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Services fuel Apple to historic June quarter

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European Commission could get even tougher on tech in 2020
Apple shares are trading up on the good news.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Record-breaking revenue put Apple right in line with Wall Street expectations as the company released its Q3 2019 earnings report today.

The iPhone-maker brought in $53.8 billion in revenue, a number within range of its own guidance and most analysts’ predictions. That set a new record for Apple third-quarter revenue — a slight gain from Q3 2018’s $53.3 billion. CEO Tim Cook touted the company’s subscription offerings for fueling the new all-time high.

How to send a green-bubble SMS from your iPad

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Old mobile phone toy: This is how
This is how "texts" were sent before the flux capacitor made Skynet possible.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Did you know you can send regular old green-bubble SMS (and MMS) messages from your iPad? And even from your Mac? Well, you can, and it is dead easy. It’s called Text Message Forwarding, and it works by using your iPhone as a conduit to the cellular phone network.

Let’s set it up and see how it works.

Turn your old Apple devices into quick cash for a cheap upgrade

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MacBook-iPhone
Your old Apple devices could be worth a small fortune.
Photo: Luke Chesser/Unsplash

It’s a great time to replace your aging Apple devices, with big discounts currently available on iPad Pro and various models of the Mac. And we can help make your upgrade even cheaper.

Sell your old devices to Cult of Mac and we’ll pay you the money you deserve. We send real cash — and fast — and we typically offer more than other trade-in services.

Get a quote for your old iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or Mac today and see how much it’s really worth. You’ll find a new model won’t cost you anywhere near as much as you thought.

LG’s newest Smart TVs will start getting AirPlay this week

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LG-AirPlay
Users will start seeing the update on July 25.
Photo: LG

LG will start bringing AirPlay 2 and HomeKit to its newest Smart TV sets this week.

2019 models will play nicely with iPhone, iPad, and Mac after the update. You will be able to stream content straight from your Apple devices, and control your set in the Home app on iOS.

Parallels Toolbox gets brand new tools, big improvements

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Parallels-Toolbox
Parallels Toolbox is better than ever.
Photo: Parallels

Parallels Toolbox just got a massive update on Mac that adds a whole bunch of useful new tools.

The version 3.5 release brings the ability to access clipboard history, an energy saving mode, and a sleep timer. It also allows you to hide menubar icons you don’t always need access to.

How to fake True Tone on older Macs

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Make your Mac match its surroundings.
Make your Mac match its surroundings.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Owners of recent MacBooks Pro and Air can enjoy True Tone, a great technology that uses an ambient light sensor to match the color of the Mac’s display to its surroundings. True Tone mimics a white sheet of paper, which reflects the ambient light. The goal is to avoid a cold-blue screen when you’re in a nice, warmly lit room.

True Tone is a wonderful feature, and really makes everything look better. But it’s only available on new Macs. Today we’ll see how you can fake it on older computers.

Every Pixelmator Pro tool now available inside Mac’s Photos app

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Pixelmator-Pro-Photos
Not just the big ones. All of them.
Photo: Pixelmator

Every single one of your favorite Pixelmator Pro tools can now be found inside the built-in Photos app on Mac.

The latest version of the app makes it so that you never need to leave Photos to edit your best snaps. You can even use the Pixelmator Pro keyboard shortcuts you’re already used to.

Slack finally fixes its horribly slow Mac app in huge overhaul

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Slack-Mac
Slack gets the upgrade we’ve all been waiting for.
Photo: Web Hosting/Unsplash

Slack today confirmed a brand new version of its desktop app that will finally fix painfully slow performance many users have been suffering for years.

The new app for Mac and Windows is completely rebuilt with a focus on speed. It promises to launch 33% faster and take up 50% less RAM than before.

Mac app lets you enjoy Continuity with Android devices

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MacBook-Pixel-3-Android
KDE Connect is free to download and incredibly useful.
Image: Cult of Mac

Not every Mac owner uses an iPhone, and that means they often miss out on first-party features like Messages and iCloud. But there’s one feature Android users can now enjoy.

KDE Connect is a new macOS app that allows for Continuity between Mac and Android devices. You can enjoy desktop notifications, file sharing, and more — and it’s free.

The last macOS Mojave update is nearly ready for public launch

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Mojave's new tool offers plenty of options for Mac screenshots.
Grab the new macOS Mojave beta now.
Photo: Apple

The handful of developers still beta testing macOS Mojave instead of macOS Catalina were treated to a brand new beta build in the form of macOS 10.14.6 today.

This is the fifth beta of macOS 10.14.6 which adds a host of new bug fixes and performance improvements to the Mac before Apple goes all-in on macOS Catalina this fall.

2019 MacBook Air vs. MacBook Pro: Which is right for you?

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MacBook on desk
Look at all those ports!
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Apple’s current laptop lineup is the simplest it’s been in a while. It consists of the 13-inch MacBook Air, and two sizes of MacBook Pro, which are almost identical apart from size.

If you want a 15-inch Apple notebook, then the choice is easy. But if you want a 13-incher, which should you pick? That’s what we’ll look at today, pitching the 13-inch MacBook Air against the 13-inch MacBook Pro.

Zoom rushes to fix its webcam-accessing flaw on Macs

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Apple offers up to $1.5 million to anyone who spots a software flaw
Flaw allowed hackers to access other people's webcams.
Photo: United Artists

Zoom conference calls are as much of a part of modern office working life as disagreements about the air-con system.

But security researcher Jonathan Leitschuh recently stumbled upon something extremely concerning. As discovered by Leitschuh, Zoom featured a vulnerability that allowed hackers to break into a target’s Mac webcam. This happened regardless of whether the Mac user was using Safari, Chrome or Firefox.

