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's European Black Friday Sales Go Live with Discounted Prices, Not Gift Cards
Apple's online stores for a number of European countries have just come back online for Black Friday's one-day shopping event, and unlike in Australia and New Zealand where the company is using bonus gift cards rather than discounts as customer incentives, Apple's European stores are seeing the more traditional discounted pricing scheme.
Apple is expected to be using the gift card offer in...
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Apple's Black Friday Sales Begin Launching Internationally with Gift Card Deals
Apple's online stores for several countries including Australia and New Zealand have launched their Black Friday one-day shopping events, also giving an idea of what promotions will be like as the event launches in a number of other countries over the coming hours.
As rumored, Apple is offering offering gift cards with purchases rather than direct discounts on most items. While many...
Retina iPad Mini Supplies Improving for Holidays
As numerous potential customers have discovered, the Retina iPad mini has been in very short supply since its quiet launch earlier this month, with Apple reportedly struggling with display yields that have limited production.
Several analysts had previously predicted that Retina iPad mini production would be limited to roughly two million units for the fourth quarter of 2013, but a new report...
Siri Eyes Free Now Available for Select Honda and Acura Vehicles, Deeper Integration Coming Soon
Honda today announced the launch of Siri "Eyes Free" integration for select Honda and Acura vehicles. The functionality, which launches as a dealer-installed accessory for the 2013-2014 Honda Accord and 2013 Acura RDX and ILX models, allows users to interact with Siri hands-free systems in these cars without having to take their eyes off of the road.Owners can direct Siri to perform a number of...
New Display Panels from AUO Spark Speculation of 4K Apple Displays
When Apple gave its full unveiling of the new Mac Pro at last month's media event, many observers were disappointed that the company did not also announce new higher-resolution displays to complement the radically redesigned professional desktop, which Apple touts as being able to support up to three 4K displays simultaneously.
But the recent introduction of new 27-inch and 32-inch 4K display...
iPhone 5s Supplies Approaching Demand with 90% Availability in Apple's U.S. Retail Stores
Supplies of the iPhone 5s have been steadily improving since the device's launch two months ago, and according to a new survey by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, supplies are now approaching demand levels at Apple's U.S. retail stores with 90% of model/location combinations currently showing as available. Munster's survey is a weekly tracker of 60 U.S. stores and has seen significant...
Apple's Plans to Enhance Touch ID with Trackpad Capabilities and Display Integration Revealed
Late last week, we highlighted a pair of Apple patent applications offering details on the company's implementation of its "Touch ID" fingerprint sensor in the iPhone 5s. The highly technical patent applications showed how the system works and revealed that Apple first moved to protect the ideas with the filing of several provisional patent applications in May 2012.
A third Touch ID-related...
Apple Begins Offering Unlocked, SIM-Free iPhone 5s Models in U.S. with 1-2 Week Shipping
Apple today updated its U.S. online store to begin offering sales of unlocked, SIM-free iPhone 5s models, with shipping estimates currently set at 1-2 weeks compared to 3-5 business days for carrier-specific purchases (via 9to5Mac). Pricing is the same as for other unsubsidized iPhone 5s models, with the 16/32/64 GB models available for $649/$749/$849 respectively.
While the launch brings...
Apple Retail Stores Begin Offering Walk-In Sales of Retina iPad Mini Models
Following a surprise launch last week that saw Apple's retail stores offering the new Retina iPad mini only for Personal Pickup of online orders, the company's U.S. stores have now begun selling the device to walk-in customers. Supplies do, however, remain extremely tight, and thus ordering online for Personal Pickup to secure a specific model is still advised.
The launch of walk-in sales...
iBank 5 for Mac Adds Bill Pay, Streamlined Updating, and More
IGG Software today announced the launch of iBank 5, the latest version of the popular personal finance app for Mac. iBank 5 adds a number of new features, including support for bill pay through most major U.S. banks, streamlined one-button updating for connected accounts and device syncing, and support for the subscription Direct Access transaction tracking service first introduced in iBank for...
