The CultCast

This week:  News+,  TV+,  Arcade,  Card, we react to it ALL. Plus we'll fill in all the details on Apple’s new services. And just when you thought it was safe to type, Apple apologizes for MORE ongoing MacBook Air and MacBook Pro keyboard issues.

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On the show this week

@erfon / @lewiswallace / @lkahney

Pre-Order Leander's new book, signed!

Erfon has a moment of eros reviewing Logitech's most premium keyboard

Apple apologizes for continuing problems with MacBook keyboard

  • MacBooks made after 2015 have had keyboard issues. Apple tweaked the design of this critical component last year, and there was great optimism that the problem had been fixed in the latest macOS computers.
  • Nope.
  • After months of use, owners of the 2018 MacBook Pro or MacBook Air are reporting keys that stick, either so they become unresponsive or repeat letters.
  • This was highlighted today by Joanna Stern in a Wall Street Journal editorial written on a MacBook Pro with the E and R keys failing. “To sha th pain of using an Appl laptop kyboad that’s faild aft fou months, I could only think of on ida: tak all th bokn ltts out of my column,” wrote Stern. The WSJ article has toggles to make the missing letters reappear.
  • Apple responded to Stern’s article by saying “We are aware that a small number of users are having issues with their third-generation butterfly keyboard and for that we are sorry. The vast majority of Mac notebook customers are having a positive experience with the new keyboard.”
  • But they still have not offered the same extended keyboard warranty they have given to 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro owners...

These are the ‘low rates’ currently available for Apple Card

With Apple TV+, Tim Cook peddles an antidote to toxic TV [Opinion]

  • At a time when critically acclaimed TV shows serve up a steady stream of sex and violence, the upcoming Apple TV+ service proffers an unusual prescription for success: optimism, inclusion, creativity and inspiration.

These are all the games coming to Apple Arcade

  • Apple showed off a smattering of games for its upcoming Apple Arcade subscription service at yesterday’s event. But, presumably because reeling off a list of 100 titles would’ve slowed the event to a crawl, it didn’t reveal exactly which games would be available.

 

Direct download: cultcast_381.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:13am PDT

This week: Apple just released so much new hardware, they had to do it over 3 full days. We break it all down, and react to all the new gear. Plus, the saga of MoviePass continues with yet another new wild announcement… but is their new unlimited plan too good to be true?

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On the show this week

@erfon / @lewiswallace / @lkahney

Pre-Order Leander's new book!
https://amzn.to/2XXTWLO

Why this week’s Apple PR blitz is brilliant [Opinion]

  • Apple is reaching Hannukah levels of gifting this week with significant new hardware releases on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

 

MONDAY

On Monday Apple released a new iPad Air 3 and iPad Mini 5

iPad Air 3

  • The new iPad Air has a 10.5-inch Retain display, A12 Bionic chip, and first-generation Apple Pencil support.
  • Performance-wise, it’s just as fast as the iPhone XS.
  • This iPad replaces the older 10.5-inch iPad Pro that Apple’s been selling for $650 up until now
  • $500 for the 64GB model

iPad Mini 5

  • iPad mini now delivers three times the performance and nine times faster graphics.
  • Improved Retina display with True Tone, wide color support, is 25 percent brighter than before.
  • A12 Bionic processor
  • first-generation Apple Pencil support
  • Headphone jack!
  • the same $399 price tag as the previous model.

