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Apple Never Contacted Hacked Site That Compromised Employee Macs About Attack

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Following yesterday’s surprise announcement that multiple employee computers within Cuptertino had been compromised by a malicious zero-day Java exploit that was uploaded to an iOS developer forum, the owner of the attacked site has spoken out, claiming that not only did he have no idea he had been hacked… Apple never even contacted him to tell him.

Has Your iPhone Ever Ruined Or Saved You On A Date? [Let’s Talk]

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Has your iPhone ever caused trouble between you and your significant other?

 

My iPhone is magical. It can do all kinds of crazy stuff to help me with dates, like finding the best sushi place, directions to a park, and nearby events.

The problem with my iPhone being so damn fantastic is that a lot of times on dates I’m too engrossed with what’s happening in the digital world, that it distracts me from the real life gorgeous woman sitting across the table from me.

I don’t know how many times it’s happened that I’ll be sitting in a restaurant and take out my iPhone because I’m bored. It’s become a nervous tick. I’ll chuckle at something and say, “Holy shit, did you see this hilarious Vine that Matt just posted?” And then she rolls her eyes at me, and I apologize, and the mood is destroyed with no hope of me ever getting any action or advancing the relationship further.

I’m not alone, right? I’m sure a lot of our readers have some amazing horror stories of using their iPhones on dates, and we’d love to hear them. Come over to the Cult of Mac Forums and tell us all about the worst, or best, experiences you’ve had when your iPhone has gotten mixed up in your love life.

Click here to go to the Cult of Mac Forums and post your story.

Are You Disappointed With The iPad Mini? [Let’s Talk]

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ipadminiismighty

There always seems to be an echo of people on the Internet that are disappointed after an each Apple event. Maybe it’s those people’s own fault because they hyped the products up too much in their minds before actually seeing them. Or maybe Apple’s under-delivered a little bit on the iPad Mini.

I plan to buy an iPad Mini on November 2nd (mostly because I just sold my iPad 3 last night), but part of me wishes the iPad Mini was just a little bit better. I wish it either had a better processor, a better display, or a better price. If Apple had improved just one of those three things a little bit then I’d be warp-drive enthusiastic about it. But after the unveil, the iPad Mini doesn’t look more compelling than a Kindle Fire or Nexus 7, other than that it runs iOS 6.

What do you think about the iPad Mini? Are you excited? Disappointed? Or is everything just as you thought it would be? We’d love to hear y’alls reactions, so head over to the forums and let us hear them.

Click here to share your reaction to the iPad Mini in the Cult of Mac Forums

Would You Buy A Colorful iPad Mini? [Let’s Talk]

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We’re expecting Apple to announce the iPad Mini really soon. Production is ramping up, and the keynote is rumored to take place next week. By now Apple’s got all the details in place for the first generation iPad Mini, and it’s more than likely only going to come in black and white, but what if Apple made the iPad Mini as colorful as the new iPod Touches?

Gizmodo’s been playing around with iPad Mini concept art, changing the back plating to match the new colors of the iPod Touch, and it looks really good. A red or yellow iPad Mini would look pretty sweet, and because it’s going to be a cheaper tablet, parents are probably going to be buying a lot of iPad Mini’s for their kids at Christmas, and kids love the hell out of colorful products. Do you think Apple should release the iPad Mini in a rainbow of colors like they do with iPods and the original iMac? Tell us what you think over at the Cult of Mac forums.

Click here to go to the Cult of Mac Forums and share what you think about the idea of colorful iPad Minis

Does Your New iPhone 5 Already Have Scratches On The Back? [Let’s Talk]

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Even though the iPhone 5 has only been in most owners’ pockets for four days, a lot of people have complained that the back plate on their iPhone 5 has a ton of scratches. Apple says the back of iPhone 5 is made of anodized 6000 series aluminum — the same material used in Apple notebooks — so it shouldn’t scratch that much, but if you’ve seen this picture, that doesn’t appear to be the case.

How’s the back of your iPhone 5 holding up? Does it have a few scars already, or has it been just fine? Are you going to get a case, or does a little wear and tear give your device some integrity? We want to know how your iPhone 5 has been doing so far so come chat with us about it in the Cult of Mac Forums.

Click here to go to the Cult of Mac forums and talk about whether your iPhone 5 is prone to scratches.

What’s Your Favorite New Feature Of iOS 6? [Let’s Talk]

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To update or not to update, that is the question.
To update or not to update, that is the question.

Surely by now you’ve had enough time to download and install iOS 6 on your iPhone or iPad and play around a bit. It’s crammed with a crazy amount of new features, like Passbook, Maps, Flyover, VIP inboxes, new App Store, iCloud tabs, Call reminders, Panorama, Facebook Integration, Shared Photo Streams and like 200 other features I can’t even remember.

Of all the new goodies baked into iOS 6, what is your favorite? What’s surprised you so far? We want to hear all about what you think, so head over to the forums and let’s talk.

 

Click here to talk about your favorite new iOS 6 features in the Cult of Mac Forums

Would You Use An iTunes Pandora-like Streaming Service? [Let’s Talk]

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iTunes is terrible. I do my best and try to never ever ever open it up, even though I got about 150GB of music crammed in there. A new report from the Wall Street Journal though says that Apple is looking to fix iTunes and build their very own streaming service that works kind of like Pandora.

