• Why Apple’s making an iPhone Pro, a tech-packed cutting-edge phone that will showcase what Cupertino is capable of.  
• Genius Bar jackpot!  Aka, why the Genius Bar sometimes replaces your old broken tech for a brand new model.  
• Stick around for a super-powerful electric long board, a HomeKit-enabled ceiling fan, and pro-level keyboard case for your iPad Pro in an all-new Under Review 🤖

• Have you or a friend ever taken an old product into the Genius Bar, and had them replace that product with a brand new version?  Isn’t it great when that happens??
• Well it turns out it’s likely not cause Apple’s so nice.
• When Apple develops a new product, they can’t test for everything.
• When a problem surfaces, Apple may initiate what they call a "Field capture period”
• During this time, if Apple is investigating a problem with a product, and you bring in a product that exhibits the symptoms of that problem, they’ll give you a new piece of hardware, then send your device back to Cupertino to dissasemble and investigate.
• Certain kinds of sunscreens dissolving glue in Apple watch backs, causing the back to come off.

• the magic of HomePod!  We’ll tell you about the built-in audio tech that's getting even the most ardent audiophiles hyped about Apple’s new smart speaker.  
• Plus: why iPhone 8’s biggest features may be disabled at launch
• Why you can grab free Beats in Apple's new back to school promo without being in college
• The fascinating story behind Steve Jobs' iconic turtleneck
• More of iOS 11’s best unknown features
• And we wrap with the heart warming story of why Steve Jobs insisted on always buying Scott Forstall's lunch.

• Some of the iPhone 8’s biggest new features could be disabled when the handset makes its debut this September.
• According to Fast Company, there is “a sense of panic in the air” at Apple as engineers scramble to iron out software bugs that are affecting wireless charging and 3D facial recognition.
• For both features, the hardware is ready — but the software that controls the features is “not ready for prime time.”
• If Apple cannot fix the issues, wireless charging could be disabled when the iPhone 8 goes on sale this September. Users would then have to wait for a future iOS update for it to be enabled — just like Portrait Mode on iPhone 7 Plus, which wasn’t ready for launch last fall.
• Same goes for facial recognition, but this report says Apple will indeed include a touch ID sensor under the screen, so at least you’ll have that.

• Those who purchase a new iPad Pro — either the 10.5- or 12.9-inch models — will receive a free set of BeatsX wireless earphones worth $149.95. If you don’t want those, you can upgrade to the Powerbeats3 earphones for $50, or to the Solo3 headphones for $150.
• Those ballers purchasing a qualifying Mac will receive a free pair of Solo3 wireless headphones worth $299.95. Eligible machines include the MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac Pro — but not the more affordable Mac mini, which hasn’t been updated in 1001 days.

• As was revealed in Walter Isaacson’s 2011 biography of Jobs, the Apple CEO was first inspired to wear his mock turtleneck uniform following an early 1980s trip to Japan. While there, he asked Sony chairman Akio Morita why everyone in the company’s factories wore uniforms. Jobs learned that this was a way of creating camaraderie between co-workers.
• Miyake created Sony’s uniforms, which Jobs loved. However, the Jobs could not persuade his colleagues that an Apple uniform was a good idea.
• As Jobs recalled, “I came back with some samples and told everyone it would be great if we would all wear these vests. Oh man, did I get booed off the stage. Everybody hated the idea.”
• However, the process led to Jobs becoming good friends with Miyake. When the Apple chief asked the designer to create a one-off uniform he could wear, Miyake created 100 black mock turtlenecks for him. Jobs adopted the unofficial uniform when he returned to Apple in the late 1990s, and was rarely spotted without it from that point on.
• Fashion designer Issey Miyake, creator of Steve Jobs’ iconic mock turtleneck, is launching a very similar shirt that will go on sale next month for $270.
• Although not exactly the same, the new creation — referred to as the Semi-Dull T — looks close enough to the now-discontinued original design

• According to Apple, its upcoming HomePod smart speaker will “reinvent the way we enjoy music” thanks to its seven-tweeter array, 4-inch woofer, and smart “spatial awareness” technology that lets it “read” its environment.
• HomePod  sets out to solve the problem of sound variability caused by a speaker’s physical location in a room. For instance, placing a speaker in the corner can cause a significant increase in radiated acoustic power at low frequencies. That results in muddy, bass-heavy sound.
• It utilizes a variety of microphones both inside and outside a sealed speaker enclosure. Onboard processing establishes the correct equalization filter, based on internal pressure levels, speaker displacement, external pressure and other data gathered by the microphone array.
• Comparing readings from its internal and external microphones allows the speaker Apple describes to dynamically alter its own calibration according to match the environment.
• Apple says its smart speaker will boast an impressive A8 processor and six external microphones

• Rather than painstakingly dragging individual app icons across the pages of your Home screen, iOS 11 lets you move multiple icons simultaneously
• You can also touch an app icon, then use your other hand to swipe to a different page to move the app

• If you wanted to capture iOS gameplay, or make a funny or informative GIF of on-screen action, you needed to download a third-party app or connect your device to a computer.
• With iOS 11, Apple baked in sweet functionality that lets you record your iPhone screen effortlessly.

• Developers coding for iOS 11 will be able to create apps that can read NFC tags!
• The NFC chip in the iPhone is currently only used to handle contactless Apple Pay transactions and Passbook check-ins, but a new framework called Core NFC allows developers to build apps that can read and write NFC tags (in iPhone 7 and 7 Plus).

• Will Apple manage to successfully embed Touch ID into the OLED display of the iPhone 8, or will it have to follow in the footsteps of Android device makers and opt for a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor?
• None of the above, claims well-respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In a list of predictions he’s made for the next iPhone, Kuo claims Apple will skip Touch ID altogether for its next-gen handset.
• “We predict the OLED model [iPhone 8] won’t support fingerprint recognition,” Kuo writes. The reasons? The full-screen design doesn’t work with existing capacitive fingerprint recognition, and under-the-display fingerprint recognition tech still isn’t ready.

• The iPhone 8 might ditch Touch ID for 3-D facial scanning that could prove faster, easier and more secure than the fingerprint reader currently used for logins and payments.
• Apple is currently testing the 3-D face-scanning technology in iPhone prototypes that utilize a new 3-D sensor, according to Bloomberg. The new security system could be augmented by eye-scanning technology with the intent of replacing Touch ID, the report adds, citing anonymous “people familiar with the product.”
• One major production problem Apple faces with the OLED screen iPhone 8 is getting an under-screen fingerprint sensor to work. The technology just isn’t viable yet, according to various rumors, including a recent note from reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities.
• The reported 3-D facial scanning tech in the iPhone 8 would analyze more data points than the current fingerprint sensor that powers Touch ID, according to Bloomberg, which offered more details on the tech being tested by Apple:
• • The sensor’s speed and accuracy are focal points of the feature. It can scan a user’s face and unlock the iPhone within a few hundred milliseconds, the person said. It is designed to work even if the device is laying flat on a table, rather than just close up to the face. The feature is still being tested and may not appear with the new device. However, the intent is for it to replace the Touch ID fingerprint scanner, according to the person. An Apple spokesman declined to comment.

• In a new interview, Apple vice-president of product marketing Greg “Joz” Joswiak says the response to its augmented reality ARKit toolset from the developer community has been “unbelievable.”
• While he wouldn’t share details about a rumored standalone AR headset Apple has hundreds of engineers working on, Joswiak stressed how the widespread usage of Apple mobile devices has the opportunity to make augmented reality into a mainstream technology overnight
• Example of cool ARKit
• • Zeph McLearan put an Apple I in his office
  • Mixed reality Minecraft
  • The AR measuring tape
  • AR Kit reality portal

• Who is Bas Ording?
• One of the key design decisions that Apple’s Human Interface Team made early on while developing the iPhone was to go all in on big, simple gestures. They wanted to make a single, simple swipe accomplish as much as possible.
• It’s a bit ironic. After investing so much in multitouch technology, which relies on multiple touch inputs, one of Apple’s key edicts was to make as many gestures as possible work with a single finger.
• • “We worked super-hard on multitouch, but then we tried to make everything just work with one finger,” he said laughing.

