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How to watch It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown for free

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Peanuts holidays specials are already starting to debut on Apple TV+.
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is already streaming on Apple TV+.
Photo: Apple

Families with a tradition of watching It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown can enjoy the classic Peanuts special on Apple TV+ for free this weekend. And it’s available to subscribers of Apple’s streaming service at any time. 

It can be viewed on a very wide variety of streaming boxes, like Roku and Amazon Fire, not just Mac or iPhone.

How to enable background blur for FaceTime video calls in iOS 15

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How to enable background blur for FaceTime video calls in iOS 15
Use Portrait mode to bring background blur to FaceTime on iPhone and iPad.
Image: Apple/Cult of Mac

iOS and iPadOS 15 bring a number of big improvements to FaceTime — including voice isolation and the ability to blur your background during video calls like you can on Zoom and other video calling platforms.

We’ll show you how to enable the background blur feature using Portrait mode on iPhone and iPad.

C:\>BANNED! Apple gives DOS game emulator for iOS the heave-ho [Updated]

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iDOS 2
Go back to the future with DOS emulation. Well, until Apple pulls the app that is.
Photo: iDOS

Of all the apps Apple might get upset about, one that lets you emulate classic DOS games on your iPhone doesn’t seem like it would make the top of the list.

Someone at Apple clearly disagrees, however. iDOS 2 developer Chaoji Li recently revealed that Apple rejected an update to his DOS-emulation app — on the grounds that it launches executable code. That’s despite the fact that some version of Li’s iDOS app has been in the App Store since 2010.

In July, Li posted Apple’s message warning him about pending removal from the App Store in a blog post titled “iDOS 2 will be gone soon.”

Tim Cook called Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats worried about antitrust legislation

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Tim Cook congressional antitrust hearing: Should Tim Cook be worried about Congress breaking up Apple?
"Or how about we don't?"
Photo: C-SPAN

Tim Cook reportedly got in touch with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in addition to other members of Congress, to voice his worries about possible antitrust legislation, the New York Times reported Tuesday.

The Democrats are currently circulating drafts of antitrust bills that could affect the likes of Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google. If passed, these bills could impact Apple’s ability to own and operate its own App Store marketplace in the way it currently does.

Stopping Apple from preinstalling apps might sound fair, but it’s a bad idea

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choice apples
It's all about the paradox of choice.
Photo: Raquel Martínez/Unsplash CC

As governments around the world scrutinize Apple’s App Store policies, the U.S. Congress is pondering legislation that could stop the company from preinstalling default apps on iPhones.

Apple critics suggest that such a move would level the playing field and give smaller developers a chance to compete. But would it actually benefit consumers, the purported goal of such antitrust legislation?

I’m not sure it would. In fact, it might simply make owning an iPhone a lot less enjoyable.

iPadOS 15 brings Home screen revamp, more powerful multitasking

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iPadOS 15
iPadOS gets widgets you can place anywhere — just like iPhone.
Photo: Apple

Apple today gave iPad owners their first peek at iPadOS 15 with a revamped Home screen and more powerful multitasking. The update also introduces bolstered privacy controls and some welcome changes to notifications.

iPadOS 15 makes its public debut this fall alongside iOS 15 and other software updates for Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV. Developers can get their hands on the very first betas later today.

Keyboard app’s meteoric rise shows the power of TikTok

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All hail Techin Park, developer of Paste Keyboard and new king of the App Store.
All hail Techin Park, developer of Paste Keyboard and new king of the App Store.
Photo: Techin Park

A simple copy-and-paste app called Paste Keyboard shot to the top of the App Store charts this week after languishing in obscurity for years.

Made by 28-year-old South Korean developer Techin Park, the keyboard app hitched a ride on TikTok’s massive success — and then dethroned it as the most popular app in the United States.

“Everyone is curious how such [a] simple idea, copy and paste, has trumped the almighty TikTok in app rank,” Park told Cult of Mac. “Copy and paste is a feature we all use at least once daily. Not many think it’s special. But in reality, increasing efficiency [when it comes to] how we copy and paste can save a lot more of our time than we possibly think.”

And, apparently, score you crazy numbers of downloads, too.

