CultCast #259 - Secret Apple project stalling Mac updates?

This week: is a secret Apple project stalling Mac updates?  It wouldn’t be the first time… Plus: Apple teases Black Friday deals; Airport routers are dead, and the Mac Pro might be next;  the future of Time Machine; why iPad should be iOS/OS X hybrid; and Jony Ive’s new role designing Apple itself.

This episode supported by

Might Tees’ artful Steve Jobs, Woz, Apple and Star Trek tees are worn Will Wheaton, LeVar Burton, co-founders at Bad Robot, Chris Hardwick, Veronica Belmont, and even Steve Wozniak himself.  And without Might Tees, there’d be Leander have Erfon would have never met.  Grab a piece of CultCast history!  While supplies last, get 60% off any order at MightTees.com and use code CultCast at checkout.

CultCloth will keep your iPhone 7, Apple Watch, Mac and iPad sparkling clean, and for a limited time you can get 20% off your order with code JETBLACK at CultCloth.co.   And check out Cult of Mac’s new, free fitness eBook! This ebook is your practical how-to guide, covering step by step everything you need to know about getting fit with Apple’s devices.   We also want to give Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com a  thanks for the great music you hear on today's show.   On the show this week @erfon / @lewiswallace / @lkahney   Apple teases one-day shopping event for Black Friday

• Apple is teasing a one-day shopping event for Black Friday that could bring tasty discounts on its latest products.
• Apple chose not to participate in Black Friday sales last year, so fans were forced to look elsewhere for price cuts on Apple products.
• In 2014, Apple took a different approach to Black Friday, offering free gift cards with certain purchases instead of cutting prices. Customers got up to $150 for buying a Mac, up to $75 with an iPad, and up to $50 with an iPod.
• It’s also worth remembering that over the holiday period, the company offers free two-day shipping on almost all online purchases, while its retail stores are open longer.

  Apple grounds its AirPort router division for good

• According to Bloomberg, Apple has disbanded the division dedicated to developing its Airport wireless routers.
• The product line — which spawned the AirPort Express, AirPort Extreme, and AirPort Time capsule, which Apple continues to sell — hasn’t been updated since 2013.

  Jony Ive’s design book is much more than an ego trip

• He’s killing ports and headphone jacks left and right. The latest MacBooks value form over function. He’s designing gold watches for the 1 percent.
• And now his glossy new photo book, Designed by Apple in California, looks like a $300, linen-bound ego trip.
• "I see why some people think Designed by Apple in California could be Ive’s goodbye to Apple. But it feels to me like Ive’s heartfelt goodbye to his best friend and colleague, five years gone. I don’t think Jony Ive is going anywhere."

  Surprise! Jony Ive’s Christmas tree is a plain fir on a white backdrop

• Having previously been announced as the co-designer (with BFF Marc Newson) of the Christmas tree at London’s famous Claridge’s hotel, Ive’s creation was unveiled over the weekend, and — surprise — it’s a plain tree with no decorations, set on a white background.
• “There are few things more pure and beautiful than nature, so that was our starting point, layering various iterations of organic forms with technology,” Ive and Newson said. “Our aim was to create an all-enveloping magical experience that celebrates our enormous respect for tradition while recognising our excitement about the future and things to come.”