• Steve Jobs on why product people should run IT companies
• Leander’s Jony Ive book
• Leander’s To Pixar and Beyond book review
• How this money man helped Steve Jobs turn Pixar into a powerhouse 

• Leander - Lofree Keyboard
• Erfon - Polar Pro Vivid and Shutter Phantom 4 filter collection
• Lewis - 10.5” iPad Pro

• iPod was ruling the world, it was 50% of Apple’s revenue.
• Apple had the wherewithal to realize it was only a matter of time before phones would do it all, and they realized they needed to build one.
• Well the iPod used a click wheel, so why not build a phone function into that?  It worked great, until they realized it wouldn’t work for dialing numbers.
• Steve Jobs realized their multitouch technology, which existed as rough demo, could be the key to controlling the iPhone.  But they’d had to shrink it.  The technology at the time consisted of  a ping-pong table-sized display with a projector shooting down onto it.  They had found their solution.

• Around 2005, Steve Jobs conveyed to Forstall and team that he hated the replacement iPhone proposals he was seeing, and that’s when he threatened to take the project away from them.  He gave the team two weeks to come up with a good design.
• The team went into overdrive. Working tirelessly.  Non stop.  They had to come up with an entire multitouch design language, touch interactions, like pinch to zoom and the rubber banding scroll.
• When the two weeks was up, they convened with Steve to show him their new work.
• He watched silently, stoic.
• And when the demo was over, Steve said, "let me see it again.”
• So once more they dived into their vision of the iPhone.
• And after they were through, Steve simply said: Good job guys.  He was blown away.

• One of the biggest challenges was the software keyboard.  They knew it’d be compared to what Blackberry had, so it had to be good.
• Unfortunately, in it’s current version, it was total crap.  Worse, the launch date was looming.
• Scott Forstall knew they were in the danger zone.  He pulled out all the stops.  He froze development on other apps and brought in all their UI developers, and told everyone: make a keyboard.
• Well three weeks later they all convened, and one by one they showed off their work.  Some of the examples were decent, some really complicated or strange.
• But one guy came up, and presented what looked like normal keyboard, but as he typed, they realized it was extremely accurate.  They were shocked.
• How could this be.  How was this working.
• The UI developer had built AI techniques into the keyboard to learn how you type, and as you did so, it could predict which letter you’d type next.
• And even though the key sizes on the keyboard didn’t change, but the hit region of your next likely key choice would grow, so even if you didn’t hit it on the head, the right key would still be input.

• Leander - Silicon Valley
• Buster - Vince Staples new album
• Erfon - Going Clear

• More of the powerful new iOS 11 features you’ve never heard of. 
• The talented app which will harnesses the power of Apple’s  new augmented reality features  
• Scott Forstall is back, and he’s sharing the bizarre story of how the original iPhone really came to be. 
• Everything you need to know about HEIF, the JPEG-killing format Apple is adopting
• Cliff jumping in our loin cloths

• Former iOS chief Scott Forstall is back from the dead.  In a rare appearance, he appeared an event Tuesday night at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, where he discussed the birth of the iPhone and his relationship with Steve Jobs.
• It’s  the first time he's spoken publicly since he was ousted from Apple in October 2012
• Forstall also spoke about the concept of skeuomorphic design, claiming he had "never heard of skeuomorphism" when he was working on iOS and that it sounded "unnatural”.
• • "When I look at design - when I look at good design - it's approachable, friendly, you can use it without a manual. It's fun. We talked a lot about photo-illustrative design. It was infused into the design sense of Apple by Steve Jobs since the original Mac. We used these design philosophies. It doesn't mean we loved it, or loved every single part of it. We know it worked. How do we know it worked? You just have to watch people use it.”
• Where things got really interesting is when Scott spoke about the origins of the iPhone.  The TRUE origins.
• Forstall claimed that before the iPhone was conceived, Jobs had initially wanted a tablet with capacitative touch and multitouch in order to get one over on someone he "hated" who worked at Microsoft.
• • "It began because Steve hated this guy at Microsoft. That is the actual origin," Forstall said, before adding that it wasn't Bill Gates. After hearing the person boast about Microsoft's tablet and stylus development, said Forstall, "Steve came in on a Monday, there was a set of expletives and then he said, 'Let's show them how it's really done'."

• Apple may have left a big clue in iOS 11 that points to huge design changes coming later this year to the iPhone 8.
• While doing some testing with the new Do Not Disturb When Driving feature, eagle-eyed Apple observers have spotted a new icon for Siri in iOS 11 that appears to be a perfect replacement for the Home button Apple is supposedly planning to ditch.
• The pseudo-Home button, first noticed by AppleInsider, can be found at the bottom of iPhones and iPads. It’s about the same size as the physical Home button, but doesn’t have a Touch ID ring around it.

• Ikea has revealed a few new details about its augmented reality collaboration with Apple that lets customers test out virtual pieces of furniture in their homes before they buy them.
• The app is scheduled to launch this fall alongside the official release of iOS 11. At launch, the app will boast 500-600 products that customers will be able to try out in their homes. This ultra-precise technology will allow them to be positioned on real backdrops in 3D with millimeter-accurate positioning.
• In a recent interview, Michael Valdsgaard, digital transformation manager at Ikea
• Ikea will aim to debut new products in the app before they arrive in store. He also said that Apple’s augmented reality platform was of interest to Ikea because of its guaranteed reach. “It will be the largest AR platform in the world overnight,” he said. “That’s super interesting to us.”

• JPEG was born in 1992
• As of iOS 11, most iPhones will be switching from JPEG to HEIF.
• HEIF is the new photo format that Apple is using to replace JPEG. And it probably will replace JPEGs, because the iPhone is the most popular, most-used camera in the world
• HEIF — or High Efficiency Image File Format — is the still-image version of the HVEC — or H.265 — video format. Its main advantage for you and me is that photos saved in HEIF are roughly half the size of JPEGs, and of better quality
• HEIF offers other advantages over JPEG. While a JPEG is a single image,  HEIF can be a single image or a sequence of images.

• When setting up a new iOS device, there's now an option to hold it near an existing device to automatically copy over settings, preferences, and iCloud Keychain.

• To use Automatic Setup in iOS 11, you need two devices running iOS 11To start the process, you aim the camera at the moving sphere on your old device’s screen.  Just like Apple Watch.

• After choosing your WiFI network, the iPhone user is greeted with the traditional password screen, but on iOS 11 when the iPhone is brought near your iOS 11 device, a card your device notifies you that the iPhone wants to join you network.
•  You can then tap and send your password to your guest, which recognizes the password, fills out the information, and connect to the Wi-Fi.

• After selecting a WiFi network to join, iOS 10 users must enter a password for secured networks, but on iOS 11 and High Sierra, you can bring your close to a device which has access to that WiFi network and that device can transfer all required credentials directly to your connecting device!

• Reviews for the new iPad Pro and HomePod are bonkers
• Someone in the Apple supply chain just accidentally leaked some of iPhone 8’s marquee features
• Speed tests show a big improvement in the new MacBook Pro
• Apple finally offers us iCloud Storage sharing
• Our favorite unannounced iOS 11 features
• And we’ll tell you what we like (and don’t) about the apps and gadgets we’re currently testing in an all-new Under Review!

• Apple supplier Largan has confirmed it will be shipping its new 3D sensors in time for iPhone 8, while another has confirmed waterproofing and wireless charging technology.
• Largan’s sensors are capable of carrying out facial and iris recognition and provide an alternative to fingerprint scanning. They could be the solution Apple turns to if it is unable to embed a Touch ID scanner beneath the iPhone 8’s display.
• iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus models are already splash- and water-resistant with an IP67 rating, but Apple's fine print warns that "splash, water, and dust resistance are not permanent conditions and resistance might decrease as a result of normal wear." iPhone water damage is not covered by Apple's warranties. 
• But in Wednesday's shareholders meeting, [Robert] Hwang, [Wistron CEO] told reporters that the Assembly process for the previous generations of [iPhones] have not changed much, though new features like waterproof and wireless charging now require some different testing, and waterproof function will alter the assembly process a bit,” 
• A report earlier this year said Apple's next iPhone models will feature improved IP68-rated water resistance (30 minutes in up to 3 feet of water)

• Apple this week refreshed its MacBook Pro lineup with Intel's seventh-generation Kaby Lake processors, and early benchmarks for the notebooks suggest the 2017 models are up to 20 percent faster than the equivalent 2016 models equipped with Intel's sixth-generation Skylake processors. 
• Only about a 30% improvement over 2012/2013 MacBook Pros...

