Eric Slivka

Eric is the Editor-in-Chief of MacRumors and has been writing for the site since 2008.

An avid swimmer and former biophysicist, Eric has been using Apple products for over 35 years and has been interviewed for pieces by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Reuters, BBC, CNBC, and other publications.

Eric's current primary role involves day-to-day oversight of the editorial operations at MacRumors, but he also contributes occasional news and review articles while handling various other duties related to the site's operation.

Eric Slivka's Articles

google safari ios tracking

Google to Pay $22.5 Million Settlement in Safari Privacy Circumvention Case

Thursday August 9, 2012 9:43 am PDT by
In line with last month's report on negotiations between Google and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over the company's circumvention of privacy settings in Safari, the FTC has officially announced that Google has agreed to pay a record $22.5 million penalty to settle the case.The settlement is part of the FTC’s ongoing efforts make sure companies live up to the privacy promises they...
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Next-Generation iPhone Components Compared to Previous Models

Thursday August 9, 2012 8:26 am PDT by
Following up on a fresh leak of claimed next-generation iPhone parts, Nowhereelse.fr now shares [Google translation] new photos from the same source that provide an interesting comparison between several of the new components and their predecessors found in the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4. As shown in the top row, Apple appears to be returning to the rotational electric motor design for the...
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New Photos of Claimed Next-Generation iPhone Parts Include Display Shield

Thursday August 9, 2012 6:31 am PDT by
French site Nowhereelse.fr points [Google translation] to several new photos of what are claimed to be parts for the next-generation iPhone. While a number of the parts are similar to those that have previously been seen, including a SIM card tray leaked earlier this week that appears to have come from the same company, one notable addition in the lower left of today's photos is what appears to...
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Valve to Expand Steam Store Beyond Games on September 5

Wednesday August 8, 2012 12:54 pm PDT by
Valve today announced that beginning September 5 it will expand its Steam store for digital distribution of gaming titles to include other types of applications. The expansion of Steam to other software categories could pose signification competition for other digital marketplaces such as Apple's Mac App Store.The Software titles coming to Steam range from creativity to productivity. Many of the ...
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Apple Preparing to Seed Developers with First Build of OS X 10.8.1

Wednesday August 8, 2012 12:30 pm PDT by
MacRumors has received word that Apple is making preparations to begin seeding builds of OS X 10.8.1 to developers. The release would be the first maintenance update to OS X Mountain Lion, which launched two weeks ago, and this new update will likely focus on squashing some of the more significant bugs that have been discovered in the original version. The first maintenance updates for OS X...
ifixit retina macbook pro repair

iFixit Launches Repair Guides for Retina MacBook Pro

Wednesday August 8, 2012 8:29 am PDT by
iFixit today announced the release of 15 new repair guides for the Retina MacBook Pro, giving users instructions on how to perform their own repair and replacement procedures for a number of components. But as iFixit notes, Apple's design direction emphasizing space and weight savings has made it difficult, if not simply infeasible, for several components to be replaced on an individual basis.For...
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Apple's New Dock Connector Even Smaller Than Originally Thought

Wednesday August 8, 2012 8:02 am PDT by
Back in February, iMore was the first source to claim that Apple will be introducing a smaller dock connector for its iOS devices, with the claim now being supported by a number of other sources and evidence in the form of part leaks showing a much smaller opening in the casing of what is claimed to be the next-generation iPhone. But other details on the new dock connector have remained...
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Samsung's Massive Document Outlining How to Improve Galaxy S by Adopting iPhone Solutions Surfaces

Wednesday August 8, 2012 6:53 am PDT by
AllThingsD reports that the ongoing patent and design dispute between Apple and Samsung has yielded yet another interesting piece of evidence, this time in the form of a massive internal Samsung document from 2010 showing 126 different aspects of the company's Galaxy S smartphone that were considered to need improvement. Each shortcoming is displayed with a comparison to how the issue is handled ...
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Samsung's 'Crisis of Design' Memo Enters Patent Trial as Early Apple Designer Testifies on Confusion

Tuesday August 7, 2012 12:57 pm PDT by
The dispute between Apple and Samsung continues to play out in U.S. court, with Apple working its way through its list of witnesses as it seeks to convince a jury that Samsung has infringed upon patents and designs related to the iPhone and iPad. Among the interesting developments yesterday was the admission into evidence of an internal Samsung memo acknowledging that the company had suffered...
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iOS 6 Automatically Scales to Fit Taller 1136x640 iPhone Display

Tuesday August 7, 2012 9:28 am PDT by
9to5Mac reports that it has discovered through some testing with Apple's official iOS simulator that iOS 6 is capable of automatically scaling its home screen display to fit a taller 1136x640 display, compared to the current 960x640 display. Numerous rumors and part leaks have indicated that Apple will be including a taller display on the next-generation iPhone to be introduced next month.Thanks ...
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Apple Stops Airing 'Genius' Ads on Olympic Television Broadcasts

