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iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro Max, HomePod mini are available for preorder now [Update]

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Preorders start for HomePod mini, iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone 12 mini on November 6.
The wait is almost over for HomePod mini, along with iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone 12 mini.
Photo: Apple

Update: The iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro Max, and HomePod mini are all available for preorder now. The iPhone models will start delivery on November 13, while the HomePod mini will ship November 16.

More than the largest and smallest iPhone 12 models can be preordered Friday. The HomePod mini will be available to preorder that same day, too.

All three devices will go up at the same time, Nov. 6 at 8 am EST.

PSA: New episode of Long Way Up and Oprah Conversation on Apple TV+

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Oprah Apple TV+
Oprah meets Stevie Wonder.
Photo: Apple

It’s Friday, which means only one thing: weekend tomorrow, more post-election craziness, fresh uploads on Apple TV+.

New content is slightly thin on the ground this week, with only two new shows debuting.  This week, those include a new celebrity interview on The Oprah Conversation and a fresh episode of the travelog series Long Way Up. Here’s what you need to know.

iOS 14.2 release offers new emoji and Shazam integration to everyone

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Final versions of iOS 14.2 and iPadOS 14.2 were released to the general public on Nov. 5.
iOS 14.2 is out! And the release notes are... wrong.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple released iOS 14.2 to everyone on Thursday. It offers iPhone users plenty of fun new emoji, as well as Shazam music recognition integrated into the Control Center. Tablet users can install iPadOS 14.2 with the same features.

At the same time came the debut of watchOS 7.1 and tvOS 14.2. And users of older devices will find security fixes in iOS 12.4.9 and iPadOS 12.4.9.

Nvidia cloud gaming could bring Fortnite back to iPhone

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Epic Games v. Apple gets serious next spring.
Fortnite is back, iPhone users. Well, maybe.
Graphic: Cult of Mac

The latest version of Fortnite could come back to iPhone. But it won‘t be in the App Store. Instead, a version of the Nvidia GeForce Now cloud gaming service is reportedly headed for Apple handsets and tablets, and that’ll bring a huge library of games… including Fortnite.

For some reason, everyone’s playing post-apocalyptic mobile games in 2020

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State of Survival game
Okay, so 2020 hasn't given us zombies. Yet.
Photo: State of Survival

With everything that’s going on in 2020, the last thing you’d expect people would want to do to relax is to play a post-apocalyptic game. Right? Right?!

Not according to a new report by app analytics platform, Sensor Tower. It claims that player spending on games featuring post-apocalyptic settings has increased a massive 106% year-over-year in the United States so far in 2020. Developers take note: That makes it the fastest-growing game genre by revenue.

What’s old is new: Apple will push its older iPhones over the holidays

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iPhone sales
Expect to see more iPhone XR handsets on shelves this holidays.
Photo: Apple

With coronavirus-related production challenges stifling the supply of iPhone 12 models, Apple is reportedly turning to older models to sell during the all-important holiday season.

According to a new report, published Thursday, Apple is seeking to “make up for shortages of its 5G lineup” by upping its orders for the iPhone 11, iPhone SE and iPhone XR handsets. Don’t expect to see a whole lot of iPhone 11 Pro or 11 Pro Max handsets, though!

Apple is already going top speed with Apple Silicon MacBook production

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Apple Silicon
Apple will show off its first Apple Silicon MacBooks next week.
Photo: Apple

Ahead of next week’s “One More Thing” Apple event, the company is ramping up production of MacBooks using its new in-house CPU architecture. According to Nikkei Asia, Apple aims to manufacture 2.5 million MacBooks with Apple Silicon by early 2021.

To put that in context, it’s about a fifth of the 12.6 million MacBooks Apple shipped in 2019. The report continues that Apple will introduce other MacBooks with its Apple Silicon chips in the second quarter of 2021. The goal is to cease producing any Intel Macs inside of two years.

Is this our first glimpse of the next-gen AirPods?

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Are these the next AirPods
The basic AirPods are in line for a Pro redesign.
Photo: 52Audio

Apple’s third-generation AirPods reportedly will look very similar to the AirPods Pro, and a new photo shared online may give us our first glimpse of the new design.

Posted by the website 52Audio, and linked to by Japanese Apple blog MacOtakara, the image shows what could be the top of Apple’s AirPods 3 and the enclosure cover for the new charging case.

First iPads with mini-LED displays will be a feast for the eyes

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2020 iPad Pro with Apple Pencil
The first mini-LED iPad should look amazing.
Photo: Apple

Evidence continues to grow that 2021 will bring an iPad with mini-LED, a type of display that will make the tablet look noticeably better than Apple’s current models.

An unconfirmed report says LG Display will supply this cutting-edge screen to Apple, with production supposedly begining before the end of 2020. Earlier leaks indicated this will go into an iPad Pro that’ll debut in the first half of 2021.

Apple Pay is gearing up to launch in Israel

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Apple in talks to bring Apple Pay to Israel
Apple has been in talks to bring Apple Pay to Israel for a while.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple Pay is finally gearing up to launch in Israel, marking the 61st territory to offer Apple’s mobile payment solution. Apple has been supposedly negotiating for months to bring Apple Pay to Israel, six years after the service initially launched in the United States.

The Isracard Group, a financial group including MasterCard and American Express Israel, will support the service. No launch date has yet been announced, although the deal reportedly runs for four years.

Evergreen smash hit Pokémon Go rakes in $1 billion this year alone

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birthday
Still raking in the cash more than four years later.
Photo: Niantic

When it comes to people’s spare dollars, Pokémon Go really is taking that “gotta catch ’em all” mantra seriously!