• One of the big improvements of the new iPad Pro is its new variable refresh rate display, which Apple calls ProMotion, and means that it can run at 120Hz, or twice as fast as previous displays. It can also cycle down to 24Hz on still images.
• ARS has praised the new ProMotion by saying that it makes it easier to read text and scroll simultaneously, with the “ghosting” effect you get at 60Hz greatly reduced
• What everyone agrees on is that the new A10x processor is blazingly fast
• Smart keyboard is getting mixed reviews. Some saying it feels flimsy and unsatisfying to type on.
• Uses the newest Touch ID.
• Dramatically better antireflection coating.
• About 30% faster than 9.7inch iPad Pro, even more on multicore Geekbench tests I saw. Export times in Garage Band almost halved in some cases.
• Way better front (7MPX) and back cameras (12MPX), especially from the previous 12inch which had a 1.2 MPX camera.
• Fuller, better sounding external speakers
• iPad finally feels "pro"

• A few websites have now gotten the chance to hear how HomePod sounds in a quiet environment, and they're sharing their opinions online. 
• Mashable: The audio wasn't just loud — filling a room with sound, good or bad, is easy — it was rich.
• • Mashable noted that Apple had in-room comparisons with its competitors, including Sonos Play:3 and Amazon Echo, and that the HomePod easily beat the two other speakers in pure music playback quality.
• CNET: HomePod came off as bolder and more vivid than Sonos Play:3 in the [listening] experience, and a lot better than Amazon Echo. I'd also say the music sounded consistently vivid and crisp in a quiet space
• What HiFi: We also heard a pair of HomePods playing a live recording of Hotel California by The Eagles. The attention to detail was striking, with different instruments sounding discretely realised.
• Engadget called HomePod's audio "incredible,”
• if listening to the HomePod was like listening to a CD, then audio through the Echo sounded like AM radio.

• Following the WWDC keynote, Apple updated and simplified its iCloud storage tiers
• • 50GB: $0.99
  • 200GB: $2.99
  • 2TB: $9.99 (updated from 1TB)
• Apple is offering an option to share a 200GB or 2TB iCloud storage plan with family members, which is perhaps the reason behind the price drop. 
• Google Photos offers free backup for photos and videos.  Or you can back up via Plex premium.

• Automatically offload unused apps if you’re low on storage.

• AirPods will soon be able to skip forwards and backwards between tracks with a double tap of either earpiece, thanks to a new additional setting in iOS 11. 
• It’ll be possible to customize the AirPods so that a double tap on one earpiece skips, while double tapping on on the other earpiece goes to the previous track. 

• Yuneec Typhoon H 
• Lake Coloring App for iPhone and iPad 
• Espin Bikes 
• Espin bike deal Leander mentioned on Gilt 

• More powerful Kaby Lake processors
• 32GB of desktop-class RAM for 15-inch MacBook Pro
• Price slash for 13-inch MacBook Pro without Touch Bar which hasn’t been selling well per Ming Chi Kuo

• Shipping times for the 15-inch model have slipped on the Apple online store
• It seems strange that shipping times would suddenly slip for a product that’s been on sale since October.
• “A spot check shows 15-inch MacBook Pro delivery estimates are similarly as long in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, and several other countries,” reports MacRumors.

• It’s been over a year since Apple has updated its the portable 12-inch MacBook.  Now would be a good time.

• Bloomberg reported earlier in May that Apple is “considering” updating the MacBook Pro with a newer processor because sales of the machine have continued to be “surprisingly strong.” Who knows what processor it’ll get or what (if any ) other upgrades (like as USB-C or a new display) might be included.

• Apple announced earlier this year that they are hard at work on new pro-level desktop machines, but don’t expect to see anything at WWDC. The company made it clear that the new Mac Pro is in the works, but they also gave a spec bump to the current line.
• It is possible we may see an announcement about the pro-level iMacs they talked about, especially considering it hasn’t been updated since Oct. 2015!  Maybe we’ll get some Kaby lake chips.

• KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo thinks there’s a good chance Apple will debut its 10.5-inch iPad Pro at this year’s event.
• But if it will be using a new design language similar to the iPhone 8, it probably won’t be revealed until after the new iPhones.

• Apple’s grand unveiling of its Siri-powered home speaker could come as soon as next week, according to a new report that claims production on the new device is already underway.
• “The device will differ from Amazon.com Inc.’s Echo and Alphabet Inc.’s Google Home speakers by offering virtual surround sound technology and deep integration with Apple’s product lineup,” reports Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter.
• If Apple does announce the speaker at WWDC don’t expect it to be available immediately. The report claims that units won’t ship until later this year, giving devs plenty of time to integrate their applications with it.

• Apple has registered a bunch of new products with the Eurasian Economic Commission ahead of WWDC next week.
• Its filings hint at the imminent arrival of new Macs, iPads, and a refreshed Magic Keyboard.
• The company has registered five new Macs with the EEC
• Another four model numbers are associated with iOS 10, which likely ties them to new iPad Pros. Possibly also the 10.5-inch model
• Finally, there’s a model number that points to a wireless keyboard. It’s been well over 19 months since Apple introduced the original Magic Keyboard, so we could well see a refreshed model with some minor improvements under the hood.

• Rumors point to a big iPhone 8 price hike.  What’s the max you would pay? 
• Intel makes a huge move to push Thunderbolt into the mainstream
• Ikea about to drop tons of great HomeKit gadgets on us
• DJI’s Spark selfie drone is a compact powerhouse
• And we’ll tell you about the weird and whacky gadgets we’re reviewing in an all-new Under Review!

• Rumors that the iPhone 8 may come with a $1,000 price tag are seemingly backed-up by a new report claiming that components for the next-gen handset will be considerably higher than those for its predecessor.
• According to China’s Economic Daily News, the 3D Touch module alone for the iPhone 8 will cost 150 percent more than the comparable module for the current LCD iPhone.
• As per a recent report from Goldman Sachs analyst Simona Jankowski, the 128GB iPhone 8 will sell for $999, while the 256GB version will set users back a whopping $1,099. This means that the iPhone 8 could represent a significant 25 percent price jump from the iPhone 7.
• Include AirPods?

• Every manufacturer that uses it has to pay royalties to Intel, which means you typically find it exclusively in expensive, high-end machines.
• Intel has confirmed plans to drop Thunderbolt royalties in an effort to boost adoption. The chip-maker also plans to integrate Thunderbolt 3 into its own processors starting next year, eliminating the need for a dedicated controller.
• Thunderbolt has become the ultimate standard for connecting peripherals to your computer, thanks to its incredibly high bandwidth and versatility. Thunderbolt 3’s 40Gbps speeds let you transfer a full 4K movie in just 30 seconds.
• USB 3 is only 10GBPS!

• During the summer and early fall, IKEA will be adding functionality to its smart lighting range by enabling people to voice control their lighting with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant and to set up and adjust lighting using Apple’s Home app and Siri voice commands. This takes IKEA one step closer to making smart home technology accessible for the many.

• DJI unveiled the new Spark drone at an event in NYC this morning where the tiny flying camera impressed watchers with some innovative new features like the ability to be controlled without using a remote.
• The Spark packs a 1/2.3” CMOS sensor that captures 12 megapixel photos and shoots stabilized HD 1080p videos so you can get super smooth shots. It also comes with new shooting modes you won’t find yet on the Mavic or Phantom 4: Pano and ShallowFocus.
• Flight time on the Spark is around 16 minutes per battery with a range of 1.2 miles. Pricing for the basic kit starts at $499, or you can get the Fly More bundle with two batteries, extra propellers and prop guards and a carrying case for $699.
• QuickShot Intelligent Flight Modes for taking cool selfie vids
• QuickShot automatically captures a 10-second clip intended for social media sharing

• Apple hasn’t released new hardware at a WWDC keynote since 2013, but the company is allegedly planning to unveil a new lineup of MacBooks, according to a report that claims the new machines will pack Intel’s new Kaby Lake processor to bring more speed than ever.
• Three new laptops will debut at WWDC 2017, claims Bloomberg, citing “people familiar with the matter.” Both the MacBook Pro and 12-inch MacBook will be updated with new Intel chips.
• Apple is also supposedly considering updating the 13-inch MacBook Air with a new processor, too, which would be quite a surprise as most observers assumed the machine was on its last legs now that the MacBook and MacBook Pro are thinner. Sales of the old MacBook Air remain “surprisingly strong” due to its cheap price tag, claims one of the report’s sources.
• What features needed to make the machine exciting again
• Shows Apple may be getting about making Mac great again.

