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6 Apple Watch apps for an awesome six-pack

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Want a more defined core? Your Apple Watch can help.
Want a more defined core? Your Apple Watch can help.
Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

For many guys wanting to get in shape, a chiseled six-pack is the ultimate goal. But achieving that iconic washboard look is not easy. Especially as you get older.

Fortunately, your Apple Watch can help you along the way to achieving a tighter core. Apple’s Health app, Activity app and even the Breathe app have a role to play. Here’s how to get a six-pack with a little help from your iPhone and Apple Watch.

How Apple’s Operations department works [Cook book outtakes]

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Two Apple operations workers in a factory
Apple's operations, which Tim Cook headed up, is one of the company's secret weapons.
Photo: Apple

Tim Cook book outtakes: How Apple's Operations department works 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.

Apple is famous for design and marketing, but a large part of the company’s success is due to the incredibly complex and efficient manufacturing organization Tim Cook masterminded with Steve Jobs.

No matter how beautiful its products are, the company would go nowhere without a world-class manufacturing and distribution operation that can make millions of devices in the utmost secrecy, to the highest possible standards, and deliver them efficiently all over the globe.

It’s an operation unprecedented in the history of industry. When Jobs and Cook started in 1998, Apple was doing $6 billion in business annually. It now does that every 10 days.

Pixelmator Photo first impressions: An amazing iPad image editor [Review]

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Pixelmator Photo should be on every photographer’s iPad.
Pixelmator Photo should be on every photographer’s iPad.
Photo: Nuria Gregori

Pixelmator Photo, a new image-editing app for iPad, gives you tons of tools for tweaking your images. The app lets you apply filters, crop, trim and generally making your photos look great.

In this regard, Pixelmator Photo is like a zillion other photo apps for iOS. What sets it apart are a) the now-expected Pixelmator polish, and b) machine learning that powers pretty much everything.

I’ve taken the app, which launches today, for a quick spin, and it’s pretty great. The photo-editing space is so crowded with great apps, though, that we’re spoiled for choice. How does Pixelmator Photo match up?

This massively discounted Excel course offers a boost to any resume [Deals]

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Become an expert in Excel data analytics with this massively discounted lesson bundle.
Become an expert in Excel data analytics with this massively discounted lesson bundle.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Any list of the top three best apps for professionals to know is going to include Microsoft Excel. It’s perfect for working with data of all kinds, so it’s a lynchpin for businesses of all kinds and sizes. Here’s a chance to add Excel mastery to your resume for a song.

Apple could adopt mini LED backlighting for a giant iMac

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iMac
It's about time the iMac was redesigned.
Photo: Apple

Apple is expected to adopt mini LED backlighting technology this year to further improve color gamut, contrast ratio, and high dynamic range in its displays.

A brand new 31.6-inch iMac will be the first machine to offer the new display technology, sources claim. It will then make its way to the iPad and other Apple computers in 2020.

Treat yourself to a Lightning cable that lasts [Deals]

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This Lightning cable is built tough, with 5 feet of length for extra flexibility and reach.
This Lightning cable is built tough, with 5 feet of length for extra flexibility and reach.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Our mobile devices depend on a single cable for power and data. So it’s a drag that they’re so prone to break and fray. Instead of constantly replacing the standard Lightning cables from Cupertino, here’s your chance to snag one that’s built to stand the test of time.

Huawei ready to provide modems for a 5G iPhone

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Huawei launched the Balong 5000 5G modem in January.
Huawei launched the Balong 5000 5G modem in January.
Photo: Huawei

Apple apparently has another option for 5G modems. Huawei reportedly is willing to provide future iPhones with these chips.

If true, this significantly improves the chances that a 5G iPhone will launch in 2020. Still, there are reasons to question the wisdom of any such deal.

Biggest MacBook in years could debut in 2021

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The days when you could get a 17-inch MacBook Pro like this one could be returning.
The days when you could get a 17-inch MacBook Pro like this one could be returning.
Photo: Apple

A trusted analyst says Apple is working on a MacBook Pro that’s bigger than any released in years. The downside is this model won’t be out until 2021.

This device, as well as a new iPad and an external display, will all supposedly use a new type of display: microLED.

