Mobile menu toggle

Apple Developer Academy offers a 1-year boot camp in coding

By

Apple coding initiative
Apple has long pushed the importance of coding.
Photo: Apple

Remember Rocky IV, where Rocky heads to the wilderness to get himself into peak physical condition to battle Ivan Drago?

Well, Apple’s Developer Academy is kind of the same thing — only instead of preparing for a championship fight, you’re getting a free one-year course in app development. Oh, and you’ll even get access to the necessary iPhones and Macs for good measure.

Apple regains No. 3 spot in this year’s Fortune 500 ranking

By

European Commission could get even tougher on tech in 2020
Apple is worth a whole heap of cash.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple comes in third on this year’s Fortune 500 list, a ranking of companies based on revenue.

Apple lagged behind Walmart and ExxonMobil in terms of revenue. However, it massively outperforms both in terms of profitability. Interestingly, No. 4 on the list — Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway firm — is also one of Apple’s biggest investors.

Want to live near Steve Jobs’ house? It’ll cost you

By

Steve Job's house in Palo Alto. Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac
The Jobs family home in Palo Alto. The vacant lot is located just a few minutes' walk away.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Compared to many other high tech CEOs, Steve Jobs wasn’t ostentatious with his home. He didn’t live in a giant mansion with drivers, butlers and security. Instead, the Jobs family shared a relatively modest 1930s Tudor-style home in Old Palo Alto.

But looks can be a bit deceiving. A rare quarter-acre lot just came up for sale in Jobs’ neighborhood — and if you fancy building your home within minutes of where Apple’s late CEO lived, it’s going to cost you a whole lot. A whopping $9 million to be exact!

Trump’s Huawei ban could wind up hurting Apple, too

By

Chinese company Huawei wants the media buzz that would come with releasing the world's first foldable phone.
President Trump announced his attack on Huawei on Wednesday.
Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns/Flickr CC

A ban on China’s Huawei company by the White House could wind up hurting Apple, concerned analysts claim.

President Donald Trump’s administration announced plans Wednesday to ban technology and services of “foreign adversaries” that pose “unacceptable risks.” But possible Chinese retaliation against major U.S. companies could hit Apple hard.

Steam Link finally makes its long-awaited debut in the App Store

By

Valve Steam
It's a good day for gamers!
Photo: Valve

One year after Apple rejected Valve’s Steam Link app from launching in the App Store, it has finally made its debut for both iOS and tvOS devices.

Steam Link gives gamers the chance to play their favorite PC or Steam Machine game on an iPhone, iPad or Apple TV, rather than having to haul around a big gaming laptop. In other words, to quote Anchorman‘s Ron Burgundy, this is kind of a big deal!

First 5G modem made by Apple won’t arrive until 2025

By

This Intel modem will likely power the first 5G iPhone.
Intel pulled the plug on its 5G modems.
Photo: Intel

Apple’s custom-built smartphone modems likely won’t make their way into iPhones and iPads until 2025 at the earliest, according to a new report from The Information.

Intel’s strained relationship with Apple is on full display in the beefy report that reveals Apple had problems with Intel long before 5G modems became an issue. Back in early 2017, Intel struggled to supply Apple with an LTE modem destined for the 2018 iPhone lineup. Despite overhauling the modem four times, Intel nearly missed the deadline.

How to subscribe to a podcast from the beginning

By

Rewind lets you listen to a podcast from the very beginning.
Rewind lets you listen to a podcast from the very beginning.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

With a podcast like the CultCast, you can drop in and start listening at any time. News-based podcasts are meant to be listened to, and then discarded. Another one will be along soon. But what about more structured podcasts? Podcasts that work episodically, like a TV series? With those, you want to listen from episode one, and listen in order — episodes 2, 3, 4, etc.

But podcast apps don’t let you do this. They’re geared towards disposable, periodically-updated podcasts. They may show you a list of previous episodes, so you can tap to download them manually, but then it’s no longer a podcast.

What you need is a service that takes any podcast feed and rejigs it, serving you a new episode each week as if the series had just started.

Factory makes other iPad synths look like toys

By

Factory sounds great, and looks ok.
Factory sounds great, and looks ok.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Factory is an aptly-named new iPad synthesizer from SugarBytes. In fact, calling it a synth is underselling it — kind of like calling GarageBand a “tape recorder”. Factory does synthesize sounds, but it also has built-in effects, a sequencer, an arpeggiator, and a totally wild DJ-style crossfader, which lets you morph between presets.

The app is ultra-flexible, as capable of finely-crafted sound design as it is of sonic mayhem.

Giant emoji canon will bruise you with ‘likes’

By

Emotigun
Tadas Maksimovas takes it on the chin for his art.
Screenshot: Tadas Maksimovas/Vimeo

Our spirits rise and fall by the number of “likes” we receive on our social media posts.

But would your appetite for online validation change if your face was literally pelted with emoji?

Artist Tadas Maksimovas stood in front of a rapid-firing “Emotigun” so the rest of us won’t have to.

iOS 12.4 beta 1 arrives with Apple Card support

By

Apple Card
By design, Apple Card helps customers understand and track their spending.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s work on iOS 12 isn’t quite done just yet.

