Tim Hardwick
Tim is a Senior Editor at MacRumors and has been writing for the site since 2016. Formerly a magazine journalist, his work has appeared in over 30 newsstand print publications and online brands covering a range of topics, from the latest trends in technology to the mysteries of ancient history.
Based in the UK, Tim's current role at MacRumors involves editorial oversight and how tos, in addition to covering daily news and contributing occasional reviews. Tim can be reached at tim@macrumors.com, Telegram (@waxeditorial) or Twitter.
Based in the UK, Tim's current role at MacRumors involves editorial oversight and how tos, in addition to covering daily news and contributing occasional reviews. Tim can be reached at tim@macrumors.com, Telegram (@waxeditorial) or Twitter.
Tim Hardwick's Articles
Australia Proposes Law That Would Compel Tech Companies to Decrypt Messages
Australia on Friday proposed new laws that would require companies like Apple to provide law enforcement authorities with access to encrypted communications (via Reuters).
Australia's proposed legislation will compel companies to help security agencies intercept and read messages sent by suspects. It appears to take cues from the U.K.'s Investigatory Powers Bill, which includes provisions that ...
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Amazon Working on Echo Successor to Rival Apple's HomePod
Amazon is reportedly working on a successor to its Echo connected smart speaker for release later this year in a clear attempt to one-up Apple and its HomePod speaker, which is due to launch this December.
Sources who saw a working unit spoke to Engadget, claiming that the new Echo will improve on the first speaker "in every way", being shorter and slimmer than the original, with rounded edges ...
Apple Offers Free Redeem Codes for 'Infltr' Photo Editing App
Apple is offering users of its Apple Store app free redeem codes to download photo editing app Infltr. Usually $1.99, the acclaimed photo app for iPhone and iPad offers more than 7 million possible filters thanks to a sophisticated color gradient mapping algorithm, and lets users choose a filter before they take a picture or record video.
Moving a finger in any direction over the screen...
Google Home Owners Can Now Stream Songs They Uploaded to Play Music
Google has updated its Home smart speaker software so that owners can now listen to music they have uploaded to and purchased on Google Play Music.
Previously, using a free Play Music account through Google Home was limited to playing radio stations, while paying subscribers could listen to tracks in the streaming service's own online catalog. But now both types of account holders can also...
Security Experts Wary as 1Password Subscriptions Push Users to Cloud-Based Vaults
Password manager app 1Password caused consternation in some quarters of the security community over the weekend when it emerged that the service's new subscription-based model will push users to adopt a cloud-based password storage system over locally stored password vaults.
Previously, 1Password was offered as a one-time license purchase that enabled users to store their passwords in an...
Apple Adds PayPal as Payment Option for iTunes, App Store, and Apple Music
From today, PayPal customers in the U.K., Australia, Canada, Mexico, and the Netherlands can use their PayPal account to pay for App Store, Apple Music, iTunes, and iBooks purchases made on their Apple devices. PayPal said on Wednesday the option would be rolling out to other countries including the U.S. soon after.
Previously, Apple users were only able to pay for transactions using a...
Apple Announces China Data Center Will Comply With New Cybersecurity Law
Apple has announced it is setting up its first China data center in partnership with a local internet services company, in accordance with the country's new cybersecurity laws introduced last month.
Apple told Reuters on Wednesday that the data center would be built in the southern province of Guizhou with data management firm Guizhou-Cloud Big Data Industry (GCBD) as part of a planned $1...
Apple Has 'Just Weeks' to Solve iPhone 8 Touch ID Dilemma
For all the rumors we've seen recently surrounding Apple's upcoming "iPhone 8", one of the most inconsistent remains the fate of its Touch ID fingerprint recognition technology in the redesigned flagship device, which is expected to launch in September.
In late May, supply chain sources suggested that Apple had overcome technical hurdles and that the OLED iPhone will have Touch ID integrated...
Twitter Adds Extra Filtering Options to Mute Abusive Accounts
Twitter has introduced additional new tools in its account notification settings to help users further reduce the likelihood of receiving offensive replies or seeing abusive account names.
The new social network tools include options to mute notifications from accounts that have just been registered, as well as accounts you don't follow, and accounts that don't follow you.
All of the...
