Drop into today to enjoy all the new content. Photo: Epic Games
Fortnite season eight has landed, bringing new locations, new weapons, and explosive changes. Players can launch themselves across the map using the new cannon, explore the scorching volcano, and more.
There’s also a brand new Battle Pass with 100 levels, and more than 100 new rewards.
More than half of holiday smartwatch sales were Apple Watches. Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac
A record 18 million smartwatches sold in the final three months of 2018 — and Apple Watch made up more than half of them.
That’s according to the latest global sales research figures from Strategy Analytics. The firm suggests that Apple Watch represented 51 percent of global smartwatch sales. Samsung took second place, followed by Fitbit, and Garman.
Apple has years to get a real 5G iPhone on the market, according to a well-known analyst. Photo: Cult of Mac/@Siddavarapu
The faster cellular data networks being rolled out now will bring tremendous benefits to Apple, according to a well-known industry analyst. Gene Munster even said today, “Apple will be one of 5G’s biggest beneficiaries.”
He listed a number of current and future products that will see gains from this nascent wireless tech.
Apple’s CEO says people know their iPhone can be trusted to securely hold their health records. Photo: Apple
Apple’s CEO is optimistic about his company’s plan to have the iPhone store all our health records, even though it got a black eye recently: turns out some third-party iOS apps leaked health-related data to Facebook.
But Tim Cook says that people trust Apple because the company has a deep commitment to user privacy, and people know that.
One of Apple's self-driving vehicles in the wild. Photo: Idiggapple/Twitter
Apple’s self-driving car project may be nearing the end of the road.
After rumors surfaced last month that the company slashed its workforce for Project Titan, Apple confirmed today that 190 employees in Santa Clara and Sunnyvale have been released from the self-driving car project.
You'll have to bring batteries in your carry-on now. Photo: Hawaiian Airlines
The US Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration is making it a little bit harder for fliers to haul lithium-ion batteries to new destinations.
Under new rules revealed today, passengers are banned from storing lithium-ion cells or batteries on cargo during commercial flights. There’s also a new ban that prevents companies from shipping batteries with more than 30 percent charge on cargo-only flights.
Sell your car and walk, or take public transit or a taxi. Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
You know how when you get into your car, your iPhone starts autoplaying a song after you connect it to your CarPlay-enabled stereo? Who thought that was a good idea? Maybe if you could set it to autoplay the latest episode of your favorite podcast it would be a good feature. But the same song, every time?
The only good thing to take away from this is that Apple’s programmers have decided to stop destroying the planet, and no longer use cars. How else could you explain why this hasn’t been fixed?
Fortunately, you can stop the madness — and it’ll only cost you 99 cents.
Several governments have passed or are working on laws that Apple argues weaken the encyption that protects the privacy of its users. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Australia recently passed a law forcing tech companies to give law enforcement greater access to encrypted messages from users. The U.K. already has a similar law, and India is considering one.
There’s no new legislation in the U.S., but the FBI and other police agencies still want easy access to iPhones and other computers, as well as private conversations.
What’s the time? It’s time to get ill. Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac
For Apple Watch-owning musicians, the MidiWrist app is pretty wild. It lets you control almost any music hardware or software just by tapping the Apple Watch. The possibilities are almost literally endless — and you can even map the smartwatch’s Digital Crown as a custom controller.
It's like living in your own private air bubble. Photo: Apple
Looking for a smart air purifier you can control using your iPhone? If so, Apple has just the product for you — with the Wynd Plus Smart Air Purifier intelligent personal air quality system. The size of a water bottle, the portable device promises to create a perfect bubble of clean air around users.
Best of all, an accompanying iOS app will monitor your environment and alert you of any changes you need to know about.
Apple's Apple Watch business grew 50% last quarter. Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac
Apple Watch Activity Competitions are a perfect way to fall out with friends and colleagues. Simply send a challenge via the Activity app on your watch and, if they accept, a seven-day grudge match commences.
With Activity Competitions, a new feature in watchOS 5, it’s not the taking part that counts. It’s the winning. The winner receives a shiny virtual medal to add to their awards, while the loser gets zip.
Fortunately, when you know how Activity Competitions work, you can maximize your chance of winning every time. Here’s how.
Apple apps no longer dominate App Store search results. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple has started removing duplicate VoIP apps from the App Store.
The purge comes after a report highlighted a shady practice some developers have been using to game App Store search results. Plenty of clones still remain in other categories, however.
Now's a great time to swipe up the outgoing model of Apple Watch. Photo: Cult of Mac
If you don’t need all the bells and whistles of Apple Watch Series 4, it’s a good time to grab Cupertino’s previous-generation smartwatch — and save a little cash in the process.
