Mobile menu toggle

7 Apple suppliers accused of using forced Uyghur labor

By

AllOfUS says Apple helps censorship in China
Apple is accused of profiting off forced labor in China.
Photo: AllOfUs

Seven Apple suppliers in China are accused of using forced Uyghur labor, a report for The Information reveals.

The companies in question include Advanced-Connectek, AcBel Polytech, Avary Holding, CN Innovations, Luxshare Precision Industry, Shenzhen Deren Electronic Co., and Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing Co.

All participated in what are referred to by the Chinese government as “poverty alleviation programs.” However, these may not be exactly how they sound.

Prince Harry and Oprah’s new interview show comes to Apple TV+ this month

By

The Me You Can See
Coming soon to Apple TV+.
Photo: Apple

Apple finally revealed the release date for its upcoming documentary series co-created by Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. The Me You Can’t See, as it is now known, will debut May 21, the company said in a press release Monday.

First announced in 2019, before Harry and wife Meghan’s highly publicized split from the U.K.’s royal family, the series supposedly will focus on the “human spirit fighting back from the darkest places.”

Name your price for this comprehensive Adobe Creative Cloud training

By

Adobe
Learn everything about Adobe Creative Cloud -- and pay only what you want!
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Whether you already have an established career as a designer or want to start dabbling as one to flex your skills as a creative, most employers agree: Being proficient in Adobe is a base requirement. Specifically, knowing how to leverage Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop is a must, whether you’re developing graphics for a website, building out a logo for a business or custom-printing your own work to sell.

Man allegedly uses iPhone to track victim’s car prior to robbery-murder

By

The Find My app has been hiding a secret.
Criminals used the iPhone's tracking capabilities to commit a robbery.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

A Florida man allegedly used an iPhone as a makeshift tracking device, attaching it with magnets to the car of a man he intended to rob, then using it to follow him to a party at a nearby apartment. Suspect Derrick Maurice Herlong and an unnamed accomplice then robbed the man and fatally shot another person, Orlando police said.

Apple awards $45 million to the company that helps make tough iPhone screens

By

Corning's Silicon Valley research center
Corning's Silicon Valley research center.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Apple is handing another $45 million to the company which makes Gorilla Glass for the iPhone. Announced Monday, Apple’s eight-figure award will help Corning “expand manufacturing” and “drive research and development” in the United States.

It’s part of Apple’s Advanced Manufacturing Fund, dedicated to supporting American businesses that are creating the jobs of the future. But, like the recent $410 million cash injection to the company that makes laser components for the iPhone, it also helps out Apple’s future plans.

Apple could debut its own in-house 5G modems in 2023

By

An Apple 5G modem might look like this
An Apple 5G modem is allegedly in development, and could be in iPhones in a few years.
Artists concept: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple’s transition from using Qualcomm modems to its own 5G designs could roll out as soon as the next couple of years, TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggests, in a research note seen by Cult of Mac.

Apps for old-school gamers and our brave new future [Awesome Apps of the Week]

By

A handful of new and updated apps for your perusal.
A handful of new and updated apps for your perusal.
Image: Cult of Mac

We’ve got a mix of “new” new and “old” new in this week’s roundup of the best apps for iOS devices and Macs.

A new scoring app frees board game players from pesky pens and pencils, and a new avatar app gives users a futuristic way to establish and secure their online identities. Meanwhile, upgrades to well-known apps Brave (a fast web browser for privacy freaks) and Carrot Weather (a sarcastic weather app for masochists) gain interesting new features. Image-editing app Photo Sense and Luna Display also got big upgrades.

Start a photography side hustle with this affordable course bundle

By

photography
Now is the perfect time to start making money with photography.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

In recent years, millions of Americans have been perfecting “the art of the side hustle,” or an additional job that usually allows one to accumulate cash through a specialized skill. Side hustles may even be more common than you think. According to a 2019 Bankrate survey, 43% of full-time employees say they have a job outside of their primary work.

Whether it’s motivated by money or creativity, everyone has an opportunity to excel at their own side hustle. And if you’ve got an eye behind the camera, then photography is an easy choice as a fun and lucrative gig.

AR is the future of fitness [Cult of Mac Magazine 400]

By

Apple AR glasses will turbocharge fitness.
Apple AR glasses will turbocharge fitness.
Cover: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

If you think Apple Watch makes workouts fun and efficient, wait till Apple’s mixed-reality glasses land on your face. Graham Bower outlines how and why augmented reality will take fitness to the next level in Cult of Mac Magazines cover story this week. It all sounds quite incredible — and yet also quite possible.

