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

mike daisey

'This American Life' Retracts Show on Foxconn Working Conditions over Fabricated Claims

Friday March 16, 2012 10:44 am PDT by
Back in January, popular radio show This American Life aired an episode dedicated to working conditions at Foxconn's factories in China, drawing heavily from Mike Daisey's theater monologue entitled "The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs". In the monologue, which has been a notable part of the push to address working conditions at Apple's suppliers, Daisey relates tales from his visit to China...
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New Verizon iPad Runs on AT&T 3G Networks with AT&T Micro-SIM

Friday March 16, 2012 8:51 am PDT by
One of the major selling features of the new Verizon iPad Wi-Fi + 4G LTE is its compatibility with GSM networks for international roaming purposes. But what hasn't been clear is whether users could insert an AT&T micro-SIM card into a Verizon iPad and receive data connectivity. Given that the Verizon iPad supports the same GSM frequency bands for non-LTE networks as the version sold for AT&T,...
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Slimmer 13-Inch and 15-Inch MacBook Pros Reportedly in Production

Friday March 16, 2012 6:30 am PDT by
Claims of redesigned MacBook Pro models continue to surface ahead of the official launch of Intel's Ivy Bridge chips, and Digitimes now reports that slimmer versions of the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro are currently in production. Notably, the report claims that the MacBook Pro line will remain distinct from the MacBook Air line, with the new MacBook Pro models losing their optical drives but ...
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Walmart to Offer New iPad Beginning at 12:01 AM Local Time

Thursday March 15, 2012 1:31 pm PDT by
As noted by Insanely Great Mac, Walmart has issued a statement announcing that it will be offering a "limited supply" of the new iPad beginning at 12:01 AM local time at its 24-hour stores in the United States. Walmart's sales will start eight hours before Apple's own retail stores open for business Friday morning.If you want to be the first person amongst your friends and colleagues to have the ...
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Kindle for iOS Updated with Retina iPad Support, New Library Design

Thursday March 15, 2012 10:50 am PDT by
One issue noted in several of the early reviews of the new iPad was the fact that Amazon's Kindle app for iOS [App Store] had not been updated to support the Retina display on the new iPad. While iOS is capable of scaling up most text to display at the crisp resolution of the new display, some apps such as Kindle package their own fixed fonts and are thus not compatible with Apple's upscaling. ...
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Charge Time on New iPad Significantly Increased with Larger Battery

Thursday March 15, 2012 9:00 am PDT by
One interesting note on the new iPad revealed in TechCrunch's review is the observation that charging time has increased significantly over previous models. While the increase is not necessarily a surprise given the significant 70% boost in battery capacity from 25 watt-hours in the iPad 2 to 42.5 watt-hours in the new iPad, it is an issue that many users may not have considered.It appears that...
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Teardown of New iPad Reveals Samsung Retina Display, Qualcomm MDM9600 Wireless Chip

Thursday March 15, 2012 8:40 am PDT by
Earlier today, we noted that iFixit was on hand for an early midnight launch of the new iPad at a Telstra retail store in Melbourne, Australia, and the teardown experts are now beginning the process of opening up the device to examine its internals. A number of the parts appeared in leaks leading up to the device's introduction, but the teardown offers the first confirmation of details on...
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FaceTime Video Calls Still Limited to Wi-Fi as LTE iPad Rolls Out

Thursday March 15, 2012 8:29 am PDT by
The Verge confirms in its testing with a review unit of the new iPad with 4G LTE that FaceTime video calling remains limited to Wi-Fi networks despite the fact that LTE offers greater bandwidth than many Wi-Fi networks.We've just confirmed that although the new iPad has incredibly fast download and upload speeds over LTE, FaceTime video chat still won't work directly on the 4G network. As you can ...
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Apple Retail Stores Begin Prepping for iPad Launch as First Third-Party Retailers Open

Thursday March 15, 2012 6:26 am PDT by
With Apple's official launch of the iPad in Australia, Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong just hours away, it seems that some of the company's retail stores are beginning their preparations. At Apple's Fukuoka Tenjin store in Japan, which closed for the night a little over an hour ago, employees are currently hard at work removing iPad 2 units from display in order to replace them with demo models...
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Some U.S. Pre-Orders of New Apple TV Arriving a Day Early

Thursday March 15, 2012 6:07 am PDT by
While shipping notices for pre-orders of the iPad began going out over the weekend, those notices have been accompanied by "future delivery requested" notes indicating that Apple is working with delivery companies to coordinate the launch for this Friday, March 16. But the new 1080p-capable Apple TV set-top box is also set to debut at that same time, and at least some U.S. pre-order customers...
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Apple Releases Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 3.10

