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Foxconn founder swears Wisconsin plant will pop up this year

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Terry Gou
Foxconn founder Terry Gou (right) says he's making the U.S. a bigger focus in 2020.
Photo: Voice of America/Wikimedia Commons

Apple’s top supplier is promising to start production at its Wisconsin plant sometime in 2020, even though the company already fell short of previous goals.

Foxconn founder Terry Gou made some vague promises about the plant to employees at a party in Taipei earlier this month. Gou, who secured $4 billion in tax incentives for the plant, said he plans to spend a lot of time in the United States this year and wants key employees to come with him.

Apple Watch bands lets you sport your Super Bowl colors

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Affinity Bands for Super Bowl
For fans of the 49ers.
Photo: Affinity Bands

You don’t have to paint your face or project primal screams to show which team you hope hoists the Super Bowl trophy.

Affinity Bands offer a well-designed and understated way to show your colors with Apple Watch bands and AirPods holders with official logos for either the San Francisco 49ers or Kansas City Chiefs.

iPad smart cover could get backlit scissor-switch keys in 2020

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iPad Pro with Smart Keyboard
Scissor-switch keyboards might be coming to the iPad.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s smart keyboard cover for the iPad could get a major design upgrade in 2020.

Digitimes reported today that Apple may release an updated keyboard for the tablets featuring the new scissor-switch design that resolved Apple’s keyboard woes on the last few generations of MacBook Pros.

iPhone 11 owners report audio issues with wireless CarPlay

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Ford-CarPlay
Are you suffering CarPlay problems?
Photo: Ford

A growing number of iPhone 11 owners are reporting audio issues and other strange glitches with wireless CarPlay.

All say the feature worked fine with previous devices, but after upgrading to the latest Apple handsets, they’ve been unable to avoid CarPlay problems. And Apple’s latest iOS updates don’t help.

Park more safely with a solar-powered smart backup camera [Deals]

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FenSens Smart Wireless Solar Powered Backup Camera
This solar-powered backup camera streams 1080p live video from your license plate straight to your phone.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Driving is risky, so anything you can do to improve situational awareness is a good thing. Backup cameras are a great tool, and they’re not just for new vehicle models. If you’ve got a smartphone, this easy add-on easily adds rear-view vision.

Trump: Apple encryption could protect ‘criminal minds’

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President Trump: Apple encryption could protect ‘criminal minds’
Donald Trump thinks Apple needs to help authorities by unlocking iPhones.
Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr CC

President Donald Trump is no fan of Apple’s refusal to unlock iPhones for authorities in encryption-stymied criminal cases. In an interview with CNBC, Trump said, “Apple has to help us. And I’m very strong on it. They have the keys to so many criminals and criminal minds, and we can do things.”

Trump is currently in Davos, Switzerland, attending the World Economic Forum. This morning, he met with Tim Cook for a working breakfast.

Apple supplier is increasing its ability to build masses of iPhones in India

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Apple supplier is increasing its ability to build masses of iPhones in India
India is a growing market for Apple as both manufacturer and vendor.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple contract manufacturer Wistron is reportedly ramping up its iPhone production abilities in India. Wistron already has two plants located in Bengaluru, which have been producing iPhones for the local market. But now it’s got a third, located in Narasapura, which will also build phones for Apple.

This will greatly increase Wistron’s abilities to build large quantities of iPhones for Apple.

2018 interview with Tim Cook suggests Apple was working on iCloud backup encryption

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2018 interview with Tim Cook suggests Apple was working on iCloud backup encryption
Apple is embroiled in a new privacy-centered controversy.
Photo: Apple

Yesterday, news broke about how Apple allegedly scrapped plans to let users fully encrypt backups of their devices using iCloud. This was supposedly because the FBI complained that encryption would make future investigations more difficult.

Apple did not comment on Reuters’ story. But a previous interview with CEO Tim Cook, published by German-language newspaper Der Spiegel, suggests this is something Apple may, in fact, have been working on.

Apple ramps up A13 chip orders to cope with iPhone 11 demand

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iPhone-11-red
Customers can't get enough of iPhone 11.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Apple has been forced to increase A13 chip orders to meet higher-than-anticipated demand for iPhone 11, according to a new report.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Apple’s primary chip supplier, has been asked to churn out more chips this quarter as iPhone outperforms market and Apple expectations.

Apple could debut iPhone SE successor as soon as March

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Apple could debut iPhone SE successor as soon as March
Are you excited about Apple's follow-up to the iPhone SE?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s forthcoming low-cost iPhone, often referred to as the iPhone SE 2 or (confusingly) the iPhone 9, is set to enter mass production in February, Bloomberg claims. The news outlet claims that Apple could unveil the iPhone SE 2 “as early as March.”

Production on the new handset is reportedly being split between regular Apple contract manufacturers Foxconn, Pegatron, and Wistron.

