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Apple News+ subscriber growth is stuck in neutral

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Some publishers report that Apple News+ isn't a 'huge boon' for business
Apple News+ hasn't been as big a hit as Apple hoped.
Photo: Apple

Apple News+ has been struggling to ramp up its subscriber numbers since launching in March, according to a new report that claims growth has been stuck in neutral for months.

News came out this morning that Apple is considering bundling services like Apple Music, Apple News+ and Apple TV+ together for a monthly fee. At this point, the company might need to do that to get more people onto the Apple News+ platform in order to make it worthwhile for publishers.

Instagram’s hidden likes experiment goes global

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heart shapes
Your fans will know you are liked. They just won't know how much.
Photo: Iouri Goussey/Wikimedia CC

Anxious influencers worldwide opened their Instagram feeds to a new reality today: the “like” tally on their posts won’t be seen by their followers.

Instagram started removing public-face “likes” this summer as a test in a few countries. The test is now global and Instagram took to Twitter this morning in hopes of reassuring content creators who make money off their posts.

Why the new MacBook Pro will be my first new Mac in 6 years

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macbookpro
To be honest, I’d buy any MacBook as long as it didn’t have that broken butterfly keyboard.
Photo: Apple

The new 16-inch MacBook Pro launched yesterday, and by all accounts, it’s fantastic. But it arrives at a time when the MacBook (Pro or otherwise) is no longer the default choice for a portable Apple computer. Regular readers will know that several Cult of Mac writers use an iPad Pro as their main machine. Killian, Ed, Ian and I all ditched the Mac awhile ago in favor of iOS.

And I haven’t bought a Mac since 2013. It was a MacBook Air that has since moved on. The only Mac I still own is a 2010 iMac. And yet I have already ordered the new MacBook Pro. Why? What changed?

Motorola resurrects the Razr with costly folding screen

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2020 Motorola Razr
The 2019 Motorola Razr is like a blast from the past.
Photo: Motorola

The flip phone is back, baby! A vastly updated — and very expensive — 2019 Motorola Razr uses a flexible display to make an Android-based smartphone with the same basic design as the iconic handset of 2004.

It’s another option in the growing selection of foldable phones — a formfactor Apple is also considering.

UK cops pursue Apple Store thieves with helicopter

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U.K. cops used a helicopter to help chase down Apple Store thieves
Apple Store in Festival Place, Basingstoke was the target.
Photo: Apple

Police arrested nine suspects in England after a raid on an Apple Store. The dramatic incident saw authorities employ a helicopter and officers on the ground during the search for the thieves.

The robbery took place in Basingstoke, the largest town in the county of Hampshire. Three thieves involved in the incident attacked a security guard, before making off with seven iPhones.

Elizabeth Warren chimes in on allegedly discriminatory Apple Card algorithm

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Elizabeth Warren chimes in on allegedly discriminatory Apple Card algorithm
Sen. Elizabeth Warren thinks Apple Card partner Goldman Sachs has some explaining to do.
Photo: elizabethwarren.com

Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has chimed in on the allegedly sexist Apple Card debacle. Warren criticized Apple Card partner Goldman Sachs, saying that if the bank can’t explain how the algorithm used to determine credit score works, it should “pull it down.”

The complaints about Apple Card began last week when entrepreneur David Heinemeier Hansson said he was offered a credit limit 20 times that of his wife. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak claimed something similar.

Woman temporarily goes blind in one eye after smartphone overuse

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Woman in China temporarily goes blind in one eye after smartphone overuse
An admittedly extreme example of smartphone overuse.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Well, here’s a reason to listen to the recommendations of Apple’s Screen Time feature! A woman in China reportedly suffered a grisly injury after going temporarily blind in one eye due to excessive strain from overuse of her smartphone.

The female patient’s retina burst from “excessive strain” after spending too long using her mobile device.

Apple Research app lets iPhone users join new health studies

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Apple-Research-app
Three studies are available from today (if you live in the U.S.).
Photo: Apple

Apple today unveiled its brand-new Research app for iPhone, with three new health studies for users in the United States.

The Apple Women’s Health Study, the Apple Heart and Movement Study, and the Apple Hearing Study are available from today. They give participants the opportunity to contribute to “groundbreaking medical discoveries with iPhone and Apple Watch.”

Apple could bundle News, Music, TV into one subscription in 2020

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Share Apple TV+
Apple hopes the package will boost subscriber numbers.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Apple could roll almost all its entertainment services into one subscription bundle next year. News+, Music, and TV+ will be available for a single monthly fee, according to sources “familiar with the matter.”

Cupertino hopes the package will help it attract more subscribers as the smartphone market stagnates.

Latest Servant trailer may be the creepiest one yet

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Latest Servant trailer may be the creepiest one yet
What were those rumors about Apple only making family-friendly shows?
Photo: Apple

The latest trailer for Servant, M. Night Shyamalan’s eagerly anticipated Apple TV+ show, may just be the creepiest yet.

With music swelling, it shows a bespectacled man putting together Jericho, the “fake baby” doll that plays a big role in the series. Prepare to be unnerved!