Wednesday March 14, 2012 1:23 pm PDT by
Apple today released Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 3.10, bringing RAW image support to Aperture and iPhoto for a number of new cameras.This update adds RAW image compatibility for the following cameras to Aperture 3 and iPhoto '11: - Canon PowerShot G1 X - Nikon D4 - Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GX1 - Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FZ35 - Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FZ38 - Samsung NX200 - Sony Alpha NEX-7 ...
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Another New iPad Surfaces in Hong Kong with Sample Video and Graphics Benchmarks

Wednesday March 14, 2012 11:55 am PDT by
Following yesterday's unboxing video of the new iPad in Vietnam, which has also resulted in benchmarks and sample photos and screenshots from the device surfacing, Hong Kong's PCM Online reports (via Engadget) that it too has gained early access to the new iPad. Still photo comparison from new iPad and iPad 2 PCM's device is a white 16 GB 4G model, and the report includes a number of photos ...
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New iPads Begin Showing Up in Third-Party Retailers' Stockrooms Ahead of Friday's Launch

Wednesday March 14, 2012 10:43 am PDT by
With just two days to go until the launch of the new iPad, third-party retailer partners are apparently beginning to receive their stocks of the device. Engadget shares a photo of what is claimed to be several boxes of the new iPad that have arrived at a Best Buy location in the United States. Meanwhile, another report claims that at least one PC World location in the United Kingdom has...
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iTunes 1080p Content Comes Close to Blu-ray Quality, But Can't Quite Match

Wednesday March 14, 2012 9:45 am PDT by
Last week, we took a look at the compression being employed by Apple with its new 1080p content on the iTunes Store, a feature that has allowed Apple to increase file sizes by only 15-25% compared to 720p even as the number of pixels have more than doubled. A number of commenters were interested in seeing how 1080p iTunes content compares to Blu-ray, and Ars Technica has now returned with a new...
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Accessory Manufacturer Claims 15-Inch MacBook Air Coming in April

Wednesday March 14, 2012 6:48 am PDT by
Electricpig reports that it has heard from a Mac accessory manufacturer that Apple is planning to launch a 15-inch MacBook Air as soon as April.And what is coming? If you take our source’s word for it, a 15-inch MacBook Air with ports on both sides, no optical drive and no ethernet cable. While our source wasn’t certain that this would completely destroy the Pro (he also stated that Apple...
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Claim of Samsung as Sole Display Supplier for New iPad Disputed, LG Reportedly On Board

Wednesday March 14, 2012 6:15 am PDT by
Reuters specifically refutes a Bloomberg report from yesterday which claimed Samsung is the sole supplier for the new iPad's Retina display after LG and Sharp failed to meet Apple's quality requirement. According to a Reuters source, LG is indeed providing displays for the device.Flat screen maker LG Display Co Ltd is supplying touch-screen panels for Apple Inc's new iPad, a source close to the...
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Apple Officially Announces 8:00 AM Local Time Launch for New iPad on Friday, March 16

Wednesday March 14, 2012 5:53 am PDT by
Apple today officially announced that the new iPad will launch at 8:00 AM local time on Friday in the United States and nine other countries. The first hints of an 8:00 AM launch surfaced earlier this week with the grand opening time of Apple's new Highland Village retail store in Houston, and the time was essentially confirmed yesterday with a leaked photo of Apple retail store signage...
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Apple Subpoenaed for Details on iOS Search Deal in Google Antitrust Investigation

Tuesday March 13, 2012 12:26 pm PDT by
Bloomberg reports that antitrust investigators with the Federal Trade Commission have issued a subpoena to Apple requesting information on the company's deal to make Google the default search engine on iOS. Google has been reported to have paid Apple $1 billion last year in the iOS search deal, and the subpoena is part of an ongoing antitrust investigation of Google over its actions to lock up...
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NVIDIA Issues Leading Apple to Pursue Integrated Intel Graphics for Mid-Range Notebooks?

Tuesday March 13, 2012 11:34 am PDT by
Following reports from late last year indicating that Apple would be switching back to NVIDIA for graphics chips in its next MacBook Pro update, SemiAccurate now reports that NVIDIA's issues with GPU production are apparently leading Apple to rely more heavily on Intel's integrated graphics. Apple has reportedly been ordering beefed-up integrated graphics from Intel on its Ivy Bridge...
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Anonymous Samsung Executive Claims Apple Planning to Launch Smaller iPad by End of 2012

Tuesday March 13, 2012 10:46 am PDT by
In a report from The Korea Times (via SlashGear), an anonymous Samsung executive reveals that Apple has committed to purchase at least $9.7 billion worth of components from the company this year, with Apple's expenditures potentially reaching $11 billion depending on demand. According to the executive, growth will be driven in part by the new iPad, as well as more MacBook Air units utilizing...