Apple has the most extensive digital music library on the planet, so it might be really cool. At the same time, I already have Rdio that I use every day, and Pandora doesn’t even let me choose which songs I get to listen to. So even though an iTunes streaming service sounds like a dream, I don’t know if I’d actually use it. But what do you guys think? Would you actually use an iTunes streaming service? Or would you stick with Spotify and Rdio?

Click here to tell us what you think about the iTunes streaming service at the Cult of Mac forums

Which iOS App Do You Use To Snap Photos Before Uploading To Instagram? [Let’s Talk]

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Instagram just released a big new update for their popular photo sharing service. It’s simple. It’s got filters. It’s got a big map with geo-tagged pictures. It’s great. But does anyone use the Instagram app to snap pictures the pictures they actually upload, or do they use something else first?

There are a lot of great camera apps on the iPhone, other than the default app, that take pictures – Camera+, Instagram, Picfx, Snapseed, Hipstamatic, Pixlr-o-matic, and way too many more to list.  I use Instagram a lot, but thing is, I don’t think I’ve ever taken a photo from inside the Instagram app and then uploaded it. I always use another app first and then import it into Instagram. Am I the only one? What’s your process for taking picture with your iPhone and getting them onto Instagram? Come tell us what you do with your photos before uploading to Instagram.

Click here to go to the Cult of Mac forums and tell us what apps you use along with Instagram

iPad Mini? iPad Air? What Should Apple Call The Newer Smaller iPad? [Let’s Talk]

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Dude, what is Apple going to call this newer, thinner, smaller iPad they’re about to launch? iPad Junior? iBook? iPad Mini? iPad Air? iPad 3? I have no idea anymore. Last night I went to bed completely confident that Apple was going to probably call it something simple like “iPad Mini,” but then I woke up to some new renders of the smaller iPad and talk about how Apple might call it the iPad Air.

Now I’m second guessing the whole iPad Mini thing, and leaning towards iPad Air. I really want Apple to call it an iBook, just because I want to read iBooks on my iBook, but that’s probably not going to happen. Are there some better possible names for a smaller iPad? What do you think Apple should call the “iPad Mini.” I need to know!

Click here to tell us what Apple should call the smaller iPad in the Cult of Mac Forums

 

Image: iMore

Do You Plan To Switch Carriers When You Buy The New iPhone? [Let’s Talk]

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Have you been waiting for the next iPhone?
Which carrier will you run this bad boy on?

My contract with AT&T is finally up, which might be the most glorious moment of my smartphone owning days. I’ve been jealous of my friend’s using their iPhones on Verizon for over a year, and now I can join them and maybe get some better service. Or go to Sprint. Hell, I might even go to Virgin Mobile and save some fat stacks of cheddar on their pre-paid plans.

I don’t know exactly what I’ll do, but I’m free, and that’s the important part. But what about you guys? Do you plan to switch carriers when the new iPhone comes out? Is the grass really greener in other cellular pastures? Or is it pretty much all the same? I’d love to hear your thoughts or stories about switching carriers in the comments.

Click here to go to the Cult of Mac Forums and tell us whether you’ll switch carriers when you buy the new iPhone

Would You Be Angry If Apple Introduced A Smaller Dock Connector This Fall? [Let’s Talk]

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The writing is on the wall my friends. Apple is going to announce a sleek and beautiful new iPhone in September, only instead of using the traditional 30-pin connector, it’s going to use something a lot smaller. Like, “maybe only 9-pins” smaller. Apple might sell an adaptor so your old iPod speaker docks can play nice with the new connector, but will that satisfy you?

Does the news make you sad or angry? Or maybe you’re like, “Smaller dock connector? Hells yeah! Now all my iDevices are going to be slimmer and cooler.” I dunno. You tell me. We want to hear how you feel about the smaller dock connector and whether or not you’re worried it will ruin all of your Apple accessories.

Click here to tell us your thoughts on the smaller dock connector in the Cult of Mac forums

 

Do You Ever Use The YouTube App On Your iPhone? [Let’s Talk]

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When the iPhone first came out I remember using the YouTube app almost everyday for the first couple of months. It was amazing to be able to stream videos anywhere I had service, even if it took forever for them to buffer. It was magic. I couldn’t get enough. And then I stopped using it.

Now the YouTube app feels like a clunky old dinasaur. I get annoyed when a link opens a YouTube video up in the app rather than the web browser, and I hide the app in my “Apps I Wish I Could Just Delete” folder, along with Stocks, NewStand, and a few others.

Do you ever use the YouTube app? Why or why not?

Click here to go to the Cult of Mac forums and tell us what you think of the YouTube app.

What’s The Coolest “Hidden” Feature You’ve Found In Mountain Lion [Let’s Talk]

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Mountain Lion is packed with over 200 new features, some of which you may never notice. Like did you know you can change the name of documents just by clicking its name up in the menu bar now? Or there’s tons of neat little things in the Accessibility Settings that will steal 15 minutes of your life as you play with them.

