This week brought warmer weather and a whole bunch of great new deals. From iFixit’s invaluable electronics repair kit, to a lifetime of virtual private network access, a digital note-taking set and a massive storage upgrade that hides in the SD slot. Take a look and take something cool home with you:
After another red letter week at the Cult of Mac Deals Store means we’ve got some select cuts to share this week. There’s something here for everybody — save yourself some cash and a trip to the Genius Bar with a custom set of tools for fixing your electronics. Instantly enhance your iPhone’s pictures with a set of detachable lenses. Get an anonymous second phone number or 10 top tier apps for your iPhone and Mac.
Take a look:
For all the amazing devices you’ll find in an electronics store these days, it’s nothing compared to the wild DIY imaginations of people who aren’t the CEOs of major tech companies. Is there a machine to feed me breakfast? What about a device that guarantees I make a proper entrance?
No matter what you hare-brained idea, below you’ll find some of the best DIY tools to make it a reality.
A teardown of the new iPhone SE reveals that it has the same waterproof seals as its big brothers the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus — despite looking almost identical to the older iPhone 5s.
Getting a broken home button on your iPhone 6 replaced may cause the entire device to become a worthless brick of metal and glass.
Thanks to a new feature in a software update recently pushed out by Apple, thousands of iPhone users who had their devices fixed by non-official repair shops have been greeted by a disastrous “error 53” message that locks the device — and even the Apple Store can’t bring it back from the dead.
Would you shell out an extra $50 for your iPhone if it were made in the United States?
Maybe, but getting consumers to pay more isn’t even the most unrealistic aspect of Donald Trump’s goal of forcing Apple to bring manufacturing back to America.
For the Apple fans disappointed in the Quasimodo look of the new Smart Battery Case, there is probably great satisfaction in seeing it all busted up. Yes, the staff at iFixit wasted no time prying one open to behold the guts of the beast.
iFixit did not defend the case from the “ugly” tag so many people gave it in its’ first 24 hours of public life. The technicians were impressed with the ducting on the case, which turned a downward-facing speaker into one that faces forward. The microphone also faces forward and iFixit wonders if this a preview on future designs.
We’re just days away from carving up turkeys in the US, but the folks at iFixit are busting out the blades a little early for their official teardown of the new Apple Smart Keyboard for the iPad Pro.
The new teardown from iFixit reveals how Apple made the Keyboard/Smart Cover super durable by encapsulating the entire product in some high tech fabric that should make it last much longer than a normal keyboard, which is good because it is also impossible to repair.
Check out the keyboards guts below:
The Apple Pencil stylus accessory was one of the most-praised parts of the newly-launched iPad Pro — which, naturally, means that our friends at iFixit were tripping over one another to pull it apart and scoop through its gory innards like geeky zombies with a taste for tech components.
Here’s what they discovered in their customary teardown.
Kyle Wiens thinks the iPad should be banned. It’s a “highly immoral” product, he says, because it can’t be opened and repaired when the battery dies. It’s a throwaway device, and he wants governments to prohibit it.
“It’s not designed to be long-lasting,” said Wiens, who is the co-founder and CEO of iFixit. “It’s like selling a car that has to be replaced when the tires wear out.”
Wiens is the Bernie Sanders of the electronics industry. He doesn’t just want reform — he wants revolution!
Here’s why.
Apple’s magical new Mouse, TrackPad and keyboard have been given the official teardown treatment from the guys at iFixit today, revealing the minuscule components inside the rechargeable new peripherals.
The teardown on the keyboard reveals the tiny new battery Apple squeezed in that has some design similarities to the iPhone’s battery. iFixit also took a closer look at the new Taptic Engine in the pricey Magic TrackPad 2, and filleted the Magic Mouse 2.
Check out what’s inside each device:
The new iPhone 6s looks identical to last year’s model, but there are some major differences in the hardware, as revealed by the gadget gurus at iFixit, who have already torn apart Jony Ive’s fabulous new creation.
The new, fourth-generation Apple TV and its smart remote could be among the most repairable Apple devices in history, according to a new teardown carried out by our friends over at iFixit.
We’ve gotten our first look at the guts of the latest Apple hardware thanks to an iPad Mini 4 teardown that’s appeared online, and the new tablet from the Cupertino company is looking really familiar. But we don’t mean that in a bad way.
