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Here’s how much AppleCare+ will cost for Apple Watch

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Apple Watch - useful, or just a trend? Photo: Apple

Apple told us last month it would make AppleCare+ available for anybody who just knows they’re going to break Apple Watch’s display. Apple still hasn’t officially revealed pricing, but a leaked internal screenshot may have just revealed the extra cost of insuring your timepiece.

Apple Watch can harness Force Touch to change the color of animated emoji

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Christy Turlington has been trying out the Apple Watch, and she's apparently hooked. Photo: Apple
Christy Turlington has been trying out the Apple Watch, and she's apparently hooked. Photo: Apple

In her latest blog post on Apple’s website, supermodel and Apple Watch spokeswoman Christy Turlington reveals a few more interesting tidbits about the Apple wearable — such as the fact that you can use the device’s Force Touch tech to change the color of animated emoji.

Top 10 Mac keyboard shortcuts everyone should know

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Using these simple keyboard tricks will make your life so much better. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Using these simple keyboard tricks will make your life so much better.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Mastering a few crucial Mac keyboard shortcuts will make using your Apple computer easier and much more efficient. Cutting your reliance on your mouse will help you work more quickly, and you’ll undoubtedly impress your family, friends and co-workers to no end. You might even end up becoming the go-to Mac person in your office, and we all know how wonderful that will be.

Here are the top 10 Mac keyboard shortcut tricks you really need to memorize right now, whether you’re a Mac newbie or a veteran user who still uses the mouse for everything out of habit.

iPad first went on sale five years ago today

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iPad sales are slowing. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
The iPad is a familiar sight today, but it wasn't always like that. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Okay, so all eyes are currently trained on the Apple Watch, which arrives later this month. But April also represents another important benchmark for Apple: five years ago today the iPad went on sale for the very first time.

To celebrate, we’ve scraped the dark recesses of the Cult of Mac archives to bring you a whistle-stop tour of the glorious 60 months we’ve spent in the company of Apple’s breakthrough tablet.

Whether you’re after a zero-gravity Garage Band symphony or a reminder of the time the Queen of England bought an iPad 2, keep reading for a trip down memory lane.

Forget brains, this zombie game devours tuition bills

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Gus Dubetz and Ethan Witt are earning money for college from their ROBLOX game Apocalypse Rising. Photo: ROBLOX
Gus Dubetz and Ethan Witt are earning money for college from their ROBLOX game Apocalypse Rising. Photo: ROBLOX

A zombie survival game called Apocalypse Rising doesn’t sound like a story that should have a happy ending. For game developers Ethan Witt and Gus Dubetz, this doomsday is not about plagues, oceans of blood or even the walking dead.

This apocalypse pays for college.

Your next iPhone might be waterproof

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Letting water in? There's an app a patent for that. Photo: TechSmartt
Letting water in? There's an app a patent for that. Photo: TechSmartt

Aside from better battery life, a waterproof iPhone has to be one of the most-requested upgrades Apple could make to its smartphones — a feature that H20-defying rivals like the Xperia Z1 haven’t wasted a moment bragging about possessing.

But a new patent application published today suggests a waterproofed iPhone could finally be on the way, thanks to a method for sealing buttons specifically designed for iOS devices.

New kind of Force Touch could come to next plus-size iPhone

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You've got the (force) touch! Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
You've got the (force) touch, you've got the power! Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

A new, improved version of the Apple Watch’s Force Touch technology could be coming to Apple’s next-generation plus-sized iPhone — and according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo it may be a significant enough upgrade to persuade Apple to call its next handset the iPhone 7 instead of 6s.

How photo booth magic survives in the era of selfies

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Sam Pidilla and Violeta Tayeh strike a spirited pose inside a photo booth during an international convention of photo booth enthusiast in Chicago. Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac
Sam Padilla and Violeta Tayeh strike a spirited pose inside a photo booth during an international convention of photo booth enthusiasts in Chicago. Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

Anatol Josephwitz passed the time in a Siberian prison camp and ignored the bitter cold by imagining an automated photography machine he had not yet invented.

