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Apple plans to hire 2,000 workers in Seattle by 2024

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333dexter
Apple is moving into these two buildings in Seattle.
Photo: Kilroy Realty

The mayor of Seattle confirmed today that Apple is making a major play to move into Amazon and Microsoft’s backyard.

During a press conference today, Mayor Jenny A. Durkan revealed that Apple plans to increase its expansion into Seattle by hiring an additional 2,000 employees in the next five years.

Tiny USB-C hub doubles as a hard drive

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Minix Neo Storage USB-C SSD
Minix Neo Storage is a USB-C hub that’s also a 240GB SSD.
Photo: Minix

There’s a innovative option for people who want to make the most of the limited number of USB-C ports on their MacBook or iPad Pro: the Minix Neo Storage is a 4-port hub that also includes up to 240GB of built-in storage. And the price for all this is under $100.

UPDATE: Cult of Mac has published a Minix Neo Storage review.

How to prepare your iPad or iPhone for the iOS 13 and iPadOS public betas

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iOS 13 could render your iPhone useless.
iOS 13 could render your iPhone useless.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

The iOS 13 and iPadOS public betas are here. And if you plan to test them, you need to take a few steps to get ready. And remember, you will be testing them. Or, more likely, you’ll be testing your own patience.

The early betas are almost always buggy, screwy and crashy. You may lose work. Weird things may happen to your iCloud data. Your favorite (and essential) apps may flat-out fail to launch.

But still, these public betas are already more stable than the very raw early developer versions. If you’re planning on trying them out, here’s how to do it.

Facebook throws shade on Apple’s ‘exclusive’ approach

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Facebook
Facebook and Apple have beef.
Photo: Thomas Ulrich/Pixabay

The clash of tech titans Apple and Facebook continued Monday when Mark Zuckerberg’s newest executive team hire called Apple an “exclusive club” serving only “aspirant consumers with the means to buy high-value hardware and services.”

Nick Clegg, Facebook’s new head of global affairs, didn’t mention Apple by name when he spoke to a group in Berlin today. He didn’t have to.

Apple’s not making much money off Spotify

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Spotify Premium update October 2018
Anyone paying for a Spotify subscription probably isn’t also sending money to Apple.
Photo: Spotify

Only a small percentage of Spotify subscribers pay a portion of their monthly fees to the Apple Store. This weakens Spotify’s argument that Apple is using required revenue sharing to stifle its rival’s ability to compete in the music streaming business.

All the new keyboard shortcuts in iPadOS Safari, listed

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A keyboard, upon which one might perform shortcuts.
A keyboard, upon which one might perform shortcuts.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Safari in iPadOS is “desktop-class,” according to Apple. And part of that definition means Safari offers plenty of keyboard shortcuts, just like when you use Apple’s web browser on a Mac.

Just a quick look at the screenshots below will show you how many more Safari shortcuts are available in iPadOS than in iOS 12: Holding down the ⌘ key now reveals two panels in the pop-up help screen, instead of just one.

Let’s take a look at the new Safari keyboard shortcuts in iPadOS.

iOS 13 and iPadOS betas are now available to everyone

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iPadOS gets a new home screen design.
They’re just not ready for everyone.
Photo: Apple

The first public beta of iOS 13 is finally available to public testers.

Apple launched iOS 13 public beta 1 and iPadOS public beta 1 this morning. The software gives everyone the opportunity to try out all the new features, like the system-wide Dark Mode that looks absolutely beautiful. However, you might not want to take the jump quite yet.

iPhone 11 might look painfully familiar

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iPhone 11 in Olixar case
The iPhone 11 will apparently have a change or two, but not a redesign.
Photo: Olixar

There’s almost no room for doubt that this fall’s iPhone 11 will sport a trio of camera lenses. The latest leak come from case-maker Olixar, who has a reputation for accuracy about future Apple models.

But that’s the most significant change to expect from the 2019 round of iOS handsets.

Samsung: Galaxy Fold delay won’t affect new iPhone XS Max rival

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Samsung-Galaxy
The Galaxy Note 10 will be here in August.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Samsung fans will be pleased to hear that the ongoing Galaxy Fold delay won’t affect the launch of its upcoming Galaxy Note 10.

A company official has confirmed to Korean media outlets that its newest iPhone XS Max rival is on track for an August launch. The statement comes after some rumors suggested its arrival would be pushed back.

