Logitech’s awesome Create keyboard case is now available for the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, and it’s everything you need on the move. In addition to a full backlit keyboard with function keys, there’s a space for your Apple Pencil and all-over protection for your iPad.
Former Apple engineers build app to take on iCloud
Apple’s iCloud platform is getting fresh competition this week from some of its former engineers who want to completely change the way content is stored on your iPhone.
Co-founded by Bertrand Serlet, former senior VP of software engineering at Apple, the new startup called Upthere is launching its first iOS app that allows users to store digital photos in Upthere’s cloud that was custom made to be screaming fast.
The quest for the perfect leather iPhone wallet case
SAN FRANCISCO — Teddy Winthrop is into leather. Like, way into it. In the year since he launched Edward Field, his high-end iPhone wallet case company, he’s been obsessing over ways to make his leather cases sleeker, more functional and more straight-up appealing to the humans who use them.
“It’s weird,” he told Cult of Mac while discussing the mission of his company, which launches a new line of products today. “I never thought I’d be passionate about wallets.”
iPhone 7 says goodbye antenna lines, hello to camera upgrade
We’re less than two months away from the iPhone 7’s public unveiling, and yet another image has surfaced online that purports to showcase Apple’s next-gen smartphone in all its (relatively unchanged) glory.
Check it out below.
New Mac malware proves you shouldn’t disable Gatekeeper
Yet another strain of malware targeted at Mac users has popped up this week to prove you shouldn’t disable the Gatekeeper feature baked into OS X. “OSX/Keydnap” disguises itself as an innocent text or image file, then installs malicious code onto your Mac.
Pricey Lightning headphones will make you care less about headphone jacks [Reviews]
They don’t call them “headphones” for nothing.
Slipping on a pair of quality closed-back headphones puts you in a rarefied headspace where sound envelopes you completely and nothing matters but the music. Just close your eyes, cue up the perfect tracks to suit your mood, and drift away.
The Audeze EL-8 Titanium headphones, which use a Lightning connector to plug into your Apple device, will take you to that special place. But you’ll pay a steep price for your trip to aural bliss.
Maybe iPhone 7 Plus dual-lens camera really is coming
Yet another sketchy leak suggests Apple’s upcoming iPhone 7 Plus will feature its first dual-lens camera system. The alleged chassis has surfaced just days after one tipster claimed that “technical difficulties” had scuppered Apple’s upgrade plans.
Hidden iOS 10 features Apple didn’t show us
Apple’s first preview of iOS 10 was jam-packed with new features and improvements, but there are plenty that we didn’t get to hear about during the WWDC keynote. Here’s a long list of new things you can look forward to using this fall.
MacBook Pro concept shows how useful an OLED touchpad will be
Apple might not unveil a radically redesigned MacBook Pro at WWDC next week, but thanks to artist Martin Hajek we’ve got the next best thing: concept images.
Cult of Mac’s favorite concept artist has created a series of mockups that show just how awesome it will be when Apple adds an OLED touchpad to the MacBook Pro. While last week’s spy photos gave us an early look at the new MacBook Pro’s frame, Hajek’s images show how the OLED touchpad could automatically change based on the apps you’re using.
Take a closer look at the rumored MacBook Pro OLED touchpad:
Hungry in China? Get ready to DianPing it
Mainland China is Apple’s second biggest market, and will one day be its first. The company is making a big push on the mainland, opening new stores and investing in home-grown companies. Why the interest? Because China is the new Japan — it’s where the future is happening. All this week we take a look at the cutting-edge apps that define mobile life on the mainland.
SHANGHAI CITY, China — “Where are we going to eat? Have you DianPing-ed it yet?” These are questions my friends and I often ask each other when we get together. This convenient app, backed by internet powerhouse Tencent Holdings, is a great tool that combines the functions of Groupon and Yelp.
Keep your online activities 100% secure forever [Deals]
If identity thieves and data snooping have you feeling uneasy when you get online, you should consider logging on with a virtual private network. By distributing your traffic among a set of globally distributed, secure servers, Celo’s VPN service anonymizes and encrypts your online activity in a way that adds significant security to your browsing, even on public Wi-Fi networks. And right now you can get a lifetime subscription to Celo’s VPN service for only $29.
Beige is back with this retro-inspired iMac
The boring beige computers Apple offered all the way up until the late ’90s would never get Jony Ive’s stamp of approval today. But fortunately for those who love retro, Apple’s latest iMac is now available with a beige paint job (and a bigger price tag).
Make your home screen pop with round iOS folders
Usually, if you want to change the shape of your iOS folders, you need to jailbreak your device or squint really hard or something. But one person has found a way to make your app holders cool-looking and round, and all you have to do is change your device’s wallpaper.
You can see the cool circles in action in the video below.
How to use Apple Watch to find your iPhone (even in the dark)
I’m willing to bet that you’ve misplaced your iPhone around the house before. I know I have; almost once a week I’m wondering where I set down that magical device. Is it in the bedroom? The kitchen? The (gasp) bathroom?
If you’ve got an Apple Watch, though, you can use its ping feature to find your iPhone with an audible sound, and even a flashing LED if you need it.
Here’s how.
