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
CVS Stores Reportedly Disabling NFC to Shut Down Apple Pay and Google Wallet
Earlier this week, pharmacy chain Rite Aid shut down unofficial support for the Apple Pay and Google Wallet mobile payments systems, resulting in an outcry from users who have been testing out Apple's new system since its launch on Monday. Rite Aid was not an official Apple Pay partner, but the payments system generally works with existing near field communications (NFC) payment terminals anyway, ...
Read Full Article • 2772 comments
GT Advanced Technologies Officially Announces Sapphire Settlement With Apple
Earlier this week, it was revealed that Apple and its sapphire supplier GT Advanced Technologies had reached an agreement to effectively dissolve their partnership and allow GT to shut down operations at the Apple-owned sapphire production plant in Mesa, Arizona. Under the deal, GT will seek to sell off the over 2,000 sapphire furnaces currently installed at the facility, with the majority of the ...
Foxconn Looking to Build $5.7 Billion iPhone Display Factory to Win Apple Orders
Apple's main assembly partner for iOS devices, Foxconn, is looking to increase its presence in Apple's supply chain as it considers constructing a new plant to provide displays for the popular devices, according to The Wall Street Journal. Total investment in the project could reach $5.7 billion.Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. , is discussing a possible investment with...
MasterCard Airs 'Priceless Surprises' World Series Ads Featuring Apple Pay
Earlier this week, Major League Baseball and MasterCard announced a partnership that has seen Apple Pay support roll out at concession stands at ballparks in San Francisco and Kansas City for the World Series. As part of its World Series promotional push, MasterCard also debuted a pair of television ads during last night's Game 1, featuring Apple Pay and the company's "Priceless Surprises"...
Fantastical for iPhone and iPad Go iOS 8-Only With Widgets, Extensions, and More
Fantastical, one of the most popular third-party calendar apps for iOS, has seen both iPhone and iPad versions updated today with a number of new iOS 8-specific features including a Notification Center "Today" widget that offers a quick glance at upcoming appointments and to-dos. Also included are a custom app extension that allows users to create events and reminders from any app that...
iPad Air 2 Up to 55% Faster Than iPhone 6, Up to 68% Faster Than iPad Air
A short time ago, we highlighted a new benchmark appearing to show an iPad Air 2 device carrying an A8X chip with a triple-core 1.5 GHz processor and 2 GB of RAM. While we mentioned that the enhanced specs have led to huge performance gains compared to the A8 chip found in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, Primate Labs has now published a nice pair of charts showing just how dramatic this improvement...
iPad Air 2 Benchmark Points to A8X Chip With Triple-Core 1.5 GHz CPU, 2 GB RAM
While Apple touted the power of the new A8X chip used in the iPad Air 2 at the company's media event last week, the company as usual opted not to disclose exact specifications on the part, leaving the details up to rumor and speculation until the device starts making its way into the hands of users and teardown experts. But with Apple shipping out orders to customers for delivery as soon as...
High-End Retina 5K iMac Benchmarked Faster Than Low-End Mac Pro
Yesterday, Primate Labs highlighted some Geekbench 3 benchmarking results for the new 3.5 GHz 27-inch Retina 5K iMac, unsurprisingly showing the machine performing better than slower-clocked Core i5 chips in non-Retina models but below that of high-end Core i7 chips also available in the machines since their late 2013 introduction. Primate Labs' John Poole noted that once benchmarks for the...
Retina 5K iMac Will Not Act as External Display, Standalone Apple 5K Display Unlikely Soon
At Apple's introduction of the new 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K Display, Phil Schiller noted that the machine's $2499 starting price compares favorably with some of the higher-end 4K displays on the market today for closer to $3000, leading some to wonder whether it would be feasible to use the iMac as an external display for something like a Mac Pro. For a number of years, iMacs have supported ...
