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
Tim Cook Remembers Steve Jobs on 8th Anniversary of His Death
Eight years ago today, Steve Jobs passed away from pancreatic cancer at the age of 56, one day after somewhat subdued Apple executives introduced the iPhone 4s at a media event on the company's Infinite Loop headquarters campus.
As he traditionally does, Apple CEO Tim Cook today marked the anniversary of Jobs' death with a tweet, sharing a Jobs quote and a photo of him at the iconic cube at...
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Apple Arcade Launches for macOS Catalina Beta Users
Apple today flipped the switch to launch Apple Arcade for users currently running the macOS Catalina beta, which itself was updated to the golden master version just yesterday.
The launch of Apple Arcade on Mac will complete the rollout of Apple's subscription gaming service, with the service already up and running for all users on iOS, iPadOS, and Apple TV. While Apple touts Apple Arcade as ...
Apple Launches Repair Program for iPhone 6s and 6s Plus Over Power Issues
Apple today launched a new repair program for iPhone 6s and 6s Plus devices that may fail to power on due to a faulty component. Affected devices were sold between October 2018 and August 2019, and users can check their serial numbers on Apple's support site to see if their devices are part of the affected batches.
Customers with an eligible iPhone model can have their device repaired free...
Apple Stops Signing Several Older iOS Versions Following Release of iOS 13.1.2
Following the release of iOS 13.1.2 on Monday, Apple has stopped signing several previous versions of iOS, preventing downgrades to these earlier versions. iOS versions no longer being signed include iOS 12.4.1, iOS 13.0, and iOS 13.1.1, while iOS 13.1 remains signed for the time being.
iOS 13.1.2 was a bug fix release that quickly followed iOS 13.1.1, which primarily addressed issues with...
Apple Reportedly Increasing iPhone 11 Lineup Production by Up to 10% Due to Strong Demand
Apple has asked suppliers to increase production of its new iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro lineup by up to 10 percent, according to Nikkei Asian Review. The bump in production would add up to 8 million units to the current production plans as Apple seeks to meet stronger-than-expected demand.
"This autumn is so far much busier than we expected," one source with direct knowledge of the situation...
Apple's September 2019 Media Event: Spoiler-Free Video Stream [Update: Video Posted]
Apple's "By innovation only" media event will be kicking off at 10:00 am Pacific Time today, and as is tradition, some MacRumors readers who can't follow the event live are interested in avoiding all of the announcements and waiting until Apple posts the recorded video of the event so as to experience it without already knowing the outcome.
For those individuals, we've posted this news...
Potential Benchmark for iPhone XR Successor Shows 4GB RAM, Moderate Performance Gains
A new Geekbench result posted this evening purportedly reveals performance data for the next-generation iPhone XR set to debut at next week's media event.
The result, spotted by forum member EugW, lists a model number of "iPhone12,1" running iOS 13.1 with a motherboard identifier of N104AP. Back in May, Bloomberg reported that the next-generation iPhone XR was internally codenamed N104, while 9...
Apple's Suppliers Aiming to Produce 75 Million New iPhones in Second Half of 2019
Apple's supply chain is currently aiming to produce components for up to 75 million iPhones in the second half of this year, roughly the same as in the same time period last year, according to Bloomberg. The production targets suggest Apple expects iPhone demand to stabilize this year after recent dips in unit sales largely offset by increases in average prices.
2019 iPhone dummy units Jeff Pu...
Facebook to Be Fined $5 Billion in Cambridge Analytica Privacy Scandal
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has voted to approve a settlement with Facebook that will see the social media giant hit with a roughly $5 billion fine over the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The matter has been moved to the Justice Department’s civil division and it is unclear how long it will take to finalize, the person said. Justice Department...
iPad Air vs. Microsoft's Surface Go: Which Is a Better Laptop Replacement?
Apple's iPad Air, which was resurrected in March as essentially a tweaked version of the previous 10.5-inch iPad Pro, offers a significant amount of utility at a solid $499 price point, but how does it compare to other competitors in the market?
In his latest video, MacRumors videographer Dan compared the iPad Air to Microsoft's Surface Go to determine which one he liked better for on-the-go...