Huge study confirms Apple Watch ECG accurately detects AFib

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Apple Watch Meidcare
Doctors found that if your Apple Watch ECG indicates you have a heart problem, you almost certainly do.
Photo: Apple

The electrocardiogram built into recent Apple Watch models isn’t likely to give wearers false notifications that they have atrial fibrillation, a potentially dangerous heart condition. A clean bill of health for this wearable’s ECG is the conclusion of a study involving over 400,000 participants that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Rare Mac prototype with Twiggy drive goes up for auction

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Apple Macintosh prototype with 5.25-inch drive
Look closely. This Apple Macintosh prototype is different from the final version in a big way.

A prototype Apple Macintosh used in the development of MacWrite can be yours, if you can scratch up about $180,000. It’s almost unique because of a disk drive different from the one used when this revolutionary  computer shipped.

iPad Pro with 3D scanner likely to launch in first half of 2020

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iPad Pro with Smart Keyboard
Apple wants to make iPad Pro an even better laptop replacement.
Photo: Apple

iPad Pro fans hoping for new models before the end of 2019 are likely out of luck.

Today’s launch of the new 16-inch MacBook Pro (and slight delay of the Mac Pro launch) are likely to be the last major Apple hardware announcements this year, according to TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The often-reliable Apple analyst told investors today that new iPad Pros won’t come out until the first half of 2020 — but new features might make the wait worth it.

Bespoke briefcase is built for new 16-inch MacBook Pro

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WaterField Designs Executive Leather Laptop Briefcase
WaterField Designs makes the case for a 16-inch MacBook Pro.
Photo: WaterField Designs

WaterField Designs, maker of bespoke bags for all your tech needs, was ready to pounce with a new hand-crafted briefcase when Apple unveiled the new 16-inch MacBook Pro today.

The Executive Leather Laptop Briefcase, available in black bison leather or chocolate brown cowhide, pairs a throwback look with contemporary internals.

16-inch MacBook Pro wows writers in first hands-on reviews

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16-inch-MacBook-Pro
The wait is over.
Photo: Apple

Apple finally unleashed its long-rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro on the world this morning, and according to some lucky people who got to play with it early, it was well worth the wait.

The new 16-inch MacBook Pro pulled out plenty of surprises beyond its bigger display. Early hands-on reviews rave about the scissor keyboard, the new audio system, upgraded thermal management and of course, its beastly processing power.

Here’s what reviewers are saying about the new machine.

16-inch MacBook Pro blows away your old laptop

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16-inch MacBook Pro from 2019
The 16-inch MacBook Pro is wicked fast.
Photo: Apple

Benchmark tests confirm the MacBook Pro released today is as fast as the speedy macOS laptops introduced earlier this year. That’s good news for anyone who’s been nursing along an older MacBook, waiting for this new 16-inch model.

16-inch MacBook Pro surprises: No Wi-Fi 6, 720p webcam, 96W charger

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16-MacBook-Pro
Notebook shipments could fall by as much as 36%.
Photo: Apple

There are some interesting surprises with the 16-inch MacBook Pro that you won’t find in Apple’s press release. So we’ve rounded up the big ones here so you don’t miss anything before buying.

Some of these things are nice surprises. But be warned that others will leave you a little disappointed.

AirPods Pro gold edition look fit for a king

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Caviar
Caviar went with a minimalist mod on this one.
Photo: Caviar

Tired of looking like a dang peasant with your old AirPods?

The crazy luxury Apple-modders at Caviar have the perfect upgrade ready for you with their new AirPods Pro Gold Edition. After making some pretty wild mods to the original AirPods, including a $20,000 diamond version, Caviar’s latest masterpiece actually looks pretty classy, if you like that Saudi prince type look. And with a price tag of nearly $68K, you’d have to be a Saudi prince to afford them.

Here’s a closer angle:

Phil Schiller: Nope, Apple still isn’t planning to make a touchscreen Mac

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Phil Schiller: Nope, Apple still isn’t planning to make a touchscreen Mac
Don't even think about swiping that screen!
Photo: Apple

Apple isn’t going to release a touchscreen Mac any time soon, says Phil Schiller, SVP of Marketing.

In a new interview, Schiller chimed in on the question on whether Apple might consider merging its mobile and desktop operating systems. The answer might disappoint fans of the Microsoft Surface.

How a Magic Keyboard made it into the new 16-inch MacBook Pro

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When it comes to quiet keyboards, MacBook Pro lags only behind Pixelbook Go
Welcome home!
Photo: Apple

Apple’s newly unveiled 16-inch MacBook Pro ditches the controversial butterfly keyboard and brings back the scissor switch Magic Keyboard.

In a new interview, Apple marketing SVP Phil Schiller talked about redesigning Apple’s notebook keyboard. And whether or not the non-butterfly keyboard will make it to other Apple laptops anytime soon.

Apple unleashes 16-inch MacBook Pro we’ve all been waiting for

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16-inch-MacBook-Pro
The wait is over.
Photo: Apple

The spectacular new 16-inch MacBook Pro we’ve all been waiting for has arrived. Apple today made “the world’s best pro notebook” official, with a larger Retina display and up to 80% faster performance.

The 16-inch MacBook Pro also introduces a brand-new Magic Keyboard that (hopefully) eliminates the problems some MacBook users suffered in recent years. And it’s on sale today!