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News - page 437

Apple opens virtual online storefront experience as most retail locations remain closed

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Not knowing when most of its retail stores will reopen worldwide, Apple re-organizes content virtually to ease the load.
Photo: Apple

With most of its brick-and-mortar locations closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Apple launched Friday an online virtual services store focused on helping customers find and complete no-contact purchases and educate users through on-demand videos.

Titled “Everything you love about our stores is online,” the new hub is linked from the home page of Apple.com and accessible at apple.com/shop.

CBS All Access app adds 100+ Paramount movies to keep you entertained

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CBS All Access now has Star Trek movies to go with its Star Trek shows
CBS All Access now offers a selection of classic dramas, comedies and action flicks from Paramount.
Photo: CBS

The CBS All Access streaming service expanded Thursday, adding dozens of classic movies made by Paramount. Newly added titles include classic films like The Godfather series,Spider-Man and Roman Holiday.

Also appearing today are several Star Trek movies to go with the multiple Star Trek shows that are the highlights of CBS All Access. All of this content can be watched on iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple TV.

Zoom buys startup to bring end-to-end encryption to video calls

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Zoom promises to work harder to protect user privacy.
Zoom calls are already encrypted, and the company committed today to step up to end-to-end encryption.
Photo: Zoom

Zoom on Thursday acquired Keybase for its experience with encryption and security.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought millions of new users to Zoom, but also criticism for weak security. Its stated goal in purchasing the smaller company, which developed its own messaging and file-sharing service, is to bring end-to-end encryption to Zoom meetings.

Apple TV reigns with best picture quality among streaming devices in pandemic’s early days

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Apple TV Siri Remote
Streaming video quality during early 2020 was above par using Apple TV devices.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

While it might be far down the pecking order of best selling streaming boxes, the Apple TV and Apple TV 4K got high marks in the first quarter of this year for best picture quality speed and shortest lag time in starting videos, according to data collected from billions of sensors embedded into video applications.

The results are a clear sign of how well streaming devices and services performed in a period where more people around the world were homebound due to the coronavirus pandemic and turned to watching television en masse.

Gorgeous iPhone 12 renders could spill new camera secrets

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Render shows iPhone 12 camera with three lenses
The basic iPhone 12 might have three camera lenses, just as the current iPhone Pro models do.
Photo: Pigtou/xleaks7

The 6.1-inch iPhone 12 will jump from dual to triple camera lenses, if an unconfirmed report is correct. New renders supposedly showing other details this handset came to light as well.

If the basic 2020 iPhone gets a big camera upgrade, this would further blur the line between the iPhone 12 and the more expensive iPhone 12 Pro models. Previous leaks indicate that every iOS device coming this fall will have 5G and an OLED screen.

This is how Superman sees iPad Pro’s Magic Keyboard

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iPad Pro Magic Keyboard in X-ray
There’s no need to teardown an iPad Pro Magic Keyboard when you can discover its secrets with X-rays.
Photo: iFixit

Apple’s Magic Keyboard add-on for the iPad Pro looks amazing. And it appears even more spectacular when iFixit X-rayed this accessory to see the inner details of the scissor-switch keys, the trackpad and the hinges that make an iPad seem to float.

50 Cent says he talked Steve Jobs into paying him to promote the iPod

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iPod product placement 1
This closeup reportedly cost Apple six figures.
Photo: 50 Cent

Rapper 50 Cent claims that he personally pitched Steve Jobs on paying him $150,000 to promote the iPod in his 2003 music video for the hit song “P.I.M.P.”

“You think you could sell an iPod? I could sell an iPod,” 50 recalled telling Jobs in a recent interview. “Jimmy [Iovine] will tell you, in that 10 minutes that I sat there, I got [Jobs] to give me $150,000. [It was] the first time Apple did product placement in anything, any music video.”

2020 13-inch MacBook Pro review roundup: It’s all about the keyboard

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The reviews are in. Apple's new Magic Keyboard gets the spotlight.
Photo: Apple

The first reviews of the new 13-inch MacBook Pro all praise the laptop’s Magic Keyboard and laud the demise of the pesky butterfly keyboard.

Across the board, reviewers love the keyboard upgrade. But they also appreciate the faster processor and doubled storage in the long-overdue update. Here’s a roundup of the very first reviews of the 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro, which Apple released on May 4.

Brydge Pro+ firmware update a good start, but trackpad issues remain

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Other improvements are on the way.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Brydge on Wednesday rolled out the first firmware update for its Pro+ keyboard for iPad Pro. It’s designed to fix some of the issues users and reviewers have been experiencing with the built-in trackpad — and it’s certainly a good start.

But there are some things you should be aware of before you rush off to buy a Pro+ for your iPad Pro.

Apple’s first Mini LED products might see delays into 2021

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Get ready to go dark with macOS Mojave Dark Mode.
An update to the iMac Pro with mini LED technology might hit store shelves a little later than originally expected.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s first products to incorporate Mini LED display technology might not make it onto store shelves until 2021 due to development delays related to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report Thursday from industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Those products could include everything from iPad’s to iMacs and laptops.

Apple awards $10 million to company making sample collection kits for COVID-19 testing

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Advanced Manufacturing Fund COVID-19
Money comes from Apple's Advanced Manufacturing Fund.
Photo: Apple

Apple is awarding $10 million from its Advanced Manufacturing Fund to COPAN Diagnostics, a company making sample collection kits for COVID-19 coronavirus testing.

This funding will let COPAN “rapidly accelerate” its supply of collection kits for hospitals across the United States, helping it expand production to more than a million kits per week by early July.

