News - page 1019

Why does Jony Ive, Apple’s chief designer, ride around in a chauffeured Bentley? It’s not like he doesn’t enjoy driving. It’s not because he’s incredibly wealthy, either.

Our very own Leander Kahney thinks he’s got Ive’s ride along motivation down, and you can read all about it in this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine, along with great stories covering 8 ways to speed up your Mac, getting ripped with your Apple Watch, why a veteran designer’s departure from Apple matters, and how to use your own Bluetooth headphones with Apple TV for a much more private experience.

All that and much more in another awesome issue of Cult of Mac Magazine, available now for download.

Here are the week’s top stories.

Apple is pushing back against the federal government’s demands to unlock another iPhone, this time related to a drug case in Brooklyn.

In a new filing posted on Friday, the iPhone-maker has asked a New York judge to dismiss the federal government’s appeal against Apple, claiming the DoJ has not proved that it has exhausted all resources to unlock the iPhone in question.

Apple is finally giving up on QuickTime for Windows, but the company doesn’t plan to fix a few critical flaws that still linger with the software.

If for some reason you’re still using QuickTime for Windows, it would be a really good idea to just uninstall it right now.

You can’t think about Apple without thinking about great design. The two go hand-in-hand, thanks to the company’s incredible ability to churn out hit products that make billions of dollars one after the other, year after year.

But Apple’s design team isn’t perfect. There have been some missteps over the years, and it seems like they’ve become more common under Tim Cook. Its design has also become predictable; even before we get a new product, we have a good idea what it will look like.

Are we worrying about nothing, or is it time Apple invited some fresh blood into Jony Ive’s lair? Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we fight it out over this and more!

Apple CEO Tim Cook didn’t come out publicly until 2014, but he’s quickly become one of the most powerful leaders of the LGBT community.

Out Magazine ranked Tim Cook as the most influential LGBT person of 2016 in its 10th annual power list that charts everything from a person’s impact on the economy, political clout, and how they change our world view.

One week before Earth Day, Apple has changed its iconic one color logo to a green-leafed one at select Apple Stores — echoing Apple’s goal under Tim Cook of leaving the world a better place.

Retail staff will also be rocking special green shirts for the week — celebrating the fact that select brick-and-mortar retail stores belonging to Apple now run on renewable energy.

Apple has hit up the makers of the ultra-tiny hinges used for the Microsoft Surface Pro to come and work on its next-gen MacBooks, which will launch in the second half of 2016.

How many years do you use your iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or Mac before shutting it down for the last time and sending it to the big Apple Store in the sky?

While Apple products are typically far more solid and long-lasting than those made by rivals, the company offers a clue in a newly released document concerning Apple and its commitment to the environment.

More architectural renderings have surfaced showing off a few new details of Apple’s eagerly-anticipated “spaceship” campus — including ancillary buildings such as a reception center, food stations for employees, and more.

Check them out below.

Samsung: you can’t live with ’em, you can’t make iPhones without ’em, a new report reveals.

Apple has reportedly brokered a deal with its long-time South Korean “frenemy” to provide OLED panels for a future iPhone, scheduled to ship in 2017.

If this whole computer and smartwatch thing doesn’t work out, Apple could have a prosperous future in iPhone recycling.

The company released its annual environmental report today, which covers 2015. While the whole thing is pretty interesting, we really started paying attention at the part where the company shared how much material its recycling initiative had recovered from collected iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, and anything else people sent in.

Apple says it recovered over 61 million pounds of stuff, and at today’s prices, it’s worth well over $50 million.

Apple seems to be looking to improve the way people find apps in the App Store. According to unnamed sources, paid search is one way Apple might both improve discoverability as well as make some money off the feature, like Google does on its own Google Play store.

Paid search would let developers pay Apple to more prominently display their apps in the App Store.

