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Struggling iPhone display-maker secures massive bailout

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Apple display maker exec fired for embezzling millions of dollars
Japan Display makes the LCD screens for the iPhone XR.
Photo: Kristal Chan/Cult of Mac

Struggling Apple display-maker Japan Display has successfully secured bailout funding of 80 billion yen ($738 million).

The funding comes from Chinese investment firm Harvest Group and Hong Kong-based Oasis Management. It was previously reported that Apple would be part of this bailout package — to the tune of $100 million.

Big Mac updates! This week on The CultCast

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CultCast 396
It's a great time to buy a MacBook.

This week on The CultCast: Big Mac updates! Apple just refreshed the MacBook Air (and dropped the price), and supercharged the 13-inch MacBook Pro. Plus: A new report says Apple will finally update the butterfly keyboard with a design we were all hoping for. And we wrap with a true story that could save you thousands: How neglecting the batteries in your tech could cost you big-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..

Tesla wants Apple’s help in solving IP theft

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Tesla
Tesla and Apple have something in common.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Tesla and Apple have previously engaged in a sort of cold war over next-gen car technologies. However, Elon Musk’s automotive company is now seeking help from Apple — to catch a suspected thief.

The issue involves a lawsuit put forward by Tesla against a former employee, who jumped ship to a Chinese rival while in possession of Tesla secrets. Apple has faced a similar problem in the past.

Apple Park is one of Earth’s most valuable buildings

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Apple leases new offices near to Apple Park
Want to buy Apple Park? It'll cost you in the vicinity of $4.17 billion.
Photo: Duncan Sinfield

Apple Park is one of the most impressive corporate headquarters in the world — and that don’t come cheap.

In fact, it’s one of the most valuable buildings on Earth. A recent assessment for property tax by Santa Clara County lists Apple’s circular HQ at $3.6 billion. This is based on a detailed appraisal of the building. Including its contents, it’s valued at $4.17 billion.

India might steal iPhone production from China

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Long-term iPhone XR demand could eventually lead to greater sales than the iPhone XS.
Foxconn will make all three of these 2018 iPhone models in India for the first time.
Photo: Apple

Apple is reportedly significantly increasing iPhone production in India. Rather than just making low-end handsets, the latest top-tier models will be manufactured and sold there.

These will be less expensive than imported units and might improve Apple’s sales in this huge potential market.

Intel chip shortages put a crimp in Mac sales

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Intel Core processor
Not enough Intel Core processors is the reason Apple can’t meet demand for its computers.
Photo: Intel Corporation

Intel continues to struggle to provide enough processors to meet demand from PC makers, and one of the victims was Apple. This is likely the cause for a slight drop in Mac shipments during the second quarter of this year.

Original Apple-1 manual sells for almost $13,000

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A page from the original Apple-1 documentation.
This original Apple-1 user manual is slightly stained but it’s still worth quite a bit.
Photo: RR Auction

Bidding was apparently hot and heavy for a computer manual for the Apple-1, this company’s very first computer. In a multi-day online auction for this rare bit of tech history, the top bid was under $10,000 only a few days ago but in the end the document sold for $12,956.

Real humans listen to what you say to Google Assistant

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Google Home Mini
Your Google Home Mini might not be the only one hearing what you say to it.

When you talk to a Google Home smart speaker, you might have an unsuspected eavesdropper. The company admitted today that it uses humans to review a small percentage of voice interactions.

This is true for all types of voice-control systems, like Amazon Alexa and even Siri. But Apple’s system has some crucial differences.

Hook creates smart connections between documents on Mac

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Hooks, on cranes.
Hooks, on cranes.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Imagine that you’re working on a document on your Mac. At some point, you’ll need to take a look at those emails about the project, or check that photo you snapped of the whiteboard. Maybe you have them all open already, in your perfectly organized workspace. But what about when you come back to that document tomorrow, or next month?

What if you could tap a key, and a panel would pop up, with all those linked documents listed? You could just click on one to open it. That’s what you get with Hook, a new Mac app that links documents together so you never need to go searching for them again.

AirPod is crucial component of robot umpire

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airpod
Home plate umpire Brian deBrauwere, was the first ump to wear an AirPod during a game.
Photo: AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Robot umpires have finally arrived in baseball’s minor leagues and Apple’s technology is making it all possible.

The Atlantic League, an independent league mostly based on the East Coast, recently became the first professional baseball league to use a computer to call balls and strikes. A human umpire still stands behind home plate, but the gig just got a lot easier thanks to AirPods connected to an iPhone that tells him the right call.