Why the departure of Apple designer Daniel Coster matters
The departure of veteran Apple industrial designer Daniel Coster is significant because, like the Mafia, no one ever leaves Jony Ive’s design studio.
Coster, a core member of Apple’s design team for more than 20 years, is perhaps only the third member of Ive’s tight-knit industrial design group to leave in almost two decades. And one of the others died.
6 useful Apple Pencil apps for people who don’t draw
When I purchased a 12.9-inch iPad Pro back in November, I bought an Apple Pencil to go with it. When I decided against the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, I kept my Apple Pencil.
Even though I don’t draw, I found a lot of other ways the Apple Pencil fit into my workflow. And I knew Apple would release a smaller iPad with full support for the Apple Pencil.
That day has come, and I can’t wait to get back to using my Apple Pencil. Here are some of the best Apple Pencil apps that have absolutely nothing to do with sketching or drawing.
iOS 9.3.1 brings fix for iPhone-crashing web links
iPhone users suffering from crashing woes on iOS 9.3 are finally getting some relief. Apple has released iOS 9.3.1 to the public, bringing new bug fixes and performance improvements for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
The update comes more than a week after the release of iOS 9.3, which turned hyperlinks into crash bombs for some users.
Smaller iPad Pro is even bigger on features
Size isn’t the only thing that counts when you’re weighing your iPad Pro options.
Sure, it’s a major consideration. The 9.7-inch iPad Pro that Apple showed off earlier this week has the same dimensions of the less sprawling iPad Air 2, and it weighs just under a pound. That’s about two-thirds the weight of the original Pro, and people trading up from an iPad Air won’t need to look at new cases or bags to carry the thing around in.
But that’s all surface stuff, and the two iPad Pros have a lot of differences behind — and even inside — their screens.
Malware uses Apple’s FairPlay DRM to attack iOS users
Researchers have just discovered a new malware threat for iOS devices that uses Apple’s own FairPlay DRM system as a delivery vector.
Dubbed “AceDeciever” by the researchers, the malware in question can technically infect any type of iOS device, jailbroken or not, if a user downloads a third-party app.
Why iPhone battery life will never last more than 1 day
Every year Apple introduces a new iPhone, and every year I get my hopes up that this will finally be the model that can go two or three days without needing to be recharged. But according to a lithium-ion battery expert, the odds of Apple adding a power source capable of boosting iPhone battery life like that are practically zero.
Dee Strand, chief scientific officer at battery research firm Wildcat Discovery Technology, says the throughput on smartphone batteries is rapidly improving every year. The problem is, new features are bogging them down.
New torture tests pit Galaxy S7 edge against iPhone 6s Plus
In the endless battle for supremacy between Apple and Samsung, the Korean company has leaped ahead of Cupertino when it comes to water-resistance. But the iPhone 6s Plus still reigns supreme in terms of shatter-resistance.
A YouTuber set the new Samsung Galaxy S7 edge next to an Apple iPhone 6s Plus in a big deep tub of water, then dropped them both from different heights, and the results are pretty predictable (yet still fun to watch).
The results definitely aren’t pretty.
Take a tour of the latest Apple Watch beta [Video]
The fourth beta for watchOS 2.2 adds cool new features that work with the latest version of iOS 9.3 as Apple continues its push to make Apple Watch even more powerful. In today’s video, we’re going to take a tour of all the new changes and improvements the latest beta has in store.
Everything that’s new in iOS 9.3 beta 4
iOS 9.3 inched one step closer to its public launch yesterday with the developer release of beta 4, which brings a handful of new features to iPhones and iPads along with a couple of bug fixes.
iOS 9.3 beta 4 doesn’t contain any huge new features or a graphics overhaul, but it polishes up what is already a solid operating system. In today’s video, Cult of Mac will show you all the best new features iOS 9.3 beta 4 has to offer in under two minutes.
Check it out:
Poll: Should Apple create an iPhone backdoor for FBI?
If Apple had any common sense, they would just succumb to the FBI’s demands and unlock the San Bernardino terrorist iPhone, claims the all-wise and powerful Donald Trump. However, in his bold letter refusing to comply with a court order to create a backdoor to iOS, Apple CEO Tim Cook argues that doing so would set a dangerous precedence and leave customers vulnerable to hackers.
This is the biggest challenge Apple’s ever faced when it comes to iPhone security. The company has made iOS devices impossible for even it to hack, but that could be coming to an end if the federal government has its way.
So, who’s right?
Vote in our poll below and share your thoughts in the comments:
How to save Snapchats without your friends knowing
Snapchat — love it or hate it, chances are you’re using it to playfully stay in touch with your friends and family via real-time photo updates of your best duck face selfies.
One of the ubiquitous app’s features is that your images disappear within a set amount of time, letting you be creative, silly or racy as you see fit without worry about those images sticking around or getting posted to the ‘net.
Savvy users, however, know that they can take a screenshot of any Snapchat and save it to their Camera Roll. Snapchat countered by letting the person you’re connected with know when you try to sneak a screenshot of their photo.
If, however, you’re looking to work around this new “feature,” there’s a simple trick that lets you save Snapchats without your friends knowing.