Apple’s next-generation of MacBook Airs are expected to launch alongside OS X Lion as early as this week, and in addition to the latest Sandy Bridge processors and Intel’s high-speed Thunderbolt technology, the new models could boast a backlit keyboard.
I’ve had one particular conversation with Windows blockheads far too often; you know, the one where the blockhead says something like “Macs are overpriced marketing gimmicks created to sell nothing but empty fashion to upscale fops!” (only it’s usually expressed as an eloquent “Macs are stupid!”) Which, of course, is nonsense — and so you confidently and patiently ladle responses over the blockhead’s statement like thick gravy, watching his ego deflate further and further…until the blockhead’s eyes light up as his addled brain finally digs up the winning phrase: “But gaming sucks on the Mac!” And all you can do is begin to protest by muttering something about Civilization or Borderlands, and then slowly hang your head in shame.
Unless you know about OnLive — in which case he’s toast. Oh, and you might want to mention the iPad app as well.
We’ve been hearing that Apple’s next desktop operating system, OS X Lion, will be released on July 14th. Alongside Lion, there have also been rumors that Apple will release a new MacBook Air and Mac Pro model at the same time.
Apple is reportedly set to release new machines with Intel’s Sandy Bridge chips. The new MacBook Airs aren’t expected to have an exterior design change, but instead focus on improved internal hardware. The updated Mac Pros are rumored to have a rack-mountable, narrower enclosure.
In the classic tradition of those classic “My brother went to Vegas and all I got was this stupid t-shirt” souvenirs, here’s one of the t-shirts you can buy at the Apple Company Store.
Hilarious. Beats my “I Got An Early Look At The iPhone 5 And All I Got Was Raided, Flashbanged And Maced” t-shirt by a mile!
[via OS X Daily]
We’re just starting to dive into Beta 3, but we thought we’d start a thread to catalogue everything new that we discover in the latest dev previous of iOS 5. We’ll be keeping this updated throughout the day.
Noticed anything new? Let us know in the comments, or email us at [email protected] and we’ll update the post accordingly.
A rather sketchily sourced report says that the iPhone 5 is now in the hands of AT&T’s Mobility division, which is responsible for third-party testing of smartphones before they officially debut. We’re pretty skeptical, but if it’s true, it could mean that the next iPhone could be announced by the end of the month.
Apple has just released the third beta of iOS 5 to registered developers, known as Build 9A5259f. We’re downloading and installing now, but in the mean time, if you’re a registered developer, get downloading at the iOS Dev Center.
Noticed anything new in Beta 3? Drop us a line in the comments below! Here are the release notes.
A Wall Street Journal report published last week claims Apple is experimenting with a new method of charging its 2012 iPhone. Although wireless charging wasn’t mentioned, it’s the first thing we all thought of. Some further investigation into the subject reveals we may just be spot on.
Apple is reportedly seeking a second iPad manufacturer to help meet demand of the device when the rumored ‘iPad 2 Plus’ is introduced later this year.
These photographs, purportedly depicting Apple’s upcoming iPhone 5, clearly reveal the fifth-generation device will boast a dual LED camera flash, two cameras for taking 3D photos, and a new edge-to-edge display.
At least they would if they were genuine. Which we’re almost certain they’re not.
Apple has launched two new TV ads for the iPhone that could potentially be the last to feature the iPhone 4. Demonstrating FaceTime and AirPlay, the ads continue the “If you don’t have an iPhone…” campaign which started back in March.
Remember the old “killer app” concept? The idea is that an application becomes so desirable that it guarantees massive sales of the hardware platform it runs on.
The Wikipedia has the best definition I’ve seen: A killer app is “any computer program that is so necessary or desirable that it proves the core value of some larger technology, such as computer hardware, gaming console, software, or an operating system. A killer app can substantially increase sales of the platform on which it runs.”
The best examples are VisiCalc on the Apple II and Lotus 1-2-3 for the IBM PC. Don’t laugh. Without those early “killer apps,” you may never have even heard of the Mac or Windows. (“Cult of Commodore,” anyone?)
Right now, everyone thinks the iPad is successful, and it is. But the number of iPad users sill pales in comparison with, say, the number of Windows users or the number of Facebook users (each boasting well over half a billion users). As much as we love our iPads, we must admit that so far the tablet is an optional toy for rich young people. The iPad dominates tablets, but tablets are on the fringe. The iPad, and the tablet, have not yet found their “killer app.”
