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Weak Chinese economy is dragging down iPhone, Fed says

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Hong Kong police arrest smugglers with $1 million of iPhones and other devices
iPhone sales are slowing because the Chinese economy is, not because Apple made a dud.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Sales of iPhones seem to be weaker than in previous years, and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve has an explanation: a drop in consumer spending in China.

The implication is that the slowdown in iPhone sales isn’t a result of anything Apple has done.

Vintage manual shows how Apple got dealers psyched to sell

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Apple training manual
Now get out there and sell!
Photo: Greg Bridges

If you wait long enough to clean out a junk drawer or filing cabinet, you’re liable to find something historic.

In the case of graphic designer Greg Bridges of Sydney Australia, an old three-ring binder he stumbled across during a recent studio purge turned out to be an artifact from the early days of Apple.

Future Apple Watch bands could change colors to match your outfit

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Apple’s new Watch bands.
Color changing bands could be a game-changer for Apple Watch.
Photo: Apple

Buying multiple Apple Watch bands may soon become as outdated as mechanical watches.

Apple recently patented a brilliant idea for a chameleon-like Apple Watch band that can change colors to match what you’re wearing. Sometime in the future, you might be able to snap a picture of the color you’re wearing, and have Apple Watch match it in an instant. It’s about to get a lot harder to make fashion faux pas.

How to search for songs by lyrics in Apple Music

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Just look at that rick(shaw) roll!
Just look at that rick(shaw) roll!
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Do you have a snippet of a song in your head, and it’s driving you crazy? Did you forget to Shazam it when you heard it playing in that hipster boutique vegan-boots-and-artisanal-ramen store? Then you need Apple Music’s search by lyrics feature, which lets you find a song based on a few vaguely remembered snatches of verse.

How to make your old iPhone last longer

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cracked-iphone
Don't let this happen to you.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Apple’s revenue is hurting this quarter. Part of that is down to China, but part of it is Apple’s own stupid fault. The iPhone is just too damn good.

Unlike most crappy Android junk, which slows down and falls apart almost as soon as you’ve opened the box, the iPhone lasts for years. Even if you, the original owner, replace it after just a couple of years, then it’s likely that you’ll hand it down to a friend of a family member who will enjoy it for a few more.

The iPhone is a great investment, then (for you, if not for share traders) but you can make it last a lot longer. Try these tips to make your iPhone last you for years.

Apple whips out second iOS and macOS ‘bug fix’ betas this week

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The fourth beta of iOS 12.1.3 doesn’t offer much, but it’s available to everyone.
The fourth beta of iOS 12.1.3 doesn’t offer much, but it’s available to everyone.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

After seeding new beta versions of  iOS and macOS on Monday, there are already replacements.  The team at Apple responsible for updating iPhone, iPad, and Mac clearly  started the year off in high gear. 

This is the forth version of these betas, and the fast pace of new releases may be because they only offer bug fixes.

Two months with iPad Pro and USB-C [Opinion]

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This is a great-looking hub, but it still has problems.
This is a great-looking hub, but it still has problems.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

In the nearly two months I’ve been using the new iPad Pro with USB-C hubs, I’ve found these accessories to be alternately miraculous and frustrating.

This isn’t a review, or a how-to. It’s just a look at what’s right — and what’s still very wrong — with USB-C and the 2018 iPad Pro.

Handy graphic shows every Apple product ever

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apple
How many of these Apple products have you owned?
Photo: Tucker Jaxson/Visually

 

Before Apple’s magical product pipeline pops out a plethora of new goodies this year,  it might be good to take a minute to appreciate the insane number of products the iPhone-maker has come out with over the last 42 years.

Keeping tabs on all the products Apple comes out within a single year is hard enough, but some ambitious person has created a detailed graphic that shows everything Apple has ever made.

Prepare to be overwhelmed by all the innovations:

Your new Apple Watch Series 4 deserves a serious leather strap

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Strapa
Strapa makes gorgeous leather Apple Watch Series 4 straps that combine craftsmanship with high-quality materials.
Photo: Strapa

So, someone who obviously likes you very much gifted you an Apple Watch Series 4 this holiday season. Now you’d like to add some personal style with an out-of-the-ordinary Apple Watch band. You should consider those made by Strapa, a company based in The Netherlands that produces some of the best leather Apple Watch bands we’ve seen.

Trust us, you’ll love these bands.

Samsung will make life even harder for iPhone on February 20

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Samsung Galaxy S10 teaser
You won’t be blown away by Galaxy S10 performance.
Photo: Samsung

Weakening demand for the iPhone could get worse next month when Samsung delivers its next-generation smartphone lineup.

The South Korean company has confirmed a Galaxy Unpacked event on Wednesday, February 20. Its teaser video all but confirms the Galaxy S10 will be the star of the show.

Slowing iPhone sales cause Apple suppliers to suffer

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iphone XS
It’s not just Apple that’s feeling the impact.
Photo: Apple

Slowing iPhone sales aren’t just bad news for Apple.

Foxconn, the company’s largest manufacturing partner, is also suffering as a result of weakening iPhone demand, with revenue for December falling 8.3 percent year-over-year.

It’s the first time Foxconn has experienced a drop in revenue in almost a year.

