Mobile menu toggle

$84 million payout could settle Apple antitrust investigation in South Korea

By

South Korea1
An interior photo of Apple's spectacular South Korea store.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s South Korea business has said that it will make a 100 billion won ($84 million) payout to support small businesses and help consumers. This is to address antitrust concerns raised in the country.

Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has been investigating Apple Korea for reportedly forcing mobile carriers to pay for advertising and warranty repairs. The payout — which is phrased like a pledge, but also sounds like a fine — will act as a make-good on Apple’s “unfair” terms.

New ways to manage HomeKit cams and settle disputes [Awesome Apps of the Week]

By

The best new apps and updates of the week.
From meetings and home automation to dispute resolution, these apps make things easier.
Image: Cult of Mac
Awesome Apps

You can get a comprehensive overview of all your HomeKit cams with Eve’s latest app update. And if you spot neighbors doing something fishy on your property, you can use Jury to settle the dispute virtually rather than taking them to court (or throwing fists like a barbarian).

Those are just two of the featured apps in our roundup of the week’s best new apps and updates.

Add an ultrasonic sensor to your car for safer parking

By

Light Smart Solar Powered Parking Sensor
Make your car smarter with this smartphone parking sensor.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Newer cars often bring neat tech, like rear–facing cameras and sensors so you don’t back into another vehicle (or a living thing). For anyone driving an older car, it’s not only a matter of envy to lack these features — it’s also less safe.

With this accessory, you can instantly upgrade your car’s safety.

For Apple, $2 trillion might be just the start [Cult of Mac Magazine 363]

By

Apple hits $2 trillion market cap and doesn't look back.
How high can AAPL stock go?
Cover: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Apple’s brain-melting march beyond a $2 trillion market cap might be just the start. Find out how high AAPL stock might go (and why all this success might have Apple fans tired of winning).

Plus, we’ve got more Apple rumors, this time concerning a potential cheaper Apple Watch and more! And Epic Games unleashes yet another creative salvo in its battle royale with Apple. (Surprise, surprise — Cupertino fires back in court.)

You can read all these stories, plus plenty of Apple how-tos and product reviews, in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. Download it now!

Guard your online anonymity with an easy-to-use VPN

By

KeepSolid VPN and DNS bundle: Keep your internet data private with these apps.
Keep your internet data private with lifetime subs to these apps.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Going online is hazardous. Data snoops and identity thieves lurk around every corner. One easy way to avoid them — and beat annoying content restrictions — is by using a virtual private network. With this bundle, you get two forms of VPN protection for an 86% discount.

If you’ve been waiting to make your move on a VPN, this is your opportunity to bag a sweet deal on a lifetime subscription.

Apple makes its case for booting Fortnite from App Store

By

Courthouse
Apple and Epic Games could be in court for years to come.
Photo: Brett Sayles/Pexels CC

Apple on Friday asked a judge to deny Epic Games’ request for a court order forcing Apple to return Fortnite to the App Store. In a filing, the iPhone-maker said Epic Games brought the ban on itself by its own actions.

The court’s decision will determine whether this wildly popular game will be available for iPhone and iPad users while a potentially lengthy court battle between Apple and Epic Games goes on.

We talk Epic Games suing Apple (and why they might win), plus Apple’s unstoppable stock price, on The CultCast

By

CultCast 442: AirPods with health sensors
The Epic-Apple battle royale is on!
Image: The CultCast

This week on The CultCast: It’s a battle of the titans! Fortnite developer Epic Games takes Apple to court over its App Store policies, and the dev just might get its way. Plus: Apple and its stock hit another astonishing milestone; Jon Prosser was right — Apple has begun rebranding Beats; and Apple TV+ finally makes the move we’ve been waiting for: bundling premium channels for one low price.

