Siri can now read out your incoming messages, automatically. Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
In iOS 13.2, Siri can announce your incoming messages and read them to you. This is the kind of feature that is so useful, and obvious, that it seems like it should have always been there. It’s called Announce Messages with Siri, and it does just that.
iOS 13.2 will make switching frame rates and resolution for your video shooting much easier. Photo: Apple
The iPhone 11 line hasn’t even been out a month, but Apple continues to improve its camera through iOS updates.
An iOS developer exploring iOS 13.2 beta 2 said the Camera app will allow video shooters to adjust frame rates and resolution without going into the Settings app.
The Apple Arcade library keeps on growing. Photo: Apple
The Apple Arcade catalog continues to grow with five new games for iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV available today.
Inmost, an atmospheric, story-driven platformer from the creators of Stardew Valley, is one of the highlights. It helps takes the total number of Apple Arcade games for iOS and tvOS to 80.
Apple has hit a new all-time high valuation as shares rose 1.7% to hit $234.09. That gives Apple a market cap of $1.058 trillion. Talk about valuable!
It comes as investors expected top level trade talks between the US and China to result in a partial deal. At the very least, people are expected planned tariffs on products, including the iPhone, to be delayed.
Apple’s latest patches for iTunes and iCloud for Windows are out to block potential ransomware attacks.
The software previously contained a vulnerability that allowed malware to piggyback on Apple’s digital signatures and go undetected by antivirus software.
And don’t assume you’re safe if you’ve already uninstalled Apple’s apps.
Apple faces big challenges in China. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Prominent Hong Kong legislator and IT entrepreneur Charles Mok has warned that Apple risks becoming an accomplice for “censorship and oppression” in China.
In an open letter to Tim Cook, Mok referenced Apple’s removal of a recent app which allowed protesters to track the whereabouts of Hong Kong police. Tim Cook has defended the app’s removal, which came after Chinese state media criticized Apple for allowing it in the App Store.
This MFi-certified Lightning cable includes a high capacity backup battery built in. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Keeping your iPhone charged on the go usually means carrying at least a Lightning cable and a backup battery. But with the Nomad, you get everything you need in one accessory. And right now, you’ve got a rare chance to snag one at a massive discount.
Twitter removed its Mac app back in early 2018. Photo: Twitter
Twitter killed off its desktop app for Mac in early 2018. Now, a year-and-a-half later, an official Twitter app has made its way back into the App Store.
A reliable analyst says Apple's AR glasses are right around the corner. Photo: Apple
This week on The CultCast: Apple’s AR glasses are about to be announced! At least according to one very reliable analyst…. we discuss. Plus: Mac OS Catalina is out, but you probably shouldn’t install it—we’ll tell you why. And Final Cut Pro just got massively faster thanks to a new update, and a long awaited iOS 13 feature finally goes live.
Our thanks to Linked In for supporting this episode. A business is only as strong as its people, and every hire matters… head to LinkedIn.com/cultcast and get a $50 credit toward your first job post.
Source says that this is an extremely aggressive timeline. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Apple reportedly plans to deploy its own 5G modems in iPhones by 2022. This “very aggressive” timeline will require Apple to carry out development, testing and certification.
Until then, Apple will use 5G modems developed by Qualcomm. After years of legal battling, the two companies put aside their differences earlier this year. Apple will likely ship its first 5G iPhone next year.
We're all waiting for brand-new models. Photo: Apple
Mac shipments fell during the third quarter of 2019 as PC sales continued to grow, according to new estimates from Gartner.
Apple’s market share declined as a result, but the company maintains its fourth spot for now. And shipments will almost certainly be boosted soon by the launch of the all-new Mac Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro.
Clive Owen, star of movies such as Sin City and Children of Men, is the latest big-name actor to sign up for an Apple TV+ series. Owen will act opposite Academy Award winner Julianne Moore in Lisey’s Story, based on a 2006 Stephen King novel.
Prototype units show the 11- and 12.9-inch versions of the upcoming Brydge Pro+. Photo: Brydge
Brydge today pre-announced a clip-on iPad Pro keyboard that incorporates a trackpad, something that only became possible with the just-released iPadOS 13. This would create a computer like a MacBook with a removable touchscreen.
It’s not the first such accessory to be unveiled, but Brydge is bringing a patent-infringement lawsuit against a company that last month launched a Kickstarter campaign for a similar iPad keyboard case with trackpad.
One of the most creative directors in Hollywood is teaming up with Apple. Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr
Apple reportedly inked a multiyear deal with Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuarón to develop original content for Apple TV+.
