Install iOS 12.5.5 on your older iPhone to protect it from the Pegasus spyware. Photo: Андрей Сидоренко/Pixabay/Cult of Mac
iPhone models that can’t install iOS 14 or iOS 15 can still get protection from the infamous Pegasus spyware thanks to iOS 12.5.5. Apple released this update Thursday for devices as old as the iPhone 5s to close a security hole in active use by hackers.
The same update can also be installed on older iPad and iPod touch models.
Score a solid Apple tablet at a 52% discount. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
The iPad mini 3 is one of those older-generation Apple devices that holds up well. For an e-reader, web browser or just all-around mobile media player, the tiny tablets offer all the features you want. But they come with one real advantage over the newest model: They’re a lot less expensive.
The iPad lineup has seen a ton of changes since Apple introduced its first tablet in 2010. Not only have the form factors evolved ever so slightly, but the internal components have pushed the product line from a cool reading/gaming device into a powerhouse machine that can replace your laptop.
To see just how much iPad has progressed, EverythingApplePro created a speed test using every iPad ever made. It’s no surprise that the iPad Pro comes out on top, but the original iPad off a shocker by beating some of its successors.
This is what happens when you pay $80 for an iPad in a parking lot. Photo: Apple
Do you know the difference between a tablet and a tile? If so, then there’s a good chance that you wouldn’t be the target of a scammer in Victorville, California, who this week duped an unsuspecting woman out of $80 by selling her what she thought to be an iPad mini 3.
In the worst plot twist this side of a modern M. Night Shyamalan movie, the “iPad” turned out not to be an iPad at all, but rather a piece of tile in an iPad box.
The EU wants gadgets that are easier to fix and upgrade. Photo: 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.
If you’re looking to get a new iPad for as little cash as possible, here’s an intriguing offer: Starting tomorrow, Sprint is letting customers lease an iPad Air 2 or iPad mini 3 for as little as $17 per month.
It’s an unusual offer, and one that Sprint describes as an “industry first.” The lease itself lasts 24 months and, enticingly, doesn’t require any upfront costs.
So what are the prices for an iPad lease from Sprint?
Gold finish notwithstanding, the iPad mini 3 looks awfully familiar. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
To paraphrase Pontius Pilate, I can find no fault with the iPad mini 3. Having said that, I can wash my hands of a proper review and allow Apple’s new half-pint tablet to be crucified in the budget-conscious court of public opinion.
Nice as it is, the iPad mini 3 truly is a gigantic ripoff when compared to its predecessor. It’s got the same specs, the same basic form factor, the same functionality and battery life.
If we were to write a review, it would read something like this: “Touch ID is a swell addition. Please read our review of the iPad mini 2 for more info. That is all.”
Apple's iPad Air 2 is so good, it almost disappears. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Pity Jony Ive. The poor bastard just can’t catch a break.
Ive and his design team at Apple have just released a pair of exquisite iPads — the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 — and yet are getting grief because the iPads offer nothing “new.”
“New” being things like face-tracking cameras, heart-rate monitors or — god forbid — a stylus. These are the kinds of things that get called “innovation.”
Instead, the new iPads look a lot like last year’s models, and those from every year before. This makes many tech reviewers yawn.
“Largely unnecessary,” says The New York Times’ lukewarm review. “More of the same,” writes Business Insider. “You might think I’d be pretty excited about them — but I’m not,” says Walt Mossberg at Re/Code.
Indeed, instead of adding new hardware features, Ive’s team has even removed them. The mute/lock button is gone on the iPad Air 2. Who removes features?
Once you go AT&T, you can't go back. Screenshot: Apple
The Apple SIM in the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 is based on an awesome idea—who doesn’t want to switch carriers with a tap of the screen? But the actual utility of the Apple SIM is pretty muddled, as evidenced by AT&T locking the SIM to its network.
There’s a general theme throughout these dozen or so reviews of Apple’s newest tablets: boring. While these are unequivocally the best iPads every (like every year since the original), that’s not quite enough anymore.