How to check your iPhone’s warranty expiration date in iOS 12.2

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cracked iphone
This may be too far gone for a warranty repair.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

iOS 12.2 brought many changes and additions to the iPhone and iPad — four new Animoji (giraffe! boar!), better-quality voice messages — but one handy new feature may go unnoticed unless you know where to look. Now, you can check the expiration date of your iPhone or iPad warranty right there on the device itself.

Micro.blog now lets you post videos

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This video is going to look great on your Micro.blog.
This video is going to look great on your Micro.blog.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

If you’re sick of YouTube’s ever-shifting terms, or you don’t like how lame Instagram has become, and you just want somewhere to post your videos without interference, then why not post them on your own microblog? Thanks to an update to Micro.blog, you can now do just that, as easily as posting a photo.

How Apple is like the army [Cook book outtakes]

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Army badges and logos
Apple is a functional organization, like the army.
Photo: Mike McDonald, royalty-free image

Tim Cook book outtakes 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.

Apple is a functional organization. It’s not organized along business lines, split into divisions like the iPhone division, the Mac division and the Apple TV division, the way, say a company like Ford has the Lincoln division for its luxury cars, a trucks division, a parts division and so on.

Instead, Apple is organized around functions: design, hardware, software, internet services. In this way, Apple operates like the biggest functional organization on the planet: the military.

New report spills details of 2019 iPhone refresh

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iPhone 11 cameras
Look at the size of those cameras!
Photo: Macotakara

This year’s iPhone refresh may bring more than just a spec bump.

A new report claims Apple’s flagship devices will get even bigger to accommodate an additional camera sensor and the largest lenses ever in an iPhone. They may also be ever so slightly thicker than their predecessors.

It’s much too early to reject a folding iPhone [Opinion]

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Don’t close your mind to the potential of the folding iPhone.
Don’t close your mind to the potential of the folding iPhone. This is just one of many possibilities.
Photo: Foldable.News

Deciding now that an folding iPhone is a terrible idea is premature. There just isn’t enough information yet to judge whether any such device is something you’ll want. And it’s betting against Apple’s history of success in areas where others have failed.

While the first foldable devices from other companies have serious flaws, that in no way means any eventual Apple device with a flexible screen will be equally bad. There’s actually plenty of reason to think it won’t.

A brief history of Steve Jobs’ automated factory at NeXT [Cook book leftovers]

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Inside Next Factory in Fremont
In 1990, Steve Jobs built another highly-automated factory, where robots did almost all of the assembly of NeXT computers.
Photo: Terrence McCarthy, used with permission.

Tim Cook book outtakes

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 Apple’s manufacturing operations.

This is Part 2 of a two-part section on Apple’s misadventures in manufacturing. Part I is here.

Steve Jobs carried his dream of end-to-end control over manufacturing to NeXT, the company that Jobs founded after being booted out of Apple in 1985. It was here that he learned a tough lesson about manufacturing: that sometimes it’s more trouble than it is worth. Or, perhaps more kindly, that great manufacturing capabilities mean nothing if you don’t have a product people want to buy.

Apple’s beloved MagSafe connector could make a comeback

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Original MagSafe connector
MagSafe is gone but not forgotten. Not at Apple, anyway.
Photo: Apple

Apple is exploring charging cables that attach to its devices with magnets. This is highly reminiscent of its discontinued MagSafe system.

Previously, this was a great way to keep MacBooks from being accidentally damaged but Apple stopped using it during the company’s transition to USB-C.

How to cope with your MacBook keyboard [Cult of Mac Magazine No. 291]

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No, pounding your stuck MacBook keyboard in rage is not the answer.
No, pounding your keyboard in rage is not the answer.
Cover: Graham Bower and Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Apple admits that some people experience serious MacBook keyboard problems. So, what are you going to do about it? We’ve got a theory about what might be causing the failures, as well as some tips that could help you deal with stuck MacBook keys (and maybe avoid them altogether).

Even if you don’t have one of the problematic MacBooks, grab this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine for iOS. You’ll get a handful of other helpful how-tos for anybody in the Apple ecosystem. Plus, an AirPower postmortem, the latest iPhone rumors, reviews of various Apple accessories and more.

