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
Belkin Announces First Official Third-Party Lightning Accessories
While a number of vendors have been launching unofficial Lightning accessories while Apple works to bring official partners up to speed on the new standard, Belkin today became the first official vendor to introduce accessories using the Lightning connector.“Belkin was the first third-party manufacturer to develop accessories for the 30-pin connector back in 2003, and we are thrilled to be...
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Apple Posts Revised Samsung Apology on UK Website, Hides It Below the Fold
Over the past several months, we've been following the situation with a court case in the United Kingdom in which Apple was ordered to post an acknowledgement on its website and place advertisements in newspapers and magazines acknowledging that Samsung did not infringe upon the protected iPad design with its line of Galaxy Tab devices.
The original statement published by Apple playfully...
iPad Mini Component Costs Estimated to Begin at $188
AllThingsD reports on an iPad mini teardown from research firm IHS iSuppli estimating the component costs for Apple's new iPad mini at $188 for the 16 GB model.The base model, a Wi-Fi-only 16 gigabyte iPad mini, which sells for a starting retail price of $329, costs about $188 to build. Adding additional memory — the options are 32GB and 64GB — adds only incremental cost but a fair amount of...
iOS 6.1 to Add Siri-Based Movie Ticket Purchases via Fandango
9to5Mac reports that among the new features included in the iOS 6.1 beta seeded to developers late last week is the ability to purchase movie tickets through Siri. The feature, which is currently limited to the United States, integrates with Fandango to facilitate purchases.When a user asks for movie tickets for a certain movie, the applicable showtimes and theater information will be shown....
Apple Sells Three Million iPads and iPad Minis in Opening Weekend
Apple today announced that it has sold a total of three million iPads since the launch of the iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad on Friday. The number was not broken down into separate counts of iPad and iPad mini sales.Apple today announced it has sold three million iPads in just three days since the launch of its new iPad mini and fourth generation iPad—double the previous first weekend...
Apple's New A6X iPad Chip Adopts PowerVR SGX 554MP4 Graphics
AnandTech reports on an examination of the A6X chip found in the fourth-generation iPad. The work, performed by Kishonti Informatics, reveals that Apple has adopted Imagination Technologies' quad-core PowerVR SGX 554MP4 graphics in the new chip.The A6X retains the 128-bit wide memory interface of the A5X (and it keeps the memory controller interface adjacent to the GPU cores and not the CPU...
iPad Mini Sells Out in Two Hours at Apple's Flagship Fifth Avenue Retail Store
While reports have indicated that launch-day lines for the iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad have been shorter than seen for many previous Apple product launches, some Apple retail stores are still seeing long lines. Fortune notes that despite the impact of Hurricane Sandy in the northeastern United States, Apple's flagship Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan saw over 800 people in line as the...
Nexus 10 Reviews Hit the Web as Fourth-Generation iPad Sales Begin
Just as Apple begins sales of the fourth-generation iPad and the iPad mini today, the embargo has lifted on reviews of Google's Nexus 10 tablet announced earlier this week. The device, which is manufactured by Samsung, builds on the relative success of the Nexus 7 to go head-to-head with the full-size iPad with a screen packing even more pixels than Apple's iPad Retina display.
While tablet ...
Apple Loses 'iPhone' Name Rights in Mexico over Phonetic Similarity [Updated]
Electronista reports that Apple has lost a court case in Mexico over the rights to the "iPhone" name in that country, with the court ruling that the name is too phonetically similar to that of telecommunications company iFone, which registered its trade name in 2003.The decision stems from a legal action that Apple initially filed in 2009 requesting that the company cease using the iFone brand in ...
Apple Removes UK Website Statement Regarding Galaxy Tab Design, Publishes Newspaper Acknowledgement
Yesterday, we reported that Apple had been ordered a UK court to alter its published statement on its website acknowledging that the Samsung Galaxy Tab does not infringe upon the protected design of the iPad. The statement was required by an earlier court order, but Apple's version of the included additional content, playfully quoting statements from the judge's ruling saying that the Samsung...