Newest 13-inch MacBook Pro brings unbelievable speed boost

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2019 MacBook Pro Fortnite
It's not clear what is causing the problem.
Photo: Apple

Apple promised its newest 13-inch MacBook Pro would deliver faster performance than the previous model. But we weren’t expecting to be up to 83% faster!

That’s the kind of speed increase you’re getting with the latest model, according to early benchmarks. It gives existing owners a massive reason to upgrade — even if they have no interest in the Touch Bar.

Everyone is sleeping on Amazon Music Unlimited

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Amazon Music
Amazon Music Unlimited is bigger than you think.
Photo: Amazon

Spotify and Apple Music are facing increasingly tougher competition from Amazon when it comes to adding new paid subscribers to their services.

Amazon Music Unlimited was the fastest-growing music service over the last year according to new data that shows its subscriber base grew by 70%, even though it launched a year after Apple Music.

No, Apple hasn’t canceled its AR glasses project

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Apple glasses
Apple Glasses could be the next big thing.
Photo: Martin Hajek

Production of Apple’s upcoming augmented reality glasses has supposedly been “terminated,” according to one of the worst sources of Apple rumors on the internet.

A number of websites have taken DigiTimes’ dubious report of the canceled Apple smart glasses as fact. However, after digging into iOS 13’s assets, one of the best Apple sleuths in the world says there’s still a lot of evidence that the AR glasses might come even sooner than expected.

AirPod saved from subway suicide with makeshift sticky stick

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AirPod-subway-suicide
This lucky AirPod will live to see another day.
Photo: Ashley Mayer

It’s frustrating when an AirPod falls out of your ear — especially if it decides it has had enough of being an AirPod and it jumps onto the subway tracks. That’s exactly what happened for Ashley Mayer.

But thanks to a makeshift sticky stick (duct tape on the end of a broom), this particular bud will live to see another day … or play another song?

Candy Crush Saga drops its landmark 5,000th level

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Candy Crush
That's a whole lot more levels than just about every other game in the App Store... combined.
Image: King

Having launched back in 2012, Candy Crush Saga is, believe it or not, one of the veterans of App Store gaming. And, boy, has it hit the milestone to prove it!

This week, the game that’s known for having more levels than virtually every other game released its landmark 5,000th level.

Trump ‘concerned’ about French law targeting Apple and other tech giants

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Apple shares suffer biggest decline since August
Trump is worried French tax law could hurt tech giants including Apple.
Photo: White House

President Donald Trump is stepping up to defend Apple. Well, kind of.

The president ordered an investigation into France’s planned tax on big tech companies like Apple, Alphabet, Facebook and Amazon. The Office of the United States Trade Representative said the tax “unfairly targets” American companies.

Update 1: France passed the tax Thursday, according to Agence France-Presse: “The legislation — dubbed the GAFA tax in an acronym for Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon — was passed by a simple show of hands in the Senate upper house after it was agreed by the National Assembly lower chamber earlier this month.”

This little adapter lets you use AirPods with almost anything

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RHA-Wireless-Audio-Adapter-AirPods
Add Bluetooth to your old iPod and more.
Photo: RHA

AirPods might just be the most convenient wireless headphones money can buy. But because they rely on Bluetooth, you can’t use them with everything. This little adapter from RHA hopes to change that.

The Wireless Flight Adapter plugs into any 3.5mm headphone jack to make it wireless. It’ll work with in-flight entertainment systems — as its name suggests — as well as the Nintendo Switch, TVs, old iPods, and more.

Apple Watch’s Walkie-Talkie app disabled over eavesdropping concerns

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watchOS 5
Walkie-Talkie vulnerability allowed users to listen in on each other .
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple temporarily disabled the Apple Watch Walkie-Talkie app after discovering a vulnerability that allowed users to listen in on another person’s iPhone calls without their knowledge.

The app will stay installed on devices, although it won’t work until Apple issues a fix.

You can now search transcripts of every 2019 WWDC dev session

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WWDC transcripts
It's a crash course in all things developer.
Photo: Apple

WWDC may be best known to casual Apple fans for its keynote speech, but it’s a whole educational week for devs.

While the best way to experience the Developer’s Conference is to attend live, not everyone is able to. With that in mind, Apple has just made videos of all its 2019 instructional sessions available. And they’re fully searchable.