Apple iPhone

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on Apple iPhone:

iPhone and Mac top Fortune’s list of ‘greatest designs of modern times’

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Both iPhone and the 1984 Macintosh make Fortune’s list of “The greatest designs of modern times.”
The iPhone and the Macintosh are first and second on a list of the greatest designs of our time.
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

Fortune asked experts what product designs they consider truly great, and Apple features very prominently in the responses. iPhone and Mac captured the top two places in the list of 100, and has four products in the top 20.

They beat out some other amazing designs, from Lego bricks and the 747 to the Apollo 11 spacecraft.

Apple adds third company to exclusive list of iPhone manufacturers

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iPhone XS Max
Foxconn doesn’t assemble every iPhone. And soon there’ll be another company putting together iOS handsets.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple reportedly will expand the number of companies that can assemble iPhones. Luxshare Precision could join a rather exclusive club, according to reliable analyst, supposedly to reduce the risk that problems with one manufacturer will cause a shortage of iPhone units.

EU regulators move closer to banning Lightning cable

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The bottom of the XR: The Lightning port isn't perfectly aligned with the speaker holes, and of course, there's no speaker jack.
The days every iPhone has a Lightning port may well be numbered.
Photo: Kristal Chan/Cult of Mac

In a move that seems squarely aimed at killing Apple’s Lightning port, a large majority of the European Parliament voted in favor of establishing a common charger standard for mobile devices.

This is only a step in a process that is likely to see the Lightning connector banned from devices sold in Europe, but it’s a significant one.

Mother saves daughter’s life with Find My Friends app

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Find My Friends
Keep your iPhone close by.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

When 17-year-old Macy Smith was late coming home and didn’t answer her phone, her mother knew something was wrong. But she was able to track the girl down thanks to the Find My Friends application on her daughter’s iPhone, even though Smith was trapped in a wrecked car at the bottom of an embankment.

Mobile officially tops TV as American’s biggest time waster

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iPhone XR 1
It’s been coming a long time, but Americans now spend more hours a day on our phones and tablets than we do watching TVs.
Photo: Apple

US adults spend more time on their phones and tablets than watching traditional televisions. While phone use has been on the rise for years even as TV use dropped, the most recent annual survey done by eMarketer is the first in which mobile devices came out on top.

Only a few years ago, TV use was significantly ahead of phones and tablets. Not any more.

Even Huawei’s CEO prefers iPhone

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Long-term iPhone XR demand could eventually lead to greater sales than the iPhone XS.
Apparently, the CEO of Huawei would rather have one of these iPhones than a handset made by his own company.
Photo: Apple

Rising trade tensions have brought calls in China to boycott Apple devices in favor of Huawei handsets, but the iPhone has an unlikely cheerleader: the CEO of Huawei admits he buys iPhones for his family.

“One can’t narrowly think love for Huawei should mean loving Huawei phones,” said CEO and founder Ren Zhengfei.

iPhone, Apple Watch could get poison gas sensor

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A future Apple Watch might be able to alert you that you’re breathing poison.
A future Apple Watch might be able to alert you that you’re breathing poison.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Apple is considering adding a poison gas sensor to its mobile products. This would enable your iPhone or Apple Watch to detect if you’re being exposed to carbon monoxide or another harmful chemicals.

Apple poaches battery expert from Samsung

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The first iPhone XS teardown video shows the unusual L-shaped battery.
Apple hiring someone to be in charge of battery development is a strong sign future iPhone batteries could be made in-house.
Photo: FixjeiPhone

Apple‘s new global head of battery developments is very familiar with these critical components. Most recently, new Apple hire Soonho Ahn served as a vice president at Samsung SDI, a division of the Korean conglomerate that specializes in battery tech.

If Ahn’s new title doesn’t seem familiar, that’s because he appears to be the first person to hold this position at Apple.

Apple Watch makes more holiday wish lists than iPad or MacBook

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new Apple customers
Is an Apple Watch on your wish list? You're not alone.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

More people are hoping for an Apple Watch than an iPad or MacBook this holiday season, a sign of the growing popularity of this wearable.

That said, plenty of people want this company’s tablets and notebooks too. And a shiny new iPhone is the item Apple fans are wishing for the most . 

You can still snag almost any iPhone XR on launch day

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Nearly every configuration of the Apple's latest handset is still available hours into launch day. What does this say about iPhone XR sales?
Nearly every configuration of the Apple's latest handset is still available hours into launch day. What does this say about iPhone XR sales?
Photo: Apple

Apple began taking pre-orders for the iPhone XR early this morning, and there are still plenty of them left hours later. Contrast this with the iPhone XS launch which saw some configurations sell out in minutes.

While this doesn’t automatically indicate that demand for the iPhone XR is slow, it’s not a very good sign either.

