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AirPods Pro are so popular Apple is struggling to keep up with demand

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AirPods Pro are so popular Apple is struggling to keep up with demand
AirPods Pro are a massive hit for Apple.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Apple is struggling to keep up with demand for the AirPods Pro, says Citi analyst Jim Suva. And it’s “not due to manufacturing issues.”

Speaking with CNBC, Suva noted how there was a “several week delay” for customers to get AirPods over the holiday season. According to Suva, this is due to such strong demand for the products that Apple simply “can’t keep up.”

IDC: Apple’s wearables business will explode through 2023

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Apple’s wearables business will explode through 2023
Wearables are a gold-rated business for Apple.
Photo: Caviar

The “earwear” product category, made up of devices like the AirPods, is set to explode in the next few years. According to a new report by the International Data Corporation, the market for hearables will increase from 139.4 million units this year to 273.7 million in 2023.

The firm doesn’t break down projected sales by brand. However, with Apple’s market-leading status thanks to AirPods, it’s likely that Cupertino will do exceptionally well.

Apple had the hottest third quarter in a sizzling wearables market

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Elago-Wrist-Fit-Apple-Watch
Apple's size of the wearables market keeps growing.
Photo: Elago

Apple continues to expand its dominance of a wearable device market that only gets hotter with each quarter.

Thanks to a price reduction on the Apple Watch Series 3 and the launch of AirPods Pro, Apple snagged 35% of the market share in the third quarter, a year-over-year growth increase of more than 195%.

Apple Watch rules the wearables roost in North America

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Apple Watch Series 4 Infogram Watch Face
Apple Watch is dominating in the United States.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Apple Watch continues to storm ahead of the competition in the North American wearables market. In the second quarter of 2019, it carved a 37.9% market share, according to new figures released by Canalys.

The market research firm claims that Apple shipped 2.9 million units during the quarter. That’s considerably more than those shipped by Fitbit, Samsung, Garmin, or others.

Services fuel Apple to historic June quarter

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European Commission could get even tougher on tech in 2020
Apple shares are trading up on the good news.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Record-breaking revenue put Apple right in line with Wall Street expectations as the company released its Q3 2019 earnings report today.

The iPhone-maker brought in $53.8 billion in revenue, a number within range of its own guidance and most analysts’ predictions. That set a new record for Apple third-quarter revenue — a slight gain from Q3 2018’s $53.3 billion. CEO Tim Cook touted the company’s subscription offerings for fueling the new all-time high.

The best iPhone accessories on sale for Prime Day 2019 [Update]

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Best-iPhone-accessories-Prime-2019
Enjoy these stellar savings while you can.
Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

UPDATE: New deals added!

Amazon Prime Day isn’t over yet. You have another day to enjoy deep discounts on more than 1 million products, and Cult of Mac is here to help you seek out the best before they’re gone.

We’ve rounded up the best iPhone accessories right here. You’ll find cheap Beats and Bose headphones, smart speakers from Sonos, must-have battery packs from Anker, and lots more.

Bust out your wallet and enjoy these massive savings while you can.

Samsung’s new wearable steals Apple Watch 4’s hottest features

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Apple Watch Meidcare
That includes a life-saving ECG app.
Photo: Apple

Samsung’s newest wearable will steal some of Apple Watch Series 4’s hottest features. The upcoming Galaxy Watch Active 2 is expected to get an ECG app as well as fall detection.

The device will be capable of detecting atrial fibrillation — a common heart condition — and of sharing heart data with physicians and other health professionals, a new report claims.

Apple is serious about strapping a camera to your wrist

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applewatch
The camera looks like its part of the loop band.
Photo: USPTO

It seems inevitable that a camera will eventually find its way onto the Apple Watch, the only question is ‘how’? The USPTO awarded a new patent this week that reveals one pretty novel idea Apple has come up with that would allow the Apple Watch camera to be reversible.

It doesn’t look very sleek, but it could be pretty useful:

Apple Watch will continue to dominate for years to come

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Apple Watch Series 4 Solar System Watch Face
Apple Watch won’t have serious rivals in the foreseeable future.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Apple Watch has the lion’s share of smart watch sales today, and that’ll hold true through at least 2023, according to a market-research firm. This ultra-mobile computer will stay in the lead as the entire market for wrist-worn wearables grows strongly.

Sales of AirPods and other hearables are also expected see healthy growth in the coming years.

AirPods 2 launch was kind of a dud

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airpods
Deals on first-generation AirPods cut into sales of the new version.
Photo: Ste Smith/ Cult of Mac

The debut of Apple’s second-generation AirPods didn’t trigger a huge surge in first-day sales, according to new data from a market-research company.

Still, the whole Q1 hearables market grew 40 percent over the previous quarter.

Apple’s wearables is now the size of a Fortune 200 company

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Apple Watch arm wrestling
Apple's Apple Watch business grew 50% last quarter.
Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

Apple’s wearables business continues to grow like gangbusters.

