Eric Slivka
Eric is Editor in Chief of MacRumors, swimmer, and former biophysicist. Enjoys reading and chasing after two rambunctious boys when he's not playing with the latest gadgets.
Eric Slivka's Articles
Apple Black Friday 2020: Best HomePod Deals
HomePod, released in February of 2018, is Apple's smart speaker, designed to compete with popular offerings like the Google Home and Amazon Echo. The HomePod focuses heavily on sound quality, with a 7 tweeter array, an Apple-designed 4-inch upward-facing woofer, and an A8 chip that enables powerful spatial awareness features for excellent sound no matter where the HomePod is placed in the room. ...
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Apple's Global Security Chief Indicted in Scheme to Trade iPads for Gun Permits, but Apple Says It's Found No Wrongdoing
Earlier this week, Apple's Chief Security Offier Thomas Moyer and others were charged in an expanding investigation involving the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office over exchanging bribes for concealed gun permits, reported the Morgan Hill Times.
According to the investigation, Santa Clara County Undersheriff Rick Sung held back four concealed carry weapons permits for Apple's security team ...
OWC's Upcoming Thunderbolt Hub Adds More Thunderbolt 3 Ports to Your Mac
OWC has announced that its upcoming Thunderbolt Hub will be compatible with all Apple M1 and Intel Macs equipped with Thunderbolt 3 ports and running macOS Big Sur, offering users the ability to expand the number of available Thunderbolt ports.
The OWC Thunderbolt Hub connects to a host computer over a Thunderbolt 3/4 port and provides three additional Thunderbolt ports (which are also...
Apple's MagSafe Duo Charger Unable to Charge iPhones at Full 15-Watt Power
Apple's upcoming MagSafe Duo Charger pairs a MagSafe iPhone charger with an Apple Watch charging puck, but as noted by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple has recently updated the product description to note that the MagSafe portion of the charger won't charge at the full 15 watts supported by the standalone MagSafe charger.
Neither the basic MagSafe Charger nor the MagSafe Duo Charger ships with ...
Beats and AMBUSH Team Up on New Glow-in-the-Dark Powerbeats
Apple's Beats by Dre brand is today announcing a new collaboration with Tokyo-based design label AMBUSH to launch glow-in-the-dark Powerbeats earphones.
The special-edition Powerbeats, conceived by AMBUSH co-founder and creative director Yoon Ahn, are pale green with a prominent red Beats "b" logo and smaller "AMBUSH" branding. In the dark, the main bodies of the earphones and the cable...
Apple Updates iWork, iMovie, and GarageBand With Refreshed Icons and Designs for macOS Big Sur
Following today's release of macOS Big Sur, Apple has updated a number of its apps to support the new operating system version and upcoming Apple Silicon Macs.
Apple's suite of iWork apps is among the updates, with Pages, Numbers, and Keynotes all sporting refreshed icons and a "refined new design on macOS Big Sur." Stability and performance improvements are also included. Alongside the...
Here's When You Can Download macOS Big Sur [Update: You Can Download it Now]
Update: It's Out Now
Apple has officially announced that macOS Big Sur is now available, although it is still rolling out so it may take a few minutes to show up on your Macs.
Apple Releases macOS Big Sur With Fresh Design, Control Center, Safari Privacy Report, Messages Updates, Maps Overhaul and More
macOS Big Sur Features: Everything New in Today's Release Apple's official public...
November 2020 Apple Event: Spoiler-Free Video Stream [Video Posted]
Apple is holding its third virtual media event in as many months today, with the event kicking off at 10:00 am Pacific Time and likely consisting of a pre-recorded stream from Apple Park. Still, some MacRumors readers who can't follow the event as it's being broadcast are interested in avoiding all of the announcements and waiting until the event has ended and is available for on-demand viewing...
Apple Watch ECG Coming to South Korea With Imminent iOS 14.2 and watchOS 7.1 Updates [Update: Russia Also]
Apple today announced [Google Translate] that electrocardiogram (ECG) and irregular heart rhythm notification features will be coming to the Apple Watch in South Korea as part of the upcoming iOS 14.2 and watchOS 7.1 releases.
While Apple hasn't confirmed a release date for the updates, it appears to be imminent based on today's press release and the fact that a "Release Candidate" version...
