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News - page 415

Apple’s biggest supplier is already making trial lenses for Apple Glass

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Apple Glass
Don't expect it right away, though.
Image: Jon Prosser/Front Page Tech

Foxconn has reportedly started trial production on polarized, semi-transparent AR lenses that could be used for Apple Glass, according to The Information.

The Friday paywalled report says the lenses are between one and two years away from entering mass production. However, they have already passed the prototyping phase, having been in development for three years.

Apple Pay customers can get 50% off Snapfish photo books and cards

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Snapfish
Apple Pay's latest summer offer.
Photo: Apple

The latest Apple Pay summer offer promises customers half off the cost of Snapfish photo books, cards, and more — so long as they pay for their purchase using Apple’s mobile payments service and a special code.

Snapfish is a web-based photo-printing service that lets users upload images and have them printed out as photo albums, greetings cards, and the like. The latest Apple Pay deal (one of the best yet) gives customers 50% off purchases through July 15.

Apple Silicon could be powering MacBook Air by the end of 2020

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Your old MacBook Air might be worth a pretty penny.
Coming soon to a MacBook Air near you.
Photo: Markus Spiske/Unsplash CC

Apple will ship its first Apple Silicon-based MacBook Air late 2020 or early 2021, reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed in a note published Friday.

Kuo has previously said a 13.3-inch Apple Silicon MacBook Pro will ship before the end of the year. However, this is the first time he has talked about the future of the MacBook Air line.

The (potentially) best news of all? Kuo thinks the switch from Intel CPUs could make the MacBook Air even cheaper than current models.

Mac shipments shoot up an amazing 36%

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Apple iMac 2019
Mac shipments went through the roof last quarter.
Photo: Apple

Shipments of Apple Macs increased a full 36% year-over-year during the second quarter of 2020, according to a market-research firm. The growth is pegged to individuals, companies and schools buying computers to make remote work and learning possible during the COVID-19 pandemic.

iOS 13.6 golden master means the future’s almost here

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iPhone car key feature is a rumor no more.
A fortunate few can use iOS 13.6 to unlock their car. Only a handful of models are supported at launch.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple seeded what might be the last version of iOS 13 and the iPad equivalent exclusively to developers on Thursday. This “golden master” update brings the debut of CarKey, allowing iPhones to unlock or start vehicles. There are other new features as well, not just bug fixes.

In addition, what are apparently the final betas of watchOS 6.2.8 and tvOS 13.4.8 went to developers too.

Samsung might follow Apple by not including a charger with handsets

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Does everyone really need a Samsung charger in 2020?
A free Samsung charger with every phone might soon be a thing of the past.
Photo: Samsung

Samsung is reportedly considering not bundling a wall charger with future phones. This comes after reports that archrival Apple is considering the same move for the iPhone 12.

The goal is allegedly the same for both companies: reducing production costs. Taking the charger out of the box would also make shipping cheaper.

New Apple course shows educators how to teach coding with Swift and Xcode

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Apple-in-school
A new course taught by Apple will help educators learn to teach Swift and Xcode.
Photo: Apple

Apple on Thursday unveiled a free course to train educators to teach others how to program in Swift and Xcode, tools used to write apps for iPhone and Mac.

In addition, Apple improved its Develop in Swift and Everyone Can Code curricula. And it’s adding new remote learning resources for parents and teachers educating children at home.

Quibi insists that it has a lot more fans than reported

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Quibi
Quibi is taking a different approach with streaming.
Photo: Quibi

According to mobile analytics firm Sensor Tower, 4.5 million people have downloaded bite-sized video subscription service Quibi since its highly publicized launch. Of these, around 8% are continuing to use the service.

However, Quibi says that this estimated number of paid subscribers is “incorrect by an order of magnitude.”

Apple’s retail tax bill on UK sales is surprisingly low

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Cash app with cash money
Apple paid $7.8 million, according to a new report.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

Apple paid 6.2 million British pounds ($7.8 million) on U.K. retail sales of $1.37 billion and gross profits of $337 million last year, a report published by i News claims.

The publication viewed Apple’s latest annual results filing at Companies House, and found that Apple Retail UK was able to reduce its pre-tax profit to only $39 million after accounting for costs and expenses.

TikTok reigns as world’s most downloaded non-gaming iOS app in June

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TikTok continues to dominate the App Store in 2020.
TikTok continues to dominate the App Store in 2021.
Photo: Kon Karampelas/Unsplash CC

TikTok enjoyed another month at the top of the App Store charts in June, becoming the most downloaded non-gaming iOS app, according to a new report from Sensor Tower.

The leading app analytics firm says the Chinese social video app was installed more than 87 million times last month on iOS and Android. That represents an impressive 52.7% increase from June 2019.

European Union will rule on Apple’s $16 billion tax case next week

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International governments plan to rethink tax rules for the ‘digital age’
Apple has been disputing the fine since the moment it was levied.
Photo: Pixabay/Pexels CC

The second-highest court in the European Union will make a ruling next week regarding Apple and Ireland’s appeal of a $16 billion fine in back taxes for Apple.

The European Commission ordered Apple pay the sum in August 2016. This was based on a so-called sweetheart deal under which Apple allegedly received favorable tax rates in Ireland.

