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Kuo: Apple’s huge lineup of products for early 2020 includes AirPower alternative

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AirPower
Apple hasn't given up on wireless charging pads.
Photo: Apple

Apple is planning a huge lineup of products for early 2020, including a brand-new AirPower alternative, according to reliable TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Fans can also look forward to a low-cost iPhone, upgrades to iPad Pro and the MacBook lineup, high-end headphones, and more before the summer, he reported.

Prepare your wallets for one hell of a beating!

Ming-Chi Kuo: Coronavirus could hurt Apple 2021 iPhone production

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iPhone sales
The impact of coronavirus in China could hurt Apple in 2021.
Illustration: Cult of Mac

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo warns that Apple could experience product shipment delays and other risks if the deadly coronavirus spreading in China is not significantly contained before March.

In a note to investors Wednesday obtained by Cult of Mac, the respected soothsayer also warned that the coronavirus has caused consumer confidence in a market Apple has been trying to grow, especially with smartphones.

Wall Street analysts go all-out bullish on record Apple earnings

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Bullish Apple analysts aren’t panicking about coronavirus…yet
With strong iPhone sales and improvements in China consumer sales, Wall Street analyst can't say enough good things about Apple.
Photo: Brad Gibson/Cult of Mac

Apple’s first-quarter results have triggered confidence among analysts that the future of the company is stronger than ever on the back of the iPhone.

Wall Street analysts began reporting Wednesday their thoughts on the tech giant – everything from strong sales growth in China, to rumors of a new low-cost iPhone to a 5G-ready mobile later this year.

Latest iPhone was 1 out of every 10 smartphones sold in US last quarter

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Latest iPhone was 1 out of every 10 smartphones sold in US last quarter
The iPhone had a great Q4 2019.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

The iPhone 11 reportedly accounted for a massive 1 out of 10 of all smartphones sold in Europe and the United States during the last quarter of 2019. The iPhone also made market share gains in every major market — including the big five European countries, the US, China, Japan, and Australia.

As if people needed another reason to be wowed by Apple after its blow away earnings call Tuesday!

iOS 13 has now been installed on 70% of all devices

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iOS 13 on an iPhone X
Have you upgraded yet?
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

Apple’s big iOS 13 update has now made its way to an impressive 70% of all iPhones and 57% of all iPads, Cupertino’s latest data reveals.

Just 23% of Apple smartphones are running iOS 12, while a mere 7% are running an earlier version of its software. A whopping 77% of all devices introduced in the last four years have been upgraded.

Apple debuts HomePod in India at its cheapest price yet

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Apple debuts HomePod in India at its cheapest price yet
Apple has rolled out HomePod in a new market.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Apple has reduced the price of HomePod to $280, a further reduction on the $349 it charged initially for its smart speaker. Unfortunately, you’ll have to be living in India to take advantage of it.

Having released the HomePod in 2018 in the United States, Apple has finally launched it in India. This heavily populated market is comparable in size to China. However, Apple has not yet been able to make too many inroads in terms of sales.

Dropbox finally gets a dark mode on iPhone and iPad

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Dropbox-dark-mode-iPad
Get the newest update today.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

The latest Dropbox update finally brings dark mode to iPhone and iPad.

The feature works alongside your system settings, so it can be enabled and disabled automatically based on your dark mode schedule. That means Dropbox will no longer blind you at night.

First Apple Store in India might not open this year

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India Apple Stores
Until real Apple Stores open in India, this is what customers have to use instead.
Photo: Lawrence Sinclair/Flickr CC

Apple’s first retail store in India reportedly won‘t open in time for the launch of the 2020 iPhone. And even online sales allegedly won’t begin until the second half of this year.

There have supposedly been problems in Apple’s efforts to begin selling iPhones and other devices directly to consumers in India.

Players have spent more than $1 billion on Nintendo’s mobile games

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Players have spent more than $1 billion on Nintendo's mobile games
That's a reason to jump for joy (if you're a Nintendo shareholder!)
Photo: Nintendo

Nintendo’s mobile games have pulled in more than $1 billion in revenue from global player spending, new data published by mobile analytics firm Sensor Tower suggests.

Nintendo currently has six mobile games, which have received a total of 452 million downloads worldwide. The biggest earner, accounting for 61% of mobile revenue, is the RPG game Fire Emblem Heroes.

