iPhone - page 6

Get up to 47% off compact magnetic chargers for all your Apple devices

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This magnetic wireless charging stand powers up four Apple devices at once.
This magnetic wireless charging stand powers up four Apple devices at once.
Photo: SwitchEasy

If you haven’t tried a multi-device charging stand, you’re missing out. There’s nothing like the convenience of plopping your Apple devices — iPhone, Apple Watch, AirPods — in one place like a side table or night stand to top them off.

And right now you can get up to 47% off SwitchEasy’s 4-in-1 and 2-in-1 magnetic wireless charging stands in the Cult of Mac Store.

Why iPhone NameDrop feature is not a security risk

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NameDrop in iOS 17
See that "Share" button? It's important.
Photo: Apple Support

Parents are mistakenly being warned that they need to quickly deactivate iOS 17’s NameDrop feature on their children’s iPhones. The warnings claim that it’s causing the devices to broadcast their contact information to anyone nearby.

This simply isn’t true.

Last chance: Save on mega deals this Cyber Monday in the Cult of Mac Store

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Cyber Monday savings on Elago, Mifa, Laut and many more
Score Cyber Monday savings on Elago, Mifa, Laut and many more.
Photo: Adel/ Cult of Mac

Cyber Monday at the Cult of Mac store is a massive event you won’t want to miss. We’ve got deals on all kinds of accessories for all your Apple gear.

Get ready for incredible discounts, with savings of up to 75% on selected brands including Elago, Elkson, Mifa, Rilee & Lo, Laut, and many others. Don’t miss out on these fantastic offers!

5 more secret iPhone gestures you need to know

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Secret Faster Gestures
These secret gestures will speed up your iPhone.
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

Here are a few secret tricks and gestures that’ll help you get around your iPhone faster. These hidden gestures help you text pictures to your friends faster, scroll through big pages and screens, type special characters and use your phone one-handed.

This is a follow-up to an article from earlier this year with three other secret iPhone gestures you need to know. Learn all of these gestures and you’ll feel like an iPhone power user.

Save 30% on sweet Elago accessories for iPhone, Apple Watch through Cyber Monday

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Save on Elago's new Apple Pencil cover
Get the new Apple Pencil cover for just $10.49.
Photo: Elago

Elago’s awesome accessories for iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods are now available at 30% off through the Cult of Mac Store. All you need to do is add Elago products to your cart and 30% discount will automatically be added.

You can save on brilliant retro charging stands inspired by iconic devices like the original Macintosh and Game Boy, Apple Watch bands, iPhone cases, AirPods bumpers, and lots more. There’s also 30% off Elago’s new Apple Pencil cover.

This discount ends at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Monday, November 27 (Cyber Monday), so enjoy it while you can.

Look up laundry tag and car dashboard symbols with your iPhone camera

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What Do They Mean?
Ever wonder what these symbols mean?
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

Those cryptic laundry symbols and car dashboard icons are a mystery, until now: your iPhone camera can tell you what they mean. You don’t have to look up a guide or Google their meaning; just take a picture and your iPhone will tell you.

While in my testing, it didn’t identify every single symbol, the feature will do in a pinch. And if you want to use an app for the best possible results, I have two recommendations found on the App Store that can help you.

EU’s proposed right-to-repair law incentivizes repairs, bans parts pairing

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Self repair components and tools for iPhone with the necessary tools from Apple.
EU's strong right to repair legislation bans parts pairing.
Photo: Apple

The European Parliament voted Tuesday to approve a strong right-to-repair proposal. It aims to make consumer electronic goods more repairable, with companies required to prioritize repairability over replacement.

The draft legislation still needs to go through negotiations between the Parliament and the Council before it can go into effect.

Buy 2, get a third one free: SwitchEasy magnetic wall mounts for iPhone

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SwitchEasy's MagEasy magnetic wall mount lets you easily stick your iPhone practically anywhere.
SwitchEasy's MagEasy magnetic wall mount lets you easily stick your iPhone practically anywhere.
Photo: SwitchEasy

Following a recipe in the kitchen? Assembling furniture via online instructions? Taking a hands-free call in the tub? Sometimes you need to put your iPhone where you can see it, or talk via speaker, without holding it — and that’s when a magnetic wall mount comes in handy.

SwitchEasy sells two such mounts in the Cult of Mac Store, and through December 1 you can get a third one free when you buy two of the handy devices.

Just how hot are those new M3 MacBook Pros? [The CultCast]

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Apple's M3 Max chip sitting in front of flames. The CultCast episode 621.
Just how extreme is the MacBook Pro's thermal throttling?
Original photo: Christopher Burns

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Tests performed on the M3 MacBook Pros reveal the performance-crushing effects of thermal throttling and skimpy RAM. Erfon is not impressed!

