Apple just invited the world to an event on October 13. No agenda was announced, but there’s little doubt the star will be the iPhone 12, the first iOS device with 5G wireless networking. Apple hinted at the coming upgrade with the title of the event: “Hi, Speed.”
But a handful of other products might also be on the docket, including the first MacBook built around Apple Silicon rather than an Intel processor.
Turn-based strategy game Total War Saga: Troy is coming to Mac, two months after it debuted on Windows.
The game, which received positive reviews upon its August release for PCs, is set during the Trojan War and the Aegean civilization. Players must engage in battles, harvest resources like wood and bronze, and maintain their approval from the Greek gods. This is the second game in the Total War Saga subseries, following 2018’s Thrones of Britannia.
The U.S. House of Representatives antitrust report on Big Tech reportedly includes a “thinly veiled call to break up” the tech giants, according to a report by Reuters.
The House antitrust subcommittee could publish its report on Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Alphabet this week. However, while it’s not been published yet, it’s already causing controversy.
Security researcher Niels Hofmans of ironPeak has confirmed a T2 chip security flaw. These chips have been found in all new Macs made since 2018.
At its worst, the vulnerability — which is reportedly “unpatchable” — could allow an attacker to interfere with Macs in “classic evil maid” attacks involving an unintended computer. This might open the door for new ways for law enforcement to access suspects’ Macs to retrieve information, for example.
TikTok pulled in more than $130.5 million in worldwide user spending in September, making it the top-grossing non-gaming app in the App Store — despite the various existential threats it faces.
In a new report by app analytics firm Sensor Tower, the company notes that user spending on TikTok in September was 7.9 times greater than this time last year. That $130m sum covers both iOS and Google Play revenue.
Apple’s VP of Platform Architecture Tim Millet says the company’s A14 chip, which debuted last month in the fourth-generation iPad Air, will take machine learning to the next level.
“It takes my breath away when I see what people can do with the A14 Bionic chip,” Millet told German magazine Stern.
Manufactured using a 5nm process, the mobile chip boasts an astonishing 11.8 billion transistors, up significantly from the 8.5 billion of the A13. It is expected to power this year’s upcoming iPhones.
Ahead of the expected launch of its over-the-ear headphones, dubbed AirPods Studio, and a possible new HomePod speaker, Apple has stopped selling headphones and wireless smart speakers made by rival firms such as Sonos, Bose and Logitech.
The rival manufacturers previously had their third-party products available on Apple’s Online Store. However, as Bloomberg reported Monday, they have now vanished. Employees at brick-and-mortar Apple Stores have also been removing the products from shelves.
The next Bruce Springsteen album Letter To You will debut on the same day as an Apple TV+ documentary offering a behind-the-scenes look at the live studio album’s creation.
In addition, the Letter To You documentary will include full performances from the E Street Band playing songs from the new release.
After months on hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic — and a significant rewrite — filming for season two of The Morning Show reportedly restarts later in October. And Steve Carell is allegedly rejoining the cast.
New Apple TV+ nature docuseries Tiny World was definitely not shot on iPhone.
Documentarians who captured those pint-size critters’ everyday adventures show off some of their crazy camera rigs in a new behind-the-scenes video. And the photo gear looks absolutely crazy. The clip also shows off some of the incredible footage in the series, which debuted Friday on Apple TV+.
Sanho’s HyperDrive Viper can simultaneously connect a MacBook to two 4K displays at 60 Hz. And it has eight more ports, allowing a wide range of accessories to be accessed at once.
The USB-C hub launched Monday, as is available now.
Apple updated the mask-wearing emoji in the latest iOS 14.2 beta so it shows the person is happy to be wearing a mask. It’s a change very much in sync with 2020, when health experts say masks are a vital part of preventing the spread of COVID-19.
On Monday, Spotify announced a new feature that lets iOS and Android users hunt for songs by searching for lyrics. This ability has long been built into Apple Music’s feature set. However, now it is available for those using the leading streaming music service by subscribers.