Tuesday August 7, 2012 7:44 am PDT by
Late last month during the Opening Ceremonies for the Summer Olympics, Apple debuted a series of three ads focused on an "Apple Genius" helping customers in unusual situations. The ads received a relatively poor reception, with some observers objecting to the portrayal of customers as clueless and others simply not finding the ads as humorous as they were clearly intended to be. While Apple ...
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iOS 6 Beta 4 Removes Dedicated YouTube App [Updated]

Monday August 6, 2012 11:30 am PDT by
As noted by several users in our forum, Apple's new iOS 6 Beta 4 just released to developers removes the dedicated YouTube app that has been included on the iPhone operating system since its launch in 2007. The reason for the removal is unclear, although speculation naturally turns to the strained relationship between Apple and Google. Aside from YouTube, Apple's iOS 6 contains another...
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Apple Seeds iOS 6 Beta 4 to Developers

Monday August 6, 2012 10:31 am PDT by
We're receiving numerous report that Apple today released the fourth beta of iOS 6, the company's next-generation mobile operating system set to launch "this fall", presumably alongside new iPhone hardware with an official announcement at Apple's September 12 media event. As with previous builds, the new one is arriving as an over-the-air update first, and it is generating some confusion since ...
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Apple's Smaller Dock Connector Reportedly Coming to Entire iOS Device Lineup Including iPad This Fall

Monday August 6, 2012 10:02 am PDT by
iMore, which was the first source to report that Apple will be moving to a smaller dock connector with the launch of the next-generation iPhone, now claims that Apple will be moving its entire lineup of iOS devices to the new connector later this year. This includes the current 9.7-inch iPad, which was just updated in March.iMore has learned that Apple intends to update their entire lineup of...
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AT&T's 'Mobile Share' Service Plans Launching August 23

Monday August 6, 2012 8:40 am PDT by
Last month, AT&T announced that it would join Verizon in offering shared data plans including unlimited talk and text on phone while allowing users to share their monthly data allotments across multiple devices. The plans are structured with two basic components: a monthly cost for a data allotment and a per-device charge that varies from $10 to $45 depending on the type of device and the data...
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Claimed SIM Tray for Next-Generation iPhone Points to Nano-SIM Standard

Monday August 6, 2012 7:05 am PDT by
In line with recent claims that European carriers have been stockpiling nano-SIMs with some carriers even working with Apple to test the new, smaller cards ahead of the next-generation iPhone launch, Nowhereelse.fr shares [Google translation] a set of comparison photos showing what is claimed to be a nano-SIM tray for the next iPhone next to the current micro-SIM tray used in the iPhone 4S. If...
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Eddy Cue Worked to Convince Steve Jobs of Need for 7-Inch iPad in Early 2011

Friday August 3, 2012 2:17 pm PDT by
Back in October 2010, Steve Jobs appeared on an Apple earnings conference call to address the Android-based iPad competitors that were just then coming to the market. With the majority of those tablets carrying 7-inch displays, Jobs noted that the screens were only 45% as large as the iPad's and that Apple believed the iPad's 9.7-inch display was the minimum necessary for an acceptable user...
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Sketchy Photos of Claimed 'iPad Mini' Rear Shell Show No Camera Hole

Friday August 3, 2012 1:50 pm PDT by
Apple.pro points [Google translation] to several images posted to Chinese microblogging site Sina Weibo showing what is claimed to be the rear shell of the "iPad mini". We certainly can not speak definitively to the authenticity of the images, and anything posted randomly to a microblogging site is clearly suspect until additional supporting evidence is discovered, but we have elected to share...
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Phil Schiller on History of the iPhone, Advertising, and Market Research

Friday August 3, 2012 11:06 am PDT by
Phil Schiller is currently on the witness stand in the trial of Apple versus Samsung, and Apple's marketing chief is offering a bit of insight into the history of the iPhone, making the argument that Apple revolutionized the smartphone industry with its contributions. AllThingsD has a summary of Schiller's comments, which reveal Apple's wide-ranging thoughts on what project to pursue following...
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Detailed Photo and Video Comparison of iPhone 4S and 'iPhone 5' Front Panels

Friday August 3, 2012 6:48 am PDT by
iPhone parts company ETrade Supply posts a detailed comparison [via iPhoneinCanada.ca] of the front panels of the iPhone 4S and what has been claimed to be the next-generation "iPhone 5". As with numerous other leaks, the new front panel shows a taller display and the FaceTime camera being moved to above the earpiece. The blog post contains a number of images and a nearly 7-minute video...