There’s won’t be a COVID-19 version of Pac-Man, or any other equally tacky game. Apple today banned all entertainment applications that use this pandemic as a theme.
In addition, Apple reiterated an earlier rule requiring software that provides information about this global health crisis be from official sources.
iOS 14 leaks came fast and furious this week. We rounded ’em all up in one place to give you a look at possible new features coming to iPhones and iPads this year. Yep, basically it’s everything we think we know about iOS 14.
Plus, we’ve got the lowdown on WWDC 2020 going online-only due to COVID-19 (and a related post on how to work remotely without going nuts, among other timely how-tos). And we wrap up with a review of the second episode of Amazing Stories, streaming now on Apple TV+.
You’ll find it all in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. Download it now and read it on your iPad or iPhone. Or get the links below.
Bonus: Enter now for your chance to win an Apple TV (or other streaming hardware), delightfully paired with a free one-year subscription to the streaming service of your choice.
In an unprecedented move, Apple said late Friday it will immediately close all its retail stores outside Greater China in an effort to battle the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The stores will remain closed through March 27.
CEO Tim Cook revealed Apple’s decision to close hundreds of stores late Friday in an open letter-style press release titled “Apple’s COVID-19 response.” He wrote, “This global effort — to protect the most vulnerable, to study this virus, and to care for the sick — requires all of our care, and all of our participation.”
Microsoft is keen to go ahead with this year’s Build conference, but the event will now be online-only, the company confirmed on Friday. Build was scheduled to take place in Seattle from May 19 to May 21. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has forced Microsoft to go completely digital instead.
Microsoft’s announcement came just before Apple announced that WWDC 2020 will also go ahead with “an all-new online format.”
Apple could deliver its first Macs powered by ARM chips before the end of 2020. Reliable TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo on Thursday said he expects the machines to begin shipping during the fourth quarter, or in early 2021 at the latest.
The transition will come ahead of a major MacBook redesign next year.
The world might finally wave goodbye to Apple’s controversial and much-hated MacBook butterfly keyboards by summer, according to a new report, published Thursday, by respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
In his latest research note, Kuo writes that Apple will launch new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models featuring the scissor switch keyboard design. Apple laid the groundwork for the return of the scissor switch Magic Keyboard when it ditched the butterfly keyboard for its 16-inch MacBook Pro upgrade late last year.
E3 2020 is the latest major event to be scrapped amid the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. The game industry’s biggest trade show was scheduled to kick off in Los Angeles on June 9. It will no longer go ahead this year.
Amazon’s AWS Summit in San Francisco has also been canceled. The announcements come as the World Health Organization (WHO) declares coronavirus a global pandemic.
Apple, Facebook, Google and other tech heavyweights are reportedly heading for the White House on Wednesday. There they’ll meet with officials from various government agencies to discuss the COVID-19 outbreak.
Apple decided to postpone a March product launch event after continuing delays in the production of an expected successor to the iPhone SE, a source at Apple confirmed to Cult of Mac.
A number of other problems played into the decision to delay the event that was being planned, including the worsening impact of the COVID-19 strain of the coronavirus in California and elsewhere.
It’s hard to imagine not hearing that voice. So smart, so reassuring, so — Siri.
That familiar iOS voice isn’t going anywhere, but a report claims Apple is working on a “software framework” to give developers custom voice synthesizers.