 

TUESDAY

On Tuesday Apple gave some much needed spec bumps to the iMac, added better RAM and GPU options to the iMac Pro, and even dropped the prices on some of their high-end MacBook Pros! iMac

  • iMac lineup has been updated with Intel's latest 8th-gen and 9th-gen Core processors, including a six-core 8th-gen Core i7 with Turbo Boost, and a monster eight-core 9th-gen Core i9 with Turbo Boost up to 5.0GHz (for the 27-inch 5K iMac).
  • Apple says the new i7 brings a 60% performance increase for the 21.5-inch iMac, and up to a 240% for the for new i9 iMac.
  • Radeon Pro Vega graphics options are now available across the new iMac lineup, including Vega 20 for 21.5-inch models and Vega 48 for 27-inch models. Apple advertises up to 80 percent faster graphics performance compared to the previous iMac lineup.
  • New RAM and storage options are also available.
  • Base iMac STILL include a 5400RPM mechanical hard drive…

Mac Pro now available with Vega 64X graphics and 256GB RAM

  • Those with a need for speed can now equip the iMac Pro with an AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X graphics card and up to 256GB of RAM for the first time. But be prepared to break the bank

Apple drops prices on some high-end MacBook Pros

  • There’s good news for MacBook Pro buyers looking for a lot of storage: Apple has lowered the costs of its most-expensive SSD options.
  • When upgrading your SSD, you can save $200 for the 2TB option, and $400 for the 4TB option.
  • The bad news is that Apple didn’t change prices on any MacBook Pro SSDs that are 1TB or smaller. Putting a 1TB drive in a high-end 15-inch MacBook is still an extra $400 over the cost of a 512GB one, for example.
  • The total package, with 256GB of RAM and everything else as standard, is $10,199. If you add every possible upgrade to the iMac Pro, not including software or a VESA Mount Adapter, it costs $15,699.

 

WEDNESDAY

New AirPods deliver hands-free ‘Hey Siri’ and better battery life

  • Apple’s newest wireless buds are here with a brand new H1 chip that allows for hands-free “Hey Siri.” They also promise better battery life in between charges, and even faster connectivity.
  • An optional Wireless Charging Case is also available, but it’s not cheap.
  • AirPods 2 have the same $159 price tag, or $200 with the wireless charging case. The wireless case a la cart is $79.

 

With New Unlimited Plan, MoviePass Swears It's Got Its Shit Together

  • Thanks to MacDonald Ted for this glorious story.
  • On Monday, MoviePass announced the new plan, which it is calling “Uncapped.” Under the Uncapped plan, subscribers can watch one 2D film a day, for $19.95 per month. A “limited time” offer gets you that same deal for just $9.95 per month with a one-year commitment.
  • But can we trust MoviePass?
  • Of course they’re playing games in their terms of service. A line in their user agreement gives MoviePass the right to throttle a user’s filmgoing options in the event that an individual’s use of the service has an adverse impact on “MoviePass’s system-wide capacity or the availability of the Service for other subscribers.”

 

Direct download: cultcast_380.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:18pm PDT

This week: Apple’s Showtime event is just around the corner, and this is the first event ever that focuses purely on services. Is Apple’s streaming TV service going to suck? We’ll tell you what we expect! Plus: Leander unveils the details on his new Tim Cook book, out April 16th!

 

This episode supported by

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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.

CultCloth will keep your iPhone X, Apple Watch, Mac and iPad sparkling clean, and for a limited time use code CULTCAST at checkout to score a free CleanCloth with any order at CultCloth.co.

 

On the show this week

@erfon / @lewiswallace / @lkahney

 

Apple reveals WWDC 2019 set for June 3 – 7

  • This morning, Apple revealed that it will host WWDC 2019 in San Jose, California, from June 3 to 7.
  • Registered developers can apply for tickets now through March 20 at 5 p.m. Pacific on the WWDC website. Tickets cost $1,599 per person and are issued through a random selection process.
  • iOS 13, macOS 10.15, watchOS 6 and tvOS 13 are all expected to be previewed during the WWDC 2019 keynote

 

It’s show time! Apple confirms March 25 event at Steve Jobs Theater

  • Apple will hold its next special event on Monday, March 25, in the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino.

