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MacBook Pro - page 43

Smartphones are killing laptops and desktops, but tablet sales grow

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ipad ios 11
More Americans own tablet than did two years ago. The same can't be said of laptop and desktop ownership.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The number of Americans who own an iPad or other tablet computer increased marginally in the past two years. However, ownership of a laptop/desktop has dropped significantly in the same period.

Smartphone ownership stayed at the high rate it’s held since 2016. And that’s what’s really cutting into sales of traditional computers.

Score a sweet deal in the big Apple Shopping Event [Deals & Steals]

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iPhone 7
Save a small fortune on prepaid iPhones at Best Buy.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Best Buy is running another big Apple Shopping Event, with impressive discounts on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It’s just one of the awesome offers in today’s Deals & Steals roundup. We also have Apple-certified Lightning cables at a bargain price, and $20 off a great USB-C hub for MacBook.

Plus, you can save $60 on the Astro A20 gaming headset for Mac, and there’s still time to save $55 on the Belkin Valet charging stand for Apple Watch at B&H Photo.

PlugBug Duo makes your MacBook charger twice as useful

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With PlugBug Duo, you can simultaneously charge your MacBook, iPhone, and iPad from one plug.
With PlugBug Duo, you can simultaneously charge your MacBook, iPhone, and iPad from one wall socket.
Photo: TwelveSouth

Everyone wants to tote around less stuff, so add-ons that make your current gear more useful are welcome.  And that’s just what the new PlugBug Duo by TwelveSouth does: it clips onto your MacBook charger and adds a pair of USB ports.

It’s especially handy for people who have a MacBook Pro with a USB-C port, but need to charge gadgets that take a traditional USB port.

2018 MacBook Pro owners complain of crackling speakers

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Apple MacBook Pro keyboard
How’s the sound on your 2018 MacBook Pro?
Photo: Apple

Apple’s latest MacBook Pro lineup has bigger and better speakers than previous machines, but some users haven’t been enjoying improved sound.

Instead, they hear crackling when they play music or watch videos. The issue appears to be affecting both 13- and 15-inch devices, and it’s not yet clear what’s causing it.

Cult of Mac Magazine: Apple snatches the $1 trillion crown, and more!

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cover
In this week's Cult of Mac Magazine: The long race to see which U.S. tech giant will become the first company worth $1 trillion is finally over. Apple won.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

In this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine: It’s official. Apple beats Amazon to the coveted $1 trillion valuation. Tim Cook plays it cool, telling staffers it’s “not the most important measure of our success.”

You’ll find that top story and much more. Check out the the biggest takeaways from Apple’s Q3 earnings call. Feast your eyes on the iPhone X Plus and new LCD iPhone. Plus: Learn how to use the iPhone camera’s manual controls. Get your free subscription to Cult of Mac Magazine from iTunes. Or read on for this week’s top stories.

Journey to a trillion, and a look at Apple’s troubled history, on The CultCast

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CultCast MacBook Pro
Apple's the most valuable company on earth, but it almost wasn't.

This week on The CultCast: The journey to a trillion! How did Apple become the most valuable company on earth? We discuss, and remember the company’s troubled history. Plus: Is the i9 MacBook Pro a total ripoff? One YouTube reviewer says yes, and his tests are convincing. We’ll fill you in. And stay tuned for the sad decline of MoviePass. Is the troubled movie service still worth it?

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. It’s simple to accept Apple Pay and sell your wares with your very own Squarespace website. Enter offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off your first hosting plan or domain.

This SD card reader will satisfy the Apple user’s need for speed

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UHS-II card reader
This card reader will make you forgive Apple for taking away the SD card slot on the MacBook Pro.
Photo: Satechi

Some frustrated creatives believe Apple is abandoning them and will point to the removal of the SD card slot on the MacBook Pro as one example. A new high-speed card reader by Satechi could ease that anxiety.

The brushed aluminum Type-C Micro/SD reader will be especially valuable to photographers and videographers routinely pausing their workflow to transfer large, high-resolution files. This reader is equipped with UHS-II, which carries a transfer rate of 312 MB/s.