Fortunately, Zoom has, well, zoomed to correct it.

Making music on iPad forced me back to the Mac

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Tuning a ukulele
Sometime the old ways are the best.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

I use my iPad for almost all my computing. I write, read, record and edit music, edit photos — you name it. I’ve used my decade-old Mac less and less in recent years, as the iPad, or rather iOS, has gotten ever more capable.

But this week I dusted off my Mac, ordered some extra RAM (yes, it’s still available!), and fired it up. Why? Because, as powerful as the iPad is, the Mac is still way, way better for some tasks. In my case, that task is recording and editing music.

Apple makes huge cuts to SSD upgrade pricing for Macs

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iMac
Maxing-out your new Mac is now a lot more affordable.
Photo: Apple

Apple has significantly reduced the price of its SSD upgrades for Mac.

Many options now cost half as much as they did yesterday. A whopping 4TB SSD for the 15-inch MacBook Pro is now priced at $1,400 — down from $2,800.

Bag free Beats with Apple’s latest Back to School promo

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Apple-Back-to-School-2019
You have until September 26 to take advantage of it.
Photo: Apple

Apple today kicked off its latest Back to School promotion. It gives students the opportunity to bag free Beats headphones with qualifying purchases.

The deal comes just as a more-affordable MacBook Air with True Tone and a faster 13-inch MacBook Pro were added to the Apple Store.

Apple brings True Tone to MacBook Air, faster chips to MacBook Pro

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The late-2018 MacBook Air with Retina display.
They’re now more affordable, too.
Photo: Apple

Apple has updated the MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro for the back-to-school season. And they’re now more affordable.

The newest MacBook Air now ships with a True Tone display — just like its more expensive siblings. The newest 13-inch MacBook Pro is powered by faster Intel chips, while the entry-level model now offers a Touch Bar with Touch ID.

Save $200 on Mac mini, $820 on MacBook Pro [Deals & Steals]

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2019 MacBook Pro
So long, old friend.
Photo: Apple

Amazon’s Deal of the Day lets you save up to 29% on the 2018 MacBook Pro for today only. Prices start at $1,879.99 (down from $2,399.99) for a 15-inch model with a six-core Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage.

And that’s just one of the awesome offers in today’s Deals & Steals roundup. There’s also $200 off the newest Mac mini, a rare discount on the newest AirPods with a Wireless Charging Case, and up to $100 off Apple Watch Series 4.

Plus, you can now get Amazon’s newest Echo Dot for half its usual price.

Many of these discounts are good for today only, so act fast and enjoy them while you can.

This post contains affiliate links. Cult of Mac may earn a commission when you use our links to buy items.

macOS Catalina revives Expansion Slot Utility app for new Mac Pro

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Expansion-Slot-Utility-Catalina
Expansion Slot Utility reborn in macOS Catalina.
Photo: Steve Moser

Apple’s latest macOS Catalina beta revives the long-lost Expansion Slot Utility app for the new Mac Pro.

Now updated to version 2.0, the app helps users configure things like video cards, audio adapters, and more. It went away for a while after the introduction of the 2013 Mac Pro — but it will be called into action again when the 2019 Mac Pro makes its debut.

’CrescentCore’ malware attacks your Mac, evades antivirus tools

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CrescentCore-Flash-update
Don’t install Flash Player. Not even the real one.
Photo: Intego

Security researches have discovered new malware that targets macOS users and evades popular antivirus tools.

“CrescentCore” is distributed as a DMG package that’s disguised as Adobe Flash Player. It can now be found on multiple websites — one of which is “a high-ranking Google search result,” according to Intego.

Apple security chief will talk iOS 13, macOS Catalina at Black Hat

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Black-Hat-security-conference
Ivan Krstic last appeared at Black Hat in 2016.
Photo: Black Hat

Apple security chief Ivan Krstic will be returning to the Black Hat security conference this summer to discuss iOS 13 and macOS Catalina — as well as the security protections in Apple’s new Find My service.

The 50-minute talk, titled “Behind the scene of iOS and Mac Security,” will take place on August 8. Krstic describes it as the “first public discussion of several key technologies new to iOS 13 and the Mac.”

Apple adds ARM’s lead CPU architect to chip team

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mike filippo
Apple's impressive chip team just got more impressive.
Photo: LinkedIn

One of the top CPU architects in the world has joined Apple’s chip team.

Mike Filippo, who created some of ARM’s most impressive CPUs over the last few years, was hired last month by Apple, signifying the company could be gearing up to switch to ARM CPUs on the Mac.

iWork apps for iOS and Mac get a massive update

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iWork
iWork could expose user data to U.S. authorities.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s suite of iWork productivity apps received a big batch of updates today for both the Mac and iOS versions.

Keynote, Numbers and Pages for the two platforms added a bunch of new features. The biggest addition is some new outline styles. There are also a couple of new customization options for Apple Pencil and a face detection feature that intelligently positions people in placeholders and objects.

Adobe Lightroom hits the Mac App Store and you can try it out for free

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Adobe-Lightroom-Mac
Try it for 7 days before signing up.
Photo: Adobe

Adobe has brought its professional photo editing software to the Mac App Store.

Lightroom for macOS is available now as a free download, and you can try it for seven days before deciding whether or not you want to cough up for it. This is the full version of Lightroom — just like you would get from Adobe.

Cardhop update adds a bunch of handy new features on Mac and iOS

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Cardhop for iOS
Grab the latest version today.
Photo: Flexibits

Cardhop, the wonderful contact management app from Flexibits, just got big updates on Mac and iOS.

The latest releases bring a whole bunch of handy new features and improvements — including new templates and template settings, iMessage stickers, and support for multiple business cards.