Apple is getting one step closer to becoming its own record label by creating its own artistic content — having recently produced in-house music videos for top-name artists such as Drake, Eminem and Pharrell.
The videos — which include Em’s “Phenomonal” and Pharrell’s “Happy” — debuted on Apple Music. Future artists Apple will reportedly be producing videos for include M.I.A., Purity Ring, Diddy and James Bay.

Anyone wanting an illustration of why smartphone unit sales are not the single most important metric for judging success should check out wealth management company Canaccord Genuity’s findings about Apple’s iPhone sales versus profits.

According to Canaccord Genuity, despite selling less than 20 percent of all smartphones, Apple rakes in a massive 92 percent of operating income. Samsung, by contrast, ekes out just 15 percent to take second place. Everyone else basically broke even or lost money.

Apple has no problem placing massive orders for its upcoming iPhone 6s and 6s Plus units, but according to a new report the company is treading a bit more carefully when it comes to orders for the upcoming 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

Reportedly set to arrive in late November this year, sources in Apple’s supply chain say that Apple’s component orders for the giant-sized tablet have been lower than most people expected — although no specific numbers are mentioned.

Cult of Mac has some fine deals on offer this week, offering discounts on a lifetime of WordPress themes and secure mobile connections, an exclusive 3Doodler bundle, and plenty more.

This week: how to train Apple Music to dish up better tunes; Microsoft calls it quits on the phone game; iOS 9 and El Capitan betas go public; awkward stories from Disneyland; and the REAL REASON Apple is building a “Spaceship” campus…

Our thanks to Bushel for supporting this episode, the simple-to-use cloud-based tool that anyone can leverage to manage the Apple devices in their workplace. Get Bushel for free for up to 3 devices when you sign up at Bushel.com/cultofmac.

Show notes ahead, my friends.

It’s always a good time for a great deal, and we’ve got some good ones ending soon. Get in on dramatically dropped prices on top products like Dragon Dictate, REMXD bluetooth headphones, and lots more before they drop off the map!

Apple’s fitness apps are surprisingly limited given that is a core selling point of Apple Watch. Even basic features like mapping runs and challenging friends are currently missing. And from what we’ve seen so far, watchOS 2 won’t address these shortcomings.

Here’s my wish list of 10 things I’d like to see Apple do to get its fitness apps in shape.

This week, we’ve got a ton of even more great stuff for you all in one place. Check out our guide to getting Apple Music on your iPhone so you can listen without burning up all your data on streaming, our beginner’s guide on running with the Apple Watch, a profile on one of the best sports photographers out there who also happens to use an iPhone, a hilariously true interview with the developers behind, yes, the Farty Troll game, and the straight skinny on iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan public betas.

Get all that (and more!) in this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine. Download and subscribe right here, too.

We’re seeing a lot of reports across the Internet of Apple Watch owners getting some irritation from their wearables. We have a few likely culprits for these blights, including friction with the band; contact dermatitis from dirt, water, or soap getting stuck underneath; or allergic reactions to adhesives or nickel used in the smartwatch’s production.

Whatever the cause, however, the fact remains that wearable rashes are very real and not limited to Apple’s new smartwatch. Here are some of the most interesting (meaning disturbing and gross) pictures we’ve been able to turn up from the Internet.

As you may have heard, Apple released the public beta for OS X El Capitan yesterday. Since I tend to ignore the risks of beta software in favor of all the new features, I downloaded it on my mid-2011 MacBook Air. Do yourself a favor: don’t be like me. Understand and acknowledge the risks of beta software. It’ll save you time and data.

Samsung’s latest Galaxy devices are already leading the rest of the market when it comes to display resolution. But the South Korean company is said to be working on new smartphone panels that go far beyond today’s Quad HD technology.

According to a new report, the “11K” display will boast an astonishing 2,250 pixels-per-inch.

After outselling all Android Wear watches within 24 hours, Apple Watch looked set to be the device that would finally give smartwatches their big break. But according to a recent report, sales of Cupertino’s first wearable have since nosedived 90%.

It’s wise to take that report with a pinch of salt, but it got us thinking; if Apple’s first smartwatch really is a flop, which company can make a wearable worth wearing, and do wearable devices have a future at all?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we battle it out over that very question.

Tim Cook and Eddy Cue were in Sun Valley, Idaho this week for Allen & Co’s annual gathering of the richest and most successful people in media and technology. The gathering includes multiple days of hobnobbing with fellow elites where Cook has become a staple for the past two years.

