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Apple kicks off mind-bending augmented reality art sessions

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Today-at-Apple-ART-Walk
Sign up for the [AR]T Walk today.
Photo: Apple

You can now sign up to enjoy a series of art-based augmented reality experiences at your local Apple Store.

The new Today at Apple sessions, called [AR]T, will take place around the world. They will include an interactive walk featuring works by some of the world’s leading contemporary artists.

Rockers Tool are finally bringing their music to streaming services

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Tool
Tool performing a headline slot during their "10,000 Days" tour.
Photo: Denuo/Wikipedia CC

Tool, the American rock band which was a staple of alternative music in the 1990s and early 2000s, is finally bringing its back catalog to streaming services.

The exact services the album will be available on haven’t been named. However, it seems incredibly likely that Apple Music — one of the most popular streaming services — will be among them.

Apple hints at 2 new Japanese Apple Stores opening this year

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Apple Stores Japan
Apple's new logos for its Japa
Image: Apple

New images posted to Apple’s website reveal the opening of two new stores in Japan for later this year. The stylized logos are accompanied by text reading “planned for 2019.”

One of the logos uses the colors of Apple’s iconic rainbow logo. The other is a slightly retro-style logo showing the Apple logo as a series of lines with a sun-hued gradient.

Epic reveals exciting teasers for Fortnite season 10

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Fortnite-10-Dusty-Depot
Season 10 will stick around for one more week.
Photo: Epic Games

Epic Games is rolling out brand new teaser images for Fortnite season 10 — and one of them is hugely exciting for long-time fans of the free-to-play battle royale game.

It looks like the new season, which kicks off in just a couple of days, will take us back in time with original locations like Dusty Divot finally making a comeback.

Roxsyn app turns your electric guitar into a synthesizer

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Roxsyn app on ipad
Roxsyn -- a synth that rocks.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Roxsyn is the “world’s first metamorphic guitar synthesizer” for iPad. The app lets you plug in your guitar and, when you play it, synthesizer sounds come out. It also offers a full suite of knobs to tweak and shape the resulting sounds, just like a regular, keyboard-driven synth.

But — and this is important — it’s not just using your guitar as a MIDI controller for a normal synthesizer. Let’s take a look.

Have a hell of a good time with Doom II for iOS

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Doom II is back, and this time it’s for iPhone and iPad.
Doom II is back, and this time it’s for iPhone and iPad.
Image: Bethesda Softworks

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the original Doom, Bethesda Softworks relaunched Doom II for iPhone and iPad. It promises “more demons, more weapons, more action” — just like it did back in 1994.

2020 iPhones may pack 3D laser camera

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The camera bump is about to get bumpier in the iPhone XI.
The camera bump is about to get bumpier in the iPhone XI.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

The iPhone’s augmented reality capabilities are about to ramp up to an all-new level, thanks to camera sensors that can tell how far away objects are.

TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo told investors in a new research note that Apple is readying cameras with time-of-flight sensors. Adding the new ToF sensors should give the iPhone better computer vision. They could help take better pics, too.

How to clean your dirty, lint-stuffed iPhone

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Lint and SIM removal tool
This is the harvest from a single iPhone Lightning port.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Even if you keep your iPhone in a nice case and regularly polish the screen, it is probably a filthy cesspit of germs, fluff and abrasive dust. Fortunately, if you can be bothered to actually do something about it, cleaning your iPhone is easy and rewarding.

Rewarding in the sense that you’ll be rewarded with a pristine slab of glass and steel, instead of having to finger a filth-bomb every time you take your pocket computer out to use it.

iOS 13 beta 5 arrives along with new tvOS 13 build

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Test shows how much battery Dark Mode will save you on certain iPhones
Test shows how much battery Dark Mode will save you on certain iPhones
Photo: Apple

Developers received a fresh batch of new beta builds this morning in the form of iOS 13 beta 5. Apple seeded the new software updates just under two weeks after the last set of betas came out, bringing fresh changes to mouse support on iPad, smaller quick action menus and tons of bug fixes.

Foxconn recruits thousands to assemble 2019 iPhones

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Foxconn Wisconsin
Foxconn workers in Shenzhen will not report next week until further notice.
Photo: Foxconn

Foxconn is on a hiring spree in China as it gets ready for mass production of the 2019 iPhones.