Using the new search by lyrics feature couldn’t be any easier. In the regular search box on the Spotify app, just type the lyric you’re looking for and the song(s) it comes from should pop up in the search results.
An assortment of Disney movies are now available in 4K HDR quality on iTunes. If you’ve not bought them already, the movies can be purchased for the same price as their previous HD counterparts. If you previously purchased the HD version, it will be automatically upgraded to 4K for free.
This includes the Star Wars movies, much of the Marvel catalog, and various Pixar and Disney films — with more being added all the time.
Tim Cook quoted poet Maya Angelou in a tweet commemorating Steve Jobs on Monday, the ninth anniversary of the Apple co-founder’s death.
“A great soul never dies,” Cook’s message reads. “It brings us together again and again.” Cook also added a personal note: “You’re always with us Steve, your memory connects and inspires us every day.”
Meanwhile, on the Apple website, admirers’ remembrances of Jobs flowed across a tribute page.
More than two months after Virginia became the first state to use Apple and Google’s Exposure Notifications API, a total of 10 states now distribute their own contact-tracing apps to fight COVID-19.
The two most recent — New York and New Jersey — launched their apps last week.
Apple has updated its Leadership page to officially show Phil Schiller’s replacement by Greg Joswiak as Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing.
Schiller was named an Apple Fellow in August, an honorific title that Apple has given to a handful of top employees over the years. Schiller, who still appears on Apple’s list of leaders, will continue to head up the App Store and appear at Apple Events.
When Apple Fitness+ arrives later this year, it will live or die on the motivational skills of its talented team of high-energy trainers. Our cover story this week offers introduces you to the pace-setting athletes Apple enlisted to whip us all into shape.
Plus, with iPhone 12 right around the corner, we’ve got more rumors to peruse. And with iOS 14 and watchOS7 already here, we’ve got some timely how-tos. All that good stuff comes wrapped up in this week’s issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. Download it for free and enjoy it on your iOS device, or get the links below.
The iPad Air 4 is the first computer of any kind unveiled with the Apple A14 processor. The tablet isn’t out yet, but an early Geekbench 5 benchmark score apparently shows it’s nearly 50% faster than its predecessor.
This bodes well for the iPhone 12, which is also expected to run Apple’s new chip.
Over the past 12 months, Apple quietly assembled an elite team of fitness trainers from around the world. Bound to secrecy, they’ve been moving across the country to start new lives in Los Angeles, without even being able to tell their friends exactly what they’re up to.
These are the stars of Cupertino’s latest subscription service, Apple Fitness+. It’s the first Apple-branded product to focus so intensely on a handful of individuals. So, as you’d expect, they’re a pretty extraordinary bunch. Let’s meet them!
Enjoy one of Amazon’s biggest discounts yet on the newest AirPods with a Wireless Charging Case. You can get yours, brand-new, for just $151. That’s $48 off the usual price for a limited time only.
Apple is giving Snoopy his own animated comedy. As part of the 70th anniversary of Peanuts, Charlie Brown’s imaginative beagle and his pal Woodstock will be the stars of The Snoopy Show.
Watch the just-released trailer now.
YouTube once again allows iOS 14 users to watch video from its website in a small window while another application is open. Picture in Picture support had been removed several weeks ago for iPhone users who aren’t a YouTube Premium subscriber.
This only includes video streamed from Safari. Google’s YouTube application has never supported Picture in Picture.
Slash Quest is a hero’s journey where the sword is the hero. Shep the simple shepard is just along for the ride as Swordie the talking sword sets off on a quest to save the Queendom.
Slash Quest from Noodlecake debuted Friday on Apple Arcade.
If you upgraded to iOS or iPadOS 14.0.1, it’s no longer possible to downgrade to the earlier, launch version of iOS 14. Apple stopped signing the original iOS 14, thereby stopping users from installing it on their devices.
Apple introduced iOS 14.0.1 last week. The first update to iOS 14, it introduced a bug fix to a problem that kept users from permanently selecting a new email app or web browser.