OS X Yosemite Launch Brings Fully Functional iCloud Drive to Mac and iOS
With yesterday's launch of OS X Yosemite, Apple's iCloud Drive file storage system is now functional across the company's products. Many users were frustrated following the launch of iOS 8 last month by the incompatibility between the new iCloud Drive system used with that operating system and the previous Documents in the Cloud system used on OS X Mavericks. The difference in launch dates...
New Cellular iPads Include 'Apple SIM' in U.S. and U.K. for Multi-Carrier Compatibility
Historically, users purchasing cellular versions of iPads have had to choose their carrier at the time of purchase, with Apple shipping a device specifically configured for use on that carrier. But with the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3, Apple is launching a new "Apple SIM" included with devices purchased in the United States and United Kingdom. For U.S. users in particular, the Apple SIM allows...
Apple October 2014 Media Event: Spoiler-Free Video Stream [Video Posted]
With Apple's October 2014 media event kicking off in just a short while, some users 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 updated with the link to the presentation once it becomes available...
Apple's iPhone 6 and Apple Watch Event Fees Paid to De Anza College Top $1 Million
Apple's September iPhone 6 and Apple Watch event marked the first time the company held an event at the Flint Center on the campus of De Anza College since the introduction of the original iMac in 1998, and The Wall Street Journal reports the latest event resulted in Apple paying the college over $1 million for the privilege, including costs for campus disruption and security. According to...
Autodesk Launches AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT for Mac 2015
Autodesk today announced the launch of the latest versions of its popular AutoCAD computer-aided design software packages for Mac, adding a number of new features that put the release nearly equal to its Windows counterpart for the first time. MacRumors spoke with Autodesk product manager Micah Dickerson about the new version, with Dickerson noting an emphasis on cross-platform compatibility ...
No Retina MacBook Air Introduction Planned for Apple's October 16 Media Event
With rumors of a new 12-inch Retina MacBook Air circulating in recent months and the latest reports suggesting small-scale production has already begun, many have been wondering about Apple's plans for introducing the product. According to a new report from Re/code, the Retina MacBook Air will not be unveiled at this Thursday's media event. Apple may well have a new MacBook Air with Retina...
GT Seeks to Void 'Oppressive and Burdensome' Agreements With Apple, Outlines Sapphire Wind Down Process
Yesterday, lawyers for Apple's bankrupt sapphire production partner GT Advanced Technologies notified the court that the company would be seeking to "wind down" operations at its sapphire production facilities in Arizona and Massachusetts, while also pursuing efforts to escape from contracts related to those operations. In a pair of filings today, GT has followed through on those plans, with on...
Apple Invites Media to October 16 Event: 'It's Been Way Too Long'
As expected, Apple will be holding a media event on Thursday, October 16 at the Town Hall auditorium on its Cupertino headquarters campus, with the company today sending out media invitations for the event (via The Loop). The event begins at 10:00 AM Pacific, and the invitations carry the tagline "It's been way too long". Apple is expected to introduce an updated iPad Air (and possibly a new ...
Apple Surprised by GT's Bankruptcy Filing, Considering Next Steps
In the company's first public statement regarding the bankruptcy filing by its sapphire partner GT Advanced Technologies earlier this week, an Apple spokesman tells Reuters the company was surprised by the filing and that it is now figuring out its next steps."We are focussed on preserving jobs in Arizona following GT's surprising decision and we will continue to work with state and local...
Walter Isaacson's 'The Innovators' Charts the History of Computing and the Internet
More than a decade ago, Walter Isaacson began working on a book to highlight the history of computers and the Internet, but the project was sidelined in early 2009 when he took on the task of writing Steve Jobs' authorized biography. That book, which debuted just weeks after Jobs' death in October 2011, topped best seller charts and revealed a number of interesting details about Jobs and Apple. ...
Apple's Sapphire Partner GT Advanced Technologies Files for Bankruptcy
GT Advanced Technolgies, Apple's partner in a sapphire production facility in Arizona, today announced that it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it seeks to reorganize its businesses. The company remains positive that it will continue to be able to meet its obligations during this time of transition. GT indicated that as of September 29, 2014 it had approximately $85 million of ...