Emoji Apps No Longer Welcome in App Store Following Native iOS 6 Support
Apple's iOS devices have long carried at least partial support for emoji, picture characters popular for text messaging in Japan but also gaining interest in countries around the world. Initially the feature was unlocked only for Japanese customers, but over time the company has broadened access to emoji and now supports several hundred emoji characters for all users once they enable the special ...
iPad Mini Survives Dunk Test, Cracks in Drop Tests but Still Functions
As is always the case with new iOS device launches, some early purchasers are interested in putting the products through drop tests and other experiments in order to test their durability. The iPad mini is no exception, and several drop and dunk test videos have already been posted.
Android Authority has a comparison between the iPad mini and Nexus 7 tablets, putting each device through a...
Teardown of Fourth-Generation iPad Reveals LG Display, A6X Chip, Lightning Connector
Close on the heels of its iPad mini teardown, iFixit has performed a similar procedure on the fourth-generation iPad. The new iPad is extremely similar to the previous model, with the main exceptions being the move to a more powerful A6X chip and a change to Apple's new Lightning connector.
Of most significant interest is of course the A6X chip, which would be an enhanced version of the A6...
Official iPad Mini and Fourth-Generation iPad Sales Begin in New Zealand
While a number of customers have been able to get their hands on the iPad mini prematurely either through early deliveries or retailers who began selling the devices before the appointed time, sales have now officially started in New Zealand where it is now the morning of November 2.
Twitter user @jgriffinz notes that he was one of the first customers to officially purchase the iPad mini in...
iPad Mini Confirmed to Run 32-Nanometer A5 Chip from Samsung
While iFixit was busy tearing down the iPad mini earlier today, Chipworks was taking a closer look at the chips included in the device. The item of most interest is of course the A5 system-on-a-chip, and Chipworks has unsurprisingly confirmed that the iPad mini uses a chip manufactured by Samsung on a 32-nanometer process.
The A5 originally appeared based on a 45-nanometer process, but Apple...
Unofficial 30-Pin Dock Connector and Micro-USB Lightning Adapters Coming Soon
iPhone5mod is continuing its rapid pace of development on unauthorized Lightning-compatible accessories today, introducing a new direct plug 30-pin dock connector adapter and a Lightning to micro-USB adapter.
Both of these products are substitutes for official Apple products, with iPhone5mod's 30-pin adapter available in both black and white and priced at $15.90, compared to Apple's official ...
iPad Mini Ships with Same 5-Watt Power Adapter Bundled with iPhones
Since the announcement of the iPad mini last week, there has been some discussion about whether Apple would include the smaller 5-watt power adapter typically bundled with iPhone models or the larger 12-watt adapter intended for the latest full-size iPad models.
One report from just after Apple's media event indicated that Apple would be shipping the larger 12-watt adapter with the iPad mini,...
Apple Releases iOS 6.0.1 with Fixes for Keyboard Screen Glitch, Camera Flash Issues, and More
One day before the launch of the iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad, Apple has just released iOS 6.0.1. The update had been reported to be in carrier testing two weeks ago.This update contains improvements and bug fixes, including:
- Fixes a bug that prevents iPhone 5 from installing software updates wirelessly over the air
- Fixes a bug where horizontal lines may be displayed across the ...
Bob Mansfield's Return to Apple Reportedly Influenced by Scott Forstall's Departure
AllThingsD offers a look at the back-and-forth situation with Apple executive Bob Mansfield, who announced his retirement as hardware chief in late June only to rescind the move two months later in order to work on special projects under CEO Tim Cook. With this week's management changes, Mansfield is now heading up a new "Technologies" division and has committed to remaining at the company for...
iPad Mini Teardown Reveals Samsung Display Driver, A5 Chip, Stereo Speakers
iFixit is currently working on a teardown of the iPad mini, revealing the internal components of the device for the first time.
One interesting development is the discovery of a Samsung display driver chip. It is unclear, however, whether this means that Samsung is also responsible for the display itself, as the codes found on the back of the display do not provide immediate evidence of its...