The biggest takeaways from Apple’s dominant Q3 earnings results

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Apple is made of money.
Apple is made of money.
Photo illustration: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple beat Wall Street’s expectations today with its Q3 2018 earnings report. Even though iPhone sales were barely up 1% the company still posted better-than-expected revenues as sales of Apple Watch, services and AirPods picked up the slack leading to Apple’s best Q3 results ever.

Prices of Apple shares skyrocketed closer to the illustrious $204 mark that will make the iPhone-maker the first ever trillion dollar company once the results posted and Tim Cook seemed extremely confident and relaxed on his call with investors this afternoon. While the rest of tech stocks are starting to sink, Apple is as steady ever.

Apple earnings: Can Cupertino’s latest surprise save the Street? [Live blog]

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Will Apple reach its own targets for Q2?
Apple's Q3 2018 earnings are expected to be the weakest of the year.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s weakest earnings report of 2018 is set to be revealed today but it might also contain a few clues about the 2018 iPhone launch this fall.

Tim Cook and Apple CFO Luca Maestri will talk to investors on an open call at 2 p.m. Pacific. Analysts don’t expect a huge boost in iPhone sales and revenue (in fact some are downright pessimistic). However, Apple could pull out a few surprises like it did the last two quarters.

Per usual, Cult of Mac will be here to live-blog all the action starting at 1:30 p.m. (That’s when the earnings report typically lands.) Come join the fun!

Save $200 on an iMac and/or $14 on AirPods [Deals & Steals]

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iMac
Save hundreds on a 27-inch iMac with 5K Retina display!
Photo: Apple

In today’s edition of Deals & Steals, we show you where you can get a brand-new iMac for a phenomenal savings. And, in a similarly enticing Apple deal, you can save $14 on the rarely discounted AirPods.

On top of that, we dug up deals on a new GoPro Hero 4 action cam, an LED monitor and a pair of comfortable gaming headphones — all for insane prices!

2018 MacBook Pro performance, after the patch, on The CultCast

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CultCast MacBook Pro
Just how good is the 2018 MacBook Pro after Apple's patch?
Photo: Apple

This week on The CultCast: Apple has issued a patch that significantly increases performance for all 2018 MacBook Pros, but there’s one glaring problem it doesn’t fix…. We talk benchmarks and real-world performance. Plus, we take a peek at the new HomePod features from iOS 12 beta, and we wrap up with your emails!

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. It’s simple to accept Apple Pay and sell your wares with your very own Squarespace website. Enter offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off your first hosting plan or domain.

Apple T2 chip might crash iMac Pro, MacBook Pro

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The Apple T2 chip could be the source of mysterious crashes afflicting two of Apple's newest computers.
The Apple T2 chip could be the source of mysterious crashes afflicting two of Apple's newest computers.
Photo: IFIXIT

Some iMac Pro units are subject to occasional hard crashes. The reasons are hard to pin down, but fingers are starting to point at the Apple T2 chip inside this computer. 

There’s also one in the 2018 MacBook Pro, and this new device is seemingly prone to the same problem.   

Apple issues thermal throttling fix for 2018 MacBook Pros

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2018 MacBook Pro
Apple just released a fix that will speed up every 2018 MacBook Pro, no matter the processor or screen size.
Photo: Apple

Ever since the debut of the 2018 MacBook Pro, there’s been controversy about the top-tier version suffering thermal throttling. Apple today apologized for this problem, and released a fix.

It also seems every version of the new Apple laptop will down-clock itself to prevent overheating. The slowdowns occur even when it’s not totally necessary to stop the machines from being damaged.

Consumer Reports says MacBook Pro thermal throttling is a feature not a bug

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The new MacBook Pros feature True Tone technology for
The 2018 MacBook Pro with a Core i9 processor is subject to thermal throttling, but it's hardly alone in that.
Photo: Apple

The top-of-the-line MacBook Pro with an Intel Core i9 processor has gotten some bad press. The new laptop reportedly is subject to thermal throttling, which is a fancy way of saying that its CPU gets so hot that it slows itself down before burning up.

But before anyone criticizes Apple too much, Consumer Reports came to the company’s defense. The consumer-testing organization points out that other laptops with top-tier processors are also subject to thermal throttling.

