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Save $100 on 2020 MacBook Air, $170 on Mac mini [Deals & Steals]

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DS-Apr-22-20
And save $50 on the 10.2-inch iPad.
Photos: Apple, Twelve South

B&H Photo just dropped the biggest discount we’ve seen so far on Apple’s new 2020 MacBook Air. You can save $100 on yours for a limited time only.

That’s just one of the awesome offers in today’s Deals & Steals roundup. Other highlights include:

Find all these discounts and more in today’s Deals & Steals roundup.

This post contains affiliate links. Cult of Mac may earn a commission when you use our links to buy items.

iOS app shows virus lockdown leads to remarkably cleaner skies

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IQAir app showing LA air quality in coronavirus
Los Angeles has cleaner air under COVID-19 restrictions.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

A pandemic that kills thousands offers no silver linings.

But stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of COVID-19 shows us a window for what living with clean air is like.

An air quality tech company, whose global measurements can be monitored on an iOS app, says greenhouse gas emissions are so low right now, Los Angeles has the cleanest air of all metropolitans areas in the U.S.

Zoom 5.0 aims to stamp out Zoombombing

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Zoom 5.0 brings much-needed security enhancements hoping to end Zoombombing.
When you’re having a Zoom meeting and Satan drops in unexpectedly? That’s Zoombombing.
Photo: Zoom/Cult of Mac

Zoom on Wednesday committed to upgrading the encryption in its video-chatting app. And Zoom 5.0, which will be out within the week, will include additional security controls for meeting hosts, like the ability to report disruptive users.

Use of this platform rose enormously since people around the world went into self quarantine. And criticism of Zoom’s security and privacy controls also increased dramatically as Zoombombing became a thing.

Sorry, FaceTime, no Zoom boom for you

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Group FaceTime is a great way to stay in touch with your family and friends during coronavirus quarantine.
Group FaceTime use apparently exists mainly in Apple publicity pictures.
Photo: Apple

Americans love Apple’s video chatting app FaceTime, according to the results of a survey released Wednesday. But they don’t use it for group chats. As a result, use of FaceTime hasn’t increased at all while millions of people around the world self quarantine.

Instead, rival Zoom has enormously increased in popularity in recent weeks.

Facebook Messenger Kids expands its reach, adds new features

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Facebook-Messenger-Kids
Download it from the App Store today.
Photo: Facebook

Facebook Messenger Kids, the free chat app designed specifically for your little ones, on Wednesday expanded its reach to more than 70 new markets and added a number of helpful new features.

It’s now possible for parents to give kids control over their contacts (if they wish), and for kids to join approved groups. The changes come at a time when many children are out of school and unable to see friends.

iOS vulnerability let hackers attack devices through Mail app

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iPhone hack
Hack has reportedly been fixed in latest iOS beta.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

San Francisco-based cybersecurity company ZecOps says that iPhones and iPads may be vulnerable to a flaw involving the Mail app, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Unlike most email-based phone hacks, which involve making someone click a link or visit a website, this exploit does not require victims to do anything other than download (although not necessarily open) an email. It nonetheless could let hackers install malicious software on their devices.

A ZecOps blog post on the topic says that the vulnerability has existed in Apple’s mobile software as far back as iOS 6.

Samsung proves packaging can be more than just pretty trash

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Samsung-TV-box-cat-house
That's a cat house ... made from a TV box.
Photo: Samsung

We know Apple makes some of the prettiest packaging you’ll ever find wrapped around electronics, but it’s really just trash when you’re done with it. Samsung has found a terrific way to make its packaging useful.

Boxes built for the company’s newest TV sets can be turned quickly and easily turned into cardboard cat houses, small furniture, and other useful things when you’re done with them.

Avatarify lets you gatecrash your next Zoom call as Steve Jobs or Elon Musk

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Steve Jobs Zoom call
That's one way to liven up your next work meeting.
Photo: Avatarify

Zoom calls have exploded during the current coronavirus lockdown. But if you’ve already exhausted the possibilities of different angles and backdrops for your video calls, why not try being a different person entirely? You know, like former Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs.

At least, that’s the tech demo/experiment created by coders Ali Aliev and Karim Iskakov. They’ve developed an Animoji or Memoji-style tool called Avatarify that lets users superimpose a real-time mask onto themselves during video calls.

Senator wants Tim Cook to take personal responsibility for contact-tracing data privacy

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bluetooth-tracing
Senator Hawley is concerned about Apple and Google's privacy for contact-tracing data.
Photo: Apple/Google

Sen. Josh Hawley wants Apple and Google to have some skin in the game when it comes to keeping data private in their joint coronavirus contact-tracing project. Hawley’s idea? That the Apple and Google CEOs — Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai, respectively — should take personal responsibility for ensuring the data is kept private.

“If you seek to assure the public, make your stake in this project personal,” the Republican senator from Missouri wrote Tuesday in a letter to Cook and Pichai. “Make a commitment that you and other executives will be personally liable if you stop protecting privacy, such as by granting advertising companies access to the interface once the pandemic is over.”

T-Mobile and Sprint start combining their 5G networks

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Nationwide-5G-Map
T-Mobile's 5G nationwide network.
Photo: T-Mobile

T-Mobile is wasting no time expanding — and solidifying — its 5G network in the U.S. following its recently completed merger with Sprint. The two companies, now one, are combining their networks following the landmark merger.

On Tuesday, T-Mobile announced that its 5G 2.5 GHz mid-band spectrum is now live in parts of Philadelphia, offering T-Mobile customers with compatible 5G phones the opportunity to take advantage of the new super-speedy connectivity — with peaks of nearly 600 Mbps.