Download the free app now, or hit the links below to read the week’s best stories in your browser. And don’t miss your last chance to enter to win a free copy of iMazing.

A brief history of Apple’s misadventures in manufacturing: Part 1 [Cook book outtakes]

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Apple Macintosh Factory of the future in Fremont
Steve Jobs built a highly automated Macintosh plant grandly called the "factory of the future."
Photo: Apple Maps

Tim Cook book outtakes 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. Over the next week or so, we will be publishing several more sections that were cut, focusing mostly on Apple’s manufacturing operations.

Steve Jobs always had a deep fascination with automated factories. He was first exposed to them during a trip to Japan in 1983. At the time, Apple had just created a new floppy disk drive called Twiggy. During a visit to Apple’s factory in San Jose, however, Jobs became irate when he discovered the high failure rate of Twiggy drives Apple was producing. More than half of them were rejected. Jobs threatened to fire everyone who worked at the factory

Finally! Apple might be planning to break up iTunes

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iTunes on Mac
iTunes has been a pain in the ass for way too long.
Photo: Apple

The death of iTunes might finally be on the horizon. Or, at least, the downsizing of iTunes certainly seems to be.

iOS developer Steve Troughton-Smith revealed today that he unearthed evidence about Apple’s plans to make separate apps for Music, Podcasts and Books. iTunes slowly morphed into a bloated beast over the last decade, so paring down the app would be welcomed by Mac users. But Troughton-Smith warns not to get your hopes up too high just yet.

Braven’s rugged portable speaker can take whatever you dish out [Review]

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Braven BRV-105 review: This Bluetooth speaker is as active as you are. It’s up for biking, sailing ... you name it.
The Braven BRV-105 is as active as you are. It’s up for biking, sailing... you name it.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

The Braven BRV-105 can go anywhere and survive whatever you can. This palm-size speaker is waterproof and rugged without being too bulky. Attach it to your bike or belt and listen to music wherever you go without headphones.

We fully tested this Bluetooth accessory, so don’t miss our review.

How to tell Photos it recognized the wrong person

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Photos app is usually pretty good at recognizing people.
Photos app is usually pretty good at recognizing people.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

The Photos app’s Faces feature is fantastic. It does a pretty good job of gathering all the pictures of a person together, for both browsing and search. And it’s really easy to add new faces to the list. But what about managing those faces? What if the Photos app’s AI added some photos of a stranger into the photos of your husband?

It’s easy to tell your iPhone or iPad that a photo does not contain the person it thinks it does. Unfortunately, it’s a real pain to find the setting you need to tweak.

Apple Music finally passes Spotify in U.S. paid subscribers

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Apple Music
Apple Music beat its biggest rival in the U.S.
Photo: Apple

More Americans pay to listen to Apple Music than Spotify. The Swedish company had been ahead since the iPhone maker got into the streaming music business back in 2015, but Apple finally closed the gap. And its growth is continuing to outpace its rival in the US.

Spotify still has many more paid subscribers globally, however.,

Living with a MacBook keyboard is like managing a chronic condition [Opinion]

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Taking it out on your problematic MacBook butterfly keyboard will only make things worse.
Taking it out on your keyboard will only make things worse.
Photo illustration: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

At this point, we all know the MacBook’s butterfly keyboard can prove problematic. Apple recently admitted the problem is real — and even issued a rare apology.

Anecdotally, pretty much every MacBook owner I know has experienced keys sticking or repeating at one time or another. But occasionally I meet someone who seems blessed with a faultless MacBook keyboard. And Apple claims the problem only affects a small number of MacBook users.

So what is going on? I have a theory — and a tip that might keep your MacBook’s keyboard from crapping out if it hasn’t already.

Qualcomm still prepared to supply 5G modems for iPhone

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iPhone XS crazy performance means speed at your fingertips.
Apple can
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Qualcomm is still prepared to supply Apple with 5G modems for a future iPhone — despite an ongoing legal battle between the two companies.

Reports have indicated Apple may be struggling to secure 5G modems from Intel and other vendors for a 2020 refresh. But Qualcomm president Cristiano Amon says, “if they call, we’ll support them.”