Verizon or T-Mobile won’t disconnect your iPhone if you can’t pay your bill because COVID-19 cost you your job. And Comcast won’t cut your Mac off from the internet either.
The companies committed on Monday to not terminate service or charge late fees through June 30.
There are quite a few wall switches that support Apple’s HomeKit home-automation system, but Aqara on Tuesday unveiled two that should catch the eye of anyone with an older home. Unlike virtually all competitors, these don’t require a neutral wire, something that exists primarily in newer buildings.
These switches make any ceiling fixture smart. They can be controlled via an iPhone or Siri commands from anywhere.
The U.K. reportedly decided to go with a coronavirus contact-tracing application different from the system Apple and Google are creating jointly. The National Health Service built an app that creates a central database of people who have tested positive for COVID-19. The Apple and Google solution uses a decentralized system for privacy reasons.
Before it was an Apple TV+ series, Defending Jacob was a bestselling novel. In a new Apple video, author William Landay talks about seeing his book adapted for the small screen.
Watch it now:
Power banks designed for phones don’t do much for laptops and tablets. But the RavPower RP-PB055 AC Power Bank packs a whopping 30,000mAh, and more than doubles a MacBook’s time between recharges. Even better, it includes a standard wall socket so it can run DVD players, lamps, fans … whatever you need.
I tested it not only with Apple products but with other electronics, too. Read on to see how this uber-size power bank held up.
Imran Chaudhri, who played a pivotal role in the Apple Watch’s creation, offered an inside look into the device’s design process Friday, showing off an early concept drawing of the smartwatch’s home screen.
His sketch, shared on the 5-year anniversary of the Apple Watch launch, looks amazingly close to what is in use now. He also showed off a video of the very first Apple Watch band and talked about the history of some Watch faces.
Apple CEO Tim Cook sounds truly optimistic about how quickly the U.S. economy will recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. He reportedly told President Donald Trump on Friday that he expects the economy to undergo a V-shaped recovery.
Those who pre-ordered an iPhone SE last week started receiving their handsets today, but Apple sold out of its supply. Orders placed Friday for this $399 handset won’t arrive for over two weeks.
The latest iOS handset is backordered in the U.S. and in countries around the world.
Apple CEO Tim Cook appeared on Thursday’s The Big Night In event on BBC One in Great Britain. He announced his company is making a “significant donation” to this fundraiser, which is raising money for Comic Relief and BBC Children in Need.
Apple TV+ picked up a comedy starring a couple of household names on Thursday. Apple gave a straight-to-series order to The Shrink Next Door, a new, eight-episode limited series starring Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd.
Creative professionals working with 4K or 8K video, or anyone who just wants an enormous amount of portable storage, can turn to the OWC ThunderBlade. Starting Thursday, this SSD now offers up to a whopping 16TB in capacity, and can transfer data at 2800MB/s.
OWC also updated its Envoy Pro EX line with 4TB version. And the Accelsior 4M2 internal SSD now also offers up to 16TB of capacity.
The FCC on Thursday approved an expansion of Wi-Fi to the 6GHz band. This adds almost five times the bandwidth to the short-range wireless networking standard. It should bring Wi-Fi connections that are up to 2.5 times faster, with less interference from nearby computers.
Thursday’s FCC vote on this expansion was unanimous, and the change has strong industry support.
In May, Verizon Wireless customers get an additional 15GB of mobile data for free for a second month of the COVID-19 crisis.
Many people under stay-at-home orders during the pandemic depend on their iPhone, Android or mobile hotspot to connect to the internet, and hence the world.
Some people make a big production out of unboxing their new iPhone. What’s supposedly an upcoming iPhone SE ad takes the opposite approach with Apple’s just-released budget handset.
Watch it now:
An iOS 14 concept video shows how an iPhone might look if it gains home screen widgets, as has been rumored.
Plus, it envisions several features currently available for iPad jumping to iPhone, like Split Screen multitasking, a floating Dock, and more.
Watch it now:
Zoom on Wednesday committed to upgrading the encryption in its video-chatting app. And Zoom 5.0, which will be out within the week, will include additional security controls for meeting hosts, like the ability to report disruptive users.
Use of this platform rose enormously since people around the world went into self quarantine. And criticism of Zoom’s security and privacy controls also increased dramatically as Zoombombing became a thing.
Americans love Apple’s video chatting app FaceTime, according to the results of a survey released Wednesday. But they don’t use it for group chats. As a result, use of FaceTime hasn’t increased at all while millions of people around the world self quarantine.
Instead, rival Zoom has enormously increased in popularity in recent weeks.
The just-released iPad Pro Magic Keyboard costs more than some iPads, and it’s possible to get AppleCare+ repair insurance for it. Just not directly.
Purchasing AppleCare+ adds accidental damage coverage to an iPad, as well as some Apple-branded accessories. That includes keyboards, like the very expensive one that debuted last week.
A set of concept 3D renders released Tuesday depict all the latest iPhone 12 rumors, including a recent report that this upcoming handset will have a substantially smaller screen cutout.
The images also include other features widely expected to be part of the autumn 2020 iPhone, like a LiDAR scanner.
One way to score a deal on the the latest Apple Watch Series 5 is buy a unit that someone purchased then returned to Apple. These get rigorously refurbished, then are offered to the public at up to 15% off the regular price.
Tuesday is the first day Series 5 units have been available refurbished.
Apple is going to increase the sizes of the displays in the 2020 iPad Air and an iMac model also coming later this year, according to an unconfirmed report coming out of Asia.
But neither of these will be MiniLED screens, as Apple will reportedly not have any computer using this type of display until 2021.
If your music career or business would be boosted by meeting with someone high up at Apple Music, then this is your lucky day. Three high-level executives at Apple’s music streaming service are auctioning off private meetings.
Proceeds from these auctions go to the Pablove Foundation, which invests in pediatric cancer research.
The first iPhone with 5G reportedly won’t debut alongside the other new iOS handsets early this autumn. Trusted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicts Apple will begin producing a pair of 4G handsets in September, but won’t start making the 5G model until October.
Kuo also says an iPhone SE Plus with a larger screen than the current one might come out far later than he originally thought.
Sony on Monday launched more than a half dozen smart TV models with 4K HDR LED displays in sizes from 43 inches to 85 inches. They include Airplay 2 and HomeKit, Apple’s wireless audio streaming and home automation technologies.
Sony plans to release more smart TVs throughout the year, including some 8K models. These will also have Apple’s tech.
The show must go on. American Idol stopped in mid-season by the COVID-19 crisis. But ABC resumed production with the 20 contestants filming themselves with iPhones supplied by the network.
These might be the most high-profile “Shot on iPhone” video yet.