Apple’s upcoming game service could be getting some major seed money. A new report indicates the iPhone maker might be spending over $500 million to build its stable of games.
And analysts from HSBC predict Apple Arcade will bring in more revenue than Apple TV+, this company’s streaming video service.
This week we re-light our Portrait Mode photos with AR in Focos, easily play complex chord progressions with ChordPad X, check out the amazing new Pixelmator Photo, and more.
In case you haven’t heard, our fearless leader (Cult of Mac founder and publisher Leander Kahney) has a new book coming soon. It’s called Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level, and it offers an eye-opening look at the Apple CEO.
Unfortunately, Leander couldn’t squeeze all the info he gathered into a single book. So we’re publishing a series of outtakes dealing with Apple’s innovative approach to manufacturing the world’s greatest computers.
Catch up on all the outtakes so far — starting with a peek inside Apple’s megafactories — in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. Or use the links below to stay in your browser. Either way, you’ll get all the outtakes from the Cook book, plus the week’s best Apple news, how-tos and reviews.
This post was going to be part of my new book, Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level, but was cut for length or continuity. Over the next week or so, we will be publishing several more sections that were cut, focusing mostly on geeky details of Apple’s manufacturing operations.
Foxconn was founded around the same time as Apple, although 6,000 miles away on the other side of the world. In 1974, when 19-year-old Steve Jobs was working at Atari, 24-year-old Terry Gou borrowed $7,500 ($37,000 in today’s money) from his mother to start up a business.
A pair of GOP congresspeople have strongly criticized the decision to remove songs from artists critical of the Chinese Communist Party from Apple’s streaming music service in that country.
The move highlights the compromises the iPhone maker has to make in order to offer its products in a very lucrative market.
Facebook could bring Messenger back to its main app as part of its strategy to merge all of its chat services into one.
Evidence of the change has been discovered in recent code. Facebook is yet to confirm the move, but it certainly looks like it is already making preparations.
One way to make the iPhone’s screen larger without increasing the size of the device itself is wrap it around all four edges. An artist‘s video imagines how such an iOS handset would look, with no physical buttons and an under-screen camera.
Watch his concept video now:
Android enthusiasts are keen to highlight how the iPhone has dropped in the smartphone camera ranks in recent years. But a new camera comparison reveals that may not be the case.
Although there are some better options out there for low-light photography, Apple’s smartphone is still up there with the best when it comes to daytime shooting.
You get varying degrees of style and durability in every iPhone case. But purchase a case from IllusionPhotograph and you could help build a library in Peru.
The kids who will benefit from that library, along with medical supplies and educational tools, are doing their part by making artwork for a line of iPhone cases called the Living Heart Case Collection.
Apple and Disney are going to be rivals with their new streaming services, but Disney CEO Bob Iger doesn’t expect it’ll have any impact on his position as an Apple board member.
Iger said that he had recused himself at Apple board meetings when the topic of Apple TV+ came up. However, he noted that it “has not been discussed all that much” by the board, since it’s still early days.
Foxconn will reportedly start building iPhone X-series handsets in India in July, a new report claims. Other newer handsets could also follow in the future.
The handsets will be built at the company’s 160-acre factory in Chennai. “The plans are to step up production capacity and diversify to even higher models going forward,” a source with knowledge of Foxconn’s plans is quoted as saying.
Skype is bringing screen sharing to its official mobile apps for Android and iOS.
The feature is now being tested in the latest beta build if the app. It makes Skype one of the first major messaging platforms to support screen sharing.
This week on The CultCast: Apple’s readying a totally redesigned MacBook Pro with next-gen display! We discuss. Plus: Apple’s working on the next generation of MagSafe! Thank the gods. And we take a fascinating look at the unbelievable scale and size of Apple’s megafactories, from a bonus chapter of Leander’s new book, Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level.
Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. Easily create a beautiful website all by yourself, at Squarespace.com/cultcast. Use offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain..
Apple’s Palo Alto retail store was targeted by mask-wearing thieves this week, who stole MacBooks worth almost $20,000 in total.
The robbery took place in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Two thieves, wearing masks and hooded sweatshirts, smashed the glass doors outside using rocks. They proceeded to grab nine Macs, although two of these were dropped during their escape.
Apple display maker Japan Display revealed today that it has signed a 232 billion yen ($2.1 billion) deal that will bail-out the struggling company.
The deal gives a Chinese-Taiwanese conglomerate a 49.8% stake in the company, making it the biggest shareholder.
Disney’s new streaming service, officially announced for the first time on Thursday, will likely make its way to Apple TV.
That’s according to Disney CEO Bob Iger, who explained a Disney+ app will eventually be available through traditional distributors. You will also be able to enjoy it on Smart TVs and consoles.
Apple is increasingly moving toward subscription-based Services as a major source of income. However, it’s also doing the right thing by making sure that users actually want the subscriptions they’re purchasing — and aren’t just subscribing by accident.
To help cement this, it has added a new step into the App Store subscription process. Before subscribing to an app, users must now confirm a “Confirm Subscription” popup.
Charging on the go can mean carrying a power bank and a tangle of cords, especially if you tend to carry all your devices.
Tech accessory company Ugreen has a charger for the Apple Watch that’s cordless and no bigger than the watch itself.
Many people want their iPad to work more like a MacBook. A concept video proposes the opposite: having macOS function more like iOS on a tablet. That means no more free-floating windows.
Watch the video to see the idea in action:
Apple came out with two new how-to videos for the Apple Watch today, showing customers how to take advantage of some of the new features introduced last year.
The two videos cover how to turn on heart health notifications and fall detection. Each video is only 30 seconds long and shows how to activate each feature in just three or four easy steps.
Watch them both right here:
Each of the 80 arresting iPhone images in an exhibition entitled #DRAFT #RUSSIA are a chapter in the life of the photographer Dmitry Markov.
The pictures may feel like a hard, unpleasant view of a fringe existence in a Russian province far removed from the economic bustle of Moscow, but Markov makes no apology.
Captain America star Chris Evans is already hard at work on his next project now that Avengers: Endgame is nearly ready to hit theaters.
Evans was spotted on the set of his upcoming TV series, Defending Jacob, which is being made for Apple TV+. Evans shaved his beard for Endgame but it looks like it’s making a comeback in the Apple TV series.
Samsung’s very experimental and pricey Galaxy Fold takes a big step toward its launch tomorrow. This will be the first wide release of a folding phone in the U.S.
In addition, Samsung promised the Galaxy S10 5G will debut in the U.S in May.
Terry Gilliam’s 1981 movie Time Bandits is set to get the TV series treatment by Apple, but in a recent interview, Gilliam revealed he’s still not sure how involved he will be in the project.
Despite already getting an executive producer credit for the series, Gilliam says he still hasn’t signed his contract for the show. Even though he claims he’s delighted that Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi is taking the lead on the pilot episode, Gilliam is concerned about the overall tone of the show.
Every Android smartphone maker has a concept folding smartphone that turns into a tablet, but what if manufacturers used folding screens to make our smartphones smaller?
That’s exactly what Sharp has proposed with its first folding smartphone concept that turns a regular-looking smartphone into a clamshell phone kind of like the popular Motorola Razr.
Check it out in action: