Follow Benjamin on Threads to keep up with his latest projects. Benjamin blogs about Apple news and rumors and posts insightful product and app reviews. Read his work on 9to5Mac and his personal blog.
Benjamin Mayo also creates apps for iOS as a professional indie developer and contractor; more details here. Email to discuss making your iOS project.
Follow @bzamayo on Twitter and follow @bzamayo on Threads.
Although COVID-19 remains an ongoing concern in many parts of the world, China’s aggressive social distancing and quarantining policies have seen its daily case rates fall below 100 for most of the last year. According to the latest data from the CAICT, the Chinese smartphone market has also now recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
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With so much focus on the App Store at the moment, Apple’s leading argument is that its App Store review policies offer security and safety for users. However, unscrupulous apps continue to slip through the net and rake in millions from Apple customers before being caught.
One of the biggest drivers of these scams is the use of fake reviews to prop up apps that otherwise wouldn’t get a second look. A common pattern for such an App Store scam is to make a very simple app targeting popular search keywords, attach aggressive subscription pricing to it, and make it rise high in search results by faking hundreds of 5-star App Store reviews …
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In a new report, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says Apple is working on a new smart home product: a major evolution of an Apple TV set-top box that integrates a smart speaker and camera hardware. Somewhat similar in concept to the Roku Streambar, the single device would upgrade a user’s living room with a comprehensive multimedia system.
The device would offer the kind of features users would expect from an Apple TV box — like access to video streaming apps and games console — as well as HomePod-esque smart speaker features and a camera for smart home security and living room FaceTime.
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At the end of last week, it was reported that Apple had refused to send a witness to a senate hearing on the state of app store policy and industry competition. Representatives from the US Senate Judiciary Subcommittee said that Apple had “abruptly declared” it would not provide a witness, and that lack of participation was unacceptable.
However, Apple says that this is inaccurate and Apple had simply asked for more time to arrange scheduling matters. The company will in fact be sending chief compliance officer Kyle Andeer to the proceedings.
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According to a new report from The Information, Apple has hired away Jessie Henderson from WarnerMedia as the company looks to expand its investment in original film production.
The new hire will join the Apple Original Films division as Apple looks to expand the number of films it produces. The report say that Apple is raising up its production target for TV+ movies, increasing from the original expectation of 10-12 per year
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Apple’s version of “classic MTV,” Apple Music TV, has now expanded to the United Kingdom and Canada after debuting in the US last year.
The channel plays an endless stream of music videos all day, every day, as well as incorporating live event content from time to time.
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After first appearing in the 2017 iPad Pro, it appears that 2021 will finally be the year that the iPhone gains a ProMotion display.
Today’s Digitimes reports corroborates claims made recently by The Elec. The report says Apple is going to use LTPO screen technology in the iPhone 13. The power efficiency of LTPO helps to enable the iPhone to run at a 120Hz refresh rate presumably without impacting battery life.
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An image shared by Sonny Dickson on Twitter purports to show dummy mockup units of forthcoming iPad Pro and iPad mini refreshes. However, the reveal is somewhat of a disappointment … with the new iPad mini seemingly looking identical in design to the existing model.
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There is a global shortage of semiconductors right now that is affecting all sorts of industries, as almost all hardware these days depends on silicon at some level. The automobile industry is being particularly affected, with manufacturers simply unable to produce as many cars as they planned to while they wait on component availability.
As one of the world’s largest buyers of silicon, Apple’s sheer size and market power meant they have been able to buy up available capacity and continue production of key products like the iPhone unscathed, at least so far. However, a report from Nikkei today says that even Apple is hurting, with production of some iPad and MacBook models impacted.
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Apple today announced a new original to its slate, launching first as a podcast with an Apple TV+ series to follow later in the year. ‘The Line’ follows the true story of formy Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher, who was charged with war crimes after being photographed with a corpse in Iraq. Gallagher was accused of murder.
You can start listening to The Line in Apple Podcasts from today (here’s the RSS feed URL for other podcast players). A four-part TV series on the subject will debut on the Apple TV+ streaming service later in the year.
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As part of an interview with Kara Swisher, Tim Cook addresses his succession. As the interview concludes, Swisher asks Cook if he will still be at Apple in 10 years’ time.
Cook says that he probably won’t be running Apple in 10 years, although the “date is not in sight.” He obviously gave no hints about whom is set to replace him as CEO.
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In a new interview with Kara Swisher on the Sway podcast, Apple CEO Tim Cook addresses the upcoming lawsuit with Epic Games, the controversy over iOS 14.5’s App Tracking Transparency policies, and more.
