Apple sold just 2.6 million HomePods into the retail channel worldwide in the last three months of 2020, a new report claims. While that is up from the 1.6 million units it shipped the same quarter a year earlier, it’s still a fraction of the total shipped by market leader Amazon.
“The price is still very high,” David Watkins, director at Strategy Analytics, told Cult of Mac. “That closes the door to a huge swathe of potential customers.”
Studying any language is a lifetime endeavor, so the tools you use to learn should be yours forever. With this deal on one of the most popular language learning apps around, you can get a lifetime subscription for al 60% discount.
Microsoft is working hard on a new version of Windows that promises to be faster, more efficient, and more secure. Windows 10X is available only in preview form for now, and it already runs surprisingly well on a MacBook.
One developer installed an early version of the software on an Apple machine, and it is proving to be “very smooth” so far.
This week on The CultCast: Apple is prepping iPhone SE 2, but trouble in China could mean massive production delays across the entire tech industry. Plus: macOS leaks hint at big CPU upgrades on the way; and a celebrity calls out the MacBook’s troubled keyboards.
Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. Easily create a beautiful website all by yourself, at Squarespace.com/cultcast, and use offer code CultCast at checkout for 10% off your first purchase.
Should Apple have to pay retail employees during mandatory bag and iPhone searches at the end of their shifts? Yes, says California’s Supreme Court.
The battle over off-the-clock work has been raging since 2013. Apple previously won at the trial level in District Court for the Northern District of California. However, a new ruling says that Apple broke the law by not paying workers for this time.
The iPhone 12 is poised to pack a lot of exciting features. One that won’t be on the list? Support for a 2×2 uplink, according to renowned Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Kuo previously suggested that the 5G iPhone 12 would support 2×2 MIMO uplink, potentially meaning slightly faster maximum uploads. This was part of a report claiming that the iPhone 12 series devices would use up to six power amplifiers for improved connectivity. In a new report obtained by Cult of Mac, Kuo now says they are likely to include just one or two.
Apple Originals docuseries Visible: Out on Television has debuted on Apple TV+. The five-part series examines the history of LGBTQ representation on TV. It blends archival footage with new interviews with stars including Ellen DeGeneres, Oprah Winfrey, Anderson Cooper, Don Lemon, and others.
Check out a trailer below.
Apple’s biggest competition from China just got hit with the R.I.C.O.
The FBI and US Department of Justice revealed this afternoon 16 charges filed against Huawei, one of the world’s largest smartphone manufacturers. Prosecutors claim Huawei conspired to steal trade secrets, commit wire fraud and conspired to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).
We’re still digging into the 56-page indictment, but it looks like Huawei was on a two-decade-long streak of keepin it gangsta.
Everyone who subscribed to YouTube TV via Apple’s App Store got a notice today that their subscriptions will be canceled next month. They’ll have to resubscribe on the YouTube website.
When I was a kid, we communicated in class by writing notes on pieces of paper, and passing them to other kids. It was called “passing notes,” and is now probably taught in schools as an artisanal pastime, along with “going outside” and conkers. In 2020, kids use insane workarounds to avoid actual writing.
Today we’ll see how to “pass notes” using nothing but two $700 iPhones and two $160 pairs of AirPods.
Yes, the iPhone 11 Pro is waterproof-ish enough to survive a good soaking in a pool, lake or ocean. But why chance it when you don’t have to?
Should you fancy a photo swim, you will want to consider the AquaTech AxisGO underwater camera housing for the iPhone 11 lineup.
Retailers that advertise with Apple’s AR Quick Look now have the option to add a “buy now” button directly in the augmented reality experience. Before this, shoppers could only look at items superimposed onto the real world.
This is just the latest part of Apple’s growing embrace of augmented reality.
Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh has sworn off big expensive motion picture cameras for the camera in his pocket. Your iPhone is no different from his, so get out there and make the movie that’s locked in your head. It could win you $10,000 in the Moment International Film Festival.
Gmail is finally adding the ability to add attachments to emails straight from the Files app for iOS, giving users another crucial productivity tool.