• Meager performance gains aren’t all Apple’s fault
• Chipmakers in past years focused on increasing performance by raising the clock frequency. But that made chips power hungry, and their focus shifted to adding cores, which boosted performance but also added battery life to laptops. Then the focus turned to integrating technologies like graphics and I/O buses inside processors. Gaming and virtual reality have brought a focus back to raw CPU performance.
• The performance improvements from Skylake to Kaby Lake topped out at 15 percent. The CPU performance boost for Cannonlake should be at least that, Intel said.
• The gaming market is exploding, especially eSports, and demand for high-performance Core i7 chips skyrocketed last year
• Intel may be trying to catch up with AMD, which is boasting a 40 percent performance improvement for its upcoming Ryzen chips.

• Apple’s Amazon Echo rival standalone Siri speaker will come with a touch-sensitive display, claims KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
• In a note to clients over the weekend, Kuo suggested that the Siri home speaker will have a “touch panel,” although it’s not known whether this will be a full-on screen or a simpler touch-based interface of some sort.

• You may have heard that Tim Cook recently announced a $1 billion Advanced Manufacturing Fund in an interview with Mad Money’s Jim Cramer at Apple Campus, he said the goal was to push “people to do advanced manufacturing in the United States.”
• Rather than pulling from its enormous pile of overseas cash, Apple is borrowing the money for its $1 billion fund since that is cheaper than paying to repatriate its foreign money pile.
• Apple has awarded Corning the first grant of its $1 billion investment aimed at boosting high-tech manufacturing jobs in the United States. The glassmaker will receive $200 million.
• Apple’s contribution is part of its “Advanced Manufacturing Fund” will support Corning’s R&D, capital equipment needs, and state-of-the-art glass processing.

• It’s official, the WWDC keynote takes place June 5th, so here are our hardware expectations 🕺
• Apple quietly acquires one of the world’s best sleep tracking technologies
• Why Amazon’s Prime video app may FINALLY be coming to your Apple TV
• Our first impressions of the Amazon Echo Show, and the features we hope Apple steals from it
• And stick around for a completely weird, totally tribal What We’re Into, the segment where we reveal the all the non-tech stuff we’re currently enjoying.

• The invites are out!  The WWDC keynote you’ve been waiting for us coming in three weeks, on June 5 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time.

• Apple recently purchased Beddit, a sleep monitoring system that pairs a pliable under-sheet sleep sensor with an app, all of which is designed to help users analyze and improve their sleeping habits.
• Apple's Beddit purchase came to light because Beddit updated its privacy policy to both highlight the acquisition and implement Apple's privacy rules. "Your personal data will be collected, used and disclosed in accordance with the Apple Privacy Policy," reads the site.

• Apple and Amazon, the tech giants, are close to an agreement to bring an Amazon video app to Apple’s Apple TV set-top box, according to people familiar with the two companies.
• Amazon employees expect the app to show up on Apple’s hardware in the third quarter of the year.
• That move would allow Amazon Prime Video subscribers to easily watch TV shows and movies from the service using Apple TV.
• It’s unclear what got the two companies to reach an agreement, though some industry observers suggest that any pact would have been worked out, at a high level, by CEOs Tim Cook and Jeff Bezos.

• Amazon’’s new Echo Show is just like Echo, but with Video.  You’re gonna just love video.  It’s like a audio  but for your eyes!
• With Echo Show Watch video flash briefings and YouTube, see music lyrics, security cameras, photos, weather forecasts, to-do and shopping lists, and more. All hands-free—just ask.
• Introducing a new way to be together. Make hands-free video calls to friends and family who have an Echo Show or the Alexa App, and make voice calls to anyone who has an Echo or Echo Dot.
• See lyrics on-screen with Amazon Music. Just ask to play a song, artist or genre, and stream over Wi-Fi. Also, stream music on Pandora, Spotify, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, and more.
• Powerful, room-filling speakers with Dolby processing for crisp vocals and extended bass response
• Ask Alexa to show you the front door or monitor the baby's room with compatible cameras from Ring and Arlo. Turn on lights, control thermostats and more with WeMo, Philips Hue, ecobee, and other compatible smart home devices.

• Apple’s secret Siri speaker may be announced at WWDC—we’ll tell you everything (we think) we know about it.  
• Why AirPods are the best product Apple’s made in years
• Why Microsoft’s MacBook clone is actually great for Apple fans
• We deconstruct and decode Tim Cook’s mysterious and quickly deleted accidental tweet, and you’ll be shocked at the truth!

• Earlier this week, we heard the company is currently in the process of finalizing the design of its first standalone Siri device, which is expected to take on the Amazon Echo. Now we have an idea what it might look like and when it could be revealed.
• Apple's Siri-based smart speaker and home hub has an "over 50 percent chance" of being announced at WWDC, according to our homeboy Ming Chi Kuo.
• Kuo said Apple's smart home product will likely launch in the second half of 2017 and cost more than the Amazon Echo, $179. The device will supposedly support AirPlay with "excellent acoustics performance" from one woofer and seven tweeters. Kuo said its performance will be similar to the iPhone 6/6s.
• Last week, leaker Sonny Dickson likewise said Apple's smart speaker could be announced as early as WWDC. He said the device will run a variation of iOS with unspecified Beats technology, in addition to a Mac Pro-like concave top with built-in controls and speaker meshing covering the majority of its surface.
• A report from The Information said Apple's smart home speaker would be able to control appliances, locks, lights, and curtains through Siri voice commands. It added that some of the prototypes in testing have facial recognition sensors

• Digitimes is reporting that Inventec, the Taiwan company that makes Apple’s popular AirPods, received Apple’s order for the the Siri Smart speaker,

• Apple is busy working on innovative tech like the ability for Siri to recognize individual users’ voices, according to a recently-published patent application from Apple.

• AirPods are the most beloved product Apple has launched in years, based on a new survey that found an astonishing percentage of AirPod owners are extremely satisfied.
• In a newly published study conducted by Creative Strategies and Experian, a total of 98 percent of AirPod owners said they are either “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with Apple’s new wireless buds. Over 80 percent of customers said they are very satisfied.

• Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop, with its sleek design and a super-sharp display, might look like a worthy competitor to the MacBook
• Starting at $999, the Surface Laptop ships with an Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a battery that lasts up to 14.5 hours in between charges.
• Windows 10 S only runs apps downloaded from the Windows Store!  But uou can upgrade to Windows Pro for $50.

• Apple CEO Tim Cook set Twitter ablaze with speculation today — and all it took was a simple smiley face emoji.
• Cook sent out a tweet with just a smiley face emoji this morning. No other context was provided, and the tweet got deleted shortly later, leading Apple fans on Twitter to wonder what the most powerful man in tech was really trying to say.

• Apple stores are about to get a massive 2.0 overhaul, and we’ve got all the details
• Why the iPhone 8 may launch super late with no OLED
• Final Cut Pro X hits a massive milestone
• Google co-founder makes a flying car, and you’re gonna want one! 
• We reveal our favorite new gadgets in an all new Under Review 🕺

• Apple analyst KGI Ming-Chi Kuo is reporting that mass production of the OLED iPhone will likely be pushed back to October/November, instead of the normal August/September timeframe because suppliers are having difficulties producing several of the phone’s cutting edge custom-ordered parts.
• The moderately reliable Makotakara is reporting that device is also claiming the phone will be delayed, and that the OLED upgrade we’ve been looking forward to isn’t a sure thing yet.

• At this week’s annual National Association of Broadcasters conference, Apple revealed that it now has 2 million users of its Final Cut Pro X video-editing software, five years after launching the tenth version of the program.
• At $299 for a license, that’s a cool 600 million dollars.
• Apple’s rep added that it is taken considerably less time for Apple to jump for 1 million to 2 million users than it did for the company to reach its first million adopters.

