News - page 63

Two new external monitors BenQ showcased this week at Adobe MAX in Miami cater specifically to Mac and MacBook users — especially creative professionals. PD2730S and PD3226G, part of BenQ’s DesignVue PD series, promise to deliver exceptional color accuracy and performance for designers, illustrators and content creators.

“BenQ has meticulously gathered feedback from professionals to design monitors that precisely meet their requirements with always accurate and consistent colors,” said Houston Wei, senior director of BenQ North America. “The new PD2730S and PD3226G were designed with both Mac and PC users in mind to provide unparalleled color features with invaluable new software including Display ColorTalk and Palette Master Ultimate.”

 Beloved Apple TV+ soccer comedy Ted Lasso begins pre-production on a long-hoped-for fourth season in January in London, according to a Thursday report. This follows recent news about the studio picking up cast members’ options, the first concrete clue that Ted Lasso season four might actually happen.

Apple TV+ ended the hit show after three seasons. But if Ted Lasso season four production starts as expected, it’s time to believe again! Fans eager to know more about the Ted Lasso platform and its future can check out Apple’s confirmation of season 4.

UPDATE: The Film & Television Industry Alliance confirmed via scheduling information that Ted Lasso shoots for season four will indeed start taking place in both London and Los Angeles in January 2025. A Mastodon post from the original leaker points to the confirmation.

These days, all sort of people need a microphone in their Mac computer setup — podcasters, streamers, gamers, videoconferencers or anyone recording pretty much anything. The list goes on. Today’s featured M1 Pro MacBook pro user, a video editor, relies on the Maono PD200X dynamic microphone, which packs both XLR and USB modes, to keep his vocal work clear.

Early benchmark tests for the recently announced iPad mini 7 show it’s around 30% faster than its predecessor, and perhaps a bit more. This is a detail that might help anyone wavering on the new tablet make up their mind.

The same tests indicate that iPad has 8GB of RAM — an expected increase.

Designer Basic Apple Guy, purveyor of fine wallpapers for your devices, found a way to blow up a bunch of tiny background shots of Apple Park in Cupertino into fine wallpapers for Mac and iPad displays. The background shots are included in macOS Sequoia for small-scale uses in apps like FaceTime and Photo Booth, so they had to be majorly upscaled. BAG dropped the wallpaper versions online Thursday for your downloading pleasure (see below).

One of the highlights of the iPhone 16 is its longer runtime. However, numerous owners of Apple’s latest iPhones are reporting significant battery drain issues.

Most users report “horrible standby battery life,” with their iPhones losing most of their charge when idle.

Popular young movie stars Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy star alongside Sigourney Weaver in the upcoming thriller film The Gorge on Apple TV+, the streamer revealed Thursday. It noted the film, which has no firm release date yet, will get promoted along with season 2 of hit series Severance at pop culture festival CCXP24 in early December.

“They’re not keeping you out. They’re keeping them in,” reads the tagline for the Apple Original Film. And in bigger news for fans of the mind-bending workplace drama series, Apple noted Severance returns with its second season January 17 (for those who don’t already know).

Apple TV+ reportedly renewed its comedy/drama Shrinking for season three on Thursday, continuing the teamup between Jason Segel and Harrison Ford.

Season two is streaming now. And with the new announcement, fans can enjoy it without any worries it’ll end with a cliffhanger that never gets resolved.

When the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban took control of Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2021, it stripped women of their right even to go outside without a chaperone. So when a woman surreptitiously taping herself says “the situation is dire” in the Bread & Roses documentary trailer, which Apple TV+ dropped Thursday, it seems like an understatement. A heavily armed force stripped even their most basic rights.

The Apple Original Films documentary film, which follows three women fighting to reclaim their lives, premieres November 22 on Apple TV+. Watch the trailer below.

As of Wednesday, Chief People Officer Carol Surface leaves Apple, the latest in a string of executives to do so. And she’s going after an unusually short two years of service for a top executive, according to a new report.

Other executive departures and role shifts include like Luca Maestri stepping down as CFO and longtime engineering exec Dan Riccio retiring.

PayPal debit card users will be able to see their PayPal balance in Apple Wallet starting in 2025.

Plus a new Tap to Provision feature lets users add a credit or debit card to Apple Wallet by simply tapping an eligible card to the back of their iPhone.

These are among a number of features that are new or coming soon to Apple Pay.

Apple gave the iPad mini a surprise refresh with faster internals and other minor upgrades. The highlight is Apple Intelligence support, bringing Apple’s AI suite of tools to its smallest iPad.

So, should you ditch your iPad mini 6 for these upgrades? Or hold on to it for another year or two? Find out in our iPad mini 7 vs. iPad mini 6 comparison.

The FTC is making it easier to cancel subscriptions. Its new “click to cancel” rule requires companies to make canceling a subscription as easy as the signup process.

