Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh Classic II (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer. He’s written for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview, and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
No more procrastinating. It's necessary to update your iPhone, iPad, or MacBook to remove a Bluetooth security flaw. Photo: Apple
Many people are slow about updating the operating system on their phone or laptop, sometimes from fear of bugs. But a security flaw in Bluetooth requires updating to recent versions of iOS or macOS to fix.
This flaw could allow a hacker to access information exchanged over Bluetooth. And it affects recent and older iPhones and MacBooks.
Verizon is behind arch-rival AT&T in deploying mobile 5G. Sprint and T-Mobile are trailing. Photo: Steve Rhodes/Flickr CC
Verizon just reveled that Houston will be the third city getting its super-speedy 5G service before the end of this year. But there’s huge caveat: this is fixed service, only for homes and businesses.
In contrast, AT&T will launch mobile 5G service in six cities this year. This shows how far ahead it is than the competition.
Apple just released a fix that will speed up every 2018 MacBook Pro, no matter the processor or screen size. Photo: Apple
Ever since the debut of the 2018 MacBook Pro, there’s been controversy about the top-tier version suffering thermal throttling. Apple today apologized for this problem, and released a fix.
It also seems every version of the new Apple laptop will down-clock itself to prevent overheating. The slowdowns occur even when it’s not totally necessary to stop the machines from being damaged.
Apple will provide HomePod tech support at a special online event in a few days. Get your questions ready. Photo: Apple
The HomePod is a new product and Apple wants to be sure owners of this smartspeaker are getting all the benefits. That’s why the company scheduled a live chat with HomePod specialists for later this week. It’s open to anyone with questions.
A lot of people get tech support on their electronics from friends, but the $349 HomePod is struggling to compete against the much cheaper Amazon Echo, so many users probably don’t know someone else with this device.
The 2018 MacBook Pro with a Core i9 processor is subject to thermal throttling, but it's hardly alone in that. Photo: Apple
The top-of-the-line MacBook Pro with an Intel Core i9 processor has gotten some bad press. The new laptop reportedly is subject to thermal throttling, which is a fancy way of saying that its CPU gets so hot that it slows itself down before burning up.
But before anyone criticizes Apple too much, Consumer Reports came to the company’s defense. The consumer-testing organization points out that other laptops with top-tier processors are also subject to thermal throttling.
Apple repair techs have access to a lot of gear other people don't. Screenshot: Apple
Editor’s Note: Not surprisingly, these internal Apple videos are now gone from YouTube. The iPhone maker undoubtedly asked that they be removed.
What appears to be a collection of Apple’s internal video guides to repairing various devices has been posted on YouTube. These show the company’s methods to fix some components of the iPhone X, the iMac Pro 2017, and the MacBook Pro 2016 and 2017.
Apple doesn’t show anyone outside of the company how to service its products. Third-party repair companies have to figure it out for themselves. So this is a rare look inside official Apple repair procedures.
Your used iPhone value might surprise you. You could resell your iPhone X and recoup most of the cost of a new 2018 model. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
You may have gulped a bit when you put down $999 for your iPhone X. But turns out it was a good investment. Half a year later, your device has depreciated surprisingly little.
B-Stock, a B2B company selling used computers, says that the iPhone X has held its value better than any Apple phone in its experience. And iPhones do better than their rivals.
AT&T and arch-rival Verizon will be among the first U.S. carriers to offer 5G. Photo: Luismt94/Wikipedia CC
AT&T promised to bring the next generation of cellular wireless technology to a dozen cities before the end of this year. It just hasn’t revealed which ones yet.
The carrier started the teasing process a few months ago, announcing that Atlanta, Dallas and Waco, Texas, will get mobile 5G.
It's the fullfillment of many a baseball fan's dreams: beer by text. Photo: Aramark
The Philadelphia Phillies and Aramark started a pilot program that lets fans order beer from their seats using an iPhone.
The service makes use of Apple Business Chat, a service that launched this spring designed to let customers send messages to companies without strings attached.
Figuring out which 2018 MacBook Pro is fastest or cheapest is easy. We puzzled out which offers the most bang for the buck. Photo: Apple
You need a 2018 MacBook Pro, but there are a bunch of configurations to choose from, with the top model more than twice as expensive as the base one. Of course, Apple is asking you to pay extra for a faster processor, but is the additional cost worth it?
We took benchmarking scores for all the variations of the newest macOS laptop and divided them by the cost of each. The results might well surprise you.