Sales of the Apple Watch grew 50% compared to the same quarter last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook said on Apple’s Q2 2019 quarterly analyst call Tuesday.

If Apple’s wearables business — which includes the Apple Watch and the popular AirPods earbuds — were a stand-alone company, it would be in the Fortune 200, Cook said.

AirPods most popular brand in ‘hearables’ market

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AirPods sales
35 million pairs of AIrPods sold in 2018.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple sold some 35 million AirPods last year. That makes the wireless earbuds, which had a rocky rollout, the most popular “hearables” device in the U.S., according to Counterpoint Research.

But Apple has competition within earshot from Sony and Samsung, both of which are only a couple of percentage points off in market share and are expected to grow.

Welt smart belt is like an Apple Watch for your waist

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Welt2
This belt will monitor your increasingly girth.
Photo: Welt

CES 2019 bug Forget your wrist. The new location for wearable devices is clearly your waist, at least according to Korean wearables company Welt. At CES 2019, the startup unveiled its smart belt, which promises to track physical activity, measure your expanding waistline, and even perform Apple Watch-style fall detection.

The Welt smart belt does this using a bevy of sensors and a Bluetooth connection. The data gathered is sent to a connected mobile device such as an iPhone.

Apple has invented its very own fabric

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Apple t-shirt 2
"Clothing by Jony." Or not.
Photo: Ryan Orr/Flickr CC

The Apple Watch may be the world’s top wearable device right now, but that doesn’t mean that Apple’s happy to stop there. According to a newly published patent, Apple has developed its very own fabric, made up of a ridged material to offer a “contrasting appearance.”

The patent is an ornamental one, covering the look of the fabric rather than a specific use case. However, given Apple’s history of investigation into smart fabrics, it’s possible that the material could be used for developing future smart, sensor-equipped clothing.

Lower price is most popular Apple Watch feature

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Series 3 price
The 40mm Series 4 Apple Watch compared to the 42mm Series 3 Apple Watch.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

Apple continues to put more of its smartwatches on the wrists of customers thanks largely these days to a reduced price on its Series 3 model.

Apple sold more than 4 million Apple Watches in the third quarter, a 54 percent increase in year-over-year growth.

Apple Watch sales are up but it’s losing marketshare

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2018 Apple Watch
Raise to wake might finally be coming to an end.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple Watch is finally starting to face some bigger competition from rival smartwatch-makers, based on the latest data from Canalys.

Fitbit and Garmin are capitalizing on the wearables trend and diversifying their lineups to appeal to specific use cases. As a result, Apple Watch’s market share shrunk even though it sold more watches in Q2 2018 than it did during the same period last year.

Apple hardware, smart clothing could guide the blind and deaf

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smart clothing
Apple is developing a device and some type of wearable that could help the deaf and blind
Photo: Apple/USPTO

Apple is developing technology that would combine a cylindrical device and possibly smart clothing to provide blind and deaf people tactile or auditory signals to navigate their environments.

According to a patent application filed by Apple today, the device would map the environment with sensor data and provide feedback. For the blind, the device could sync with an iPhone to provide spoken feedback to the blind. For the deaf, vibrating signals could be delivered to a wearable, such as a shirt or the Apple Watch.

Next Apple Watch might be plus-size

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2018 Apple Watch
Raise to wake might finally be coming to an end.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple Watch isn’t just growing in sales — it’s about to grow in size, too. At least, that’s the prediction of an analyst with long track record for accuracy.

A larger display would make room for a bigger battery. Apple likely will build new health features into its updated wearable as well.

New Fitbit Versa takes aim at Apple Watch

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Fitbit Versa
Fitbit Versa is likely to become a top competitor for Apple Watch.
Photo: Fitbit

Fitbit is stepping up to compete better with the Apple Watch with the Versa smartwatch. The new wearable looks similar to Apple’s watch, and offers music playback and other capabilities. Plus, it arrives at a lower price point — just under $200.

The Versa’s unveiling comes just after Apple surpassed Fitbit in the wearables market. Apparently, people want much more from their devices than just counting steps.

Apple Watch spanks the Swiss watch industry for real

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Apple Watch Series 3
There's Apple Watch and then everyone else.
Photo: Apple

Apple Watch is absolutely dominating the traditional Swiss watch industry.

The latest reports on Apple Watch sales figures were released today and even though Apple hasn’t put out its own official numbers, it looks like Apple Watch outsold the entire Swiss watch industry combined during the last quarter of 2017.

Has Google given up on Android Wear?

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Android Wear
You can no longer buy Android Wear devices from Google.
Photo: Google

Apple Watch could be about to lose one of its biggest rivals.

The future of the Android Wear platform looks bleak today after Google removed all traces of wearable devices from its online store. Its focus on the platform seems to have fizzled out since it became clear that only Apple could sell smartwatches in large numbers.