Jeff Bronikowski has worked in the media industry for over 20 years. Photo: Warner Music Group
Apple Music has added another media industry veteran to its roster of top executives.
Former Warner Music Group head of innovation, Jeff Bronkikowski, revealed that he has accepted a job with the iPhone-maker to become the new global head of strategic music initiatives for Apple Music.
iPad vs. MacBook: Which platform is better for your needs? Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
Looking for a portable Apple computer? You have two choices — a MacBook or an iPad. Both excel at different things. The iPad is super-portable, silent and cool. The Mac is more flexible, offers more connections, and can run much more complex software.
It may be that you already know whether you need a Mac or an iPad. If you use apps that only run on the Mac, or if you need to hook up a lot of extra hardware, then a Mac is your only option. But if you desire the ultimate in portability, or you want to use a touchscreen or an awesome Apple Pencil stylus, you need an iPad.
If you’re on the fence, wondering which portable Apple computer best fits your needs, this article will help you decide. The MacBook vs. iPad battle is on …
Tim Cook standing at the Foot Solider monument in Birmingham, Alabama. Photo: Tim Cook
Apple CEO Tim Cook tweeted a photo of himself at one of the most iconic civil rights movement monuments in his home state of Alabama this morning to show his support for Black History Month.
Cook, who grew up in Alabama during the ’60s and saw the impacts of discrimination and burning KKK crosses first hand, paid respects to the men and women who marched in Birmingham in 1963 to demand equality.
The launch of Apple’s new AirPods Pro in October helped the company record steady growth last year. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
Apple’s AirPods will once again dominate the market for truly wireless headphones in 2020, according to a market research firm. And sales will hit 100 million units this year.
The only real question is which company will come in second in this market.
Book a flight and travel light. The iPhone 11 Pro might be all you need. Screenshot: Travel Shortfilms/YouTube
Still not persuaded that an upgrade to the iPhone 11 Pro is worth the money?
If you are a photographer or wanna-be filmmaker that still needs convincing, travel vlogger Harshit Vora makes a breath-taking argument with a montage of 4K clips from an eight-day trip to Egypt.
Can an app help stop the spread of coronavirus in China? Photo: Apple
The Chinese government developed an app that lets users check whether they are at risk of infection from the novel coronavirus spreading across the country.
The location-aware “close contact detector” app reveals whether users have been close to another person suspected of having coronavirus. The data-hungry app serves as yet another illustration of China’s surveillance-heavy approach to controlling its citizens.
The email app BlueMail finds itself on the outside of the "closed garden." Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Banned email app BlueMail is back in the Mac App Store, just one week after its developers tried to publicly rally other small companies to speak out against Apple’s App Store practices.
Ben and Dan Volach’s eight-month appeal of Apple’s ban ended Tuesday when the App Store relisted BlueMail. But the brothers say they will continue to fight Apple in court on claims the tech giant stole patented features of the app before booting it from the App Store.
Deal has sent stock rocketing upwards. Photo: T-Mobile
T-Mobile’s $26 billion merger with Sprint has been given the go-ahead by a U.S. district judge, rocketing the companies’ stock prices upward.
Sprint increased 74% this morning, hitting $8.34. T-Mobile, meanwhile, increased 11% to $93.62. However, the deal won’t officially be done until the California Public Utilities Commission approves the merger.
These top iPhone photo accessories will help you capture the perfect image. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
The cameras on our iPhones are crazy good, but they’re still limited. Taking great photos means having the right hardware. If you want to upgrade your visual game for iPhone, you’ll want to check out this gear roundup, from smart gimbals and ring lights to wide-angle lenses and more.
This image quickly vanished from Twitter. But not the internet. Photo: Roland Atoui/Twitter
Apple has signed up as a member to the FIDO Alliance, an organization whose mission is to develop and promote authentication standards for reducing the world’s reliance on passwords.
The news was made public in the form of a photo from a recent FIDO Alliance conference, describing Apple as a new member of the group. However, the tweet was rapidly deleted. Nonetheless, the FIDO website confirms that Apple is a board-level member.
My colleague Charlie no longer has a HomePod. He kept the knitted cactus, though. Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
Apple’s HomePod may be two years old, but it may as well be a total newcomer based on its percentage of the overall U.S. smart speaker market.
According to a new report from eMarketer, Apple joins smart speaker brands like Harmon Kardon Invoke and Sonos One in the “other” category of speakers. In total, “other” smart speakers make up just 18.4% of the overall U.S. market. Meanwhile, Amazon hoovers up 70% of sales, followed by Google with 31.7% market share.
By any measure, Apple had an astonishingly successful decade between 2010 and 2020, becoming the world’s first publicly traded $1 trillion company in the process. But Apple’s next 10 years could be another monster decade for the company, Mad Money host Jim Cramer speculates.
Speaking on his 65th birthday Monday, Cramer said that, “I’m going to make another 10-year bet [on Apple]. I think they’re that good.”
