Cult of Mac

In addition to the long lines of iPhone 6 customers, Apple Stores across the United States are going to see another group of people gathering today: protesting security workers.

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is planning to stage protests at more than 20 different Apple Store in the U.S., pushing Apple to provide full-time work benefits for for its security officers.

“We are asking tech companies like Apple to support good jobs for workers who contribute to their success,” SEIU spokesman Alfredo Fletes told SFGate.

Apple’s new iPhones are finally here, and judging by stock levels in Apple retail stores and reports on Twitter, it’s the iPhone 6 Plus that people are most excited for. Mine arrived about four hours ago, and I’ve hardly put it down since I snatched it out of the hands of the UPS delivery guy.

Having played with many of its features and stared at it lovingly for far too long, I decided to bring you my first impressions of Apple’s first “phablet.” So while you’re sitting beside your door waiting for yours to arrive, or standing outside an Apple Store somewhere with achy legs, you can enjoy a glimpse of what you have to look forward to.

You can use iCloud or iTunes to transfer your entire mobile system from your old iPhone to your new one. It’s a clumsy, one-way process, though, and can be time consuming.

The folks over at DigiDNA iMazing (formerly DiskAid) have a secure solution that works a bit differently, giving you complete control over how you backup and restore your data, letting you create a complete snapshot of your iPhone before you head to upgrade to iOS 8 or a new iPhone 6.

Here’s how.

When you’re a company with the kind of bank that Apple has, it’s no wonder that you’d be a target for patent trolls.

Well, it seems that the trolls are out from under their bridge again, because Secure Web Conference Corporation based out of Melville, New York has filed a new patent infringement lawsuit against Apple, claiming that its FaceTime technology (and the hardware it’s currently running on) infringes on an earlier patent.

Just 11 percent of respondees to a survey about new Apple products plan to buy an Apple Watch, according to 6,000 people quizzed by Canadian investment bank, RBC Capital Markets.

A further 24 percent said they were uncertain. Given that Apple Watch is Apple’s first major new product category since the iPad this is bad news if it carries through to the tech-buying customer base at large.

While it’s far from good for Apple, however, it’s also not entirely unsurprising. The smart watch/wearables industry has remained relatively niche up until now, with other rival products like the Samsung Galaxy Gear proving to be flops in the market place.

With both iOS 8 and the iPhone 6 family of devices finally out, developer Brian Mueller has released an upgrade for his excellent CARROT Fit app, adding “a shiny new update to go with your shiny new operating system.”

For those who don’t know, CARROT Fit is an hilarious take on the fitness app: a little bit like 2001: A Space Odyssey‘s H.A.L. meets Full Metal Jacket‘s memorable drill sergeant Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. Welcoming you with a message of “Greetings, tubby human,” CARROT Fit is a snappily sadistic AI that will threaten, inspire, ridicule and bribe you into getting in shape over the course of a 7-minute workout.

It’s a surprising amount of fun, and today’s update adds news punishment in the form of ads and “random squirrel attacks.” There’s also iPhone 6 optimization, iPad support, and Dropbox data sync thanks to Apple’s new privacy requirements.

So you’ve gotten your lucky hands on a new iPhone 6 or 6 Plus. Now it’s time to set it up the right way. Apple has done a pretty good job of making the setup process straightforward in recent years, but there are still some things you should know about.

Here are 10 of the best tips for setting up your new iPhone on iOS 8:

U2 has not had a good week. What was supposed to be the most epic album release of all-time spun into a bloody hatefest as Apple decided to add Songs of Innocence to every iTunes user’s purchased items lists.

The company eventually rolled out a tool to remove the album from iTunes accounts forever, to silence the people that didn’t like having U2’s $100 million album shoved down their throats. For those that want to take things a step further though, Conan O’Brien has invented an Apple product that can remove U2’s tunes from your mind forever, called eRase U2.