Apple Launching 'Apple Store' App for iPad
Nearly three and a half years after the debut of a dedicated Apple Store app for iPhone, Apple is launching a new iPad version of the application today, reports TechCrunch. The new app, which appears to be U.S.-only for the time being, offers a "sparse" iOS 7 design aesthetic and makes use of high-quality images and context-aware panels to offer an exceptional user experience.Where things start...
'Yahoo Screen' and PBS Come to Apple TV
Two new channels have appeared on the Apple TV set-top box, with U.S. public television system PBS delivering some of its content through a new channel and Yahoo announcing the launch of Yahoo Screen, a channel for browsing videos such as Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart as hosted by Yahoo.
Full access to the PBS app, which includes over 5,000 hours of content,...
Retina iPad Mini's Display Criticized Over Poor Color Gamut and Accuracy
Last week, we noted that some Retina iPad mini displays were exhibiting image retention issues, while in general other users were expressing some dissatisfaction with the color gamut of the Retina iPad mini's display, particularly compared to that of the iPad Air.
In an extensive review of the Retina iPad mini, AnandTech came away extremely impressed with the device but cited that color gamut...
Apple Reportedly Set to Acquire Israeli 3D Body Sensing Firm PrimeSense [Updated]
Back in July, Apple was reported to have been looking at acquiring Israeli firm PrimeSense, the company behind the original 3D body sensing technology used by Microsoft for its Kinect platform, for around $280 million.
According to Israeli newspaper Calcalist [Google Translate, via SlashGear], a deal is now on the verge of being completed, with Apple agreeing to purchase PrimeSense for...
Apple Further Trims iPhone 5c Production as Customers Continue to Prefer iPhone 5s
According to Chinese site C Technology [Google Translate, via Unwired View], Apple is continuing to reduce its orders for the iPhone 5c with suppliers, still working to balance production with customer demand that has remained very strongly in favor of the higher-priced iPhone 5s.
The report claims that Apple's main assembly partner ProTek (Pegatron) has slashed production from 320,000 units...
Apple Seeds Safari 7.0.1 and 6.1.1 with Autofill and PDF Improvements to Developers
Apple today seeded a pair of Safari updates to developers, arriving as version 7.0.1 for OS X Mavericks users and version 6.1.1 for OS X Mountain Lion and Lion users.
Developers are asked to focus their testing on the following areas:
- General website compatibility
- Accessibility
- Viewing and annotating PDFs
- Login autofill
- Password autofill
- Setting and using break points in...
New Biography of Jony Ive Sheds Light on Apple's Design 'Genius'
Despite numerous accolades for his role in creating a long line of iconic products at Apple, Jonathan Ive is a famously publicity-shy figure whose most visible contributions to Apple's high-profile product launches typically come in the form of his participation in brief videos highlighting the design of the company's latest devices.
But Ive's reserved nature hasn't stopped former Wired.com...
Cellular-Capable Retina iPad Mini Models Begin Trickling Into U.S. Apple Retail Stores
One day after the surprise launch of the Retina iPad mini, small amounts of stock of the cellular-capable models of the device have begun trickling into Apple's U.S. retail stores. The company has been offering Personal Pickup of online orders since yesterday, but until now that service has been limited to Wi-Fi models.
Model selection is currently very limited and many stores have yet to show ...
Apple's 'iWatch' Said to Arrive in Separate 1.7- and 1.3-Inch Display Sizes for Men and Women
Last month, NPD DisplaySearch analyst David Hsieh offered an overview of Apple's display plans for future devices, based on sources in the company's supply chain. Among the products included in Hsieh's analysis was Apple's long-rumored "iWatch" smart watch device, with Hsieh only briefly noting that Apple appeared to be looking to source both 1.3-inch and 1.63-inch flexible AMOLED displays with...
Retina iPad Mini Launching with Personal Pickup, but No U.S. In-Store Availability Yet [Updated]
Following the start of orders for the Retina iPad mini a few hours ago, Apple has issued a press release officially announcing the launch. The release notes that the Retina iPad mini will not only be available for online orders, but also through the in-store Personal Pickup mechanism by which customers can check stocks at their local Apple retail stores and purchase online before heading to their ...
