Mobile menu toggle

iPhone 6 preorders may be up, but profit margins are down

By

iPhone
Big and bigger. Warning: profit margins may vary. Photo: Apple.
Photo: Apple

Apple might have smashed its record for preorders with the iPhone 6, but according to a new report from Credit Suisse analysts, profit margins are actually down for the device.

The reason for this is that Apple’s quite literally giving users more for their money: an all-around bigger iPhone which still costs just $649 for its base model.

Production for Apple, however, is considerably more expensive — with the biggest costs being the larger display, improved camera, bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS chips.

The evolution of iOS: From iPhone OS To iOS 8

By

iOS81

iOS changed enormously over the last few years. When the first iPhone was released, the most entertaining thing to do was to watch YouTube videos and try to find a few web-based games. This was a time before apps, multi-tasking, or folders. Looking back, it’s amazing to see how iOS has transformed from a simple touch operating system, lacking a lot of key features, to a true computing behemoth with more features and tools than most iPhone owners will probably ever use.

Today, Apple's mobile operating system graduates to iOS 8, but before you dive fingers first into the new features, et’s take a look at how dramatically iOS has changed since its 2007 introduction.


Samsung beats Apple to the… musical sitcom?

By

post-296264-image-859821627d36d64dd6eda885cd7074f6-jpg

I may be in the minority here, but when I think of the type of TV show I’d picture Samsung as, my mind goes to scandalous political thriller House of Cards well before it does to Glee.

Which is, of course, why it makes absolute sense that Samsung is currently in the process of creating its own Glee-style “Musicom” (that’s a sitcom meets musical) centered around the lives of two fictitious young employees. Can’t you practically hear the songs already?

Called Best Future, the series will follow male and female flatmates, and is designed to portray Samsung as the kind of trendy-yet-lovable company people in their twenties and thirties would just love to work for.

The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus Meta Review: Bigger really is better

By

iPhone-6-vs-6-Plus

Early reviews of the latest iPhones are in, and the overwhelming consensuses is that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are both killer smartphones. The 6 is the best phone out there, period. Opinions are more split on the Plus and its massive size.

If you’re having trouble wading through all of the reviews out there, have no fear! We’ve collected everything you need to know in the ultimate iPhone 6 and 6 Plus Meta Review.

Watch Apple’s massive cash hoard pile up in real time

By

appleprofit

Apple’s massive pile of cash is about to get even bigger this weekend as the the iPhone 6 triggers an avalanche of new upgrades after shattering Apple’s record for pre-orders in a 24 hour period.

Now you can watch Apple’s wealth grow dollar by dollar in real-time, thanks to U.K.-based payments company WorlPayZinc, which built an interactive graph to show how much money the world’s top tech companies are making in real-time. Apple is by far the most profitable company, as it rakes in nearly $51,000 every 8 seconds.

Check out the interactive graph below:

Cops nab Foxconn worker suspected of leaking iPhone 6 parts

By

Leaked-iPhone-6-5.5-inch

The iPhone 6 won’t be available for a few more days in the United States, but in mainland China, getting your fingers on Apple’s biggest screen ever is shockingly easy — and police are starting to help Foxconn crack down on leaks.

A Foxconn employee was arrested by Chinese police, reports the Wall Street Journal, for walking six shells for the iPhone 6 out the front doors of a factory in northern Shanxi province and then selling them on the black market.

Microsoft modernizes note-taking with OneNote iOS 8 extension

By

Screengrab: Cult of Mac
Screengrab: Cult of Mac

If you use OneNote to keep all your digital stuff in one place, you’ll be excited to know that Microsoft’s note-taking app is getting an iOS 8 update today.

Microsoft announced the new update on its official YouTube channel Tuesday with a fun little video showing how you’ll be able to clip bits of the web and share photos from your iPhone to OneNote.

Take a look at it below.

Be a leading-edge iOS app developer with the complete Swift course [Deals]

By

CoM_Swift

When the iPhone 6 was announced and iOS 8 introduced, so to was unveiled Swift, Apple’s newest app development language.  Swift is the language meant to replace Objective C in iOS app development.

iOS app designers fluent in Swift are going to be highly sought after in the months – and years – ahead. Give yourself the tools to remain in demand with the complete Swift course at 90% off the regular price, for a limited time only at Cult of Mac Deals.

This $140 iPhone 6 clone looks just like the real thing

By

post-296145-image-8f6f565b9bffe7a451636724412bf3c9-jpg

If you love the look of Apple’s latest iPhones but you can’t stand the thought of ditching Android for iOS, then perhaps this shameless Chinese knockoff will get your mouth watering. It’s called the Sophone i6 and looks just like the real thing, but it runs Jelly Bean instead of iOS and it’s available at a fraction of the price.

Its specifications aren’t exactly awful, either.

China might not get iPhone 6 until 2015

By

Apple couldn't be more popular in China -- among customers, that is!
It's unknown exactly when China will receive the long-awaited iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Apple’s expansion into China is one of the biggest stories of 2014, which is why it’s a surprise to hear that the company’s long-awaited iPhone 6 may not be available there at all this year.

According to a Bloomberg report — citing Chinese business paper 21st Century Herald — the delay is the result of Apple failing to come to an agreement with China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The New York Times had previously reported that the iPhone 6 was being held up due to lack of approval from Chinese regulators.

