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Apple’s always been the company that promised us the world. Steve Jobs’ genius was his ability to convince us that every single thing Apple did shifted the Earth on its axis.

Recently, that feeling of magical futurism has faded. Apple events have been preceded by a feeling of “been there, done that.”

Forget the “wireless future” that Apple talked up at yesterday’s iPhone 7 event as it tried to convince us that we really want AirPods and a dongle rather than a headphone jack. If Apple has a strategy in 2016, it’s underpromise and overdeliver.

And it’s working great!

With his open letter defending Apple’s Irish tax strategy, Tim Cook positions his company as a sledgehammer-tossing freedom fighter at battle with Big Brother-style EU bureaucracy.

But unlike Cook’s previous missives on LGBT rights and the importance of privacy, this open letter seems unlikely to be met with near-unanimous support. While railing against the EU’s massive assessment of €13 billion euros in back taxes owed by Apple, Cook ignores the facts of the matter — and seems tone-deaf about painting the world’s biggest company as an underdog.

It’s been almost five years since Tim Cook was named Apple CEO, and during that time the company has seen some pretty incredible highs. But there have been some significant lows, too.

The recent fall in iPhone demand is perhaps the most significant setback, leading to Apple’s first quarterly decline in revenue in 13 years. Cupertino has also been criticized for releasing unpolished products and buggy software in recent years.

So, is Cook doing enough to keep Apple one step ahead of the competition, or does he need to do more? Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight as we discuss Cook’s first five year’s as Apple CEO.

The devices in Apple’s ecosystem always work really well together, and macOS Sierra doesn’t buck that trend. In fact, the upcoming desktop operating system lets Apple Watch owners automatically unlock their Macs using the wearable device — no lengthy password needed.

It’s a small, but incredibly useful, new feature that rewards Mac owners who have taken the dive and invested in an Apple Watch. Here’s how to use it when running macOS Sierra, which is currently in public beta and will be released this fall.

A display assembly purportedly destined for the iPhone 7 has leaked out ahead of the handset’s official debut next month. The part gives us an early glimpse at the changes Apple has made, like flipping the LCD panel upside down.

What’s a computer?

That’s the latest brain buster Apple is asking fans in its latest iPad Pro ad that showcases how the giant tablet can replace a PC thanks to its keyboard, touchscreen and Apple Pencil. The short new ad covers iPad Pro’s multitasking capabilities, too, with shots of Slide Over and picture-in-picture that reimagine what you can do on an iPad.

Check it out:

In the near future, you won’t even have to touch your iPhone to unlock it.

Smartphone manufacturers are racing to add new iris-scanning technology to devices, and Apple is also reportedly planning to join the battle by bringing the feature to iPhones in 2018.

Cult of Mac’s David Pierini traveled seven hours and (39 years) this week to Missouri to witness the annual celebration of the Apple II computer known as KansasFest, which runs through Saturday.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Yellowed keyboards, monitors and disk drives sat in orderly piles. It certainly wasn’t pretty to look at, not when you compare these ancient artifacts of personal computing to a shiny new MacBook Pro.

But 80 infatuated campers could only see their first crush and they were ready to pounce. In a matter of minutes the gear would be claimed, and this dash and grab Wednesday was the kickoff the 28th annual KansasFest. If you don’t know KansasFest, the short answer is found in a cheer shouted to officially open the event: Apple II forever!

Apple has rolled out its first emoji sticker packs for Messages in iOS 10. Available only to those testing its first beta release, the packs include the Smileys, Hearts, and Hands stickers found on Apple Watch — plus a Classic Mac collection.

Apple guaranteed the iPhone would reinvent the phone. But filmmaking?

Writer and director Conrad Mess said the iPhone’s red record button turned him into a filmmaker. It helped another cash-strapped director win praise and wide distribution for a feature film he shot on the iPhone 5s that was the buzz of last year’s Sundance Film Festival.

The iPhone also is reshaping video journalism, especially across Europe, where news organizations are using the iPhone video camera for an increasing number of stories — and live stand-ups, selfie stick in hand — because the mobile journalist can shoot, edit and share on one device.

The iPhone 7 may not include a 3.5mm headphone jack, but Apple’s going to make sure your old headphones aren’t immediately obsolete by including an adapter with the new device.

Prepare to lose another dongle.

WWDC 2016 brought a lot of exciting new software updates, and we’re working our way through hands-on demos with all of them. We’ve already covered iOS 10, macOS Sierra and tvOS 10 betas — and now it’s time for watchOS 3.

Apple’s latest operating system for the Apple Watch brings a lot of changes and improvements that fix the user experience. Watch the video below to see the new OS in action.

