This week we re-light our Portrait Mode photos with AR in Focos, easily play complex chord progressions with ChordPad X, check out the amazing new Pixelmator Photo, and more.
How are you doing on that New Year’s resolution to get in shape? One of the hardest things about keeping up health goals is monitoring progress, so this super-affordable fitness tracker might be just what you need.
In case you haven’t heard, our fearless leader (Cult of Mac founder and publisher Leander Kahney) has a new book coming soon. It’s called Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level, and it offers an eye-opening look at the Apple CEO.
Unfortunately, Leander couldn’t squeeze all the info he gathered into a single book. So we’re publishing a series of outtakes dealing with Apple’s innovative approach to manufacturing the world’s greatest computers.
Catch up on all the outtakes so far — starting with a peek inside Apple’s megafactories — in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. Or use the links below to stay in your browser. Either way, you’ll get all the outtakes from the Cook book, plus the week’s best Apple news, how-tos and reviews.
This post was going to be part of my new book, Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level, but was cut for length or continuity. Over the next week or so, we will be publishing several more sections that were cut, focusing mostly on geeky details of Apple’s manufacturing operations.
Foxconn was founded around the same time as Apple, although 6,000 miles away on the other side of the world. In 1974, when 19-year-old Steve Jobs was working at Atari, 24-year-old Terry Gou borrowed $7,500 ($37,000 in today’s money) from his mother to start up a business.
I love my AirPods, but I hate that they don’t fit right in my ears. They’re not designed to seal the ear canal, and therefore block external noise, but they often sit so loose in my ears that a) I can’t hear them without setting the volume way too high, and b) they feel like they’re about to fall out.
Today we’ll see how to add grippy dots to your AirPods. These dots will make the AirPods fit snugly in your ears, but — crucially — they will still fit in their charging case.
Android enthusiasts are keen to highlight how the iPhone has dropped in the smartphone camera ranks in recent years. But a new camera comparison reveals that may not be the case.
Although there are some better options out there for low-light photography, Apple’s smartphone is still up there with the best when it comes to daytime shooting.
AirPower is dead and gone, but in the midst of the scramble for the next best thing, its alternatives have been selling out fast. So, what now? The HiRise Duet stand may be the perfect solution, and we’ve got it in the Cult of Mac Watch Store.
This luxe charging stand powers your iPhone and Apple Watch at the same time, in the same place. With 15-watts of Lightning Power, HiRise Duet charges your iPhone 40 percent faster than standard USB, and almost twice as fast as wireless.
Best part? Unlike flat charging pads, Duet holds your iPhone and Apple Watch upright so you can see and interact with your devices while charging. Check it out:
There’s no shortage of reasons to build a website, whether you’re trying to sell stuff, build a brand, or just get your ideas out there. But there’s one reason most people never get around to building their site: lack of coding knowledge. Luckily, no experience is no problem.
This week on The CultCast: Apple’s readying a totally redesigned MacBook Pro with next-gen display! We discuss. Plus: Apple’s working on the next generation of MagSafe! Thank the gods. And we take a fascinating look at the unbelievable scale and size of Apple’s megafactories, from a bonus chapter of Leander’s new book, Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level.
Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. Easily create a beautiful website all by yourself, at Squarespace.com/cultcast. Use offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain..
Disney’s new streaming service, officially announced for the first time on Thursday, will likely make its way to Apple TV.
That’s according to Disney CEO Bob Iger, who explained a Disney+ app will eventually be available through traditional distributors. You will also be able to enjoy it on Smart TVs and consoles.
Why would you bother to back up your iMessages? After all, they’re all stored in iCloud these days, right? Well, yes your messages are all stored in iCloud, but they’re not backed up up there. They’re synced, which means that if you delete a message thread, it’s gone forever. The answer is to make a local backup, which requires a Mac. Which is ridiculous in 2019, but there you go.
Here’s how to back up your iMessages in case the worst happens.
Each of the 80 arresting iPhone images in an exhibition entitled #DRAFT #RUSSIA are a chapter in the life of the photographer Dmitry Markov.
The pictures may feel like a hard, unpleasant view of a fringe existence in a Russian province far removed from the economic bustle of Moscow, but Markov makes no apology.
The quick answer is “Yes, of course you should.” The more complex answer is “But only if you need it.” Your iPhone has an equalizer built in, although it’s not exactly easy to find. Annoyingly-hidden-yet-essential interface elements aside, there’s usually not much point in tweaking the EQ of your Apple Music library unless you have a problem in your setup.
