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Apple offers female employees 21st-century fertility perk

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Apple now offers free egg freezing for female employees. Photo: Apple

Working for Apple takes an insane level of dedication, so to help keep its top female talent around long, Apple is joining Facebook to provide free egg freezing for non-medical reasons.

Successful egg freezing allows women extend their fertility by storing eggs at a younger age for use when they’re older. The new process has become a viable family planning option for women who don’t want to put their career on hold, but procedures usually come at a steep price.

Get some serious air with the exclusive Code Black Drone w/cam pre-order [Deals]

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CoM_Black Hawk Drone

Like having fun? Like playing with state of the art gizmos? Like exclusive offers that you won’t find anywhere else no matter how hard you look? Then you want to check out today’s killer deal.

Get non-stop fun with Cult of Mac Deals exclusive and limited edition Code Black Drone Plus SD Camera. You can pre-order yours now for half price, just $69.  Or pre-order with an HD Camera for $89.  Either way, it’s a fantastic deal.

What if the new iPads were as pretty as the iPhone 6?

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Photo: Martin Hajek
Photo: Martin Hajek

When the next generation iPads are unveiled this Thursday, we’re expecting a thinner form factor, recessed volume buttons, refined speaker grills, gold color option and, of course, Touch ID.

But what if Apple went ahead and rethought the devices’ design language so as to match up with the stunning appearance of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus?

That’s the idea behind some beautiful new 3D renderings from one of our favorite concept designers Martin Hajek, who previously imagined what it might look like if the iPad was also struck with a case of Bendgate.

Check them out after the jump.

‘Strong demand’ for new iPads earns manufacturer big revenue boost

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Photo: Apple
Photo: Apple

People may talk about tablet sales flatlining, but if earnings of iPad parts makers are anything to go by, Tim Cook was absolutely right when he called this year’s sales lull a mere “speed bump.”

Casetek Holdings, aka the Pegatron subsidiary responsible for constructing the iPad chassis, has announced impressive revenues of 108.22 million for September: an increase of 21.25 percent on month and 16.48 percent on year.

According to a new report from Digitimes, this growth is the result of shipments for Apple’s eagerly anticipated next-generation iPads, set to be unveiled Thursday.

Ireland plans to close tax loophole that helped Apple save billions

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Heading
Photo: The Dark Knight
Photo: The Dark Knight

Ireland will apparently announce plans to phase out its “Double Irish” tax arrangement that has allowed companies like Apple and Google to save billions, according to a Reuters report citing sources familiar with the matter.

Over the past 18 months, the country has been criticized by both the United States and Europe for tax loopholes that let companies slash their overseas tax rate to single digits. Preliminary findings by the European Commission recently slammed a “sweetheart” tax deal on the part of Ireland that allowed Apple to avoid paying taxes by building up a massive offshore cash pile of $137.7 billion in the country.

Lenovo’s new iPhone 6 clone is disappointing under the hood

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Lenovo’s new Sisley handset may not feature the protruding camera and unsightly antenna bands that were criticized in some corners about the iPhone, but don’t let it be said that this is entirely an iPhone 6 carbon copy without the compromises.

Having had its hardware capabilities revealed, it’s clear exactly where the sacrifices have been made: and they’re entirely related to the specs.

Read on to find out why this is no iPhone beater.

Dropbox denies hack, says old logins were scraped from third-party services

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Dropbox
Photo: Dropbox
Photo: Dropbox

Update: A Dropbox spokesperson has confirmed that its service has not been hacked and that the exposed logins were mostly expired and harvested from third-party services. More information below.

An anonymous party has allegedly hacked 6,937,081 Dropbox accounts and gained access to email addresses and passwords in plain text. Hundreds of account emails and passwords have been posted online as proof, with whoever is responsible claiming that more will be shared after receiving Bitcoin donations.

Leaked iPad Air 2 logic board allegedly confirms A8x chip and 2GB of RAM

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The 2nd gen iPad Air's A8X chip and logic board. Photo: Apple.Club.tw
The 2nd gen iPad Air's A8X chip and logic board. Photo: Apple.Club.tw

The full details of Apple’s second-generation iPad Air will be revealed in just four short days, but Apple.Club.tw has published a photo of an alleged iPad Air 2 logic board that reveals Cupertino has a souped up A8X chip ready for the new tablet.

If the logic board is genuine, it confirms rumors that Apple will improve the Air’s performance with a special A-chip variant, like the A5X and A6X processors used in previous iPads. The logic board also appears to contain 2GB of RAM, though the chip numbers are a bit hard to read.

Just add iPhone to these costumes for total Halloween domination

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I can *see* you. Screengrab: Digital Dudz
I can *see* you. Screengrab: Digital Dudz

You know you hate showing up to the Halloween party with that lame generic pirate costume. We all do, but we all end up doing it.

Then there’s those of us who want to make the coolest, most unique costume ever. But we never do, because, let’s face it, we just don’t have the time.

Your solution, then, just may be these amazing just-add-iPhone costumes from Digital Dudz. You buy the mask or shirt, download a free app, and you’re suddenly the best costume at the party. Check out the video below to see how it all works.

Leaked Lenovo Sisley looks like an iPhone 6 without the compromises

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In an effort to make the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus as thin and as light as possible, Apple made some sacrifices. Battery life — particularly on the smaller iPhone 6 — isn’t as good as it could have been, and the rear-facing iSight camera on both devices sticks right out. Could the Cupertino company have done a better job?

Lenovo seems to think so. Leaked pictures of its upcoming Sisley handset show a device that looks almost identical to the iPhone 6 — without the protruding camera and with slightly less unsightly antenna bands.