Many iPhone fans don’t like waiting two years for major refreshes, but it could be about to get a lot worse. According to one report, Apple is switching its big upgrades to a three-year cycle, which is why this year’s iPhone 7 will look just like its predecessors.

A few weeks ago, I showed you how to turn text into a spoken iTunes track to allow you to read your favorite Cult of Mac articles on the move, while being offline.

But what if you just want to read your articles yourself, instead of having them read to you? Or how about printing out a webpage from your iPhone or iPad?

Well in my latest Quick Tips video, I’m going to show  you how to save webpages to iBooks, to read at a later time.

Check the video out below.

Notes on iOS is an extremely useful app, and it got more useful with the addition of password protection in iOS 9.3. Keeping bank codes, addresses, passwords and more has never been more secure from outside threats. But that doesn’t mean it’s safe from you.

If you tend to tidy up apps and notes in a rush — as I do — you may end up deleting something you need or want. And if you haven’t finished with that note yet, that becomes a big problem. But it’s one that’s easy to fix.

In this week’s Quick Tips video, I’m going to show you how to recover deleted notes and restore all those personal details you’ve jotted down to their rightful place.

Check the video out below.

My biggest gripe with my Apple Watch is not the sluggish hardware, the lack of GPS nor the dependance on my iPhone. These are all problems to be sure. But it is the bad user interface design that often drives me so mad that my force-taps turn into force-thumps of frustration.

With an update to the Apple Watch operating system expected at the Worldwide Developers Conference next month, here’s my top 10 list of interface improvements I’d like to see in the upcoming watchOS 3. These essential changes would spare my wrist from future incidents of wrist rage.

A 10-year-old kid in Maine finds an iMac G5 on Craigslist and arranges to trade a minibike and a snowblower for it.

The computer was supposed to be for games and homework. It instead proved to be the first piece in what is becoming one of the most significant private collections of Apple devices in the United States.

Make the most of your Instagram feed with these eight killer Instagram tips and tricks that will make you an Insta-master.

Learn how to put together video in the Instagram app itself, keep stalkers off your Instagram feed, find amazing photos near your current location, and much more.

As news of Prince’s unexpected death spread today, shocked fans hoping to stream his tunes on Apple Music came up empty.

In the streaming era, the incredibly prolific musician — best known for his string of hits and Grammy Awards in the 1980s — is practically a ghost.

From Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle to Mark Millar’s Superman comic Red Son, I’ve always been a massive fan of alternative history stories.

Now, upcoming first-person-shooter game Homefront: The Revolution asks a question as intriguing as any: What would have happened if a technological genius like Steve Jobs came out of North Korea instead of California?

The answer? A trillion-dollar company called APeX, apparently.

If you’re running out of local or iCloud storage space on your iPhone (or iPad), it may be time to check how much space the Messages app is taking up. By default, your iPhone or iPad is set to save any messages you send and receive forever. This can result in iPhone “out of storage” messages, slow performance, and slow-loading performance when scrolling through threads.

Unless you really need to save every single message, there’s a quick way to potentially save gigs of space in just a few taps. Here’s how!

The new, powerful iPad Pro is available at Apple Stores today and we’ve got a fantastic iPad Pro unboxing video to show you all the ins and outs of the new tablet.

Cult of Mac videographer Ste Smith talks us through the packaging, the setup and the latest-greatest device itself in this cool iPad Pro unboxing video that he made right after picking up the 9.7-inch tablet from his local Apple Store.

If you want to get your (virtual) hands on this sexy new iOS device, here’s your chance.

Forget the iPad Air 3. Apple’s new 9.7-inch tablet will be a scaled-down version of its supercharged 12.9-inch iPad Pro — called (drumroll, please) the 9.7-inch iPad Pro.

The new, smaller iPad Pro features four-speaker audio, a rear flash, Apple Pencil support, a Smart Connector for an all-new 9.7-inch Smart Keyboard, Apple’s most advanced iPad camera yet, and some very, very cool True Tone technology for matching the ambient light wherever you are.

Oh, and a fancy new 256GB storage option.

The iPhone’s prominent (and, dare we say it, somewhat ugly)  antenna bands have been a staple of Apple’s handsets for a few years now. However, a new photo — allegedly leaked by Apple device maker Foxconn — shows off Cupertino’s more minimal approach with the upcoming iPhone 7.

What do you think?

Manufacturers are gearing up for the iPhone 7, which means we’ll be getting our first blurry glimpses of what could potentially be Apple’s next-gen smartphone — courtesy of “leaked” iPhone 7 case pictures doing the rounds online.

Check them out below.