Mobile menu toggle

Apple Research app taps AirPods Pro for hearing study

By

The Ear Tip Fit Test on iPhone.
AirPods Pro can be used for science. SCIENCE!
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Apple Research, an application that lets users take part in groundbreaking medical studies, scored an update today to let participants share data from their AirPods Pro with the Apple Hearing Study. A new version of the associated Apple Watch app also promises battery life improvements.

iPad Pro with triple-lens camera looks increasingly likely

By

A Pad & Quill leather folio has an over-size camera opening.
This Pad & Quill leather folio is ready when/if Apple builds more lenses into the next iPad Pro’s rear-facing cameras.
Photo: Pad & Quill

A well-known accessory maker unveiled a case that’s apparently designed for a 2020 iPad Pro with a dual- or even triple-lens camera like the ones in the iPhone 11 series. There’s no such tablet, but rumors say one is coming soon.

Filmmaking app brings vintage vibes to your iPhone flicks

By

Rtro video app for iPhone by Moment
Give your iPhone videos that retro look with Rtro.
Photo: Moment

Sometimes the story is best told with a home movie vibe straight out of a vintage 8 mm movie camera. That’s just not practical in the age of TikTok and Instagram, but there are plenty of smartphone apps to add a retro feel to your flicks.

The latest is actually called Rtro and it made its small-screen debut today when it became available for download in the App Store.

Add a one-tap web search button to your iPhone Home screen

By

Add a custom search button to your Home screen on iPhone or iPad.
Super-charge your web searches with this customizable Home screen shortcut.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

This fantastic shortcut makes searching the web with your iPhone faster than ever. It places an icon on your Home screen, and you just tap it, type a search into the box that pops up, and hit enter. Your search will then open in Safari.

This customizable search shortcut proves speedier than pretty much any other method, including iOS’ built-in Spotlight search.

Apple AR headset concept improves detection of movement and positioning

By

Taeyeon Kim
There’s little room on an AR headset for controls. Apple wants to make them virtual.
Photo: Taeyeon Kim

Interacting with an AR headset would be a breeze if it could project virtual controls into the real world. Apple developed a new method for using cameras to accurately track finger movements, enabling someone to toggle these augmented reality switches and buttons.

Apple asks shareholders to take coronavirus precautions ahead of annual meeting

By

Steve-Jobs-Theater
The meeting takes place inside the Steve Jobs Theater on February 26.
Photo: Foster + Partners

Apple is asking attendees of its annual shareholder meeting, which takes place at the Steve Jobs Theater on Wednesday, February 26, to take extra precautions amid the ongoing coronavirus epidemic.

The company is following official guidance in an effort to minimize the risk of COVID-19 being spread among visitors.

Jif peanut butter stirs debate over how to pronounce ‘GIF’

By

Gif and Jif on the same peanut butter
Choose GIF
Photo: Jif

Jif peanut butter is sharing its label with the word Gif, a brilliant branding move that attempts to settle one of the most important questions of our time: Hard G or soft?

The “answer” is on the label of the limited-edition 40-ounce jars now listed on eBay for $9.99. Jif teamed up with GIF platform Giphy (sort of sounds like Skippy), to create the label in observance of National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day on March 1.

Apple considers adding another major OLED display-maker to its supply chain

By

iPhone 12 might mix iPhone 11 and iPad Pro designs
Apple's going to need a lot more OLED displays.
Photo: Ben Geskin

China’s largest display maker is publicly confident it will meet Apple’s quality standards for its future needs of organic light-emitting diode, or OLED, displays and is preparing to possibly become another component provider.

A media report Tuesday gives further evidence Apple is expecting its needs for the state-of-the-art displays to grow beyond the supply of its current two providers.

In surprise to no one, virus hit January iPhone sales in China

By

iPhone China locked
This iPhone in China is locked.
Photo: Kankanews

Sales of iPhones in China dropped 28 percent in the month of January as the deadly coronavirus began its rapid spread, according to new research.

February is likely to go on record as much worse. As the death toll from the virus rose, factories shut down, Apple closed all 42 of its China retail stores and the government doubled down on quarantines and travel restrictions.

Netatmo adds HomeKit Secure video support to its Smart indoor camera

By

Netatmo adds support for Apple's HomeKit Secure Video standard to its Smart Indoor Camera.
Netatmo adds support for HomeKit Secure Video standard to its Smart Indoor Camera.
Photo: Netatmo

Smart home device-maker Netatmo added support Tuesday for Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video standard to its Smart Indoor Camera.

The free and automatic update began rolling out today to users, according to an announcement by the French company. It should become available to install on all Netatmo Smart cameras over the next few days.

Apple plunged Facebook into chaos when it broke its internal apps, new book reveals

By

Facebook owns 4 of the top 10 apps of the past decade
Situation brought Facebook to a near-standstill for employees.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple triggered a “hot war” that compounded ongoing tensions with Facebook when it pulled the social media giant’s enterprise certificate last year. The decision, which temporarily broke all of Facebook’s internal apps, coincided almost exactly with Facebook’s earnings call.

