Almost exactly like Powerbeats Pro, only $100 cheaper. Photo: Apple
Apple on Tuesday made its new Beats Powerbeats headphones official after a series of big leaks. The $149 wireless buds pack the same technology as Powerbeats Pro, including the newest H1 chip, and last up to 15 hours in between charges.
'Helping you lead a healthier financial life.' Photo: Apple
Apple Card owners who are impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have the option to skip their March payment without incurring interest.
In an email to customers, Apple said it understands that it may be difficult for some to keep up with their payments during the outbreak. The company is “committed to helping you lead a healthier financial life,” it added.
You must be aware, however, that you need to tell Apple if you don’t intend to pay this month.
France’s competition watchdog announced on Monday it has fined Apple 1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) for reportedly violating antitrust laws, the biggest antitrust fine it has ever levied.
The French watchdog accuses Apple of exhibiting anti-competitive behavior through its distribution network, including reported abuse of the economic dependence of its resellers. The company plans to appeal.
A big deal for iPhone owners in China. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple’s newest iOS 13.4 update could roll out to everyone on Tuesday, March 17, according to leaked Alipay marketing materials. It should be accompanied by iPadOS 13.4, tvOS 13.4, watchOS 6.2, and macOS 10.15.4.
The iPhone update, which is currently in beta testing, is expected to bring Alipay support to Apple Wallet for the first time. That would make this release a pretty big deal for iPhone owners in China.
Coming to a store near you, well, now. Photo: WinFuture
Apple’s Powerbeats 4 headphones have landed in Walmart — and, potentially, other retailers — without any word of an official announcement.
An image of the new wireless buds was posted on Twitter on Sunday. Twitter user Eddie Wap shared an image of the new Powerbeats in red, white, and black color options. They are listed at $149, making them $50 cheaper than the $199.95 Powerbeats 3.
A12 Bionic introduced the 7-nanometer process. A14 will take that number even smaller. Photo: Apple
Apple’s forthcoming A14 processor for the iPhone 12 series will be the first Arm-based mobile processor to exceed 3GHz, a report published Sunday claims.
According to Research Snipers’ report, the new supercharged chip could hit a GeekBench 4 running score of 3.1GHz. That would be 400MHz higher than the current A13 Bionic chips’s 2.7GHz.
This week we “watch” our to-dos with Things, read the news really, really fast with NetNewsWire, make Keynote-style presentations with Markdown, and more.
This ultra-portable monitor gives your laptop a flexible second screen. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Laptops are all about staying productive on the move. But many of us rely on two screens to maximize our productivity. And whether you’re at the coffee shop or working from home, you can maintain your double screen setup on your laptop.
There’s won’t be a COVID-19 version of Pac-Man, or any other equally tacky game. Apple today banned all entertainment applications that use this pandemic as a theme.
In addition, Apple reiterated an earlier rule requiring software that provides information about this global health crisis be from official sources.
The COVID-19 virus has some 270 Apple Stores in the U.S. and many others worldwide closed like this one in Tulsa, OK. Photo: Brad Gibson / Cult of Mac
Many Apple Stores across the United States are closed to consumers, but a select number are being staffed to handle pre-existing orders and already-scheduled repair pickups, according to social media posts, calls to selected stores and physical visits.
Cult of Mac was able to confirm 22 stores across the U.S. were manning their locations Saturday with a skeleton staff to finish fulfilling existing orders and repair jobs. Some stores and online agents said locations will be staffed into Sunday and as far out as March 16.
iOS leaks: We got 'em! Cover: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac
iOS 14 leaks came fast and furious this week. We rounded ’em all up in one place to give you a look at possible new features coming to iPhones and iPads this year. Yep, basically it’s everything we think we know about iOS 14.
You’ll find it all in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. Download it now and read it on your iPad or iPhone. Or get the links below.
Bonus: Enter now for your chance to win an Apple TV (or other streaming hardware), delightfully paired with a free one-year subscription to the streaming service of your choice.
This awesome gear is compact enough to fit into your bag. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Technology just keeps getting more portable, so it’s easier than ever to fill our bags with cool stuff. For today’s daily dose of deals, we rounded up some of our best tote-worthy tech, from portable power banks and noise-canceling earbuds to three-in-one charging cables and more.
Apple is shuttering retail stores to battle spread of COVID-19. Photo: Tim Mossholder/Unsplash
In an unprecedented move, Apple said late Friday it will immediately close all its retail stores outside Greater China in an effort to battle the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The stores will remain closed through March 27.
