The hidden floating keyboard in action. Photo: Steve Troughton-Smith
Apple’s latest iOS 10.3 betas feature a floating QuickType keyboard for iPad, but it’s hidden away and inaccessible for now. Here’s how you can try it out before it is officially unlocked using the free Swift Playgrounds app.
US Congressman Jason Chaffetz thinks poor people should stop buying iPhones and pay more for healthcare, but in his latest comedy sketch, late-night TV host Conan O’Brien shows how you can have both at the same time.
CoCo’s satirical video unveils Apple’s new “Healthcare” product that utilizes the company’s innovative products to check on your well-being. Why pay for a doctor when you can use an iPhone for throat examinations and rectal temperature checks?
iTunes is promoting movies and TV shows with strong female characters. Photo: Apple
Apple is going all out to feature great media that promotes strong women by creating special sections in iTunes and Apple Music for International Women’s Day.
iPhone, Mac and Apple TV users can comb through Apple’s handpicked choices in categories like music, movies and books to find stories and entertainment that promotes strong female characters.
A new iOS 10.3 beta is ready to be installed. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Three new beta software updates have been seeded to developers by Apple today, adding a bunch of bug fixes and performance improvements to Apple’s platforms.
The new builds come one day after Apple seeded a new build of macOS 10.12.4 to developers. The fifth beta builds of iOS 10.3, tvOS 10.2 and watchOS 3.2 can be downloaded by registered developers directly from the Apple’s dev portal.
Cancer Research is one of 21 charities accepting Apple Pay in the U.K. Photo: Cancer Research U.K.
Apple Pay will now allow users to donate money to charitable organizations in the U.K.
The feature was first rolled out in the U.S. late last year, and it’s available on iPhone, iPad, and macOS. The long list of supported non-profits includes the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research U.K., Comic Relief, Oxfam, and Unicef.
The CIA has been hoarding zero day exploits. Photo: US Gov.
WikiLeak’s trove of CIA cyber documents is being hyped as one of the biggest leaks since Edward Snowden blew the whistle on the NSA. But according to one of the world’s top jailbreakers, you shouldn’t believe the hype.
Cyber security expert Will Strafach, who gained notoriety under the name Chronic for finding zero-day exploits used for jailbreaking, says iOS users don’t need to be worried.
Why buy healthcare when you can eat an iPhone? Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Are you unable to afford your new health insurance premiums now that Obamacare might be going away? Well, according to Rep. Jason Chaffetz, you should trade in your iPhone.
The GOP’s replacement plan for Obamacare has been met with plenty of hate from both sides of the aisle, but in an interview this morning, Chaffetz pointed out that people just aren’t focusing on how the new law will give us all more choices.
Wikileaks' "Vault 7" data dump allegedly reveals CIA hacking tools used to compromise iPhones, Android phones and other devices. Image: Gordon Johnson/Pixabay
The Central Intelligence Agency has been using malware to spy on iPhone and Android users, according to the largest-ever publication of confidential documents from WikiLeaks — and the spy tools are now in the hands of others.
As part of a covert hacking program, the CIA created a “malware arsenal” and dozens of “zero day exploits” to infiltrate smartphones, tablets and even smart TVs to extract data and turn them into covert microphones.
But the agency recently lost controls of these tools. Those who have obtained them now have “the entire hacking capacity of the CIA” at their disposal, according to WikiLeaks.
Which would you prefer? Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
A recent rumor claimed Apple could swap its Lightning port for USB-C connectivity with iPhone 8 later this year. That’s already been debunked by one reliable analyst, but is it a move Apple should consider making in the foreseeable future?
Lightning and USB-C both have their pros and cons. One has been around since iPhone 5 and we’re all familiar with it; the other is an open standard that anyone can use, which makes accessories, cables, and peripherals more affordable.
Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight as we battle it out over whether Apple should give Lightning the boot in 2017.
Apple wants you to replace your printer with an iPad Pro.
In the company’s latest ad touting the iPad Pro as the perfect laptop replacement, Apple takes aim at the hassles of having to use a printer.
Created in the same vein as Apple’s last batch of iPad Pro commercials, the new ad features a real tweet complaining about having to print personal stuff at work. Apple’s solution is simple: get an iPad.
Not a replacement for compasses, apparently. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
A skipper has been fined $3,700 for crashing his 50-foot Second World War boat into a ferry — after setting off on a journey taking no compass, and only an iPad, for navigation.
The problem? The 34-year-old boatman didn’t bank on the fact that there was a chance Wi-Fi connectivity could drop out. And then it did.