Welt smart belt is like an Apple Watch for your waist

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Welt2
This belt will monitor your increasingly girth.
Photo: Welt

CES 2019 bug Forget your wrist. The new location for wearable devices is clearly your waist, at least according to Korean wearables company Welt. At CES 2019, the startup unveiled its smart belt, which promises to track physical activity, measure your expanding waistline, and even perform Apple Watch-style fall detection.

The Welt smart belt does this using a bevy of sensors and a Bluetooth connection. The data gathered is sent to a connected mobile device such as an iPhone.

HSBC is worried about Apple’s future

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iPhone X-R-llent.
HSBC has previously said iPhone's days of massive growth are over.
Photo: Apple

Apple stock seems to have stabilized after its steep decline in recent weeks, but HSBC analysts seemingly don’t think the worst is over just yet.

Having previously said that meaningful iPhone growth is “broadly over,” analysts for the bank have now lowered their Apple price target for a second time.

Learn what it takes to get in on the blockchain revolution [Deals]

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Blockchain
Learn blockchain, the technology that is changing the world with this comprehensive bundle
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Bitcoin might not be the hot stock they were a year ago. But blockchain – the underlying technology of cryptocurrencies, distributed applications, and myriad other exciting new uses – is just getting started. So this is still a great time to get in on blockchain.

Apple Maps gets turn-by-turn navigation in another key market

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Updated Apple Maps rolls out in Pacific Northwest and Midwest
Enjoy turn-by-turn navigation in India today.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Turn-by-turn navigation in Apple Maps has expanded its reach to one of Apple’s most important markets. Users in India can finally take advantage of the feature when driving or walking.

Apple has also added the ability to book a cab through Uber or Ola from within the Maps app.

Apple slashes prices on iPhones in China

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Hong Kong police arrest smugglers with $1 million of iPhones and other devices
Apple is offering biggest discount on the iPhone XR.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple has slashed the prices of certain iPhone models in China. Chinese iPhone vendors reportedly received the word from Apple that they can offer discounts on the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max.

Of these, the biggest price reduction amounts to around $66 off the price off the iPhone XR. Other iPhones are receiving price cuts of around $59.

Apple and Qualcomm can’t agree on whether or not they’re talking

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Qualcomm headquarters
The battle goes on.
Photo: Qualcomm

Qualcomm has blasted comments made by Apple CEO Tim Cook as “misleading.”

During his recent CNBC interview, Cook said that there had been no recent settlement talks between Apple and Qualcomm. Qualcomm, meanwhile, insists that there have been. But Apple disagrees with Qualcomm’s disagreement. What was it that we said about this case having more twists than a pretzel?

Pioneer transforms your iPhone into an in-dash car display

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Pioneer
Have no in-car display in your vehicle? This will help.
Photo: Pioneer

CES 2019 bug While a growing number of cars come with iPad-style in-dash displays, there are plenty of older or cheaper models that don’t. To allow these customers to take advantage of Pioneer’s in-car infotainment system, it has launched its SPH-10BT Smart Sync in-dash receiver in the U.S.

The device allows you to dock your smartphone in a receiver. This then transforms your handset into a high-resolution, touchscreen LCD display for using Pioneer Smart Sync Driving features while you’re on the road.

Android phones start lying about offering 5G

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AT&T’s false 5G claim on an Android phone
There are three types of lies: lies, damned lies, and marketing.
Photo: AT&T

Some Android phones already claim they’re connected to a 5G network. This is the result of some fairly shady rebranding on the part of AT&T, which is pretending that improvements to its LTE network make it no longer 4G.

This is raising protests, especially from the other Big 4 wireless carriers.

Apple Watch ECG saves NH man from serious heart problem

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Apple health care
The electrocardiogram built into his Apple Watch 4 was the best gift a NH man received last year.
Photo: Lewis Wallace/Cult of Mac

A Christmas gift may have saved a New Hampshire man’s life. The ECG built into Barry Maden’s new Apple Watch 4 detected a heart problem.

A problem severe enough that the treatment included stopping his heart.

All you need to track any phone’s location is a small bribe

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Apple Maps reservation OpenTable
Your phone company constantly tracks your location, and that information is for sale.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

It’s not hard to get learn the location of almost any phone, according to a new report. All that’s required is some cash and the right contacts in a web of companies with access to the geolocation data collected by mobile phone companies.

How to free up storage on your iPhone or iPad

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There’s no need to buy new storage space for your iPhone — just free up what you already have.
There’s no need to buy new storage space for your iPhone — just free up what you already have.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

It’s happening again! You cheaped out and bought that 32GB iPhone or iPad a few years back, and it’s full up, again. But wait — before you go deleting your photos, or uninstalling apps at random until you recover enough space, take a look at this how-to. You might be able to recover tens of gigabytes from apps you’d totally forgotten about.

iPhone XR already outsells iPhone XS, will soon pass XS Max

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Long-term iPhone XR demand could eventually lead to greater sales than the iPhone XS.
More people have an iPhone XR than an XS, and soon the XS Max.
Photo: Apple

The iPhone XR is Apple’s newest handset but more of its units are already in use than the iPhone XS which launched two months earlier. And the XR is on course to pass the XS Max in the near future.

That said, all three are still trailing the installed base of 2017 iOS models, especially the iPhone X.