A Michigan woman is suing Apple and Nike for a combined $5 billion over claims that the two companies stole her concept for a device called a “Detachable Beeper Disc Digital Gym Shoe with Sensor.” She states that she filed a patent for her invention 20 years ago, well before the companies came up with their own, similar products — namely, the Apple Watch and the Nike+ smart running system.

While she’s seeking $3 billion from Nike, she’s only looking for $2 billion from Apple, so Cupertino’s getting off relatively light on this one.

Typing on your iPhone with one hand is about to get a whole lot easier thanks to good samaritans at Microsoft that have invented a custom keyboard for iOS.

Microsoft revealed today that its latest iOS app, Word Flow, just entered the beta testing phase. The new keyboard (which is different than the Hub keyboard introduced last week) brings some of Windows 10’s best typing to iOS users like the ability to swipe out words, and intelligent word prediction to go with its dead simple one-handed mode.

Take a look:

The striking thing about Motor Trend‘s piece on the rumored Apple car is all the talk of the “user experience.”

The various auto designers and experts interviewed by Motor Trend speculate that Apple will try to redefine the car “experience.” They talk about stuff like acoustics, and look and feel, rather than specs like miles per gallon or engine torque.

They predict that Apple will bring a better “user experience” to the car of the future, not just a better physical product.

This reminded me of interviewing Apple’s designers for my Jony Ive book. They explained that the design group takes exactly this approach when thinking about new Apple products. Instead of starting with chip speeds or screen resolutions, they begin by asking each other how the new product should make the user feel.

And thinking about this made me realize why Jony Ive has a chauffeur. It’s not because he’s a one percenter. It’s about Project Titan, Apple’s future car.

Instagram gets personal in hopes of helping you find interesting shared videos much more easily with a new feature in the Explore area of its popular photo sharing service.

Called “Videos You Might Like,” the new personalized channel can be found in the Explore grid within the mobile app. Now you can spend less time slogging through the junk and get right to the good stuff.

Apple is planning to make a big advertising push during the 2016 UEFA European Championship football tournament, and Raheem Sterling could be the star of the company’s ads.

Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling is reportedly close to signing a deal with Apple to become its first ever global sports ambassador from England, but the entire deal hinges on whether the 21-year-old phenom actually makes the team.

While the anticipated MacBook Pro revamp is grabbing all the headlines, we’ve got an iMac deal that should be getting your attention.

Get the details on this hot buy, plus the lowest prices we’ve ever seen on a premium MacBook and a handy iPad accessory, in this week’s roundup of the best Apple deals.

Samsung’s new Gear Manager app for iOS, which will let you pair an iPhone with the Gear S2 smartwatch, has leaked out ahead of its official debut.

Testers say the app will bring a surprising amount of functionality, allowing users control music from their watch, and even sync new faces to it.

As Apple continues to be embroiled in ongoing encryption drama, the company has hired a former NFL lobbyist and former aide to Vice President Joe Biden to head up its new Washington office.

Apple has announced that it is dropping its iTunes Allowance feature, which allowed users to limit the amount of money that could be spent by their kids (or themselves!) on iTunes games, apps, movies and music.

There may be disagreement over when exactly Apple Watch 2 will arrive, but Cupertino is confident enough about its plans to start divvying up component orders among companies in its supply chain.

In keeping with its recent strategy, Apple is looking to diversify its supply chain for the second-gen wearable by taking on additional manufacturers.

A bill that would force companies to help law enforcers decrypt private communication is one step closer to becoming a reality, after a draft was published this week.

Called the Compliance with Court Orders Act of 2016, the bill would stop companies including Apple refusing to help organizations like the FBI, provided that proper court orders are given.

And — no surprises here! — it’s already proving controversial.

Even if Apple is not furiously trying to figure out how to make an Apple Car, the rest of the world is furiously trying to figure out what the Apple Car would look like.

And, perhaps more importantly, what the Apple Car would do.

It’s been more than two weeks since the FBI was able to gain access to the iPhone belonging to San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook, and as per a new report, the FBI has still not found anything of “real significance” on the handset.

Surprised? Not everyone thinks so.