Research Firms Paint Contrasting Pictures of Apple's Mac Shipments in Q2 2019
Prominent research firms Gartner and IDC attempt to estimate shipments of computers around the world on a quarterly basis, and both firms today released their estimates for the second calendar quarter.
Gartner's and IDC's estimates are just that — estimates – and with Apple no longer reporting unit sales of Macs and other products, we won't know how accurate these estimates end up being....
Apple Temporarily Disables Walkie-Talkie App for Apple Watch Due to Eavesdropping Vulnerability
Apple has disabled the Walkie-Talkie app for Apple Watch due to a bug that could allow users to eavesdrop on others, reports TechCrunch.
The company issued a statement noting that it was just notified about the vulnerability and has temporarily disabled the Walkie-Talkie functionality while a fix is developed. The Walkie-Talkie app will remain installed on users' Apple Watches, but it will...
Apple Pushes Automatic Mac Software Update to Remove Vulnerable Zoom Web Server
Earlier this week, a serious vulnerability with the Zoom video conferencing app for macOS was disclosed, with attackers potentially able to hijack users' webcams.
The vulnerability was particularly notable because Zoom had installed a hidden web server on users' computers in order to allow for automatic answering of incoming calls, and that web server was not only the weak point that could...
Searchable Transcripts of WWDC 2019 Session Videos Now Available
Apple today announced that transcripts of all of its WWDC 2019 session videos are now available through the WWDC video page.
Individual transcripts can be searched by keyword or phrase, and clicking on search results will jump you straight to the corresponding timestamps in the video, making it easy to find just what you're looking for and share those specific sections with timestamped...
AT&T Jumps to First Place in U.S. Mobile Speeds, but Verizon Still Most Consistent
Ookla, the company behind the popular Speedtest bandwidth measurement service, today released its 2019 Speedtest Mobile Performance Report, leveraging over 11.5 million speed tests from over 4 million unique devices to rank the network performance of the major U.S. carriers during the first half of 2019.
Overall, Ookla found that the mean mobile download speed rose to 33.88 Mbps during the...
Apple Releases Revised Version of iOS 13 and iPadOS Developer Beta 3
Alongside the second public beta versions of iOS 13 and iPadOS, Apple today also released a revised third beta version of the operating systems for developers.
The reason for the new version isn't entirely clear, but the original third developer beta was not available for the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus for some reason. Today's update, build 17A5522g, is only a very minor increment from the 17A5522f ...
Apple Experiencing Issues With iCloud Services and Retail Store Systems [Resolved]
Apple today is experiencing problems with a host of iCloud-related services, as outlined on the company's system status page. Affected services include all of the basic iCloud services, as well as services like Find My Friends, Find My iPhone, Game Center, Photos, and Screen Time.
The company says only that "some" users are affected, but social media reports suggest the outage is fairly...
Tim Cook Talks Privacy, Steve Jobs, and the 'Difference Between Preparation and Readiness' in Stanford Commencement Address
Apple CEO Tim Cook delivered the commencement address at Stanford University today, sharing his thoughts on privacy, the need to always "be a builder," and how the loss of Steve Jobs made him learn the "real, visceral difference between preparation and readiness."
On the subject of privacy, Cook acknowledged that so many of our modern technological inventions have come out of Silicon Valley, ...
WWDC 2019 Spoiler-Free Video Stream [Update: Video Posted]
Apple's WWDC keynote will be kicking off at 10:00 am Pacific Time today, and as is tradition, some MacRumors readers who can't follow the event live are interested in avoiding all of the announcements and waiting until Apple posts the recorded video of the event so as to experience it without already knowing the outcome.
For those individuals, we've posted this news story, which will be...
Apple Putting Finishing Touches on WWDC Decorations at McEnery Convention Center
The first WWDC 2019 events kick off in just two days with the early arrival of student scholars, and Apple is putting the finishing touches on decorations at and around the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose.
Decorations on the convention center, light poles, and public transit stops all carry the same neon theme on dark blue as seen on other WWDC materials, with the front entrance area...