According to a new report by app analytics firm Sensor Tower, Niantic’s still-ultra-popular AR game, which launched in July 2016, has raked in $1 billion in the first 10 months of 2020 alone. Lifetime spending, meanwhile, hit $4.2 billion globally.

iPhone 5c may be officially ‘vintage,’ but its mission is still very much alive

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iphone5c
The 'flop' that really wasn't.
Photo: Apple

The iPhone 5c is officially considered “vintage” by Apple. While that term might summon images of hipster retro chic, it means that iPhone 5c owners can still get support from Apple, but only “subject to availability of inventory.”

That puts the divisive device one step closer to joining Apple’s “obsolete” list, at which point the company will no longer service it. But while the 2013-era iPhone 5c may be reaching the end of the line, its mission remains very present at Apple.

In fact, it’s much more significant than many remember. A budget device that packed many top-of-the-line features — and introduced the concept of launching multiple iPhones in a year — the humble iPhone 5c changed the course of Apple smartphones.

Here’s another clue that Apple’s ‘One More Thing’ is new Macs

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Steve Jobs’ estate triumphs in battle over SteveJobs.com
Steve Jobs announced a dramatically changed MacBook as a “one more thing” before. And Apple might do so again.
Photo: Kazuhiro Shiozawa/Flickr CC

By calling its November product-launch event “One More Thing,” Apple seems to be dropping a hint that history is about to repeat itself.

Way back at Macworld 2006, then-CEO Steve Jobs introduced a MacBook that set a new course for Apple. This came as a “one more thing” addition at the end of his keynote. Something like that might be about to happen again.

iPhone 12 mini charges more slowly with MagSafe

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A smaller battery and slower MagSafe charging seem to be the iPhone 12 mini's only weaknesses.
A smaller battery and slower MagSafe charging seem to be the iPhone 12 mini's only weaknesses.
Photo: Apple

If you’re still on the fence about whether to buy an iPhone 12 mini, here’s one reason you might want to avoid it. Apple’s smallest 2020 iPhone charges more slowly than other models in the lineup when you use the new MagSafe charger.

There’s a massive error with UK’s contact-tracing coronavirus app

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covid.19.coronavirus.graphic1
App may not have been sending out alerts correctly.
Photo: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The UK’s botched contact-tracing COVID app has run into its latest hurdle — this time the fact that thousands of people have been possibly exposed to coronavirus without being told that this is the case.

The reason for this is that the app used the wrong risk threshold to send out warnings. In essence, it assumed that people were too far away for transmission to be possible — even when they weren’t. As a result, “shockingly low” numbers of people received warnings.

Keep your real phone number hidden with a second, ‘burner’ line

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Hushed
Get a second phone number that you can use for Craigslist deals, dates, work calls, and other times when you'd rather keep your real number private.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

The internet changed a lot about how we communicate. But one thing that hasn’t changed is the sensitivity of giving out your personal phone number to randos.

Craigslist, Tinder dates — heck, even work associates — there are lots of people you might not want to be able to reach you on a whim. This inexpensive private phone line offers an invaluable buffer between you and the unknown.

This app lets sexting couples sign an NDA first

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Couple in bed
E-gree is a free legal contract service.
Photo: Womanizer WOW Tech/Unsplash CC

Want to receive an intimate photo from a romantic partner? You’d better be ready to sign on the dotted line (or, at least, the smartphone screen.)

A new app called e-gree allows couples to create legal contracts that could help stop the saucy selfies from being shared without permission. No legal fees involved.

Don’t expect the first Apple Silicon MacBooks to look radically different

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Apple_macbookpro-13-inch_screen_05042020
Don't expect a significant (exterior) redesign for the first MacBook Pro and MacBook Air.
Photo: Apple

Don’t expect to see any major design changes when Apple introduces its first Apple Silicon MacBooks at next week’s “One More Thing” event, claims Bloomberg.

The unprecedented third Apple media event in three months will take place on Tuesday, November 10. At the event, Apple will show off the initial Apple Silicon Macs, first announced at June’s WWDC. But it seems that the MacBooks won’t be getting fancy new exterior redesigns to go along with their new processors.

Want to make a MagSafe accessory for iPhone 12? Follow these guidelines

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MagSafe on iPhone 12 Pro GIF
MagSafe is back — but not as you knew it.
GIF: Apple

Apple has created a guidelines document for third-party manufacturers who want to create their own MagSafe accessories for the iPhone 12.

It contains specific guidance, such as the fact that MagSafe cases must have a a maximum thickness of 2.1mm, and should be capable of clinging on securely to an iPhone without necessarily having to rely on the magnets to do so.

Christopher Walken will surely creep us out in Severance on Apple TV+

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Christopher Walken will be in ‘Severance’ omn Apple TV+.
Christopher Walken can’t stand on a sidewalk without looking frightening.
Photo: Wikipedia CC

Any doubts that the Apple TV+ workplace thriller Severance will be creepy were laid to rest Monday when word got out that Christopher Walken has joined the cast. He’s added an eerie tone to many roles in the past.

He’s just one of multiple big names already involved in the upcoming Apple series. Patricia Arquette is also set to star, while Ben Stiller will direct.

It’s decision time, America!

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iPhone 12 mini versus iPhone 12 Pro Max: One of 2020's toughest decisions.
One of 2020's toughest decisions.
Photos: Apple

Like many other Americans, I face a momentous decision this week. A choice between two polar opposites, each with hard-core backers who say you’re stone-cold crazy if you don’t go with their pick.

I’m talking about, of course, one of the most pressing decisions of 2020: iPhone 12 mini or iPhone 12 Pro Max. They’re the most exciting iPhones in this year’s lineup, for very different reasons.