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 Granted Limited Permission to Intervene in Lodsys Case
Last year, patent holding firm Lodsys took on app developers using Apple's In App Purchase system for iOS, suing a number of large and small developers over their implementation of the feature in their apps. Apple stepped forward to assist its developers by claiming that its existing licensing arrangement with Lodsys protected developers, but Lodsys has persisted in its efforts to require...
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Legal Experts Suggest Justice Department Unlikely to Win Antitrust Suit Against Apple
In the wake of yesterday's announcement that the U.S. Department of Justice has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple and a number of book publishers over alleged price fixing, CNET notes that the government may have a hard time winning its case against Apple. The publishers may, however, find themselves on the losing end of the case should they be unwilling to settle."It's a harder case...
Apple Enhancing Apple ID Safety by Enforcing Security Question Requirements
The Next Web reports that Apple has begun enhancing the security of users' Apple ID accounts, requiring those who have do not have alternate email addresses and security questions on file to add them.In the past 24 hours, Apple appears to have started prompting iOS devices owners and those with Apple IDs within iTunes to make their accounts more secure, requiring them to pick three security...
Intel Reportedly Shipping New Thunderbolt Controllers Ahead of April 23 Ivy Bridge Introduction
VR-Zone reports that Intel has begun shipping its second-generation Thunderbolt controller chip, known as "Cactus Ridge". As previously discussed, Cactus Ridge will arrive in both four-channel (DSL3510) and two-channel (DSL3310) versions, offering Apple a pair of options for including the new chips in its forthcoming products.Another aspect that makes the DSL3510 interesting is that it supports...
An Inside Look at How iPads Are Assembled and Tested
Rob Schmitz of public radio show Marketplace played a key role in debunking a number of Mike Daisey's claims about his trip to China to see working conditions at Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn. As part of his investigation, Schmitz tracked down Daisey's translator and learned that a number of the experiences Daisey related as part of his "The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs" theater...
Apple Holds Third-Place Ranking Among U.S. PC Manufacturers in 1Q 2012
Research firm Gartner today released its preliminary personal computer shipment data for the first quarter of 2012, offering up a picture of market performance during the quarter. While Apple experienced only small year-over-year unit growth of over 3.8% and was beaten among top 5 vendors by HP's 6.6% growth, the company did once again outperform the overall industry and its 3.5% decline.
Gar ...
Antivirus Firms Release Free Tools for Cleaning Macs Infected by Flashback
Yesterday, Apple disclosed for the first time that it is working to develop a software tool to detect and remove the Flashback malware from infected machines. We also previously profiled Flashback Checker, a simple app designed to allow users to easily see if their Macs are infected but which provides no assistance with disinfection.
While Apple works on its own official solution, other...
Apple TV's A5 Chip Includes Surprise Die Shrink to 32nm [Updated: Same Chip Found in iPad 2]
While the new 1080p-capable Apple TV has been available for nearly a month, Chipworks has now gotten around to tearing down the device's custom A5 system-on-a-chip, discovering with some surprise that the chip is actually a new design from Apple using a die shrink from the 45-nm process used in the A5 of the iPhone 4S to a new 32-nm process. The teardown also reveals what many had suspected:...
Apple Online Store Updates Sales Chat Support, Testing Screen Sharing Virtual Tours in Brazil
As part of today's Apple online store downtime, the company appears to have rolled out an enhancement of its sales chat support services for those looking to purchase an Apple product. While sales chat has been available for quite some time through individual product pages, the changes include a revamped chat window with a more modern appearance.
As has long been the case, sales chat...
Verizon to Initiate $30 Device Upgrade Fee on April 22
Verizon today announced that as of April 22 it will initiate a $30 upgrade fee for current customers moving to new devices.On April 22, Verizon Wireless is implementing a $30 upgrade fee for existing customers purchasing new mobile equipment at a discounted price with a two-year contract. This fee will help us continue to provide customers with the level of service and support they have come to ...
