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Verizon again gives customers 15GB of free wireless data to stay connected during lockdown

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Verizon
Verizon offers free wireless data to help its customers be productive from home or keep entertained.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

In May, Verizon Wireless customers get an additional 15GB of mobile data for free for a second month of the COVID-19 crisis.

Many people under stay-at-home orders during the pandemic depend on their iPhone, Android or mobile hotspot to connect to the internet, and hence the world.

Brilliant iOS 14 concept packs tons of cutting-edge features

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New iOS 14 concept video includes home screen widgets
Home screen widgets are rumored for iOS 14. A concept video shows what they might look like.
Photo: The Hacker 34

An iOS 14 concept video shows how an iPhone might look if it gains home screen widgets, as has been rumored.

Plus, it envisions several features currently available for iPad jumping to iPhone, like Split Screen multitasking, a floating Dock, and more.

Watch it now:

iOS app shows virus lockdown leads to remarkably cleaner skies

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IQAir app showing LA air quality in coronavirus
Los Angeles has cleaner air under COVID-19 restrictions.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

A pandemic that kills thousands offers no silver linings.

But stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of COVID-19 shows us a window for what living with clean air is like.

An air quality tech company, whose global measurements can be monitored on an iOS app, says greenhouse gas emissions are so low right now, Los Angeles has the cleanest air of all metropolitans areas in the U.S.

Zoom 5.0 aims to stamp out Zoombombing

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Zoom 5.0 brings much-needed security enhancements hoping to end Zoombombing.
When you’re having a Zoom meeting and Satan drops in unexpectedly? That’s Zoombombing.
Photo: Zoom/Cult of Mac

Zoom on Wednesday committed to upgrading the encryption in its video-chatting app. And Zoom 5.0, which will be out within the week, will include additional security controls for meeting hosts, like the ability to report disruptive users.

Use of this platform rose enormously since people around the world went into self quarantine. And criticism of Zoom’s security and privacy controls also increased dramatically as Zoombombing became a thing.

Get an extra $10 for your old Apple devices in our Earth Day promo

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iPhone 8 iPad Macbook
Sell today to earn even more!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Sell your old Apple devices to Cult of Mac now to earn an additional $10 for Earth Day. We typically pay more than other buyback services, and we cough up real cash, fast!

Find out how much your old iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and other Apple devices are really worth — and use our promo code to get even more.

Twelve South’s stunning SurfacePad comes to iPhone 11 series

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Twelve-South-SurfacePad-iPhone-11
Orders yours today from $39.99.
Photo: Twelve South

Twelve South’s stunning SurfacePad is a case (kind of) for iPhone owners who hate cases — and it’s now available for iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max.

SurfacePad is a sheet of high-end leather that sticks to the back of your device and wraps around to cover its display. It keeps your iPhone free from scracthes, without the drawbacks of a traditional case.

Order yours today from the Cult of Mac Store.

Sorry, FaceTime, no Zoom boom for you

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Group FaceTime is a great way to stay in touch with your family and friends during coronavirus quarantine.
Group FaceTime use apparently exists mainly in Apple publicity pictures.
Photo: Apple

Americans love Apple’s video chatting app FaceTime, according to the results of a survey released Wednesday. But they don’t use it for group chats. As a result, use of FaceTime hasn’t increased at all while millions of people around the world self quarantine.

Instead, rival Zoom has enormously increased in popularity in recent weeks.

AppleCare+ for iPad Pro includes coverage for new Magic Keyboard

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AppleCare+ accidental damage coverage can apply to keyboards under the right circumstances.
An iPad’s AppleCare+ accidental damage coverage plan protects these keyboards too.
Photo: Apple

The just-released iPad Pro Magic Keyboard costs more than some iPads, and it’s possible to get AppleCare+ repair insurance for it. Just not directly.

Purchasing AppleCare+ adds accidental damage coverage to an iPad, as well as some Apple-branded accessories. That includes keyboards, like the very expensive one that debuted last week.