But if you do want to use it, here’s how.
This post was going to be part of my new book, Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level, but was cut for length or continuity. Over the next week or so, we will be publishing several more sections that were cut, focusing mostly on geeky details of Apple’s manufacturing operations.
As iPhone growth exploded, Apple struggled to keep up with demand. Every year, the number of iPhones sold would double, which meant that Apple kept adding new suppliers and assembly operations to keep up. It was a monumental struggle.
It takes more than a good idea to get a business off the ground. You also need savvy, skills, a network, and other resources. You can’t do it alone, so don’t.
Apple’s newest services don’t deliver the “depth” investors want to see as iPhone sales fall for the Cupertino company.
Some analysts are particularly disappointed with the upcoming Apple TV+ video streaming service. They don’t believe Apple has any hope of competing with Netflix.
Global shipments of laptops and desktops were on the decline in the first three months of this year, and Apple also saw a drop in Mac shipments. But there is a silver lining: the company did better than some of its rivals so its share of the global PC market actually increased.
The same was true for Mac sales in the United States.
Apple is asking a judge to boot the lead attorneys in a class action suit that accuses the iPhone maker of throttling older phones to force users to buy new handsets.
Apple claims opposing counsel with Cotchett Pitre & McCarthy discussed and quoted confidential documents in a public hearing last month.
Maybe you need to restart your Apple TV. Perhaps something didn’t load right, or the whole thing is acting screwy. It happens. The Apple TV is just another iOS computer after all. And while unplugging your Apple TV is one valid option, that means getting off your couch. And what do TV lovers hate more than unnecessary exercise? Nothing, that’s what. Happily for you, my lazy friend, you can restart the AppleTV using the remote. If you can find it.
Atom is a “piano roll” sequencer for making music on iOS. A piano roll is named for the software used to run olde worlde player pianos. It’s a roll of paper with holes punched in it. As the roll moves through the piano, the holes are read by a “tracker bar,” and the corresponding notes are played.
Imagine such a sheet of paper in the digital realm. That’s a modern piano-roll sequencer, and it’s a commonplace way to control software instruments. Atom brings some amazing tricks to the piano roll. It’s also an Audio Unit (AU) app, which means it can work as a plug-in inside your favorite iOS Music apps, like Cubasis and GarageBand.
This post was going to be part of my new book, Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level, but was cut for length or continuity. Over the next week or so, we will be publishing several more sections that were cut, focusing mostly on geeky details of Apple’s manufacturing operations.
A good measure of the size of Apple’s manufacturing operations is its capital expenditure, the amount of money spends on things like buildings and equipment.
Apple’s capital expenditure, or CapEx, is mindboggling. To get an idea of how big it is, take Apple’s new spaceship campus in Cupertino – which is the fourth most expensive building in the world. It cost the company an estimated $5 billion to construct.
Apple spends a similar amount every six months on manufacturing equipment.
Evidence of Apple’s plan to break up iTunes has been uncovered ahead of the next major macOS update.
Icons for new Podcasts and TV apps have leaked out early. They’re expected to be accompanied by a new Music app and a redesigned Books app — all based on their counterparts for iOS.
Apple had plans to deliver a phone long before Steve Jobs took to the stage of Macworld 2007 to show off the iPhone.
Around 14 years earlier, the company previewed a prototype device called the Wizzy Active Lifestyle Telephone, or the WALT, which combined a telephone and fax machine into one.
Here’s a rare look at the prototype that shows just what WALT can do.
Music does many things: It soothes, it inspires, it excites, it distracts. But music also can be made into an instrument for staying on task, reducing stress and producing other productive and healthy results.
The Sutter Sling Pouch is a gentleman’s handbag that’s just big enough for you to empty your pockets into. It is also the end of pockets as we know them. What kind of dumbo would stuff their pants full of keys, wallets, multitools, iPads, Kindles and other uncomfortable gear when they can just dump it in the Sutter Sling instead?
A dedicated dumbo, that’s what kind. Smart folks will join me in acknowledging this as a turning point in history: The death of pockets as we know them. When our climate-decimated society is dug up by the Indiana Joneses of the future, they will look at the patches sewn all over our human trousers, and wonder what the hell we thought we were up to.