New York City built a $10 million iPhone-cracking lab

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GrayKey can bypass iPhone security
A passcode is the key to iPhone encryption. It keeps out criminals, and the police too.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

New York City works every day on hacking into thousands of iPhones, Androids, iPads, etc. The district attorney of Manhattan believes these contain evidence of crimes, and spent $10 million on a lab to find ways around or through iPhone encryption.

Apple Watches at Trump impeachment turn senators into scofflaws

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Series 3 6 months on
An Apple Watch is almost as capable as an iPhone (and neither is allowed in the Senate chamber this week).
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Some U.S. senators apparently just can’t be without their Apple gear, even when they aren’t supposed to have it. Lawmakers have been noticed wearing Apple Watches during the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, a violation of the agreed-upon rules.

How to export Apple Card transactions to a spreadsheet

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Apple Card in POS
Paying with Apple Card is easy, and now entering theses transactions into a spreadsheet is just as easy.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Transferring your Apple Card statement to a spreadsheet application just became a simple process. No third-party software is required — Apple today added the ability to export your transactions in a format that software like Microsoft Excel and Apple Numbers can easily import.

How to preview installed fonts on your iPad

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More terrifying than a blank Pages document.
More terrifying than a blank Pages document.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

iOS 13 and iPadOS added official support for adding fonts to your iPhone and iPad. You’ve been able to do it for a while, using third-party apps that hack their way around the problem using software configuration profiles to install typefaces on your system. If you’d like to learn how to download fonts on iPad, check out this detailed guide.

And you can still use those. In fact, you may have to, as we’ll see in a moment. But now you can also install fonts from the App Store, as well as previewing them in a new built-in panel. Let’s take a look.

Cook and Trump schedule breakfast date in Davos

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Trump’s China deal may stop Apple hiking prices of iPhones and iPads
Cook has been one of the few Silicon Valley CEOs who still meet with Trump.
Photo: White House

President Donald Trump and Apple CEO Tim Cook are taking their awkward bromance to Davos.

Cook is reportedly slated to attend breakfast with Trump this Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Trump, who used his opening speech at the international gathering to slam climate change activists, also will be briefed by IBM CEO Ginni Rometty during the breakfast meeting.

Bring vivid HDR effects to your photos with one click [Deals]

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Photomatix Bundle
With one-click presets, HDR styles and streamlined settings, this HDR software bundle makes image enhancement easy.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

One of the easiest ways to make any photo pop is to process it with High Dynamic Range, or HDR. Basically, it combines high and low exposures so that your photo represents a wide spectrum of light and color. HDR gives you a ton of creative options, which you can easily explore with the three Mac apps and plugins in the Photomatix Pro Plus Bundle, which we’re currently offering at an unbelievable discount.

Now you can shower like Tim Cook without getting soaked

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nebia
Nebia is bringing Apple-like innovation to the shower.
Photo: Nebia

Nebia, the eco-friendly shower head company adored by Apple CEO Tim Cook, unveiled a new version of its shower system today. Unlike the previous two generations, this one is priced to sell.

The new Nebia shower head is smaller and cheaper than previous models. Nebia launched a Kickstarter for it today, revealing the price has dropped from $499 to just $160. Now almost every home can get a Silicon Valley-style shower.

Check out the new shower head in action:

Oprah defends exit of axed Apple TV+ documentary

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Oprah Winfrey talks to CBSNews
Oprah Winfrey talks about On the Record, a documentary that isn’t coming to Apple TV+ after all.
Screenshot: CBSNews

Oprah Winfrey today revealed more details on her decision to not bring a high-profile documentary to Apple TV+ about alleged sexual misconduct by Russell Simmons.

She’s adamant that she still supports the women bringing the allegations, but wanted to do more investigation before releasing the documentary. And broaden its scope, too.

5G might spark turnaround in smartphone sales

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Good job, Tim! The iPhone 11 event got our heads spinning.
The iPhone 11 Pro could get upstaged by a 5G version.
Photo: Apple

That sluggish smartphone market we often write about could recover lost ground this year, with high-speed 5G networking driving upgrades.

This prediction, if true, might be the tea leaves Apple is banking on as it prepares a new lineup of iPhones featuring the much-anticipated next-gen wireless tech.

Apple ditched plans for secure iCloud backups after FBI concern

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Apple ditched plans for secure iCloud backups after FBI concern
Apple planned new feature two years ago.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple ditched plans to let users fully encrypt backups of their devices using iCloud, a new report by Reuters claims. Apple reportedly made the decision after the FBI complained that this would make it harder to carry out future investigations.

The report mentions no names. But the news outlet reportedly spoke with “six sources familiar with the matter.”

Apple now sells official iPhone XS, XS Max refurbs from $699

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iPhone XS box gold
Bag yours before they're all gone.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple is finally selling refurbished iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max units more than a year after the devices made their official debut.

You can pick yours up from the Apple Online Store, where prices start at $699 and rise all the way to $1,099. All handsets look and work as good as new and are backed by a one-year Apple warranty.