Until now, the only way to send stuff from your Files app via Gmail was by using the sharing tool inside the Files app and creating a new email with it. Now users can reply to emails inside of Gmail for iOS and add attachments from Files without having to jump between apps. We’ll give you a quick rundown on how to use the nifty feature that’s starting to roll out to users globally.
You can now save a small fortune on a 16-inch MacBook Pro by buying a refurbished unit from Apple. A whole host of different models are on offer, with prices currently starting at just $2,039 — $360 off the usual price.
Company of Heroes, the award-winning World War II strategy game, today makes the leap to iPad.
The mobile version is a complete port of the original, which first debuted in 2006 — but it has been completely rebuilt for tablets. And if you’re into real-time strategy games, you’re going to love it.
“Our aim is that the experience of playing Company of Heroes on mobile should be as fantastic as it was on desktop,” publisher Feral Interactive told Cult of Mac.
Great looking shot on iPhone videos are a dime a dozen nowadays, but I guarantee you’ve never seen anything like this one.
The creative team behind Vallee Duhamel pushed the iPhone XS Max camera to its limit for their conceptual video Glacier that has to be seen to be believed. Apple commissioned the video to be made for one of its Today at Apple sessions and will be playing it at stores worldwide to inspire iPhone owners to push their own creativity.
Buckle up for a short film that’s out of this world:
SwitchGlass is a handy new Mac app from John Siracusa. It’s like a superpowered dock, conceptually honed from the regular macOS dock by removing some annoyances, and adding some extra subtleties. It’s certainly not the most powerful dock-replacement app out there, but if your needs align with Siracusa’s, then you’re going to love it.
Strava is a brilliant app for sharing your workouts and analyzing your fitness activity. But its Apple Watch app is not so great. That’s why I prefer to use Apple’s built-in Workout app and then view my data afterward on the Strava website.
The trouble is, up until now, the only way to do that was by relying on third-party apps such as HealthFit, which provide the missing link that syncs Apple’s workouts with Strava.
Strava has been promising to come up with a solution for years. And this week, the company finally delivered. It’s a huge step in the right direction, but I won’t be deleting HealthFit just yet. Here’s why.
Apple will reopen five of its retail stores in Beijing tomorrow, although only for limited hours. The stores will open between 11am and 6pm local time, compared with the usual 10am through 10pm 12-hour opening hours.
Apple made the decision to close all 42 of its Apple Stores in China as a result of the outbreak of coronavirus. Originally, it planned to reopen them on February 10. However, retail chief Deidre O’Brien later revealed that this reopening time was being pushed back further.
Apple could introduce its first iPad Pro with 5G connectivity this fall. A new report claims the device will be compatible with super-speedy mmWave networks. And Apple’s next-generation A14 processor could power the tablet.
Cupertino could be looking to snap up more socially conscious original shows for Apple TV+ that examine issues such as identity and sexuality, a new report suggests.
Financial Times bases its claim on a new hire made by former HBO boss Richard Plepler. Plepler, who recently signed a five-year exclusive deal with Apple TV+, has hired literary agent Heather Karpas. Her LinkedIn page notes that she is interested in books about “minority and female perspectives on identity, sexuality, and power; examinations of emotional trauma and means of catharsis; and explorations of dysfunctional friendships and families.”
Designing a web page can be slow going. There are numerous types of devices that websites need to be responsive for, so prototyping can feel like flattening bumps in a rug. That changes with the right wire framing tool.
Despite the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, Apple is going to “stick to its plans” for an iPhone event in September, according to a new report.
That is despite the fact that another report today claims that orders for the five-nanometer A14 chips for the iPhone 12 are likely to be 50-60% higher than for last year’s iPhone chips. In other words, the next-gen iPhones face both increased demand and, for now, reduced supply.
Apple manufacturers in China, such as Foxconn, are taking measures including installing infrared temperature scanners and producing their own surgical face masks to combat the spread of coronavirus.
Factories belonging to companies like Foxconn have been hit hard by the spread of the virus, now officially called COVID-19. While some remain closed, others have reopened with a vastly reduced workforce. A new report sheds light on some of the safety measures they have been ordered — or have chosen — to take.