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News - page 339

Please don’t put macOS on iPads [Cult of Mac Magazine 401]

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Porting macOS to iPad just doesn't make sense.
Porting macOS to iPad just doesn't make sense.
Cover: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Some people think porting the Mac’s operating system to the iPad makes sense. We don’t. Find out why that would be a horrible nightmare in Cult of Mac Magazines cover story this week.

Also, don’t miss our Q&A with Ian Zelbo, the 17-year-old New Yorker who’s been blasting out eye-catching concept art based on the latest Apple leaks. The high schooler behind RendersbyIan tells what gear he uses and reveals some of his rendering secrets in our Setups post.

Then, of course, you’ll want to check out Zelbo’s colorful MacBook Air renders and the rest of the week’s juiciest Apple news, rumors, how-tos and reviews.

Biden nixes Trump’s National Garden of American Heroes with Steve Jobs statue [Updated]

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Steve Jobs AR Glasses
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs will NOT be commemorated in the National Garden of American Heroes.
Photo: Sebastian Errazuriz

Former president Trump’s plan to create a National Garden of American Heroes has been cancelled by the Biden Administration. It would have created an open-air space with statues of a wide variety of Americans, including Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

Trump created the garden by executive order, and President Biden completely cancelled it Friday with another executive order. No reason was given.

Original article from January 18, 2021

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is one of hundreds of people who’ll have a statue in the National Garden of American Heroes that President Trump ordered be created.

The list includes a wide variety of men and women from history, including politicians, generals, explorers, inventors, writers, actors and more.

Last chance! Enter to win a high-end Qrono Apple Watch band from Juuk [Cult of Mac giveaway]

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Juuk Qrono band for Apple Watch comes in four striking colors.
The Qrono band for Apple Watch comes in four striking colors.
Photo: Juuk

This week, Cult of Mac is giving away two fantastic metal Apple Watch bands from Juuk, a high-end watch strap company. We’re giving away two aluminum Qruno straps in cosmic grey.

If you are looking for a high-quality metal band to match the Apple Watch’s high-grade design, enter this giveaway.

Ex-HTC design chief works on next-gen Beats headphones

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Apple Beats PowerBeats in red
A new head of design means Apple will offer plenty more headphones to follow these Beats PowerBeats.
Photo: Apple

The reports of Beats’ death are (reportedly) greatly exaggerated. Rather than phasing out the brand, as had been rumored, Apple put Scott Croyle, the former head of product design at phone-maker HTC, in charge of crafting new Beats headphones, according to an unconfirmed report.

iPhone’s MagSafe poses low risk to people with implanted medical devices

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How it works
According to the FDA, there’s little risk to implanted medical devices from magnets in phones and watches.
Photo: Apple

After Apple warned users of implanted medical devices to avoid iPhone 12 and MagSafe accessories, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration weighed in to say that the danger to pacemakers and defibrillators from magnets built into electronic devices is low.

50% smaller Face ID sensor could shrink iPhone 13 notch

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This concept image shows how the iPhone 13 notch might shrink.
Are you fed up with the iPhone notch?
Artists concept: Cult of Mac

Apple could shrink this year’s iPhone “notch” thanks to a 40% to 50% smaller VCSEL chip in the Face ID sensor, Digitimes reported Friday. According to the report, the smaller die size could show up as soon as the “new iPhone and iPad devices to be rolled out later in 2021.”

Apple claps back against Spotify, Tinder and Tile in antitrust letter

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Spotify is adding 2x as many monthly subscribers as Apple Music
Spotify is one of the companies that has taken issue with the App Store.
Photo: Spotify

In a letter to the judiciary subcommittee investigating antitrust complaints against Apple, the company takes aim at companies like Spotify, Tinder and Tile.

All three companies previously criticized Apple’s dominance of the App Store. But Cupertino says they are simply airing “grievances related to business disputes” rather than making legitimate arguments about competition-related issues.

Give your wardrobe a spring clean with Apple Pay’s latest offers

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Apple Pay
Apple Pay's spring deals are here.
Photo: Apple

If you don’t use Apple Pay yet, Apple’s latest set of offers may help convince you to give Cupertino’s mobile payments solution a try. Especially if your wardrobe is in dire need of an upgrade after more than a year of most folks being stuck home.

As part of a “Springtime savings” offer, Apple is offering Apple Pay users discounts at stores ranging from California clothing brand PacSun to sunglasses company Costa Del Mar to sporty apparel company Under Armour.

New AirPods and lossless Apple Music HiFi rumored for next week

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AirPods 3 might borrow some features of AirPods Pro.
Coming soon to an ear (or even two) near you.
Graphic: Cult of Mac

New AirPods could be on their way next Tuesday, a sketchy rumor shared by AppleTrack suggests. The rumor comes from a YouTuber named Luke Miani, who doesn’t have a record when it comes to Apple rumors.

AppleTrack, which tracks the validity of Apple rumors, says it has heard “privately” that Apple is set to release new AirPods in the coming weeks. According to the report, Apple will make the announcement on May 18 in a press release.

Putting macOS on iPad is a terrible idea

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Putting macOS on iPad is a terrible idea
No. No, no, no, no. No.
Graphic: Cult of Mac

Apple’s smart decision to build an M1 processor into the 2021 iPad Pro renewed calls to port macOS to the tablet. “Put macOS on the iPad, you cowards,” read one particularly misguided headline.

Doing so would be a mistake so severe it would damage sales of both iPad and Mac. It would take years to clean up the mess.

No matter that Macs and iPads run on the same chip. macOS isn’t designed for a touchscreen. Apple would need to redesign the operating system to run on a tablet, and devs would need to alter third-party applications, too. And that would anger people using non-touchscreen laptops and desktops.

