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Apple adds new alert when your iPhone battery is failing

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iPhone battery warning
Here's what to do when you get this message besides panic. (Ok, maybe a little panicking is OK.)
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

iOS 11.3 has a new warning that users of older iPhones should dread. It’s a notification that the device shut down because the battery couldn’t provide peak power. Here’s what to do if this happens to you.

See just how awesome Apple Pencil can be in Notes

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iPad

Photo: Apple

Apple is making sure new iPad owners know all about the tablet’s new tricks with its series of educational how-to videos that keep coming out with updates.

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s new how-to videos, Apple has published a new video showing how to use Apple Pencil on the new iPad to draw handwritten notes in the Notes app. With the new cheap iPad, now students can write and sketch as they follow along in class. Handwritten notes are also searchable.

Watch and learn:

iPhone music app comes up with endless, catchy song ideas

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fortamento iPhone music song ideas
It doesn't look like much, but then, neither did Keith Richards.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Are you a musician struggling to come up with song ideas? Are you a non-musician who just wants to come up with a neat melody for that cat video? Then you should check out Fortamento, a melody generation app for iPhone which is both incredibly easy, and surprisingly deep.

Apple will give shareholders $100 billion thanks to Trump

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France fines Apple $27 million for intention iPhone 'throttling' controversy
Apple is stilling on huge stacks of cash, some of which will go owners of Apple shares.
Photo Illustration: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple stockpiled $252.3 billion overseas, but it’s bringing that money back to America. A market analysts predicts the company will spend $100 billion of it on its stock buyback and dividend program. This will directly benefit those with Apple shares.

The company decided to bring the money home from foreign banks after the new GOP tax law gave companies a limited time for cash repatriations at lower rates, possibly just 8 percent.

How to collect vintage Macs and other computers for fun (and maybe profit)

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Once you start collecting computers, it's hard to stop!
Once you start collecting computers, it's hard to stop!
Photo: David Greelish

Some people only care about the latest technology. For others, collecting the significant computers of the past — whether it’s an iconic first-gen Macintosh or iPhone, or failures like Apple’s short-lived Pippin games console — is fun in its own right.

If you fall in to this second group, you’ll love these five computer collecting tips to get the most out of your hobby. They will help you turn your passion for vintage Macs into an eye-catching computer collection.

How to free up disk space in macOS High Sierra

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space mountain
There's some free space right up there.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

MacOS High Sierra upgraded the Mac’s under-the-hood file system, replacing the decades-old HFS+ with the shiny new APFS. What this means for the user is way faster file copying, the ability to revert to previous versions of your documents, and several other neat features. But it also means that you may have a lot less free space left on your storage disk, thanks to APFS’ habit of using it to store special ‘dark matter.’Today we’ll learn what this dark matter is, and how to free up disk space.

Apple proposes hybrid keyboard that’s also a trackpad

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Proposed hybrid keyboard
A proposed hybrid keyboard would have regular keys that can also sense light touches.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

A future MacBook might have a hybrid keyboard that can sense when the. keys are lightly touched as well as when they’re pressed. This would allow the entire keyboard to function as a trackpad.

Apple wants to redesign the keyboard. It’s proposed various ways to make this classic input device more functional. Last month, it floated the idea of a replacing the keyboard with a flexible touch panel.

The next Mac Pro won’t arrive until 2019

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The Mac Pro is being
Turn your dusty old Mac into a fat stack of cash.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Professional Mac users holding out for the next Mac Pro are going to have to wait at least another year.

After revealing in 2017 that it was completely redesigning the Mac Pro, some fans held out hope that the new Mac Pro would come out by 2018. That’s not going to happen though. In a series of interviews, Apple executives revealed that the new Mac Pro will be a 2019 product.

Apple in talks with another supplier over futuristic MicroLED displays

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watchOS 4 is great and all, but what's coming in watchOS 5?
A new Apple Watch doesn’t have to break the bank.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple is reportedly in talks with another supplier as it works to bring MicroLED displays to future devices.

Taiwan’s PlayNitride has gained approval to invest $17.1 million in a new MicroLED production facility in the Hsinchu Science Park — and it seems Apple could be one of its first customers.

Harry Potter actors reunite for new iOS game

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Harry Potter
Coming April 25 to an iOS device near you.
Photo: Jam City

Forthcoming iOS game Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery will boast an impressively star-studded cast. Developer Jam City says the game will feature six actors from the wizarding movie franchise reprising their roles.

Color us excited!

Facebook spies on your messages to make sure you’re being good

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And you thought all those Facebook messages were secret. Sucker!
And you thought all those messages were private. Sucker!
Photo: kropekk_pl/Pixabay CC

Just when you thought Facebook couldn’t be more intrusive, the company has confirmed that it keeps an eye on our Messenger conversations to make sure we’re being good.

