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Taskmator now does split-screen drag-and-drop on iPad

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taskmator ipad
TBH Taskmator doesn't look fantastic in split view, but at least it works.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Cult task manager and notes app Taskmator just got an update that brings it into the 21st century. The iPad app, which continues the work of the abandoned TaskPaper for iOS app, finally supports the big screen size of the 12.9-inch iPad, as well as adding some general polish to the user interface and preferences.

Apple already fixed Intel’s massive chip flaw in macOS update

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intel
Intel says its chip flaw isn't a flaw.
Photo: Thomas Hawk/Flickr

The critical design flaw discovered in the way Intel CPUs process information has reportedly already been fixed by Apple in a recent release of macOS.

Apple’s fix came out at the beginning of December with the release of macOS 10.13.2. But according to one developer, the company has a few additional patches for Intel’s blunder in a current beta build.

Apple drops first batch of betas for 2018

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iOS 11
New beta software is out for iPhone and iPad.
Photo: Apple

The first batch of beta software updates for 2018 has already arrived from Apple.

Developers received four new beta updates this morning, including the third build of iOS 11.2.5 which includes a host of bug fixes and performance improvements for the iPhone and iPad.

How to add an EQ and effects master track in GarageBand for iOS

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garageband master track
Here's a cellist, who has mastered her own track, as it were.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

One of the craziest omissions in GarageBand for iPad and iPhone is the lack of a master track for mixing. A master track sits in your GarageBand window alongside your recorded instruments, and lets you apply EQ and effects — bass, treble, reverb, and so on — to the entire song. Even in the amazing new GarageBand 3.2, there’s no proper master track.

But there is a workaround that is both easy, and as good as having the real thing. Let’s check it out.

New HomeKit smart plug cures your house of wall warts

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The upcoming ConnectSense Smart In-Wall Outlet puts the power of HomeKit in your walls.
This stealthy smart outlet will put the power of HomeKit in your walls.
Photos: ConnectSense

If you want a HomeKit-compatible electrical outlet, but don’t want an ugly wall wart jutting out of your conventional plug, you’re about to get a new option. The ConnectSense Smart In-Wall Outlet will work like other smart plugs. But it looks like the ordinary power outlets hardwired into your walls.

Battery replacement program could be bad news for iPhone sales

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iPhone battery
Brazil demands easy iPhone battery replacements.
Photo: iFixit

Apple’s iPhone battery replacement program could cause the company to lose out on millions of new iPhone sales, according to analysts at Barclays.

It was revealed last month that the company intentionally throttles CPU speeds on some iPhones with older batteries to provide an overall better experience. Apple has offered $29 battery replacements to make up for it, but that might be bad news for its bottom line.

Apple Watch 3 has a serious hospital problem

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Apple Watch
Apple Watch Series 3 doesn't like visiting hospitals.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Take your Apple Watch Series 3 into hospital and it could suffer a few health problems of its own. Users are reporting that Apple’s latest wearable randomly reboots in a hospital environment, and it appears specialist equipment is the cause.

Apple ‘re-programs’ its Chicago Apple Store roof to deal with snow

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Chicago Apple Store 1
Apple has fixed falling icicles at its Chicago Apple Store with a software update.
Photo: Apple

Apple has responded to the recent cold weather in Chicago by “re-programming” the roof of its new Apple Store on Chicago’s waterfront so that it doesn’t form dangerous icicles.

As we reported at the end of last month, Apple’s flagship Chicago Apple Store on North Michigan Avenue recently ran into problems when the roof, designed to look like a giant MacBook, seemingly struggled to cope with the snowfall — resulting in the closure of the retail store’s outdoor area.

Spotify is finally making moves to go public

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Spotify
Want some Spotify stock with your subscription?
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple Music’s biggest competitor is about to become a publicly traded company.

In an effort to finally become profitable, Spotify has reportedly filed IPO documents confidentially with the SEC and the stock could be available to the public soon.

Aggressive smart speaker pricing could hurt HomePod sales

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HomePod
Apple's rivals are figuratively or even literally giving their smart speakers away.
Photo: Apple

Amazon and Google’s aggressive pricing of smart speakers could hurt Apple’s HomePod, claim analysts.

A new report notes that both Amazon’s Echo and Google’s Google Home family of devices were so heavily discounted over the holidays that they likely lost their companies a few dollars per unit. This is in sharp contrast with the kind of pricing that Apple plans for its $349 device, when it goes on sale in early 2018.

Invalid debit cards used to steal $350,000 of Apple devices

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iPad Pro
Crime doesn't pay. Well, in the long-term, at least.
Photo: Leander Kahney / Cult of Mac

A Sacramento man has plead guilty to scamming Apple Stores across the United States out of hundreds of thousands of dollars over a period of several months.

