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News - page 455

Apple Card base APR rate drops 2% for some users

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Apple Card’s ‘elite card’ status is hitting retailers in the wallet
Apple Card benefits keep getting better.
Photo: Apple

Some Apple Card users received a surprise APR rate drop this week thanks to the two recent interest rate cuts made by the U.S. Federal Reserve in March. The Apple Card’s base APR decreased by 2% for many Apple Card holders, bringing a little extra credit relief during the COVID-19 pandemic.

T-Mobile reveals how lockdown is changing the way we use online connectivity

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Traffic lights as metaphor for motivation streaks
Traffic is up in some areas.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

The COVID-19 pandemic is having all kinds of impact on everyday life. One of those is how we use our phones as we increasingly rely on connectivity to, well, keep us connected.

T-Mobile President of Technology Neville Ray recently shared some observations the newly merged carrier has made about changing cell phone habits during COVID-19.

iPhone 8 recovered after 2 months in a river — and it still works

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iPhone
Apple builds impressively waterproof phones.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Skeptical about how water-resistant modern iPhones are? Try telling that to the woman who discovered her iPhone in the Thames river in London two months after she dropped. Still in working order.

Twenty-nine-year-old Thayse Bussolo-Vieira said she was feeding the swans in early February when her brand new iPhone 8 fell out of her pocket and into the river. According to the Mirror newspaper, she was “devastated” because it contained thousands of photos she had not backed up to iCloud.

Apple eliminates iPhone camera hijack; pays hacker $75,000

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iPhone-11-cameras
Safari flaws allowed camera and microphone access on iPhone.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Apple has eliminated a number of serious flaws that allowed an iPhone’s camera to be hijacked.

Hacker Ryan Pickren discovered the vulnerabilities during a “pretty intense” bug-hunting expedition in Safari. He was paid $75,000 through Apple’s Bug Bounty Program for his efforts.

We talk the return of iPhone SE! This week, on The CultCast

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CultCast 433
New budget iPhone ... incoming???
Photo: @YSR50

This week on The CultCast: iPhone SE… 2! Let’s talk about it. Plus: Apple is “scrambling” to prevent iPhone 12 delays amidst COVID-19 challenges; and we wrap up with an all new What We’re Into, Quarantine Edition! We’ll tell you about the shows, game videos and other stuff we’re doing with our extra “free” time.

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. Easily create a beautiful website all by yourself, at Squarespace.com/cultcast. Use offer code “CultCast” at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

Today in Apple history: Macintosh LC 580 is ready for school

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The Macintosh LC 580 blew away PCs when it came to multimedia performance.
The Macintosh LC 580 blew away PCs when it came to multimedia.
Photo: The Apple Guy/YouTube

April 3: Today in Apple history: Macintosh LC 580 launches and quickly becomes popular in schools April 3, 1995: Apple introduces the Macintosh LC 580, an affordable computer offering good multimedia capabilities on a budget.

It quickly proves popular in the educational market. If you used a Mac in the classroom in the mid-1990s, there’s a good chance it was this very model!

2020 iPad Pro microphone has ‘hardware disconnect’ for added security

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Apple Smart Keyboard Folio for the 2020 iPad Pro
It stops software from listening in when you think your iPad is asleep.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s newest iPad Pro has the ability to disconnect its microphone when the device is not in use for increased security. The disconnect happens at a hardware level so software cannot override it — but there’s a catch.

The feature only works for you if you have the right accessories.

Apple Stores across U.S. will remain shuttered until at least early May

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tulsa.apple.store.2
A closed Apple Store in Tulsa, OK.
Photo: Brad Gibson / Cult of Mac

Apple Stores across the U.S. will remain closed until at least early May, the company’s SVP of Retail and People Deirdre O’Brien has told staff, Bloomberg reports.

In a memo sent to employees Thursday, O’Brien also noted that “flexible work arrangements will remain in place for all offices.” Tim Cook previously advised Apple employees to work from home where possible.

Apple TV+ releases mystery series Home Before Dark, season finale of Amazing Stories

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Home Before Dark review: Abby Miller and Jim Sturgess aren't the world's most responsible parents.
All 10 episodes of new Apple TV+ mystery show debuted today.
Photo: Apple

Apple TV+ has debuted all 10 episodes of Home Before Dark, its new drama inspired by the real-life reporting of 9-year-old journalist Hilde Lysiak.

The mystery series stars child actress Brooklynn Prince, best known for The Florida Project, alongside Jim Sturgess (Cloud Atlas) and Abby Miller (Justified).

Apple Store online listing confirms name of new low-cost ‘iPhone SE’

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iPhone SE product listing
Forget about the iPhone SE 2 or iPhone 9.
Photo: Apple

Apple may have accidentally leaked the name for its own upcoming low-cost iPhone, courtesy of an Apple Online Store listing discovered Thursday.

The $39.95 Belkin InvisiGlass Ultra screen protector is advertised as fitting the iPhone 7, iPhone 8 and… iPhone SE. Previous rumors suggested that the new low-cost iPhone would be named either the iPhone 9 or iPhone SE 2. Instead, it seems Apple could go back to the well by reusing the iPhone SE name.

Low-priced ‘iPhone SE’ reportedly near imminent release

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iPhone 9
The iPhone SE update is launching soon.
Photo: ConceptsiPhone

After months of waiting, the successor to the iPhone SE is allegedly ready to launch any day now.

Apple is supposedly ready to accept orders for its new entry-level iPhone “as soon as tomorrow” according to a new report from 9to5Mac that claims if the launch doesn’t happen on Friday, it will be “very soon.”

