iPhone 13's secret satellite trick! (CultCast #508!)

This week: iPhone 13 has a secret satellite trick that will give you signal anywhere on earth! Plus: sorry, Apple Watch Series 7 might be a much smaller update than we’ve been told… And a radical new South Korean law is forcing Apple to open up their app store, and other countries are now sure to follow. And, sadly, it couldn’t last forever.... It sounds like our beloved Tim Cook is eyeing his retirement from Apple. So who at Apple will take the reins next? We got it all figured out!

Get 2-3 episodes of CultCast Off Topic each and every week for just $6! Off Topic is a new weekly variety show hosted by Erfon Elijah and friends, dedicated to tech, gaming, culture, and more. Join Cult Support, good friend!

This episode supported by

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.

Cult of Mac's watch store is full of beautiful straps that cost way less than Apple's. See the full curated collection at Store.Cultofmac.com

CultCloth will keep your iPhone 12, Apple Watch, iPad, glasses and lenses sparkling clean, and for a limited time use code CULTCAST at checkout to score a free CarryCloth with any order at CultCloth.co.

Join us in the CultClub! discord.gg/BrKdnSK

On the show this week

@erfon / @lkahney / @lewiswallace

Rumored iPhone satellite communications could be for serious emergencies only

• News that the iPhone 13 will be able to exchange texts and phone calls with low Earth orbit satellites first came from respected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo over the weekend. And on Monday Mark Gurman from Bloomberg seconded the report. But he said it’ll be strictly for serious emergencies only.

’No chance’ Apple Watch Series 7 will pack blood pressure monitoring

• There is “no chance” Apple Watch Series 7 will be able to monitor your blood pressure, despite recent claims that the next-generation device has been delayed to accommodate this feature, according to one reliable reporter.

Get organized with a PadFolio from tomtoc [Cult of Mac giveaway]

• This week, Cult of Mac is giving away six practical and protective PadFolio Cases for your iPad Pro from tomtoc. Designed to carry your 12.9-inch iPad Pro, keyboard, chargers, dongles and all your necessary accessories, this case will protect your iPad Pro while keeping everything in place.

South Korea is first to say App Store must allow third-party payments

• South Korea has become the first country to tell Apple that it must open up the App Store to third-party payment platforms. The same law also applies to Google, and other countries likely will implement similar rules.

Apple agrees to relax App Store rules for ‘reader’ apps like Netflix, Spotify

• Apple will relax App Store rules for “reader” apps that let users access previously purchased content and subscriptions for books, magazines, music and more, the company said Wednesday.

Submissions fall to all-time low as devs lose interest in Mac App Store

• Developers are seemingly losing interest in bringing their titles to the Mac App Store, with new submissions steadily declining since the beginning of 2021. There were fewer than 300 new releases for the first time ever in July.

Apple AR glasses launch could mark end of Tim Cook era

• Tim Cook took over as CEO from Steve Jobs almost exactly 10 years ago. He’s 60 years old, and has been at Apple for 23 years, and it sounds like he’s considering his exit strategy.