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.
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
Apple's Suppliers Preparing for Fall Launch of iPhone 5 and iPad 3?
DigiTimes reports that upstream suppliers in Apple's manufacturing chain have been given orders to begin preparing for production of next-generation iPhone and iPad models, with a debut expected in the September-October timeframe.Taiwan-based companies included in the supply chain for iPhone 5 and iPad 3 have begun to prepare materials for the production of the two devices, which are likely to...
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Ahead of OS X Lion, Mac App Store Sales Numbers Still Comparably Small
During the keynote address at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this month, Phil Schiller noted that Apple's Mac App Store, launch in early January, has rapidly risen to become the top selling distribution channel for computer software, beating out Best Buy, Walmart, and Office Depot. According to Schiller:In the last six months, something incredible has happened. In the last six...
Shortages of Boxed iWork '09 at German Retailers
MacLife.de reports [Google translation] that the boxed version of iWork '09 is currently out of stock at a number of prominent German retailers, including Amazon.de, Cyberport.de, Gravis.de, and Alternate.de.
Apple of course began offering the individual iWork '09 applications via the Mac App Store from its launch in early January, pricing the three applications at $19.99 each. The company...
Will Kindle App Survive Apple's Deadline for iOS Content Purchasing Compliance?
Earlier this year, Apple rolled out In App Subscriptions for App Store applications, offering content providers a way to provide ongoing content within their applications. As part of that rollout, Apple required that providers offer their content via In App Subscriptions at at least the same rates as other purchasing mechanisms and also barred apps from including links to those alternative...
App Store Tops 100,000 Available iPad Applications
As noted by MacStories, Apple's App Store has reached yet another milestone, now offering over 100,000 iPad-specific applications.Apple and third-party developers have set a new record: in 453 days since the original iPad came out on April 3, 2010, the App Store has more than 100,000 iPad-exclusive apps available. Either specifically targeting the tablet, or released as universal updates to...
Apple Reportedly Planning Significant Boost in iPad 2 Shipments for 3Q 2011
DigiTimes briefly reports that Apple is planning a significant increase in iPad 2 shipments for the third quarter of this year, attempting to move 12-14 million units over the period. That goal is up from the 7-9 million units reportedly shipped during the second quarter.In order to significantly increase its shipments in the third quarter, Apple has been piling up its inventory of iPad 2...
Thunderbolt Supports Booting From External Disk
Ever since Apple and Intel introduced the Thunderbolt high-speed data connectivity standard back in late February, there has been speculation about whether the standard would support booting from external disks. At that initial release on revamped MacBook Pros, Andy Ihnatko reported that booting was not supported, although Target Disk Mode was supported. But a report from The Mac Observer early ...
HP Considering Licensing WebOS, Samsung Reportedly Interested
Bloomberg reports that HP has expressed interest in licensing its webOS mobile operating system to other companies, potentially opening the door for another major competitor in the smartphone and tablet industries."We are talking to a number of companies," Apotheker said in Beijing, declining to elaborate on details. "I can share with you that a number of companies have expressed interest. We are ...
MacBook Supplies Tightening at Third-Party Retailers Ahead of Potential Refresh [Update: Mac Mini Too]
AppleInsider notes that MacBook supplies have become "severely constrained" at a number of third-party retailers, suggesting that Apple may be drawing down stocks ahead of a refresh.Specifically, Amazon, MacConnection, On Sale and J&R are all out of stock. In addition, inventory of the entry-level portable is low at DataVision.
In addition, one of Europe's largest distributors is completely...
Apple to Cut iPhone 3GS Price to Free With Next Update?
With talk of Apple seeking to release a cheaper iPhone being revived in recent days, RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky now weighs in to report that he believes that Apple will be keeping the iPhone 3GS around even after the next iPhone hardware update, offering the device for free with a two-year contract and at $399 for unsubsidized purchases. Apple currently sells an 8 GB iPhone 3GS...