• Angela Ahrendts was hired as Apple’s VP of retail just about 3.5 years ago, and she’s now unveiling her vision for the future of the Apple store.
• Apple wants to make their stores to be a place where you can engage with your devices and your communities.  A place to meet your friends, like at Starbucks!  says VP of Retail Angela Ahrendts.
• Apple is bringing new “hands on” sessions to its stores, enlisting artists, Mac experts and celebrities in a bid to make its retail outlets more engaging.
• The new Today at Apple initiative will launch next month in Apple stores everywhere. The initiative includes free hands-on sessions that will span more than 60 sessions in creative skills, including photography, coding and music creation. Classes will range from basic “how to” lessons to professional-level programs.
• "Amazon’s investing in stores, Google’s investing in stores. Starbucks has figured it out.  You know, be a gathering place. Meet me at Starbucks.  And I’ve told the teams, I’ll know we’ve done a really really great job if the next generation, if gen Z says, meet me at Apple.  Did you see what’s going on at Apple today?”

• Forget self-driving cars. A startup backed by Google co-founder Larry Page is aiming to reshape transportation by giving us flying cars, and the company finally gave the internet a teaser today.
• Kitty Hawk posted the first video of its all-electric aircraft today. The vehicle is only designed to fly over water, but the company says you won’t even need a pilot’s license to fly it.
• The Kitty Hawk Flyer will supposedly go on sale by the end of 2017. Pricing details won’t be revealed until later in the year, but you can get in line to purchase one by signing up for a three-year Kitty Hawk membership for $100.
• Members also get a $2,000 discount on the Flyer as well as some exclusive access to a flight simulator. We’re assuming that’s so you don’t wreck it on your first flight.

• In its report on the new iPhone 8, Bloomberg corroborates many previous rumors about the next-gen iPhone, but suggests that more “ambitious” features may be scaled back or ditched due to manufacturing problems.
• According to the report, and as we’ve discussed on the show, Apple is preparing three iPhones for launch. Two will simply be updated versions of the current iPhone, while the high-end model will sport a totally revamped look.
• Apple is testing a premium version with a screen that covers almost the entire front of the device.  That results in a display slightly larger than that of an iPhone y Pus but with an overall phone size closer to the iPhone 7.
• The updated lower-end model iPhones will stick with LCD displays and get fewer hardware updates.
• "One of the latest prototype designs includes symmetrical, slightly curved glass on the front and the back. The curves are similar in shape to those on the front of the iPhone 7. The new OLED screen itself is flat, while the cover glass curves into a steel frame. The design is similar conceptually to the iPhone 4 from 2010”
• "Apple also tested a more ambitious prototype with the same slightly curved front and steel frame, but a glass back with more dramatic curves on the top and bottom like the original iPhone design from 2007, one of the people said. “
• "Apple suppliers have so far struggled to reliably produce heavily curved glass in mass quantities, so the company is more likely to ship the version with more subdued curves”
• "Significant camera changes are also in testing for Apple’s overhauled iPhone. For the back of the phone, Apple is testing versions of the phone with the dual-camera system positioned vertically, instead of horizontally like on the iPhone 7 Plus, which could result in improved photos,”
• “Apple has … experimented with integrating the iPhone’s fingerprint scanner into the screen of the OLED version, which would be technically challenging, the people said”.  TouchID on the back?

• A new photo from leaker Sonny Dickson of what is believed to be iPhone 8 schematics reveals a surprising new design direction.
• Apple appears to have done away with the smooth curves we’ve come to expect from its smartphones in recent years, opting instead for sharper edges and flat sides. This image suggests the next iPhone will be much like the iPhone 5, only bigger.
• The shell seen in the photo above carries the same flat sides as the iPhone 5, with what appear to be chamfered edges. Cutouts for two rear-facing cameras get stacked one on top of the other, near the trademark Apple logo and a rear-facing Touch ID button.
• It looks like the frame shown in the leaked iPhone 8 schematics was designed to hold flat glass, not a curved display like those used by Samsung.

• The California DMV updated its website today adding Apple to the list of 30 companies testing self-driving cars in California, including Tesla, Google, VW, Ford, Mercedes Benz and BMW.
• Don’t get your hopes up on seeing a car made by Apple anytime soon though. A DMV spokesperson informed the Financial Times that Apple is licensed to test three 2015 Lexus RX450h cars with six drivers.

• Official new Nvidia drivers make your Mac compatible with the best GPUs on the market!
• A mole gives us our best look yet at what it’s really like to work in an iPhone factory
• Apple has a secret team working on ‘breakthrough’ diabetes treatment with the Apple Watch
• The saga of Ron Wayne, the forgotten Apple co-founder who traded his 22 billion dollars of Apple stock for just $800.

• NVIDIA today released new drivers that make its Pascal graphics cards compatible with a Mac.
• The drivers support all 10 Series GPUs, including the GTX 1050 through GTX 1080 Ti, and the newly-announced GTX Titan Xp.
• Until now, however, you had to settle for older 9 Series cards.
• Now the newest cards, from the GTX 950 to the GTX Titan Xp, are supported

• In Apple lore, Ron Wayne is the man who threw away winning lottery ticket.
• It’s April 12, 1976: Apple’s third co-founder, a former Atari colleague of Steve Wozniak’s named Ron Wayne, is cashing in his 10% of Apple shares for $800.
• Hell of a nice guy.
• Drew Apple’s original logo.
• Wayne also wrote up the first contract in Apple’s history, solidifying what all three co-founders would do. Wozniak was to be in charge of electrical engineering, Jobs was responsible for marketing, and Wayne would oversee mechanical engineering and documentation.
• “I was 40 and these kids were in their 20s,” Wayne told Cult of Mac, referring to Wozniak and Steve Jobs. “They were whirlwinds — it was like having a tiger by the tail. If I had stayed with Apple I probably would have wound up the richest man in the cemetery.”
• “He was a very focused fellow,” Wayne told me. “You never wanted to be between him and where he wanted to go, or you’d find footprints on your forehead. To put it simply, if you had your choice between Steve Jobs and an ice cube, you’d nuzzle up to the ice cube for warmth. But that’s what it took for him to turn Apple into what it became.”
• When asked about passing on Apple, he said: Just pick yourself up and move on. I didn’t want to waste my tomorrows bemoaning my yesterdays.
• Today, Ronald Wayne resides in a $150,000 house in Pahrump, Nevada, a unincorporated town about 16 miles west of Las Vegas. Aged 80, he lives on his Social Security checks and money made selling rare coins and stamps over the Internet.

@erfon / @bst3r / @lkahney

This week:

• We’ve found even MORE of the weirdest and wackiest Apple products that time forgot
• The best new features in iOS 10.3 and macOS 10.12.4.
• Rumors mills say Apple may resurrect the PowerBook!
• iPhone 8 rumors point to a backside TouchID
• The sources of Steve Jobs best one-liners
• A wobbly British guy tries to ski

• one of the first Macs to be designed by Jony Ive, and it paved the way for the vertical design of computer that forms today's iMacIt looked like a movie prop.  The beautiful machine every 90s CEO would covet.
• April 1, 1996 marked 20 years since the day that Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne came together to form Apple Computer, and they decided to release the 20th Anniversary Mac to celebrate this momentous occasion.
• It featured a a TV/FM tuner, an S-Video input card, and a custom-made Bose sound system including two "Jewel” speakers, and a subwoofer built into the externally located power supply "base unit”.
• Upon unveiling, the TAM was predicted to cost US$9,000, which would include a direct-to-door concierge delivery service. At release the price was reduced to $7,499.  Problem was, it similar performance as the PowerMac 6500, a machine costing just $2,999.
• In the middle of its sales' lifespan Apple dropped the price further to around US$3,500, and finally upon discontinuation in March 1998 the price was set to US$1,995. Customers who paid full price for the TAM, and then complained to Apple when the price was so drastically cut, were offered a free high-end Powerbook as compensation.

 

 

TimeBand

It's hard to imagine, but there was actually a time when the Apple freely shared its concepts with the world. In 1991, under the leadership of John Scully, Apple shared a bunch of design concepts with a Japanese magazine called Axis.

 

One of the strange products included in the spread was a wearable wrist computer called TimeBand.

Like an iPad mini living on your wrist!

