When Apple fires an executive, the company is rarely straightforward about the situation. Apple never puts out a press release stating plainly that the executive was canned. So Tuesday’s unexpected announcement that Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s head of retail, is leaving in April led many to suspect she was fired.

That’s because the announcement came as a surprise and seems rushed. She’s certainly not retiring or quitting to join another company. The press release phrase “new personal and professional pursuits” sounds like code for “canned.”

If your iPhone is ever lost or stolen, be extra careful about scammers attempting trick your Apple ID password from you. iPhone thieves reportedly have an elaborate system set up to scam this information, as it’s needed to make a stolen device much more valuable.

The 2018 MacBook Pro might be the most disappointing laptop Apple has come out with in years.

Despite being one of the lightest and most powerful Macs ever, The CultCast host Erfon Elijah finds the 2018 MacBook Pro fraught with problems. In his latest video, he goes through all the reasons — from the lack of ports to the crappy keyboard — why he thinks the new machine is far from perfect.

Let him count the ways the new MacBook Pro falls short.

You already know how to take a selfie. It’s probably the first thing you did when you got your iPhone up and running. But did you know you can take a selfie and add stickers? Right there in the Messages app?

Your friends are already hungry for another one of your awesome selfies. Imagine how fired up they’re going to be when they see those stickers.

A Connecticut woman used the Find My iPhone app on her iPad to track her ex-husband moments before he stormed the house and fatally shot her, police said.

Once she realized he was just outside the home, Taylor had only enough time to alert her son to call 9-1-1.

A few of us here at Cult of Mac work on iPads pretty much exclusively. Apple’s tablet proves more than capable of “real” work, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. Far from it, in fact. The iPad Pro 2018 is a fantastic machine that invites you to use it for everything. But that only makes the frustration worse.

Today I’d like to talk about what really drives me nuts about the iPad.

Spotify is making a push to cement its self as the best audio platform in the world. The company revealed today that it acquired two podcasting companies and that it plans to spend big on original audio content.

Despite growing competition from Apple, Amazon and YouTube, Spotify is inching closer to having 100 million paid subscribers. In an interview on CNBC this morning, Spotify CEO Daniel Elk didn’t sound worried one bit about Apple and Amazon spending tons of cash to beat Spotify.

Apple‘s CEO told his employees that the company’s new head of retail sales is “one of Apple’s most passionate and experienced advocates for our customers and employees.” Tim Cook also highlighted Deirdre O’Brien’s previous experience with Apple retail operations.

These comments came in an email sent this morning to retail emplyees.  The full text of this is now available.

A number of Adobe Premiere CC users are reporting that a damaging bug has blown their MacBook Pro speakers.

The problem seems to occur when using one of a number of audio enhancement tools, and the only fix is to get the machine’s speakers replaced.

Apple today added a Neymar Jr. Custom Edition of the Beats Studio3 wireless headphones to its online store.

The headphones, which celebrate the soccer star’s 27th birthday, feature a black and white design inspired by São Paulo street graffiti, where Neymar first started playing soccer.

The 1990s was a simpler time, back when Apple was an underdog computer company and kids were obsessed with keychain virtual pets like Tamagotchis.

Jump forward to 2019, and things have certainly changed. Sure, Apple’s a whole lot bigger than it was, but virtual pets have come a long way, too. Instead of regular virtual pets, upcoming iOS game Noa Noa! is a virtual pet simulator, in which you control a Tamagotchi-like device inside the game. In other words, it’s a virtual virtual pet simulator. Got it?

Spotify is closing in on 100 million paying users, hammering home its position as the No. 1 company in streaming music.

In its latest quarterly earnings, the streaming company revealed that it now has 96 million paying subscribers around the world. That’s up 8 million in three months, and 36 percent year-over-year. The company also made its first ever quarterly operating profit. But not all the news is good.

Power is everything, especially when it comes to portable technology. So as we leave outlets behind, it pays to have a battery that can make up the difference. Luckily, batteries have been evolving along with the rest of the tech we use.

A new flaw discovered in macOS Mojave puts your sensitive Keychain data at risk.

One security researcher has demonstrated an exploit that could allow anyone to access saved usernames and passwords without administrator access. He won’t share the details with Apple, however, because there is no reward on offer.

There’s no doubt that Apple is a master when it comes to producing compelling commercials for its products. One of the coolest things about these ads, however, is how often they don’t just feature Apple products on screen — but are actually created using Apple products, too.

That was the case with a recent short film, directed by Jia Zhangke, that Apple commissioned to celebrate the Chinese New Year. In a new video, Zhangke goes behind the scenes to show how it was achieved using his trusty iPhone XS.

Apple Stores are known for their high level of service. An Australian dad begs to differ, however, based on his reported experience in a Sydney Apple Store recently.

Specifically, he claims that he was given a hard sell on using Apple Pay on his iPhone. Despite not wanting to use the service, he reports feeling patronized and — worse — as though the store was refusing to let him pay for his product in any other way.

Apple has ceased signing iOS 12.1.1 and iOS 12.1.2 following the recent release of iOS 12.1.3.

You no longer have the opportunity to downgrade your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch if you have already upgraded to the most recent update.

The U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee has questions for Apple about its recent FaceTime bug — and why it took as long as it did to respond to the problem.

This follows similar concerns being voiced by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who said last week that her office is launching an investigation into Apple’s failure to warn customers about the FaceTime vulnerability.

If you’ve been frustrated because there’s not a sloth emoji, the Unicode Consortium has come to your rescue. It’s just announced lots of new emojis that will likely make their appearance in this fall’s iOS update.

These reflect the diversity in our society, including men and women in wheelchairs, people who are deaf, and people who are blind. 

Wireless charging is the way of the future, but you can have it today. Below you’ll find a pair of wireless chargers from Cresuer: one for the desk, and one for the dashboard. They both offer an affordable way to add modern convenience to your life, so read on for more details:

Apple tapped Deirdre O’Brien to be its new retail boss today in light of the news that Angela Ahrendts plans to leave the company.

While O’Brien may not be a household name to most Apple fans, she’s been with the company for more than three decades. From the days of Steve Jobs saving Apple from bankruptcy to watching Tim Cook leading the company to a first-ever $1 trillion valuation, O’Brien has seen huge changes during her tenure with the iPhone-maker. Now she’s set to be one of the most powerful people in Silicon Valley.

Here are six things you didn’t know about the new Apple retail boss.

Longtime Apple retail boss Angela Ahrendts is leaving the company after reshaping Apple’s online and retail strategies over the last five year.

Apple revealed today that it has named Deirdre O’Brien as the new senior vice president of Retail + People. Ahrendts, who was once looked at as a possible successor to Apple CEO Tim Cook, is leaving the company for new personal professional pursuits.

Proud Tesla owners can pick up an iPhone case designed by the company that made their car.

A pair of these can be purchased on the new Tesla store on Amazon. There are some other products as well, like car models.

Last week we saw how to use Google’s search operators to narrow a search and get exactly what you want, just by adding a few words to your search string. Today we’ll check out the Google’s Advanced Image Search, which is just as handy, only for pictures

The winners of the eighth-annual Mobile Photography Awards were announced today and it is likely there are some members of the jury still losing sleep over the selections.

First place is awarded in 19 categories followed by a slew of honorable mentions most stunning enough to hold down top honors.

The jury slogged through more than 7,000 images from 65 countries.