Also this week, we’ve got plenty of fresh Apple rumors, plus a trove of tantalizing tidbits gleaned from insider emails that came to light during the Epic Games v. Apple trial that’s currently unfolding.

And if you haven’t watched Mythic Quest or The Mosquito Coast yet, it’s time to start streaming. It looks like Apple TV+ has a couple more winners on its hands.

Last chance! Enter to win a Twelve South ParcSlope stand for Mac and iPad [Cult of Mac giveaway]

By

ParcSlope stand
Twelve South's ParcSlope stand elevates your MacBook or iPad to new levels.
Photo: Twelve South

This week, Cult of Mac is giving away one ParcSlope stand from Apple accessory powerhouse Twelve South.

The ParcSlope is a dual-purpose desktop easel that functions as a typing stand for MacBook and as a sketching wedge for iPad. It elevates your MacBook or iPad Pro for a better working angle and an ergonomic viewing height.

If you win, you can use the ParcSlope stand for all of your tasks. And if you don’t, Twelve South is sweetening the giveaway with a $10 promo code to purchase the ParcSlope for everyone who enters.

Why Apple needs to ramp up its app review team

By

Trust in the App Store is critical to the success of the iPhone.
Confidence in the App Store is so critical to the success of the iPhone that Apple needs to stop handling app review with an inadequate staff.
Graphic: Apple

The process for checking applications submitted to the App Store became the major focus of the Epic Games v. Apple court battle Friday. An important detail that came to light is that Apple employs 500 human experts checking submissions.

Epic Games used Friday’s trial testimony to bring to light fraudulent or inappropriate apps that slipped past Apple’s review team and onto the App Store. Fortunately, the problem is fixable: Put more people on the job. Double or triple the number.

Grab text from any image with TextSniper, on sale for just $3.99

By

TextSniper
This time-saving Mac app extracts text from images, videos and more in mere seconds.
Image: TextSniper

If only “Cut, Copy, Paste” commands worked everywhere on your computer. If you want to grab text from images and PDFs, you may have to resort to transcribing the text yourself unless you use TextSniper. This invaluable tool allows you to lift text from any image with the click of a button. And right now, the Mac app is available for just $3.99.

Apple finally makes crucial hire: communications chief

By

is now in charge of Apple corporate communications
Stella Low has been picked to lead Apple’s public relations efforts .
Photo: Cisco

Stella Low is stepping into a position at Apple that’s been empty for years. She’s been named vice president of worldwide corporate communications. That puts her in charge of Apple’s public relations efforts.

She left Cisco to take the job with Apple.

Clever DIY project turns AirTag into slim wallet card

By

This DIY AirTag wallet card project isn’t for the faint of heart
Apple AirTag can help users locate keys, luggage and — with a lot of modifications— their wallet.
Screenshot: Andrew Ngai

An intrepid do-it-yourselfer disassembled Apple’s new AirTag and rebuilt it into something slim enough to fit into a wallet.

Watch his video with step-by-step instructions for following in his footsteps — if you dare.

Kensington StudioDock is incompatible with 2021 iPad Pro 12.9

By

The Kensington StudioDock was named a CES 2021 Innovation Awards Honoree.
Kensington StudioDock could be the iPad productivity tool you’re looking for.
Photo: Kensington

Add the Kensington StudioDock to the list of accessories thrown under the bus by the redesign of the 2021 iPad Pro. The 12.9-inch version of the upcoming tablet is just slightly thicker, but that’s enough to make the elaborate desktop stand incompatible.

This is sure to displease many of the people who bought the $399.99 accessory and were hoping to use it with future Apple tablets.

24 years later, Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh still serves [Setups]

By

Pictured to the right of a nice modern iMac, the once-glorious flop still gives pretty good sound.
Pictured to the right of a nice modern iMac, the once-glorious flop still gives pretty good sound.
Photo: Cbaltz2@Reddit

By the time of its release in March 1997, the over-the-top-shelf powerhouse known as the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh had seen its initial price of $9,000 cut to $7,499, or about $12,000 in today’s dollars.

The interesting-but-still-hopelessly unaffordable system — for a time delivered door-to-door and set up by tuxedoed concierges — failed in the marketplace. It went on to become a collector’s item.