Latest Tablo over-the-air DVR holds 700 hours of commercial-free shows

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The Tablo QUAD 1TB can hold a crazy amount of TV shows
A new Tablo over-the-air DVR holds about a month of HD shows, and can stream them to your Apple device without ads.
Photo: Tablo/Cult of Mac

A Tablo over-the-air DVR released this week boasts 1 terabyte of internal storage. That’s enough space to hold 700 hours of HD shows. This digital video recorder from Nuvyyo captures up to four shows at once off free local airwaves, then streams them to a phone or tablet without ads.

Apple retail stores launch one-on-one ‘Shop with a Specialist’ service

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TO deal with COVID-19, Apple Store offer ‘Shop with a Specialist’ service.
“Shop with a Specialist” puts you one-on-one with a salesperson at Apple Stores.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Schedule a visit to an Apple Store and you’ll have an expert standing by just to answer your questions. That’s the promise of the “Shop with a Specialist” program that launched Wednesday.

While this is a touch of luxury, it’s also a necessity brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Apple is trying to keep its retail locations from being overcrowded. That apparently means limiting the number of customers to one per salesperson.

Tom Hanks dives deep into Greyhound‘s thrilling sea battles

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‘Greyhound’ launches on Apple TV+ on July 10.
Tom Hanks gives us an inside look at the naval action shown in his new Apple TV+ film, Greyhound.
Photo: Apple

Tom Hanks wrote and stars in Greyhound, a feature film about World War II debuting Friday on Apple TV+. In a new video, the beloved actor talks about the real-life story it depicts: the challenges of Allied ships crossing the Atlantic infested with Nazi submarines.

Watch Hanks’ inside look at his upcoming film now:

Thunderbolt 4 brings only incremental advances over Thunderbolt 3 [UPDATED]

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Thunderbolt 4 coming later in 2020
Apple and Intel developed Thunderbolt, and a new version debuts later in 2020.
Photo: Intel

Intel unveiled the specs for Thunderbolt 4 on Wednesday without bringing dramatic changes to this connectivity standard built into most Macs. Still, any computer running the new version has to offer an upgraded set of specifications, including the ability to handle a pair of 4K monitors.

Update: Apple promised to build Thunderbolt 4 into future Macs. “We remain committed to the future of Thunderbolt and will support it in Macs with Apple silicon,” an Apple spokesperson told The Verge.

FTC and Justice Department reportedly investigate TikTok

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U.S. investigations of TikTok gather steam.
TikTok's not going away just yet.
Photo: Kon Karampelas/Unsplash CC

Both the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department launched probes into allegations that TikTok breached an agreement regarding child-privacy protections, Reuters reported Wednesday.

News of the investigations follows a story earlier this week claiming the U.S. government might ban TikTok for security reasons.

Apple takes its iPhone independent repair program international

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Apple repair program
Apple's making it easier to get your out-of-warranty iPhone safely repaired.
Photo: Apple

Apple has added new locations in the U.S., Europe, and Canada to its out-of-warranty Independent Repair Provider Program for iPhones.

The program launched in the United States last fall. Today it is expanding out of the U.S. for the first time. It’s also announcing that a total of more than 700 registered independent repair providers are now available across America.

HomeKit-compatible EufyCam 2 Pro smart camera now available from Best Buy

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Anker eufyCam 2 protects your privacy.
Anker eufyCam 2 protects your privacy.
Photo: Anker

Anker has launched its new HomeKit-compatible smart security camera. The EufyCam 2 Pro, exclusive to Best Buy, boasts 2K resolution and free local video storage.

It also carries over the 365-day battery life, on-device human detection software, and “user-friendly interface” of the previous generation EufyCam camera.

Steve Jobs was talking about the power of remote working back in 1990

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Steve Jobs 1990 interview
Jobs was predicting the power of Slack and similar tools 30 years ago.
Photo: The Machine That Changed the World

As a result of coronavirus-induced lockdowns, the way we work has changed dramatically in 2020. Plenty of employees and businesses are now talking seriously about remote working and whether it represents a viable path forward for reimagining employment.

It turns out that Steve Jobs was talking about this exact topic 30 years ago. No, Jobs didn’t foresee COVID-19. But an old interview clips unearthed by journalist Jon Erlichman shares Jobs’ thoughts on the way technology can transform the way that you and I work.

Check it out.

iOS 14 could allow Apple Pay users to pay up by scanning QR codes or barcodes

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QR codes
That's a whole lot of QR codes.
Photo: Thomas Leuthard/Flickr

iOS 14 will allow users to make payments using QR codes with Apple Pay, a hidden feature in the Wallet app discovered by 9to5Mac suggests.

While the feature isn’t functional yet, it will allow users to point their iPhone camera at a QR code or barcode in order to pay bills. Apple didn’t make any mention of it at WWDC 2020, but that could potentially be transformative for scan-as-you-go shopping and other scenarios.

Apple re-closes retail stores in Melbourne, Australia after coronavirus spike

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Apple Chadstone store
Apple Chadstone is one of the stores to re-close.
Photo: Apple

Apple is re-closing four more of its Apple Stores in Melbourne, Australia as coronavirus cases spike again in the region.

Apple Chadstone, Apple Southland, Apple Doncaster, and Apple Fountain Gate will all be temporarily closing down, along with Apple Highpoint, which closed its doors last week. Australian Apple Stores began reopening two months ago, after having been shuttered since March 14.