Now that you’ve had a few days to play around with Mountain Lion, what have you found that’s surprised you? Have you found any tricks and hidden features yet? If so, what are they?

CLICK HERE TO TALK ABOUT HIDDEN FEATURES IN THE CULT OF MAC FORUMS

What’s The Best RSS Reader App For Mac? [Let’s Talk]

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With the launch of Mountain Lion, Apple also pushed out an update to Safari which removed the RSS button so many people loved. We received a lot of email over the past 24 hours asking what the best RSS Reader Apps for Mac are, but we figure you guys read just as much news as us, so why not ask you.

What’s the best RSS Reader App for Mac, and why? What do you look for most in an RSS Reader?

CLICK HERE TO TELL US YOUR FAVORITE RSS READER APP IN OUR FORUMS

Are iPads Really Cannibalizing Mac Sales? [Let’s Talk]

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Apple’s earnings call is set for 2pm PST today, where Tim Cook and the gang will talk all about sales figures for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Even though the Mac has enjoyed great sales numbers over the past few years while all other PC makers are experiencing a decline, the Mac isn’t growing as steadily as it once had. Is the iPad to blame?

What have you noticed among you and your friends? Are you considering abandoning the Mac altogether in favor of the convenience of the iPad? We want to hear from you on whether you think the iPad is already replacing desktop computers for novice PC users.

CLICK HERE TO TELL US WHAT YOU THINK IN OUR FORUM THREAD

Welcome To The New Cult Of Mac Forums! [Announcement]

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(Editor’s Note: This post has been stickied to the top of the front page. There may be more recent news posts below it.)

As writers at Cult of Mac, we have one of the coolest jobs on the planet. We get to sit at home, in our  underwear, and talk about Apple and new technology all day. It’s an awesome privilege that we truly enjoy, but there’s been something missing on Cult of Mac over the last few years.

We have some amazingly passionate readers that love Apple just as much, or more, than we do. We’re lucky to have readers with great insights on the latest Apple news who are also creative and eager to share. You guys ARE The Cult of Mac, and we haven’t been great at providing a platform for you to gather, interact, and share everything you know and love about Apple. But we’re ready to change all that.

Today, Cult of Mac is proud to announce that we’re launching our new forums and they’re made just for you. A place where Apple fans across the globe can come hangout to meet other Apple fans and share their creative insights into all things Apple.

Apple Introduces Apple Support Communities

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I tried to look up something this Sunday morning on Apple’s Discussion Forums and they were down. Now fast forward to this evening after all the obligatory Sunday events and the sites back up along with a big surprise.  Apple has launched Apple Support Communities. The site is back up in a big way.

Apple Support Communities are a revised version of Apple’s popular discussion forums. The site now makes it easier for Mac, Mac OS X, iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and iOS users to find answers to problems or questions they might have.

Evidence For New MacBook Air, iLife ’11 Found In Apple’s Forums

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In just two and a half hours, we can all expect Steve Jobs to strut on stage and orgiastically unburden himself of the many new secret products and developments kept a lid upon in Cupertino for the past few months… but thanks to some too-eager web monkey’s blunder over on the official Apple support forums, we have semi-official confirmation of several new products that we now know to expect later today.

Apparently, the official Apple forums have already been setup with new sections dedicated to iMovie ’11, iPhoto ’11 and GarageBand ’11… all of which are applications to be found in the rumored iLife ’11 software suite that is expected to be announced today.

There’s more juicy gossip than that though: the Polish geeks who found the new product sections also found one for the new MacBook Air, as well as a “Reserved 2010” section, which could be just about anything. Does Steve have a surprise announcement up his sleeve, or will that Reserved 2010 sub-forum turn into an official section for Mac OS X 10.7 or even the CDMA iPhone?

Apple Censoring Discussion Forums Ref. Consumer Reports

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apple1984

Apple has started to delete threads full of comments about the Consumer Reports article bashing the iPhone 4 antenna from its support forums.

Apple’s Discussion Forum censors went into overdrive today in what appears to be an attempt by Apple to squash all references to the Consumer Reports statement that it “can’t recommend” the iPhone 4 until the antenna issues are fixed, issues that their labs and I’ve independently confirmed on my own iPhone 4.

This isn’t the first time that Apple has had sour grapes about topics posted to their support forums. They have been known to regularly delete discussions about hardware or software flaws that Apple wasn’t ready to talk about. I’ve heard and read about Apple’s dreadful censoring habit for years when there were issues about iMacs, Powerbooks, and Mac OS X Leopard. It wasn’t until today that I saw a real example of Apple’s censorship happening to something that interested me.

I checked the forum postings that were in earlier reports and I wasn’t able to access them and received this error: “Error: you do not have permission to view the requested forum or category.” I searched the forums and found two live threads (at press time) here and here. Ironically, the first thread has disappeared only to be replaced by the error message and so far the second thread is still live, but I’m sure that won’t last very long.

Unfortunately for Apple, but luckily for us is that the Internet has a lot of wide open spaces that can be used to discuss the antenna issue that Apple does not want to admit to — so go ahead voice your comments good or bad here on Cult of Mac.