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 Now Offering iMacs Equipped With VESA Mount Adapters as $40 Upgrade
As noticed by Macworld UK, Apple today introduced a new configuration option for its 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMacs, allowing customers to choose a VESA mount adapter instead of the standard foot. The $40 option allows users to mount their iMacs to walls or other vertical surfaces, but must be configured at the time of purchase.The iMac with Built-in VESA Mount Adapter is ready to pair with your...
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Smaller A5 Chip From Tweaked Apple TV Contains Only One CPU Core, Revamped Analog Circuitry
For the past few days, we've been following the story of the smaller A5 chip found inside of the recently tweaked Apple TV, seeking to understand what changes Apple has made in order to shrink the chip to roughly half the size of the previous A5 chip.
Yesterday, experts at Chipworks determined that the new A5 was still being manufactured by Samsung using the same 32-nanometer process used for...
Andy Rubin Steps Down as Head of Android, Takes on New Role at Google
Google CEO Larry Page today announced that Andy Rubin is stepping down as head of the company's Android division, turning over the reins to Sundar Pichai, who has led Google's Chrome and Apps efforts.Sergey and I first heard about Android back in 2004, when Andy Rubin came to visit us at Google. He believed that aligning standards around an open-source operating system would drive innovation...
Staples Associates Training to Support iPhone, iPad, and Mac Notebook Sales by Late March
Back in January, we noted that office supply chain Staples appeared to gearing up to begin selling Apple products in its U.S. stores for the first time. Staples employees confirmed the announcement several weeks later and late last month the company began selling Apple accessories in its U.S. online store.
Apple accessories have already been making their way to some brick-and-mortar Staples...
Regional U.S. Carriers Back Efforts to Ease Mobile Phone Unlocking in Bid to Draw iPhone Users
Bloomberg reports that regional and rural carriers in the United States are banding together to back legislative efforts to ease the unlocking of mobile phones. Unsurprisingly, the smaller carriers see unlocking as a key way to attract new customers and gain access to the most popular handsets such as the iPhone.“Smaller carriers have a very difficult time getting access to smartphones and...
Apple Reportedly Preparing to Announce Larger Dividend or Stock Buyback
Quartz reports that Apple is moving closer to announcing a plan to return additional value to shareholders, likely acting "this spring" to either increase its dividend or repurchase additional stock from investors. The move comes amid increased public scrutiny of Apple's plans for its cash as vocal hedge fund manager David Einhorn has been pressing the company to return more money to investors.Ap...
OS X 10.8.3 Build 12D78 Seeded to Developers
One week after the previous seed, Apple today released a new build of OS X 10.8.3 to developers. The latest version, which arrives as build 12D78, represents the 13th developer seed since Apple began developer testing last November.
As with previous builds, Apple is asking developers to focus their testing on AirPlay, AirPort, Game Center, Graphics Drivers, and Safari.
We had previously...
A5 Chip in Tweaked Apple TV Still Manufactured by Samsung at 32nm
Earlier this week, we opened up the newly tweaked Apple TV to find a remarkably small A5 chip inside rather than an A5X as had been suspected from the device's software posted by Apple over a month ago.
Since that time, we've been talking with chip experts at Chipworks and Silicon-IP about the possibilities and have confirmed that, unlike in the previous Apple TV, this even smaller A5 does not ...
iPhone 5S to Include Both Fingerprint Sensor and NFC?
China Times reports [Google translation, via Mac Otakara] that Taiwanese chip firm Chipbond has been selected to provide a number of components for the iPhone 5S, including the touch display driver as well as chips to support fingerprint sensor and near field communications (NFC) capabilities. The report suggests that Apple will use the fingerprint sensor functionality to enhance the security of ...
Tweaked Apple TV Contains Die-Shrunk A5 Chip, Not A5X
Back in late January, an update to the Apple TV software revealed a new "AppleTV3,2", with FCC documents for the device showing up the following day. By digging into the software files for this new device, it was discovered that the device appeared to be using an A5X chip rather than the single-core A5 chip found in the third-generation Apple TV.
This conclusion was based on the chip carrying...
15-Inch Retina MacBook Pro Users Experiencing Fan Issues Related to SanDisk SSDs?