33-year-old Marcus Israel Butler carried out his scam, involving debit card fraud, in Apple Stores in Sacramento, Modesto, New York, Baltimore, Chicago, North Carolina and Alaska.

Even the chairs at Apple Park are designed to promote collaboration

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Apple Park chair
For $1,200 you can sit in style like an engineer at Apple Park.
Photo: Barber Osgerby

There’s a good chance you’ll never have the opportunity to work at Apple, let alone attain the success of chief designer Jony Ive. But that doesn’t mean you can’t sit like Jony Ive — and, no, we don’t mean on a giant pile of money in front of a white backdrop.

According to a new report, Apple Park uses design firm Barber Osgerby’s Pacific Chair throughout its campus. The elegantly simple chairs, designed to promote collaboration between employees, retail for $1,185. (Although Apple likely got a bit of a discount on a bulk order of 12,000 units!)

iPhone X launch sales will be revealed in Apple’s Q1 earnings call

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What’s it like to have your startup bought by Apple? Stressful
Apple's next earnings call will tell us a whole lot about the way 2018 will play out.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s first quarterly earnings call of 2018 will take place on Thursday, February 1, the company has revealed.

Apple will host a conference call to discuss its first fiscal quarter results for the year. This will happen at 2:00 p.m. PT or 5:00 p.m. ET, and is available to listen to online.

Upgrades to iMac Pro? Major disassembly required

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iFixit
iFixit carefully tore open an iMac Pro.
Photo: iFixit

You wouldn’t dare crack open your new iMac Pro, the one you paid $5,000 for, just for a peek under the hood.

But the teardown team at iFixit happily and fearlessly disassembles devices just to sate your curiosity and maybe entice you to fix or upgrade your own machines. The wiki-based repair resource wasted no time in the new year to tear open Apple’s long-anticipated and rather expensive next-generation iMac.

Apple gets new dev tools with Buddybuild acquisition

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iOS 11
Do you have problems with iOS 11?
Photo: Apple

Apple is adding another big tool for developers to its arsenal thanks to the acquisition of Vancouver-based startup Buddybuild.

The small 40-person company created a mobile iteration platform that allows devs to streamline their workflow and push app updates out through GitHub, GitLab and the like. Now Apple plans to take those tools and integrate them natively into Xcode.

Highly highlights text on webpages and iPhone

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highlighter
You'd be better off using one of these.
Photo: liveandrock/Flickr CC

Highly is a service that lets you highlight anything on the web from your iPhone, iPad, desktop, or even Slack. On iOS, it combines an app with a share extension so that you can easily highlight and save any snippet of text. But the app, and its insistence on sharing everything, makes the whole experience terrible.

How to sell your old iPhone or iPad

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iPhone X scuffs
Be honest about wear and tear on your old iPhone.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Maybe you got a new iPhone or iPad for Christmas. And now you must deal with offloading your old device. (Thanks a lot, Santa.)

You can give away your old iPhone, or sell it, but before you do either of those you need to do a little prep work. Today we’ll see how to find out how much your old iPhone or iPad is worth, and then how to make it safe to sell.

Apple’s $29 iPhone battery replacement just got easier

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iPhone battery
Brazil demands easy iPhone battery replacements.
Photo: iFixit

New Apple support documentation leaked from one of its retail stores that the company’s new $29 battery replacement program is a lot less strict than some customers originally feared.

Earlier in the week, some iPhone customers reported that the genius bar refused to swap their battery if it wasn’t under 80% capacity. According to a new documentation though, employees have now been instructed to replace batteries no matter what.

iPhone X demand could be significantly lower than expected

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iphone x
iPhone X demand could be 15-20 million units lower than expected.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Despite Apple stock having fallen to reflect lower iPhone X demand, one Wall Street analyst claims that expectations are “still too high.”

In a note to clients, Nicolas Baratte of CLSA says that any estimate over 35 million for Apple’s fourth quarter iPhone X volume estimate is overstating demand. The prediction follows hot on the heels of a Taiwanese news report claiming that weak demand has caused Apple to cut orders for the iPhone X from 50 million to 30 million units.

Analysts: There’s a 40 percent chance Apple will acquire Netflix

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Netflix has a plan to win over new subscribers in an age of Apple TV+
Our take? Don't count on it.
Image: Netflix

Citi analysts claim that there is a 40 percent chance that Apple will acquire Netflix in 2018.

Analysts Jim Suva and Asiya Merchant peg their prediction on the extra cash that Apple could have on its hands following President Trump’s recent tax cut — thereby allowing it to repatriate around $220 billion in cash.

According to Suva and Merchant, Apple would need just one third of that cash to buy Netflix.