Nearly 95 years later, the photo booth is as tough a survivor as its inventor.

Photo booth adventurers across many generations have described a magic that takes place when the curtain is drawn and the camera is awakened by placing a few coins in a slot. Inhibitions fall and an authentic inner self emerges on a strip of four photos. Best friends smash their faces together, a girl on a boy’s lap gives him his first kiss, and a wide-eyed college kid proudly mugs for a shot that will get pasted into a first passport.

Many of the so-called dip-and-dunk chemical machines, the kind found in arcades, amusement parks and bus stations, are disappearing, but replacing them are booths with digital cameras and dye-sublimation printers.

The first Apple Watch was an iPhone with a Velcro strap

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This isn't the actual Apple Watch prototype, but it should give you an idea of how unwieldy it was. Photo: Smartlet

The Apple Watch was created under crazy, sleep-deprived conditions, with its first working prototype being an iPhone strapped to the wrist with a Velcro strap, and the Digital Crown represented by a custom dongle plugged into the bottom of the phone via the headphone jack.

Those are a couple of the revelations from a new in-depth article, reporting on the creation of Apple’s eagerly anticipated wearable device.

How to avoid going full screen in OS X Yosemite

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You're no longer a slave to this full screen window behavior.  Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
You're no longer a slave to this full screen window behavior. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

As of OS X Yosemite, the little green button in the upper left-hand corner of all your apps and windows has recently undergone a change in function. Instead of maximizing or re-sizing the windows, as in all previous versions of OS X, now the green button will take your window or app full screen.

If you’re tired of going full screen every time you click the green button, here’s how to avoid the screen take over.

Meet the 8 new Apple + IBM enterprise apps introduced today

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IBM
Photo: Apple
Photo: Apple

Apple’s partnership with IBM has birthed eight new enterprise apps that the companies announced today on Apple’s Business apps page. The new MobileFirst apps focus mostly on healthcare by providing hospital techs and nurses new methods to access patients records, log data and track progress.

Along with the four new healthcare apps, IBM and Apple also created apps for insurance agents, flight attendants, retailers and industrial production.

Take a quick tour of the new apps below.

The best and worst April Fools’ Day jokes of 2015

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Find out who killed Khaleesi in the throne room. Photo: ThinkGeek
Find out who killed Khaleesi in the throne room. Photo: ThinkGeek

There’s not a more annoying day of the year to get on the Internet than April Fools’ Day. Ready or not, it’s here, and companies are spewing out a wave of fake product announcements, some of which we actually wish were real.

Don’t get pranked by this year’s jokes. We’ve rounded up the best and the worst of this year’s Internet jokes so you can laugh along, rather than being that embarrassing friend on Facebook peddling news that Tupac has come out of hiding.

Quick tip will speed Mac data recovery and save you from heartache

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Passwords can lock you out, too. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
Passwords can lock you out, too. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Let me save you a huge headache — don’t set an EFI password on your Mac unless you have the original receipt for that machine.

If you buy your Mac off Craigslist, like I did, and your daughter writes half a novel for her high school class but never backs it up elsewhere (note – always back up your stuff!), and then her MacBook Air suddenly won’t boot up, the EFI password the previous owner put on the laptop will prevent you or Apple from accessing the hard drive or ever using the computer again.

Hypothetically, of course.

If you don’t want to have to tell your daughter she loses her computer and will need to wait a week while you find a way to connect her SSD to another Mac and find her files, disable that EFI password now.

Here’s how.

Factory-worker-turned-Apple-supplier is named China’s richest woman

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Foxconn employees accused of $43 million iPhone scam
Tim Cook meets a worker at the Foxconn factory during a recent trip. Photo: Apple
Photo: Apple

Here’s a pretty incredible story: The CEO of Apple touchscreen glass supplier Lens Technology has been named China’s richest woman, after demand for her company’s output saw shares climb 10 percent in a single day.