HBO unlocks 500 hours of free content, but not Game of Thrones

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You'll have to subscribe to HBO Now to see Game of Thrones.
You'll have to subscribe to HBO Now to see Game of Thrones.
Photo: HBO

HBO is joining the wave of companies that are offering free access to their content to placate everyone sheltering in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Starting on April 3, the HBO Now and HBO Go apps will offer freebies to anyone the doesn’t already have a paid subscription. The trove of over 500 hours of free content includes all seasons of The Sopranos, Silicon Valley, The Wire and Ballers. But if you’re hoping to finally catch up Game of Thrones for free, you’ll be sorely disappointed.

FCC eyes boosting Wi-Fi speeds by opening 6GHz spectrum

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home Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi over the 6GHz spectrum, if approved, could offer up to 2Gbps wireless connections.
Photo: Alan Levine/Flickr

The FCC will vote April 23 on a proposal to expand Wi-Fi to the 6GHz band. If approved, the move would add almost five times the bandwidth to the short-range wireless networking standard used by MacBooks, iPads, and virtually every other mobile device. That could bring faster Wi-Fi connections, with less interference from nearby computers.

SXSW Film Festival goes free on Amazon

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SXSW
SXSW 2020 isn't going down quietly.
Photo: Amazon

SXSW 2020, one of the biggest annual conferences covering the convergence of music and film, was canceled last month due to the COVID-19 pandemic last month, but it’s getting a brief second life online.

Amazon Prime Video is partnering with SXSW to offer on-demand streaming of the films that were set to debut at the festival in Austin, Texas. Anyone with an Amazon account will be able to watch the movies for free for 10 days as part of the SXSW 2020 Film Festival Collection.

Apple leaks AirTags name in support video

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airtags
Oops! Whoever did this is getting fired.
Photo: Apple

The official name of Apple’s Bluetooth tracking tiles leaked online on Thursday and Apple only has itself to blame.

Apple published a new iPhone support video on YouTube the educates customers on how to erase your iPhone that made reference to ‘AirTags’ that have been rumored to be coming down the product pipeline since last year.

Apple wants to make iPhone easier to use underwater

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iPhone XS Max vs. iPhone XS size: Sometimes bigger really is better.
iPhone could soon get some new underwater tricks.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple has been working tirelessly to make the iPhone more and more waterproof over the last four years. Now it appears that the company wants to make it possible to actually use the display underwater too.

Recent patent filings revealed that Apple is putting some serious thought into how to make the iPhone easier to use underwater by creating a simplified UI that lets the user focus less on taps and more on swimming or whatever else you’d be doing underwater.

Genius tweak for security cams is just the start of Wyze’s COVID-19 response

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Wyze Cam
This Wyze Cam can be converted to a webcam.
Photo: Wyze

A company that makes low-cost home security cameras doesn’t sound like an organization you’d call for help in the fight against COVID-19 as it sweeps across the United States.

Wyze didn’t wait for a call.

Located in Kirkland, Washington, close to where the first U.S. cases surfaced, the company used its worldwide connections and ingenuity to help the local medical community fight the coronavirus pandemic. But it also helped consumers stuck at home better use Wyze’s iOS-compatible security cameras as webcams.

BeepStreet Drambo changes the face of iOS music apps

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BeepStreet Drambo on iPad and iPhone
Drambo works on any iOS device.
Photo: BeepStreet

Once in a while, an app comes along that changes the way you think of a computer platform. Like Photoshop on the Mac, Lotus 1-2-3 on the IBM PC, or GarageBand on the iPad. We just got another one of these apps Tuesday. It’s called Drambo, from veteran music-app developer BeepStreet, and it redefines music apps on iOS.

Yes, iOS. This amazing, modular, do-almost-anything app works on the iPhone as well as the iPad.

Amid booming popularity, Zoom commits to improved security and privacy

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Zoom promises to work harder to protect user privacy.
Millions have turned to the Zoom video-conferencing service, but it’s also facing criticism for security lapses.
Photo: Zoom

Zoom had over 200 million daily meeting participants in March, about 20x the average, as people isolate themselves during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But this video conferencing service faces criticism for a lack of security. That’s why Zoom CEO Eric Yuan on Thursday stopped all work on adding new features to its software to instead focus on fixing problems with privacy and public trust.

Apple teams with Leonardo DiCaprio and Laurene Powell Jobs to launch America’s Food Fund

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Laurene Powell Jobs (center) at the Female Founders Conference 2016 in San Francisco.
Laurene Powell Jobs is putting her massive fortune to good use.
Photo: Y Combinator/Flickr CC

Apple is teaming up with Leonardo DiCaprio, Laurene Powell Jobs and the Ford Foundation to create a new fundraiser aimed at ensuring all Americans have reliable access to food during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The project, called America’s Food Fund, launched this morning on GoFundMe with $12 million in donations and a goal to hit $15 million that will be distributed to the World Central Kitchen and Feeding America.

Facebook’s brand-new Messenger app available to all on Mac

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Facebook-Messenger-Mac
Grab it now from the Mac App Store.
Photo: Facebook

The all-new Facebook Messenger app for macOS made its official Mac App Store debut on Thursday at a perfect time for those working and interacting more from home.

Messenger for the desktop first appeared in early March, almost a year after Facebook announced it at its F8 conference, but was then on offer in only a handful of countries. It is now open to all — and free to download.

Apple relaxes policy on 30% take of movie and TV show sales

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International governments plan to rethink tax rules for the ‘digital age’
Apple reportedly isn't taking its regular 30% cut any more.
Photo: Pixabay/Pexels CC

Apple has relaxed a policy that saw it take a 30% cut of payments from competitors who use its platform to sell TV shows and movies through their own video apps, according to a published report.

One of the first companies to seize on the relaxed policy change was Amazon, which started selling and renting Prime Video movies on Apple devices Wednesday.