Cody Lee

Cody Lee, iDownloadBlog.com’s longest-serving Editor, joined the site in 2008. He specializes in uncovering the best deals on Apple products, apps, and accessories. With years of experience in technology journalism, Cody helps readers save money while staying informed about the latest trends and updates in the Apple ecosystem. Cody’s history with smartphones goes almost as far back as he does. As the son of a Nokia employee, he was exposed early on to handsets like the N91 and the Communicator. He has since been involved in nearly every aspect of the mobile phone industry. While going to college, he worked at a Nokia factory, building handsets, and later moved on to a sales position at a major wireless carrier.

15 interesting points from Apple’s Q1 2015 earnings call

Cody Lee ∙ January 27, 2015

Apple announced its financial results for its fiscal first quarter of 2015 this afternoon, and the numbers are staggering. The company sold 75.4 million iPhones and earned $74.6 billion in revenue, smashing both Wall Street expectations and its own records.

We’re just finishing up the conference call, where Tim Cook and other members of the executive team discussed Apple’s performance, and offered up some insights into its future. And as usual, we’ve rounded up the 15 most interesting points for you below.

Apple patches several vulnerabilities used by TaiG jailbreak in iOS 8.1.3

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Apple has posted a support page on the security content of the just-released iOS 8.1.3, confirming fears that the firmware effectively breaks the TaiG jailbreak tool. In the page, the company credits the TaiG Jailbreak Team for discovering four vulnerabilities patched in the update.

Among those vulnerabilities was a hole in the symbolic linking mechanism of AppleFileConduit, which allowed access to protected parts of the filesystem, and a state management issue, which gave local users the ability to execute unsigned code. Keep reading for a full rundown.

Apple’s record-smashing Q1 2015 earnings: 74.5M iPhones, 21.4M iPads, $74.6B revenue

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Apple has posted its [fiscal] first quarter earnings report for 2015 this afternoon and they are incredible. The company says it sold a staggering 74.5 million iPhones and recorded $74.6 billion in revenue during the holiday-driven 3-month period.

Both of the numbers beat even the most optimistic Wall Street estimates, and are all-time records for the company. To give you an idea of how big this is, Apple sold 51 million iPhones and earned $57.6 billion in the exact same quarter last year.

Apple releases OS X Yosemite 10.10.2 with improved Wi-Fi, Spotlight security fix and more

Cody Lee ∙ January 27, 2015

Alongside the release of iOS 8.1.3, Apple has also rolled out OS X Yosemite 10.10.2 to the public this morning. The firmware, which has been in testing for several weeks now, includes fixes and improvements for Wi-Fi, Safari, Bluetooth headphone syncing and more, and can be downloaded through the Software Update tab in the Mac App Store.

iOS 8.1.3 is out with reduced firmware storage strain, Spotlight fix and other improvements

Cody Lee ∙ January 27, 2015

Apple has released iOS 8.1.3 this morning, after weeks of extensive testing. The release notes say that the update includes increased stability and performance improvements, as well as various major bug fixes. It also reduces the amount of storage required to perform updates.

You can access the new firmware over the air via Settings > General > Software Update, or via iTunes by connecting your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to a computer. But as usual, we recommend that users who are jailbroken, or plan to jailbreak, avoid the update for now.

Tim Cook made a little over $9 million last year as Apple’s CEO

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

Tim Cook received compensation of $9.22 million last year for his work as Apple's Chief Executive Officer, according to a new SEC filing by the company. Bloomberg points to the documents, noting that Cook was paid out $1.75 million and $6.7 million in non-equity incentive compensation for the fiscal year that ended in September.

The amount is more than double Cook was paid for his work in 2013, with much of the boon coming as Apple's stock reached an all-time high late last year. Apple unveiled several new products in the fall, including long-awaited larger-screened iPhones, a new payment system, and a wearable that it expects to sell well when it launches in March.

Apple names ‘Shades’ puzzler its free App of the Week

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 14, 2018

Apple has just named UOVO’s ‘Shades: A Simple Puzzle Game‘ its App of the Week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to download the zen-like puzzler for both iPhone and iPad for free—which will save you a solid $1.99.

Released in September of last year, Shades is one of those puzzle games that's easy to pick up and play, but tough to master. The premise should sound familiar to Tetris fans: move falling blocks into position to combine blocks, clearing rows as quick as possible.

New report sheds light on Apple Watch battery life

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

For its upcoming Watch, Apple is shooting for somewhere between 2.5 and 4 hours of active use and 19 hours of passive use, according to a new report from 9to5Mac. The site says sources with knowledge of the project have offered up new details regarding the wearable's battery life.

Battery life was one of the many things left out of the initial Apple Watch unveiling last September, but Tim Cook has since said that the device will need to be "charged every night." The vague explanation has left many users wondering how long the Watch will last in the real world.

Rdio app updated with New Music Weekly station, smarter sharing and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 5, 2018

Popular streaming music service Rdio posted an update for its iOS client today, bringing the app to version 3.1. The update brings about a new station for hot, just-released music, enhanced sharing capabilities and various other new features and improvements.

The New Music Weekly Station is a handpicked selection of the week’s hottest tracks from Rdio's New Releases section. And as for the enhanced sharing, users can now quickly share music with a press-and-hold while listening to any track, album, playlist or station.

Apple posts major Logic Pro X update with new sounds, AirDrop support and more

Cody Lee ∙ January 21, 2015

Apple released a significant update for Logic Pro X Wednesday afternoon, bringing the popular pro audio software to version 10.1. The update includes an expanded sound library, support for Mail Drop and Air Drop in OS X Yosemite, and a number of other new features and improvements.

The expanded sound library contains over 200 new synth patches and 10 classic Mellotron instruments. There are also 10 new Drummers capable of producing beats in a variety of hiphop and electronic styles including Techno, House and Dubstep. We've posted the full 10.1 change log below.

Microsoft unveils 84-inch touch display and augmented reality headset

Cody Lee ∙ January 21, 2015

In addition to officially unveiling Windows 10 at its, Microsoft made a number of other interesting announcements at its Redmond, Washington event this morning. Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for the first year, will play a lot nicer with Xbox One, and has a new web browser on the way.

But two of the most interesting announcements involved products that most people had no idea Microsoft was working on: the Surface Hub and the HoloLens. The former is an 84-inch 4K touchscreen display, and the latter is a futuristic visor that overlays holographic imagery onto your view.

Apple seeds sixth OS X 10.10.2 beta to developers

Cody Lee ∙ January 21, 2015

Apple has seeded a new beta of its upcoming OS X Yosemite 10.10.2 this afternoon. The update, labeled build 14C106a, is available through the Update tab in the Mac App Store, as well as the online Dev Center, for all Mac developers.

Today’s release comes exactly one week after the previous OS X 10.10.2 beta, and Apple has once again asked developers to focus their testing efforts on the long-standing issue of Wi-Fi connectivity, as well as Mail and VoiceOver.