Microsoft plans dual-screen Surface tablet with Android apps

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Microsoft-Surface
It will look very different to a standard Surface tablet.
Photo: Microsoft

Microsoft is rumored to be working on a new dual-screen Surface tablet that will run Android apps.

The slate, which is codenamed Centaurus, will reportedly pack two 9-inch displays that fold together like a book. Supply chain sources expect it to launch in the first quarter or first half of 2020.

Bill Gates calls failure to challenge iOS his ‘greatest mistake’

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Microsoft should have been Apple's biggest mobile challenger, Bill Gates says.
Microsoft should have been Apple's biggest mobile challenger, Bill Gates says.
Photo: Statsministerens kontor/Flickr CC

Former Microsoft CEO and Steve Jobs frenemy Bill Gates says his company massively missed out by failing to challenge Apple on smartphones.

Describing his “greatest mistake ever,” Gates said the failure to become Apple’s main competitor in the mobile space cost Microsoft $400 billion.

Apple scraps plans for supercharged iPhone camera sensor

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iPhone camera
Quantum dot technology was reportedly too pricey.
Photo: Apple

Apple has cancelled a contract with British company Nanoco. The company was working on technology that could have improved future iPhone cameras.

Nanoco is a leader in so-called “quantum dot” technology. This allows camera sensors to gather light with more efficiency than traditional silicon. However, Apple reportedly ditched plans after finding that the sensors would be too expensive to produce.

Give your bookmarks manager a promotion [Deals]

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Qlearly Premium
This bookmark manager upgrade offers new ways to organize, sync and share your favorite pages.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

The internet is a distracting place. And somehow, leaving tabs open or bookmarking pages never seems to bring us back to the things we say we want to read later. But with this bookmark manager and browser extension offers an upgrade that can help make browsing less of a grind.

Fortnite is getting a revamped revolver this week

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Fortnite-modern-revolver
It looks new, but will it be better than the original?
Photo: Epic Games

This week’s Fortnite update will see a revamped revolver introduced to Battle Royale.

Epic is now teasing the weapon’s arrival in-game after it was first leaked out in the version 9.30 update files. It looks very different to the original revolver, but its short description suggests it will be functionally similar.

16-inch MacBook Pro could arrive sooner than you think

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MacBook-Pro-concept
A concept for how a next-gen MacBook Pro could look.
Photo: Viktor Kadar

A new 16-inch MacBook Pro is coming this fall, according to analysts at IHS Markit. This would give it the largest screen size of any MacBook Pro model currently available. (Although it still would be smaller than the dearly departed 17-inch model.)

The analysts claim Apple will unleash the new laptop at the company’s September media event alongside the new iPhone.

Nintendo fires takedown notice at fan-made Mario Royale

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Mario-Royale
But it’s not dead yet!
Screenshot: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Mario Royale, the fan-made game that brought the battle royale genre to the classic Super Mario Bros. universe, has been slapped with a takedown notice from Nintendo.

The good news is that the game isn’t dead. Its creator has swapped out Mario for a custom character and made a few other changes to avoid Nintendo’s wrath. You can still enjoy it in your browser for free.

New ads show off iPhone encryption, recycling, and privacy

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iPhone recycling 1
Not every important feature of the iPhone is immediately visible.
Photo: Apple

Not every feature that makes the iPhone special is an immediately visible one like fancy new displays or new color options. Some of the things which make iOS great are under-the-hood features like its focus on encryption, privacy in the App Store — and even Apple’s sustainable focus on iPhone recycling.

Those are three of the topic highlighted in a series of new ads. Apple shared them to its YouTube channel in Australia over the weekend. Check them out:

For a limited time, get a discount on this highly rated language iPhone app [Deals]

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With this Mondly subscription, you will save 95% on a lifetime of language lessons backed by AI, AR and other innovative features.
Save 95% on a lifetime of language lessons backed by AI, AR and other innovative features.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Languages are better than passports. When you learn a new one, a whole new world opens up wherever you go, even if you never leave the country. So this chance to pick up five language lessons at once is a way to bring the world to you.

App Store testers plow through up to 100 apps per day

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Apple removes 17 malware apps which secretly clicked on ads
Nothing makes it onto an Apple App Store without a human looking at it. That takes less time than you might think.
Photo: Apple

With close to two million applications in its software stores, Apple reportedly doesn’t have much time to devote to testing most new submissions. Details leaking out about the process show that a typical app either gets approved or blocked in 5 or 10 minutes.

A lot of them get blocked.