 

 

The beautiful, the portable, Apple PowerCD

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Apple_PowerCD.jpg

 

Apple’s new 9.7-inch iPad is more affordable than ever

http://www.cultofmac.com/472635/apples-9-7-inch-ipad-is-now-more-affordable/

• Apple has announced the upcoming launch of a new app designed to make it fun and easy for people to create and share “expressive videos” on their iPhone and iPads.
• Called Clips, the social app will work by combining video clips, photos and music into videos that can be shared with friends through the Messages app, or using Instagram, Facebook and other popular social networks.
• Live titles are text captions created by what you say in the video timed to when you say the words
• You can splice in soundtracks
• Video is cropped to square
• App recognize faces of people if they’re tagged in your Photos app
• Also names spoken in your video if they’re in your contacts, and will suggest you share videos with those friends.

This week: Apple’s about to overhaul the iPad, and it’s long overdue!  Plus: why Steve Jobs was cool with your kids using an iPad, but not his own; how the technology we love might be making us all stupid;  and we wrap up with an all new CultCast Choices, the game of great gifts with strange side effects...

This episode supported by

@erfon / @bst3r / @lkahney

• Apple will announce its next-generation iPad lineup next month during its very first event at Apple Park, according to a new report.
• Sources say that production of the new 10.5-inch iPad Pro has been brought forward for the launch. The device is expected to be accompanied by an updated 12.9-inch iPad Pro and a more affordable 9.7-inch iPad.
• Apple “is expected to unveil the new iPad at a product event to be held in early April to mark the inauguration of Apple’s new headquarters in California,”
• The new 10.5″ iPad would have the exact same resolution as the 12.9″ iPad Pro (2732 x 2048), but the same pixel density of the iPad mini (326 ppi instead of 264 ppi). Crunch the numbers, do a little Pythagorean Theorem, and you end up with a screen 10.5″ diagonal

• Device logs obtained by mobile marketing firm Fiksu appear to show that four different iPad models are currently being tested in the San Francisco Bay Area.
• Just because four model numbers have been discovered doesn’t mean Apple will release four different iPads this month.
• Last year, Fiksu saw new device model names pop up in its logs about a month before the new iPads were announced.

When Steve Jobs was running Apple, he was known to call journalists to either pat them on the back for a recent article or, more often than not, explain how they got it wrong. I was on the receiving end of a few of those calls. But nothing shocked me more than something Mr. Jobs said to me in late 2010 after he had finished chewing me out for something I had written about an iPad shortcoming.

• New York Times reporter Nick Bilton said he once assumingly asked Jobs, “So your kids must love the iPad?”
• “They haven’t used it. We limit how much technology our kids use at home.”
• “Every evening Steve made a point of having dinner at the big long table in their kitchen, discussing books and history and a variety of things,”
• Since then, I’ve met a number of technology chief executives and venture capitalists who say similar things: they strictly limit their children’s screen time, often banning all gadgets on school nights, and allocating ascetic time limits on weekends.
• Evan Williams, a founder of Blogger, Twitter and Medium, and his wife, Sara Williams, said that in lieu of iPads, their two young boys have hundreds of books (yes, physical ones) that they can pick up and read anytime.
• Ali Partovi, a founder of iLike and adviser to Facebook, Dropbox and Zappos, said " I wouldn’t dream of limiting how much time a kid can spend with her paintbrushes, or playing her piano, or writing, I think it’s absurd to limit her time spent creating computer art, editing video, or computer programming,”

• The CIA loses control of its iPhone hacking arsenal!
• Computer crooks turn your gadgets against you.
• Why iPhone 8 may arrive later than you hoped.
• Our favorite routers to replace your Apple Airport.
• The non-Apple gear we’re currently obsessing over! It’s all-new, overdue, What We’re Into 💪🏼

This episode supported by 

@erfon / @bst3r / @lkahney

WikiLeaks: CIA lost control of its iPhone hacking arsenal

• The Central Intelligence Agency has been using malware to spy on iPhone and Android users, according to the largest-ever publication of confidential documents from WikiLeaks — and the spy tools are now in the hands of others.
• “This extraordinary collection, which amounts to more than several hundred million lines of code, gives its possessor the entire hacking capacity of the CIA.”
• As part of a covert hacking program, the CIA created a “malware arsenal” and dozens of “zero day exploits” to infiltrate smartphones, tablets and even smart TVs to extract data and turn them into covert microphones.
• But the agency recently lost controls of these tools. Those who have obtained them now have “the entire hacking capacity of the CIA” at their disposal, according to WikiLeaks.
• At the end of 2016, the CIA’s hacking division was made up of more than 5,000 “registered users” who had produced over a thousand tools to infiltrate target devices throughout Latin America, Europe and the United States.
• iOS devices were also a major target. The CIA created and obtained tools from GCHQ, NSA, FBI and contractors like Baitshop that allowed them to bypass the encryption used by apps like WhatsApp and Telegram and collect audio and text message data.

• Although Google’s Android dominates the worldwide smartphone market, the CIA concentrated on Apple’s iOS because of its popularity among global elites, WikiLeaks reports.
• Despite iPhone’s minority share (14.5%) of the global smart phone market in 2016, a specialized unit in the CIA’s Mobile Development Branch produces malware to infest, control and exfiltrate data from iPhones and other Apple products running iOS, such as iPads.
• The disproportionate focus on iOS may be explained by the popularity of the iPhone among social, political, diplomatic and business elites.

Curved OLED displays will be exclusive to premium iPhone 8

http://www.cultofmac.com/470593/youll-pay-5-8-inch-oled-iphone-8/

• http://www.cultofmac.com/471109/2017s-iphone-edition-launch-late-oled-display-not-sure-thing/
• We’ve all been calling it the iPhone 8 for months, but according to a new report out of Japan, Apple’s tenth anniversary smartphone will be named “iPhone Edition.”
• Apple is expected to deliver improved versions of its 4.7- and 5.5-inch devices, plus a more premium model with a 5.8-inch OLED display. According to Japanese blog Macotakara, which has been accurate in the past, this handset will be named iPhone Edition.
• Although it will almost certainly be unveiled in September alongside its siblings, it is believed the iPhone Edition won’t go on sale until later in the year. Apple is said to be experimenting with various prototypes of the device, each with a different display setup.
• The report suggests that Apple is still a long way away from deciding on a final design for the iPhone Edition, though it has nailed down a few features — including wireless charging and a dual camera setup similar to that of iPhone 7 Plus.That's all the CultCast we've got for you this week

This week: 

• Tim Cook promises to make Apple “Pro" again!  We discuss.
• iPhone ditching Lightning for USB C
• Spotify about to go Hi-Fi
• Why your next iPhone screen might read your fingerprints
• Leander pitches a new favorite pair of Bluetooth headphones
• The best iPhone bumper case in the land!

This episode supported by

@erfon / @bst3r / @lkahney

• iPhones may boast USB-C connectors, claims a new report from The Wall Street Journal.
• What’s not clear from the report is whether this would mean abandoning Apple’s proprietary Lightning connector in favor of USB-C or simply switching out the USB-A plug at the end of the cable for USB-C.
• Apple adopter the Lightning connector with 2012’s iPhone 5
• The WSJ report also adds another voice to the growing number of stories claiming that Apple will release three different iPhones in 2017: two LCD “s” cycle iPhones, and an extra-high-end iPhone 8 to mark the 10th anniversary of the iPhone.

This week: 

@erfon / @bst3r / @lkahney

• If you were hoping Apple had developed a spectacular new wireless charging system for iPhone 8, you’re going to be disappointed come September.
• A new rumor claims that Apple won’t be using range charging technology developed by Energous as previously expected, but instead one of the existing solutions already found in rival smartphones like those made by Samsung.
• Adding fuel to that fire, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission has only recently approved a version of Energous technology that delivers very low power over just a few inches.
• The iPhone would require higher levels of power and a wider range. A solution that meets these requirements is yet to be approved by the FCC.

• According to a new report, the company currently has not one or two, but five different groups inside Apple currently working to develop wireless charging technology for future iPhones.