MacBook Air Update Coming in Mid-July?
Many customers have been waiting for Apple to begin shipping its long-rumored updated MacBook Airs, bringing a significant performance improvement to the line with the incorporation of Intel's Sandy Bridge platform. A number of reports had pegged the release for the June-July timeframe, but the June dates are essentially out of the picture now and Apple has been said to be holding the release...
Apple Releases Java Update 5 for Snow Leopard and Update 10 for Leopard
Apple today released a pair of Java updates for users of Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Leopard, patching vulnerabilities and increasing reliability and compatibility.
- Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 5 (75.45 MB, Requires Mac OS X 10.6.4)Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 5 delivers improved compatibility, security, and reliability by updating Java SE 6 to 1.6.0_26.- Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 10...
iPad 2 Display Dock Replicates Apple Retail Store Experience
Released earlier this month by newPCgadgets, the iPad 2 Display Dock claims to replicate the Apple retail store iPad 2 experience by offering a clear acrylic display block for the latest iPad, holding the device at an angle in a sleek enclosure for ease of interaction.
In addition to the iPad 2, the dock also contains an upright docking station for holding an iPhone or iPod touch.Now you can ...
Google Launches 'Swiffy' Flash-to-HTML5 Converter
Google today announced the launch of Google Swiffy, a new Google Labs effort to produce a tool capable of converting Flash content to HTML5 for display on non-Flash devices such as the iPhone and iPad.You can upload a SWF file, and Swiffy will produce an HTML5 version which will run in modern browsers with a high level of SVG support such as Chrome and Safari. It’s still an early version, so it ...
Mac OS X Server 10.6.8 Causing CPU Load Issues for Xserves
Since the release of Mac OS X 10.6.8 last week, a number of Xserve users have reported in Apple's discussion forums (via MacNN) issues with a hardware monitoring daemon known as hwmond generating significant CPU loads of up to 95%.Member Arminhempel reports a CPU load up to 70 percent after every reboot on several Xserves he manages; Jean-Serge Remy has an Xserve Xeon showing an 84 percent hit,...
Demo of Native-Style Momentum Scrolling in iOS 5 Beta 2
Over the weekend, we noted that one of the new features in the second beta of iOS 5 released to developers on Friday was the addition of native-style momentum scrolling for web apps, a key feature that will enable web app developers to easily make their apps feel much more like regular iOS applications.
Daring Fireball now points to this demo from @cpojer showing off how the new CSS property ...
Apple Issuing Refunds for Final Cut Pro X Upon Request
While Apple may be working to quickly add new and restored features to Final Cut Pro X, EOSHD reports (via The Next Web) that Apple has begun issuing refunds to at least some customers complaining through the company's customer service channels.Here is an example of one such email a disappointed pro received from Apple:
"Moving forward, I understand that you are not satisfied with the app...
Evidence of XML Importer Found in Final Cut Pro X
While Apple has received significant criticism for stripping out a number of features from its professional-level video production software in the transition to Final Cut Pro X, the company has said that it will be updating the new application on a regular basis, and has acknowledged that it is working on restoring some of the lost features.
One of those missing features is compatibility for...
Apple Thunderbolt Cable and Promise Thunderbolt RAID Systems Hit the Apple Store
Earlier this week, we mentioned that the first Thunderbolt-equipped peripherals had briefly appeared on Apple's online store earlier this month, although they carried shipping estimate of several weeks out and were quickly removed.
Those products have returned today, with a set of four Thunderbolt-equipped RAID storage systems from Promise making their debut in the store and shipping within...
Apple Releases Thunderbolt Firmware Update
Apple today released Thunderbolt Firmware Update, a small update offering "performance and stability fixes" for machines supporting the new high-speed data connectivity standard.This update provides Thunderbolt performance and stability fixes.
When your computer restarts a gray screen will appear with a status bar to indicate the progress of the update.
Do not disturb or shut off the power...