These days, a Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh, or TAM, often sells for around $1,500. So Redditor Cbaltz2 kind of scored when he picked one up a while back on eBay for $800. And remarkably, he found a good use for it in the here and now.

Mythic Quest fine-tunes its epic comedy for strong second season [Apple TV+ review]

By

Mythic Quest review: Rob McElhenney leads an excellent cast in a strong second season.
Rob McElhenney leads an excellent cast in a strong second season.
Photo: Apple TV+

In its second season, Mythic Quest doubles down on characters and lets workplace dynamics subsume the work itself. The creative team that drives the Apple TV+ comedy about game developers found the sweet spots that made the first season above average, then worked on them like mechanics.

The result is a season every bit as strong as the first — and one that portends greatness for the future.

Apple could bring a splash of color to its next-gen MacBook Air

By

Colors
Apple's Industrial Design Group lab right now. Possibly.
Photo: 冬城/Unsplash CC

Apple could bring a splash of color to the MacBook Air, says Apple tipster Jon Prosser in a new video. Prosser suggests that the next-gen M2 MacBook Air could come in a fancy blue color and, quite possibly, a range of other shades as well.

That would make a lot of sense given the recent iMac redesign, which marked the first time in 20 years Apple has released its desktop computers in multiple colors. It would also match Apple’s strategy back in the late 1990s when the colorful iMac G3 was followed up by the equally colorful iBook.

Would-be iPhone owner ends up with cracked tile instead

By

iPhone 12 Pro Max review: The industrial design will leave you breathless.
This is an iPhone 12 Pro Max. It's not for protecting the walls in your bathroom.
Photo: Lyle Kahney/Cult of Mac

A would-be iPhone customer recently had a nasty surprise when the iPhone 12 Pro Max she ordered from a carrier turned out to be a broken tile upon arrival at her home.

UK-based Olivia Parkinson shared the news on Twitter with the caption “Don’t you just love a new phone day to then receive this… iPhone 12 ProMax who?”

This $60 bundle offers expert cloud training and a premium VPN

By

cloud training
You'll learn how to work with some of IT's most important services (and stay safe online, too).
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

As the internet continues to adapt to the ways we utilize it over time, it’s wise to understand how it works on a fundamental level. Most organizations already shifted away from on-premises IT systems, incorporating cloud solutions into their daily operations. In fact, Gartner forecasts that cloud services will grow three times more than overall IT services through 2022.

Mosquito Coast slows to a satisfying simmer [Apple TV+ review]

By

The Mosquito Coast review: Justin Theroux's manic performance gives The Mosquito Coast an edge.
Justin Theroux's manic performance gives The Mosquito Coast an edge.
Photo: Apple TV+

This week on The Mosquito Coast, the Foxes are on the run and the heat is hot on their tail — in every way possible.

The third episode of Apple TV+’s paranoid new drama can’t do much but crawl. But it covers some important ground. And strong acting and clever writing again combine to keep you hooked.

Apple’s biggest manufacturing partner ramps up workforce for iPhone 13

By

This concept image shows how the iPhone 13 notch might shrink.
Foxconn needs a whole lot of people to build the iPhone 13.
Artists concept: Cult of Mac

Foxconn is bolstering its workforce ahead of mass-manufacturing the iPhone 13. According to South China Morning Post, the world’s largest contract manufacturer has raised its bonus payments to lure in new recruits.

Each new recruit will earn a bonus of $1,158 (7,500 yuan) if they work for 90 days, and are on duty for at least 55 days during that time. This is twice the 3,500 bonus that was on offer at the end of March. It’s the third bonus increase in the past month.

Only a tiny proportion of iOS users let apps track them

By

App Tracking Transparency will be part of iOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.5 and tvOS 14.5. It’s already showing up in betas.
App Tracking Transparency is here -- and users seem to be responding.
Graphic: Cult of Mac

Apple’s new App Tracking Transparency feature looks surprisingly popular with users — and potentially devastating to advertising. According to analysis by Flurry, just 4% of U.S. users allow apps to track them when given a choice.

The new privacy feature, rolled out in iOS 14.5 in late April, requires developers to ask for permission to use Apple’s Identifier for Advertisers tag to track users’ movements across websites and third-party apps. Flurry’s stats indicate a massive 96 out of 100 users in the United States denied that permission.