28.50 in three years. They also want pension contributions, differential pay for shifts, and a six-hour minimum for drivers who don’t want to work split shifts.

Developed by Silvio Rizzi, Reeder 2 was our favorite feed reader for Mac when it was released last year, but design wise, it was themed an OSX Mountain Lion app in an OS X Yosemite world.

Now, Reeder 3 is here, available to everyone as part of a public beta. And not only does it have a new look, it comes with a huge number of new features.

Google Glass has returned to keep looking like a really lame version of the future, according to reports. The company is rolling out a new, office-ready version of its augmented-reality wearable to businesses that aims to correct some of the problems of the earlier model.

The new hardware features a smaller form factor, prolonged battery life, and a faster processor.

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If you’re taking your iPhone 6 Plus on vacation with you, and you anticipate being near a large body of water like, say, the Pacific Ocean, it’s a good idea to take precautions. One kayaker’s ounce of prevention worked out for the best when his iPhone ended up at the bottom of the damned sea.

Months later, a scuba diver found the phone and returned it, and they could do that because both the waterproof bag the owner had bought and the phone inside of it were still working perfectly.

The long-rumored update for Apple TV will launch soon, according to a new report that claims Cupertino will launch its radically new set-top box — with thoroughly upgraded hardware and software — in September.

If you’re going to own a Mac, you should maybe put it away somewhere if you’re expecting a visit from Clippy.

Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon learned that lesson the hard way when he was talking up the launch of Windows 10, Microsoft’s latest OS last night. As is his wont, Microsoft Word’s built-in assistant appeared at random, and everything was cordial until the talking paper clip spotted the MacBook on Fallon’s desk.

You can check out the rest of the clip below.

More than two weeks after seeding the next incremental beta update for iOS 8.4, Apple has made iOS 8.4.1 beta 2 available to developers.

The iPhone 6s is just weeks away (okay, two months, but saying “weeks” makes it sound closer), and so it stands to reason that more leaked components from Apple’s supply chain would start finding their way online.

Check out the latest pictures below:

Volkswagen is planning to put CarPlay in nearly all of its 2016 vehicles in the United States, thanks to its all-new MIB II infotainment system that will be available later this year.

We trust our Macs to be solid and reliable, but what if there’s a problem lurking under its silvery hood? Drive Genius is an award-winning app that leads the market in maintaining, optimizing, preventing and even reversing problems in your computer’s main brain, it’s hard drive. Right now you can get peace of mind and peak performance from your Mac with Drive Genius 4 for $49.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Rovio has churned out more sequels to its Angry Bird franchise than any developers on the planet. They even have sequels to the sequels (we see you Angry Birds Star Wars II), but six years after the original was released, Angry Birds 2 is finally here.

The thirteenth title in the Angry Birds franchise is packed with new puzzling towers to topples, missile birds, and boss piggies. There’s also a new feature that lets you challenge your friends over Facebook to see who’s the true master at flinging birds.

Check out the first gameplay teaser:

Construction on Apple’s gigantic spaceship headquarters in Cupertino is coming along nicely, but the iPhone maker is reportedly looking to take its first big bite of San Francisco real estate.

Steve Jobs was famously opposed to including a stylus with the iPad, but even he might have changed his mind had he caught a glimpse of the futuristic texture-sensing input device Apple just patented.

According to a pair of patent applications published today, Apple is working on stylus with in-built camera which would allow it to detect the surface over which it is passed and reproduce these textures for the user — even down to replicating the feel of different fabrics.

Legendary German camera maker Leica spent nearly 20 years patenting technology that would take focusing out of the hands of photographers. As with the 35 mm still camera the company created in 1925, Leica stood ready to once again revolutionize photography, this time with an autofocus system.

But after spending the last part of the 1970s working on prototypes, Leica dropped plans to bring autofocus to consumers. Leica figured its customers already knew how to focus their cameras.

“There’s an element of truth in that,” said Heinz Richter, who was a member of the Leica Historical Society of America when he held one of the first autofocus cameras at a meeting in Minneapolis in 1980. “Leica used to be an extremely conservative company. The autofocus mechanism as they were available then didn’t fit into the company’s ideal of precise focusing.”

Google may have poured billions into buying smart thermostat maker Nest Labs, but according to a new piece of consumer research, Apple’s the company most people think of when it comes to Internet of Things devices.

Conducted by ThroughTek, a leading Machine-to-Machine (M2M) solutions provider, almost half of consumers (48 percent) aware of IoT devices on the market are said to be familiar with Apple’s devices in the category, while just 22 percent know Samsung’s, 15 percent know Amazon’s, and 13 percent know Google’s.

Despite, you know, the fact that Apple’s not really an Internet of Things company at all!

The Internet has gone crazy for selfie sticks ever since a couple of Twitter users posted modified images of Hollywood’s toughest characters with their guns swapped out for the hated tech accessories.

The Photoshop swap really has a way of removing all the menace from a person — especially if their new phone has a ladybug case on it. You can see some examples below (as well as some we put together because we just couldn’t help ourselves).

Apple’s forthcoming $5 billion “spaceship” Apple campus may be designed to squeeze in a massive 13,000 employees, or the equivalent of 35 fully-filled Boeing 747s, but don’t worry: it’s got plenty of space for you, too.

According to Apple’s plans for the new headquarters, the Apple 2 campus will include a glass-walled structure for visitors, boasting a 2,386-square-foot cafe, 10,114-square-foot gift shop, and rooftop viewing space, where visitors can gaze out over Apple’s domain while Tim Cook tells you that everything the light touches is his kingdom.