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iPhone launch schedule may get big shakeup in 2021

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iPhone11
iPhone 11 has been good for business.
Photo: Apple

Big changes could be coming to the way Apple launches iPhone, starting in 2021.

Analysts at JP Morgan Chase published a new research note today claiming Apple is readying its supply chain to be able to launch new iPhones twice a year. The move would supposedly give Apple more flexibility to add new features over a six month period and better compete with companies like Samsung and Huawei.

How to edit Apple Watch workouts

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Apple Watch logged your workout wrong? You can still set the record straight.
Apple Watch logged your workout wrong? You can still set the record straight.
Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

When you finish logging a workout with Apple Watch, you can gloat over all your hard work in the Activity app on your iPhone. This provides all kinds of useful charts, maps and trends to show you how you’re doing.

But what if you logged that workout by accident? Or if you forgot to log a workout? You can’t edit Apple Watch workouts on your watch, nor in the Activity app on your iPhone. But fortunately, there is still a way to set the record straight. Here’s how to edit Apple Watch workouts.

Fake AirPods stickers are the best way to infuriate people

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Fake AirPods stickers are the best way to infuriate people
Get ready to annoy those around you.
Photo: Pablo Rochat

Everyone loves the AirPods. They’re one of Apple’s most popular accessories, and those who don’t own them lust after them. Which is exactly why cold-hearted Twitter prankster Pablo Rochat created life-size AirPod stickers to place around his neighborhood.

Because the only thing better than an AirPod is watching random strangers try and pick up an AirPod that’s not there.

iPad Pro with 3D scanner likely to launch in first half of 2020

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iPad Pro with Smart Keyboard
Apple wants to make iPad Pro an even better laptop replacement.
Photo: Apple

iPad Pro fans hoping for new models before the end of 2019 are likely out of luck.

Today’s launch of the new 16-inch MacBook Pro (and slight delay of the Mac Pro launch) are likely to be the last major Apple hardware announcements this year, according to TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The often-reliable Apple analyst told investors today that new iPad Pros won’t come out until the first half of 2020 — but new features might make the wait worth it.

See is not quite the goofy fun I expected [Review]

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See is not quite the goofy fun I expected [Review]
Jason Momoa stars in Apple TV+'s fantasy show.
Photo: Apple

A futuristic post-apocalyptic world in which a virus has robbed humanity of its eyesight and reduced the human race to a few million people. Even speaking of sight in this world is heresy. Add in muscular man mountain Jason Momoa and a Game of Thrones budget and you’ve got See.

What did I make of the first episode of Apple TV+’s fantasy series? Read on to find out….

Biggest shockers from Apple’s record-smashing Q4 earnings

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quotes on Apple
Surprise! Apple made an ungodly amount of money last quarter.
Photo: Apple

Apple shares are soaring in after-hours trading today thanks to yet another record-breaking earnings report.

Tim Cook and Apple CFO Luca Maestri got on the phone with investors after the numbers came and provided some surprising details on how Apple hit a new high for Q4 revenue despite slowing iPhone sales. While everyone has been focusing on Apple’s booming services business, one of the company’s other product categories has transformed into its true growth engine.

iOS 13’s powerful new Slide Over features make it useful at last

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Slide Over in iPadOS 13 is like having an iPhone inside your iPad.
Slide Over is like having an iPhone inside your iPad.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

In iOS 13, Slide Over goes from being a useful-but-annoying novelty, to being an essential utility. Instead of only letting you dock one app window to the side of the screen, and sliding it out for a quick look or edit, Slide Over is now fully integrated.

In iOS 13, you can have multiple Slide Over panels, you can switch between them as easily as switching apps on an iPhone, you can open almost anything into a Slide Over pane, and you can easily turn a Slide Over app into a full-screen app. Here’s how it all works.

Devs ding Catalyst, Apple’s new system for porting iPad apps to Mac

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macOS Catalyst ports iPad apps to Mac
Developers say macOS Catalyst has a lot of potential, but plenty of limitations too.
Photo: Apple

Developers using Apple’s system to convert iPad software to macOS say Catalyst still needs lots of work before it can fulfill its promise.