Last year Apple’s CEO made headlines by telling a reporter to throw her Samsung away. This year Cook was mum when reporters asked him questions, but he was spotted chatting with some of his fellow tech titans, like Microsoft founder Bill Gates:

There are a dozen-odd ways to chat with people these days, from IM to Twitter direct messages to apps like Slack, Snapchat and GroupMe.

If you want to create your own with no more fuss than typing in a unique URL in your web browser, though, you can’t go wrong with hack.chat, a new, bare-bones, no-frills approach to private chat that looks like something out of the DOS era. And I mean that in a good way.

It’s dead simple to use (though you can also run your own server) and incredibly disposable. Perfect for those quick chats you need to make happen that you may not want on something like Slack, which keeps an archive of all the inappropriate comments you’ve ever written.

After invading sport stadiums across the country, Apple Pay is preparing to make an appearance at the biggest baseball game of the season: the 2015 MLB All-Star Game.

Let’s face it — you wouldn’t have an Apple Watch if it wasn’t nice to look at. Now you can give your watch a gawk-worthy place of privilege whether it’s on or off your wrist, with TRNDLabs’s Natural-Wood Apple Watch Charging Stand, going for just $19.99 in this very limited-time Cult of Mac deal.

The next time you buy tickets to see famed stage actress Patti LuPone in a show, just leave your cell phone at home.

The Tony and Grammy award winner delivered her exit line during her performance of Shows for Days at the Lincoln Center Wednesday night and then walked up to a woman in the audience at the end of the second row and snatched her phone from her hands.

According to several audience members, the woman had been texting throughout the show. New York City long ago passed an ordinance banning cellphones from theaters, but that hasn’t stopped many from bringing their devices – and using them – during shows.

With Apple Music making waves, a dedicated music-playing device like the iPod suddenly seems more relevant than it’s been in years. Which is why it’s great to hear that Apple is reportedly planning to introduce a refreshed lineup of iPod touch, nano and shuffle media players on Tuesday, July 14.

The upgrades are said to involve new colors — including electric blue and fuchsia, along with classic black, pink and a slightly darker gray option. However, the iPod touch is also likely to receive a major boost, upgrading its current A5 processor to a new 64-bit one. Woop woop!

The iPad was once the future of computing. When it was launched in 2010, we all thought we were not going to be using desktop machine and laptops anymore.

But sales have been flat and declining for the last couple of years. It came out of the gate like a rocket and everyone bought one. The thing is, nobody has been upgrading them.

Learn about what I think are the reasons and a big change coming to iPads with this week’s Kahney’s Korner.

Cult of Mac’s Photo Famous series introduces you to the groundbreaking photographers featured in Apple’s “Shot on iPhone 6” ad campaign.

Brendan Ó Sé aimed his iPhone camera, composed on screen the wavy painted lines on a Copenhagen street and snapped the photo as four people entered the frame from different directions.

For reasons Ó Sé cannot explain, he titled the photo, God will send a sign. When he does, be prepared.

Not long after, Ó Sé received widespread attention for the photo after it was selected by Apple to be part of its “Shot on iPhone 6” advertising campaign. There were billboards in several countries, magazine ads, an international award and interview requests.

Ó Sé was not prepared. He was kind of floored.

Gameloft, a.k.a. one of the most important publishers in mobile gaming, has announced that it’s closing its NYC studio effective immediately.

As the studio behind some of the best-selling games of the past decade-and-a-half, including the great Spider-Man Unlimited game, the announcement leaves close to 100 people without jobs.

With unparalleled numbers of orders from Apple, the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus may be the handset everyone’s talking about right now, but don’t think that Cupertino has given up on its previous record-breaker, the iPhone 6.

The company has debuted not one, two, three, but seven new ads and commercial spots showing off Apple’s current-gen iPhones. Check them out below:

Samsung may have strenuously previously denied that it, but evidence is mounting that the company is indeed rushing to release the Galaxy Note 5 ahead of the iPhone 6s.

According to a new report, Samsung plans to launch the device in mid-August — one month earlier than previous incarnations of the Note, which typically arrived in September.

The iPhone 6s is on the way, but that’s not going to stop forward-looking Apple watchers from speculating about future phones — like, say, 2018’s iPhone 8.

Alongside regularly-demanded features like wireless charging, designer Jermaine Smit has come up with an unusual dual-screen concept reminiscent of Russia’s YotaPhone — which would offer a 2K display on one side and a low-power screen on the other.

Check out a video below: