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Led by Apple, major tech stocks drop $728 billion in 6 weeks

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European Commission could get even tougher on tech in 2020
Apple is still worth a whole lot. Just not as much as it was.
Photo illustration: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s market cap has taken one heck of a beating over the past six weeks. But it’s far from alone.

A new report notes that tech’s FAANG stocks (that’s Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google) have lost a combined $728 billion of their combined value in one-and-a-half months. That’s slightly more than the GDP of Saudi Arabia and only a bit less than that of the Netherlands.

Apple really wants iPad Pro to be your next computer

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Raw power comes up in Apple’s new video called 5 Reasons iPad Pro can be your next computer.
Better performance than most laptops comes up in Apple’s new video called 5 Reasons iPad Pro can be your next computer.
Screenshot: Apple

In a previous iPad advertisement, Apple famously asked “What’s a computer?” The company has taken a step past that with its latest ad that urges people to make an iPad Pro their next computer.

The less-than-a-minute video goes on to delineate some of the capabilities of the latest iOS tablet.

Watch it now:

Deezer tries to outdo Spotify with upgraded Apple Watch app

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Deezer Apple Watch
Deezer hopes to offer the best wrist-based music experience yet.
Photo: Deezer

Following on from Spotify’s Apple Watch debut, rival streaming music company Deezer has given its Apple Watch app a major version 2.0 overhaul.

The upgrade includes brand new features such as direct access to recently played tracks, favorites, and Deezer’s “Flow” personal music discovery system.

Tumblr was removed from App Store for child pornography

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The Tumblr iOS app currently can’t be installed.
Tumblr was booted out of the App Store over the weekend.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

It’s not every day that an app as well known as Tumblr vanishes from the App Store. That’s exactly what happened over the weekend, however, when the microblogging social network app was wiped off the face of Apple’s app repository.

Now a new report claims that the reason it was removed was because it contained child pornography, which somehow managed to get around Tumblr’s filters.

iPhone photo-editing app Darkroom expands to iPad

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Darkroom is making the jump from iPhone to iPad.
Darkroom is making the jump from iPhone to iPad.
Photo: Bergen

Darkroom is a photo-editing application that invites comparison to Adobe’s Lightroom. But it’s always had a limitation: the only version was for iPhone.

That’s about to change, as an iPad version is out in beta.

Sell your old Apple Watch for a cheap Black Friday upgrade

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Apple Watch
Bag an Apple Watch for under $185 today only.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Retailers are offering big discounts on the Apple Watch for Black Friday, and you can fund your upgrade by selling your old model to Cult of Mac. The whole process is quick and easy, and we typically pay more than other buyback services like GameStop and Gazelle.

Find out how much your Apple Watch is really worth today!

New wireless fast charger wins with aluminum and USB-C

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A new iPhone wireless charger uses USB-C.
A stylish new iPhone wireless charger uses USB-C.
Photo: Satechi

Satechi has a new wireless charger for Qi devices, including all recent iPhone models. This includes a USB-C port and can transmit power as quickly as iOS and Android devices can receive it. 

Its casing has a more modern look that previous versions from this company.

Instagram goes to war against fake follows and likes

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Instagram lawsuit
Instagram is fixing its fake likes problem.
Photo: Pixabay

Using a third-party app to gain followers and likes on Instagram are about to become a lot less effective at artificially growing audiences.

Instagram revealed today that it is going to war against fake follows and likes by using AI to identify accounts that engage in the practice. Starting today, Instagram says it will remove inauthentic likes, follows and comments from accounts that use third-party apps to boost their popularity.

This is the message you’ll see if you’re guilty:

RødeCaster Pro is the perfect box for iOS podcasters

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The RødeCaster Pro bundles everything you need to record a podcast in one box.
Everything you need to record a podcast, in one box.
Photo: Røde

Podcasting on iOS is perfectly feasible, as long as you don’t want to use Skype or FaceTime to talk and record the audio at the same time. The new RødeCaster Pro mixer/recorder neatly sidesteps this issue, as well as putting everything a podcaster might need into one sturdy box. And because the hardware is made by Røde, it’s probably pretty good.

Google Photos can now adjust background blur on Portrait Mode pics

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Google Photos library backup on iPhone X
Google Photos is the photo and video backup app we all wish Apple would give us.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

You no longer need to buy the iPhone XS or XS Max to take advantage of one of the best features on the new devices’ camera.

Google Photos pushed out an update this morning that allows any iPhone owner with a Portrait Mode camera to adjust the background blur after a photo has been taken.

Brilliant Pod Case concept turns Apple Watch into iPod

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Podcase
This needs to be a thing.
Photo: Joyce Kang

iPod lovers have been waiting years for Apple to resurrect its portable music player, but a brilliant new concept case could give us the next best thing.

Designer Joyce Kang created a brilliant mockup of a case for Apple Watch that transforms it into a music player reminiscent of the original iPod. The tiny case even comes with a working click wheel — and still gives you access to Apple Watch’s best features!

RAW Power brings new powerful photo editing tools to Mac, iOS

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RAW Power
RAW Power for Mac 2.0.
Photo: Gentlemen Coders

Photographers who use the RAW Power software get a new slew of tools today with the release of a 2.0 version for both Mac and iOS.

RAW Power 2.0 brings new adjustments for chromatic aberration, perspective, a monochrome mixer and a new set of features that deepen the richness of photos called Enhance.

iPhone should prioritize battery over design, says ex-Apple evangelist

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battery
Would you take better battery life over a thinner iPhone?
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple’s former “chief evangelist” Guy Kawasaki thinks the company has made a massive mistake by prioritizing sleek smartphone design over improved battery life.