Would you use a mouse with iPad? Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple is again trying to convince fans that the iPad Pro is a suitable PC replacement. Earlier this week, the company rolled out new ads that remind us why its high-end slate is better (in some ways) than a desktop. But there’s just one problem.
iPad Pro, like other iOS devices, isn’t compatible with a mouse or trackpad. That’s fine in most cases, but many users would like to use a mouse for all manner of things, and Apple doesn’t allow it. Should this change in a future version of iOS?
Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight as we discuss why mouse compatibility might be great for iPad Pro, and why it might be pointless!
New Apple hardware in March? Reports say yes, indeed. Image: Erfon Elijah/Cult of Mac
This week on The CultCast: It’s been five years of CultCasts! We’ll regale you with some of our favorite stories from past shows. Plus: Our hardware expectations from Apple’s rumored March event; why iPhone 8’s wireless charging will probably be lame; Apple has five teams working on next-generation charging tech; why iPhone 8’s camera could pump out industrial-grade slow motion; and Steve Jobs gets a beautiful new home on Apple’s new spaceship campus.
Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. It’s simple to accept Apple Pay and sell your wares with your very own Squarespace.com website. Enter offer code “CultCast” at checkout to get 10 percent off any hosting plan.
iOS 10 brought a ton of new features to iPhone. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
It’s only been five months since Apple unleashed iOS 10 on the world, but the new mobile operating system is already installed on nearly 4 out of 5 iOS devices.
Apple revealed its latest App Store stats today that show iOS 10’s install base has grown to account for 79% of all mobile Apple devices, making it one of Apple’s fastest adopted releases ever.
iOS 10.3 is full of new features. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Developers received a fresh new batch of updates from Apple today: the third beta builds for iOS 10.3, watchOS 3.2 and tvOS 10.2.
The new beta builds come two weeks after Apple’s last betas got made available to developers, bringing a host of bug fixes, performance improvements and even some new features and UI changes for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple TV.
The amazing minds at Apple have developed a new method of charging electronic devices using tiny magnets.
Revealed in a new patent application published today, the system could be used in a future Apple Watch to allow users to top up their battery by winding the Digital Crown.
Apple stock prices spent the whole year on the rise and ended trading Wednesday with a $1 trillion valuation. Photo: Buster Hein/Cult of Mac
It’s a great time to be an Apple shareholder.
Aided by a increased confidence rating from Goldman Sachs, Apple shares hit an all-time high today, with the price jumping to $133.76 per share before closing just above the company’s previous record of $132.54, set on May 17, 2015.
There are a lot of new goodies in iOS 10.3. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
The second beta of iOS 10.3 is now available for download. Apple seeded the new software update to developers this morning, alongside watchOS 3.2 beta 2 and tvOS 10.2 beta 2.
All three updates contain under-the-hood improvements as well as new features, including Theater Mode for Apple Watch, Find My AirPods and some UI tweaks for Apple TV.
The new MacBook Pro already uses a secondary ARM chip. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple is developing a custom ARM chip for future Macs, but it won’t replace the Intel processors that have been powering its computers since 2005, according to a new report.
Instead, the chip is expected to work alongside a machine’s primary CPU, handling “low-power mode functionality.”
There was good news all around as iPhone sales, services and even the Mac all performed better than predicted. During today’s earnings call, Tim Cook and Apple CFO Luca Maestri revealed some of the secret sauce that made Apple’s earnings one for the history books.
Get ready for Apple's most exciting earnings call of 2017. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple is set to reveal its first quarterly earnings report of 2017 and, if Wall Street’s estimates are any indicator, it could be Apple’s biggest quarter ever.
After multiple quarters of declining revenues, today’s call could see the company return to growth, lifted by strong iPhone sales over the holidays and a burgeoning services business that has quickly become Apple’s second-biggest moneymaker.
Tim Cook and Luca Maestri are scheduled to hold an open call with investors today at 2 p.m. Pacific. As usual, Cult of Mac will be here liveblogging and analyzing all the action. Get prepped for the call with our guide on what to expect, and join the fun in the liveblog below.
AAPL was up almost 3 percent in after-hours trading to $124.50. Apple stock has been climbing recently but was depressed in anticipation of today’s results.
Tim Cook is thrilled with Apple's Q1 2017 results. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple sold more iPhone units than ever before last quarter, a spasm of sales that finally returned the company to growth, as revealed today in Cupertino’s first earnings report of 2017.
With total revenues of $78.4 billion bringing in a profit of $17.9 billion, Apple CEO Tim Cook said he is “thrilled” with the results. Wall Street is happy, too: AAPL shares are trading up significantly in after-hours trading.
The Activation Lock checker has mysteriously disappeared. Screenshot: Cult of Mac
Apple has pulled its iCloud Activation Lock page which helped users find out if an iOS device was locked to an iCloud account.
The tool could be used to verify that a used iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch wasn’t stolen before you purchased it — but the website’s URL now leads to an error page.