• Apple has used Sony’s camera sensors in a number of iPhones, including the new dual-lens cameras on the iPhone 7 Plus.
• Sony unveiled the new senor during a lecture at the 2017 International Solid-State Circuits Conference capable of shooting 19.3MP still images at a frame rate of 120 fps. It can shoot 960fps video in 1080p. The iPhone 7 only shoots 120fps video in 720p.

• Apple will host a March event to introduce a new iPad Pro lineup and other products, according to Japanese website Mac Otakara.
• In terms of the iPad Pro lineup, the report claims Apple will announce new 7.9-inch, 9.7-inch, 10.5-inch, and 12.9-inch models. The 10.5-inch model may not ship until May, while the other sizes are said to ship in March.
• If the report is accurate, it could mean has Apple plans to refresh the iPad mini 4 with a new 7.9-inch iPad Pro version, update its existing 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pros, and introduce an all-new 10.5-inch iPad Pro, which is has been rumored to feature an edge-to-edge display without a Home button.

• Apple’s enormous new spaceship campus finally has an official name: Apple Park.
• First conceived in 2011 by Steve Jobs, Apple Park has been under construction since 2013 and is rumored to have cost Apple upwards of $5 billion.
• The 175-acre plot will open for business in April, although work won’t officially be completed until late summer.
• campus’ 1,000-seat auditorium will be named the Steve Jobs Theater as a tribute to the company’s co-founder.
• “Opening later this year, the entrance to the 1,000-seat auditorium is a 20-foot-tall glass cylinder, 165 feet in diameter, supporting a metallic carbon-fiber roof,” Apple said in a press release.
• “The Steve Jobs Theater is situated atop a hill — one of the highest points within Apple Park — overlooking meadows and the main building” 
• The campus will house around 12,000 Apple employees,
• And includes a new $75 million gym.

This episode supported by

Apple Vowed to Revolutionize Television. An Inside Look at Why It Hasn’t

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-16/apple-vowed-to-revolutionize-television-an-inside-look-at-why-it-hasn-t

• The new Apple TV will be capable of streaming 4K content and more vivid colors.

 

AAPL shares close at new all-time high

http://www.cultofmac.com/467231/aapl-shares-close-new-time-high/

• Thanks to an improved rating from Wall Street investment firm Goldman Sachs, Apple shares have been on the rise this week. Today shares were trading above the previous intra-day record high of $134.54 set on April 28, 2015.
• IPO December 12, 1980 at $22 a share.
• 100 shares would have cost you $2200
• Since the IPO, the stock has split four times, including three 2-for-1 splits and one 7-for-1 split
• Your 100 shares would have multiples to  5600 shares.
• You initial $2200 investment would now be worth 759,136.
• By comparison, a $2,200 investment in the S&P 500 in the same time would have netted you about $79,000
• If you had invested 10k, you’d now how have $3,446,477.44

 

Smaller iPhone set to get big battery upgrade in 2017

http://www.cultofmac.com/466699/smaller-iphones-set-to-get-big-battery-upgrade-in-2017/

• Apple reportedly plans to pack a much bigger battery inside the new 4.7-inch iPhone set to be revealed later this year.

 

iPhone 8 to Feature 5.8-Inch OLED Display With 5.15-Inch Main Screen and Virtual Buttons Below

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/02/15/2017-iphone-edge-to-edge-display-virtual-buttons/

• The 2017 iPhone will feature a 5.8-inch display OLED display panel with 5.15 inches of usable screen space according to new predictions shared by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Kuo believes the iPhone 8 will use a, but that some space will be reserved for virtual buttons.
• The display will reportedly take up the entire front of the iPhone, eliminating the bezels.
• Kuo says the OLED iPhone will have measurements similar to the 4.7-inch iPhone.
• Apple expected to introduce a stacked logic board design to support bigger batteries, and will feature a battery capacity similar to the larger 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus.
• Kuo expects the OLED iPhone to cost in excess of $1,000
• The OLED iPhone will be "the only bright spot" in the 2017 iPhone lineup, which may mean that the other phones will receive only minor improvements.
• Mac Otakara recently reported that the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch models will retain an aluminum design like the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, with only internal changes

 

This week: 

• How to get significant discounts on Apple gadgets
• The INSANELY SPECIAL doorknobs at Apple’s Spaceship HQ
• The fat paychecks earned by Jony Ive’s industrial designers 
• iPhone 8 to come in a plus plus size
• Wireless charging is all but confirmed for all three iPhone 8 sizes
• Next iPhone could cost more than $1,000!
• How to get a massive discount on Final Cut and Logic Pro X
• We reveal our favorite new shows and movies in an all new, What We’re Into Yaaa’aaall 💪🏼

This episode supported by

@erfon / @bst3r / @lkahney

Students get a massive discount on Apple’s Pro Apps Bundle

• According to a reliable Apple analyst, the company will release three new iPhones this year — including a redesigned iPhone 8 (or iPhone X) and two iterative iPhone 7 updates.
• All three models will reportedly boast new Apple wireless charging tech, rather than the feature being limited to a high-end OLED handset.

This episode supported by

@erfon / @bst3r / @lkahney

Got suggestions or feedback for us?  Air your thoughts at TheCultCast.reddit.com.

• Apple launched the latest generation of its flagship product in September. Some critics saw the iPhone 7 series as not enough of an upgrade from the 6s line. Some, especially music lovers, initially hated the absence of a headphone jack.

This episode supported by 

@erfon / @bst3r / @lkahney

• Apple will launch a new 15-inch MacBook Pro later this year powered by Intel’s next-generation Kaby Lake processors and 32GB of desktop-class RAM, according to a reliable analyst.
• According to reliable KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple has a MacBook Pro refresh planned for later this year that will bring new Kaby Lake CPUs and up to 32GB of desktop-class RAM. It will be “the most significantly redesigned product this year,” Kuo says.
• Kuo doesn’t mention specific release dates for any of these machines, but he expects the MacBook with 32GB of RAM to arrive sometime during the second half of 2017 — at which point Apple could reduce the price of the entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro without Touch Bar.

This week: the worst gadgets of CES 2017!  Yup, we run through the gizmos no one on the earth actually needs.  Then we spice things up with our most hotly anticipated tech of 2017.  And finally, we’re gonna be real with you guys… Apple had a rough 2016.  But that’s all behind us now.  It’s a new year. It’s a fresh start.  We discuss what Apple needs to get right in 2017.

On the show this week

@erfon / @bst3r 

This episode supported by

This week: everything we like (and don’t) about AirPods; the insider way to lock down your own AirPods without waiting 6 weeks; Apple’s Mac division has a falling out with Jony Ive; and we remember the best of Apple, 2016.

This episode supported by

@erfon / @lewiswallace / “at” David Pierini

This week: an honest look at Mario Run; better-sounding AirPod alternatives; the cool new stuff in the iOS and tvOS updates; and we reveal the hands-down best tv shows of 2016!

@erfon / @lewiswallace / @lkahney

This week: why Apple is done chasing big hit products.  Plus: the demise of Pebble Watch is a bad omen for wearables; Foxconn secretly prepares to make more Apple products in the US; and we remember our favorite movies of 2016!

@erfon / @lewiswallace / @lkahney

• Apple Pay vice president Jennifer Bailey has announced that 35% of U.S. merchants now accept Apple Pay.

• According to Reuters, Apple manufacturer Foxconn is in the beginning stages of building a collection of assembly plants within the United States
• CNBC has alleged that Foxconn will be investing $7 billion into its U.S. expansion and aiming for the creation of 50,000 jobs
• After being outed by CNBC, Foxconn simply has states that more details will come after its finished talks with "the relevant U.S. officials”
• In a call made to Trump by Apple CEO Tim Cook, Trump mentioned told Tim that one of his goals would is be to "get Apple to build a big plant in the United States” 
• Foxconn does have manufacturing facilities on a very small scale in the U.S., in Virginia and Indiana, along with logistic locations in California and Texas
• Will Apple every had major manufacturing back in the US?

This week: why building a Hackintosh can get you the monster Mac you’ve always wanted.  Plus: Apple analyst Ming-Chi Quo reveals iPhone 8’s marquee feature; AirPods ship date is finally revealed; and stick around for our top Apple Airport router replacement picks!

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Build a beautiful, responsive website quick at Squarespace.com.  Enter offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off. Squarespace—Build it Beautiful.

