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Steve Jobs wouldn’t let his kids become iOS addicts

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Steve Jobs presided over some memorable announcements during his time at Apple. (Picture: Flickr)
Photo: Ben Stanfield/Flickr CC

Being Steve Jobs’ son or daughter would surely mean a never-ending supply of new high-tech devices to play around with, right?

Not according to a New York Times article by Nick Bilton, who claims that Jobs set out to purposely limit the amount of time his kids spent using their iPhones and other gadgets — even going so far as to stop them using Apple’s latest must have-devices altogether.

The Apple Watch’s design is even more beautiful round

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Perhaps the most surprising thing about Apple’s reveal on Tuesday of their first smartwatch was that it was square.

Many of us were expecting something that was at least curved, if not round: a more traditional watch form factor that represented an evolutionary step away from the square displays Apple has embraced since the original Apple I.

Of course, as we all know, the Apple Watch is boxy, at least for now. But as these renders show, the Apple Watch design and UI would work just as well, if not more so, in a round casing, with a round display.

The iPhone 6 camera is the only camera you need

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Your iPhone 6 will take better photos than most pocket cameras.
Your iPhone 6 will take better photos than most pocket cameras.

Two things strike me about the camera in the new iPhone 6 models. One is that you can take better pictures; the other is that the iPhone is now a much better place for viewing those pictures.

With their bigger, brighter screens — and iCloud’s new Photo Albums feature (which stores all your photos, ready to view, in iCloud) — the iPhone 6 and its larger sibling, the iPhone 6 Plus, are looking to be the best smartphones yet, from a photographic point of view.

Get your hands on iOS 8’s gorgeous new wallpapers right here

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One of iOS 8's new wallpapers on the iPhone 6. Photo: Apple.
One of iOS 8's new wallpapers on the iPhone 6. Photo: Apple.

With its latest iOS 8 beta, Apple added a bunch of gorgeous new wallpapers. Some of them appeared on stage during the company’s special event on Tuesday, and others can be seen on the its website decorating the home screens of the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus.

But you don’t need to wait until iOS 8 goes public next week to get your hands on them, because they’re all available to download right here.

Why the iPhone 6 lacks a sapphire display

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Photo: Roberto Baldwin/The Next Web.
Photo: Roberto Baldwin/The Next Web.

One of the biggest disappointments from Apple’s announcements yesterday was the lack of a sapphire screen for the iPhone 6. A seemingly-neverending string of part leaks and rumors indicated that 2014 would be the year the iPhone got a nearly indestructible sapphire display cover.

And while sapphire is used for the Apple Watch’s display, Apple made no mention of sapphire for the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus.

What happened?

Miss Apple’s iPhone 6 and Apple Watch reveals? Watch this 90-second recap

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With all the livestream trouble Apple had during its iPhone 6 and Apple Watch unveiling, it’s likely you missed at least part of the big reveals.

Cult of Mac is here to help with this 90-second version of the Apple keynote that will show you all the most important highlights.

There’s tons more that Tim Cook and Co. announced but it’s impossible to cram it all into a minute and a half. Subscribe to Cult of Mac TV on YouTube to keep up-to-date with all the latest Apple news, reviews and more.

Apple Watch clock face hides a subtle dis for competitors

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Now's the time to order your new Watch band.
Now's the time to order your new Watch band.
Photo: Apple

Apple is officially a watchmaker. And like all fancy watchmakers, the company has created a trove of gorgeous marketing close ups of its timepieces, only Apple has hidden a subtle to diss to competitors that its way ahead of their analog challengers.

Most watchmakers set their watch faces to 10 past 10 o’clock in advertisements. Rolex is anal about using 10:10:31, TAG Heuer uses 10:10:37, and Bell & Ross are dedicated to 10:10:10, but Apple’s so far ahead, it set the clock of its watch to nine minutes past 10 o’clock.

Apple snags marketing wiz behind Gap’s ‘Dress Normal’ campaign

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Apple’s first wearable is heading full-stream down the product pipeline ahead of its early 2015 release, and to aid with the launch of its first fashion accessory, Apple has recruited the talents of Gap Inc’s second top marketing executive.

Marcela Aguilar joins Apple with a deep background in fashion and ad agencies after serving as Gaps senior global director of marketing and communications, and has plenty of global expertise that will come in hand as Apple tries to convince fashion forward women and men to slap an Apple Watch on their wrists.

Apple mysteriously delays release of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in China

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Tim Cook sharing a moment with the crowd at the launch of Apple's partnership with China Mobile.
Tim Cook sharing a moment with the crowd at the launch of Apple's partnership with China Mobile.

Apple is growing like wildfire in China, and Tim Cook expects the country to eventually overtake the US as his company’s largest market.