Check it out:

We saw a kid in Australia perform the first unofficial drop test earlier today, but for those wanting to see the limits of iPhone 6 truly tested, the first scientific tests are in.

Blogger Dave Rahimi — who was the first person in the world to buy the iPhone 6 — performed a slightly more precise drop test on both the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, and if you were hoping the new ion-reinforced screen would save you from a shattered display, he’s got some bad news.

Not to spoil the surprise, but the larger iPhone 6 Plus cracked its big beautiful screen when dropped on its side the first time. Rahimi had just purchased it, after flying from California to Australia to pick it up. Ouch!

Here is Dave’s hard-hitting drop test:

The Apple repair gurus at iFixit have been meticulously tearing down the iPhone 6 Plus over the last few hours and have discovered new details about Apple’s first phablet.

The teardown revealed that the iPhone 6 Plus battery has nearly double the capacity of the iPhone 5s with 2915 mAh of energy, which is slightly larger than the 2800 mAh battery on the Galaxy S5. They’ve confirmed that Apple’s new A8 processor only comes with 1GB of RAM on both the 6 and 6 Plus, and have also dissected the 6 Plus camera module to reveal its new optical image stabilization technology.

Here’s what else they found:

iPhone 6 lines have gotten absolutely nuts in the build up for tomorrow launch, but people in Australia are already heading home with the very first iPhone 6 units, but the first person to buy one in Perth almost had to go back in for another.

Moments after a young boy named Jack Cooksey left the Perth Apple Store with one of the first iPhone 6 unit’s ever sold in the world, he was swarmed by local news aiming to get the first look of the bigger than big display in his hands. Struggling to release his prize from its pristine white tomb, Jack’s excitement shook the box open as cameras watched the iPhone 6 slip out and slam onto the concrete.

Here’s the full clip from Perth News Today:

iPhone 6 units are flying of shelves in Australia and Asia and the first teardowns are not far behind them.

The Apple repair geniuses at iFixit have already started their flawless teardown of the iPhone 6 Plus and they’re live-blogging all the action with gorgeous close-ups of the bigger than big guts of Apple’s new device. The teardown action is just getting started, but if you can’t wait to look inside the iPhone 6, there are a couple other people who have already pried their iPhone’s apart.

iOS 8 finally gives iPhone users a feature Android owners have long loved: third-party keyboards.

It’s a pretty familiar feature, but unleashing developers so they can create new keyboards for the iPhone (and iPad) is huge — and users being able to enjoy them all is even better.

In today’s Cult of Mac video, we show you how to install third-party keyboards in iOS 8 and introduce you to some of our favorite available custom keyboards. You’ll find out how to wipe to type your messages, give your keyboards themes and much more with this instructional video.

Subscribe to Cult of Mac TV on YouTube to catch all our latest videos.

Did you buy a shiny new iPhone 6 from AT&T Wireless? You might want to check your next monthly bill for an increased charge.

Some AT&T customers upgrading to the iPhone 6 received a surprising text alert this morning saying the carrier has hiked the monthly “smartphone access charge” to $40 for anyone renewing a two-year Mobile Share Value plan agreement. Naturally, the carrier waited until it was swamped with an unprecedented amount of iPhone 6 pre-orders before telling customers they’d be paying an extra $600 over two years — nearly enough to buy an unlocked iPhone 6 outright.

UPDATED: We got some comments from Dave Rahimi in Sydney. Blogger Dave Rahimi figured out a clever way to be the first person in the world to buy an iPhone 6.

Rahimi and his girlfriend, Jasmine Juan, flew thousands of miles from California to Sydney, Australia, to purchase the first two iPhone 6s to go on sale worldwide.

The couple just emerged from the Apple Store in Sydney, which was mobbed by a monster crowd of about 2,500 people. Some had camped outside the store for more than a week.

But Rahimi and Juan avoided the crowds and more or less walked right into the store.

Here’s how they did it.