There are deals to had this summer if you just use Apple Pay. Photo: Apple
Apple waited a bit for its summer Apple Pay promotion, but it just kicked off today. On offer are savings from Fandango, SubHub, Groupon, and several other apps.
The exact savings vary from service to service, of course, but they all have one thing in common: when it comes time to settle up, you must use Apple Pay.
George Takei's new House of Cats apps shreds President Trump. Photo: BMAD
George Takei is best known for his iconic role on Star Trek, but he’s also an activist. And a very anti-Trump one. His new app combines two things the internet loves: cats and politics.
House of Cats stars Trumpy Cat, a distinctly non-cute version of the President in feline form.
An updated version of HomeKit HomeKit really improves the Wemo Mini Smart Plug. Photo: Wemo
Accessories can now support Apple’s HomeKit without a special chip. The Wemo Mini Smart Plug is the first to use this new system of software authentication.
The Mini Smart Plug ($34.99) offers a single electrical socket that can be controlled by an iPhone though HomeKit. Anything plugged in can be turned on or off remotely, or on a schedule.
We bet you'll change your Amazon password after reading this article. Photo: Mike Seyfang/Flickr CC
Go to your Amazon, Zappos, etc. account now and change the password to something stronger. That’s the takeaway from a cyber security firm’s report that says a whopping 91 percent of all attempts to log into e-commerce websites are from hackers.
Attempts by hackers to log into the sites of airlines, banks, and hotels also account for about half of their traffic.
Corning's Gorilla Glass 6 can survive being dropped over a dozen times. Ape not included. Photo: Corning
Corning Gorilla Glass 6 focuses on durability. This cover glass for smartphones has been formulated to not just survive higher drops, but more frequent ones.
Earlier versions of Gorilla Glass have been used on all previous iPhone models since Steve Jobs chose the company to provide screen covers in 2006.
The so-called Galaxy Flex be Samsung’s first foldable phone. Screenshot: Samsung
Fresh details have come to light about the foldable smartphone Samsung supposedly plans to introduce next year. Such devices could shake up the entire smartphone industry.
An inside source has leaked the size and a bit about the shape of this upcoming model. The price has also leaked, and it’s a whopper.
The website Public by Default highlights the weak privacy of Venmo. Photo: Hang Do Thi Duc
Companies don’t always succeed at keeping user data private, but Venmo doesn’t even seem to be trying. This service that allows users to make payments to individuals or merchants has the privacy for transactions set to public by default.
A researcher found that with very little effort she could track the purchases made by most of the 7 million active Venmo users. That includes everyone who installed Venmo from the App Store.
A nw type of Samsung RAM is significantly faster than what's in the iPhone today. Photo: Samsung
Samsung developed a type of RAM that’s 1.5 times faster than what’s included in smartphones today. And, even though Apple and Samsung are arch rivals, it’s very likely to be in iPhone someday.
The new 8Gb LPDDR5 DRAM boasts a data rate of up to 6,400 Mbps. That’s fast enough to send 51.2 GB, or about 14 full-HD video files, in a second.
mophie's new iPad and iPhone batteries include Lightning ports, and come in a range of capacities and colors. Photo: mophie
Accessory-maker mophie launched a family of external batteries designed specifically for iPhone and iPad. They’re among the first to be charged through a Lightning port. Even better, some models have a built-in Lightning cable, and one includes wireless charging.
Apple approves of these new powerstation products so much they are availableexclusively at Apple Stores and Apple.com.
A look inside the 2018 MacBook Pro finds plenty of bad news, but some good too. Photo: IFIXIT
Apple makes no attempt to have MacBook Pro models easy to repair. The ones released just a few days ago are no exception. We all have to hope that the redesigned key mechanism fixes the previous problems because the keyboard is solidly glued to the battery and speakers. And that’s just the most obvious way that Apple frustrates the do-it-yourself crowd.
But the news isn’t all bad. At least one version of the 2018 MacBook Pro boasts a major battery improvement.
One of Apple's stretchable displays could be built into your sleeve and function as an external screen for your iPhone. Photo: Apple
It sounds like science fiction, but Apple has created a method for making stretchable displays. This means that, instead of your computer being in your pocket or on your wrist, it could be made into your shirt.
Phones with flexible displays are expected in the next year or so, but these are just intended to be foldable. The screen Apple is just received a patent for could be wadded up into a ball.
Apple's redesign of the App Store with iOS 11 probably helped increase software downloads and revenue. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
In the battle of the mobile software stores, Apple has a huge lead. Consumers spending in the iOS App Store during the first half of this year was almost double that of rival Google Play.
But there’s good news for both companies, as each experienced solid year-over-year growth.