What’s impressive isn’t just that an Apple supplier rakes in enough cash to accumulate a $7.1 billion fortune, however, but rather the journey that 44-year-old Zhou Qunfei has taken to get there. Prior to getting into the glass manufacturing business as an executive in 2004, Qunfei worked on the factory line for another glass-maker in tech manufacturing hub Shenzhen.

Best List: This bag’s for the dogs, plus more great stuff for gear hounds

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Each and every month, Lust List rounds up the products that shook us all night long. This time we've got unique backpacks, iPhone-saving cases, cool music gear, hot chile booze and much more.

Timbuk2 Muttmover dog backpack

My mother's dog is a little fluffy menace. A Pomeranian, he looks like dog treats wouldn't melt in his mouth, but he's a terror. He goes completely bananas when other dogs are around, and gets bitey if you try to move him off the couch. Last time I tried to stop him from eating the cat's food, I had to go get a tetanus shot. The neighbors call him

Each and every month, Lust List rounds up the products that shook us all night long. This time we've got unique backpacks, iPhone-saving cases, cool music gear, hot chile booze and much more.

Timbuk2 Muttmover dog backpack

My mother's dog is a little fluffy menace. A Pomeranian, he looks like dog treats wouldn't melt in his mouth, but he's a terror. He goes completely bananas when other dogs are around, and gets bitey if you try to move him off the couch. Last time I tried to stop him from eating the cat's food, I had to go get a tetanus shot. The neighbors call him "Little Cujo."

The only time he's manageable is when he's in a bag. He loves a good bag, and it keeps him out of trouble. Everywhere he goes, Mother puts him in a duffel bag that's a bit too big and unwieldy. So I got her Timbuk2's Muttmover dog backpack, which both she and the little DFH (Dog From Hell) love.

It's a medium-size backpack, so it's easy for her to sling over her shoulder. It's more compact and manageable than the duffel, plus there's a carrying handle on top. The front panel zips open completely, making it easy for the devil dog to step inside. The liner is made of a slick tarpaulin material (with a nice paw-print design), which is easy to clean if he has a whoopsie. There's a ton of pockets for muzzles and Band-Aids, plus zippered portholes for him to stick his evil little face out. It includes a folding water dish. Timbuk2 told me the $118 Muttmover is so popular, it often sells out. — Leander Kahney

Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Buy from: Timbuk2


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Apple is officially ready to accept your Watch app

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Apple Watch did some monster pre-orders in its first day on sale. Photo: Leander Kahney
It's time to submit your Apple Watch app. Photo: Leander Kahney

Apple today announced that all members of its Developer Program can now officially submit Watch apps to the App Store; potentially triggering a gold rush similar to that seen when devs were first able to create iPhone apps early on its lifecycle.

Developers are encouraged to submit their WatchKit app, icon, screenshots, and description for review by Apple’s testers.

How a California real estate developer helped create Apple as we know it

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A classic promotional shot emphasizes the stylish open-plan living found in an Eichler home. Photo: Eichler
A vintage promotional shot emphasizes the stylish open-plan living found in an Eichler home. Photo: Eichler

With an innovative architectural style that brought elegant living to the masses, real estate developer Joseph Eichler left an indelible mark on California in the 1960s.

His beautifully simple blueprints also had an undeniable impact on Apple’s co-founders — although Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs took very different lessons from his work. Remarkably, Eichler’s design philosophy continues to shape Apple’s products, inside and out, to this day.

“I was very lucky to grow up in an Eichler,” Wozniak told Cult of Mac, referring to his family’s four-bedroom home in Sunnyvale, California. “It greatly influenced my liking of simplicity and open style. I like it whenever I see those attributes in any architecture.”

9 features we want to see in the iPhone 6s

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Your iPhone is about to get some new features. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Tim Cook called the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus the biggest advancements in the history of iPhone. It’s barely been six months since the bigger-than-big devices launched, but we’re already craving some upgrades.

With the first iPhone 6s leaks and rumors starting to hit the Internet, we decided to dream up what Apple could possibly do to make its next smartphone kick more ass than ever.

