With Apple set to unveil the eagerly-anticipated iPhone 6 later today, that can only mean one thing: that the public launch of iOS 8 isn’t far away. And chances are that OS X Yosemite’s not too far behind it, either.

As both of Apple’s operating systems are set for a refresh, Chitika Insights has run the numbers to examine iOS and OS X version distributions at this exciting juncture for Apple: sampling tens of millions of U.S. and Canadian online ad impressions running through the Chitika Ad Network.

The numbers, catalogued between August 25 and 31, show that a massive 90 percent of North American iOS Web traffic comes from devices running iOS 7, largely thanks to Apple’s update strategy of directly prompting eligible users to upgrade.

Fans have been clamouring for an iOS port of the later Final Fantasy games for years, but it looks as though publisher Square Enix is set to go one step further — announcing that not only will some of these titles soon be making their way to mobile, but also that the company behind them is experimenting with a new cloud-based mobile streaming service called Dive In.

Dive In is set to debut October 9 with an initial offering of three games, including Final Fantasy 7, Final Fantasy 13 and The Cherry Blossom Murders.

The only problem? You guessed it: currently the service is only available in Japan.

Martin Hajek has developed a recipe of sorts for crafting stunning 3-D renderings of future Apple products that get shared around the Web and even used in advertisements while the world awaits the Cupertino company’s big reveal.

“My inspiration comes from real-life Apple products, combined with a good dose of internet rumors, a dash of common sense and imagination sprinkled on top,” the 39-year-old told Cult of Mac. “What I do is quite simply ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’ — with the giants in question being Jony Ive and his design team.”

Apple’s secrecy surrounding its upcoming products is legendary (notwithstanding one memorable breach by the Pentagon). Everyone wants to know what insanely great products Apple has up its sleeve, so the company goes to great lengths to protect its secrets. Workers prepping for today’s big event have had their phone cameras plugged with tamperproof tape so they can’t leak anything spied before Tim Cook takes the stage.

With just under five hours to go before Apple kicks off its iPhone event, the Apple Online Store is now offline in preparation for new products. When it returns, you can expect to see two new iPhones and a brand new wearable decorating its pages.

Two years ago, in my article Why Retina Isn’t Enough, we argued that Apple wouldn’t call an iMac Retina-worthy until it boasted a display capable of at least a 5120 x 2880 resolution.

How time flies. Now, Dell has just announced the first 5120 x 2880 ‘5K’ monitor. And that means similar panels could be coming soon to a 27-inch Retina iMac near you.

Apple’s most-anticipated — and likely most-eventful — product introduction since the iPad is set for later this morning. It will undoubtedly be Tim Cook’s biggest moment yet as Apple’s CEO, with the company reportedly ready to unveil new products from what has been described as its most exciting product pipeline in a quarter century.

Anticipation among the Apple faithful couldn’t be any higher. Endless speculation and massive expectations about finally laying eyes on the long-awaited iWatch got us thinking about other memorable announcements from Apple’s 37-year history.

While you wait for this morning’s 10 a.m. liveblog from Apple’s big event, relive some of Cupertino’s past glories. Here are our picks for the 10 biggest Apple announcements of all time.

Apple’s iPhone event is now just a matter of hours away, and if you’re hoping for some surprises, you should look away now. We already have a pretty solid idea what the iPhone 6 is going to look like, and thanks to some new Geekbench benchmarks, we now know what it’s going to have inside it, too.

Despite attempts to squash rumors that U2 is heavily involved in Apple’s launch of the iPhone 6 and iWatch, a report from The New York Times is now debunking the band’s publicist’s debunking of rumors that Bono and the Edge will take the stage at the Flint Center.

Get ready to rock, Cupertino, because Ben Sisario says U2 will be involved in Apple’s event tomorrow in a big way:

Tucked away in an assuming building in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a small Apple team has been working on the future of Siri.

And that team is growing. A new report reveals that Apple is leasing a big new office and hiring away from competitors. It’s obvious that Siri will only be getting smarter in the future.

Details surrounding Apple’s mobile payments platform have been surfacing more frequently leading up to its big media event tomorrow. Now it’s being reported that Apple will incentivize merchants and customers to use its service with a special rewards program.

Bad news for anyone in the cellphone repair business!

A full list of the iPhone 6 specs we’ve received from a source in China says not only is the iPhone 6 water-resistant but that the screen is shatterproof.

Not “scratch-resistant” or even “scratch-proof,” but “shatter proof,” which suggests the new iPhone is nearly indestructible and could put a few repair shops out of business.

As far as we can tell, the spec list below is the most comprehensive list of features published to date.

With less than 24 hours to go, security precautions for Apple’s big press event Tuesday have been taken to unprecedented levels.

Apple has wired the entire event auditorium — the Flint Center for the Performing Arts — with a brand new, state-of-the-art security system to lock down access and prevent leaks.

