With COVID-19 lockdowns walling us off from friends and family, the FaceTime feature on iPhones and iPads is saving our social lives.

But glitchy audio and periodic freezing of the video stream add to our mounting self-isolation frustration.

Fresh iOS 14 leaks that surfaced on Monday reveal Apple’s plans to bring new notification triggers and an augmented reality mode to the Find My app.

The improvements could give users the ability to get an alert when a contact doesn’t arrive at a specific location by a certain time. They could also make it easier to track down lost Macs and iOS devices.

Ireland is not allowed to use the 14 billion euros ($15.1 billion) in disputed back taxes it collected from Apple to help boost its economy during the COVID-19 coronavirus crisis.

Yesterday, the leader of the opposition Sinn Féin party, Mary Lou McDonald, said the Irish government could “right this minute” reach into the escrow account where the funds are held and use them to help workers. However, Taoiseach politician Leo Varadkar says that simply isn’t the case.

Apple is aware of Personal Hotspot problems some users are facing after updating to iOS 13, according to a report published Saturday.

The company reportedly distributed an internal document to Authorized Service Providers acknowledging the issue. There is no fix for the problem yet, but there is a temporary workaround users can employ in the meantime.

Disney has delayed the launch of its Disney+ streaming service by two weeks in France. This is as a result of a request by the French government.

Disney has also agreed to a European Union request for streaming video providers to scale back streaming quality by “at least” 25%. This is to “ensure the smooth functioning of the broadband infrastructure” at a time when the internet faces the strain of more heavy traffic while people are stuck home due to the coronavirus crisis.

Lots of us suddenly have extra spare time, so it’s a great time to catch up on those tasks we’ve been putting off for a while. That’s why we rounded up four great deals on cloud backup, resume building tools, Mac cleaning utilities, and personal finance software.

Face it: Apple’s probably never going to make a touchscreen Mac. It’s definitely never going to make a touchscreen Mac that looks like the 1986-era Macintosh Plus.

Fortunately, engineer and Mac fan Travis DeRose has stepped up to the plate to show us what such a glorious amalgamation of concepts would look like — by building what essentially amounts to a Mac Plus case for his iPad mini. No, it’s not particularly practical, but it is neat looking. Check out his video below.

Apple plans to make big upgrades to the iPhone’s camera in the coming years, according to the latest research note from reliable TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, published on Monday.

It is predicted this year’s refresh will bring sensor-shift image stabilization to at least one model before the technology rolls out to all flagship handsets in 2021. iPhone is then expected to get periscope with up to 10x optical zoom in 2022.

Apple isn’t giving up on its dreams of an AirPower wireless charging mat, according to Jon Prosser of FrontPageTech. In a series of tweets sent Sunday, Prosser said that Apple is in the process of “re-engineering” AirPower from the ground up. “Prototyping is underway,” he wrote.

While that’s still no guarantee that AirPower will make it to market, it’s good news to hear that Cupertino’s not abandoning plans for a product many people were excited about.

Apple is offering users in the U.S. (and hopefully elsewhere soon) a selection of free books and audiobooks to help while away the hours while in self-isolation.

A push notification Apple sent out Sunday advises customers to “enjoy a good book, on us.” It reads as follows:

The limit on the number of iPhones, iPads and new MacBook Air models each customer could purchase that Apple put into place a few days ago has already been lifted everywhere outside China.

This means any hoarders who have money left after buying every scrap of TP in their town can stock up on Apple devices, hoping the limited supply will make prices skyrocket.

Apple TV+ has launched a surprise interview series with former talk show Oprah Winfrey talking about the global coronavirus pandemic. In its first episode, Winfrey spoke to actor Idris Eba, one of several celebrities to test positive for COVID-19.

The series – entitled “Oprah Talks COVID-19“- debuted Saturday, with little production value for a quick-to-air show. Winfrey’s first installment features FaceTime interviews with Elba and his wife, Sabrina Dhowre. 

If playing golf is how you relieve stress, being stuck at home is not ideal. If you’re being responsible and self-isolating — and missing the driving range — this immersive golf simulator offers a way to get in your swings without leaving the living room.

Adding an extra camera lens and LiDAR to the 2020 iPad Pro changed the design enough that virtually all keyboard cases designed for its predecessor can’t be used with the new model. And Apple’s own Magic Keyboard won‘t debut for months.

Still, there are already a couple of keyboard cases available for people expecting a new iPad Pro to arrive this week.

This week we stay in touch with Slack, show appreciation with Props Love, download YouTube with ViDL, and more.

As COVID-19 continues to impact businesses big and small across America, Best Buy announced Saturday it is closing all of its 997 North America locations temporarily except for curbside pickup services. Best Buy is one of the nation’s largest independent retailers of Apple products.

Netflix is stepping up to help people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic by creating a $100 million fund that will go to support production and other workers in the industry.

The moves comes after production on nearly all major TV shows and movies has come to a grinding halt as more states and cities in act stay-at-home mandates.

Apple enhanced its Siri voice assistant Saturday with a step-by-step query instructing users on determining if they have been exposed to COVID-19, the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. 

The instructions are based on specific instructions from the U.S. Public Health Service, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A major new feature in this fall’s iPhone 12 is rumored to be a LiDAR scanner. A concept artist created a series of images showing what this change might look like.

This scanner would enable the next high-end iPhone models to create an accurate 3D map of their location, greatly improving augmented reality applications.

With U.S. cinema chains like AMC, Cinemark, Landmark, Alamo Drafthouse and Cineplex Odeon closed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Walt Disney Company moved up the online release of Pixar animated film Onward two weeks.

Apple has pledged to donate two million industrial respiratory masks to help health-care workers fighting the coronavirus pandemic in the United States and Europe, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence revealed during Saturday’s White House press briefing.

Pence called on other companies to step up and follow suit with more physical donations. Pence was optimistic about the supply of masks and said clothing-maker Hanesbrands is retrofitting some of its factories to make masks.

Repaired devices that customers couldn’t pick up before Apple Stores closed will remain piled up for some time due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Many Mac and iPhone owners now find themselves between a rock and a hard place, according to various reports and social media posts.

From a hardware perspective, the new iPad Pro seems unassailable. The new Magic Keyboard with trackpad looks amazing. And iPadOS 13.4 feels like a game-changing upgrade.

It’s true: The iPad Pro is really having a moment right now. One could even argue that Apple’s tablet is better than a Mac at this point.

Find out what makes that practically blasphemous statement true in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. Download it now and read it on your iPad or iPhone. Or get the links below for our blowout coverage of the new iPad Pro. You’ll also find the rest of the week’s top Apple news, reviews and how-tos.

For a growing number of people, the COVID-19 lockdown makes it unclear where the next paycheck will come from. That makes it a good time to brush up on skills so that wherever opportunity arises, you’re ready. The courses in this Cult of Mac Deals roundup will teach you vital, resume-boosting covers skills like iOS development, Excel, digital marketing and foreign languages.

Grab one (or more) of these deeply discounted educational bundles today. And then start racking up certified skills so you’ll be ready to jump on future hot jobs.

Mired in scandal and plagued by delays, the debut fiction film purchased by Apple TV+ is finally here to stream, just in time for everyone in America to be trapped with little else but their TVs.

The Banker, starring Anthony Mackie and Samuel L. Jackson, likely won’t top many best-of lists this year. It’s too slight, though neither does it embarrass itself in the telling of a compelling true story about overcoming discrimination in a racist world.