Apple supplier threatens to sue newspaper over cancerous chemicals claim

By

iPhone 6 maker Foxconn is looking to lower its reliance on Apple.
The U.K's Daily Mail newspaper says Apple is currently investigating Foxconn over worker conditions.

Apple supplier Foxconn Electronics is reportedly considering legal action against U.K. newspaper The Daily Mail over claims that cleaning agents used in Foxconn’s Shenzhen factory may be to blame for multiple Foxconn employees developing leukaemia.

In its recent report, The Daily Mail says that Apple is investigating Foxconn after a cluster of leukaemia-related deaths among young workers at Foxconn.

At least 13 workers in their late teens and early 20s have been diagnosed with leukaemia at the factory since 2010. Five of these employees have since died, with families and a labour welfare group claiming the disease was caused by exposure to dangerous chemicals used to clean electrical panels.

Why Apple Watch may not be the overnight success Cupertino is used to

By

The Pulsar 1 cost $2,100 in 1972. Only 400 were ever made. (Photo: Diginut)
The Pulsar 1 cost $2,100 in 1972. Only 400 were ever made. (Photo: Diginut)

While cellphones have come a long way in a very short time — from the Wall Street bricks of the 1980s, to the gorgeous iPhone 6 devices of today — a new article from Wired argues that innovation takes place much more slowly in watch land: something that could spell trouble for Apple.

With insights from watch and clock historian Alexis McCrossen, the article notes that attempts to reinvent the watch have historically proven difficult, with a key example being the world’s very first electronic watch: the $2,100 Pulsar 1 from 1972.

Despite there being “very similar hopes to those swirling around the Apple Watch” the article points out that “a decade later, most watch-buyers were still expecting the same kind of analog features they’d wanted for years.”

Your iPhone is an awesome chemistry kit

By

Screen Shot 2014-09-16 at 8.00.32 AM

What’s your iPhone made of? Just looking at it, you might dismiss it as just a slab of metal and glass, with a dose of magic inside. But our iPhones are actually portable chemistry labs, and there are an incredible number of complex chemical functions happening underneath the glass and metal shell that keep your iPhone ringing.

Attorney general wants to quiz Tim Cook about Apple Watch privacy

By

Photo: Apple.
Connecticut attorney general George Jepsen wants to know just closely Apple Watch will, err, watch you.

Tim Cook may have been on the receiving end of welcoming notes from other watchmakers now the Apple Watch has been announced, but not every note has been so friendly.

On Monday, the office of Connecticut attorney general George Jepsen revealed that he had sent an open letter to Tim Cook noting concerns about the privacy implications of Apple Watch, particularly related to the handling of health data.

Apple will make 15 cents for every $100 spent on Apple Pay

By

Photo: Apple
Photo: Apple

For every dollar spent on the iOS App Store, Apple makes thirty cents, but if you expect Cupertino to be collecting 30% of every buck spent on Apple Pay, you’re crazy. The world of finance is much more nuanced — and ruthlessly competitive — than selling apps: Apple will have to settle for just fifteen cents for every $100 spent. But that’s actually a lot of money in financial terms.

How to get ready for an iOS 8 upgrade the right way

By

IOS 8B

Whether you’re getting a new iPhone or not, chances are you’ll want to upgrade to iOS 8 to take advantage of all it has to offer.

Exciting, isn’t it? A whole new operating system, ready to revolutionize your mobile life.

There are a few things you should do before upgrading to iOS 8, though. First you’ll want to clean up your existing iOS 8-compatible device. Then you need to make a good backup using iTunes, iCloud or a combination of the two. (Bonus: If you do end up getting an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, you’ll have a nice, clean, ready-to-rock iOS device to migrate from.)

Here’s how to get your iPhone (or iPad) ready for iOS 8 – the right way.

How your iPhone could alter notifications based on your location

By

iphone-in-bag
Future iOS devices could vary user alerts based on where you are at any given moment.

Call alerts are all well and good but — even on the Apple Watch, when they’re being delivered directly to your wrist — it’s likely that there will be situations when users won’t be aware of them, and could miss important calls or alerts as a result.

Apple’s trying to crack that problem with a new patent published Tuesday, describing a “Self adapting alert device” that would vary the volume or style of user notifications to your iPhone or Apple Watch depending on where you are at the time.

Apple confirms iPhone 6 NFC chip is only for Apple Pay at launch

By

iPhone6NFC

Apple finally added NFC to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, but if you were hoping that the company’s new NFC chip will allow you to pair speakers or integrate NFC tags into your favorite apps, you’ll have to keep waiting. Apple has put its NFC chip on lockdown, at least for now.

Sources at Apple have confirmed to Cult of Mac that the NFC chip on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus will only be used for Apple Pay when it launches this week.

Still conflicted? How to decide between iPhone 6 models

By

post-296059-image-b3b1066564d0e8915f632b48e0af382b-jpg

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus are wildly popular, with more than 4 million confirmed preorders. Though many people have picked their preferred version of the next-generation Apple phone, many undoubtedly remain on the fence.

With a 4.7-inch phone on one side and a massive 5.5-inch display on the other, this can be quite the decision to make prior to the Sept. 19 launch date. In today’s video we take a look at some factors that can help you decide which iPhone to purchase. Take a look at in-depth specs, features and more to help figure out which iPhone 6 model makes sense for you.

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