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
iTunes 1080p Content Comes Close to Blu-ray Quality, But Can't Quite Match
Last week, we took a look at the compression being employed by Apple with its new 1080p content on the iTunes Store, a feature that has allowed Apple to increase file sizes by only 15-25% compared to 720p even as the number of pixels have more than doubled. A number of commenters were interested in seeing how 1080p iTunes content compares to Blu-ray, and Ars Technica has now returned with a new...
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Accessory Manufacturer Claims 15-Inch MacBook Air Coming in April
Electricpig reports that it has heard from a Mac accessory manufacturer that Apple is planning to launch a 15-inch MacBook Air as soon as April.And what is coming? If you take our source’s word for it, a 15-inch MacBook Air with ports on both sides, no optical drive and no ethernet cable. While our source wasn’t certain that this would completely destroy the Pro (he also stated that Apple...
Claim of Samsung as Sole Display Supplier for New iPad Disputed, LG Reportedly On Board
Reuters specifically refutes a Bloomberg report from yesterday which claimed Samsung is the sole supplier for the new iPad's Retina display after LG and Sharp failed to meet Apple's quality requirement. According to a Reuters source, LG is indeed providing displays for the device.Flat screen maker LG Display Co Ltd is supplying touch-screen panels for Apple Inc's new iPad, a source close to the...
Apple Officially Announces 8:00 AM Local Time Launch for New iPad on Friday, March 16
Apple today officially announced that the new iPad will launch at 8:00 AM local time on Friday in the United States and nine other countries. The first hints of an 8:00 AM launch surfaced earlier this week with the grand opening time of Apple's new Highland Village retail store in Houston, and the time was essentially confirmed yesterday with a leaked photo of Apple retail store signage...
Apple Subpoenaed for Details on iOS Search Deal in Google Antitrust Investigation
Bloomberg reports that antitrust investigators with the Federal Trade Commission have issued a subpoena to Apple requesting information on the company's deal to make Google the default search engine on iOS. Google has been reported to have paid Apple $1 billion last year in the iOS search deal, and the subpoena is part of an ongoing antitrust investigation of Google over its actions to lock up...
NVIDIA Issues Leading Apple to Pursue Integrated Intel Graphics for Mid-Range Notebooks?
Following reports from late last year indicating that Apple would be switching back to NVIDIA for graphics chips in its next MacBook Pro update, SemiAccurate now reports that NVIDIA's issues with GPU production are apparently leading Apple to rely more heavily on Intel's integrated graphics. Apple has reportedly been ordering beefed-up integrated graphics from Intel on its Ivy Bridge...
Anonymous Samsung Executive Claims Apple Planning to Launch Smaller iPad by End of 2012
In a report from The Korea Times (via SlashGear), an anonymous Samsung executive reveals that Apple has committed to purchase at least $9.7 billion worth of components from the company this year, with Apple's expenditures potentially reaching $11 billion depending on demand. According to the executive, growth will be driven in part by the new iPad, as well as more MacBook Air units utilizing...
Samsung Sole Supplier for Retina Display in New iPad?
Bloomberg reports on comments from IHS iSuppli analyst Vinita Jakhanwal claiming that Samsung is currently serving as the sole supplier of the ultra-high resolution Retina display in the new iPad. Previous reports had indicated the Sharp and LG would also be supplying displays for the device.Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) will supply the touch screen for Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s new iPad after LG ...
Apple Retains Majority of Tablet Shipments in 4Q11 as Kindle Fire Drives Android Momentum
Research firm IDC today released its data on tablet shipments for the fourth quarter of 2011, pegging Apple at 54.7% of the market. Apple's share is down from 61.5% in the previous quarter, with the decline due in large part to a relatively strong debut for Amazon's $199 Kindle Fire tablet, which garnered 16.8% of the market."Amazon's widely-reported entry into the media tablet market with a...
Google Maps Photos Apparently Pulled from New iPad Promotional Content at Last Minute
With the launch of iPhoto for iOS last Wednesday, it was quickly noted that the app was not using Google Maps for much of its mapping data, and it was soon revealed that Apple was using data from OpenStreetMap and other sources in the application. Google Maps has had a prominent presence on the iPhone since its initial launch in 2007, but strained relationships between Google and Apple have...