The functionality is mostly there, but some features are missing and there are complaints about the style of the resulting apps.

Get free power anywhere with myCharge’s solar battery [Review]

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myCharge Solar PowerFold review
Put the Solar PowerFold in the Sun for a few hours to bring a useful charge to your iPhone.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

A solar-powered battery should be part of any disaster-preparedness kit, and the myCharge Solar PowerFold can keep an iPhone up and running just by sitting in the sun for a few hours.

We tested the ability of this very portable device to capture the thermonuclear power of our nearest star. Here’s how it went.

The problem with Apple Arcade? It’s just not that special [Opinion]

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Apple-Arcade
Can Arcade ever become the service Apple promised?
Photo: Apple

Apple Arcade’s slate of more than 100 games for $4.99 a month looks like one of the best deals in gaming at first glance. But Apple’s new game subscription service fails to live up to the expectations of many iPhone and iPad owners.

That’s not because the games are bad. Or because there are hidden fees we weren’t expecting. It’s because Cupertino billed Apple Arcade as something special … and it just isn’t.

Apple unleashes iPhone 11 Pro with XDR display, Ultra Wide camera

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iPhone 11 Pro
It's the toughest iPhone yet. And it comes in new colors!
Photo: Apple

The iPhone upgrade you’ve been waiting all year for has finally landed.

Apple today unleashed iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max, with huge camera improvements, an improved Super Retina XDR display, and an even faster A13 Bionic chip. They’re also some of its toughest handsets yet.

Here’s everything you need to know about the 2019 iPhone lineup.

6 power-user tricks for Mac Spotlight

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Spotlight is good for much more than just finding files.
Spotlight is good for much more than just finding files.
Photo: Pixabay/Pexels CC

Spotlight for Mac. Isn’t it that little magnifying glass icon in the menubar, the one that you click when you’ve given up trying to find that document you swear is somewhere on your Mac? Well yes, it is. But if you know these Mac Spotlight tips, it can be so much more than that.

You can use it to find a document, even if you can only remember a snippet of text from inside that document. But you can also use it to do math, launch apps, open folders, and even check the weather. These Mac Spotlight tricks will let you get the most out of this underutilized feature.

Cheaper HomePod, improved AirPods could arrive in 2020

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airpods
Apple could finally bring noise cancellation to AirPods.
Photo: Ste Smith/ Cult of Mac

A more affordable version of the struggling HomePod smart speaker will debut next year, according to a generally reliable source. Apple is also reportedly going to introduce AirPods with noise cancellation in 2020.

Both are products that consumers have been asking for.

How to stop Apple Card from bombarding you with notifications

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Apple Card with iPad
Switch off those pesky Apple Card notifications
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Are you enjoying your new Apple Card? Isn’t running up debt great when it is accompanied by a titanium card and a stylish app? But what you might not be enjoying are the Apple Card notifications that started to pop up on your iPhone.

Here’s how to stop them. But beware: It’s an all-or-nothing proposition that clearly illustrates an annoying problem with iPhone notifications.

How to repeat and shuffle songs in iOS 13

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Shuffling songs used to be easy. Here's how to shuffle songs in Apple Music in iOS 13.
Shuffling songs used to be easy.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

This may seem like a frivolous how-to. But seeing as I couldn’t work out how to switch off shuffle Apple Music tracks on my iPhone in iOS 12, I think it’s worth a look — if only so dummies like me can look it up.

BTW, you can find the Apple Music repeat and shuffle controls in iOS 12 by swiping up on the Now Playing panel to reveal the buttons at the bottom, if you need to know.

So, let’s take a look at how Apple changed things in the iOS 13 Music app.

3D Touch a folder to see only apps with notifications

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Perhaps the greatest 3D Touch trick ever.
Perhaps the greatest 3D Touch trick ever.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

You’re going to L-O-V-E this tip. You know how sometimes you see a folder on your iPhone’s home screen, and there’s a red notification badge on the folder itself? That badge is a summary of all the unread notifications of the apps inside the folder. Of course, at this point you just ignore it, because you don’t want to swipe through the pages of never-used apps inside the folder, just to see which apps have unread alerts.

