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New iPhone SE hits twin targets: switchers and slowpokes

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This short iPhone SE ad is supposedly intended for use online.
Plenty of people unboxing a 2020 iPhone SE used to be Android users.
Photo: Apple/TheApplePost

The $399 iPhone SE accomplishes two important goals for Apple, according to a market-research firm. It persuades more Android users than usual to switch to iOS. And the entry-level handset also convinces users of older Apple models that it’s time to upgrade.

Belkin’s smallest Wemo HomeKit smart plug hits store shelves

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Wemo WiFi Smart Plug hardly takes up any room.
A redesigned Wemo WiFi Smart Plug brings HomeKit support to regular appliances.
Photo: Belkin

Belkin on Monday began offering a much smaller version of its Wemo WiFi Smart Plug. Like the original, it supports Apple’s HomeKit home automation system. But the updated version of this smart outlet doesn’t crowd the wall socket nearly so much.

Enhance your Mac with 8 awesome apps [Deals]

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Limited Edition iMazing Bundle
Give your Mac a major productivity boost with this bundle of 8 apps.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

The biggest limitation on what our Macs can do comes down to the apps we install. This bundle of powerhouse apps includes 8 apps. They cover productivity, creativity, utility and more, so there’s something to make any Mac more useful. And now is the last chance to get it at a massive 93% off the usual price.

Class-action lawsuit accuses Apple of benefiting from iTunes gift card scams

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iTunes
iTunes scams have gone on for years. Unfortunately, people still fall for them.
Photo: Apple

Apple faces a class-action lawsuit from customers who fell victim to an iTunes gift card scam that they claim the company benefited from.

The scam has been around for a number of years. It frequently involves people being phoned up and asked for money by the fraudsters claiming to be from the Inland Revenue Service (or another governmental department). The scammers ask the victims to pay money owed by buying iTunes vouchers and then handing over the authorization codes.

These were the most popular iPhone models in the US last quarter

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iPhone 11 colors
There's not one clear runaway winner like last year's iPhone XR.
Photo: Apple

Apple no longer reveals the exact breakdown of sales when it comes to its individual iPhone models. But a new report by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners may provide some answers for the quarter ending June 27, 2020.

According to the firm, the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro made up about two-thirds of iPhone sales in the United States. This year, sales were split fairly evenly between the two models. That’s very different to Q2 2019 when the cheaper iPhone XR made up 65% of U.S. iPhone sales.

You’ll soon be able to enjoy Mario Kart Tour in glorious landscape mode

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Mario Kart landscape mode.
The tyranny of portrait mode is coming to an end!
Photo: Nintendo

Mario Kart Tour is addressing two big player complaints in its new update — adding landscape mode orientation, alongside portrait mode, as well as alternate game controls.

The update launches tomorrow, July 21. If you’ve not played Mario Kart on iOS for a while, it may be worth checking out this update to see how much these transform the overall gaming experience. Check out the trailer for the update below.

Apple spotlights Vogue‘s first Black cover photographer in brilliant Mac ad

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Tyler Mitchell Mac ad
New ad shines a spotlight on talented up-and-coming photographer.
Photo: Apple

When I think back to the Mac ads that have been my favorite over the years, it’s the ones that show everyday users (albeit frequently exceptionally talented ones) using Apple products that really stand out.

A celebrity-filled ad that makes you laugh is all well and great, but the ads that demonstrate how Apple products can help to create art or empower ordinary people are some of the most powerful ones. Which is why the latest “Behind the Mac” ad is my favorite 2020 commercial so far.

Check it out.

Apple pays tribute to late civil rights leader John Lewis on homepage

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John Lewis Apple image
Apple changed its homepage image to show the civil rights hero and congressman.
Photo: Apple

Apple updated its homepage over the weekend to pay tribute to John Lewis, the Democratic congressman and civil right hero, who died Friday at the age of 80.

Apple’s homepage featured an image of Lewis, with the quotation: “Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”

Turn any device into a gaming machine with a powerful Bluetooth controller [Deals]

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Dragon X5 Wireless Bluetooth Mobile Phone Gaming Controller
Make gaming easy with this wireless controller's multimedia functions, turbo acceleration, and wide device compatibility.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Games are as common on our laptops, phones and tablets as they are on consoles. Unfortunately, playing those games means smudging up screens or hooking up a mouse. Not so with this feature-packed Bluetooth wireless controller.

Yes, you can run Windows XP and Mac OS X on an iPad or iPhone [Cult of Mac Magazine 358]

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It's actually fairly simple to get Mac OS X or Windows XP running on an iPhone or iPad.
It's actually fairly simple to get this software running on an iOS device.
Cover: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

If you’ve always dreamed of running a Windows or Mac operating system on iPhone or iPad, this is your lucky day. We’ve got how-tos that show you how to run Windows XP or Mac OS X on an iOS device. It turns out it’s not that difficult — and it doesn’t require a jailbreak!