Incredible close-ups show off iPad Pro’s surprisingly great camera

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2021 iPad Pro is better than any iPhone at closeup pictures.
Some astounding closeup images should make you stop laughing at iPad photography.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Professional photog/developer Sebastiaan de With accidentally discovered that the rear-facing camera in the 2021 iPad Pro can focus on objects very close to the lens. This allows the tablet to capture close-up images not possible with an iPhone.

Cult of Mac did a bit of experimenting and confirmed the results.

Apple TV 4K review roundup: The new Siri Remote makes all the difference

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Apple TV 4K reviews: Finally more than a hobby?
Finally more than a hobby?
Photo: Apple

Apple once labelled the Apple TV a “hobby.” Now, six generations down the line, it’s proven it’s longevity as an interest for Apple. But is it the “must-have” streaming box the company has long promised?

With the review embargoes having lifted for the 2021 Apple TV 4K, it seems like Apple may have finally cracked the formula. And all it took were some neat upgrades and switching out that darn Siri Remote for something a whole lot better.

Here’s what the inaugural reviews had to say:

New AirPods and lossless Apple Music HiFi rumored for next week

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AirPods 3 might borrow some features of AirPods Pro.
Coming soon to an ear (or even two) near you.
Graphic: Cult of Mac

New AirPods could be on their way next Tuesday, a sketchy rumor shared by AppleTrack suggests. The rumor comes from a YouTuber named Luke Miani, who doesn’t have a record when it comes to Apple rumors.

AppleTrack, which tracks the validity of Apple rumors, says it has heard “privately” that Apple is set to release new AirPods in the coming weeks. According to the report, Apple will make the announcement on May 18 in a press release.

24 years later, Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh still serves [Setups]

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Pictured to the right of a nice modern iMac, the once-glorious flop still gives pretty good sound.
Pictured to the right of a nice modern iMac, the once-glorious flop still gives pretty good sound.
Photo: Cbaltz2@Reddit

By the time of its release in March 1997, the over-the-top-shelf powerhouse known as the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh had seen its initial price of $9,000 cut to $7,499, or about $12,000 in today’s dollars.

The interesting-but-still-hopelessly unaffordable system — for a time delivered door-to-door and set up by tuxedoed concierges — failed in the marketplace. It went on to become a collector’s item.

These days, a Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh, or TAM, often sells for around $1,500. So Redditor Cbaltz2 kind of scored when he picked one up a while back on eBay for $800. And remarkably, he found a good use for it in the here and now.

Apple AirTag tracking tags will help you find all the things

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Apple AirTag finally jumped from rumor to reality.
Apple jumped into the item-tracker business with AirTag. Attach one to something you don’t want to lose.
Photo: Apple

Apple just took the wraps off AirTag, a small tracker that users can attach to items for easy location at a later date.

Tile and other companies already offer rivals products. But Apple’s trackers offer technology that makes finding lost items easier and more accurate.

Apple’s $200 million fund will remove tons of CO2 from the atmosphere

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Apple environment
Apple's doing its bit to promote sustainability.
Photo: Apple

Apple on Thursday unveiled a $200 million fund to back responsible forestry efforts around the world. The Restore Fund, launched with Conservation International and Apple Card partner Goldman Sachs, aims to remove at least 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year.

That would be equivalent to removing more than 200,000 passenger vehicles from the road.

How Steve Jobs unwound by looking at future Apple products

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Steve Jobs only turned off his phone while hanging out with Apple design chief Jony Ive.
Steve Jobs only turned off his phone while hanging out with Apple design chief Jony Ive.
Photo: Ben Stanfield/Flickr CC

Steve Jobs didn’t turn off his phone often. But if he did, it probably meant that he was in Jony Ive’s Industrial Design department, where Jobs relaxed by scouring prototypes of future Apple products.

That’s according to Jobs’ former assistant, Naz Beheshti, in a new book titled Pause. Breathe. Choose: Become the CEO of Your Well-Being. While the book focuses mainly on Beheshti’s practice as a wellness coach, it includes a few memories of her time at Apple. Including how Apple staffers would go into meltdown when they couldn’t reach Jobs — and how they eventually figured out where this meant he was.

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

Apple could announce another record-breaking quarter on April 28

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Apple leases new offices near to Apple Park
Apple just finished its first financial quarter of 2021, and we’ll soon find out how it did.
Photo: Duncan Sinfield

Apple will announce the financial results of its winter quarter on April 28. So far, people forced to work and learn from home have been very good for the Mac-maker’s bottom line. We’ll soon see if that carried through to the beginning of 2021.

