Cult of Mac

Four 'Cult of Mac' stories March 2011 - May 2012

Target discounting iPhone 4S to $149, iPhone 4 to $49 – in store only

Jake Smith May 7 2012 - 1:23 pm PT

If you are looking to pick up the iPhone 4S in the next couple of days, make sure to check your local Target store before purchasing. Thanks to a couple of tips sent to us by email, we now know that various Target locations are running a deal on the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 for all carriers. The 16GB iPhone 4S is available for $149.99 on a two-year contract, while the iPhone 4 is $49.99 on two-year contract — both at a $50 discount. Let us know in the comments if your local Target is running this deal. Sadly, it is not available online.

Cheers Laurenty, Caleb, iDannyOcean!

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Updated: Walmart iPhone sale was a mistake

Élyse Betters May 4 2012 - 9:13 am PT

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UPDATE: Walmart just responded to 9to5Mac’s inquiry and said the retail chain “experienced a pricing error in limited stores” yesterday. The company spokesperson said the issue has been addressed and normal prices are now in effect: 16GB iPhone 4S for $188, iPhone 4 for $88, and iPhone 3GS for $0.97.

Cult of Mac reported that an Edmond, Okla., Walmart is offering the 16GB iPhone 4S for $114. The Verge followed-up the claim and reported an Austin, Texas Walmart store is providing the same deal; although, four other stores in the United States said the discounts are not in place.

The select stores are apparently selling the latest iOS smartphone at a $74 discount. Wal-Mart’s Web site lists the price of the iPhone 4S at $188, but the price comes with a “store pricing may vary” at select stores note. The 8GB iPhone 4 price tag is also cut by $34 at the two participating Walmart stores, according to the reports.

9to5Mac directly called 17 Wally World stores around the U.S., but we could not find similar deals offered at any of the stores. We also called the only two Walmarts in Edmond to confirm the reports. However, we were told the stories were wrong for the West Danforth Road store, because the iPhone 4S is still selling at its normal price.

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Will Apple discontinue the Magic Mouse in favor of the Magic Trackpad? (update: no)

Mark Gurman Aug 4 2011 - 1:06 pm PT

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Cult of Mac claims that a previously reliable source told them that Magic Mouse inventory is not being replenished at Apple Stores. From this, they say that the Magic Mouse will soon be discontinued.

The move would make sense given that OS X Lion is heavily gesture based, but it also does not make sense for a couple of reasons.

OS X Lion still supports the touch-capable Magic Mouse and it is the perfect option from Apple for those who are not a fan of many gestures…or for those desktop users that are learning gestures.

From what we have seen, stock of the Magic Mouse appears to be pretty normal at online retailers such as Amazon. We also haven’t heard anything out of our stock channels, so we are a bit skeptical. It still would not be completely surprising for the company who killed the optical drive to the kill the mouse.

Update: We’ve heard from one untested Central European source that Magic Mice supplies are constrained, but can’t draw any conclusions based on that.

Update 2: Cult of Mac says the Magic Mouse has been resurrected.

Update 3: The part number for the Magic Mouse is not discontinued. A refresh is certainly possible but it likely is not imminent.

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iPhone 5 with NFC chip to double as a portable login system?

9to5 Staff Mar 18 2011 - 7:06 am PT

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As the debate over whether Apple will put an NFC chip inside iPhone 5 continues, a new report hints at interesting possible uses that go beyond contactless payments. Specifically, an iPhone 5 with this chip could double as a portable login system allowing you to run your purchased Mac App Store applications on a guest Mac system as well as access, edit and save your documents remotely via the MobileMe cloud, an unnamed insider told Leander Kahney in an exclusive Cult of Mac story:

According to our source, who asked not to be named, when a NFC-equipped iPhone is paired with a guest machine, part of the user’s profile includes the apps they’ve purchased through the Mac App Store. The icons for their apps appear on the remote Mac, but aren’t downloaded, our source said. But if the user opens an app, it is downloaded temporarily to the computer for use. When the NFC connection is broken, the apps are deleted and the computer returns to its previous state.

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