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News - page 498

iPhone 12 Pro will pack triple camera lens array and LiDAR sensor

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iphone-12-pro
Are you excited about this year's iPhone 12 refresh?
Photo: The Hacker 34

The iPhone 12 Pro could boast a revised camera array on the rear, complete with a LiDAR scanner like the one found on the 2020 iPad Pro, a new image posted online suggests.

The schematic image was posted on Twitter Saturday by leakster @Choco_bit, who has previously shared information about forthcoming Apple launches. The seemingly Apple-produced image reportedly comes from iOS 14, courtesy of the ConceptsiPhone Instagram.

Apple builds 1 million face shields a week for medical workers

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Apple CEO Tim Cook shows off a face shield Apple is making for medical workers.
CEO Tim Cook shows off a face shield Apple is making for medical workers.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple CEO Tim Cook said Sunday that the company is building face shields for medical workers. These are already being distributed in the US, and the plan is to make a million of them a week to be sent to around the world.

In addition, Cook revealed the company has sourced, but not yet donated, over 20 million face masks. The head of Apple said “We’re working continuously and closely with governments at all levels to ensure these are donated to places of greatest need.”

iPad Pro is a Swiss Army knife, not a surgeon’s scalpel [Opinion]

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The iPad Pro is the perfect tool for many people.
The iPad Pro is the perfect tool for many people.
Photo: DP Spender/Cult of Mac

By DP Spender

The launch of the new 2020 iPad Pro brought a plethora of articles from tech journalists asking, “Is this Apple’s laptop replacement?” That question is so open-ended, it might as well be an infinite loop. It’s like asking a toolmaker, “Is your new hammer a suitable replacement for last year’s wrench?”

It is in many ways a pointless question — and one that in my opinion totally misses the point. The question should be, “Does the 2020 iPad Pro get your job done?” To which my answer is yes, but then so did the 2018 model.

Watch Epix movies and shows for free through Apple TV app

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Epix is available through the Apple TV app.
Just open the Apple TV app to access Epix streaming content at no charge.
Photo: Apple/Epix

All the streaming content of the cable channel Epix is reportedly free to Apple users until May 2. Original shows like Pennyworth and Godfather of Harlem as well a wide selection of movies are available from Epix through the Apple TV app.

10 things you didn’t know about Apple Watch [Cult of Mac Magazine 343]

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Apple Watch trivia: So you think you know Apple Watch, do you?
So you think you know Apple Watch, do you?
Cover: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Take your mind off the coronavirus pandemic with our latest installment of Apple trivia. This time we focus on Cupertino’s kick-ass wearable. Yes, it’s 10 things you probably didn’t know about Apple Watch. For more diversions, read our latest reviews of Apple TV+ shows: The Amazing Stories season finale and promising new mystery Home Before Dark.

If you must dwell on COVID-19, how about a timely how-to? Learn how to make your own DIY mask (thanks to clever instructions from a legendary Apple coder). Get the low-down on that project as well as more Apple news, how-tos and reviews in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine.

Download it from the iOS App Store now. Or get the week’s top stories below.

Apple slashes HomePod price in half for employees

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Apple debuts HomePod in India at its cheapest price yet
Are you excited at the prospect of a new HomePod?
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Apple is hooking up its employees with some huge discounts on a few of its audio products this week.

It’s unclear whether it’s being done to help employees be entertained while working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic or an effort to move surplus units during a sales lull.

Lawmakers want proof Apple’s COVID-19 app protects privacy

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apple
The new COVID-19 app and website provide the latest information and guidance from the CDC for users across the US.
Photo: Apple

A group of U.S. Senators is requesting assurances from CEO Tim Cook that Apple has privacy protections built into the company’s new COVID-19 screening app and website.

Senators Kamala Harris, Richard Blumenthal, Bob Menedez and Cory Booker sent a letter addressed to Cook on Friday voicing concerns about the private health data of Americans.

Celebs join the COVID-19 fight by telling billions to stay home

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Selena Gomez shows us how to wash
If the singing thing doesn't pan out...
Screenshot: Selena Gomez/Instagram

Say what you will about celebrity influencers. They are using social media to tell millions of followers to stay home and “wash your hands.”

Taking a break from vanity and self-branding (well, sort of), influencers have answered the call by the United Nations to use their platforms to promote public health messages to help contain the spread of COVID-19.

Amazon plans to delay Prime Day due to COVID-19

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amazon
You'll have to wait a little longer for Amazon's day of killer deals.
Photo: Amazon

Amazon’s annual shopping bonanza holiday, Prime Day, has reportedly been delayed due to the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prime Day, which started in 2015 as a way to boost sales in the summer, is usually held in July, but according to Reuters, the online retailer plans to push the marketing event to August.

Facebook allegedly tried to buy Pegasus spyware to secretly track iPhone users

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Facebook Onavo Protect iOS
Facebook’s Onavo Protect did the opposite of protecting users. And it could have been more effective with Pegasus spyware.
Photo: Facebook

NSO Group accuses Facebook of trying to buy access to its Pegasus surveillance software so it could better track the activities of iPhone users.

The spyware supposedly would have gone into Onavo Protect, a VPN app Facebook pulled off the App Store back in 2018 for violating Apple’s data-collection policies.

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).