Cuarón’s deal with Apple will see him develop multiple TV series for the streaming service, marking the director and writer’s first foray into television since he created the short-lived NBC show Believe.
Tim Cook defends Apple's decision to pull HKmap.live from App Store. Photo: Apple
As Apple draws fire for banning a mapping app that proved useful to Hong Kong protesters, CEO Tim Cook defended the company’s decision. In an email to employees, Cook explained why Apple pulled HKmap.live from the App Store.
Cook said Apple received “credible information” from Hong Kong’s tech crime and cybersecurity unit that the app “was being used to maliciously target individual officers for violence and to victimize individuals and property where no police are present. This use put the app in violation of Hong Kong law. Similarly, widespread abuse clearly violates our App Store guidelines barring personal harm.”
The iPhone 11 Pro Max still has plenty of power when the Samsung Galaxy Note10+ runs out Photo: PhoneBuff
A battery test pitting the iPhone 11 Pro Max against its arch-rival, the Samsung Galaxy Note10+, found that Apple’s new flagship handset outlasted its competitor by over two hours.
In iOS 13 and iPadOS, you can easily collect a bunch of Live Photos, and combine them into a single video. It’s great for sharing, or just making a cool remix of your clips. And this isn’t another one of those (awesome) posts where we use Shortcuts to do the dirty work. Making Live Photos videos is a new feature built into the Photos app.
Amazon is finally embracing Apple TV. Photo: Amazon
Apple TV users can finally access millions of songs, playlists and radio stations using Amazon Music.
Starting today, anyone with a 4K Apple TV or the regular HD model can go to the Apple TV App Store and download the Amazon Music app, giving Apple Music some more competition on its own platform.
Aaron Paul confronts Octavia Spencer in the the dark and gritty drama Truth Be Told. Photo: Apple
Apple dropped the first full trailer for Octavia Spencer’s crime drama, Truth Be Told, which will debut on Apple TV+ in December. Spencer plays a journalist investigating whether she helped send a man to prison for a murder he didn’t commit.
This week, email service Fastmail added snooze to its web and iOS apps. You can now click on a button inside any email in your inbox, and make it disappear until you’re ready to deal with it.
Got a late-Friday-afternoon work email from your boss, and don’t want to see it every time you check your mail over the weekend? Worried that you’ll get so used to ignoring those great tips for your vacation that you will forget about them when you actually go away? Do you already use your email inbox as a de-facto to-do list, and would love more control?
Then Fastmail’s snooze is for you. Let’s see how it works.
These are just a few of the new emoji coming. Photo: Apple
The biggest iPhone emoji update of the year is finally ready for testing if you’re a developer.
Apple seeded iOS 13.2 beta 2 and iPadOS 13.2 beta 2 to developers today. The update comes just over a week after the first beta brought Apple’s Deep Fusion camera technology to the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro. With this latest beta, Apple has finally added support for the Unicode 12 update that adds 59 new emoji characters.
Pixelmator Pro 1.5 Avalon is ready for everything Apple is introducing this fall. Photo: Pixelmator
Pixelmator Pro, one of Photoshop’s strongest competitors, is now fully compatible with macOS Catalina, including the ability to use an iPad as a second screen.
And the high-end graphics app is also ready for the next Mac Pro, the super-powerful desktop Apple has on its docket for this fall.
New hardware in the pipeline could lift Apple stock even higher. Photo: Pixabay/Pexels CC
Apple is within 3% of hitting a record-high market cap, with a current valuation of $1.037 trillion. And it might be about to climb even higher.
“Longer term, this is one of the best stocks out there,” MKM Partners chief market technician JC O’Hara told CNBC. However, in the short term, O’Hara thinks Apple faces a few challenges.
TSMC is the company behind Apple's A13 chip. Photo: Apple
Apple chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has hit a new record for the third calendar quarter of the year. TSMC’s revenue beat previous guidance it gave in July.
The world’s largest contract chipmaker reported consolidated revenues of $3.3 billion for the month of September 2019. That’s down slightly from its record high in August. But it’s up 21.6% on quarter and 12.6% from one year earlier.
Coming soon to an Apple gaming subscription service near you. Screenshot: Hipster Whale
Hipster Whale’s 2015 game Crossy Road modified the Frogger concept for a modern audience. In doing so, it raked in massive amounts of money for an indie game: around $10 million in its first 90 days.
Now the company is back with a new game, Crossy Road Castle, that’s set to debut on Apple Arcade. Check out the trailer below.