The auditorium is crawling with 24-hour security personnel. Anyone working at the massive show, from caterers to construction staff and technicians, is required to submit their phones to Apple’s security team. The phones’ cameras are being covered in special tamper-proof tape, which changes color if removal is attempted.

“If it changes color, we’ll be fired on the spot,” said one person who is working at the show but asked to remain anonymous.

We’re in a frenzy of anticipation about Apple’s September 9 event. Just like you, we’re expecting big and bigger iPhones, the iWatch and something to take the stage of that immense box Apple has constructed outside the Flint Center auditorium.

As we tweet, liveblog and take you hands-on with new products from what may be the most important Apple event in years, you can play along with this awesome set of free bingo cards, courtesy mobile PR firm Appency.

When Adam Levine appeared at a Samsung event last week to promote the Galaxy Note 4 he joked that the company should hold a ceremonial iPhone burning, but don’t expect the Maroon 5 crooner to volunteer his own iPhone to the sacrificial fires.

American Horror Story: Freak Show is set to premiere this October 8 on FX. As each season of the acclaimed FX series is a self-contained mini-series, this fourth season will focus on a big-top freak show.

Below is the first full reveal of the main cast, which includes a mysterious Jessica Lange (who’s played a different character in each season of this drama), dressed in a circus tent-style dress that just begs to be compared to the tents that fall to the ground at the end of the trailer. Also, as above, Kathy Bates is playing a bearded lady for the win.

Check the trailer out and enjoy the creepy music, courtesy of Melanie Martinez’s haunting “Carousel.”

A former Apple senior mechanical engineer has confirmed to Cult of Mac that, judging by pictures, the iWatch most likely comes with wireless charging.

Earlier today a Reddit user posted schematics supposedly showing various components of the iWatch. One of these refers to BCM coils, meaning Battery Charging Module or Battery Control Module. These components are routinely found in electric cars featuring wireless charging.

“If it has wireless charging then it needs an internal coil and the screen shots look to have a coil,” says Abraham Farag, Apple’s former Senior Mechanical Engineer of Product Design and owner of product development consultancy Sparkfactor Design. 

While the Reddit post alluded to wireless charging by noting the lack of ports on the iWatch, it did not explicitly state this to be the case.

Although it has been widely reported that the 5.5-inch iPhone won’t come out until months after the 4.7-inch model, both sizes are now expected to ship on the same day later this month.

It’s been a week since the Great Fappening rocked Hollywood and the rest of the internet, and true to Tim Cook’s promise, Apple is already adding extra security to iCloud.com.

Apple is now sending email alerts when an iCloud is accessed by a web browser. The alerts are being sent even if you’ve already accessed iCloud.com from the browser previously, but only occurs on the first login.

Here’s a copy of the email Apple notification:

What will Apple call its new iPhones tomorrow? The safe bet is “iPhone 6” for the 4.7-inch model, but what about the larger 5.5-inch version? iPhone Air? iPhone Pro iPhone 6L?

“iPhone 6 Plus” will be the name Apple goes with, according to a new report.

More than ever before, our connected world is becoming a mobile one. What good is a strong web presence if it isn’t optimized for use with mobile devices? That’s where having your own app comes into play. It allows your audience to connect with you in a way that is personalized to them.

The Complete iOS 8 Course With Swift will teach you the skills necessary to create iPhone and iPad applications using Swift, the new iOS developer language, as well as the platforms of iOS 8 and XCode 6.  iOS 8 is coming soon and this deal is almost over.  Lock in now at Cult of Mac Deals for a limited-time price of $79 and get in on the iOS 8 ground floor.

There’s just one day to go until Apple reportedly unveils its long-awaited iWatch and — as if anticipation couldn’t be any higher — a Reddit user just posted what he claims to be half a dozen technical images of Apple’s wearables device.

The user claims that the device will feature a microphone, speaker, and Siri virtual assistant. It is also reported that there will be a flexible multi-touch screen, that it will be waterproof to a depth of 20 meters, and that Apple will announce the availability of 4 colors and 2 different sizes.

If you’re a free Spotify user, prepare for your experience to get a lot more annoying: video ads are coming to the a la carte music streaming service.

Text shortcuts are one of the most useful settings in iOS. Having the potential to just hit a couple of keys to input an entire string of text is a wonderful time saver… as long as you have the foresight to set them up first.

Alas, most of us never delve into text shortcuts on iOS 8. But here’s a shortcut anyone can take advantage of: a text shortcut that allows you to cycle rapidly through your email addresses with just a single keypress.

Former Apple exec Jean-Louis Gassée has posted a new edition of his always enjoyable Monday Note blog, arguing that Apple isn’t intending to disrupt banks and credit card companies with its entry into the mobile payments world.

It’s an interesting read, and makes a whole lot of sense: pointing out that Apple’s mobile payment drive is simply an extension of the company’s current strategy.