Apple betas offer clues about new hardware coming soon

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iMac 2021
Is this the face of the new iMacs?
Photo: Jon Prosser/FrontPageTech

Apple’s new betas are, by definition, a glimpse at the future when it comes to Apple’s upcoming releases — and the latest crop is no different. From new iMacs to a possible controller redesign for Apple TV, here are some of the hardware breadcrumbs they drop about future Apple plans.

Apple’s rumored March event reportedly will take place in April

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Apple April Event — Oops!
Time marches on. So do March events.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Apple’s next product launch will take place in April, not March, a soon-to-be-eyebrowless Jon Prosser claimed Wednesday. Prodigious leaker Prosser had been so sure of his predicted date of March 23 for Apple’s next event that he wagered the integrity of his own facial hair on it. Now he’s admitting defeat.

“The event is in April,” Prosser tweeted. In a follow-up, he suggested that Apple had not previous hosted an April event, so “I get it if you’re skeptical. But here we are.”

Apple reportedly pushes back production of redesigned MacBook Pro

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13-inch MacBook Pro with M1 boasts amazing speed and battery life.
MacBook Pro is reported to get a big redesign this year.
Screenshot: Apple

Apple delayed plans to start mass-producing its next-gen MacBook Pro until this fall, according to a new report from Nikkei Asia. Originally, Cupertino was expected to start building the new laptops in May or June.

This MacBook Pro is widely expected to boast a new form factor and come in both 14- and 16-inch screen sizes. It is also anticipated to kill off the LED Touch Bar in favor of a row of physical keys, bring back the MagSafe charger, feature a built-in SD card reader and HDMI port, and sport a fancy mini-LED display.

In other words, it sounds like it’ll be worth the wait. But you will likely be waiting.

Blast from the past: 2021 iMac could bring back multiple color options

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iMac 2021
But will it come in Bondi blue?
Photo: Jon Prosser/FrontPageTech

For the first time since the iMac G3 in the late 1990s, Apple’s all-in-one desktop computer might come in a range of color options, Apple leaker Jon Prosser says.

In a video published Wednesday, Prosser says 2021’s redesigned Apple Silicon iMac will come in black, white, green, blue and rose gold colors. Those are the same color options the latest iPad Air comes in.

How Apple’s first COO turned ‘chaotic’ company into international powerhouse

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Yocam with Steve Jobs
Del Yocam (center) chats with Steve Jobs.
Photo: Del Yocam

Long before Tim Cook brought his operations wizardry to Apple, Del Yocam lent his logistical prowess to Cupertino. Apple’s first chief operating officer, he helped transform the company from a chaotic, scrappy startup into a streamlined manufacturing powerhouse.

He also served as an early mentor to Steve Jobs, the young Apple co-founder who sometimes seemed out of his depth in 1979.

“When I first got to know him, he was lost,” Yocam told Cult of Mac. “He was no longer involved in the Apple II and no one wanted him around, especially management. He didn’t care about money at that time. He was like an orphan, living away from home.”

In many ways, Yocam was the proto-Tim Cook, a manufacturing and operations specialist who helped transform a dysfunctional startup into a massive, moneymaking leader of the early PC industry. He also helped take the rapidly growing company international.

Yocam deserves more credit for helping build Apple than history has so far accorded him. He was one of the main players at a crucial point in Cupertino’s history.

Yocam, now 76, recently talked with Cult of Mac about Apple’s early days. In this exclusive interview, he discusses his friendship and working relationship with Jobs, Apple’s challenging, fascinating, and sometimes malodorous co-founder.

He also reveals new details about Jobs’ tearful ouster from Apple — and how Jobs later offered him an amazing job, only to revoke it at the last moment.

E-GMP: A look at the Hyundai electric vehicle platform that (may have) caught Apple’s eye

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Hyundai's E-GMP platform is like a Lego base for electrical vehicles.
Hyundai's E-GMP platform is like a Lego base for electrical vehicles.
Photo: Hyundai

According to the latest news, talks between Hyundai and Apple may have stalled. Still, if things start up again, the South Korean automaker’s E-GMP platform could be key to Apple’s ambitions to build an electric vehicle.

Hyundai’s promising E-GMP platform has a lot to love.