Apple replaces JT and Jimmy with The IT Crowd for U.K. iPhone 6 ads

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post-299466-image-b80305f122a49912f868da11650153c1-jpg

Apple’s iPhone 6 ad campaign featuring Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake has churned out some of the company’s funnest ads in years, but to put a British twist on the commercials, Apple’s getting some help from The IT Crowd.

Chris O’Dowd and Richard Ayoade have teamed up for Apple’s UK iPhone 6 campaign and re-dubbed the first two iPhone 6 commercials – ‘Duo’ and ‘Health’ – that were first broadcast in the U.S. last month. The iPhone action and dialogue are pretty much the same as the U.S. version, except listening to O’Dowd’s Irish accent wax poetic about Health.app sounds so much better.

Check out the other ad below:

App widgets in OS X Yosemite will make Notification Center useful at last

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things2_5-yosemite
Screenshot: Cultured Code

iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite are designed to work closely together. Just like iOS 8, third-party developers are even encouraged to write extensions and widgets for their Mac apps. The result is a more seamless experience between an app’s iOS and OS X versions.

Such will be the case with Things by Cultured Code, an Apple Design Award winning task manager that was recently updated for iOS 8. Cultured Code has shared with Cult of Mac its plans for the Mac app when Yosemite drops, including a first look at how third-party apps will utilize Notification Center on Yosemite.

This song was written by iOS 8’s autocomplete function

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I’ve always liked Jonathan Mann, the YouTube artist who became popular for writing and uploading a brand new song each and every day. Mann’s a big Apple fan, too, and over the years has put together numerous songs concerning everything from the iPhone 4’s Antennagate (which Steve Jobs actually danced to,) to duets with Siri, to a recap of the Apple Watch unveiling.

In his latest song (number 2,110!) he uses iOS 8’s new autocomplete function to compose a nonsensical song that — how do I put this delicately? — is still more entertaining and listenable than a large percentage of the music on the radio.

I won’t reproduce the lyrics here, since they’re essentially meaningless, but it’s a fun exercise nonetheless that may just be able to displace Mann’s WWDC song, which is still kicking around my head months later.

Via: The Loop

Apple slaps suppliers with a $50 million fine for leaking secrets

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Photo: Michelangelo Carrieri/Flickr
Photo: Michelangelo Carrieri/Flickr

Apple’s bankrupt sapphire supplier GT Advanced Technologies might have stayed quiet about its reasons for the bankruptcy, but a few details are nonetheless starting to emerge.

Two of the most intriguing tidbits concerning the case regard the cost of sapphire production for GT Advanced Technologies, and the financial penalties Apple imposes on any supplier who leaks information about future products.

Finnish prime minister accuses Apple of crashing his country’s economy

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Photo: Estonian Foreign Ministry/Flickr
Finnish prime minister Alexander Stubb. Photo: Estonian Foreign Ministry/Flickr

People blame Apple for the craziest things: from crafting metal devices that bend if you apply enough pressure, to giving out free albums, to — now — crashing national economies.

Today’s “gate” incident (Finnishgate?) comes from Finland Prime Minister Alexander Stubb, who blames the iPhone maker for bringing down two of his country’s biggest exports: Nokia and paper.

“The iPhone killed Nokia and the iPad killed the paper industry, but we’ll make a comeback,” Alexander Stubb told an interviewer for CNBC.

Xiaomi dismisses Jony Ive’s ‘design theft’ accusations

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Going, going, gone! Photo: Xiaomi
Photo: Xiaomi

Interviewed at the recent Vanity Fair Summit, Jony Ive had strong words for companies like Xiaomi producing iPhone copycats.

“I don’t see it as flattery, I see it as theft, and it’s lazy,” he said, when asked about the Chinese smartphone maker whose devices bear something of a striking resemblance to the iPhone.

Responding in an interview with the Economic Times, Xiaomi’s VP for International markets Hugo Barra suggested that it’s unfair to place the blame on Xiaomi — because Apple copies other people too.

Apple takes over 20 million iPhone 6 preorders in China

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iPhone
iPhone 6 and 6 Plus Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Photo: Jim Merithew

The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus may have shattered preorder records in the U.S. and elsewhere with a massive 4 million units reservations, but that’s apparently nothing compared to China.

Having had its arrival in China delayed to a lack of regulatory approval, preorders for the iPhone 6 family of devices have reportedly hit 20 million in the country since officially being made available on Friday.

Former CEO John Sculley explains how Apple sells experiences

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I’m a sucker for Apple history, and I particularly enjoy hearing from the people who had an impact on shaping Steve Jobs into the incredible force of nature that he became.

In a new interview with John Sculley, the former Apple CEO sheds some light on what may have been his single biggest lasting impact on Apple: the drive toward making the experience of using an Apple product one of the company’s most important focuses.

Sculley catches a lot of flack for being the CEO who kicked Jobs out of Apple back in 1985, but after Jobs and Tim Cook he was the best of CEO Apple ever had, and someone who’s always interesting to hear talk about Apple. In this particular video he shares his thoughts on the original Macintosh ad and why Apple trumps everyone else at marketing.

More of Sculley’s thoughts after the jump.

Best deals of the week: Batman, Espionage 3, BT Speaker, iRest, and more [Deals]

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CoM_Batman

There’s a veritible treasure trove of cool stuff available every week at Cult of Mac Deals and, best of all, none of it will cost you an arm and a leg.

Today we put a spotlight on just a few of those supremely awesome deals so be sure to check them out. Of course, you can go to the Cult of Mac Deals page and see all the deals if these don’t tickle your fancy.