Today Twitter rolled out an update to its iPhone app that brings interactive notifications for iOS 8 users. That means you can retweet, favorite, and follow directly from notifications the app sends you.

Profiles have been given a facelift as well with a focus on bios, photos, and favorites.

Sure, folks have been lining up for several days now, causing equal parts consternation and praise, but with pre-orders selling out in hours – leading to record breaking pre-sales – it’s no wonder that the lines at Apple retail stores around the globe are beginning to super size themselves as well.

Reports of scarce supplies of the iPhone 6 Plus are only adding to the madness and we’re only going to see even crazier lines the countdown nears zero. It can only get more wild from here.

One Apple fan in Arizona told Cult of Mac he wants an iPhone 6 Plus so bad he actually paid a teen for their top spot in line at a local Apple Store. She charged him $80. Half up front as a down payment to hold the spot until 4AM, when he’ll come back and maybe get to buy a gold iPhone 6 Plus.

“Doing an after work drive-by to make sure.” he told us. “They seemed cool, and I grilled them. So, hopefully we are good.”

Other fans aren’t as nearly hopeful, but the lines are just getting crazy around the world. Take a look:

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Tim Cook prophesied that the iPhone 6 would trigger and avalanche of upgrades, but what he may not have expected was the unfathomable amount of Android users who are trading in their Samsung phones to get a grip on Apple’s large screen beauty.

Samsung phone trade-ins have tripled in the last week alone on Gazelle, reports Bloomberg, and the stream of used Galaxies isn’t expected to slow down anytime soon, as nearly a third of Android users say they’re ready to switch allegiances.

It’s going to be nearly impossible to get your hands on an iPhone 6 Plus this weekend. Carrier sources are saying that there is basically “no chance” of finding the 6 Plus during tomorrow’s big launch.

The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus camera sensor didn’t get an increase in megapixels, but it’s still way better than the iPhone 5s.

Need proof? Travel photographer Austin Mann took his iPhone 6 and 6 Plus review units to Iceland, and not only were the landscapes absolutely breathtaking, but his pictures prove that the iPhone 6 has the best camera Apple’s ever made.

Apple Watch’s customization factor is going to be a huge sell to fashion-conscious, but for some would-be Apple Watch wearers wanting to stand out from the herd, Jony Ive’s simplistic design is a little too reserved.

Not satisfied with Apple’s band offerings, the fashion focused crew at High Snobiety has reimagine what the Apple would would look like if some of the most famous fashion brands in the world got a chance to redesign it. Can you match the fashion brand to the luxury Apple Watch concept?

Take a look at the gorgeous mockups below.

It’s a mere 24 hours and change before Apple retail stores open their reservation system and doors to allow the hordes of adoring Apple faithful to pony up a bunch of cash for the privilege of walking out with an opening day iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus.

The lines are already forming, though, with hardy line sitters getting ready for the big event. This is a global phenomenon, as you can see from the images above, gleaned from Instagram and Twitter.

Apple’s fabulous iPhone used to be the number one reason crime was on the rise in New York City, but now that Apple’s added Activation Lock to iOS 7, thieves have given up their iLust and are targeting Samsung phones like never before.

Just look at the sudden change in thefts in the chart below:

[UPDATE: Lots of readers report that the new option to activate iCloud Photo Library isn’t showing up on their devices. I’m looking into it. So far I know that the GM version — the one I used to write this guide —  and the final version are identical, build number 12A365. My guess is that Apple turned off the beta already]

iCloud Photo Library is rad. The idea is that all your full-res photos (including RAW photos) reside on Apple’s servers, and you access them from all your devices.

That’s a change from Photo Stream as it is now, which stores only the last 1,000 photos you took, not your whole collection. Apple has also introduced new tiers of iCloud storage pricing to cope with all your photos (and videos). This is now live, and I signed up for the 200GB option ($4 per month) to test it out.

Let’s take a look.