• Apple revealed the earbuds alongside the iPhone 7, promising an October delivery date, but anxious customers have not been able to buy a set.
• In  email obtained by MacRumors, a customer asks Tim Cook where his AirPods are.
• • Customer’s comment: “Give us a release date. I really bought in to the wireless vision you painted….Let us know if it’s a month or 6 months, because then I’ll just buy some other wireless headphones.”
  • Tim Cook’s response: “Thanks for your note. Sorry for the delay—we are finalizing them and I anticipate we will begin to ship over the next few weeks.”

• Apple has big plans for the iPhone 8, claims KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
• According to Kuo, Apple will be scaling up iPhone production 120-150 million units in the second half of 2017. If true, this would would be well above the 110-120 million units Apple ordered of its bestselling iPhone 6 generation handsets.
• Kuo claims this “unprecedented” demand will be centered around the myriad big improvements Apple has planned for its next-gen iPhone series.

• The rumored decision to adopt a glass chassis for the next-generation iPhone is reportedly fueled by a desire to improve wireless charging, another key feature supposedly coming to Apple’s 2017 phone.
• The report comes from notable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who claims that all 2017-era iPhones will boast the long-awaited wireless charging tech.
• Earlier this year, a report from Bloomberg said Apple was working with partners to overcome current technical barriers with wireless technology, including loss of power over distance. If successful, innovation could make Apple’s version of wireless charging considerably more advanced than Samsung’s.

• An update to the official Netflix app lets you download TV shows and movies so you can view them without munching through your data allowance.
• “Not all titles are available for download,” according to Netflix. “If you have a particular title in mind, you can search for that title and look for the download icon.

• According to the more than 3,000 customers polled in J.D. Power’s 2016 Wireless Router Satisfaction Report released today, please love Apple’s routers more than any other.
• The top gripes were how often users had to reset their routers, general data speeds, and the difficulty of getting them set up.
• Apple was the only company to receive a 5-star Power Circle consumer rating, which places it "among the best" according to J.D. Power.

This week: is a secret Apple project stalling Mac updates?  It wouldn’t be the first time… Plus: Apple teases Black Friday deals; Airport routers are dead, and the Mac Pro might be next;  the future of Time Machine; why iPad should be iOS/OS X hybrid; and Jony Ive’s new role designing Apple itself.

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• Wired: The new MacBook Pro is a terrific laptop and, like the super-skinny MacBook, a clear indication of where most of the computing world is going. But comes with growing pains
• Techcrunch: The less celebrated spec bumps are what make the new Pro a worthy upgrade. Better processors, more storage, a brighter display and better speakers are all wrapped up in a sleeker and lighter package than before… The Touch Bar feels like a nice bonus for the time being.
• ArsTechnica‘s Andrew Cunningham writes, “The more I use the Touch Bar, the more I become convinced of its potential utility” — although a lot of its ability to replace the old function buttons remains hypothetical for now.”
• • Industry-leading storage performance.
  • Touchbar get 1.3Gbps WiFI (like 2015 model) instead of 867Mbps.

• Walt Mossberg describes the Touch Bar as having “potential, but it’s not magic.”
• ARS: CPU performance increases by an amount that’s roughly proportionate to the 200MHz maximum clock speed increase, and GPU performance increases by around 10 percent. It’s not nothing...
• WSJ:  “it’s a dongle nightmare.” The SD card slot is particularly missed.
• WSJ: A Touch Bar, Touch ID and new design are tempting, but you’ll get the same performance and battery with the older model… So how do you decide? Do you invest in the present—the “old” MacBook Pro with performance, good-enough portability, a keyboard to cherish and lots of ports? Or do you invest in the future—a beautiful, highly portable machine with new tricks? Or maybe you do what I’m doing: Stare down at your three-year-old laptop and wonder if you can tough it out another year or two while this sorts itself out.

• First spotted by users on Reddit, at present the fancy new Touch Bar lets users scrub through otherwise unskippable ads so you can start watching videos straight away.
• “In Safari, the touchbar [sic] will pop up a scrubbing control whenever a video begins to play,” Redditor RomansFiveEight writes. “Amazingly, you can use that to scrub THROUGH an ad, even a non-skippable 30 second pre-roll ad; and begin your video right away!”

• Apple has announced that it will be debuting a new hardbound book, entitled “Designed by Apple in California,” chronicling 20 years of its groundbreaking designs — boasting 450 photographs of past and present Apple products.
• The book, which is dedicated to the memory of Steve Jobs, will also include exclusive details on the design processes used by Apple’s design team under the leadership of Jony Ive.
• The photos contained are all shot by photographer Andrew Zuckerman, a filmmaker and photographer who has previously shot portraits of Judi Dench, Clint Eastwood, Ted Kennedy, and others.
• “Designed by Apple in California”
• it is available in two sizes — including a small 10.20” x 12.75” edition for $199 and a large version sized at 13” x 16.25” — costing $299.
• Specially milled German paper
• Gilded matte silver edges
• Low-ghost inks

• Going inside Apple’s design lab is a rare privilege some Apple execs don’t even get, but Jony Ive is giving the world a glimpse inside his lab to celebrate the company’s new book.

• According to a new interview with Jony Ive, Apple had to actually go out and buy copies of its old products in order to photograph them for its new $300 coffee table book
• “[W]e’ve been so consumed by our current and future work we came to realise we didn’t have a catalogue of the physical products,” Ive told design journal Wallpaper*. ” … Many of the products that you see, we actually had to go out and purchase. It’s a rather shameful admission, but it’s just not an area that we really invested much time or energy in.”
• Shortly after he returned to the company in the late 1990s, Steve Jobs gave Apple’s historical archive — comprising records that management at Apple had kept since the mid-1980s — to Stanford University Libraries because he didn’t want Apple to be fixated on the past.
• A few years after that, in 1996, an ex-Apple employee named David Pakman who had worked there from 1991 through 1997 emailed Steve to suggest staging a celebratory event for Apple’s thirtieth birthday. He received a simple answer: Apple is focused on the future, not the past. —Steve
• Fortunately, things are changing, Ive said. Around eight years ago, the company felt an “obligation” to go out and start building up an archive of every product it had released.

This week: early reviews show new MacBook Pro is a video editing powerhouse; Apple’s massive interest in augmented reality; rumors of a Jet White iPhone; AirPods to finally start shipping; new dongle discounts; and finally—is Apple still developing an electric car?

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Might Tees’ artful Steve Jobs, Woz, Apple and Star Trek tees are worn Will Wheaton, LeVar Burton, co-founders at Bad Robot, Chris Hardwick, Veronica Belmont, and even Steve Wozniak himself.  And without Might Tees, there’d be Leander have Erfon would have never met.  Grab a piece of CultCast history!  While supplies last, get 60% off any order at MightTees.com and use code CultCast at checkout.

• According to one Apple fan, who spoke to an employee at Conrad, an Apple authorized reseller in Germany, AirPods will be delivered to stores next Friday, November 17.
• “I have just talked with an employee of the Conrad Online Store, since I am there on 14.10 the AirPods ordered and I wanted to cancel today,” he explained to Apfelpage.de. “According to information from the employee, they have stockpiles from 17.11, I will then have them between November 18-19.

• “Multiple reports collated by AppleInsider and other sources show that Apple is gearing up for the first wave of shipments of the 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, in every configuration,”
• The first wave of shipments is expected to reach customers as early as November 11. Those who ordered before the shipping estimate slipped should expect to receive them by November 17, though some could be waiting until November 25.

• latest model generated over seven times the revenue that the MacBook 12-inch did during its April 2015 launch. The new model’s sales already equal 78 percent of all the revenue generated by the MacBook 12-inch since it became available, and has accumulated more revenue than any other laptop this year.
• Slice Intelligence found 40 percent of Apple laptop owners who purchased a MacBook in 2014 bought their next laptop with another brand. Dell and Asus computers were the most popular laptops for people who previously purchased a MacBook.

• Jonathan Morris pits a specs’d out HP Specter to a 13” MacBook Pro
• Premier takes 9+ minutes to export, Final Cut 1:20

Guest Blake J. Harris, author of Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation, regales us with the story of the 90s video game battle that pitted newcomer, Sega of America, against Nintendo, an unstoppable force, and maker of Mario Brothers, Duck Hunt, and the beloved Nintendo Entertainment System.