Review: Beats Flex Offer a Great Entry Point to Apple's Wireless Earphone Ecosystem for Just $50
One of the announcements last week that flew under the radar since it wasn't explicitly mentioned during Apple's event was the introduction of Beats Flex, new wireless earphones that represent an upgraded version of the previous BeatsX. Not only do Beats Flex come with some upgrades, but they also carry a much lower price of just $49.99, representing the most affordable way to get into Apple's...
Belkin Shares Details on First MagSafe Accessories for iPhone 12
Belkin today shared details on its first two accessories that are compatible with Apple's new MagSafe charging system. Both of the devices, a 3-in-1 charger for iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods, and a car vent mount, were briefly shown during the MagSafe portion of Apple's event yesterday.
Belkin's BOOST↑CHARGE PRO MagSafe 3-in-1 Wireless Charger includes a flat base with a 5-watt wireless...
Mystery Patch on Edge of iPhone 12 is a mmWave 5G Antenna Exclusive to U.S. Models
We've been getting a number of questions from readers about a mysterious "patch" on the edge of all of the iPhone 12 models introduced today. The patch is unlabeled on Apple's specs page, but The Verge has confirmed that it is a window for the mmWave 5G antenna.
mmWave 5G support is only included on U.S. models of the iPhone 12 lineup, and thus the window is only present on those devices, as ...
HomePod Mini Supports Low-Power Thread Networking Technology
As disclosed on the specs page for Apple's new HomePod mini, the diminutive speaker is Apple's first to support Thread networking technology.
Thread is a low-power IP-based networking technology for connecting Internet of Things (IoT) devices, offering a secure, mesh-based system that makes it easy to build an ecosystem of devices.
While Thread is essentially agnostic to the application...
New Beats Flex Earphones Take BeatsX to the Next Level for Just $49.99
Apple's Beats brand today is introducing Beats Flex wireless earphones, which add some upgrades to the previous BeatsX earphones yet come with a much lower $49.99 price tag. The new price makes them the cheapest way to get into Apple's wireless earphone ecosystem, which is especially important now that Apple is no longer including earphones in the box with its iPhones.
As with BeatsX, the...
October 2020 Apple Event: Spoiler-Free Video Stream [Video Posted]
As with Apple's "Time Flies" event last month and WWDC back in June, today's media event kicking off at 10:00 am Pacific Time will be entirely online and likely a pre-recorded stream from Apple Park. Still, some MacRumors readers who can't follow the event as it's being broadcast are interested in avoiding all of the announcements and waiting until the event has ended is available for on-demand...
Apple Executives Discuss the New A14 Chip and Apple's Approach to Chip Design
Between last month's introduction of the iPad Air with Apple's new A14 chip and tomorrow's expected unveiling of the iPhone 12 said to feature the same chip, Apple executives have been making the rounds talking up the technology behind the A14 and the company's overall chip strategy.
In a new interview with Engadget, Apple's vice president of platform architecture Tim Millet and senior...
iPhone 12 Announcement, Pre-Order, and Actual Release Date Expectations
While Apple has launched its new iPhone lineups annually in September for many years now, the timing is a little different in 2020 thanks to development and production delays due to the global health crisis.
Apple did hold a September event in 2020, but it involved Apple Watch and iPad announcements rather than addressing the iPhone. With Apple now ready to introduce the iPhone 12, the...
Apple Pay and Express Transit Mode Now Support PASMO Transit Cards in Japan
Japanese smart payment system PASMO today announced that it has launched support for Apple Pay, allowing users to pay for transit fares and other transactions using their iPhone or Apple Watch. Express Transit is also supported, which allows users to quickly pass through transit gates without having to wake or unlock their devices or authenticate with Face ID or Touch ID.
PASMO is similar to ...
Anker Bumps Its Tiny Anker Nano USB-C Power Adapter Up to 20W [Updated]
Popular accessory brand Anker today is launching its latest diminutive charger, a 20W Anker Nano that packs fast-charging power into a tiny wall adapter.
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The new Anker Nano, priced at $19.99, is an updated version of the...
Corning's Optical Thunderbolt 3 Cables Now Available in Lengths From 5 to 50 Meters
Back in March, we noted that optical Thunderbolt 3 cables were starting to become available some four years after the standard's debut. Availability of these high-end optical cables has taken another step forward recently, as Corning has begun shipping out its cables in lengths ranging from 5 meters to 50 meters.
Corning's 10-meter optical Thunderbolt 3 cable Compared to passive and active...