CEO Tim Cook revealed Apple’s decision to close hundreds of stores late Friday in an open letter-style press release titled “Apple’s COVID-19 response.” He wrote, “This global effort — to protect the most vulnerable, to study this virus, and to care for the sick — requires all of our care, and all of our participation.”
Apple Stores in Spain are now closed for the foreseeable future. Photo: Apple
Apple has shuttered its 11 retail stores in Spain in an abundance of caution as the coronavirus continues to spread through Europe.
Cult of Mac has confirmed the closings will take effect Saturday after all the stores were open for business Friday. Social media reports indicate a small number of stores closed early on Friday.
E’myri Crutchfield and Hailey Kilgore enliven the newest episode of Amazing Stories. Photo: Apple
The second episode of the redesigned Amazing Stories finds its legs with a story of a track star caught between life and death.
If showrunners Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz have anything even a fraction as good as this up their sleeves for the rest of the season, Amazing Stories might prove the strongest of Apple TV+ shows, considering its short episode order.
Hollywood and Apple TV+ shows join the fray in shutting down operations temporarily in wake of the coronavirus. Photo: Apple
Apple has suspended all filming of Apple TV+ projects currently in production, according to a published report Friday.
The shows include the science fiction series For All Mankind, the Stephen King miniseries Lisey’s Story, the science fiction drama See, the TV drama The Morning Show, the psychological horror television series Servant, and the Isaac Asimov sci-fi series Foundation.
A working Apple-1 still goes for quite a pile of money. Photo: RR Auctions
A fully functional and complete Apple-1 computer, hand-built by Apple founders Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs back in 1976, was auctioned off yesterday for over $458 thousand.
There are only a handful of these left. This particular unit appeared recently on the TV show Pawn Stars.
Finally, some good news for Apple this week. Photo: Apple
President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency provided some much-needed relief to Apple’s stock price just before the market closed this afternoon.
Apple shares jumped up over $20 in value during the last 30 minutes of trading today, just after President Trump announced that the U.S. government will free up $50 billion in federal resources to combat the COVID-19 outbreak.
Here's your shot at winning a year of supreme streaming. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
In our new Pick Your Streaming Service & Device Giveaway, you’ve got a crack at winning a combo that will keep you binge-watching whatever you want for a year.
Enter now for a chance to win the streaming hardware of your choice, along with a year’s subscription to any streaming service. Total prize value: up to $1,000!
Tabs, just like those that Safari now messes up. Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
At some point, fairly recently, Safari started opening new tabs to the right of the currently open tab, instead of opening them at the end of the tab bar, as nature intended. This means that you have to search for the newly opened tab, instead of just knowing exactly where it is. I can see the point of opening tabs next to the current one, but I don’t like it.
Happily, there’s a way to revert Safari’s behavior to the good old way — the way my grandmother, and her grandmother before her, dealt with their tabs. It’s a simple option inside Safari’s debug menu. Wait? Debug menu?
An Apple Store employee, who went on leave earlier this month to care for a relative, has tested positive for COVID-19.
Apple and the employee from the Third Street Promenade store in Santa Monica learned of the positive test late Thursday, according to reports. The employee has not been back to the store since taking leave on March 2.
Jony Ive and Steve Jobs talk during the first public FaceTime demo, which took place at WWDC 2010 in San Francisco. Photo: Mathieu Thouvenin/Flickr CC
Out of appeals, Apple cut a check to VirnetX for more than $454 million to end a lengthy patent infringement case.
VirnetX, which sued Apple over patents relating to FaceTime, iMessage and VPN technologies, announced the payment in a one-paragraph press release Friday.
You won‘t lose internet access if you can‘t pay your bill.during the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: Miguel Á. Padriñán/Pexels
Internet service providers AT&T, Comcast, Cox, Verizon and many more have pledged to not cut off service from customers who can’t pay their bills because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Internet access is important during the crisis to keep the public informed, but also to let people work from home, attend school remotely, and keep in touch despite social distancing.
Apple will deliver a refreshed MacBook Air next week, according to a Friday report citing an anonymous tipster.
It could be the second notebook to pick up Appe’s new and improved Magic Keyboard, first introduced with the 16-inch MacBook Pro last fall. They are also likely to offer faster Intel chips and other improvements.
Like WWDC and others, Build will go digital this year. Photo: Microsoft/Cult of Mac
Microsoft is keen to go ahead with this year’s Build conference, but the event will now be online-only, the company confirmed on Friday. Build was scheduled to take place in Seattle from May 19 to May 21. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has forced Microsoft to go completely digital instead.