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
Tight iPhone 5 Supplies Linked to In-Cell Display Technology
While Apple set a company record by selling over five million units of the iPhone 5 during the device's launch weekend, it clearly could have sold even more if supplies had been available. Pre-orders for the iPhone 5 sold through the company's launch day stocks in just about an hour, and shipping estimates for new orders have been sitting at 3-4 weeks since soon after pre-orders began. Bloombe...
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Apple Flooded with iCloud Password Reset Requests Amid Tightened Account Security Controls
In a high-profile case last month, a hacker was able to gain access to Wired reporter Mat Honan's iCloud, Gmail, Twitter, and Amazon accounts, taking control of much of Honan's digital life and remote wiping his iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Air. Honan later detailed how the hack was accomplished through social engineering by entering the system through weaknesses in Amazon's account security and...
AuthenTec Said to Cut Off Non-Apple Fingerprint Sensor Customers in 2013
According to Korea's etnews.com [Google translation], fingerprint sensor firm AuthenTec has notified a number of its customers, including Samsung, HP, Dell, Lenovo, and Fujitsu, that it will cease offering its technology to those companies as of next year. Apple agreed to acquire AuthenTec in July, and AuthenTec's board is expected to approve the acquisition next month. AuthenTec's current...
Apple to Launch Personal Pickup for iPhone 5 Tonight
9to5Mac reports that Apple is planning to launch Personal Pickup for new iPhone 5 orders starting tonight at 10:00 PM Eastern. The program allows users to place and pay for orders online in advance and then pick up their items at an Apple retail store.Customers can use the Apple Store App or website between 10PM-4AM nightly to pre-purchase available iPhone 5 inventory for the next day. AppleInsi...
Riot Shuts Down Foxconn Plant, Impact on iPhone 5 Production Unclear
Reuters reports on a riot that broke out earlier today at Foxconn's facilities in Taiyuan, China, forcing the company to temporarily shutter the plant as it cleans up the damage and investigates the situation. The cause of the riot, which reportedly involved about 2,000 workers, remains unclear, with the company claiming that it began as a personal dispute between workers while other sources...
Analyst Says Perhaps Millions of iPhone 5 Pre-Orders Still in Transit, Not Included in Announced Sales
Earlier today, Apple officially announced sales of over five million iPhone 5 units during its launch weekend, easily topping the iPhone 4S debut from last year but falling short of many analysts' expectations. ISI Group analyst Brian Marshall theorizes that the apparent shortfall compared to expectations may stem from Apple's rapid sellout of its own launch day pre-orders, which occurred in ju...
Apple Notifies Former MobileMe Customers of Impending iCloud Storage Downgrade
Apple today began sending out notices to former MobileMe customers reminding them that their free 25 GB iCloud accounts will be reduced to 5 GB as of September 30. iCloud offers 5 GB of storage for free, but MobileMe customers received an additional 20 GB for free during the first year of iCloud's existence. The offer was initially good through through June 30, 2012, but Apple later extended...
iPhone 5 Sales Top Five Million in Launch Weekend
Apple today announced opening weekend sales of the iPhone 5 topped five million units, exceeding the four million iPhone 4S units sold during that device's debut weekend last year. The number follows the company's earlier announcement that it had taken over two million pre-orders for the device in the first 24 hours of availability. Apple also announced today that over 100 million devices have...
Apple's A6 Chip Confirmed to Carry Triple-Core Graphics
As part of its report on Apple's custom ARM chip design for the A6 found in the iPhone 5, AnandTech speculated that the improved graphics performance in the iPhone 5 was achieved through the use of a triple-core PowerVR SGX 543MP3 graphics processing unit (GPU) rather than doubling the clock speed of the dual-core SGX 543MP2 found in the A5 or using the quad-core SGX 543MP4 found in the A5X for...
Verizon iPhone 5 Confirmed to Be Unlocked on GSM 3G Networks
iDownloadBlog has confirmed that the Verizon iPhone 5 being sold on contract does arrive unlocked for use on GSM networks, allowing users with a nano-SIM or a trimmed micro-SIM from a GSM carrier such as AT&T to use the device on their networks.I can confirm that the Verizon iPhone 5 is indeed GSM unlocked. Even though I bought an iPhone 5 from Verizon under contract, I was able to cut down my...
