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News - page 619

Apple celebrates Ramadan and 4K video on the iPhone XS

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Apple Ramadan
The meaning of Ramadan captured in 4K on the iPhone XS.
Screenshot: Apple/YouTube

Ramadan is a month of spiritual reflection for Muslims. Apple sought to honor the holiday with a 15-second “Shot on iPhone XS” spot featuring gorgeous video footage from two photographers from the Middle East.

Finding Balance is a series of sweeping landscapes around the United Arab Emirates. In each beautifully composed scene, people are reflected in water in the foreground to symbolize the self-reflection of the season.

All MacBooks with butterfly keyboards are now eligible for free repairs

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MacBook butterfly keyboard
Apple’s not ditching the MacBook butterfly keyboard yet.
Photo: Apple

Apple updated its Keyboard Service Program today to also include support for the 2018 MacBook Pro and 2018 MacBook Air.

The news comes on the heels of Apple’s unveiling of new MacBook Pros this morning with 8-core processors and butterfly keyboards with new materials. With the updated program, any MacBook with a butterfly keyboard is now eligible for service free of charge.

Fiery Feeds adds Instapaper-like universal read-later service

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Some illustrative fire.
Some illustrative fire.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Fiery Feeds is my favorite RSS reader app on iOS. It strikes the perfect balance between power, good looks, and ease of use. For instance, you can customize the entire look of the app with themes, you can set it to share stories to your chosen apps with a single swipe, and the whole thing is navigated with swipes. Version 2.2 just showed up, and it’s a biggie. Apart from some neat UI changes, Fiery Feeds now has iCloud syncing, and its own built-in Instapaper alternative.

Charge all your Apple devices with Zens Dual+Watch, now in white

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Zens Dual + Watch wireless charging mat in white.
Zens Dual + Watch wireless charging mat in white.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Zens’ popular Dual+Watch wireless charging pad is the one-stop charging system for all your Apple gadgets. It can charge three devices simultaneously, including your Apple Watch, iPhone and the new wireless AirPods.

The Dual+Watch mat is perfect for the bedside table or desk at work, and it now comes in white to match your AirPods.

Apple unleashes its fastest ever MacBook Pro

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

Apple just brought Intel’s latest eighth- and ninth-generation chips to the MacBook Pro, making it the company’s fastest ever laptop.

The newest 8-core models deliver up to twice the performance of a quad-core MacBook Pro, and up to 40% more than a 6-core model. They also promise powerful graphics, a T2 Security Chip, super-fast SSDs, and “all-day” battery life.

Apple reportedly tried to buy Tesla for way over the odds

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Tesla
This Model 3 could have carried an Apple logo one day.
Photo: Tesla

Apple tried to buy Tesla for more than it is currently worth back in 2013, according to one analyst.

The iPhone-maker is said to have made a bid at around $240 a share. Tesla CEO Elon Musk had already tried to offload his company to Google when its future wasn’t looking so bright.

Everyone’s favorite sassy weather app gets huge update

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Lightning CARROT 2
CARROT Weather offers some features you won't find elsewhere.
Photo: Grailr LLC

I’ve long been a fan of Brian Mueller’s CARROT apps, which offer everything from fitness-tracking to calorie-counting tools with a sarcastic AI taskmaster keeping you in line. Today, Mueller has released the latest update for CARROT Weather — and it’s pretty darn packed.

Version 4.11 is centered around notifications and adds a plethora of features not available in any other weather app.

’Hundreds’ working to make Apple News+ best for magazines

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Apple News+
News+ has become a big focus for Apple.
Photo: Apple

Apple has “hundreds” of people working to make Apple News+ the best place to read your favorite magazines.

The company has received lots of “great feedback” from many of its publishing partners, it revealed today. And some of them have special things planned for upcoming issues designed especially for Apple News+.

Cannes Lions hails Apple’s creative genius for advertising

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2019 Creative Marketer of the Year
Spike Jonze created Apple's most celebrated ad of 2018.
Photo: Apple

Apple has received virtually every award there is for advertising and marketing, but one announced this week caught the company by surprise.

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity announced it would award Apple Creative Marketer of the Year for 2019, a first for the company.

Apple Watch’s ECG app likely to arrive in Canada very soon

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apple watch
Apple Watch's ECG has been a real life-saver.
Photo: Apple

The revolutionary ECG app for the Apple Watch Series 4 looks like it could arrive in Canada in the near future. According to the Health Canada database, Apple licenses for ECG and irregular heart rate rhythm notifications were approved on May 16.

That suggests that it won’t be too much longer before Apple rolls out this feature in the country.

Nintendo is ditching 2 of its biggest mobile games in Belgium

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Nintendo introduces 2 paid subscriptions for Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp
Recent Nintendo games have embraced in-app purchases.
Photo: Nintendo

Two of Nintendo’s top mobile titles will vanish from the App Store on August 27. Well, in Belgium at least.

Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem Heroes have been big cash generators for Nintendo since launching on iOS. Unlike previous Nintendo titles like Super Mario Run, both these games rely on a freemium business model. And, in Belgium at least, they’re being punished for it.

Apple Pay goes live in two new markets and one big Australian bank

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Apple in talks to bring Apple Pay to Israel
Apple Pay continues to go from strength to strength.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple Pay has continued its expansion by going live in Hungary and Luxembourg. This marks 38 markets in which Apple’s mobile payment service is now available.

It is Apple Pay’s first new launch since it went live in Iceland at the start of May. That’s not the only Apple Pay news, either.

Download the first Microsoft Edge preview for macOS

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Microsoft Edge for macOS
See what Microsoft is working on for macOS.
Screenshot: Cult of Mac

Microsoft has officially offered up its first Edge preview build for macOS.

The early release gives users a chance to see what Microsoft is working on for the Mac. It will be updated daily, so you’ll get to enjoy the changes and improvements as they happen (almost).

Steve Jobs first proposed an Apple credit card in 2004

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This Apple Card from 2004 never made it into anyone’s Apple Wallet.
This Apple Card from 2004 never made it into anyone’s Apple Wallet.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

The Apple Card announced this spring isn’t a new idea; it was first floated well over a decade ago. This came as a proposal by then-CEO Steve Jobs made so long ago it would have offered users rewards in the form of free iTunes music to load onto their iPods.

Google takes aim at enterprise with new $999 Glass headset

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Google
Say hello to Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2.
Photo: Google

Google Glass is officially moving out of Alphabet’s “moon shot factory” to become an official Google product.

The search engine giant revealed its new Glass Enterprise Edition 2 spectacles today only instead of trying to reach mass appeal with consumers, Google is focused solely on making Glass great for businesses.

Bunch launches groups of apps from the Mac’s Dock

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I couldn’t find any photos of grapes, so here’s a bunch of strawberries instead.
I couldn’t find any photos of grapes, so here’s a bunch of strawberries instead.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Bunch is a new Mac utility from Brett ‘I Just Made This’ Terpstra, the developer of the nvAlt Mac notes app. Bunch sits in your Mac’s Dock, and lets you launch groups, or bunches, of app with one click. You could, for instance, have a Work bunch, which launches your writing app, your mail app, your calendar app, and more. You get the idea.

But there’s more to it than that. Bunch can also quit apps, open web pages, run Applescripts, and even attempt to make your chosen app the frontmost app when it launches. It’s very handy indeed.

Got an Apple Watch 3 in need of repair? You could get a free upgrade

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Save big on the Apple Watch Series 3
Get your Apple Watch for under $200.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

If you have an Apple Watch Series 3 in need of repair, there’s a chance Apple will upgrade it to a Series 4 model at no extra cost.

Apple has given retail staff and Authorized Service Providers permission to give out newer units in some cases because Series 3 devices are in short supply. It’s not yet clear if this is a permanent or temporary move.

Crazy beautiful iPhone 11 concept ditches buttons for more screen

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IPhone concept
Is there such a thing as too much display?
Photo: Concepts iPhone

The iPhone 11 (or whatever Apple calls it) is still about four months away and there is no shortage of creative concepts hitting the internet lately guessing what Apple will release.

This latest concept might be one of the craziest ones we’ve seen, but god damn is it beautiful. Instead of sandwiching a metal frame in between the front and back glass pieces of the iPhone, this iPhone 11 concept images what it would look like if Apple used a wraparound screen for the entire device. The end result is a luminous band around the entire phone that replaces the volume and power buttons and unlocks new possibilities for shortcuts on the side.

Take a look:

Sprint and T-Mobile merger takes giant step toward approval [Updated]

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FCC chairman Ajit Pai isn’t down with China Mobile coming to the United States.
FCC chairman Ajit Pai says its OK for there to be three nationwide carriers instead of four.
Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr CC

Your iPhone may soon have one less option for wireless service. The Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission has signed off on the merger of Sprint and T-Mobile. This is a significant step toward the third and fourth largest U.S. carriers becoming one.

Update: An unconfirmed report indicates that the Justice Department might nix this merger.

1TB iPod Classic is a music junkie’s dream

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1TB iPod
Remy Sternbach wants you to have 50,000 songs in your pocket
Photo: Remy Sternbach

The iPod was an instant classic — killed off in an instant by the iPhone.

But the iPod has a Dr. Frankenstein in Remy Sternbach. The San Diego tech repairman is determined to bring two to life each week with shiny new bodies, solid state drives, new high-capacity batteries and a full terabyte of storage.

What Sternbach has discovered is the obsolete hardware has an enduring cool.

“I know this is a niche market, but there are people who really like the iPod and like Apple nostalgia,” Sternbach told Cult of Mac. “We also get a lot of audiophiles and people who travel a lot to places with patchy cell service. They want their music.”