AirPods Pro supply problems couldn’t stop Apple’s surging wearables business

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Finally! AirPods Pro bring active noise cancellation.
They were tough to get at Christmas, but they still made Apple a lot of money.
Photo: Apple

When Apple reported an all-time record for quarterly revenue Tuesday, it got a big boost from one of its smallest products: the AirPods Pro.

Despite severe supply constraints, the new wireless earbuds helped Apple sell $10 billion worth of wearables and accessories in the holiday quarter, a 37% jump from a year ago, the company reported. Revenue for the wearables sector grew 17% to a new all-time record of $12.7 billion.

Apple TV+ subscriber numbers remain a total mystery

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Tim Cook is keeping quiet about Apple TV+ subscriber numbers for now.
Tim Cook could open up on the success of Apple's various subscription services.
Photo: Apple

Apple just can’t stop touting its surging revenue from subscription services. But when it comes to Apple TV+ subscriber numbers, Cupertino is keeping suspiciously quiet.

“2019 was a historic year” for Apple’s services business, CEO Tim Cook said Tuesday during the company’s latest record-smashing earnings call. He then went on to drop specific numbers about services like the App Store and Apple Pay. But when it came to new services like Apple TV+, Cook kept things decidedly vague.

Cook loves to reiterate that Apple TV+ serves as a creative place for the world’s best storytellers. And the story he’s masterfully spinning about the streaming video service is a great big mystery.

The biggest surprises from Apple’s shockingly good earnings report

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Tim Cook with money bag
Tim Cook
Illustration: Cult of Mac

The first Apple earnings report of 2020 was a smashing success that shattered most of Apple’s previous records. Thanks to shockingly strong iPhone sales and a surging wearables business that is bigger than the Mac and the iPad, Apple managed to surpass even the most optimistic expectations.

Apple CEO Tim Cook held a call with investors after the numbers came out to dive deeper into the impressive quarterly results. Cook dished on everything from the success of Apple TV+ and problems with AirPods Pro supplies to the Wuhan coronavirus affecting China. If you didn’t get a chance to join the call, don’t worry, Cult of Mac has you covered with all the need-to-know info.

Apple moves to blunt coronavirus’s impact on Chinese operations

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Foxconn
But there's a definite chance of further delays.
Photo: Foxconn

Apple is bracing itself against a growing coronavirus outbreak, restricting business travel to China and closing one Apple Store as health officials try to contain the deadly virus.

Apple is also trying to gauge the potential disruption to production. Most of the world’s iPhones, as well as other devices, are assembled in China with components coming from a network of nearly 400 suppliers.

Apple’s best-ever quarter, strictly by the numbers

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Apple financial results on an iPad Pro
A dive into Apple’s most recent financial results shows what’s really happening with the company.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple pulled in more revenue and profits last quarter than it ever has before. These numbers were buoyed by strong iPhone and wearable sales. But the news isn’t all good.

Check out these charts that show with a glance how the company made its money last quarter.

iPhone 11 propels Apple to another record-breaking quarter

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apple earnings
Apple's money-making machine is on a new level.
Photo illustration: Steve Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s first earnings report of 2020 saw the company hit a new all-time record for revenue made in a quarter thanks to stronger than expected iPhone sales.

The iPhone-maker brought in $91.8 billion during the holiday quarter which has the stock soaring in after-hours trading. Worries over how the coronavirus in China might affect Apple’s production throughout 2020 had Wall Street worried yesterday and based on Apple’s guidance for Q2 2020, the company doesn’t seem overly concerned it will have a big impact on profits yet.

New Powerbeats4 images leak out with iOS 13.3.1

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Powerbeats4-leak
Powerbeats4 (center) alongside Powerbeats Pro (left) and Powerbeats3.
Photo: Apple

Images of Apple’s brand-new Powerbeats4 headphones have been spilled for the first time in today’s iOS 13.3.1 update.

The sporty buds look near identical to Powerbeats Pro, but like their predecessors, they won’t be completely wireless. They are expected to pack Apple’s newest H1 chip with hands-free “Hey Siri” support.

Dealer will part with prized Steve Jobs autograph for $77,000

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Plaque Steve Jobs
For 10-years of services.
Photo: RR Auction

How does an autograph collector part with a favorite item? Dan Caldwell of Billionaire Collectibles sets the price high enough so that letting go is not so painful.

