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 Releases Safari 7.0.4 and 6.1.4 with Security Fixes
Apple today released Safari 7.0.4 for OS X Mavericks and Safari 6.1.4 for OS X Mountain Lion and Lion, addressing a significant memory corruption issue in the WebKit engine powering Apple's browser. It also addresses an issue with handling of unicode characters that could be exploited.The Safari 7.0.4 update is recommended for all OS X Mavericks users and contains improvements to security. For ...
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Apple Pulls Top Free iOS App 'Weed Firm' from App Store
Released earlier this month, somewhat controversial iOS game Weed Firm quickly shot to the top of the App Store charts for free apps. The game centers around a marijuana business, with the player controlling a character responsible for all aspects of growing and selling the product. Just as quickly as it arrived, Weed Firm has disappeared from the App Store, with the game's developer, Manitoba ...
Microsoft Introduces Thinner Surface Pro 3 with 12" Display Starting at $799
Microsoft today hosted a media event in New York City to introduce the Surface Pro 3, the company's next-generation tablet device. Billing the Surface Pro 3 as the culmination of a three-year effort to create a "tablet that can replace your laptop", Microsoft's Panos Panay highlighted a number of improvements over the previous generation, including a larger 12-inch display with 3:2 aspect ratio,...
Mac Pro Shipping Estimates Begin Improving to 1-2 Weeks
Shipping estimates for the Mac Pro through Apple's online store continue to rapidly improve, with the company's European stores such as the UK now showing 1-2 weeks for new orders. Online stores for other regions are still listing estimates of 2-3 weeks, but they should be seeing a similar improvement shortly. After months of shortages for the completely revamped Mac Pro following its...
Transition to '3x' iPhone 6 at 1704 x 960 Likely Smoother Than Move to Retina
With an expected transition to a larger screen on the iPhone 6, MacRumors forum member pgiguere1 has taken a look at how non-optimized apps would appear on a rumored 1704 x 960 display that would move from the current "2x" pixel doubling technique to achieve Retina quality to a "3x" technique. In Apple's earlier transition to 2x Retina displays, it was relatively simple for non-Retina assets...
Apple Looking to Boost Safari JavaScript Performance with New Accelerator Upgrades
Apple is apparently working on significant improvements to JavaScript performance for its Safari browser, as shown by the inclusion of accelerator upgrades in recent builds of WebKit, reports InfoWorld. WebKit is the open source browser engine created by Apple and which serves as the basis for Safari, and the new upgrades to WebKit's "Nitro" JavaScript engine are known as "FTLJIT". With the...
4.7-Inch iPhone 6 Mockup Comparison to iPod Touch Highlights Design Similarities
Italian site Macitynet, which previously published several photos of a fairly good quality physical mockup of the rumored 4.7-inch iPhone 6 based on design drawings from Japanese magazine MacFan, has now shared an interesting new photo set [Google Translate] comparing the mockup to a current-generation iPod touch. The photos clearly show how similar the two devices are in design, from the...
3D Print Your Own 4.7-Inch iPhone 6 Mockup with These $25 Plans
Following our feature yesterday sharing photos of a case and 3D-printed physical mockup of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6, designer Martin Hajek is selling his own set of 3D files for a similar model, priced at $25. The files allow anyone interested in trying out how the alleged design feels in the hand to print their own mockup. Hajek's $25 package is available through TurboSquid and includes an...
Hands-On with iPhone 6 Case and Physical Mockup
Over the past several weeks, a number of photos and videos have shown cases and even physical mockups of Apple's rumored iPhone 6. Most of the cases and mockups appear to have been based either on alleged design drawings published by Japanese magazine MacFan in late March or on essentially identical information leaking through other channels. Left to right: iPhone 3G, iPhone 4, iPhone 5, ...
Apple Expanding 'Buzz Marketing' Team Focused on Product Placement
Apple yesterday posted a job listing for a "Buzz Marketing Manager" based out of New York (via Dwight Silverman and Business Insider), with the description outlining a position responsible for managing such areas as product placement in film and television and fostering relationships with "high-profile influencers" to promote the Apple brand.- Product placement in film & television. Work with the ...