Google News Redesign Extends to Google News & Weather App
Google has updated its News & Weather app to bring it in line with the company's recent changes to its News website, splicing up categories to make them more focused and integrating additional navigation controls into the user interface.
First up, Google has injected more blank space into the News & Weather UI to enhance readability, and has made the headline news categories along the top of...
iTunes Movies Market Share Losing Out Against Rivals, Say Hollywood Sources
Apple's market share in movie sales and rentals has been halved by competition from the likes of Amazon and Comcast, according to a report published on Sunday.
An article by the Wall Street Journal said Apple's share for selling and renting video content has dropped to between 20 and 35 percent, down from over 50 percent in 2012, according to sources in Hollywood.
At the same time as the...
Apple to Build Second Data Center in Denmark
Apple is set to spend $921 million on a second data center in Denmark run entirely on renewable energy. The news was relayed by the Danish government's Ministry of Climate Energy and confirmed in a statement to Reuters by Apple's Nordic director Erik Stannow.
"We're thrilled to be expanding our data center operations in Denmark, and investing in new sources of clean power," Erik Stannow,...
'iPhone 8' to Come in Four Colors Including New 'Mirror-Like' Option
Apple could make its upcoming OLED iPhone available in four different shades, including a new "mirror-like" reflective version not seen before in previous models. That's the latest claim from mobile leaker Benjamin Geskin, who shared an example image via Twitter over the weekend showing what the new color option could resemble.
The image the leaker provided is just an iPhone in a third-party...
Apple Hits Back at Supplier Imagination for 'Inaccurate and Misleading' Statements in Contract Dispute
Apple today hit back at disgruntled chipmaker Imagination Technologies for questioning whether it can develop new graphics technology without using the supplier's intellectual property, calling the British firm's response to Apple's decision to part ways with it "disappointing, inaccurate, and misleading."
Back in April, Imagination Technologies announced that Apple had told the U.K. firm it...
Amazon Offers Prime Members 4 Months of Music Unlimited for $0.99
Amazon is offering Prime members who have yet to try its Music Unlimited streaming service a steep discount in the run-up to the company's Prime Day on July 11.
Prime subscribers can currently sign up for four months for a total cost of $0.99 (or 99p in the U.K.), with the service reverting to its usual price of $7.99 (£7.99) per month thereafter. The non-Prime price for the service is $9.99 ...
Samsung Predicts Best-Ever Profits in Last Quarter
Samsung tipped its best-ever operating profit on Friday, with likely record earnings in the company's second quarter ending in June (via Reuters). The Apple rival predicted quarterly operating profit of 14 trillion won ($12.11 billion), a 72 percent jump from a year earlier. The estimate includes sales from the Galaxy S8 for the first time, but analysts pointed to Samsung's components business as ...
Samsung Will Supply NAND Flash Chips for 2017 iPhones to Ease Shortage
Apple's upcoming range of new iPhones could be hit by a 30 percent shortage in the supply of storage capacity chips, according to a new report by DigiTimes on Thursday.
The article claims that both SK Hynix and Toshiba have suffered from lower-than-expected yield rates for their 3D NAND flash chips, resulting in fewer supplies available for Apple's 2017 series of iPhones. Apple is said to have ...
Steve Jackson's 'Sorcery!' Fantasy Role-Player is a Free Download on the App Store
Chapter one of Steve Jackson's Sorcery! fantasy role-playing game is currently available for free for a limited time on the App Store.
Usually $4.99, the critically acclaimed interactive adventure by Inkle is the first in a four-part series loosely based on the mechanic so successfully employed in the popular Fighting Fantasy role-playing gamebooks of the 1980s.
The fully interactive...
Spotify Premium Users Can Now Adjust Track Playback Position From the iOS Lock Screen
Spotify has quietly added the ability for users to adjust the playback position of the currently playing track directly from the iOS lock screen.
The option to adjust the progress of a playing track – also known as audio scrubbing – from the lock screen has been a feature of Apple's native Music app for some time, but the ability has been missing from Spotify until very recently, as noted...
Google Maps Gains Local Guides Widget and Transit Transfer Reminders
Google Maps received an update on Wednesday that makes it easier to contribute reviews to points of interest and adds the option to get reminders to make a transfer on a transit journey.
The user contribution aspect comes in the form of a new "Local Guides" widget that allows users to propose new places to visit, to comment on existing points of interest, and upload location photos.
The...
