Cult of Mac

The App Store has been one of the main focuses when it comes to Apple and potential antitrust violations. However, Apple Pay could also be a rising vulnerability for Apple as it defends itself against accusations of monopolistic behavior, the Financial Times notes.

According to the report, citing Loup Ventures analysts, Apple Pay is now used by 507 million people. That’s around half of the people in thee world who own an iPhone. By 2025, Bernstein analysts think it could facilitate one in every 10 credit card transactions worldwide. Of these, Apple gets an estimated 0.15% of each transaction.

Pick up a brand-new pair of Powerbeats or Powerbeats Pro headphones today to enjoy up to $100 off the usual price. Amazon is now offering its biggest discounts yet on both models — and they won’t last long.

The new AirPods Max headphones have plenty going for them. But “easy to take apart” apparently isn’t among their positive attributes.

Our friends over at iFixit have published the first installment of their AirPods Max teardown and — while it’s too early to know for certain whether these are going to any more repairable than the significantly tinier AirPods and AirPods Pro — the early signs show that they’re not particularly easy to gain access to.

At least in some ways, TikTok has had a blinder of a year in 2020 — being one of, if not the, the most consistently popular app in the App Store on a monthly basis, as well as enjoying the best single quarter of any app ever.

According to app analytics platform Sensor Tower, it’s picked up another record, too: That of the top 10 most downloaded iOS app of the year with the highest percentage of positive reviews. It seems that people really, really like their TikTok.

Coronavirus cases continue to spike around the U.S. and the world — and the set of Apple TV+ shows is no exception. With several positive COVID-19 tests having been reported on the set of Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet, the show creator and one of its lead actors Rob McElhenney sent out a message to staff, Variety reports.

But not everyone was happy about it.

Superstar Samuel L. Jackson will take the lead in The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, a limited series coming to Apple TV+. The show is being adapted from a novel about a dying man getting a revival of his youth.

Earlier in 2020, Jackson appeared in The Banker, the first movie on Apple TV+.

Your Mac is more customizable than you might think. These innovative apps will open a world of new features and control. And even better, they’re all on sale right now, with discounts of up to 93% off. There’s never been a better time to take control of your Mac.

AirPods, like most wireless headphones, use Bluetooth to connect to your iPhone and other devices. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to enjoy them with older gadgets that don’t have Bluetooth connectivity baked-in.

With a simple and affordable Bluetooth dongle, you can use your AirPods with an old iPod, home stereo system, gym equipment, Nintendo Switch and other consoles, and more. If you’re looking for a guide on airpod max bluetooth pairing, check out this article for step-by-step instructions.

The next star-powered movie on Apple TV+ will put Justin Timberlake in the spotlight. He’ll star in Palmer as a former prisoner determined to put his life back together. The film will debut on Apple’s streaming service in late January.

Watch a trailer now:

AirPods Max are controversial for a number of reasons. For one, there’s the $550 price tag. But the odd-looking case Apple designed for these over-the-ear headphones also drew plenty of mockery.

The designers of AirPods Max defended their creation in an interview published Thursday.

Watch Strap Co’s impressive lineup of high-end Apple Watch bands is now available from the Cult of Mac Store. There are great nylon, leather, and stainless steel options to choose from — all brilliantly made and available in a range of color options.

We couldn’t be more delighted to have added them to our collection, and we think you’ll love them just as much as we do.

Need reliable charging accessories, do-it-all USB-C hubs or affordable wireless headphones? Check out Amazon’s big sale on must-have iPhone, iPad and Mac accessories from Anker.

You’ll find gadgets like like the highly rated PowerWave wireless charging stand for iPhone for just $13.99 ($5 off), and Soundcore Liberty wireless earbuds for just $69.99 ($30 off).

These are limited-time deals, so grab them while you can!

Oscar winner Jared Leto could play Adam Neumann, boss of WeWork, in an Apple TV+ series about the rise and fall of the shared workspace startup.