Plus, people happy with the iPad now wouldn’t like the change either.

Strong interest in AirTag shows Apple could have a winner

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Apple AirTag finally jumped from rumor to reality.
Lots of Apple users say they’re interested in getting an AirTag.
Photo: Apple

The Apple AirTag tracker will be a huge hit, if a new survey of iPhone and iPad users is correct. More than 60% of respondents said they planned to buy the accessory.

Most people in the survey said they were satisfied with AirTag’s $29.99 price. But they were mostly drawn to the item tracker because it’s tied into Apple’s global Find My network.

Return of Touch ID is the most-anticipated feature for iPhone 13

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Touch ID might be back in the iPhone 13
People sure like their fingerprint sensing.
Concept image: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple customers are seemingly always on the lookout for the next big thing when it comes to new products. That may not be quite true for the iPhone 13, though.

According to a survey by SellCell.com, the feature most Apple customers look forward to is actually the return of Touch ID, the fingerprint sensor Apple has been phasing out in favor of Face ID.

Jony Ive touts power of ‘potent ideas’ in commencement address

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Former Apple design chief Jony Ive talks up big ideas in his virtual commencement speech.
Jony Ive has ended his partnership with Apple, ending a very productive 30-year relationship.
Photo: Nick Knight

Former Apple design chief Jony Ive emphasized the power of imagination and innovation in a virtual commencement address to graduating students from the California College of the Arts.

“Without imagination, without profoundly new thinking, and potent ideas, our practice has no purpose,” Ive said in a stylized video against a black background.

Save $379 on 512GB MacBook Pro refurbs before they’re all gone

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Save on 13.3-inch MacBook Pro from 2020
This deal is good for today only — enjoy it while you can!
Photo: Apple

Pick up a 2020 MacBook Pro refurb on Amazon today and save a whopping $379.01. The renewed units, which look and work as good as new, pack Intel Core i5 processors, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage.

A limited number of units are available and this deal is good for today only. Enjoy it while you can.

Apple Maps’ Look Around feature expands to Atlanta

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Atlanta, GA
Fancy a trip to Atlanta?
Screenshot: Apple

Apple Maps’ “Look Around” featured now works in Atlanta, Georgia, allowing users everywhere to scope out Centennial Olympic Park or Mercedes Benz Stadium as it looks from ground level.

This marks the 29th location that Apple’s rival to Google’s Street View is available in.

Apple parts ways with employee over past ‘misogynistic statements’

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Apple.logo.paris.store

Photo: Josh Davidson/Cult of Mac

Antonio García Martínez, the author of Chaos Monkeys and an ex-Facebook product manager, has been hired and apparently fired by Apple within a matter of weeks for sentiments expressed in his 2016 Silicon Valley memoir.

The book includes a description of women in the San Francisco Bay Area as “soft and weak, cosseted and naive despite their claims of worldliness, and generally full of sh*t.”

M1 iMac can’t match fastest Intel iMacs in early benchmarks

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24-inch iMac with M1 processor released in 2021
The M1 processor in the 24-inch iMac is faster than most Intel iMacs. But not all.
Photo: Apple

The first benchmark scores for the upcoming 24-inch M1 iMac are out, and the all-in-one desktop is just as fast as the laptops and desktop released in 2020 running this processor. And no faster.

That makes the new model 24% quicker than the 21-inch iMac it’s replacing. But it’s slower than the 27-inch iMac introduced in 2020 with a top-tier Intel processor.

Denzel Washington will murder his way through The Tragedy of Macbeth on Apple TV+

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‘The Tragedy Of Macbeth’ starring Denzel Washington will appear on Apple TV+ in Q4 2021.
Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand will star in the Scottish play on Apple TV+.
Photo: Wikipedia

Apple TV+ clearly hopes to win more awards by picking up the rights to The Tragedy Of Macbeth starring Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand. The film is set to premiere in theaters in the fourth quarter of 2021 before hitting Apple’s streaming service.

Add game to your iPhone with GameSir X2 side-by-side game controller

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GameSir X2 Bluetooth Mobile Gaming Controller works with iPhone and Android
The GameSir X2 Bluetooth Mobile Gaming Controller is compatible with Apple Arcade and cloud-gaming services.
Photo: GameSir

Clip the GameSir X2 Bluetooth Mobile Gaming Controller to an iPhone or Android to add physical controls to the handset. It uses a split design that puts the buttons and joysticks on either side of the screen.

GameSir also launched the F7 Claw Tablet Game Controller for larger devices.

You’ve got to see this iPhone notch ‘fix’ to believe it

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This iPhone M1 concept is by Antonio De Rosa from ADRStudio.
A new concept design thinks outside of the box on removing the iPhone notch.
Screenshot: ADRStudio/ConceptsiPhone

The screen notch isn’t anyone’s favorite iPhone feature, and an iPhone concept makes a radical suggestion for repositioning it: the artist suggests stretching the top of the handset to make room for the front-facing camera and other sensors.

Watch a pretend Apple advertisement from the concept artist demonstrating the innovative new device now:

High school student makes impressive 3D renders of big-time Mac leaks [Setups]

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Ian Zelbo's monitor shows a render of a leaked MacBook Air concept he worked on with Jon Prosser. on.
Ian Zelbo's previous monitor shows a render of a leaked MacBook Air concept he worked on with Jon Prosser.
Photo: Ian Zelbo

It’s not every day you come across a high school student running a successful tech-based business – never mind one whose 3D renderings are routinely seen by thousands of people. But that’s the case with 17-year-old New Yorker Ian Zelbo and his RendersbyIan.

His detailed and realistic renders of leaked tech products, including Macs, get loads of exposure on social media from his clients, the likes of Jon Prosser of @FrontPageTech and Sam Kohl of iupdate.