iPhone Life - Best Apps, Top Tips, Great Gear

How long do cell phones last? Apple gives a standard of three years of use for their iPhones, but many other factors can play into deciding when it's time to get a new phone. We'll look at how long an iPhone will get iOS updates before it's not supported anymore, the typical lifespan of an iPhone, and other lifestyle factors that might impact your decision to buy. We'll also take a look at the best time to buy a new cell phone so you can get the most out of your new purchase.

Do you often find yourself wishing you could put all of the YouTube videos you love in one place and have them all play one after the other, like a playlist? Well, we've got some good news for you: you absolutely can! We'll go over how to create a playlist on YouTube, and where to find it once you've made it.

The iOS 14.5 update came with some exciting upgrades to the iPhone Maps app! Apple Maps has historically shown areas of slow or stopped traffic, but now it also supports crowdsourced traffic, speed trap, and incident reporting. Whether you're a driver or passenger, we'll show you how to take advantage of these new features!

Thanks to the recent iOS 14.5 update, you can now initiate group FaceTime audio and video calls with Siri! This saves you the trouble of having to sort through your contacts to find the right group members. We'll show you how to start an Apple FaceTime group call by listing the names of multiple people or by saying a group name that's saved in your contacts.

Apple Podcasts will soon offer paid subscription options, letting podcasters earn income in a new and accessible way. The tech giant announced that it will be updating the Podcasts app starting in May 2021 in 170 countries. The update will add the ability for podcasters to create a premium tier of content seperate from their normal free podcast. At the same time, listeners will be able to sign up to pay their favorite podcasters monthly. This will empower podcasters to monetize directly from their audiences, while listeners might gain ad-free versions of shows, extra episodes, early access, and bonus content. Further updates starting with iOS 14.5 promise long-overdue improvements to the Podcasts app, which has languished behind some of its competitors in both features and ease-of-use.

Apple Announces New Apple TV 4K

By Elisabeth Garry

New Apple TV 4K Spring Loaded Apple Event

Today at its Spring Loaded event, Apple announced the Apple TV 4K 2021, among a bevy of other new products and services. The new Apple TV features an A12 Bionic chip, high frame rate HDR support, color balance technology, and a much-needed redesigned Siri remote. Sports fans and iPhone videographers in particular should be excited about this new installment in the Apple TV line, as well as anyone who has ever wanted to throw their Apple TV Siri remote across the room. Let's take a closer look at these new features before you decide whether you're in or out.

We weren't expecting a new iPhone announcement at Apple's live event today, so were surprised to learn that the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini are now available in purple! This means that two members of the iPhone 12 lineup can be purchased in six colors: the classic white or black, green, blue, red, and the new lavender shade. Let's go over the pros and cons of springing for Apple's latest eye-catching iPhones.


Finally! The rumor mill has been buzzing about Apple AirTags since 2019, and their announcement at the 'Spring Loaded' Apple Event was long overdue. These small puck-like tracking devices allow you to attach them to valuables to help locate lost items. AirTags utilize Bluetooth connectivity and operate using the Find My app. But with many other popular tracking devices on the market, the question is: how do Apple AirTags measure up against their competitors?

One of the biggest announcements from Apple's Spring Loaded event today was the 2021 iPad Pro and its new partner, the M1 Chip. You may remember Apple's new in-house processor from the 2020 Mac line, but the fact that the same processor that powers all the latest Apple computers is now in the iPad Pro is huge, and could mean big things for the iPad. In addition to serious improvements in processing speed, we're also looking at the best graphics card in any tablet currently on the market, even outside of the Apple family. The 2021 iPad Pro also has exciting new camera features, 5G capabilities, and a Liquid Retina XDR display which means bright, crisp, and smooth images, but priced at comparable levels to actual computers, is this tablet heavyweight worth it? Let's take a look.

Apple’s Spring 2021 event kicked off with the announcement of the addition of Family Sharing features to the Apple Card. Starting in May, families in the U.S. can apply to co-own an Apple credit card thanks to the Apple Card Family program. Up to six people can share the account and build a credit history together, unlike most credit cards where the primary cardholder is the main beneficiary of any credit building. Children ages 13 and up can also have accounts with optional spending limits, while those 18 and up also have the opportunity to build credit history as a participant or co-owner on an Apple Card account.

The long-awaited new iMac comes with a whole host of features never before seen in a Mac. Apple claims users of the new iMac will love the new processing, Retina display, as well as long-overdue camera and audio upgrades. What remains to be seen is whether such a large device will support high-powered use running off the same chip from Apple’s much smaller 2020 M1 MacBook models.

Apple announcement April 20 2021

Tim Cook kicked off today's virtual Apple event with a nod to Earth Day by giving a rundown of Apple's progress toward its goal of being entirely carbon neutral by 2030. While previous virtual announcements felt stilted and unevenly paced, today's event went in the opposite direction, with the camera swooping around the Apple campus, colorful graphics darting across the screen, and Tim Cook cosplaying Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible. Overall it was a packed hour with lots of exciting product announcements. Here's our rundown of everything Cook and team introduced today, including M1 iMacs, the surprise addition of the M1 chip to the iPad Pro, a new Apple TV 4K with redesigned Siri remote, the long-awaited AirTag Bluetooth tracker, subscription tiers in Apple Podcasts, an Apple Card for the whole family, and a purple iPhone 12.

On Tuesday, April 20, Apple will finally hold its 2021 event, Spring Loaded. We may get confirmation of rumored new products like AirTags, new iPads, an M1 iMac, and maybe even a new iPhone SE. Some dreams will be fulfilled, some crushed into the dirt. We'll cover all of it, offering commentary during the event in our Facebook group and in the special podcast episode we'll be recording right after. Here’s how you can watch Apple's April event too.

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