Facebook Messenger Kids expands its reach, adds new features

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Facebook-Messenger-Kids
Download it from the App Store today.
Photo: Facebook

Facebook Messenger Kids, the free chat app designed specifically for your little ones, on Wednesday expanded its reach to more than 70 new markets and added a number of helpful new features.

It’s now possible for parents to give kids control over their contacts (if they wish), and for kids to join approved groups. The changes come at a time when many children are out of school and unable to see friends.

iMac redesign, cheaper HomePod, new Apple TV reportedly coming in 2020

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Apple iMac showing the Apple logo.
It's been almost eight years since the last iMac redesign.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

A redesigned iMac, a more affordable HomePod, and a powerful new Apple TV are just some of the products Apple has planned for 2020, according to one reliable reporter.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman also revealed expectations for the 5G iPhone lineup, scheduled to launch this fall, and for a 14-inch MacBook Pro during a Twitter Q&A with followers on Tuesday.

First iPhone SE reviews: Victory in value

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2020-iPhone-SE-lineup-hero
It might even make you miss the Home button.
Photo: Apple

The iPhone SE, with its iPhone 8 form factor, proves that you can teach an old dog new tricks. With the first reviews for the new handset having hit the internet, pundits are in agreement that, well, the iPhone SE is pretty darn great.

In fact, if Apple’s made any kind of misstep it may have been showing us that you can get a pretty amazing iPhone for the price of a mid-level handset. Here’s what the initial reviewers are saying:

iOS vulnerability let hackers attack devices through Mail app

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iPhone hack
Hack has reportedly been fixed in latest iOS beta.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

San Francisco-based cybersecurity company ZecOps says that iPhones and iPads may be vulnerable to a flaw involving the Mail app, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Unlike most email-based phone hacks, which involve making someone click a link or visit a website, this exploit does not require victims to do anything other than download (although not necessarily open) an email. It nonetheless could let hackers install malicious software on their devices.

A ZecOps blog post on the topic says that the vulnerability has existed in Apple’s mobile software as far back as iOS 6.

Samsung proves packaging can be more than just pretty trash

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Samsung-TV-box-cat-house
That's a cat house ... made from a TV box.
Photo: Samsung

We know Apple makes some of the prettiest packaging you’ll ever find wrapped around electronics, but it’s really just trash when you’re done with it. Samsung has found a terrific way to make its packaging useful.

Boxes built for the company’s newest TV sets can be turned quickly and easily turned into cardboard cat houses, small furniture, and other useful things when you’re done with them.

Avatarify lets you gatecrash your next Zoom call as Steve Jobs or Elon Musk

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Steve Jobs Zoom call
That's one way to liven up your next work meeting.
Photo: Avatarify

Zoom calls have exploded during the current coronavirus lockdown. But if you’ve already exhausted the possibilities of different angles and backdrops for your video calls, why not try being a different person entirely? You know, like former Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs.

At least, that’s the tech demo/experiment created by coders Ali Aliev and Karim Iskakov. They’ve developed an Animoji or Memoji-style tool called Avatarify that lets users superimpose a real-time mask onto themselves during video calls.

Facebook beta reveals hidden dark mode for iPhone and iPad

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Facebook-dark-mode
You can't activate it yourself just yet.
Photo: WABetaInfo

A new beta version of the Facebook app for iOS contains hidden resources that suggest a dark mode is on its way to iPhone and iPad.

The feature is expected to work in tandem with the system-wide dark mode settings on iOS for automatic activation and deactivation, but users should be able to toggle it manually, too.

Senator wants Tim Cook to take personal responsibility for contact-tracing data privacy

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bluetooth-tracing
Senator Hawley is concerned about Apple and Google's privacy for contact-tracing data.
Photo: Apple/Google

Sen. Josh Hawley wants Apple and Google to have some skin in the game when it comes to keeping data private in their joint coronavirus contact-tracing project. Hawley’s idea? That the Apple and Google CEOs — Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai, respectively — should take personal responsibility for ensuring the data is kept private.