That’s why it’s a big deal that Apple has delayed the launch of its new iPhones in China. No explanation has been provided to carriers, although it’s suspected that there are still hurdles to overcome in gaining regulatory approval from the government.

‘Scarf Guy’ steals the spotlight at Apple event, but who is he?

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Tommy Krul. Image: courtesy Apple.
With a scarf and a certain air, Tommy Krul grabbed the spotlight at Apple's big event. Screengrab: Cult of Mac

The Apple Watch and iPhone 6 event yesterday in Cupertino may have been Apple’s most fashion-forward event ever. In addition to the usual schlubby tech journalists, there was Vogue editrix Anna Wintour leading a pack of fashionable scribes into the squat Flint Center as if it were a runway show in Paris or Milan.

It was Tommy Krul, however, who stole the show. He took the stage during the glitchy keynote to demo his company’s latest game Vainglory. Standing off to one side of the stage, his role was just to play the game on an iPhone 6 while co-founder Stephan Sherman of Super Evil Megacorp talked it up behind a huge video screen showing the action.

But Krul, the company’s CTO — sporting a chunky purple infinity scarf that brushed against a collar-length pageboy haircut — quickly became all anyone talked about.

Remembering Macworld, a young Steve Jobs and the birth of the Macintosh

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For 30 years, Macworld has chronicled all things Apple-related. Photo: Macworld cover, December 2011
For 30 years, Macworld has chronicled all things Apple-related. Photo: Macworld cover, December 2011

The closing of Macworld is the end of an era. Thirty years ago, the publication was the midwife to the launch of the Macintosh.

Cult of Mac has a series of exclusive recollections by the magazine’s founder Dave Bunnell, which chronicle the journalist’s close encounters with a young and volatile Steve Jobs, the Mac’s difficult gestation and the birth of modern desktop computing. It’s a great trip down memory lane — with plenty of outbursts, last-minute changes and even a cameo by Ella Fitzgerald.

Read on for the full series.

Combating Apple’s data domination with … a wiki?

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CC-licensed, via  Thomas Hawk on Flickr.
The Free Software Foundation's war on DRM continues. Photo: Thomas Hawk/Flickr CC

Like clockwork, along with Apple’s new product announcements came a protest against them. The Free Software Foundation’s anti-DRM campaign took a timely if predictable potshot against the Apple Watch and Apple Pay after the products were unveiled Tuesday.

“It is astonishing to see so much of the technology press acting as Apple’s marketing arm,” said FSF executive director John Sullivan in a statement Tuesday after Cupertino’s big Apple Watch reveal. “What’s on display today is widespread complicity in hiding the most newsworthy aspect of the announcement — Apple’s continuing war on individual computer user freedom, and by extension, free speech, free commerce, free association, privacy, and technological innovation.”

Spot the difference: Apple Watch’s stunning straps look just like Marc Newson’s old ones

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Apple Watch's Milanese Loop strap is identical to that of the Ikepod Solaris.
Apple Watch's Milanese Loop strap is identical to that of the Ikepod Solaris.

The Apple Watch looks far more elegant than the rectangular smartwatches we’ve already seen from competing companies, but we couldn’t help noticing that some of its straps look a little… familiar.

In fact, several of Apple’s new strap designs look almost identical to straps from luxury watchmaker Ikepod, which not so coincidentally used to be run by Marc Newson, an Australian industrial designer who recently became a part of Apple’s design team.

See Stephen Colbert go absolutely crazy about Apple Watch

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Tim Cook and the team at Apple seemed mighty proud of their incredible Apple Watch achievement yesterday, but Cook’s excitement was just a flash in the pan compared to the world’s truthiest Apple fanboy: Dr. Stephen T. Colbert

The late-night news show host was seen catching up on the iPhone 6 keynote when show started last night, but once the Apple revealed the device that’s going to revolutionize the way you look at your wrist, Colbert unleashed an explosive celebration and capped it off by making his boring dumbwatch as obsolete as possible.

Stephen even managed to get an exclusive look at the upcoming WristPad. Check out his hilarious Apple Watch segment below:

App Watch: Plain old text and widgets (lots of widgets)

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App-Watch-Sep-08-2014

Widget, widgets, widgets. Boy, have we got some widgets for you. And text. Plain text. Plain old text, turned into a calculator. And widgets. Did I mention those? Weather widgets. Battery widgets. And yes, text widgets.

Read all about these new widgets and other new apps in this week's App Watch.


Apple Watch battery will require nightly charging

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Apple Watch supply is finally catching up with demand.
Trust me, you'll want one. Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Apple crushed its introduction of the Apple Watch yesterday in Cupertino, but while Kevin Lynch and Jony were waxing poetic about the design of watch and its revolutionary UI, there was one feature everyone steered clear of: battery life.