Also on The CultCast:

  • Apple shocks everyone by pledging to support Rich Communication Services for better texting between iPhones and Android devices.
  • Griffin runs down some of the most interesting new features coming soon in iOS 17.2.
  • Apple reportedly plans to overhaul the iPad lineup next year, and a mammoth 12.9-inch iPad Air is apparently on the menu.
  • If the iPhone 16 gets exclusive AI features, will Siri really get smarter? We’re extremely skeptical.

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.

Best MagSafe wallets for iPhone

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These are the best MagSafe wallets you can buy for iPhone.
There's a MagSafe wallet for everyone.
Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

One of the best ways to use MagSafe on iPhone is to make it carry your wallet. It means you don’t have to remember to pick up multiple items every time you leave the house, and it ensures that you always have access to credit and ID cards that you can’t carry virtually in the Apple Wallet app.

Now that we’ve had MagSafe for a few years, there are lots of great wallets to choose from. Here are six of the best that you can slap onto the back of your iPhone today.

iPhone Tap to Pay expands to France

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Tap to Pay on iPhone empowers businesses to securely accept Apple Pay, contactless credit and debit cards, and other digital wallets by using an iPhone and a partner-enabled iOS app.
Tap to Pay enables businesses to use an iPhone to securely accept Apple Pay, contactless credit and debit cards, and other digital wallets.
Photo: Apple

French iPhone users now have access to Tap to Pay, which enables businesses to accept contactless payments from credit cards directly on their iOS handset – no additional hardware required.

The service has been gradually roiling out around the world since it launched in 2022.

Use Live Voicemail and Silence Unknown Callers together for call-free bliss

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Talk After The Beep
Don’t want to miss those important calls about my Lightning cable wholesaling business.
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

With Live Voicemail, a new feature in iOS 17, you don’t need to pick up your iPhone midcall to see who’s calling or what they want. You can see a transcription of their voicemail message as it’s being recorded — and pick up at any point, if the call turns out to be important. This feature proves transformative for introverts who only want to answer a phone call if strictly necessary.

Even better, Live Voicemail pairs very well with another iOS feature, Silence Unknown Callers. With both of these turned on, unwanted calls will be far less intrusive, but you will still be able to pick up the important calls as they come in.

Here’s how to use Live Voicemail to avoid phone spam and other annoyances without missing crucial calls.

Sideloading iPhone apps could arrive in the EU next year

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App Store
Europeans will soon be able to make an end run around the App Store by sideloading iPhone applications.
Image: Apple/Cult of Mac

The good news is that iPhone could finally allow users to install applications directly starting in 2024, according to a reliable source. The bad news is that being able to go without the App Store will only be an option in Europe.

To be clear, sideloading is required by EU law so it’s definitely happening. The timing isn’t clear, though.

Even more reasons Humane’s Ai Pin is a total bust

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On-screen text says
Why Humane's introductory video for the Ai Pin begins with co-founder Imran Chaudhri shuffling a series of boxes stacked like a snowman I do not understand. And that is just the first five seconds of the dreadful presentation.
Photo: Humane

In a tedious and awkward 10-minute video released Thursday, buzzy startup Humane gave a more thorough introduction of its Ai Pin. The video all but confirms my feelings that we are seeing the next hilarious Silicon Valley failure play out in real time.

Since co-founder Imran Chaudhri’s TED Talk earlier this year, where we got a vague introduction to the supposed iPhone-killer’s features, there remained a slim chance — one in a hundred — that the then-unnamed device wasn’t a total waste.

Any ounce of doubt has been washed away as this new video doubles down on the Ai Pin’s flaws and walks back its only positives. In fact, the introductory video clearly demonstrates why the device will fail: The AI gave completely wrong answers and provided no way to check their accuracy. It’s absolutely untrustworthy.

Humane unveils Ai Pin: Is it an iPhone killer or damp squib?

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Humane AI Pin
The Humane AI Pin goes on your clothing and may or may not replace your iPhone.
Photo: Humane

After months of cryptic hints and teasing demos, startup Humane finally put its supposedly iPhone-killing Ai Pin on sale Thursday for $700, plus subscription costs.

You pin it to your clothes and interact with it through voice, touch control, gestures and laser projections on your hand.

The question is, will this thing really kill the iPhone? To those who don’t like talking to devices except when absolutely necessary, it must seem unlikely.