Early iPhone 5 Purchases Trend Toward iPhone 4S Upgraders and Black Models Amid Long Lines
Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White has released a new report analyzing some launch-day iPhone 5 data based on a limited survey of 100 purchasers at Apple retail stores in New York City. According to White's data, half of surveyed iPhone 5 were upgrading from the iPhone 4S, which itself was released only 11 months ago.Given that the iPhone 4S was launched just one year ago and many...
Best Buy Delays iPhone 5 Pre-Orders Up to 28 Days, Walmart and Sam's Club Also Seeing Delays
While Apple and its carrier partners are the most popular sources for iPhone purchases, the new iPhone 5 was also made available through a handful of other retailers in the United States including Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Target, Sam's Club, and RadioShack. Model availability is typically limited at these outlets, but some customers find the more convenient locations and smaller crowds more appealing ...
Hundreds of iPhone 5 Units Stolen on Eve of Launch
With Apple retail stores, carriers, and other retailers taking delivery of their launch-day iPhone 5 stocks overnight last night, hundreds of the units have been stolen in several incidents on opposite sides of the globe. While security is tight at Apple's own retail stores where staff were on hand all night to set up window displays and demo units, carriers whose retail stores were left...
Google Said to Have Already Submitted Native iOS Maps App to Apple [Updated]
Amid major criticism of Apple's new Maps app for iOS 6 that replaces the Google-powered app included on the iPhone since 2007, multiple sources are now reporting that Google already has a separate Maps app for iOS ready to go and in fact already submitted to Apple.The first report comes by way of The Guardian, which says that Google is indeed preparing its own Maps app for iOS 6.Google, I hear...
iPhone 5 Lines Lengthening as First Launches Approach
Less than two hours before the first Australian Apple retail stores open to begin selling the iPhone 5, lines at stores around the world are lengthening in anticipation of the event. With Apple's pre-orders for the device having sold it out in just about an hour and current shipping estimates registering at 3-4 weeks, it seems that in-store purchases will be popular with those still looking to...
French Union Calls for Apple Retail Store Employee Strike Coinciding with iPhone 5 Launch
Reuters reports that a union representing roughly a quarter of Apple's retail employees in France has authorized a strike to protest working conditions at the company's stores. The strike is being timed to coincide with tomorrow's 8:00 AM iPhone 5 launch for maximum impact.Demands by the SUD union, which represents about a quarter of Apple Store employees, included the installation of water...
First iPhone 5 Teardown Surfaces Ahead of Official Launch
The iPhone 5 does not officially launch until tomorrow, but a few units have been trickling out and German site iPhone-Garage has been able to obtain one of these units and perform an initial teardown of the device. While the teardown lacks the details and analysis that we will see later from iFixit and other teardown specialists and many of the internal components have already been seen...
Apple Purchases 200 Acres for Second Solar Farm Near North Carolina Data Center
Earlier this year, Apple announced that as part of an effort to power all of its data centers with 100% renewable energy it would be building a second 20-megawatt solar farm a few miles away from its new Maiden, North Carolina data center. The new solar farm would complement the previously announced 20-megawatt facility that appears to be nearing completion directly across the street from the...
Apple's iTunes and Mac App Store Traffic Increases Ninefold for iOS 6 Launch Day
Networking company Sandvine today took a look (via The Loop) at Apple's iTunes Store and Mac App Store traffic yesterday as compared to the previous two Wednesdays, noting that traffic spiked to nine times it usual levels with the release of iOS 6, OS X 10.8.2, and a host of other updates from Apple.See that huge spike at 1:00PM EDT yesterday? That is when iOS 6 was officially released to the...
Apple's New iOS 6 Maps App Drawing Significant Criticism
One of the largest changes in iOS 6 is Apple's decision to replace its Google-powered Maps app with its own solution powered by a combination of its own work and data licensed from other companies such as TomTom. Throughout the developer beta testing process, numerous users reported on the relatively poor quality of Apple's new maps in many regards, while expressing hope that content would...