If you’re not up for a weekend project like that, don’t worry. We’ve got plenty of other good reading in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. Download it now and enjoy all the week’s top stories on your iPad or iPhone.

It’s got plenty of Apple news, including info on iOS 13.6 and the other software updates Apple released this week.

Get your musical mojo working with technology [Deals]

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Play Music
Turn your devices into powerful musical playmates.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

The internet has revolutionized music, and so have mobile devices. That’s as true of learning music as it is for listening to it, as these three deals demonstrate. With them, you can gain command of the ukelele, master Apple’s powerful Logic Pro X music-production program, and learn thousands of tunes straight from digital sheet music.

All work and no play makes a dull setup [Setups]

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MacBook Pro Setup
Audiophiles will be drooling at the mouth when they see this setup.
Photo: @connellmccarthy

Connell McCarthy is a senior designer for Shopify by day and moonlights as a musician. His setup was built to handle both of these activities.

He works at a Strucktube table, by Tokyo Desk, which gives him a ton of space to work with. His monitor is the LG 32-inch FreeStyle IPS Monitor which gives him good screen quality without breaking the bank. The nerve center of his rig is a MacBook Pro.

Why Apple needs to fix the medical mask emoji ASAP [Opinion]

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The medical mask emoji needs an update for 2020.
The medical mask emoji has way too much in common with the disappointed face emoji.
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, when wearing a face mask slows the spread of this disease, Apple really must change its medical mask emoji. It seems like a small tweak, but it’s important.

Currently, the face shown is unhappy about having to wear a mask. The design needs to show the person is glad to do their part.

Apple gets hacked, and the vanishing of prolific leaker Jon Prosser, this week on The CultCast

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CultCast 442: AirPods with health sensors
This week's gigantic Twitter hack gives us the creeps.
Image: The CultCast

This week on The CultCast: A massive Twitter hack has Apple pushing a bitcoin scam to millions! Plus: iOS 13.6 brings some cool new features to Apple News. And we’ll tell you the newest info on Apple Glass, while pondering the fate of Jon Prosser, the prolific Apple insider who vanished right after leaking details on the AR specs.

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. Easily create a beautiful website all by yourself, at Squarespace.com/cultcast. Use offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

Necrobarista serves up ‘death, coffee and feelings’ on Apple Arcade

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‘Necrobarista’ debuted Friday on the Apple Arcade gaming service.
Necrobarista is a “spellbinding story of necromancy, friendship, and letting go.“
Photo: Route 59

The Terminal is a back-alley cafe where the dead mingle with the living. Necrobarista, which debuted Friday on Apple Arcade, is the story of Maddy Xiao, the new owner and an amateur necromancer.

Route 59 calls its creation “a unique take on the visual novel medium.” It offers a free-roaming first-person perspective on a 3D world with anime aesthetics.

European Commission trustbusters eye Siri and other voice assistants

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European Commission trustbuster Margrethe Vestager has Siri in her sights.
Do voice assistants like Siri give companies an unfair advantage?
Photo: ECR Group/Flickr CC

Does the voice data harvested by voice assistants like Siri give tech giants an unfair marketplace advantage? Lawmakers in Europe are currently pondering that exact question.

A European Commission investigation into the matter will look at whether this data is being used to stifle competition and maintain the position of companies like Apple and Amazon in the marketplace. This most notably relates to the rapidly expanding constellation of smart, connected devices.

Apple plans to make its app developer language more inclusive

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iOS 13.5 golden master is available only to developers.
Apple is changing terms to make them more inclusive.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple has made plenty of public-facing moves to show its push for diversity in tech. But it’s making some behind-the-scenes changes, too — like tweaking the terms in its developer ecosystem to remove words the company no longer considers appropriate.

Examples include switching “master” code repository to “main” code repository, and changing “blacklist” to “deny list.” Here’s what Apple had to say in its announcement:

App downloads defy the odds by booming during coronavirus

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TikTok continues to dominate the App Store in 2020.
It was a great quarter for App Store downloads.
Photo: Kon Karampelas/Unsplash CC

Worldwide app downloads have boomed over the past three months, hitting an all-time high of 37.8 billion downloads, a new report by app analytics platform Sensor Tower claims.

Of that number, 9.1 billion were from the App Store. The remaining 28.7 billion was from the Google Play store for Android users. Both saw considerable growth versus last year. That’s despite the effects of coronavirus and the subsequent economic downturn.

Apple’s newly opened Beijing retail store looks absolutely stunning

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Apple Store Beijing 4
This is located close to the site of Apple's first ever China Apple Store.
Photo: Apple

Apple opened its first store in China back in 2008 at Beijing’s Taikoo Li Sanlitun mall. Now, more than a decade later, it has opened a spectacular new Apple Sanlitun store adjacent to the now-shuttered location of the original.

Apple Sanlitun is twice the size of the original Beijing store, and includes a viewing gallery, boardroom (for users to get advice from Apple experts), and a forum for future live events. Check out the pictures below.