Updated MacBook Pro to See Significant Performance Boost with Ivy Bridge
Amid swirling rumors of an imminent update for the 15-inch MacBook Pro driven by a claimed April 29 launch date for Intel's quad-core mobile Ivy Bridge processors, CPU World reports that benchmarking of one of the chips likely to appear in the new MacBook Pro shows fairly significant improvements in performance, particularly in graphics.
The chip being tested was the Core i7-3820QM, a 2.7 GHz...
U.S. Department of Justice Sues Apple and Publishers over E-Book Pricing
Following up on last month's threat to file suit over the Apple-backed agency model of e-book pricing, the U.S. Department of Justice today sued Apple and a number of book publishers over the practice, Bloomberg briefly reports. Settlement talks had been ongoing, but Apple and the publishers were reportedly unwilling to meet the Department of Justice's demands.The U.S. filed a price- fixing...
Apple Could Achieve a 4-Inch iPhone Display by Increasing Height Only
Amid continuing rumors that Apple is looking to increase the size of the iPhone display from the existing 3.5-inch screen to something in the range of 4 inches, one persistent concern has been how Apple would deal with the change in screen dimensions.
All models of the iPhone and iPod touch released to date have carried a 3.5-inch screen with a 3:2 aspect ratio, allowing developers to target...
Reseller Shortages Hint at Forthcoming Update for 15-Inch MacBook Pro
As noted by AppleInsider, third-party resellers are beginning to experience shortages of Apple's 15-inch MacBook Pro, hinting that a refresh may be coming in the near future.Among those resellers reflecting backorder status on some of the current 15-inch MacBook Pros is J&R, which is now sold out of both the 2.2GHz model, which is listed as "out of stock," and the 2.4GHz variety, which is...
Tim Cook to Headline D10 Conference on May 29
AllThingsD today announced that Apple CEO Tim Cook will be the opening keynote speaker at the D10 Conference scheduled for late May. Cook will appear in an evening interview session on Tuesday, May 29 in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.Walt Mossberg and I could not be more thrilled to announce that Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, will be the opening-night speaker at our 10th D: All Things Digital...
Flashback Tidbits: Flashback Checker, OpenDNS Protection, Apple's Low-Visibility Security Team
The Flashback malware affecting OS X systems has gained quite a bit of publicity since it was disclosed last week that over 600,000 Macs have been infected by the malware. Flashback began life last year as a trojan and has morphed into a drive-by download taking advantage of a vulnerability in Java that Apple did not patch until last week, despite Oracle having released patches for other systems ...
Apple's Market Capitalization Hits $600 Billion
Apple's stock has continued its remarkable run in 2012, moving up another 1% today to briefly hit a market capitalization of $600 billion. The milestone comes just under six weeks after hitting $500 billion, and Apple's stock is now up nearly 60% since the beginning of the year.
If some analysts are to be believed, the $600 billion mark is just a brief stop on the company's way to a trillion...
Major U.S. Carriers Agree to Develop Centralized Database to Track Stolen Mobile Phones
The Wall Street Journal reports that the four major U.S. wireless carriers have reached an agreement with the Federal Communications Commission to work toward a centralized database to track and disable stolen mobile phones.The database, which the wireless companies will build and maintain, will be designed to track phones that are reported as lost or stolen and deny them voice and data service....
Supplier Chatter Pointing to Redesigned iPhone with 4-Inch Display, 'Sleek Look'
Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White has released a new research report today outlining some of the takeaways from a recent trip to Asia to talk with companies in Apple's supply chain. According to White, chatter from those suppliers is pointing toward a larger 4-inch screen on the iPhone 5, which will also include a redesign bringing a "new, sleek look".In our view, this will be the most...
Apple Testing A5X Variant in iPhone Prototype Disguised in iPhone 4/4S Body?
9to5Mac claims that Apple is internally testing new iPhone hardware that is based on a variant of the A5X system-on-a-chip used in the new iPad, with the company disguising the hardware in existing iPhone 4/4S bodies in order to keep its potential plans for a new form factor a secret.Much like they did last year, Apple has internally seeded a prototype next-generation iPhone with the iPhone 4...