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. Easily create a beautiful website all by yourself, at Squarespace.com/cultcast. Use offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

Apple Watch snags more than 50% of smartwatch revenue

By

Apple Watch Series 5 info graph face with little alien
Apple Watch Series 5 sold especially well in the first half of 2020, raking in plenty of revenue.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

The Apple Watch essentially launched the smartwatch category, and continues to dominate it. And rather than competitors catching up, Apple’s share of this market in increasing. It took in 51.4% of the worldwide revenue from shipments of smartwatches during the first half of 2020, a significant rise from the same period last year.

Leaked photos appear to show AirPower’s guts

By

AirPower
Get the inner secrets of the AirPower, a wireless charger Apple had to admit it couldn’t develop.
Photo: Apple

Images and a video allegedly showing a teardown of AirPower, Apple’s multi-device wireless charger that was canceled before it launched, came to light Friday.

Get Logitech’s unique (and totally not annoying) wireless charger for just $19.99

By

New Logitech Powered wireless charger for iPhone eliminates the heartbreaking nudge.
This is a unbeatable deal on a great iPhone charger.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

This Logitech Powered charger is a fantastic way to top off your iPhone. Its unique design lets you slide your phone in vertically or horizontally, so you can watch videos, take FaceTime calls or do whatever it is you do while you juice up your device.

As Cult of Mac wrote in its review when the product launched, this snow-white stunner does away with one of the most annoying problems associated with wireless charging. And if you act fast, you can get this high-end charger for less than $20.

Slash through action platformer Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time on Apple Arcade

By

‘Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time’ launched Friday on Apple Arcade
Jack is back in Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time
Photo: Adult Swim Games/Cult of Mac

Samurai Jack made the jump from cartoon to video game on Friday, with this classic series transformed into an action platformer.

The star of the Cartoon Network series faces new enemies and rejoins familiar allies to track down the evil Aku and defeat him once and for all in Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time on Apple Arcade.

Fortnite will hand out anti-Apple prizes for upcoming tournament

By

Fortnite cap
That design looks strangely familiar.
Photo: Epic Games

Epic Games will hand out anti-Apple prizes in a new Fortnite tournament due to take place Sunday, August 23.

Prizes will include a “Free Fortnite” hat modeled after Apple’s classic “Think Different” branding, the in-game skin for the evil-looking Apple Big Brother character (dubbed the “Tart Tycoon”) from Fortnite‘s “1984” Mac ad parody, and more.

This database of 5,000 vector icons is a must for digital designers

By

Icon54
Make your project pixel-perfect with lifetime access to 5,000 professional vector icons.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Designing interfaces, whether for websites or software, requires lots of assets. Vector icons are kind of like buttons to a tailor, offering many subtle touches that together can make an interface sing. With this massive library of vector icons, you get a massive drawer of icons to search through.

Apple still has ‘a lot of gasoline’ left in the tank after passing $2 trillion

By

Apple MacBook cash dollars money
Apple's at $2 trillion and not slowing down.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple passed $2 trillion this week, but one bullish Apple analyst doesn’t think the stock is anywhere near its limits. In a note published Friday, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote to clients that he thinks Apple has “a lot of gasoline” left in the tank.

Ives predicted Apple could reach as high as $600. Currently, AAPL is trading at $473.10, defying the overall market with its upward trajectory.

News publishers want Apple to give them a better deal for App Store subscriptions

By

‘The New York Times’ kicked Apple News to the curb
New York Times and others are pushing back against App Store commissions.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Several major news outlets are throwing their hats into the ring with Epic Games and others in pushing back against Apple’s App Store commission.

According to the Wall Street Journal, a trade body that represents the New York Times, Washington Post, WSJ and other publishers has sent a letter to Tim Cook asking for better terms for digital subscriptions sold through the App Store.

PSA: Season finale of Little Voice, new episode of Ted Lasso on Apple TV+

By

Little Voice
Episode nine of the show debuted today.
Photo: Apple

Apple TV+ series Little Voice came to an end Friday with the season finale episode debuting on Apple’s streaming TV service.