Earlier this week, Geek.com highlighted a growing a number of complaints from owners of Apple's 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro regarding overactive fans. The issue has been noted in our forums and is the subject of a lengthy thread in Apple's discussion forums. From one report:My first instance of runaway fans was under the lightest of conditions, having only one browser open only a few tabs and a...
Apple Reportedly Offering Half of Pandora's Royalty Rate for Streaming Music Service
The New York Post reports that Apple has been seeking to undercut its potential competitors with regard to royalty rates for its rumored streaming music service, currently offering a rate that is just half that paid by Pandora despite rumors that Apple is looking for more flexibility than allowed under the license used by Pandora.The tech titan, the most valuable company in the world, made an...
Latest OS X 10.8.3 Beta Adds NVIDIA Quadro K5000 Graphics Card Drivers
As noted in our forums, Apple's latest OS X 10.8.3 beta seeded to developers as build 12D76 yesterday contains new drivers for NVIDIA's high-end Quadro K5000 graphics card. NVIDIA announced the Quadro K5000 for the Mac Pro last September, but has yet to actually release the product.
The first developer build of OS X 10.8.3 seeded last November added AMD Radeon 7000-series drivers, so it...
Apple's Suppliers Set New High in January With 99% Compliance Rate for Working Hour Limits
Early last year, Apple launched a new initiative to more openly share information on worker rights and safety throughout its supply chain with working hours and mandatory overtime being a major focus of the effort. Apple's code of conduct specifies that workers may generally work no more than 60 hours per week, although the company does permit limited exceptions during periods of high demand.
...
Apple Launches $1099 21.5-Inch iMac With 3.3 GHz Dual-Core i3 Processor for Educational Institutions
Apple appears to have quietly introduced an updated version of its low-end 21.5-inch iMac for educational institutions, taking advantage of a cheaper dual-core Intel Core i3 processor and integrated graphics to offer pricing of $1099, $200 cheaper than the entry-level pricing for consumer models. The education-only iMac, which carries a model number of ME699LL/A, also includes just 4GB of RAM...
iMac Shipping Estimates Improve to 'Within 24 Hours' in Apple's North American Online Stores
Just days after experiencing a dramatic improvement in shipping times for new orders through Apple's online stores in North America, the iMac has seen its availability improve once again with stock configurations now shipping "within 24 hours". The rapid improvement in availability indicates that Apple is quickly reaching supply-demand balance for the new iMac some three months after its debut.
...
Google Maps for iOS Receives First Update Since Launch with Google Contacts Integration, Local Business Search
Google today updated its Google Maps for iOS to version 1.1, marking the first update since the company launched its standalone app in mid-December after Apple replaced Google with its own default mapping app in iOS 6.
The new update brings a few enhancements to Google Maps, including integration with Google Contacts addresses and easier searching of local businesses by category.What's New in ...
Apple Updates iBooks with Paid Japanese Books, Greater Asian Language Support
Apple today updated iBooks to version 3.1, bringing new support for paid books in Japan and enhanced support for Asian languages.What's New in Version 3.1
The iBookstore in Japan now has hundreds of thousands of books available for purchase, including fiction,
manga, light novels and more. This version of iBooks also includes a number of improvements for reading
Asian language books.
iBoo...
Sapphire Previews Radeon HD 7950 Mac Edition Graphics Card for Mac Pro
As noted by Accelerate Your Mac and tonymacx86, German site PCGamesHardware.de reports [Google translation] that Hong Kong-based company Sapphire Technology is previewing its new Radeon HD 7950 Mac Edition graphics card at CeBIT this week. The high-end card arrives following Apple's introduction of Radeon HD 7000-series drivers in OS X 10.8.3 betas last November, although the update has yet to...
New iPhones Still Expected to Launch in June/July, Fingerprint Sensor for iPhone 5S?
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has issued a new research report claiming that Apple is expected to unveil its iPhone 5S and lower-cost iPhone alongside iOS 7 this June, with the devices coming available in July. Versions supporting the time-division duplexing (TDD) standard used by China Mobile are said to follow in September.We expect Apple will introduce its new iPhones and iOS7 in June,...
