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There are boatloads of smart speakers out there, but nothing quite like HomePod.

Like many Apple products that came before it, HomePod is here to revolutionize an industry. It’s certainly not first to market, but Cupertino’s plan is to make all HomePod competitors insignificant. The new Apple smart speaker uses cutting-edge technology that delivers outstanding sound quality to do just that.

You can’t buy another speaker of this kind for $349. That price tag is not exactly cheap, but if you love music, HomePod should be at the top of your shopping list.

Apple HomePod Review | Sounds great, but you're locked in

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We can forget about big new features for iOS 12. Apple is focused on “addressing performance and quality issues” in 2018, according to a new report. Here are five things that should be at the top of the company’s repair list.

Don’t make the mistake of comparing HomePod to rival smart speakers and lamenting its $349 price tag. There are good reasons why the device costs more than three times as much as an Amazon Echo — and yet is still an absolute steal.

Apple’s big tax break is about to unleash an avalanche of spending from the iPhone-maker.

In a public statement this morning, Apple revealed its plans to contribute $350 billion to the U.S. economy over the next five years now that the fee for repatriating its mountain of overseas cash has been significantly lowered.

Your iPhone knows where you are, and it remembers where you have been. It keeps a record of your frequent hangouts — aka “significant locations” — and uses this data to make location-based suggestions using Siri and to power other features. Don’t panic, though: This data is kept on your phone, not collected by Apple.

Maybe you want to switch it off anyway, though. Perhaps you’re having an affair and don’t want your suspicious spouse to find out where you and your lover hook up. Or you’re an undercover cop and don’t want your visits to the police station to show up on your phone. Today we’ll see how to access your recent locations data, remove it, and switch it off altogether.

A nasty CPU flaw that leaves computer users’ most sensitive data at risk is also present in iPhone and iPad processors, Apple confirmed Thursday.

The “Spectre” bug has been discovered in the mobile ARM processors that power iOS devices, as well as Apple TV — but there’s probably no need to panic.

Does your iPhone seem to get slower and slower as it grows older? Well, according to Apple, that is exactly what’s supposed to happen.

Many iPhone users have long suspected that Apple throttles performance of aging iPhones. The popular theory is that Apple does so to entice users to upgrade. However, Apple says there are really good performance reasons behind the practice.

Earlier this week my colleague Killian Bell published 10 things he hates about his iPhone X.

Like some of our readers, I was shocked. Hates? How could he find one thing to hate, let alone 10?

I can’t think of anything to hate about the X. On the contrary, there are lots of things to love. Here are 10 things I love about the iPhone X.

Apple built its trillion-dollar reputation delivering beautiful hardware that turned tedious tasks into magical experiences.

But a recent string of ridiculous bugs — and a seriously shocking security flaw — put Cupertino in a precarious position: If Apple doesn’t stop the screw-ups, it could permanently sully its good name.

Apple is known for its multibillion-dollar hits, but not everything Cupertino touches turns to gold. These six Apple products flopped in the marketplace, despite being pretty darn great.

Last week’s crushing news that Apple’s HomePod won’t be available for Christmas was a blow to some.

But I shrugged it off.

That’s because I made my own HomePod smart speaker. It cost me about $60 and sounds absolutely great.

iPhone X is radically different from every iPhone that came before it. As you strive to get accustomed to life without a Home button, these iPhone X tips and tricks will come in handy.

Check out the video below to see nine iPhone X tips you need to master immediately.

iPhone X tips and tricks you need to know

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Smartphones are changing, and every manufacturer possesses its own take on what the future should look like. Apple’s vision is the iPhone X, which arrives 10 years after the original with big changes and an even bigger price tag.

For iPhone X, Apple did away with aluminum unibodies, chunky bezels, Touch ID and the beloved Home button. In their place, iPhone X sports polished stainless steel and smooth glass, an edge-to-edge Super Retina HD display, and Face ID.

The result proves stunning. Apple just made the iPhone exciting again. But is iPhone X worth $999?

iPhone X Review | Apple’s finest smartphone ever

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You have one week to wait for your new iPhone X preorder to arrive (if you’re one of the lucky ones). There are some things you should be doing during that time to ensure you’re all set for delivery day.

Here are a few tips.

One of the great new features in iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra is shared documents. You can create almost any kind of file, and collaborate on it with other people. This can be a simple Pages document, or a complex song in GarageBand. In theory, the file will be updated with everybody’s changes, so you can work on the same project without emailing a zillion copies back and forth.