Producer J.J. Abrams’ series, created with songwriter Sara Bareilles and writer Jessie Nelson, tells the story of aspiring singer Bess King and her attempts to make a career for herself as a singer. Alongside the season finale of Little Voice, Apple TV+ also added a new episode of comedy series Ted Lasso.

Here’s how much 5G components will reportedly cost Apple

By

These iPhone 12 dummy units show what the real handset might look like.
Are you excited about the iPhone 12?
Photo: Marques Brownlee

The addition of 5G connectivity is one of the most compelling elements of this year’s iPhone 12, but it’s going to come at a cost to Apple. Literally.

According to a new report by TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple will likely pay $75 per unit for sub-6GHz 5G support, and a maximum of $125 for mmWave 5G. However, Kuo does not think Apple will pass these costs on to the end consumer.

More affordable Apple Watch might be in development

By

More affordable Apple Watch would be nice.
A less-expensive Apple Watch is just one of the predictions made today by a serial leaker.
Illustration: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

A regular source of Apple leaks said on Thursday that a less expensive version of the Apple Watch is in the offing.

This was just one of multiple tidbits Jon Prosser dropped during a public Q&A session. He mentioned the first MacBook with Apple silicon, talked a bit about the company’s game controller, and more.

Company of Heroes WWII real-time strategy game ready to explode onto iPhone

By

‘Company of Heroes’ will debut on iPhone on Sept. 10.
The wait for an iPhone and Android version of Company of Heroes is almost over.
Photo: Feral Interactive

In just three weeks, the classic strategy game Company of Heroes will launch onto iPhone. Feral Interactive promised Thursday that, following a successful iPad debut earlier this year, the combat simulator will be released on September 10 for iPhone and Android.

Speedy new My Passport SSD plants 2TB of storage in your palm

By

WD My Passport SSD is compatible with a range of Apple computers.
WD My Passport SSD is tiny but adds up to 2TB of storage to Mac or iPad.
Photo: Western Digital

Western Digital introduced on Thursday an updated version of the My Passport SSD. It offers dramatically faster data transfers, plus a new sleeker design.

The external storage device is available in capacities up to 2TB, and offers prosumers an easy way to carry around fairly large collections of images, movies or other files.

Apple BYOD: How User Enrollment revolutionizes personal device management at work

By

Hexnode Apple User Enrollment helps IT departments work with employees’ personal devices.
Apple User Enrollment helps IT departments work with employees’ personal devices. 
Photo: Hexnode

This Apple for BYOD post is presented by Hexnode. 

Businesses enrolling employees’ personal devices for work use — known in IT circles as Bring Your Own Device, or BYOD — is growing. According to sources cited in Forbes, the market should reach nearly $367 billion by 2022, more than 10 times the size it was in 2014. Companies favoring BYOD tend to save about $350 per year per employee, and those employees see efficiency improvements by using personal devices, whether Android- or Apple-based. 

Apple at $2 trillion is amazing for investors, but boring for fans [Opinion]

By

Tim Cook WWDC
Are Apple's days as a game-changing innovator behind it?
Photo: Apple

Apple’s surge past a $2 trillion market cap this week underlines just how well CEO Tim Cook’s vision works for shareholders. But is this good news for Apple fans?

The first publicly traded U.S. company to hit this milestone, Apple has transformed from one of the world’s dynamic companies into one that can be, well, kind of boring. The strategy that fueled this unprecedented success makes it far less likely that we’ll seen an insanely innovative product coming out of Cupertino in the future.

You can still re-download Fortnite on iPhone, iPad after Apple’s ban [Pro tip]

By

Fortnite on iPad with SteelSeries Nimbus
It's not gone completely ... yet.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Pro-tip-4Fortnite is currently banned from the App Store following a big fallout between Apple and Epic Games. But for some players, that doesn’t mean it’s gone from iPhone and iPad for good.

So long as you’ve downloaded Fortnite at least once before, it’s still possible to re-download it today. We’ll show you how to do it.