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iPhone’s notch and Face ID could disappear in 2021

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iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max
Dumping Face ID and a few other changes would allow Apple to make iPhones without a screen cutout.
Photo: Apple

Apple is reportedly giving up on facial recognition and instead going with a full-screen fingerprint scanner. This will allegedly allow the company to leave off the “notch” from every iPhone model released in 2021.

Thieves smash into Texas Apple store with a truck

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Apple Highland Village
Apple Highland Village before the smash-and-go robbery.
Photo: Apple

A gang of thieves used a stolen pickup truck to crash through the glass doors of an Apple Store in Houston last night.

What the bungling burglars hadn’t counted on was the deputy sheriff working as a night watchman in the Texas store.

How I kept my iMac running for a decade

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Believe it or not, this old iMac still has a lot of life left in it.
Believe it or not, this old iMac still has a lot of life left in it.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Yesterday, I wrote about the massive conceptual difference between Mac and iPad, and mentioned that I still use a 2010 iMac. Today, I thought I’d explain how I managed to keep it going for so long.

Spoiler: It was pretty easy, although it required some simple home surgery from time to time. The only sad part is that the current lineup of iMacs almost certainly won’t last as long, at least not without professional attention.

Here’s how I kept my Mac running for a decade.

Awesome new iPad lineup could already be in production

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iPad
Evidence that Apple is prepping new iPad tablets is popping up around the world.
Photo: Apple

The first details about multiple unannounced 2019 iPad models are leaking out. Several Apple tablets just appeared in a Eurasian intergovernmental agency’s database.

And production for at least one of these devices begins this month, according to a source in Asia.

How to make and use Memoji stickers without Face ID

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iPad with stickers
No, not that kind of sticker.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

iOS 13 automatically turns all your Memoji into iMessage stickers. Even better, anyone can create new Memoji, on any device. You no longer need an iPhone or iPad with a depth-sensing Face ID camera to create them.

Using the new Memoji creator tool in the Messages app, you can do almost everything that can be done with Face ID. Here’s how to make and use Memoji stickers in iOS 13.

Apple explores dual-screen MacBook with tactile keyboard

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Dual-screen MacBook patent
Apple wants to give MacBooks a second display with a tactile keyboard, ditching the built-in one.
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

Apple is considering a MacBook with two displays, with the second screen acting as a keyboard. By necessity, iPads already employ on-screen keyboards but these lack tactile feedback. Apple is looking for ways to make these virtual keys move when they’re typed on.

The company has been pursuing this project for years, as demonstrated by a patent it just received.

Microsoft is working on mobile Xbox controllers for iPhone

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Microsoft-mobile-Xbox-controller
They would be perfect for streaming Xbox games.
Photo: Microsoft

Microsoft has started developing new Xbox controllers for mobile gaming. Prototype images reveal how the gamepads might attach to the sides of your iPhone and iPad for portable play.

The controllers would be ideal for Microsoft’s upcoming Project xCloud service, which will allow players to stream Xbox games to their smartphones and tablets.

What Game of Thrones tells us about Jony Ive’s departure from Apple [Opinion]

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The epic downfall of Daenerys Targaryen left many Game of Thrones fans disappointed.
Why Jony Ive is like Daenerys Targaryen and Apple is not doomed.
Photo: HBO

It’s been more than a week since the shocking news that Jony Ive is leaving Apple, and everyone is still trying to make sense of what it means for the company’s future.

According to some, it’s an internal coup: Tim Cook’s operations team finally wrested control from Ive’s industrial design crew, and the company‘s glory days of innovation are over. Others claim Ive’s days have been numbered ever since his dream of a solid gold Apple Watch flopped.

How can there be so many conflicting accounts of one man’s departure? Surprisingly, it may be for the same reason that the final season of Game of Thrones sucked. It all boils down to how we tell stories.

These 8 words persuaded Angela Ahrendts to join Apple

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Angela Ahrendts.
Angela Ahrendts at the iPhone X keynote.
Photo: Apple

It took Apple nearly a year to convince Angela Ahrendts to ditch Burberry join Apple as the company’s head of retail.

Ahrendts discussed Apple’s recruiting process in a recent podcast interview and said a 2012 Fortune magazine feature put her on Apple’s radar because Tim Cook was on the cover. Cook apparently tried to get Ahrendts to join Apple shortly after but Ahrendts felt like the timing wasn’t right. Months passed and she had another meeting with Cook who said eight words that completely changed Ahrendts’ life.

Zoom rushes to fix its webcam-accessing flaw on Macs

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Apple offers up to $1.5 million to anyone who spots a software flaw
Flaw allowed hackers to access other people's webcams.
Photo: United Artists

Zoom conference calls are as much of a part of modern office working life as disagreements about the air-con system.

But security researcher Jonathan Leitschuh recently stumbled upon something extremely concerning. As discovered by Leitschuh, Zoom featured a vulnerability that allowed hackers to break into a target’s Mac webcam. This happened regardless of whether the Mac user was using Safari, Chrome or Firefox.

Fortunately, Zoom has, well, zoomed to correct it.

HomePod is finally on its way to Japan

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HomePod market share
The new HomePod could offer a neat new feature.
Photo: Apple

Apple is gearing up to launch HomePod in Japan — more than two years after the device got its first unveiling.

Smart speaker shoppers will be able to pick one up in the coming weeks for 32,800 yen (approx. $301). HomePod will then be available in a total of 11 countries.

Apple kicks off China app accelerator with ARKit workshop

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Apple China
Apple kicked off the Accelerator program with a workshop focused on augmented reality.
Photo: Apple

Apple has opened a new Design and Development Accelerator in China to promote app development in the country.

Located in Shanghai, the accelerator features a range of lectures, workshops, networking events and more covering all of Apple’s different platforms.

HBO Max taps Friends to take on Apple TV+

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HBO Max
Anyone who enjoys binging Friends episodes better learn this name.
Photo: Cult of Mac

The already crowded market for streaming video services is getting a little more so. WarnerMedia just unveiled HBO Max, which will include original programs as well as shows created for The WB like Batwoman. Most notably, this will be the only place to watch Friends re-runs.

It will face competition from Apple TV+, Disney+, Netflix and many more.

Hands on with the new PDFelement 7

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Get a grip on PDFs with PDFelement 7.
Get a grip on PDFs with PDFelement 7.
Photo: Wondershare

This post is presented by Wondershare.

If you work with a computer, you’ve got to deal with PDF documents. They’re so common, in fact, that any small amount of improvement in terms of workflow adds up to big gains in productivity.

That’s why we’ve always been fans of PDFelement. As the leading alternative to Adobe Acrobat, it offers top-notch features in a simple package. PDFelement just launched a new version, so we took it for a spin to see what’s changed.

Trump can’t block protesters from his Twitter, court says

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President Trump Twitter
Pres. Trump’s Twitter account can’t be just praise. He has to accept criticism too.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

A federal appeals court ruled today that President Donald Trump can’t block dissenters from posting replies to his Twitter account.

This upholds an earlier ruling that Trump’s account is a public forum, and therefore preventing anyone from speaking is a violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution

Instagram will hold an intervention with your bully

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a same of how Instagram's Restrict tool will work
Instagram adds more tough tools to fight bullying.
Photo: Instagram

Instagram is adding more muscle to fight bullying, including one tool that appeals to a harasser’s conscious.

Instagram has been addressing online harassment over the last couple of years with options to block followers and report offensive items. But for the first time, artificial intelligence will hold an intervention with a would-be bully.