Currently, canceling a subscription often requires multiple steps, with some companies making customers jump through unnecessary hoops.

Apple reportedly collaborated with China’s BYD to develop long-range batteries for EVs. The two companies seemingly partnered around 2017.

Reports emerged at the beginning of this year that Apple canceled its ambitious Car project, putting an end to all research and development efforts.

An update to Apple Business Connect that launched Wednesday enables any verified business to control how it appears in Apple Maps, Wallet and Mail, even if they don’t have a brick-and-mortar storefront.

This should give consumers access to the accurate information they need about these companies because it’ll be supplied by the best source: the owners of the businesses.

Other changes should help protect consumers from phishing attempts.

Despite suffering modest sales with consumers, Apple’s Vision Pro mixed-reality headset seems to be finding an unexpected but promising application in the medical field, particularly in surgery, according to a new report Tuesday.

So as Vision Pro helps surgeons and patients — and even cash-strapped medical providers — it could be a big deal in healthcare.

Season two of the hit Apple TV+ comedy/drama Shrinking premieres in October, with Jason Segel and Harrison Ford once again starring as therapists with problems of their own. A trailer previews the new season, with Segel’s character making progress dealing with his daughter, his crusty mentor and all his other issues.

UPDATE: The wait is over for Shrinking Season 2. It started streaming Wednesday on Apple TV+. And critics like the new episodes even more than season one, with the sophomore season of the show earning a 94% approval rating from the review-aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes.

The cool kids own an iPhone. And the non-cool kids. Really, nearly all U.S. teens own one. That’s according to new data from a market analysis that found that 87% of teenagers in the United States use an iPhone.

That’s likely to continue with more than 20% of teens planning to upgrade to an iPhone 16.

Apple-centric home audio nuts — and especially home theater aficionados — can officially get excited about two new high-end offerings from Sonos with new Sound Motion technology: the Sonos Arc Ultra soundbar and the Sonos Sub 4 subwoofer. You can preorder now, with their release coming on October 29, Sonos said Tuesday.

“For decades, Sonos has revolutionized home theater and music experiences with products that look as great as they sound. Driven by our hunger for innovation, we created Sound Motion to break the boundaries of what’s possible by a single speaker, bringing this industry-first transducer technology to home theater where demand for extraordinary sound is equal to designs that fit modern living spaces,” said Patrick Spence, CEO of Sonos.

“Arc Ultra is a reimagination of our best-selling soundbar, leveraging this incredible innovation to deliver an unprecedented sound experience from a sleeker design,” he added. And by the way, Sonos said it’s also making progress on improving its much-maligned updated app.

While there’s much anticipation for an Apple October product launch event, something happened Tuesday to make one less likely.

But don’t worry: Mac notebooks and desktops with the M4 processor are still expected to premiere soon. Just maybe more quietly.

Apple TV+ made up 8% of the U.S. streaming market in the third quarter, down slightly from the previous quarter, according to analysts.

While only a modest drop, the streaming service had been just behind some of its rivals, including Disney+ and Hulu. It’s now farther back.

The acclaimed Emmy and BAFTA Award-winning spy drama series Slow Horses, starring Academy Award winner Gary Oldman, gallops toward a green-lighted sixth season even as season 4 just concluded October 9, Apple TV+ said Tuesday. This continues a trend. Season 5 won approval right after the season 3 finale — well before season 4 aired. And it also makes Slow Horses the streamer’s longest-running show by number of seasons. Though admittedly, at six episodes apiece, they’re not long seasons.

“Audiences around the world have fallen in love with the Slow Horses, and I’m delighted that Gary Oldman will be leading this star-studded cast on another acerbic and action-packed adventure,” said Jay Hunt, creative director, Europe, Apple TV+.

The iPad mini 7, the first new version released in three years, offers support for the AI features dubbed Apple Intelligence. Plus, the tablet comes with a significant jump in storage capacity and supports the new Apple Pencil Pro. Otherwise, it is very similar to its predecessor. That includes sticking with the same prices.

“There is no other device in the world like iPad mini, beloved for its combination of powerful performance and versatility in our most ultraportable design. iPad mini appeals to a wide range of users and has been built for Apple Intelligence, delivering intelligent new features that are powerful, personal, and private,” said Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing.

Apple came extremely close to becoming the top smartphone vendor in Q3 2024. Reportedly, iPhone shipments reached a record-high in the quarter.

Despite tough competition, Samsung retained its top slot in the worldwide smartphone market.

Apple will purportedly expand the iPhone’s support for digital car keys in the Wallet app to more brands. The new additions will include select Volvo, Polestar, and Audi vehicles.

Currently, the feature only works with BMW, BYD, Hyundai, RAM and Mercedes-Benz vehicles.