Why Apple makes it nearly impossible to fix your own iPhone

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This opened iPhone X looks a lot like a snake's mouth. That's appropriate.
This opened iPhone X looks a lot like a snake's mouth. That's appropriate.
Photo: iFixit

Whenever a new iPhone or iPad is released, Apple gets criticized for how hard it is to work on. Special tools are required and everything is glued together. Replacing your own screen or battery is nigh impossible.

But it turns out the company is doing you a favor. Because iPhone repair is surprisingly dangerous.

Another celeb gets caught promoting Android from their iPhone

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When you're getting paid to promote the Google Pixel 2 XL, don't use your iPhone.
When you're getting paid to promote the Google Pixel 2 XL, don't use your iPhone.
Photo: Anushka Sharma/Marques Brownlee

It’s happened often enough now that it’s a thing: A celebrity is paid to gush about how much they love an Android device but they make their Twitter posts from an iPhone.

It’s a black eye for Android because it makes it clear which phone the celebrity really likes.

Why some people dump iPhone for Android

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Samsung Galaxy S9
Would you give up your iPhone for a Samsung Galaxy S9 or another Android device, or vice versa? Here're the reasons some people do.
Photo: Samsung

Most people would rather have a root canal than switch from iPhone to Android. In all fairness, the reverse is somewhat true, though people are far more like to switch to iOS than away.

A new survey shows why people give up their iPhone for something from Samsung, Lenovo, or similar Android OEM, and vice versa.

Apple replaces flawed iOS 12 beta

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iOS 12 features
Developers, you can now grab iOS 12 beta 8. This is the replacement for a version that only lasted a few hours on Monday.
Photo: Apple

Just two days after hastily withdrawing a beta of iOS 12, Apple is back with a new version that hopefully fixes the problems in the original.

No one expects betas to be perfect, but iOS 12 beta 7 had significant performance issues. So significant that it was only available for a couple of hours.

The iPhone keyboard could have looked this bad

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A pair of iPhone concept devices called Wallabies.
These iPhone "Wallaby" prototypes were the way early iPhone keyboard concepts were tested.
Photo: Ken Kocienda

The designers of the very first iPhone had a problem: how to get a workable on-screen keyboard into 2.0-by-1.3-inch space. Apple designer Ken Kocienda explains the difficulties in an excerpt from his upcoming book. 

His 304-page description of his 15 years at Apple isn’t out yet, but he gave an early look at a keyboard concept that didn’t work out. 

Samsung ads continue to diss iPhone to distract from weak S9 sales

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Samsung's ads set at an Ingenius bar criticize the iPhone rather than praise the Galaxy S9.
Samsung's ads set at an "Ingenius" bar criticize the iPhone rather than praise the Galaxy S9.
Screenshot: Samsung

When a product isn’t doing well, one marketing strategy is to sling mud at the competition. That’s why all Samsung’s latest ads don’t focus on the Galaxy S9, but criticize the iPhone instead.

There are four new ads that target some aspect of Apple’s products, such as the notch, no microSD card slot, and a lack of on-screen multitasking.

Unearthed interview shows Steve Jobs knew the iPhone would be ‘huge’

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jobs figure
This plastic model of Steve Jobs has a better vision of the future of smartphones than many rival CEOs.
Photo: DAM Toys

Ten years ago, Apple co-founder and  then-CEO Steve Jobs understood that smartphones were going to be a big deal. And he realized software would be an important part of that.

With 20/20 hindsight, it’s easy to dismiss that vision. But Jobs was talking in August 2008, a year after the release of the first iPhone, and only a month after the iOS App Store debuted. Most people had flip phones, and PCs dominated the computing landscape.

iPhone lets Phillies fans order a ballpark beer by text

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It's the fullfillment of many a baseball fan's dreams: beer by text.
It's the fullfillment of many a baseball fan's dreams: beer by text.
Photo: Aramark

The Philadelphia Phillies and Aramark started a pilot program that lets fans order beer from their seats using an iPhone.

The service makes use of Apple Business Chat, a service that launched this spring designed to let customers send messages to companies without strings attached.

Samsung’s new RAM chip will make future iPhones even faster

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A nw type of Samsung RAM is significantly faster than what's in the iPhone today.
A nw type of Samsung RAM is significantly faster than what's in the iPhone today.
Photo: Samsung

Samsung developed a type of RAM that’s 1.5 times faster than what’s included in smartphones today. And, even though Apple and Samsung are arch rivals, it’s very likely to be in iPhone someday.

The new 8Gb LPDDR5 DRAM boasts a data rate of up to 6,400 Mbps. That’s fast enough to send 51.2 GB, or about 14 full-HD video files, in a second.

How Apple sidestepped Japan’s antitrust rules

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Apple Japan required carriers to subsidize iPhone
Apple Japan used contracts to require carriers to subsidize iPhone prices.
Photo: Apple

Apple got a bit pushy with Japan’s wireless service providers, and was slapped down by regulators as a result.

The iPhone maker was requiring the carriers to put subsidies on iOS handsets. The Japanese Fair Trade Commission decided that was a violation of Japan’s antitrust rules.