T-Mobile 'Very Interested' in Adding iPhone to MetroPCS Prepaid Brand
In the wake of its acquisition of prepaid carrier MetroPCS last year, T-Mobile US indicated that adding the iPhone to MetroPCS's lineup was "a possibility" but not an imminent move. A year later, things are looking a bit more positive for MetroPCS customers, with T-Mobile's Mike Sievert telling Re/code the carrier is "very interested" in bringing the iPhone to MetroPCS. “We are very...
Wild Rumor of Apple EarPods with Biometric Sensors Has Roots in Apple's Research
A seemingly wild rumor of Apple planning to launch new EarPods headphones with integrated heart rate and blood pressure sensors has been making the rounds today after the claim was posted on anonymous information sharing platform Secret (via Reddit). Apple's new EarPods will have sensors in them, for heart rate & blood pressure. Also iBeacons so they don't get lost. They will require the...
iPhone 6 Shown in Another High-Quality Physical Mockup
As design drawings and renderings of two larger iPhone 6 models have begun giving way to physical mockups based on those designs, a new photo of a high-quality physical mockup has been shared by Italian site Macitynet [Google Translate]. Few new details can be determined from the photo, but the relocated power button on the side of the device can be seen, and it is clearly a high-quality...
Physical Mockup Appears to Show Larger 5.5-Inch iPhone 6 in Hand
Yesterday, several images surfaced on Chinese site Feng [Google Translate, via Nowhereelse.fr] showing a physical mockup of what was said to be Apple's upcoming iPhone 6. The mockup appears to be based on design drawings shared by Japanese magazine MacFan last month. Most of the reports covering the images have indicated that the mockup appears to represent the rumored 4.7-inch iPhone 6, but ...
Apple Again Trails Market in Smartphone Growth, but Closes on Nokia in Overall Mobile Phones
As it has for several quarters now, Apple continues to trail the overall smartphone market's booming growth, with the company's 16.8 percent year-over-year growth in the first quarter registering as the lowest among top five vendors in a market that grew by 28.6 percent as a whole, according to a new report from research firm IDC. Market leader Samsung also trailed the broader market's growth as...
Nike CEO 'Excited' About Future of Fitness Partnership with Apple
Late last week, it was revealed that Nike is scaling back its FuelBand hardware effort to focus on the software side of its fitness tracking ecosystem, sparking speculation of a potential partnership with Apple focused around the iWatch or other Apple hardware. Nike CEO Mark Parker appeared on CNBC earlier today, and while he would not directly address specific plans with respect to Apple, he...
Hints of Touch ID Support for iPad Found in iOS 7.1 Code
Since the release of the iPhone 5s last September, most observers have expected that the Touch ID fingerprint feature will be making its way into the iPad lineup as Apple is able ramp up production on the sensors, so it is no surprise that KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo earlier this month predicted that both the iPad Air and Retina iPad mini will be gaining the feature later this year....
Apple's Future OS X Names May Include Yosemite, Mammoth, Big Sur, Redwood, Pacific, and More
Following recent trademark investigations related to the iWatch, French site Consomac has discovered [Google Translate] that Apple may also be using a pair of shell companies to protect various California-related names in anticipation of future OS X releases. Apple's Craig Federighi announced at last year's Worldwide Developers Conference that the company would be shifting gears on OS X naming,...
Pioneer Talks CarPlay: Working with Apple, Pricing, and the Future
Following last month's formal introduction of Apple's CarPlay system for integrating iPhones with in-dash vehicle systems, there were some questions about whether the feature would be able to make its way to aftermarket products or if it would be limited to auto manufacturers putting it into brand-new vehicles. That question was answered earlier this month, with both Alpine and Pioneer announcing ...
References to Siri for Apple TV Found in iOS 7.1 Code
Amid persistant rumors that Apple is developing a revamped Apple TV set-top box, new code appearing in iOS 7.1 indicates that the company is indeed working on building in support for Siri voice input on the Apple TV, as highlighted by 9to5Mac. The references are included in both iOS 7.1 and iOS 7.1.1, but not in earlier releases such as iOS 7.0.6. The file is a supporting property-list...