“If Apple introduced a phone that had double the battery life but was also thicker I’d be buying it tomorrow,” he told The Australian Financial Review. “You have to charge your phone at least twice a day, and God forbid you ever forget to do that.”

Weak iPhone demand rumors put the hurt on Apple stock

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money
Apple stock is suffering right now.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple stock has continued to slide in the wake of negative stories about iPhone order numbers. AAPL shares lost up 2 percent in premarket trading.

At time of writing, they are valued at $193.53 per share. That’s down from the $232.07 Apple hit in early October, back when the company was comfortably valued at over $1 trillion.

Apple reportedly cuts both iPhone XR and XS orders

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iPhone XS Max
Suppliers supposedly aren't too happy about it.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple has reduced its orders for both the iPhone XS and iPhone XR.

This comes at a time when the overall smartphone market is slowing down. This is supposedly making it difficult for Apple to accurately forecast just how much demand there is for each of its three smartphone models.

Tim Cook: Tech hasn’t done enough to push gender diversity

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Cook
Tim Cook gave an in-depth interview to HBO.
Photo: Saïd Business School, University of Oxford

Tim Cook thinks the tech industry has “missed” doing enough to push gender diversity to break up the male dominated culture in Silicon Valley.

Cook answered the question as part of an Axios interview on HBO, which aired on Sunday. In addition to talking gender diversity, Cook also discussed his daily routine, concerns about the mental impact of Apple devices on users, and privacy regulation.

Tumblr vanishes from the App Store

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The Tumblr iOS app currently can’t be installed.
The Tumblr iOS app currently can’t be installed.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Tumblr is gone from the iOS App Store, but exactly why remains a mystery. Still, there’s speculation that Apple cracked down on the blogging app for being used to disseminate content that violates Apple’s guidelines for third-party software.

Oath, the developer of Tumblr, promises that it’s working on the “issue.”

Brydge taunts us with iPad Pro keyboard we can’t have

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An iPad trackpad?! Too bad it’s only a dream.
It could be so much better.
Photo: Brydge

An accessory maker shared a picture of something many people would love: a clip-on iPad Pro keyboard with a trackpad. Sadly, Brydge’s concept device just isn’t possible because iOS doesn’t support external pointing devices.

At least, that’s true for now. But mouse/trackpad support is a often-requested feature, and there’s reason to think Apple is at least considering it.

UPDATE: Turns out Apple was considering it, and mouse/trackpad support is built into iPadOS 13. Learn how to use a mouse with your iPad.

One wonderful week with the new iPad Pro [Cult of Mac Magazine]

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What did we do before this wonderful thing arrived? One week with the 2018 iPad Pro.
What did we do before this wonderful thing arrived?
Cover: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Seven sinfully satisfying days. That’s what the Cult of Mac staffers who ponied up for the new iPad Pro describe as they recount their first wonderful week with the stunning Apple tablet. (Even the ones who still think it’s not really a legit laptop replacement are swooning.)

You’ll find those sober assessments, plus new how-tos and reviews, in this week’s issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. Pick up your free subscription on iTunes now. Or, if you like, read on for the week’s best stories.

Spoiler alert: Our free iOS mag is going to look better than ever if you’re one of the lucky ones reading it on a new iPad Pro.

Adobe Lightroom plays nice with new iPad Pro and Apple Pencil

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Adobe Lightroom
Lightroom mobile updates bring Apple's latest mobile tools into the fold.
Illustration: Adobe

Adobe added fresh tasks to its iOS version of Lightroom so that it can be used with Apple’s newest mobile tools.

Beginning today, Lightroom Mobile will support both the latest iPad Pro models and the redesigned Apple Pencil. With the pencil, users can double-tap to switch between paint and erase modes with certain tools.

Roli Songmaker Kit GarageBand Edition adds touch control to Mac

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Any Songmaker Kit can be turned into the GarageBand Edition.
Any Songmaker Kit can be turned into the GarageBand Edition.
Photo: Roli

Roli makes touch-sensitive controllers for music apps, and they come in Blocks, little modular units that can be snapped together via magnets to form bigger, better controllers. They’re kind of like Transformers for music. Now, Roli will now sell you a GarageBand-friendly version of its amazing Songmaker Kit, optimized for use with the Mac version of GarageBand.

But what if you already bought a Songmaker Kit? Should you return it and buy the new one? Nope. The hardware is exactly the same, all you need is a software update.

Today we’ll see what the Songmaker Kit GarageBand Edition can do, and find out how to update your own Blocks to use it.

Watch an iPad Pro bend with embarrassing ease

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JerryRigEverything
Zach Nelson's iPad Pro teardown video was a snap.
Photo: JerryRigEverything/YouTube

An 11-inch iPad Pro and Apple Pencil were the focus of what seemed like a routine unboxing video. That is until the host used his bare hands to destroy both devices.

If you’re among the 2.7 million viewers to JerryRigEverything on YouTube, you’ve come to expect the unusual durability tests host Zach Nelson puts to the latest tech gadgets.

Your GPS is about to become way more accurate

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Apple Maps, Waze, etc. will know just where you are thanks to Europe’s Galileo satellite system.
Apple Maps, Waze, etc. will know just where you are thanks to Europe’s Galileo satellite system.
Photo: European GNSS Agency

Phones and other devices located in the U.S. are now permitted to access signals coming from the European equivalent of the GPS system, named for the astronomer Galileo. This should make them significantly more accurate.

Recent iPhones have the hardware necessary to receive these signals, so it’s just up to Apple to add this feature.