Apple Retail Store Signage Confirms 8:00 AM Launch for New iPad on Friday
Yesterday, we noted that Apple's grand opening of its new Highland Village retail store scheduled for 8:00 AM on Friday hinted that the company was likely to planning to launch the new iPad at that time rather than in a late afternoon launch as was seen with the iPad 2. We received word soon after that visual merchandising staff at Apple's retail stores were scheduled for an overnight shift on ...
AT&T Announces Plans to Offer iPad Wi-Fi + 4G Beginning on March 16 [Updated: Verizon]
AT&T today officially announced that it will offer all Wi-Fi + 4G models of the new iPad through its sales channels beginning this Friday, March 16, in line with Apple's official launch. The announcement is of course no surprise given past history and an information page that has been available on the carrier's site since soon after the device's introduction, but the carrier has now made...
Components for Apple Television Set Reportedly 'Starting to Move in Small Quantities'
Last month, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who has long been a proponent of an Apple television set, reported that Apple was investigating components for just such a product, contacting suppliers to learn about the capabilities of their various offerings. As shared by Business Insider, a new report from Jefferies & Co. analyst Peter Misek claims that things have now moved a step...
Benchmarks on Third-Generation iPad Reveal 1 GHz CPU, 1 GB RAM
In addition to the just-surfaced unboxing video of the new iPad, Tinhte.vn also posts Geekbench benchmarks of the device, revealing that the device's A5X system-on-a-chip contains a 1 GHz application processor and 1 GB of RAM. The new iPad received a total Geekbench score of 756, essentially identical to that of the iPad 2, although Geekbench only tests processor and memory performance and...
Intel Says Fiber Optic Thunderbolt Cables Coming Later This Year
One of the promises of Intel's Thunderbolt technology was the possibility for fiber optic cables, offering greater cable lengths and setting the stage for faster connectivity once the standard matures. But Thunderbolt launched using only traditional copper wire cables, and there has been some dispute about just how soon fiber optic cables will become available. IDG News now reports that...
Apple Sued over 'Misleading' Advertising in Siri Depictions
The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is the target of a new lawsuit from an iPhone 4S customer who claims that the company engaged in "misleading and deceptive" advertising in promoting its Siri personal assistant feature for the device. The plaintiff, Frank Fazio, alleges that Apple's depictions of Siri in its advertising suggest an ease of use that he claims is not present in real-world...
U.S. Mac Customers Continue to Wait for Updated Models as New iPad Launches
Last month, we reported on U.S. Mac sales data for the month of January as shared by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who concluded that NPD's calculated year-over-year growth of 1% was somewhat soft but perhaps not out of line with expectations given the firm's historical understatement of Apple's growth. Measuring only U.S. sales, NPD's data does not account for Apple's strong growth in...
Apple Releases Safari 5.1.4 with JavaScript Enhancements and Bug Fixes
Following last month's developer seed, Apple today released Safari 5.1.4 to the public. The release is available for OS X Lion and Snow Leopard, as well as Windows. Apple highlights the following improvements on OS X Lion:Safari 5.1.4 for OS X Lion includes changes that: - Improve JavaScript performance up to 11% over Safari 5.1.3* - Improve responsiveness when typing into the search field ...
Houston Retail Store Grand Opening Hints at 8:00 AM iPad Launch on Friday
Earlier this month, we noted that Apple's forthcoming Highland Village retail store in Houston had seen its grand opening date moved up by a day in recent weeks, with Apple opting to open the store on Friday, March 16 rather than holding a traditional Saturday grand opening store. The change led to speculation that the new iPad might be launching on the new date, and Apple did indeed announce...
HBO Confirms Negotiations to Allow Fox and Universal to Participate in iCloud for Movies
Last week, we noted with the launch of the new Apple TV and iTunes in the Cloud for movies that Fox and Universal were not participating in the iCloud video streaming due to contractual obligations with HBO. At the time CNET indicated that the issue was a temporary one and that HBO and the affected studios would be working to address the holdup in the near future. The Wall Street Journal...