Jony Ive has been at Apple since 1992. Screenshot: Vanity Fair/YouTube
Today marks the 52nd birthday of Jony Ive, Apple’s much-admired chief design officer. As the shaper of products including, well, virtually everything that Apple builds, Ive has been a central presence since Steve Jobs’ return to Cupertino in the late 1990s.
To celebrate his birthday, check out one of Ive’s most interesting interviews. Happy birthday, Jony!
Hulu has slashed the price of its ad-supported plan, making the service more accessible to budget-conscious consumers.
It’s not all good news, however: Hulu’s Live TV plan, which offers access to more than 60 top channels live and on-demand, is now more expensive. The ad-free Hulu and Hulu + Spotify plans have not been changed.
Google has nothing to announce just yet. Photo: Google
It seems that rumors about Apple Music making its way onto Google Home may have been premature. After Apple Music showed up as a listening option in the Google Home app, Google has issued a statement to correct the record.
Apple is accused of violating multiple LTE patents. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple is on the receiving end of a new lawsuit, claiming that it is infringing more than seven patents relating to LTE cellular standards. The lawsuit potentially affects devices including the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and others.
The lawsuit was filed by multiple firms under the umbrella group Optis Wireless Technology. They are asking for damages “in the form of reasonable royalties.”
More U.S. consumers are interested in Apple devices like these than Android. Photo: Kristal Chan/Cult of Mac
Americans about to purchase a handset are far more interested in an iPhone than in devices running the rival Android OS, according to a survey done by an industry analysis firm.
But the news isn’t all good for Apple. The same survey found only moderate interest in the company’s rumored streaming video service.
You can’t tell which version of the USB standard a cable uses just by looking at it. Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) today released a description of the next version of USB.This brings welcome improvements in data transfer speeds, and USB 3.2 also attempts to remedy some of the confusion the public experiences trying to understand what USB products offer.
Your old iPhone could be worth a small fortune. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
So, you’ve decided you just have to have Samsung’s brand new Galaxy S10. Or maybe even the exciting new Galaxy Fold. But how are you going to pay for your shiny new upgrade? It certainly won’t be cheap.
You can start by selling your old iPhone to Cult of Mac. We typically pay more than most buyback services, which means getting your hands on Samsung’s latest flagship could be a lot more affordable than you think.
The Nubia Alpha looks even uglier in real life. Photo: Nubia
Bendable displays are all the rage at MWC 2019 and one company took the idea to the extreme with a new phone that wraps around your wrist.
Nubia revealed its Alpha Wearable Smartphone that blurs the line between smartphone and watch. Wearing a giant computer on your wrist seems like it’d be annoying and impractical. Nubia’s weird creation is an interesting idea but it looks more like the Infinity Gauntlet than a watch.
Find My iPhone can be used for much more than just tracking iPhone-stealing criminals. Photo: Apple
Before you read the rest of this article about how to find your iPhone, check down the back of the sofa. No? OK, what about the pocket in the jacket you wore today? Still no? OK. Read on.
It might sound crazy to write about how to find your iPhone. After all, everyone knows about Find My iPhone, right? Well, perhaps. You know that it can be used to track a stolen iPhone on a map, if the perp hasn’t switched it off (which they almost certainly have).
But at least one writer here at Cult of Mac didn’t know that Find My iPhone is also great for finding your iPhone in your own home. That writer — let’s call him Luke Dormehl to avoid embarrassment — spent more than an hour trying to track down his muted iPhone before resorting to Apple’s tracking app.
Apple’s original tech guru wants something like this concept device. Photo: Foldable.News
The co-founder of Apple, and its original tech guru, can’t wait to get his hands on a folding iPhone. The first generation of folding devices from Samsung, Huawei, and others have met withskepticism from some quarters, but not Steve Wozniak.
He thinks Apple should get a handset with a folding display on the market soon.
Judge's comment: "Gorgeous dynamic range. There’s detail throughout the photo in the meadow, trees, and clouds. Beautiful deep sky and pleasing color overall." Shot on iPhone 7 Photo: Robert Glaser, Germany
A stunning edit of 10 photos will soon adorn billboards around the world to advertise the iPhone’s camera capabilities after Apple today announced the winners of the Shot on iPhone Challenge.
The contest ran from Jan. 22 to Feb. 7 and drew thousands of images from around the world. Six of the 10 winners are from the United States. The other four photographers are from Belarus, Singapore, Israel, and Germany. They were selected from a panel of judges that included Apple executives and some of the most widely respected artists, photographers, and editors in the photo community.