He has what is likely the only Steve Jobs autograph currently for sale, a signed work-anniversary certificate for an Apple employee. The $77,000 asking price on eBay is how much someone “will have to pay to peel it out of my hands.”

Pokémon Home for iPhone and iPad finally gets a release date

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pokemon-home
Get ready to catch 'em all.
Photo: The Pokemon Company

Pokémon catching is about to go to an all-new level with the new Pokemon Home app that’s finally set to launch on iPhone and iPad in February 2020.

Fresh details about the Pokémon Home experience were revealed by the Pokémon Company this morning showing how players will soon be able to store and manage Pokémon from games on the Nintendo Switch and 3DS and transfer them to new games.

iOS 13.3.1 is out with crucial fixes for Screen Time

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Screentime
Screen Time has become an important tool for parents.
Photo: Apple

Apple just dumped a truckload of new software updates on customers this morning, including the crucial iOS 13.3.1 update that brings an important fix to Screen Time.

Along with iOS 13.3.1, Apple also released macOS 10.15.3, tvOS 13.3.1, and watchOS 6.1.2. All four of the new updates are fairly minor and mostly focus on under-the-hood improvements.

Flash powerbank promises speedy recharges with graphene batteries

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Chargeasap Flash powerbank with MacBook and iPhone
Chargeasap Flash powerbank uses Tesla graphene battery cells for faster charges.
Photo: Chargeasap

Chargeasap Flash holds 20,000 mAh, and can transfer that power to MacBooks at up to 100W. This newly-released powerbank sports USB-C and USB-A ports, and even wireless charging for Apple Watch.

At its heart are four Tesla Lithium Polymer Graphene Composite Battery Cells.

Neil Young slams MacBook Pro’s ‘Fisher-Price’ audio quality

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MacBook-Pro-music
It's just "garbage."
Photo: Marc-Olivier Paquin/Unsplash

Neil Young believes there’s a big problem with making music on a MacBook Pro. In a recent interview, the acclaimed singer-songwriter slammed the “Fisher-Price” audio quality you get with Apple’s newest notebooks.

Young also revealed that Steve Jobs knew about his concerns, but felt that MacBook audio was good enough for consumers.

Behind the scenes of Apple’s powder-packed snowboarding video

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Exclusive: Videographer behind latest Apple ad talks shooting snowboarding on iPhone
Apple's latest "Shot on iPhone" ad may be its most impressive yet.
Screenshot: Apple

Next time you’re shooting an iPhone video, be glad you’re not shooting in waist-deep snow in freezing conditions. That was the challenge posed to Joe Carlino, the intrepid videographer behind Apple’s latest “Shot on iPhone” promo.

The ad, which dropped yesterday, shows four pro snowboarders doing their thing in the wilds of British Columbia. Cult of Mac spoke with Carlino about how the ad came about, and the pros and cons of shooting on iPhone in inhospitable conditions.

DoubleTake is a video app that lets you shoot with 2 cameras at once

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DoubleTake is a video app that lets you shoot with 2 cameras at once
Get your split-screen on!
Photo: Filmic Pro

A new iOS app lets users simultaneously record video using multiple iPhone cameras. DoubleTake is created by the makers of popular camera app Filmic Pro.

In the words of the app’s makers, DoubleTake transforms your phone into a multi-cam studio — although you’ll need to be running an iPhone XR, XS, or iPhone 11 to be able to use it.

Curve card finally adds Apple Pay support

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Curve-Apple-Pay
Start using Apple Pay with Curve today.
Photo: Curve

Curve, the all-in-one card service, is finally rolling out Apple Pay support to customers across Europe.

Payments can be made using Apple Watch and iPhone for the first time. And the same great benefits you’re used to getting from your Curve card, including cash back on purchases, still apply.

Newest iPhone 12 rumor hints at 4 new models, including ’12 mini’

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iPhone-12-concept
An iPhone 12 for everyone?
Photo: LetsGoDigital

The newest iPhone 12 rumor claims Apple will introduce four brand-new handsets this fall, including a compact “iPhone 12 mini.”

The smallest model could be different to the rumored iPhone SE 2, but not much bigger in size. It is expected to pack Apple’s latest technology — just like its larger siblings — inside the same design.