How to ping an Apple Watch from an iPhone

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Where’d My Watch End Up?
It's not easy to find in a pile of miscellaneous clutter.
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

Finally, you can ping a lost Apple Watch from your iPhone — thanks to iOS 17 and watchOS 10. The reverse has always been a cool feature of Apple Watch: locating the iPhone you set down somewhere nearby, surely.

If you take your Apple Watch off at the end of the day, forgetting to throw it on the charger, you may not remember where you left it the following morning. Now, you can find a lost Apple Watch from your iPhone. Here’s how it works.

Apple gets ready to make much better batteries

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iPhone and other Apple devices may have much better batteries within a couple of years.
iPhone and other Apple devices may have much better batteries within a couple of years.
Photo: PBKreviews

Apple is developing greatly improved batteries for its future devices, according to a new report. It appears the iPhone-maker wants to create a custom process in-house and own it — rather than outsourcing — just like it did with Apple silicon chips.

Apple accessories blowout sale: Get up to 90% off iPhone cases and more

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Woot Apple accessories sale
Here's your chance to bag great deals on Apple accessories.
Photo: Woot!

Amazon bargain site Woot! launched an Apple accessories sale with something for almost everyone — and deals as good as 90% off certain iPhone cases and 61% off an Apple Thunderbolt 3 Pro cable.

But with 49 products on sale, that’s just a taste. Act fast, the sale ends November 10 at 9:59 p.m. PT.

MacBook sleeve streamlines daily carry with iPhone and AirPods charging [Review] ★★★

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As you can see, you have to push the other gear around if you want to use Nexa as a mouse pad.★★★
As you can see, you have to push the other gear around if you want to use Nexa as a mouse pad.
Photo: David Snow/Cult of Mac

Journey recently unleashed an odd-but-useful beast — “the world’s first 4-in-1 laptop sleeve” with wireless charging, aka the Journey Nexa.

Journey Nexa Laptop Sleeve with Wireless Charging is a 4-in-1 device — MacBook sleeve, wireless charger for iPhone and AirPods, mouse pad and desk mat. But I found space limits it when you try to use it four ways at once, and it could benefit from some other improvements.

Today in Apple history: Time crowns iPhone ‘invention of the year’

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TIMEcover
The iPhone was immediately recognized as a breakthrough device.
Photo: Time

November 1: Today in Apple history: Time magazine crowns the iPhone 2007's 'invention of the year' November 1, 2007: Six months after Steve Jobs showed it off, the original iPhone becomes Time magazine’s “best invention of the year.”

The iPhone stands out from the rest of 2007’s gadget pack, which includes the Nikon Coolpix S51c digital camera, the Netgear SPH200W Wi-Fi Phone and the Samsung P2 music player. Remember those? (Yeah, we thought not.)

iOS 17.1 fixes weird iPhone 15 Pro screen ‘burn-in’ problem

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iPhone 15 screen burn-in isn't really
This isn't screen burn-in. It's an image retention problem that's fixed by iOS 17.1.
Photo: spriteice/Reddit

Anyone with an iPhone 15 Pro should install iOS 17.1 when it launches this week, especially if their new handset seems to be suffering from screen burn-in. Turns out it’s not a hardware problem but the result of a software bug that gets fixed by the upcoming update.

Plus, there are other new features coming in iOS 17.1.

Save your iPhone by unlocking with an old passcode

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Can I Get A Little Help Here?
In iOS 17, you have an easier path forward if you forget your iPhone's new passcode.
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac/Pexels

If you forget your new iPhone passcode, you can reset it with your old one for up to three days later. This can save you hours of trying to remember the new passcode, or worse, resetting your phone from a backup.

You just have to tap Forgot Passcode? on the Lock Screen after you enter it several incorrect times.

Keep reading for a detailed walkthrough. And don’t worry — if you change your passcode intentionally to keep someone out, you can instantly expire your old one.

Apple Stores will soon wirelessly update unsold iPhones without opening the boxes

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iPhone 15 and 15 Plus review: Pro features for less
The next iPhone you buy from Apple's store could be running the latest iOS release.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple has developed a new way to wirelessly update iPhones in its retail stores without opening their boxes. This will ensure all iPhones sold are running the latest iOS release.

Apple could roll out the technology to its retail stores before the end of the year.

10 tweaks to make iOS 17 awesome

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What Do I Do Now?
Finally, you’re on iOS 17. What’s next?
Image: Apple/D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

There are a lot of awesome features in iOS 17 — Contact Posters, StandBy, Safari profiles, shared passwords and much, much more. Here’s a simple to-do list on how to make the most of Cupertino’s latest and greatest iPhone operating system.