The long wait is almost over. Apple said Friday it will open the doors of a few of its U.S. retail locations next week. The majority of Apple Stores globally closed almost two months ago as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. More stores will reopen when the company deems it safe.

A law firm accuses Apple of forcing customers to fix the malfunctioning displays in the 15-inch MacBook Pro that launched in 2016 even though the failure is a result of a design flaw. The problem is common enough that it has a name: Flexgate.

The Parris Law Firm is hoping to force Apple to fix all affected computers, and refund the cost to anyone who already had this problem repaired.

Things start to get unbearably tense and inhumane as pressure builds on the Barber family in Defending Jacob’s fifth episode, “Visitors.” The show takes a number of risks that may pay rich dividends in future episodes — as long as the showrunners remember not to flinch.

New guest stars — including veteran actor J.K. Simmons — and old vendettas surface in Friday’s new episode. And the Barbers head toward what might turn out to be a moral dead end if they want to stop their son, Jacob, from going to prison. Can we say climax?

Apple TV+ won an accolade no one wants: it’s the streaming video service viewers are most likely to cancel once it stops being free.

Still, satisfaction with Apple’s offering is fairly high, according to survey results revealed on Friday. But people like almost all its competitors more.

This week on The CultCast: Apple announces WWDC 2020! We talk our hardware and software predictions. Plus: A new leak gives us some exciting info on the upcoming Apple TV hardware, and the iPhone 12 lineup, including some surprising prices and new features. And we wrap up with a look at the new 13-inch MacBook Pro, so stay tuned!

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.

American singer and songwriter Billie Eilish is continuing her connection with Apple Music listeners with the release of a new radio show featuring she and her father, Patrick O’Connell.

Her new show, me & dad radio, will debut Friday on Apple Music at noon Pacific time with six episodes planned.

Bag a bargain notebook upgrade with hundreds off 15-inch MacBook Pro units. Woot is blowing out a number of 2019 models, all refurbished by Apple, today only. You can claim yours for as little as $1,579.99 before they’re all gone.

Some people love the Touch Bar. Others simply see no use for it, which can be frustrating now that every MacBook Pro ships with one. If you fall into that second camp, here’s how to bring back traditional function keys.

Investigate the shadows plaguing a small town in The Otherside, which debuted Friday on Apple Arcade. This is a simulated board game and RPG with a horror theme.

The coronavirus and its aftermath appear to be taking a toll on manufacturing of updated AirPods, with a new report indicating an update to Apple’s popular earbuds will be delayed slightly and roll into the first quarter of 2021.

The Nikkei Asian Review also reported Friday sources as saying around 30% of all classic AirPods to be produced this quarter for Apple will be “made in Vietnam”. That the report said is “a sign the company is accelerating its diversification of production out of China amid the coronavirus pandemic.”

Struggling to block out background distractions when working from home? Pick up a pair of brilliant Beats Solo3 wireless headphones at 50% off today only.

They work wonderfully with Apple and third-party devices over Bluetooth, and they sound terrific. They also run for a whopping 40 hours in between charges.

This week, I finally got around to adding Dark Mode support to Reps & Sets, the iPhone bodybuilding app I develop as a side hustle. That’s almost a year after Apple first announced the feature at its Worldwide Developers Conference.

What took me so long? Supporting Dark Mode is not as simple as it seems. It’s not just indie devs like me who have struggled with it, either. WhatsApp only recently added Dark Mode support, and Facebook is still beta-testing it.

So if you’re waiting for your favorite app to switch to the dark side, here’s why it might be taking so long.

Microsoft plans to add trackpad and mouse functionality to its Office for iPad suite of apps by the fall, according to two published reports.

Macs aren’t immune to aging — just like us, they get slower over time. One of the main causes is clutter and malware, but luckily there’s a cure called CleanMyMac X. And this is your last chance to get it at a 24% discount.

The American crime drama and miniseries Defending Jacob is apparently a hit with Apple TV+ viewers, with reports Thursday that it now ranks among the two fastest-growing series premieres for the fledgling streaming network.

Apple plans to reopen all its 15 retail stores in Germany on May 11, according to a published report.

Germany will become only the second country in Europe to resume Apple Store operations since the majority of locations closed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic almost two months ago.

The popular journaling application Day One has updated its product with full support for iPadOS 13.4 and trackpad navigation. The update also adds a new Day View interface along with bug fixes and various other improvements.

Following a two-year legal tussle over patents and royalties, Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf said Thursday the chipmaker’s dealings with Apple have greatly improved and phrased the relationship as one of two “good partners.”

With most of its brick-and-mortar locations closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Apple launched Friday an online virtual services store focused on helping customers find and complete no-contact purchases and educate users through on-demand videos.

Titled “Everything you love about our stores is online,” the new hub is linked from the home page of Apple.com and accessible at apple.com/shop.

The CBS All Access streaming service expanded Thursday, adding dozens of classic movies made by Paramount. Newly added titles include classic films like The Godfather series,Spider-Man and Roman Holiday.

Also appearing today are several Star Trek movies to go with the multiple Star Trek shows that are the highlights of CBS All Access. All of this content can be watched on iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple TV.

Zoom on Thursday acquired Keybase for its experience with encryption and security.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought millions of new users to Zoom, but also criticism for weak security. Its stated goal in purchasing the smaller company, which developed its own messaging and file-sharing service, is to bring end-to-end encryption to Zoom meetings.

While it might be far down the pecking order of best selling streaming boxes, the Apple TV and Apple TV 4K got high marks in the first quarter of this year for best picture quality speed and shortest lag time in starting videos, according to data collected from billions of sensors embedded into video applications.

The results are a clear sign of how well streaming devices and services performed in a period where more people around the world were homebound due to the coronavirus pandemic and turned to watching television en masse.

Snapping a screenshot of your MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar can be useful for so many things, and it couldn’t be easier to do. All you need is a simple keyboard shortcut … and at least a couple of fingers.

The 6.1-inch iPhone 12 will jump from dual to triple camera lenses, if an unconfirmed report is correct. New renders supposedly showing other details this handset came to light as well.

If the basic 2020 iPhone gets a big camera upgrade, this would further blur the line between the iPhone 12 and the more expensive iPhone 12 Pro models. Previous leaks indicate that every iOS device coming this fall will have 5G and an OLED screen.

Apple’s Magic Keyboard add-on for the iPad Pro looks amazing. And it appears even more spectacular when iFixit X-rayed this accessory to see the inner details of the scissor-switch keys, the trackpad and the hinges that make an iPad seem to float.