But they will. And soon. Both Google and Facebook are both about to release their first-ever iPad apps for social networking. And I think the experience will be so compelling that it will drive millions of new users to get iPads, just for social networking.
Cult of Mac needs your help to raise money to help fight blood cancer. And we need it ASAP!
This morning, Leader will be up in the California Alps, where he will be undergoing The Death Ride, an extremely challenging 130-mile bicycle route that goes up and over five mountain passes in the awesome Sierra Nevada. Leander is doing all of this to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training Program.
The Death Ride? As its name suggests, it is absolutely fricking insane. It amounts to 15,000 feet of climbing in one day, most of it between 6,000- and 9,000-feet above sea level, where the air is pretty thin. Here’s the elevation map. For an idea of how high that is, see this amazing infographic. It’s a masochistic ordeal.
With just a few hours until the Death Ride starts, Leander is still short $250 of the minimum $3500 pledge he needs.
Please, if you’ve got any money to spare, consider pledging it to Leander. I don’t know if you’ve seen Cult of Mac’s Editor-in-Chief, but he’s not exactly in what you would call peak physical conditioning. Most of the time, he’s really more martini than man. That Leander’s going to ride 130 miles up and down mountains today until the meat sloughs off his bones is an awesome enough feat for him to accomplish without him having to pay $250 out of pocket to do it.
Here’s the link to support Leander. All donations are tax deductible. Help Leander out, would you? This really is for a very good cause.
Electrical fault or bug? We’d be willing to guess the former, but an iOS developer testing his software running iOS 5 Beta 2 says that the latest developer preview caused his iPhone 4 cable to erupt into flame.
A rogue TSA Agent who stole more than $50,000 worth of property has been fired and arrested after he was caught trying to shove an iPad down his pants.
The Space Shuttle Atlantis just took off from Cape Canaveral, launching into outer space in what will be the last launch of NASA’s historic shuttle fleet. Aboard the shuttle are not only the crew of astronauts and the hopes and dreams of hundreds of millions of Americans, but a very special payload: two custom, zero-G iPhone 4s.
A very questionably sourced report claims that the next iPod Touch will join the iPad and iPhone and gain 3G data connectivity. That’s certainly always been the dream, and it would be enough for many iPhone users to ditch their cell phone contracts and go totally VoIP on a cheaper iPod Touch. But is it really plausible?
Speculation that claims Apple is set to launch two new iPhones this September doesn’t look like it’s going to die down anytime soon. The latest report, citing information from a previously reliable source, claims that in addition to an all-new iPhone 5 this September, there will also be a low-end device, possibly based on the iPod touch.
Apple is planning overnight shifts at international retail locations around the world to prepare for a July 14th release of OS X Lion, according to reports. And new Thunderbolt-equipped Sandy Bridge MacBook Airs with blistering 400MBps SSD drives might also be in the cards.
Earlier today, we reported that Apple is invisibly filtering certain outgoing messages sent through their MobileMe email service.
Apple has now responded to that story, and while they admit that there is some level of filtering going on with MobileMe’s email service in order to protect users from spam, they are not censoring emails based upon political content.
A 25 year old digital artist who installed a program that secretly took photographs of the people using the Macs at two New York City Apple Stores has had his own computers confiscated by the United States Secret Service. He may face criminal charges.
Over the last few months, the rumor mill has just been incapable of agreeing whether or not the next iPhone will be a modest update on the iPhone 4 called the iPhone 4S, or a more revolutionary update called the iPhone 5. We’ve even heard that Apple will release both an iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 in September.
Now ThisIsMyNext is reporting that there is no iPhone 4s at all. Rather, reports of an iPhone 4s have been informed by Apple’s method of testing the iPhone 5 prototype inside of the enclosure of an old iPhone 4.
Apple is invisibly filtering outgoing messages sent with its popular MobileMe webmail app based upon their content, Cult of Mac can exclusively confirm.
That means that if Apple doesn’t like the way you’ve written an outgoing email, they might just opt not to send it, and never bother telling you why.
A photograph of an iPhone prototype running on China Mobile’s 3G TD-SCDMA network strengthen rumors that Apple is set to launch the device on the world’s largest carrier — possibly as early as September.
Just a day after the much-anticipated JailbreakMe 3.0 website went live and over 1,000,000 iOS devices took advantage of the web-based hack, Apple has confirmed it will kill the exploit in an upcoming software update.