Leaked Apple repair videos cough up some secrets

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Apple repair techs have access to a lot of gear other people don't.
Apple repair techs have access to a lot of gear other people don't.
Screenshot: Apple

Editor’s Note: Not surprisingly, these internal Apple videos are now gone from YouTube. The iPhone maker undoubtedly asked that they be removed.


What appears to be a collection of Apple’s internal video guides to repairing various devices has been posted on YouTube. These show the company’s methods to fix some components of the iPhone X, the iMac Pro 2017, and the MacBook Pro 2016 and 2017.

Apple doesn’t show anyone outside of the company how to service its products. Third-party repair companies have to figure it out for themselves. So this is a rare look inside official Apple repair procedures.

2018 MacBook Pro’s Thunderbolt 3 suffers big limitations

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The 2018 MacBook Pro is expected to look much like its predecessor.
Despite faster connections, display support hasn’t improved.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s new MacBook Pro lineup has a lot of improvements under the hood that you might have missed. One of those is an upgraded Thunderbolt 3 controller from Intel.

Both the 13- and 15-inch models pack a new “Titan Ridge” chip, but unfortunately for some users, there are big limitations. Don’t rush out to blow your savings on an 8K monitor just yet.

These 2018 MacBook Pro models are the best values

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2018 MacBook Pro
Figuring out which 2018 MacBook Pro is fastest or cheapest is easy. We puzzled out which offers the most bang for the buck.
Photo: Apple

You need a 2018 MacBook Pro, but there are a bunch of configurations to choose from, with the top model more than twice as expensive as the base one. Of course, Apple is asking you to pay extra for a faster processor, but is the additional cost worth it?

We took benchmarking scores for all the variations of the newest macOS laptop and divided them by the cost of each. The results might well surprise you.

2018 MacBook Pro: the good, the great, the ugly — this week on The CultCast

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CultCast 2018 MacBook Pro
The new MacBook Pros are shockingly fast.
Photo: Apple

This week on The CultCast: The 2018 MacBook Pro is both a beauty and a beast. In fact, it’s one of the most exciting MBP refreshes in years. We’ll tell you why.

Then: A popular tech reviewer warns that the 15-inch MacBook Pro’s i9 processor upgrade suffers a major flaw; Apple quietly updates MacBook Pro’s keyboard to be more reliable; and we pitch you our favorite new gear and gadgets in an all-new Under Review!

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. It’s simple to accept Apple Pay and sell your wares with your very own Squarespace website. Enter offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10 percent off your first hosting plan or domain.

Speedy Blackmagic eGPU won’t do much for photographers

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Blackmagic eGPU
Not so fast! Well, where post production for still photography is concerned.
Photo: Blackmagic

The futuristic design of the Blackmagic eGPU, which Apple is selling to MacBook Pro users who need the graphics processing power of a desktop, makes it look blazing fast.

But fast is an action, not an aesthetic, and in the opinion of one reviewer, photographers thinking of spending $699 should save their money.

Beware serious thermal throttling with new Core i9 MacBook Pro

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2018 MacBook Pro
This isn’t good.
Photo: Apple

If you’re coughing up crazy amounts of cash for a new MacBook Pro with Intel’s latest Core i9 processor, there’s something you should be aware of.

Early tests have revealed that the chip suffers severe thermal throttling under heavy loads, which dramatically reduces its clock speed and performance.

Cheaper models with Core i5 and Core i7 chips don’t seem to have the same problem.

Secret ingredient in new MacBook Pro? Glue. Lots and lots of glue

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A look inside the 2018 MacBook Pro finds lots of bad news, but some good too.
A look inside the 2018 MacBook Pro finds plenty of bad news, but some good too.
Photo: IFIXIT

Apple makes no attempt to have MacBook Pro models easy to repair. The ones released just a few days ago are no exception. We all have to hope that the redesigned key mechanism fixes the previous problems because the keyboard is solidly glued to the battery and speakers. And that’s just the most obvious way that Apple frustrates the do-it-yourself crowd.

But the news isn’t all bad. At least one version of the 2018 MacBook Pro boasts a major battery improvement.