CultCast #250 - Seven days with iPhone 7

This week: seven days with iPhone 7 and Apple Watch Series 2—we’ll tell you what we love (and don’t) about Apple’s newest iPhone and Watch.  Plus: Hissgate, explained; auto-unlocking your Mac with an Apple Watch; and if you’re wondering how to use picture-in-picture mode on Youtube videos in macOS Sierra, we’ll reveal just how to get it working.

 

This episode supported by

 

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TunnelBear, the simple privacy app that makes it easy to browse privately and enjoy a more open internet. Visit GetTunnelBear.com to get your free TunnelBear today.

 

We also want to give Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com a  thanks for the great music you hear on today's show.

 

On the show this week

@erfon / @bst3r / @lkahney

 

Let the lovely lady Lisa enchant you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNDi4UYwrTs

 

iPhone 7 display is the best LCD ever tested

http://www.cultofmac.com/445998/iphone-7-display-best-lcd-ever-tested/

• Apple’s new LCD display was rated as “visually indistinguishable from perfect” when it comes to image contrast and intensity. The tiniest amount of color variation, seen when viewing the screen from an angle, also yielded top marks.
• The DisplayMate report calls the touchscreen display the “crown jewel of the smartphone”
• One thing that gives the iPhone 7 display a competitive advantage is its adoption of two standard color gamuts: The new DCI-P3 wide color gamut used in 4K UHD TVs, and the smaller sRGB/Rec.709 gamut traditionally used in digital cameras, TVs, computers and most other consumer devices.
• The test also found that the iPhone 7’s peak brightness can only be achieved when Automatic Brightness is turned on. This prevents users from draining their battery in a flash by accidentally keeping the slider all the way up.

 

Hissgate: iPhone 7 Plus emits strange noise when under heavy load

http://www.cultofmac.com/445972/hissgate-iphone-7-plus-emit-strange-noise-heavy-load/

• Some iPhone 7 Plus owners are reporting that Apple’s new devices emit a strange hissing noise when performing processor-intensive tasks. And no one is sure what’s causing it.
• It appears that Hissgate only effects a small number of devices. Cult of Mac has not been able to replicate the hissing problem on any of our new iPhones.
• Engadget theorized that it could be a “coil whine” and is likely a small manufacturing defect instead of an overall design flaw.
• Apple looks to be replacing phones which present the issue

 

Apple Watch Series 2 review: A tick closer to perfection

http://www.cultofmac.com/445874/apple-watch-series-2-review/

Buster

• For the past 16 months, Apple’s wearable and I have had an on-again, off-again relationship.
• Apple Watch Series 2 is supposed to be wicked fast at this, but there’s just one problem. The device’s screen never shows “GPS” or another indicator to prove it’s connected. You just have to take it on faith that there’s a connection behind the scenes.
• It still can’t track your elevation. There’s a huge difference in difficulty between running 5 miles on flat roads verses 5 miles with a 2,000-foot elevation gain.
• The only way to get your elevation data is to pack your iPhone along for the ride.
• This watch is screaming fast.
• I didn’t notice any major gains in battery life, so it’s likely that all the extra juice is being used to power the new GPS chip and display.