Messages you send are scanned to ensure they abide by Facebook’s rules — and if they don’t, they won’t be delivered.

Apple Watch Series 3, 6 months on

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Series 3 6 months on
Time has flown with the Apple Watch Series 3.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Surprisingly, the Apple Watch Series 3 has been out for six months already. While time has flown by (pun intended), the Series 3 watch has easily become one of my favourite Apple releases of the past year. Although I’ve already done a full review, I wanted to revisit it now that half a year has passed to tell you about my experience with it, what I like, what I don’t and if it’s worth it.

Check out the video below.

Spotify quibbles with Apple Music over The Weeknd streaming numbers

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Republic Records
Although it raises some questions about streaming number reporting.
Photo: Republic Records

Spotify and Apple are in a battle over rival streaming music services, and sometimes such conflicts can turn a bit petty.

After it was reported that The Weeknd’s latest album and lead single performed better on Apple Music than it did on Spotify, Spotify hit back by reporting that the numbers it initially gave were, in fact, wrong. It apparently beat Apple after all.

And that’s where things get confusing.

Tim Cook pays tribute to MLK 50 years after his death

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Tim Cook
Cook shared his thoughts with students from Birmingham, AL.
Photo: Tim Cook

Tim Cook visited his home state of Alabama this week, and paid homage to American Baptist minister and activist Martin Luther King Jr. on the 50th anniversary of his assassination.

Cook also met with a group of Birmingham, AL high school and college students, and talked about the importance of the civil rights struggle, the need to learn coding, and answered questions about his own career.

AirPort Express gets Air Play 2 support for whole-house audio

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AirPort Express
Still using an AirPort device? Update the companion app today.
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

Air Play 2 in the first beta of iOS 11.4 lets users add AirPort Express base stations as speakers. Sort of. This could become a relatively inexpensive option for whole-house audio.

What makes this move surprising is that Apple hasn’t updated the AirPort Express since 2013. That said, the wireless router is still being sold on the company’s website. 

New videos show off iPad’s best tricks

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Side-by-side multitasking on iPad
Apple demos how easy side-by-side multitasking is on an iPad.
Graphic: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple wants to make sure iPad users know how to work with two apps at once, and also how an Apple Pencil can mark up screenshots. A couple of new videos walk users through each of these quickly and simply.

The video are likely timed to benefit people buying the new iPad, the first budget iOS tablet that supports the Apple Pencil.

Experimental iPhone app makes heart surgery safer

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Why you'll fall in love with Apple's new dual-lens camera.
An new experiement shows an iPhone app and a camera can be used in medical diagnosis.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Medical advances don’t have to be dramatic. Even small changes can save lives. Take an app that uses an iPhone camera to determine if an artery is healthy enough to accept the catheter needed to restore blood flow to a patent’s heart. It’s still experimental, but is significantly better than the current method.

How to kick out companies that access your Facebook profile

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Facebook Profile
You might be amazed how many companies you allow to read your complete Facebook profile.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Facebook now lists in one place all the companies that you’ve given access to your profile info. This makes deleting this access a snap, right from your iPhone or iPad.

You may have taken a silly Facebook quiz to find out which droid from Star Wars you most resemble. Just by doing so, you allowed the company that made up the quiz entry to your full profile info. And even if that was a decade ago, they still have access today.

Apple Music passes 40 million paid subscribers mark

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Apple Music
Apple is increasing its dependence on revenue from services like Apple Music.
Photo: Apple

Apple Music appears to be narrowing the gap with Spotify when it comes to paid subscribers.

In a tweet this afternoon, Apple revealed that the total subscribers for its music service passed the 40 million mark during the same week Spotify’s stock went up for sale on the New York Stock Exchange.

How to write a killer report with Pages for Mac and iPad

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Now that Master Pages exist, Apple's Pages app for iPad and Mac may be the best
Pages may be the best "desktop" publishing app for most people.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Today we’re going to use the new features in Pages 4.0 to create an amazing report. If you need to write a book report, or create a longer document for school or work, the new Master Pages feature in Apple’s free word processor will prove extremely handy.

With Pages, it’s now easier than ever to throw together an amazing-looking document with almost no effort. Apart from the writing, that is.

Apple spared from Trump’s trade war with China – for now

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iPhone X
Trump's tariff list doesn't include smartphones and laptops.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The iPhone and other major tech products are safe from Trump’s brewing trade war with China.

On Tuesday, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative revealed that it was slapping 25 percent tariffs on 1,300 products coming from China related to technology, transport and medical products. iPhone components were exempt from the list, but other products like magnetic hard drives and flat-panel television sets were hit hard.

iOS 11.3 makes updating foreign apps easier than ever

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App Store
Apple apps no longer dominate App Store search results.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple has made it easier to update apps and games purchased from foreign App Stores in iOS 11.3. Users no longer have to switch to the App Store they originally downloaded the title from, making the update process a whole lot quicker.