At one point in time, WeWork had an estimated value of $47 billion, before it collapsed. Neumann served as WeWork’s CEO from 2010 through 2019, before finally being pressured into resigning. A Wall Street Journal article last year cited his “eccentric behavior” as one of the reasons he was pushed to step down.

The iPhone 12 lineup accompanied what was arguably the biggest iOS update in years, and, as we all know, new features open the door for new apps. That, too, presents opportunities for aspiring app developers to make it big in the ever-expanding app market.

Apple TV+ executives are reportedly in “prolonged conversations” to acquire two movies produced by former Pixar and Walt Disney chief creative officer John Lasseter.

The movies could be part of a larger agreement between Apple and the company Skydance Animation, which Lasseter heads up. Lasseter is one of the most successful creators in animation history. He played a key role in creating the Toy Story franchise, The Incredibles movies, Finding Dory, Frozen and more.

Facebook has launched its second, blistering full-page ad against Apple, one day after it took it to task in The New York Times and elsewhere for allegedly hurting small businesses.

The new ad, which will appear in today’s papers, is titled “Apple vs. the free internet.” Here’s what it says:

Facebook is supporting Fortnite maker Epic Games in its lawsuit against Apple, marking another low in the relationship between the two tech giants.

According to Steve Satterfield, a director of privacy and public policy at Facebook, the social network company thinks that it is, “really important that the court understand far reaching impact of Apple’s unfair policies.”

Moft Float adds a two-level kickstand to your iPad Pro or iPad Air, and can even lift the tablet so it seems to float over the keyboard. This combination case and stand is a truly brilliant piece of kit.

I’ve been testing this not-yet-released product, and here’s what it’s like to use every day.

Never one to rest on its laurels, Apple already seeded the first betas of iOS 14.4 and iPadOS 14.4. And that’s not all. watchOS 7.3 beta 1 and tvOS 14.4 beta 1 are also up for testing.

If that wasn’t enough, macOS Big Sur 11.2 is included in this rush of fresh pre-release versions, too.

Four out of five iPhones released in the past four years run iOS 14, according to Apple. That’s despite the operating system version only being available for three months. And iOS 14 adoption is well ahead of where iOS 13 was at this point last year.

Nearly as many iPad users have upgraded to iPadOS 14.

Google followed through with a promise to make its Stadia cloud-gaming service available for iPhone and iPad. On Wednesday, the company starting the process of giving Apple mobile devices access to console-quality games, including Cyberpunk 2077.

But don’t look to the Stadia application in the App Store — the subscription service must be played through a web app.

Users of the Chromecast with Google TV will soon be able to install the Apple TV app. That’ll bring access to Apple’s streaming video service, along with series like Ted Lasso and movies like Wolfwalkers.

This is part of Apple’s efforts to get its video app on as many platforms as possible. Going beyond iPhone Mac, the video software is already on multiple smart TVs, game consoles and more.

Apple employees donated their time and money in record quantities in 2020, a year that hasn’t exactly been the best in living memory. Apple’s Giving Program, which matches employee donations and volunteered hours with monetary donations to the size charity, saw plenty of action.

While Apple doesn’t provide exact figures for the year, it notes that — since the program’s inception in 2011 — Apple employees have raised close to $600 million in total donations to more than 34,000 organizations. Along the way, employees have volunteered a massive 1.6 million hours of their time.

Apple has released the first trailer for its upcoming Billie Eilish documentary, The World’s A Little Blurry.

The documentary, which Apple reportedly paid $25 million to acquire, will debut on Apple TV+ February 26. The trailer depicts Eilish in her regular home life, on stage, and also shows off home video of the pop star as a kid. Check it out below.

We’ve been cooped up inside for quite a while, but with a COVID-19 vaccine incoming, we can expect things to start to return to normal soon. That means business will resume and companies will undergo massive hiring spree.