 

What to expect from Apple’s ‘show time’ event on March 25

  • The first Apple event of 2019 is nearly here. Tim Cook and friends are set to take the stage at the Steve Jobs Theater on March 25 to unveil the company’s newest goodies, only instead of unveiling some shiny new gadgets you can buy, Apple is supposedly going to bust out some services you can subscribe to.
  • Apple’s “It’s show time” event is expected to be the first one ever where services and software play the starring roles.

TV streaming service

  • Instead of trying to be just like Netflix, Apple’s new TV service is expected to pull in content from other sources like Hulu, Showtime and HBO.
  • As for Apple’s own TV shows, don’t expect them to be available at launch. The company allegedly will show a few previews at the event, giving us our first glimpse of the TV series it’s been working on. Some of the shows likely will come out later in the year, but Apple has so many projects in the works that most won’t come out until later.

Apple News service

  • Details about what, exactly, the new news service will look like remai murky. Rumors indicate it will cost about $9.99 per month, giving readers access to unlimited articles from sites that usually put their content behind a paywall. The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and other publishers have all been approached to join the service. Some of those companies reportedly chafed at Apple’s proposed 50/50 revenue split

Magazine Service

  • Apple bought texture last year, a service that let users browse hundreds of magazine in digital format for $10 a month.
  • Developer Steve Troughton-Smith has uncovered evidence of the new magazine service built in to the Apple News app. So we know that’s coming too.

 

Apple rushes to add HBO and Showtime to streaming service

  • According to Bloombooger, Apple is hammering out the final details of agreements to add movies and TV shows from HBO, Showtime, Starz and others
  • The negotiations allegedly would result in these shows appearing side-by-side with Apple’s own content, with the Showtime etc. getting a share of watchers’ subscription fees.
  • Apparently 3rd party content is badly needed for the streaming app as Apple’s content is still in development and won’t be ready till the end of the year.

 

Apple News magazine service details revealed by latest macOS beta

  • After digging into the latest macOS 10.14.4 beta, developer Steve Troughton-Smith found some new references that confirm the magazine subscription service is on the way. Even better, Apple’s code provides some new details about it that we didn’t know. Leander’s gotta talk about The Tim Cook Boo

 

Pre-Order Leander's new book!
https://amzn.to/2XXTWLO

 

Direct download: cultcast_379.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:30pm PDT

This week: Samsung has been sending Apple foldable screens… is a folding iPhone on the horizon? Plus: Apple may have quietly fixed MacBook Pro’s ‘stage light’ flaw; Apple prepping products that will “blow you away”; and Tim Cook receives a brand new nick name from none other than Donald J. Trump, and his reaction is legendary.

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CultCloth will keep your iPhone X, Apple Watch, Mac and iPad sparkling clean, and for a limited time use code CULTCAST at checkout to score a free CleanCloth with any order at CultCloth.co.

On the show this week

@erfon / @lewiswallace / @lkahney

Samsung sends foldable screen samples to Apple

  • Samsung was one of the first out of the gate with a folding smartphone. Now it is trying to entice its competitors, including Apple, to join the foldable future.
  • Samsung, which debuted the Galaxy Fold at its “Unpacked” event on Feb. 20, has reportedly sent some foldable display panel samples to Cupertino in hopes of attracting Apple as a client.
  • Plastic screens the the ones Samsung is producing won’t the only option forever. Corning is working on flexible glass panels that could be used in future phones.
  • There are currently two folding phones on the market, and the prices of both are reeediculous
  • The Galaxy Fold is currently the cheapest at $1,980. Huawei’s Mate X $2,600

Apple may have quietly fixed MacBook Pro’s ‘stage light’ flaw

  • Apple’s latest MacBook Pro lineup may be immune to the “stage light” flaw that iFixit claims all MacBook Pros made after 2016 are susceptible.
  • The “stage light” flaw, which others have dubbed “Flexgate,” is caused by the MacBook Pro’s delicate display cables wearing out over time. The cables wrap around the machine’s logic board and bend every time the lid is opened and closed.
  • When the cable starts to have issues, it creates a weird stage light effect on your MacBook’s screen, and the repair is $600 dollars.
  • Well it seems like the problem may have been quietly addressed in 2018 MBPs.
  • On 2018 models, iFixit is reporting that Apple has increased the length of the display cable so it doesn’t come into contact with the logic board.
  • HOPEFULLY, this resolves the issue. But we’ll know in the next 9 months as it seems the display cables start having issues right at the year mark. Right when your warranty expires.