Other than introducing the new inductive charging cable, Apple was mum on how long its timepiece will stay charged. According to a report from Recode, that’s because Apple is still trying to improve it ahead of the early 2015 release, but sources say Apple Watch battery life currently last about a day, and will require nightly charging.

Win an iPhone 6 with The Epic iPhone Giveaway [Deals]

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CoM_Epic iPhone 6 Giveaway

If you’ve been living under a rock for the past 24 hours, you’re probably unaware that Apple has announced that its newest smartphone, the iPhone 6, is just days away from hitting store shelves. Now, you could stand in a big line up at your local retailer and pay big bucks to get one, or you could get one for free with no lineups by entering The Epic iPhone 6 Giveaway at Cult of Mac Deals.

Apple Watch: Everything you need to know in 6 minutes

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With the poor streaming quality from yesterday’s Apple Event, you may have missed some of the juiciest bits — like the unveiling of the Cupertino company’s exciting new wearable. Well, fear not; the video above will tell you all you need to know about Apple Watch in just six minutes.

While you’re waiting for the Apple Watch to be released, be sure to subscribe to Cult of Mac TV on YouTube to see more videos like this one — as well as the latest Apple news, and much, much more.

Apple delivers its 18-karat gold Watch in a jewelry box charger

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Picture: Apple
Picture: Apple

Apple started introducing gold variants of its devices with the “champagne” iPhone 5s in 2013. Given the unexpected popularity of that device, it was only natural that Apple would keep the color scheme going for future devices — which now includes the Apple Watch, as unveiled yesterday.

While Tim Cook didn’t dwell on too many details regarding the individual Apple Watch models during his keynote, technology journalist David Pogue does have some additional information about the 18-karat gold Edition variant of the Apple Watch, which he claims will come in a “gorgeous jewelry box” that doubles as a charger.

Apple chip maker enjoys record revenues thanks to iPhone 6

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Apple suppliers are enjoying huge revenue boosts thanks to the iPhone 6
Apple suppliers are enjoying huge revenue boosts thanks to the iPhone 6

Thanks to its work on the iPhone 6, Apple supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has announced record high revenues for August — representing an earnings increase of 6.7 percent from last month and a leap of 25.8 percent from the previous year.

TSMC made a massive $2.31 billion in August, with the phenomenal performance being credited to the company’s production of A8 processors for the iPhone 6-series of handsets — in addition to other chips such as Touch ID fingerprint sensors.

Bigger is better: 8 reasons to choose the iPhone 6 Plus

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Photo: Roberto Baldwin/The Next Web
Photo: Roberto Baldwin/The Next Web

Apple is going big with the iPhone this year. Two million photo-aligned pixels big!

The sight of Apple’s new mammoth iPhone 6 Plus might inspire a lot of witty genitalia jokes thanks to its 5.5-inch display, but Apple will be laughing all the way to the bank, as the iPhone 6 Plus has the potential to be Apple’s biggest seller of the year, and I’m not talking screen size.

Yes, the iPhone 6 Plus has display so huge you’ll need to buy an entirely new wardrobe to fit it in your clothes, but it also packs all-new features we weren’t expecting, some of which didn’t even make it onto the iPhone 6.  Despite costing an extra $100, the iPhone 6 Plus is will hit shelves right as the phablet fad is booming, and its armed with features that make it not just bigger than the iPhone 6, but better too.

Here are eight reasons why the iPhone 6 Plus tops the iPhone 6:

Big vs. bigger: Which iPhone 6 deserves a place in your pocket?

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For the second consecutive year, Apple has delivered not one but two new iPhones. Unlike the iPhone 5c, however, the slightly cheaper model this time around isn’t just an old iPhone inside a new shell. The iPhone 6 has the same A8 processor, the same Touch ID fingerprint scanner, and the same improved iSight camera as the iPhone 6 Plus.

So, is size the only difference, and how do you choose which model is right for you? Our in-depth comparison below will help you compare each device — spec for spec, feature for feature — and decide which one most deserves a place in your pocket for the next 12 months.

Legendary RPG Baldur’s Gate finally makes the journey to iPhone

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If you send me an email and don't hear back, this is the reason.
If you send me an email and don't hear back, this is the reason.

Baldur’s Gate is one of the all-time classic RPGs, and while it’s iOS Enhanced Edition has been available on iPad since late 2012, up until now iPhone gamers have been left out in the cold.

That’s changed thanks to a new update which adds iPhone support, meaning that we can finally play this epic fantasy game on the move.

But wait, you might say, Baldur’s Gate was already a challenging read on the iPad mini. How on earth is it possible to play on an iPhone? Well, developers Bioware have thought of that too, since they’ve added a new “Font Size” option, which makes the game easier to view on smaller iOS devices.