Currently, this feature ranges from a little shaky, to rock solid, depending on what apps you are using. Here’s how to share and collaborate using GarageBand in iOS 11.

It’s not uncommon to see a random popup that asks you to “Sign In to iTunes Store” on iOS. They sometimes appear unexpectedly, but they’re usually genuine. However, one developer is warning users not to enter their password when the popup appears in third-party apps.

There is a chance that the app’s developer is phishing for your Apple ID password. Luckily, there’s an easy trick to distinguish legit popups from phishing attempts.

Google’s new Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL might be a little disappointing to some Android fans, but they’re still stellar smartphones. Both sport attractive designs that pack the best hardware available, including excellent cameras, and the speedy Snapdragon 835 chipset.

But can they convince iPhone fans to jump ship? Here’s how the new Pixel lineup compares to iPhone 8 and the upcoming iPhone X.

When Apple execs stepped onstage for September’s big iPhone X unveiling, they had precious few surprises up their sleeves. This year’s iPhone keynote became one of the most spoiled in history, thanks to major software leaks — and a pair of industrious young developers who dug into Apple’s code to pierce the veil of Apple’s vaunted secrecy apparatus.

Steven Troughton-Smith and Guilherme Rambo, who live thousands of miles apart in Ireland and Brazil, dutifully combed through the leaked code. Working separately but in parallel, they pieced together clues that allowed them to reverse-engineer Apple’s plans. Then they released their findings on Twitter, painting an incredibly accurate picture of the iPhone X in a drip-drip-drip of juicy, spoiler-filled tweets.

The end result? An Apple event upstaged by leaks, and by the hard work of two curious coders. Cult of Mac talked with Troughton-Smith and Rambo to find out how they uncovered some of Apple’s most closely kept secrets.

Over the past two months, Cult of Mac scoured the iOS 11 betas to collect tips and tricks for Apple’s latest mobile operating system. We’ve covered everything, from the iPad’s amazing new Dock and Drag-and-Drop to the iPhone’s new lifesaving Do Not Disturb While Driving.

We’ve created this iOS 11 guide, which we will update going forward, so you can easily find links to our best iOS 11 tips and how-tos. Read on for more on the radically improved Notes app, iOS 11’s powerful new camera features and more.

HEIF is the new photo format that Apple is using to replace JPEG. And it probably will replace JPEGs, because the iPhone is the most popular, most-used camera in the world, and as of iOS 11, most iPhones will be switching from JPEG to HEIF.

But what is HEIF? What makes it better than JPEG? And what difference will it make to you, really?

Apple’s first ever keynote at the Steve Jobs Theater was one for the ages as the company took the wraps off some of its most innovative products ever.

Tim Cook and his crew of executives delivered some exciting new technology today from an iPhone that unlocks just by looking at it, to an Apple Watch that isn’t dependent on an iPhone to make calls and texts. There was a lot to unpack in Apple’s two-hour long keynote, so we’ve broken down the highlights on all the new products.

Here are all the new goodies that came out today:

The biggest Apple keynote of 2017 is just a few short hours away. And according to the rumors, its going to be one of the most memorable tech events in years.

When Tim Cook and Co. take the stage at the Steve Jobs Theater on September 12, we expect them to unveil not one, not two, but three new iPhones. A bunch of other new hardware and software is also on the docket, making this an Apple keynote not to be missed.

Here’s everything Apple will likely reveal.

From the iPhone 8 to iOS 11, Apple’s got no shortage of big launches coming in the next few weeks. But the one with the biggest long-term potential for Apple is one that Tim Cook says makes him want to “yell out and scream” with excitement.

That product is ARKit, the augmented reality platform Apple unveiled this year at WWDC. Here’s why it’s going to be massively important for Apple.

Samsung today delivered its new Galaxy Note 8, and it’s bigger and better than ever.

With a stunning 6.3-inch Infinity Display, incredible new features, and the best smartphone specifications available right now, it’s going to prove to be tough competition for Samsung biggest rivals.

So how does the Galaxy Note 8 stack up against iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and the upcoming iPhone 8? Find out right here.

The latest rumors about the next-generation Apple Watch indicate it might come with LTE cellular data in a slick new design. But Apple Watch already offers data connectivity via iPhone, and Cupertino’s marketing tends to focus on benefits, not features. So how will Apple craft a new product story around built-in cellular?

My guess is it will all be about replacing the need for a very old technology: pockets. Apple Watch Series 3 will move all the contents of our pockets into the cloud.