Repair-advise site iFixit has sacrificed one of the devices in the name of science and education, and its findings reveal that at its heart, the iPad Mini 4 is a smaller version of the upper-tier iPad Air 2. Here’s what the carnage revealed.
Times are moving fast, and keeping up can be tough. That’s why we’ve gathered some great ways to step up your game without feeling the pain in your wallet. From comprehensive coding courses to gadget self-repair and sci fi-worthy lightbulbs, we’ve got something to take anybody to the next level. But act fast — like the present moment, these deals will be gone before you know it.
With today’s tech, the general rule seems to be that if it’s broke you can’t fix it. But perhaps you could, if you just had the tools to work with the micro-sized, specialized screws and airtight seams of phones, computers, gaming consoles, and the like. Most of those tools for access are in this excellent bundle from iFixit’s, which includes a full arsenal of screwdrivers and an ultra-thin prying blade, all for $59.95 at Cult of Mac Deals.
iFixit has made repairing broken iPhones as simple as setting up Ikea furniture thanks to the site’s easy-to-follow guides and excellent repair tools Apple doesn’t really want you to use. Now the company is about make it easier to fix even more broken gadgets by partnering with Electronic Recyclers International.
Finding parts to fix broken Kindles, GoPros, and Nexus devices can be practically impossible, but now that iFixit and ERI are teaming up, consumers will have a way to keep more of their busted gizmos alive, instead of tossing them in the wood chipper.
Other than the small matter of it not making phone calls, what’s the difference between the iPhone 6 and the sixth-generation iPod touch that Apple released last week?
That’s the question iFixit tried to answer with its teardown of Apple’s newest music player.
The Apple Watch is one of the most impressive feats of engineering to come out of Cupertino. When it comes to repairing Jony Ive’s wearable yourself, you’re not going to get much help though, so the brilliant minds at iFixit have already come up with a few repair guides.
iFixit published four guides today on how to repair various parts of the Apple Watch that will help make your fixes a breeze. Unfortunately, iFixit says pretty much any repair you make yourself will break the Apple Watch’s NFC chip, but they’ve got a guide on how to fix that two.
Here’s are some of the quick fixes you can make to Apple Watch yourself:
The folks at iFixit wasted no time gutting their new Apple timepiece.
Their Apple Watch teardown confirms that the device comes with a hidden diagnostic port. They’ve also exposed the watch’s Taptic Engine, located the tiny battery, and found some gold highlights on the Apple Watch Sport.
Check it out:
Apple’s new MacBook may be one “for the future” but it’s already had a teardown from our friends over at iFixit, filling you in on all the ways the next-gen notebook differs from its predecessor.
That includes Apple’s butterfly mechanism keys, its Force Touch trackpad, form-fitting layered battery, and, of course, the thinnest, most energy-efficient Retina display ever seen on a Mac.
It’s not just ports the new notebook is missing, however. It’s also one of Apple’s least-repairable notebooks to date!
As they so often do when new Apple products land, the gadget vivisectionists at iFixIt have used one of their trademark spudgers to crack open a brand iPad Air 2, and there’s at least one interesting finding.
All the iPad Air’s specs have improved this generation except for one critical thing: battery.
The folks at iFixit have already gotten their hands on a new 27-inch Retina iMac, and their teardown reveals everything you need to know about the machine’s innards.
Thanks to a rear access door, the RAM in the new iMac remains user upgradable without needing to open the case. Most of the iMac’s internal design has stayed the same from last year’s model.
Kyle Wiens has seen the insides of just about every gadget under the sun, and he’s not surprised that the iPhone 6 Plus is susceptible to bending.
Wiens is CEO of iFixit, which is famous for its insightful teardowns of Apple products, and he says there’s nothing wrong with the design of the iPhone 6 Plus.
It’s long and thin. Duh — it’ll bend.
“I’m not surprised that it’s happening,” he told Cult of Mac in an email. “It’s thinner than other phones and metal bends.”
Yesterday, Apple quietly updated the 16GB iPod Touch, adding a rear-camera to the base model device while dropping the price of the entire line by $30 to $50 each.
Was anything else new? To find out, the famed gadget vivisectionists at iFixIt ripped apart a new 16GB iPod touch.