Apple ‘rolling the dice’ on its upcoming products

  • Apple CEO Tim Cook is very upbeat about where his company is going. He told investors today that upcoming products will “blow you away.”
  • Cook also indicated that these aren’t going to be just more of the same. Apple is branching out.
  • Cook said he’d “never been more optimistic” about Apple’s future.
  • Ol’ TC also says they’ve made lowering the cost of the latest MacBook Air a goal.

Apple publishes its 13th annual Supplier Responsibility Progress Report

  • The report shows encouraging progress in making supply chain better for workers and the environment.
  • Apple has almost completely eradicated child labor bonded labor. Only one incidence of child labor was found. A 15-year old faked some ID to get a job. And there were only two cases of bonded labor affecting 287 employees. Bonded labor is where workers pay factories or recruiters to secure a job. Just six years ago Apple found tens of thousands of cases of bonded labor.
  • Apple really stated to crack down on bonded and child labor in 2013, when it axed a supplier for 74 underage labor violations. That year, Apple found about 170 cases of child labor at 11 facilities. Bonded labor was also a big problem: that year Apple made suppliers pay back more than $6.4 million to affected workers — which is equivalent to about 22,000 entry-level Foxconn employees.
  • The majority labor violations were related to working hours and paying of wages and benefits. But overtime is a tricky situation, because a lot of workers report that they want to work maximum overtime.
  • Improving labor practices has been a priority for Cook, and he seems to be delivering. Apple has got a lot of criticism for its offshore supply chain, which was rife with abuse, but this latest report shows that Apple is really making progress in reform — although, of course, this is all self-reported, so we have to take Apple's word for it. Plus, really big reforms like unionizing workers seem a long way away.
  • On the environmental front, Apple’s making big progress too. It announced that all of its final assembly plants for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods and HomePod are now certified Zero Waste to Landfill, which is pretty cool.
  • Greenhouse gas emissions were reduced by more than 466,000 annualized metric tons — the equivalent of taking 100,000 cars off the road for one year.
  • 30 suppliers have made commitments to 100 percent renewable energy for Apple production — up from a handful earlier last year. This is a big deal. Apple’s already 100 percent green energy worldwide, but the supply chain, which accounts for 3/4 of its cartoon footprint is lagging. Apple’s committees to helping the supply chain also move to 100 percent green energy, and getting 30 more suppliers onboard is another big step.

The president just called the CEO of Apple ‘Tim Apple’

  • At an American Workforce Policy Advisory Board meeting today, the President Donald Trump pretty unmistakably called Tim Cook “Tim Apple.”
  • "We’re going to be opening up the labor forces because we have to. We have so many companies coming in,” Trump says. “People like Tim — you’re expanding all over and doing things that I really wanted you to do right from the beginning. I used to say, ‘Tim, you gotta start doing it here,’ and you really have you’ve really put a big investment in our country. We really appreciate it very much, Tim Apple."

 

Direct download: cultcast_378.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:20am PDT

This week: Apple axes another 190 employees from their self-driving car division—is the Apple car dead? Plus: sleep tracking is coming to the Apple Watch; Apple is “rethinking” their high prices; and we wrap with the story of Apple's first legendary CEO, and you won’t believe who it was...

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Whether you are looking for investors, a co-founder, a new job opportunity, or just inspiring conversations, Shapr can connect you to professionals who truly want to share tips and help. Learn more and download the app at Shapr.co.