How 2020’s 13-inch MacBook Pro benchmarks stack up against Apple’s other laptops

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macBookpro
Looks stunning. But is it worth the upgrade versus last year's model?
Photo: Apple

Want to know how the new 13-inch MacBook Pro stacks up against its predecessor or other MacBooks on the market? A new report by Japanese language Apple blog Macotakara compares the Geekbench CPU scores for various MacBooks.

The new 13-inch MacBook Pro, announced earlier this week, has a Geekbench score of 4565 and 1093 for multi and single core scores for its Intel Core i7 variant. Meanwhile, the lower spec Intel Core i5-sporting MacBook Pro model scores 4489 and 1066. That’s only marginally better than 2019 13-inch models.

Although, if pure processing power is what you’re after, you’re better off opting for the 16-inch MacBook Pro Apple debuted last year!

Take a tour of the Jamestown lunar base from Apple TV+ show For All Mankind

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Jamestown For All Mankind
Come and take a look inside.
Photo: Apple TV+

Apple TV+ show For All Mankind is currently between seasons — with season one concluded, but season two stalled by the same production challenges facing everyone in Hollywood right now.

To make sure that the retro space drama stays in people’s minds, however, Apple Wednesday dropped a new video providing a narrated tour of one of the show’s locations. Check it out below.

Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre are searching for the ‘next Steve Jobs’

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Jimmy Iovine on stage at an Apple event.
Photo: Apple

Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Drew, two of the high profile executives Apple brought in with its $3 billion purchase of Beats, are profiled in the new issue of GQ. While both have stepped back from their daily involvement with Apple, the article nonetheless briefly touches on Cupertino’s 2014 Beats purchase — and why Iovine says it made total sense for Apple.

Iovine, who stepped aside as head of Apple Music in 2018, said that he and Dre now spend their time searching for the next Steve Jobs, via a focus on education.

Australian Apple Stores reopen for business after coronavirus lockdown

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Apple Store Bondi Australia
Apple Bondi is one of the 21 Apple Stores that reopened in Oz.
Photo: Apple

On Thursday, Australia became the first country outside of China to reopen large numbers of Apple Stores as 21 of its 22 retail outlets opened their doors again for the first time in more than six weeks.

The Australian Apple Stores, like all others outside China, have been closed since March 14. They were temporarily shuttered due to the spread of COVID-19.

Apple Watch still dominates rapidly growing smartwatch market

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Apple Watch Series 5 info graph face with little alien
Apple Watch makes up more than half of the total smartwatch market, which is expanding strongly.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

Apple Watch made up a whopping 55.5% of global smartwatch shipments in the first three months of the year, according to a report released Wednesday by a market-research firm.

Apple shipments grew significantly, and so did those of its top competitors. Still, the COVID-19 epidemic is hurting smartwatch sales, and is expected to continue to do so.

A minimalist videography setup that Jony Ive would love [Setups]

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This WFH setup is both awesome and affordable
This sleek setup is both beautiful and affordable
Photo: @simplytom_

It looks like Thomas Parson, a videographer from Wales, works in ex-Apple designer Jony Ive’s famous white room, using just a MacBook Pro and a 24-inch ASUS monitor, with an iPad as a second screen.

He props up the MacBook in a special vertical laptop stand that nicely adds to the overall minimalist design of his rig. He uses Apple’s Magic Keyboard and Mouse and for audio he has a duo of Logitech desk speakers and a pair of Razer gaming headphones.

Even before its COVID-19 app launches, UK considers switching to Apple’s contact-tracing approach

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Second thoughts on Apple/Google contact tracing by NHS?
Photo: World Health Organization

Great Britain’s National Health Service reportedly asked the developers of its COVID-19 app to investigate switching to Apple and Google’s contact-tracing approach even as its U.K. launch approaches. The move came after widespread concerns over privacy issues and battery life, according to a published report Wednesday.

iOS 13.5 beta simplifies sharing medical ID info with emergency dispatchers

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iOS 13.5 beta 4 makes sharing medical ID a snap.
With iOS 13.5, your iPhone can share medical ID info with emergency dispatchers.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

iPhone and Apple Watch will soon make it easy to share medical ID information during emergency calls. Basic details like allergies and medications can be sent to a dispatcher during the call.

This feature appeared in iOS 13.5 developer beta 4, which debuted on Wednesday.

Shaken, but a little stirred: Designer revamps G4 tower into McMartini cocktail cabinet

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A total show piece: The Power Mac G4 cocktail cabinet known as the McMartini.
A G4 tower show piece.
Photo: James Burde

When a Mac runs its course, most of us would sell it, dump it, or bury it in the attic. Not James Burde.

As a designer and architect at Teiki Design Studio in Vermont east of Burlington, Burde spent his spare time transforming an old Power Mac G4 tower into a cocktail cabinet, aptly named the McMartini.

“It was a flash of inspiration,” Burde told Cult of Mac. “I wanted it to be a gift for my brother and hand it over to him and he’s been using it now.”

All the ways iPad Air whips Microsoft’s new Surface Go 2

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Microsoft Surface Go 2
The newly-unveiled Microsoft Surface Go 2 has to take on the iPad Air 3.
Photo: Microsoft

Microsoft on Wednesday bumped up the display size of its mid-range tablet, just as Apple did last year. The newly-announced Surface Go 2 has a 10.5-inch screen, as does the iPad Air 3.

And this Windows tablet has a range of other enhancements to allow it to better compete with its iPadOS rival. But it doesn’t often come out ahead.