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News - page 749

Apple has a surprising amount of unsold iPhone X inventory

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iPhone X wireless charging
Did Apple misjudge its iPhone X predictions?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple is sitting on a massive stockpile of unsold iPhone X devices, a new report claims. The backlog reportedly equals almost three times the number of the high-end handsets already shipped.

If correct, this would be unusual for Apple. The company normally proves very good at forecasting the number of units it should manufacture. The rumor suggests that, even nine months after the iPhone X went on sale, Apple is still trying to get to grips with the exact demand for the device.

Apple struggles big-time to sell iPhones in India

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Foxconn moving additional iPhone production to India as coronavirus disrupts work
Three members of Apple's India team have left the company as a result.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Three members of Apple’s executive team in India have departed, due to the company’s ongoing struggle to boost iPhones sales in the world’s fastest-growing major smartphone market.

The execs include Apple’s national sales and distribution chief, the head of its commercial channels and mid-market business, and the head of telecom carrier sales. Apple’s Indian sales team is now restructuring as a result.

2018 MacBook Pro performance shows dramatic improvement

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The new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro models with Touch Bar up the ante for pro users.
2018 MacBook Pro performance offers the biggest year-over-year improvements since the release of the 2011 models.
Photo: Apple

The 15- and 13-inch MacBook Pro models launching this week boast significantly faster processors. Tests with the Geekbench benchmarking tool show speed increases as high as 86 percent.

The improvements come from faster Turbo Burst frequencies and more processor cores.

Teardown reveals MacBook Pro keyboard is redesigned to prevent keys sticking

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The third-generation
The third-generation "butterfly" MacBook Pro keyboard has a membrane to keep out damaging grit.
Photo: iFixit

Apple made potential buyers of the new MacBook Pro models very nervous when it said no effort had been made to fix the problems plaguing the keyboards in earlier versions. Happily, it turns out the company was fibbing.

Taking apart this just-released Mac laptop shows that Apple definitely modified its butterfly keyboard mechanism to make it less likely to jam.

Thousands of engineers put Apple self-driving car in high gear

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Here's how Apple Car might eliminate blind spots
With so many people working on the Apple self-driving car, it's amazing that the best visuals we have are artists' concept renderings like this one.
Image: Aristomenis Tsirbas/Freelancer

Apple stays quiet about it, but the company is clearly developing a self-driving car. And this week the world was given a glimpse inside this project, showing that it’s much larger than many had previously thought.

The FBI arrested a former employee on Apple’s autonomous car design team for allegedly downloading proprietary information and attempting take it to a rival car company in China. The resulting documentation reveals the number of employees on the project.

Score big with these World Cup-inspired Apple Watch bands

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world cup
Repping your World Cup team just got easier, as Casetify's inclusive collection features bold designs adapted from the countries' flags.
Photo: Casetify

Who will it be? Croatia or France? Wear the World Cup on your wrist with Casetify’s colorful, tournament-inspired Apple Watch bands.

This international collection of bands represents 18 countries, the teams of which are currently battling it out at the 21st FIFA World Cup, held every four years.

Up your Apple Watch style game, and support your World Cup favorite year-round!

Cult of Mac Magazine: Finally! New MacBook Pros, and more!

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cover
In this week's Cult of Mac Magazine: The new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro models with Touch Bar up the ante for pro users.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

In this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine: Apple just updated its MacBook Pro line, ramping up performance and adding various advanced features. Phil Schiller, Apple’s marketing VP, calls the new Apple laptops “the fastest and most powerful notebook we’ve ever made.”

You’ll find that story and more in this issue. Get your free subscription to Cult of Mac Magazine from iTunes. Or read on for this week’s top stories.

Nyloon launches Apple Watch bands for extra-large wrists

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NYLOON
Shop Nyloon's colorfully cool collection of NATO nylon bands for Apple Watch.
Photo: Nyloon

Nyloon is constantly upping its game. Responding to customer feedback, the company regularly adds new styles and patterns to its lineup of extreme-quality nylon Apple Watch bands. And, now they’ve gone a step further to include a lineup of extra-large straps to fit even the biggest wrists.

For those with larger wrists, finding a comfortably fitting band for one’s Apple Watch is a challenge. The majority of brands out there simply don’t offer extra-large sizing. If this is the case for you, check out Nyloon’s five new bands in extra large, fitting up to 10.75-inch wrists!

Apple R&D seems stingy in face of massive revenues

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Apple raked in the cash last quarter.
Apple R&D spending would have to double to match some of its competitors.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple spent a whopping $12.7 billion on research and development last year. And $51 billion since Tim Cook became CEO. But one analyst says that might not be enough.

The company actually spends less on R&D as a percentage of the money it takes in than many of its competitors. About half as much.

2018 MacBook Pro extends True Tone to external displays

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This week brought the first True Tone MacBook Pro.
This week brought the first True Tone MacBook Pro. And that also goes for some external screens, like this Apple Thunderbolt Display.
Photo: Apple

The 2018 MacBook Pro models just released are the first with True Tone, adjusting the display to match ambient lighting. Even better, these new laptops can do the same trick on some external screens.

True Tone can “automatically adapt [the] display to make colors appear consistent in different ambient lighting conditions,” according to Apple.

New Apple Pay ad miraculously makes payments funny

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New ad makes Apple Pay in Messages easy and funny.
Warning messages from your landlord aren't always a joke, but a new ad for Apple Pay in Messages is.
Screenshot: Apple

Apple Pay isn’t just for trips to Starbucks. It can also be used to send or receive money from friends. Or your landlord, as shown in a humerous new ad.

Money can be transferred in a simple text using the Messages app. This works for sending and receiving the cash, after Apple Wallet has been properly set up.