In regard to Apple’s interest in self-driving cars and autonomous driving, Swisher asks Cook what he thinks of Elon Musk. Cook said that he has great admiration for Tesla, even though he has never spoken to Elon Musk himself.
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Renowned leaker l0vetodream said today that the upcoming iMac redesign will feature an even larger display than the current iMac lineup.
Apple currently sells iMacs in two sizes; a 21.5-inch model and a 27-inch model. The leaker suggests that the new iMac will feature a display that is Apple’s biggest yet, thereby exceeding 27 inches. Perhaps Apple is looking to match the Apple Pro Display XDR and create a 32-inch all-in-one machine?
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Apple no longer includes the standard USB charging brick with the iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro or iPhone 12 mini. There is only one cable included in the box — a USB-C to Lightning cable. But how can you charge the iPhone 12?
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Right around this time, March or April, Apple usually updates the Apple Store with a bunch of new iPhone cases and Apple Watch bands. On a fairly regular basis, the company updates its accessory collections in spring and fall with new color choices. Update: more pics below …
Via DuanRui, Apple is apparently readying new blue, purple, green and burnt orange cases for the iPhone 12 MagSafe leather case range.
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Apple TV+ isn’t available to South Korean Apple customers yet but the company is preparing to launch in the region later this year. According to a new report from Money Today Network, Apple is in talks with SK Telecom to boost distribution of its content.
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Last month, it was revealed that Apple had agreed to comply with new Russian legislation that would require device makers to ‘preinstall’ apps as part of first setup.
As it is now April, this law has come into effect and Apple has enabled the system server-side. After completing normal iPhone set up, iOS now directs the user to a special App Store collection of apps.
Update: We’ve learned that while the new Russian law requires local apps to be offered during setup, the government isn’t explicitly mandating which apps are shown.
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Apple today announced that over 110 of its manufacturing partners are now committed to 100% renewable energy production. Apple’s own operations and facilities have been carbon neutral since 2018, and last year it said it would extend that to its entire supply chain by 2030.
Today’s announcement brings that goal closer to reality. Apple says the commitments are equivalent to about 8 gigawatts of clean energy, and will avoid generating 15 million metric tons of CO2e annually.
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Apple has announced that is leading a $50 million investment round in company UnitedMasters, a firm that aims to help independent artists establish careers in the music business. This includes keeping rights to their actual recording masters, as well as enable individuals to easily sell tickets, merchandise and similar efforts.
Presumably, the ‘strategic partnership’ will lead to new integrations with Apple Music eventually, although UnitedMasters supports publishing to many platforms including Spotify, TikTok and such. What makes this deal unusual is that Apple typically acquires companies outright rather than a mere seed investor.
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You can now enter Walt Disney World with just a contactless wave of your iPhone or Apple Watch.
Today, Disney announced the launch of its MagicMobile service, an alternative way to get around the Disney resort electronically, similar to the MagicBand. Apple users can simply add a MagicMobile pass to their Apple Wallet and enter using the NFC reader at the park gates.
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Apple will continue its prosperous manufacturing relationship with TSMC for — at least — the foreseeable future.
According to a new report from Digitimes, the Apple A15 chip will begin production in May. The production schedule lines up for the iPhone 13 launch in the fall. The A15 chip will use the same 5 nanometer fabrication size as the A14. And the companies are already preparing for next year’s performance leap too …
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In celebration of Earth Day 2021, Apple announced that is launching a new documentary special ‘The Year Earth Changed’ which examines how changes in human behavior, as a result of the pandemic, affected wildlife and nature.
‘The Year Earth Changed’ will be released on April 16. Apple TV+ will also be releasing new episodes of its documentary series ‘Earth At Night in Color’ and ‘Tiny World’ on the same date.
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Apple today released iOS 14.4.2 for iPhone and iPad, and watchOS 7.3.3 for Apple Watch. The updates includes an important security fix for WebKit, which Apple says may have been actively exploited.
The company also released a patch update to iOS 12, version 12.5.2, so that iPhone 6, iPhone 5s, third-generation iPad mini, first-generation iPad Air and the sixth-generation iPod touch users can also benefit from the security fixes.
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According to a report by Max Weinbach via EverythingApplePro’s YouTube channel, Apple is doubling down on the colorways for the iPhone 13 refresh, at least for the Pro models. The iPhone 13 is expected to mostly resemble the iPhone 12’s industrial design, albeit with a smaller display notch. In these ‘iterative’ years, it is common for Apple to switch up the colors to help make the phones look new.
For 2021, it seems Apple is launching a premium pure black finish to replace the gray ‘graphite’ color found in the iPhone 12 Pro lineup. The render mockups of this color look fantastic.
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