But what if there was a way to quickly see which apps in that folder have outstanding notifications. Well, there is! And you’re going to kick yourself when you see how easy it is.

How to fake True Tone on older Macs

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Make your Mac match its surroundings.
Make your Mac match its surroundings.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Owners of recent MacBooks Pro and Air can enjoy True Tone, a great technology that uses an ambient light sensor to match the color of the Mac’s display to its surroundings. True Tone mimics a white sheet of paper, which reflects the ambient light. The goal is to avoid a cold-blue screen when you’re in a nice, warmly lit room.

True Tone is a wonderful feature, and really makes everything look better. But it’s only available on new Macs. Today we’ll see how you can fake it on older computers.

Apple Watch’s Walkie-Talkie app disabled over eavesdropping concerns

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watchOS 5
Walkie-Talkie vulnerability allowed users to listen in on each other .
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple temporarily disabled the Apple Watch Walkie-Talkie app after discovering a vulnerability that allowed users to listen in on another person’s iPhone calls without their knowledge.

The app will stay installed on devices, although it won’t work until Apple issues a fix.

How to use Wi-Fi and Instant Hotspot in iOS 13

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Instant Hotspot makes connection sharing easy.
Instant Hotspot makes connection sharing easy.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

In iOS 13 and iPadOS, the Wi-Fi connections get a lot of changes. In addition to the familiar Personal Hotspot connection, you can now use and share a new Instant Hotspot. Plus, you can see all your connections at a glance in the revamped Wi-Fi settings screen. Let’s take a look.

PSA: Resist the urge to install iOS 13, iPadOS betas for now

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iPadOS gets a new home screen design.
They’re just not ready for everyone.
Photo: Apple

Apple just dropped its first public beta builds of iOS 13 and iPadOS, making it easy for anyone to try them out months ahead of their official launch. But you should really resist the urge to install them right now.

Don’t assume these betas are ready for everyone just because they’re available to the public now. If you upgrade your primary iPhone and iPad early, you’re almost certainly going to run into frustrating problems.

I’ve suffered all kinds of issues since upgrading — and I’m not the only one.

Affinity Publisher is incredibly powerful, surprisingly affordable

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Affinity-Publisher-Mac
Affinity Publisher does it all — and plays nicely with other Affinity apps.
Photo: Serif

Serif just delivered its latest Affinity app for Mac and PC — and it looks like an essential purchase for publishers.

Affinity Publisher is a professional desktop publishing client that has Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo baked-in for seamless vector design and image editing. It’s packed full of other useful features, too, and it won’t break the bank.

All the new gestures coming to iPad in iPadOS

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Haptic feedback could make iPhone displays feel like rocks or fur
New gestures in iPadOS give you something to do with your hands.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

After an action packed WWDC, we’ve finally had a few days to see what Apple has in the works for iOS in 2019. One of the big surprises for us was the introduction of iPadOS – an iPad specific fork of iOS 13.

With the addition of iPadOS, Apple has started to formalized the differences between iPhone and iPad as it comes to interacting with the OS. One of the big differences is in gestures and multitasking. Many of the gestures on iPad are remaining mostly the same, but there are a few news ones to take note of.

Insane new Mac Pro packs 28-core processor

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The new Mac Pro is a beautiful beast.
The new Mac Pro is a beautiful beast.
Photo: Apple

WWDC 2019 bug Apple is taking the Mac further than its ever gone before with the brand new Mac Pro.

The company teased professionals two years ago when it announced that it was completely rethinking the Mac Pro and then when quiet about the project ever since. Today at WWDC 2019, Apple gave developers a preview of the new machine and it looks like an absolute beast.

Excel for iPhone update turns photos into editable spreadsheets

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Microsoft Excel
One of Microsoft Office's coolest features.
Photo: Microsoft

An update for Microsoft Excel on the iPhone may not sound like the most exciting thing. But the update in question is actually pretty darn neat. That’s regardless of whether you regularly use spreadsheets or just fancy a neat tech demo.

The update lets you easily import spreadsheets by simply snapping a photo with your iPhone. The image you take of a paper-based spreadsheet is then recognized and turned into a fully functioning editable spreadsheet.