“If you seek to assure the public, make your stake in this project personal,” the Republican senator from Missouri wrote Tuesday in a letter to Cook and Pichai. “Make a commitment that you and other executives will be personally liable if you stop protecting privacy, such as by granting advertising companies access to the interface once the pandemic is over.”

T-Mobile and Sprint start combining their 5G networks

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Nationwide-5G-Map
T-Mobile's 5G nationwide network.
Photo: T-Mobile

T-Mobile is wasting no time expanding — and solidifying — its 5G network in the U.S. following its recently completed merger with Sprint. The two companies, now one, are combining their networks following the landmark merger.

On Tuesday, T-Mobile announced that its 5G 2.5 GHz mid-band spectrum is now live in parts of Philadelphia, offering T-Mobile customers with compatible 5G phones the opportunity to take advantage of the new super-speedy connectivity — with peaks of nearly 600 Mbps.

Marvelous iPhone 12 concept makes that smaller notch look totally hot

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This iPhone 12 concept reflects all the latest rumors.
Note the substantially smaller notch in this iPhone 12 concept.
Photo: svetapple.sk

A set of concept 3D renders released Tuesday depict all the latest iPhone 12 rumors, including a recent report that this upcoming handset will have a substantially smaller screen cutout.

The images also include other features widely expected to be part of the autumn 2020 iPhone, like a LiDAR scanner.

Wow! Stay-at-home catapults Netflix to almost 16 million new customers in first quarter

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netflix.logo
Netflix owes a guy now in prison for a lot of its almost 16 million new subscribers in the first quarter.
Photo: Brad Gibson / Cult of Mac

Apple and its Apple TV+ streaming service could only dream of numbers this big.

Call it the ‘Tiger King effect’ or whatever you like, but Netflix benefited from the stay-at-home, shelter-in-place directive by adding 15.77 million new subscribers worldwide in the first quarter, according to earnings results released Monday.

Save big: Refurbished Apple Watch Series 5 hits Apple Store

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Refurbished Apple Watch Series 5 units are available now
A refurbished Apple Watch Series 5 is up to 15% less than a new one.
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

One way to score a deal on the the latest Apple Watch Series 5 is buy a unit that someone purchased then returned to Apple. These get rigorously refurbished, then are offered to the public at up to 15% off the regular price.

Tuesday is the first day Series 5 units have been available refurbished.

Apple preps 11-inch iPad Air, 23-inch iMac for 2020

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The new iPad Air adds support for Apple Pencil and the Smart Keyboard.
The 2020 iPad Air could sport a larger display than this 2019 model.
Photo: Apple

Apple is going to increase the sizes of the displays in the 2020 iPad Air and an iMac model also coming later this year, according to an unconfirmed report coming out of Asia.

But neither of these will be MiniLED screens, as Apple will reportedly not have any computer using this type of display until 2021.

Get an inside track to Apple Music execs with a donation to a children’s charity

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Larry Jackson, Global Creative Director of Apple Music, at a Cartier event in 2019
Make the right donation to charity and you can take a meeting with Larry Jackson, Global Creative Director of Apple Music.
Photo: Larry Jackson/Instagram

If your music career or business would be boosted by meeting with someone high up at Apple Music, then this is your lucky day. Three high-level executives at Apple’s music streaming service are auctioning off private meetings.

Proceeds from these auctions go to the Pablove Foundation, which invests in pediatric cancer research.

Huawei’s latest deceptive ads try the same old camera stunt

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Weibo post busting Huawei for misleading ad
Huawei needs to have more confidence in its smartphone cameras.
Screenshot: Huapeng Zhao/Weibo

The cameras in Huawei smartphones are class-leading. Yet, the company was caught again using a photo shot with a DSLR in an ad to promote pictures produced with their handsets.

Best, of all, the gaffe was discovered by the winner of an iPhone photography contest.