Colorful T-Mobile CEO John Legere will hand over the reins to a successor. Photo: T-Mobile
A verdict regarding the long-delayed megamerger between T-Mobile and Sprint is expected to be announced Tuesday, The New York Times claims.
The ruling would combine America’s third- and fourth-biggest wireless carriers to create one with a massive 100 million customers. It follows an “unusual suit” filed back in June by attorneys general from 13 states, alongside the District of Columbia. They are concerned that a merger would reduce competition in the industry, which could drive up cellphone bills.
The characters in Mythic Quest are narcissistic, neurotic, obsessive or sociopathic. You’ll love them. Photo: Apple
The breakout show for Apple TV+ has arrived: Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet. It’s hilarious, but also has heart.
This isn’t a typical office comedy. It’s set at a video game development company, so episodes are a struggle between employees trying to be creative, others trying maximize profitability, and people caught in the middle just hoping to get the code shipped on time.
Is this the iPhone SE 2 in a Totallee case? Maybe, maybe not. Photo: Totallee
Accessory maker Totallee is so confident it knows the exact dimensions of the upcoming iPhone SE 2 that it went ahead and started taking preorders for a case designed for it.
This takes some serious nerve, as this low-cost handset is still just a rumor. It isn’t expected to be announced before March.
iCloud folder sharing finally arrives in iPadOS 13.4, and iOS 13.4 too. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
The wait is over for iCloud folder sharing… at least for everyone willing to install the initial iOS 13.4 public beta or its iPad equivalent. And there’s new Memoji stickers, tablet users can remap some keys, plus some other new features to experiment with.
In the olden days, we had to download videos through our eyes, and we couldn't even save them. Photo: Sven Scheuermeier/Unsplash
I’ve made several attempts at creating/repurposing iOS shortcuts that download YouTube videos and save them for offline viewing. The problem is, most of the shortcuts broke after a while, or proved so unreliable that I gave up on them. And, judging by the responses I get via Twitter, you folks are also very interested in downloading YouTube videos.
Well, this weekend I finally found a way to make it work reliably. And because it uses a third-party service to locate the downloadable video link, it means that someone else is making sure that it all keeps working. Hopefully. For now. Fingers crossed.
Cupertino’s seemingly neverending legal battle with patent troll VirnetX Holding Corp. took another turn this week when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denied Apple’s request to reconsider an original patent-infringement decision.
VirnetX and Apple have been fighting in courts for a decade over patents related to FaceTime and other secure communications. VirnetX, which doesn’t produce any products, previously won more than $503 million in damages, but courts subsequently threw out the award.
The multi-camera filter mount will let the iPhone shooter use any 52 mm filter. Photo: Moondog Labs
If the iPhone is the best camera because it’s always in your pocket, there are plenty of accessories that make your photos look even better once your phone is unholstered and on the hunt.
Moondog Labs has just such an add-on with a filter mount that goes right over the three-eyed iPhone 11 Pro.
Change the lame smart replies on your Apple Watch. Image: Apple
You know when you reply to a message on your Apple Watch, and it’s such a pain to write it out a letter at a time or to dictate your reply (only to have Siri mishear you)? The alternative is to use one of Apple Watch’s canned responses. Unfortunately, they all sound like your account got hacked, or that you don’t care about the sender enough to come up with a proper reply.
However, you can customize those replies to make them much more useful. And with one clever trick, you can make Apple Watch smart replies sound just like you really wrote them.
The starter Abode Smart Security Kit now works with Apple’s home-automation system. Photo: Abode
Abode’s do-it-yourself home security system just gained support for Apple HomeKit. With this software update, the Smart Security Kit can be controlled via Siri commands, and an iPhone or other Apple device will be notified when sensors detect a window or door is opened, or there’s movement in the house.
All the Z Flip details have been revealed ahead of its launch. Photo: Samsung
Samsung is already putting out commercials for its new foldable phone before the device has even been announced.
With a big event scheduled in San Francisco tomorrow, Samsung ran a teaser ad for its new smartphone during the Oscars last night and we have to admit, this thing actually looks pretty neat.
iPhone sales were starting to pickup in China. Photo: Tim Cook/Weibo
Smartphone sales in China could fall by as much as 50 percent in the first quarter thanks to a raging coronavirus that has shuttered retail outlets and silenced production facilities.
The coronavirus has struck at a time when Apple’s iPhone sales in China were rebounding in a country considered right now one of the world’s most competitive smartphone markets.
Key iPhone manufacturer Foxconn continues to feel the effects of the deadly coronavirus outbreak in China. The company recently reopened its factory in the eastern central Chinese city of Zhengzhou, but fewer than 10% of its workforce returned to work, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, the Chinese government rejected Foxconn’s request to reopen its factory in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.
Score two years of unlimited access to over 2,000 documentary features and series. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
There’s so much out there to learn about, and one of the best ways is with documentaries. But even Netflix has its limits, so this dedicated documentary platform offers a whole new world of learning to explore.