Here are nine upgrades we hope the iPhone 6s gets this fall:

‘Leaked’ photo offers first glimpse of colorful iPhone 6c

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Is this the future iPhone 6c?  Photo: Future Supplier
Is this the future iPhone 6c? Photo: Future Supplier

Apple decided to kill the iPhone C lineup when it debuted the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, but the colorful plastic cases could be making a comeback in 2015, based on an alleged leak out of Apple’s supply chain.

A new 4-inch iPhone 6c might debut alongside the iPhone 6s this fall, according to leaked images that show an iPhone rear shell similar in size to the iPhone 5c. But this design may come with a few tweaks.

Check it out:

Apple will now adopt your Android when you swap it for an iPhone

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Apple’s selling more iPhones than at any point in its history, but that doesn’t mean it’s not looking to grow its user base even more.

To achieve this, the company today launched its new smartphone trade-in program at brick-and-mortar Apple Stores — allowing owners of selected Android, BlackBerry or Windows Phone handsets to swap their existing devices for credit that can be used toward buying an iPhone.

Tim Cook rips discriminatory laws that ‘rationalize injustice’

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As if Tim Cook doesn't already have enough on his plate!
"Apple is open for everyone," Cook says. Photo: Apple
Photo: Apple

Among the biggest differences between Steve Jobs and Tim Cook as leaders of Apple is Cook’s willingness to use his platform as CEO to push positive social change.

Having last week shamed Indiana’s controversial “religious freedom” bill — which potentially allows a business to deny service to would-be customers if they disagree with their sexual orientation, based on religious beliefs — Cook elaborated on his thoughts in a weekend editorial for the Washington Post.

Proclaiming that “Apple is open … to everyone, regardless of where they come from, what they look like, how they worship or who they love,” Cook makes a powerful case. Check out his thoughts below.

FDA is taking a ‘hands-off approach’ to Apple Watch

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Apple Watch isn't being too closely, err, watched. Photo: Apple
Apple Watch isn't being too closely, err, watched. Photo: Apple

The Food and Drug Administration is in a tough spot when it comes to health-tracking wearables. As the U.S. government agency in charge of regulating medical devices, it can’t promote health-oriented technology that doesn’t do what it claims, but it also doesn’t want to stifle innovation at a time when Silicon Valley is finally turning its attention to the field.

That’s why, according to a new report, the FDA is giving the tech industry, and particularly tech giants like Apple, leeway to develop new products without aggressive regulation.

Make your Mac safer for your kids

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Keep your kids safe with these handy tips!

Keeping your kids safe on your computer is one of the more important things you can focus on as a parent. Mac OS X has a great tool built right in to do just that: Parental Controls.

It’s fairly easy to set up Parental Controls on Mac, but if you need a quick hand at making them work for you, our video will walk you through the process.

The most awesome new apps you might have missed this week

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It’s the weekend, which means it’s time to catch up on all of the hot new apps you might have missed throughout the week.

Twitter sets the live video world ablaze with Periscope, a couple great iPhone photography apps, the best way to calendar on the Mac, and some others made it into this week’s roundup.

Without further ado, here are this week’s awesome apps!


Awesome Apps

How to use a PS4 controller with your Mac

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Get your game on -- wirelessly -- with a PS4 controller and your Mac. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
Get your game on -- wirelessly -- with a PS4 controller and your Mac. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Now just might be the best time ever to be a Mac gamer, as a ton of big titles for PC and console are also available for Apple computers via the Mac App Store, Steam or GoG.com. It’s a golden era of cross-platform goodness, and it’s easier than ever to find a game you’ll love on the Mac.

Some of today’s hot titles demand a good controller, though. One of the best is Sony’s DualShock 4 controller (the same one that comes with the PlayStation 4). If you’ve got one, you’ve got easy access to a fantastic, ergonomic and just plain great gaming controller that will work with your Mac, requiring very little setup to make it happen.

Here’s our recipe for great wireless Mac gaming.