Watch the new advertisement for Apple Pay in Messages now:

Apple Photo Lab serves up free pro tips for iPhone photogs

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Apple Photo Lab
Apple Photo Lab will bring pro-level skills to your iPhone photographs.
Photo: Chase Jarvis/YouTube

Apple and photographer Chase Jarvis, who built CreativeLive into one of the world’s top online education platforms, have teamed up to teach pro tips to iPhone photographers who visit their local Apple Store.

Apple Photo Lab, announced by Jarvis in San Francisco Thursday, will roll out in more than 500 Apple Stores across the world.

Apple Music’s Carpool Karaoke is up for an Emmy

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Carpool Karaoke
The star-studded series seems to have done well for Apple.
Photo: Apple

Apple Music’s Carpool Karaoke spinoff has been nominated for an Emmy in the “Shortform Variety” category.

It will compete with digital shorts made by the likes of The Daily Show and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The awards will be part of the Creative Arts Emmys handed out on September 8 and 9. It looks like Apple’s original content efforts are headed in the right direction!

A full version of Photoshop is coming to iPad in 2019

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iPad 2018
The iPad is going to get a powerful new graphics tool.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

There are some great graphics apps available for iPad. One which has been largely absent up until now? The proper full version of Adobe Photoshop.

Fortunately, that looks like it will change this year as Adobe Systems plans to launch the full version of the iconic photo-editing app for iPad. The move is part of a new strategy designed to boost subscription sales by focusing on mobile apps.

What you need to know about the new MacBook Pros, this week on The CultCast

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MacBook Pro CultCast
It's the most powerful update in years.
Photo: Apple

This week on The CultCast: It’s the best update in years. We’ll tell you everything you need to know about Apple’s very powerful new MacBook Pros. Plus: New Mac minis are on the way; Ming-Chi Kuo confirms Apple’s about to update its entire product line; how coke heads use Apple Watch to maximize their high. Finally, we talk killer whale attacks, port wines and the story of Saturday Night Live’s world-renowned sax player on an all-new What We’re Into.

Apple orders future iPhone displays from LG

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6.5- and 6.1-inch 2018 iPhone models
Complications could keep us waiting for Apple’s more affordable iPhone.
Photo: OnLeaks

Apple has ordered more than 24 million iPhone displays from LG as it prepares to start manufacturing its next-generation devices.

The South Korean company is expected to supply around 20 million LCD panels for the all-new 6.1-inch iPhone, plus 4 million OLED panels for a flagship model.

LG is also said to become the primary supplier of OLED displays for next year’s devices.

Apple joins $300 million fund to push clean energy in China

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China clean energy
A photovoltaic facility in Sichuan province that contributes to Apple's clean energy push.
Photo: Apple

Apple has leant its name — and, more importantly, its cold, hard cash — to a new initiative investing around $300 million to push energy use in China.

The fund will invest in and develop clean energy projects, capable of powering the equivalent of nearly 1 million homes.

Apple-owned magazine subscription service simplifies its fees

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Texture will stop working on Windows soon
Texture is dropping $5 off its Premium tier.
Photo: Apple

Texture, the digital magazine subscription service Apple acquired back in March, is simplifying its fee structure. Previously, Texture offered a $9.99 Unlimited Basic Plan and a $14.99 Unlimited Premium Plan, with the difference between the two being the addition of weekly magazines.

Now Texture has lowered the price for the Premium Plan to $9.99. In essence, this means that all customers should now have access to the widest possible range of publications for just ten bucks a month!

PC shipments are finally back on the rise

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MacBook butterfly keyboard
A new petition accuses the MacBook 'butterfly' keyboard of failing when a single speck gets in the wrong place.
Photo: Apple

Worldwide personal computer shipments are finally making a comeback after a six-year slump in sales.

The latest report from Gartner estimates that during the second quarter of 2018 PC shipments finally grew year-over-year for the first time since the first quarter of 2012. With 1.4% overall growth for the market, PC makers have a lot to be happy about, and Apple’s shipment numbers were some of the best in the bunch.

Apple photo printing service is dead as disco

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Apple photo printing service discontinued
After being around since 2002, the Apple photo printing service is going away.
Photo: Apple

Mac users can still print pictures from the Photos app to Apple’s online Photo Print Products service, but only for a couple of more weeks. It’s being discontinued at the end of September.

iPhone and iPad users, there’s nothing to see here. This service never made the jump to iOS.

National Geographic turns top 2018 travel photos into iPhone-friendly wallpapers

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humpback whale
A humpback whale calf spotted off the coast of Japan.
Photo: REIKO TAKAHASHI

Some of the best photos from National Geographic’s travel photographers of the year are now available as free wallpapers for iPhone, iPad and Mac. The collection includes images from a wide range of photographers. They’ve been divided into categories for nature, cities and people so you’re bound to find a few that catch your fancy.

Check out some of our favorites:

MacBook Pro’s third-gen ‘butterfly’ keyboard doesn’t fix its worst problem

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MacBook butterfly keyboard
The keys of the "butterfly" keyboard in the 2016 MacBook Pro get stuck very easily. It's possible that's true of the 2018 models too.
Photo: Apple

Editor’s note: There’s good evidence that the new MacBook Pro keyboard actually does address the problems experienced by some owners. Read our: Teardown reveals MacBook Pro keyboard is redesigned to prevent keys sticking


People around the world are hoping the new MacBook Pro models introduced today have a keyboard that’s been carefully designed to not have the same sticky keyboard keys as their predecessors. But it didn’t happen.

A company spokesperson says the problem of grit causing the keys to stick in previous macOS laptops was not addressed.

But that’s not necessarily the whole story. It’s possible Apple did fix the problem but doesn’t dare talk about it.