“As [Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg] spoke [on the call], people on Facebook’s campus could not test new products and were canceling meetings because they could not get the shuttle,” writes author Steven Levy in his new book, Facebook: The Inside Story, which is published in hardcover today.

Disney+ is as cheap as Apple TV+ in the UK if you preorder today

By

Disney-Plus
Who wouldn't want Disney+ at this price?
Photo: Disney

Disney+ is as affordable as Apple TV+ for subscribers in the United Kingdom if they preorder the service ahead of its debut next month. An annual subscription is available today for just £49.99 — £10 off the usual price.

That’s exactly the same price you’ll pay for a year of Apple TV+, but of course, Disney is offering you a lot more content.

Apple will sell ‘customer-installable’ wheel kit for latest Mac Pro

By

2019-Mac-Pro-wheels
Only Apple can install the Mac Pro's wheels today.
Photo: Apple

Apple plans to sell a do-it-yourself wheel kit for its latest Mac Pro.

Only Apple or an Authorized Service Provider can add the wheels right now, which means you must take the machine in for service if you opted for feet when you first purchased it. A “customer-installable” kit is coming, though.

iPhone manufacturer offers perks to try and woo people back to work

By

Foxconn Wisconsin
Foxconn is trying its best to get people back to work.
Photo: Foxconn

Apple manufacturer Foxconn is trying to woo people back to the iPhone production lines by offering new perks at its major assembly plants in Shenzhen and Chengzhou.

The company has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak, which resulted in some factories being temporarily closed and only a fraction of employees returning to work when they were reopened. With iPhone orders to fill, Foxconn’s doing its best to make up for lost time.

Apple won’t testify at congressional hearing on tech industry ties in China

By

iPhone sales are finally rebounding in China
Tim Cook has spoken about China being Apple's future biggest market.
Photo: Tim Cook/Weibo

Apple won’t attend a March congressional hearing about the tech industry’s relationships in China, the Washington Post reports.

Republican Senator Josh Hawley called the March 4 hearing. Hawley has raised concerns about tech companies’ reliance on and possible cozy relations with China.

Despite virus fears, over half of Apple retail stores reopen in China

By

Some Apple Stores in China reopen despite coronavirus.
Some Apple Stores in China are cautiously reopening but with reduced hours because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Photo: Apple

Many Apple Stores across China are open again, despite the coronavirus that has shut down so much of the country.

The iPhone maker depends on China for a significant percentage of its sales, and Apple being able to reopen so many stores in the midst of this crisis is a positive sign.

New Huawei tablet adds features iPad owners can only dream about

By

Huawei MatePad Pro is like an iPad Pro, but cheaper
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then Huawei is outrageously flattering the iPad Pro.
Photo: Huawei

Huawei added cutting-edge features to its iPad Pro rival. A MatePad Pro update includes 5G built-in cellular-wireless networking. And it offers two-way wireless charging, so the tablet can send power to another device.

These features were added to a device clearly made to resemble Apple’s top-tier iPad.

Apple plans move to gigantic new Manhattan office

By

Apple New York office building. Reportedly.
Apple is supposedly headed for some fancy new digs at Penn 11, across the street from Madison Square Garden.
Photo: Vornado Realty Trust

A certain phone maker is taking the phase “Big Apple” as a suggestion. Apple reportedly signed a lease for 220,000 square feet in a historic building in New York City. That’s far larger than the company’s current NYC office.

But this won’t become an enormous Apple Store. This is office space.

App Store Confidential author ‘surprised’ by Apple’s attempt to halt book

By

Apple's not happy about former Apple employee Tom Sadowski's new book, App Store Confidential.
It's the book Apple tried to ban. Or, at least, slow down.
Photo: Murmann Verlag

The author of App Store Confidential says he is “surprised” by Apple’s attempt to halt sales of the book, and by the company’s allegations that the German-language memoir reveals trade secrets.

Tom Sadowski, a former App Store manager who worked at Apple from 2009 through 2019, told Cult of Mac he’s not sure which parts of his new book Cupertino objects to. “I’d love to [know], but unfortunately I don’t,” he said. “I am accused of betrayal of secrets without specifying it more precisely.”

The aluminum Kaweco Sport is the fountain pen Jony Ive would use [Review]

By

The Kaweco Sport aluminum
The Kaweco Sport: compact, sturdy, and beautiful.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

It’s totally tempting to use a fountain pen. These throwback writing utensils carry a promise of a slower time, when people had hours to write — and when the main writing tool wasn’t a $1,000 computer or an $800 iPhone, but a tube of ink with a sharp tip.

However, fountain pens also can prove intimidating. Are they messy? Do you need to refill them from a bottle of ink? Can you toss one in a pocket like a cheap gel pen?

The fact is, you can have all the style and enjoyment of a fountain pen in a package that’s as practical as a cheap biro. More practical, really, as you can refill it yourself. If you want to try a fountain pen, you should begin with the Kaweco Sport. And if you want the Jony Ive-compatible version, you will buy the reasonably priced aluminum one.