Apple typically sells millions in the first week of a new iPhone launch and reports suggest the 2019 lineup will have three handsets, including two featuring a three-camera array on the backplate.

See Pixel 4’s new Face ID clone in action

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Pixel 4
The Pixel 4 will challenge the iPhone later this year.
Photo: Google

Google’s next flagship smartphone will borrow one of the iPhone’s most popular new features when it launches later this year.

Full details of the upcoming Pixel 4 will be revealed this fall. For now, Google seems pretty content to keep spilling out teasers of the new phone. The company already gave a glimpse of the giant new camera on the back. Today we’re getting a look at the new Face ID copy-cat feature and another big surprise.

Check out the teaser:

Unique features make Miami Apple store look like no other

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Miami store
Aventura Mall is about to get a welcome new addition.
Photo: Phillip Pessar/Flickr CC

Although Apple Stores have certain design elements in common, the company still enjoys finding ways to localize them wherever possible.

That’s exactly what’s set to happen with its new Miami-based Aventura Mall store. According to a new report, the South Florida store will boast Miami-style design elements, such as a Genius Grove with a canopy of 22-foot tall tropical trees.

Tim Cook tweets condolences after California festival shooting

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2018 interview with Tim Cook suggests Apple was working on iCloud backup encryption
Shooting took place over the weekend at the Gilroy Garlic Festival.
Photo: Apple

Tim Cook tweeted his condolences Monday after a deadly mass shooting at a festival in Northern California.

The tragic shooting took place Sunday at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, where a shooter killed three people, including a 6-year-old boy. At least 15 people were injured during the shooting before police killed the gunman.

Score massively discounted courses in Photoshop and Lightroom [Deals]

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Adobe Bundles
Between this pair of lesson bundles covering Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, you'll be a photo editing powerhouse.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Adobe’s suite of apps are the industry standard for digital design and photography, and for good reason. They’re chock full of tools and features that allow for a universe of visual possibilities. But that also makes for a ton to learn, so it pays to get some help, which is just what this pair of loaded Photoshop and Lightroom lesson bundles offers:

Apple’s quarterly report will continue ‘flattening out’ of earnings

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European Commission could get even tougher on tech in 2020
Earnings are likely to remain flat.
Photo illustration: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

My colleague Buster Hein described tomorrow’s Apple earnings call as the company’s “most boring” earnings report of the year. And it seems like analysts aren’t rushing to disagree with him.

Looking at analyst expectations for Tuesday shows that, overall, people have pretty low expectations. And that’s all part of a “flattening out” of Apple earnings.

16-inch MacBook Pro will pack more screen into the same space

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2015 MacBook Pro 15-inch Retina
The new MacBook could squeeze a 16-inch display into a 15-inch form factor.
Photo: Apple

The rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro will take a page out of the iPhone X’s playbook. According to a new report, it will slim down its bezels to include a larger LCD display in the “same body” as the current 15-inch MacBook Pro.

Apple has reportedly asked Quanta to make the next-gen laptop, which will ship in September.

5G expected to feature in all 2020 iPhone models

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iPhone XS crazy performance means speed at your fingertips.
Apple can
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

5G connectivity will feature in all three iPhone models launching next year, according to a new research note from a trusted analyst.

Apple has reportedly made the feature a priority as an increasing number of Android handsets launch with 5G support. Its $1 billion acquisition of Intel’s modem business has also allowed it to speed up its 5G rollout.

Anti-meme law could punish image sharers with massive fines

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Meme law

Photo: ActionNetwork.org

Memes are a core part of online life, providing us with an internationally understood means of visual conversation allowing folks to make light of the absurdity of today’s world with co-opted images taken from popular media.

Which, of course, means that lawmakers want to shut it down. A new bi-partisan bill currently working its way through Congress could do exactly that. It threatens seriously big fines for anyone who shares protected material online.

Best iPad Pro keyboard cases for people on the go [Reviews]

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The Smart Keyboard Folio turns the iPad into a laptop, but there are better options.
The Apple Smart Keyboard Folio is the best-known iPad Pro keyboard case, but it’s not the best option for everyone.
Photo: Andrea Nepori

Add a keyboard to your iPad Pro and it becomes a powerful but extremely portable laptop. So many people see the potential that companies make an array of keyboard cases. The range of designs gives buyers choices depending on what they want most: portability, protection, price, etc.

We’ve tested plenty of them; here are our picks for the best available.