Black Bird is the latest hit for Apple TV+. The prison drama has been one of the top 10 most watched streaming shows for three weeks straight now, according to a company that tracks viewership.
The series is not only popular, it’s getting rave reviews from critics.
★★★★★
Thunderbolt hubs add super-fast ports to your Mac, speeding up your workflow. But these hubs also require a really bulky power adapter … usually. The just-announced Sanho HyperDrive Thunderbolt 4 Power Hub is the exception. It’s small enough to travel with.
I tested the Thunderbolt hub in my home office for a couple of weeks to see how it stands up to real-world use.
The latest update to the RPG Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm adds two new sidequests. Plus, the latest version makes the on-screen character faster and more agile, and improves the audio.
The new update for the multi-platform game takes it to version 4.0. It’s code named Secrets of Gaia.
Tired of just reading about the new iPhone Lock Screen and want to try it? Really eager to make full use of an external screen with your iPad? There’s good news: Apple released new public betas of iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 this week, and my testing shows they’re stable enough for average users to try them out.
That said, be cautious. These are prerelease versions — they still have bugs. The final versions aren’t expected for months, and there’s still plenty of room for improvement
Apple is going further into the ad business. Soon, a paid advertisment will be added to the Today tab of the App Store. And a paid link will be added to the product pages for individual applications.
These will join the Search Ads that are already included in the App Store.
Apple acting as an advertising broker is likely to be controversial because the company has taken a strong stance on targeted ads provided by Google, Facebook and others.
iPad shipments declined modestly in the Q2 2022, but not because people don’t want Apple tablets. iPad is still suffering from component shortages that slow production.
This was the second quarter in a row that Apple couldn’t make enough iPadOS units to meet demand.
Mac shipments dropped a whopping 20% in the June quarter, according to a market-research firm. But it wasn’t just Apple struggling – shipments of all the top PC-makers declined.
COVID lockdowns in China this spring hurt production for all these companies, lowering the number of computers they could ship to consumers.
iPhone shipments grew 3.3% year over year during the second quarter of 2022, according to a market-research firm. That’s in contrast to the global smartphone market, which declined 7%.
Apple made up 16% of the total market, its highest second-quarter performance in more than a decade.
Apple earnings calls with analysts can offer fascinating glimpses behind the scenes at the iPhone-maker. Most of the time, though, they are dull as toast. That’s true even for the June quarter, when Apple managed to snatch financial success from the jaws of supply constraints.
But we endured the tedium of the call so you don’t have to. Just read on to get the interesting details almost lost in all the talk of basis points and CAPEX.
Apple overcame considerable headwinds to set a new revenue record during its most recent financial quarter, the company said Thursday. Cupertino once again beat analysts’ expectations, despite COVID-19 lockdowns in China that slowed Mac and iPad production.
“Our June quarter results continued to demonstrate our ability to manage our business effectively despite the challenging operating environment,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s chief financial officer, in a press release announcing the Q3 2022 earnings.
Apple will reportedly design future Mac processors at a new R&D center in Jerusalem.
The company already does chip development in Israel. Some of the more powerful M1 variants were designed in the country.
★★★★☆
The Apple Leather Wallet with MagSafe magnetically clings to an iPhone. And it has a useful trick: The phone shows the user the location the wallet was last detached, so it’s easier to find if it gets lost. If you’re looking for a sleek and functional folder wallet, check out this review for more details.
As a fan of Apple’s Find My application, I decided to try it out.
The first Apple store in India won’t open until 2023. Apple has been trying to open the retail location since 2019, but it’s been beset with delays.
The Mumbai store is supposed to be part of an important shift in the way the company does business in India. Another store in the country is also on the way.
Both Apple and Meta (formerly Facebook) are both building AR/VR headsets, but they’re going about it in dramatically different ways. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly told Meta employees the two companies are in “a competition of philosophies and ideas.”
It’s possible the metaverse is the future of the internet. And Zuckerberg describes Meta as being a leader in creating an open metaverse with multiple companies working together, while he says Apple is creating its own closed version.
But Zuckerberg’s comments ignore another major philosophical difference between the twin companies. Apple believes in protecting user privacy, but Meta makes its money by collecting and selling information about users.
The Garvey sisters vowed to always take care of each other, which leads them toward murdering their abusive brother-in-law. Their scheme plays out in Bad Sisters, a creation of Irish actress, writer and producer Sharon Horgan, who is known for her darkly funny shows.
The comedy/thriller series debuts on Apple TV+ in August, and a trailer debuted Wednesday.
Apple reportedly put down $445 million for a 67.5-acre corporate center in San Diego. This will be a new corporate campus for the iPhone-maker.
The purchase comes after Apple vowed in 2021 to increase its workforce to more than 5,000 in the Southern California city.
HEROish from Sunblink challenges layers to, “(almost) save the world and (kind of) look good while doing it.” The latest addition to Apple Arcade offers single-player adventures, but it’s also player-versus-player deck-building tower defense game.
The fantasy-themed title is available now for a variety of Apple computers, including iPhone and Mac.
In 1976, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs demonstrated a prototype Apple-1 computer to the owner of The Byte Shop. That lead to a deal that launched Apple on its path to success.
That prototype is now up for auction. It’s expected to sell for $500,000.
★★★★☆
The Satechi USB-C Slim Dock for 24-inch iMac sits on the stand for Apple’s all-in-one desktop and adds six frequently used ports. It also sports an enclosure for user-installed SSDs.
The hub and drive enclosure has been in my home office for several days. Here’s what it’s like to use in the real world.
Beta testing on iOS 15.6 and macOS Monterey 12.5 is over, and these updates are now available for anyone to install. They bring a number of small tweaks to iPhone and Mac.
Don’t confuse these with iOS 16 and macOS Ventura, which are major upgrades coming this fall.
Apple also released the full versions of iPadOS 15.6, watchOS 8.7 and tvOS 15.6 on Wednesday.
Apple laid out its far-reaching goals for the health and wellness tech built into iPhone and Apple Watch in a report issued Wednesday. It details how Apple intends to develop technology to support personal health, medical research, and patient care.
“We believe passionately that technology can play a role in improving health outcomes,” said Apple’s chief operating officer, Jeff Williams, in a statement.
The Brydge ProDock is a newly announced vertical stand for recent MacBooks. It holds the notebook vertically, off the desk, and adds 11 ports. That includes three Thunderbolt 4/USB-C ports.
As a bonus, the stand’s base includes an MagSafe wireless charging mat to power up an iPhone.
Apple agreed to a preliminary settlement Monday for a class-action lawsuit that claimed the company knew the MacBook’s “butterfly” keyboard was defective but kept selling it. Apple admits no wrongdoing but agreed to pay up to $50 million, most of which will go to customers who had to replace the faulty keyboards.
This is good news for people in seven U.S. states who experienced problems with their MacBook butterfly keyboard.
The iPhone’s wireless payment system is more secure than credit cards, and Apple wants to make sure everyone knows it. That’s why the company created three short video ads to show off the advantages of Apple Pay.
Watch them now to learn more about the contactless payment system built into certain Apple devices.
Russia plans to levy fines against Apple for allegedly using the App Store in an uncompetitive way.
This is the second time Russia has accused the iPhone-maker of breaking its laws in recent weeks.