CultCloth will keep your iPhone X, Apple Watch, Mac and iPad sparkling clean, and for a limited time use code CULTCAST at checkout to score a free CleanCloth with any order at CultCloth.co.

On the show this week

@erfon / @lewiswallace / @lkahney

16-inch MacBook Pro - 8 things Apple BETTER get right!

Apple axes 190 employees from self-driving car division

  • Apple’s self-driving car project may be nearing the end of the road.
  • Project Titan was reportedly greenlit toward the end of 2014. Apple hired hundreds of engineers setting out to design and build its own self-driving car. Numerous roadblocks hit the struggling project and the company reportedly changed the focus toward just making the underlying autonomous driving technology instead of a complete car.
  • After rumors surfaced last month that the company slashed its workforce for Project Titan, Apple confirmed today that 190 employees in Santa Clara and Sunnyvale have been released from the self-driving car project.
  • Details of Apple’s self-driving car project were just posted by the company last week. Apple’s cars needed a driver to take over about once every 1.1 miles. By comparison, Google’s Waymo division only had a disengagement every 11,017 miles.
  • It’s unclear what the future holds for Apple’s automotive ambitions from here. Tim Cook has said self-driving cars is the mother of all AI problems. With iPhone sales dropping though, the company appears to be tightening its focus by jettisoning projects that aren’t as promising.

Apple developing its own sleep-tracking tech for Apple Watch

  • Apple Watch could soon add sleep-tracking tech that makes it an even more capable health monitor.
  • Apple has been testing the new sleep-tracking technology at secret sites around Cupertino, a new report claims. And if it lives up to its promise, it could ship as part of the Apple Watch by 2020.
  • The Health app for iOS has included sleep-tracking since 2014. However, it simply pulls in information from the Clock app’s alarm function, although third-party devices and apps can bolster the data.
  • Apple acquired Finnish company Beddit, which makes a sleep-tracking sensor strip, in May 2017. At the end of last year, a new Beddit sleep monitor launched. This was the first version since Apple acquired the company.

Apple ‘very aware’ of concerns over iPhone’s high prices

  • “It’s something we’re very aware of,” Williams said during a question and answer session at Elon University on February 22. “We do not want to be an elitist company … We want to be an egalitarian company, and we’ve got a lot of work going on in developing markets.”
  • Apple COO Jeff Williams says the company is “very aware” of concerns over the rising cost of the iPhone and Mac computers.
  • Apple CEO Tim Cook has already admitted that the company will “rethink” its prices, particularly those for the iPhone
  • Williams goes on to say: “The stories that come out about the cost of our products [have been] the bane of my existence from the beginning of time, including our early days,” he said. “Analysts don’t really understand the cost of what we do and how much care we put into making our products.”
  • Williams described how Apple has built its very own physiology lab, with 40 licensed nurses, and enlisted over 10,000 study participants to develop some of Apple Watch’s most important features.

Today in Apple history: Massive layoffs clear out Apple’s ‘bozo explosion’

  • February 25, 1981: Apple CEO Michael Scott oversees a mass firing of employees, then holds a massive party.
  • At the time, Apple was growing incredibly quickly. With almost 2,000 people on the payroll, Scott thought the company had simply grown too big, too fast. The expansion led to what he called a “bozo explosion,” with Apple employing people he did not consider A-players.
  • The event went on to be know as Black Wedneday.
  • Former Apple programmer Andy Hertzfeld remembers it as bizarre event: “Black Wednesday was one of a number of shakeups which took place at Apple when things were going great. Sales were doubling almost every month, so that was a little unusual I would say.”
  • “I used to say that when being CEO at Apple wasn’t fun anymore, I’d quit,” he tells a crowd of Apple staffers. “But now I’ve changed my mind — when being CEO isn’t fun anymore, I’ll just fire people until it is fun again.” For many people at Apple, the day is the worst in company history — and an early sign that the fun startup culture of the early days are gone forever.

 

Direct download: cultcast_377.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:04am PDT

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