Even though WWDC 2019 and the debut of iOS 13 is less than a month away, Apple is out with its first beta of iOS 12.4 today. The new beta comes less than a week after Apple released iOS 12.3 to the public, bringing the new Apple TV app to the masses along with tons of bug fixes and performance improvements for iPhone and iPad.

Sneaky iPhone accessory gains users a health insurance discount

By

Hill running will make you a better runner
The old-fashioned way to show how fit you are.
Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

The moment smartphones gained the ability to track the number of steps people took every day, insurance companies were ready to find ways to use that data to offer people cheaper premiums.

The moment that happened, enterprising (and slightly underhanded) entrepreneurs were ready to give lazy people a workaround to make it look like they were walking much further than they really were.

What kind of workaround, you ask? Well, something along the lines of this:

Gear4’s impressive iPhone cases now available from Verizon

By

Gear4 iPhone case
D30 provides your iPhone with the best impact protection.
Photo: Gear4

You can now pick up Gear4’s impressive cases for iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR at your local Verizon store.

Big Red has started selling a number of its popular products in-store and online — including the award-winning Piccadilly case that provides drop protection from up to 13 feet.

DJI takes on GoPro with new Osmo Action camera

By

Osmo Action
The Osmo Action cam has two displays for double the fun.
Photo: DJI

DJI, the biggest drone company in the world, is ready to go toe-to-toe with GoPro in pursuit of dominating the action cam market.

The company unveiled its new Osmo Action camera this morning that is aimed at competing directly with GoPro’s Hero 7 camera and it packs some interesting new features that the Hero 7 can’t match.

Apple promotes ‘incredible’ iPhone 6s units made in India

By

iPhone sales are showing signs of life in India
iPhone sales are showing signs of life in India
Photo: Apple

The iPhone 6s is still alive and well in some markets — one of which is India, where the 2015 flagship is now being manufactured.

Apple is using this to sell the handset to locals. India has become an increasingly important market for the company as smartphone growth in other areas slows to a crawl.

Apple Pay is soon coming to 16 new markets

By

Apple Pay Terminal
¡Es inminente!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple Pay is on its way to 16 new markets, according to one mobile banking service.

Apple plans to increase the total number of supported countries to 40 by the end of 2019. Here’s the full list of territories that are next in line for its mobile payments service.

Dinosaurs rule the roost in Durango: Wild Lands

By

Nexon and What! Studio
Looks ROAR-some (we're sorry!)
Photo: Nexon and What! Studio

The age of dinosaurs has come to iOS with the worldwide release of Nexon and What! Studio’s Durango: Wild Lands.

A giant open-world, sandbox MMO, the game allows players to explore an enormous prehistoric world populated by dinosaurs. In this savage land, they must not just fight for survival, but also use their wits and resources to create settlements and communities.

Name your price for 13 comprehensive coding courses [Deals]

By

Name your price for over a dozen comprehensive courses covering all areas of coding.
Name your price for over a dozen comprehensive courses covering all areas of coding.

Coding is a vast discipline, so there’s always something new to learn. That can be intimidating, or exhilarating, because it means there’s always room to improve your resume and pay grade. Either way, this loaded bundle of courses offers an invaluable leg up to any coding career.

Apple’s biggest supplier suffers disappointing Q1 profits

By

iPhone sales drive Apple’s biggest supplier to big profits
Foxconn was down 17.7% from the same quarter one year ago.
Photo: CBS

Foxconn is Apple’s biggest supplier, and the world’s largest contract manufacturer. However, that wasn’t enough to stop it from underperforming in its latest quarterly earnings.

The company, whose official title is Hon Hai Precision Industry, reported net profits of T$19.82 billion ($637.26 million) for the first three months of 2019. That might sound good, but it’s down 17.7% from the year-ago quarter.

There’s a brand new Pokémon game for Android and iOS

By

Pokémon on iPhone
Pokémon Rumble Rush is rolling out now.
Photo: Cult of Mac

There’s a brand new Pokémon game out for Android and iOS.

Pokémon Rumble Rush is a free-to-play title from the long-running Pokémon Rumble series, in which you take control of your favorite pocket monsters as they battle.

Its launch comes almost two years after the game was first announced.

New Statue of Liberty app lets you explore the iconic landmark in AR

By

Statue of Liberty
Apple reportedly helped out in the app's development.
Photo: Statue of Liberty – Ellis Island

With its innovative Flyover feature for Apple Maps, Apple gave users an eye-popping way of exploring real life places in three dimensions.

Now it’s reportedly leant its AR expertise to a new iOS app for the new Statue of Liberty Museum. For those visiting the iconic location, the app provides a location-based audio tour. For those elsewhere, it provides a way of checking out an AR recreation of Lady Liberty from the comfort of their couch.

Apple display maker could be forced to slash its workforce

By

The new iPhones go on sale tomorrow. Are you ready?
Japan Display makes LCD displays for the iPhone XR.
Photo: Apple

Apple display maker Japan Display is having a rough time right now. On Wednesday, it posted its ninth consecutive quarterly net loss, partly impacted by disappointing Apple orders.

The company made a loss of 98.6 billion yen ($899.22) million for the quarter. As a result, Japan Display is planning to cut around 1,000 jobs — a full tenth of its workforce.