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.
Ted Lasso continues to bring home the awards for Apple TV+. Following its success at the Golden Globes, Ted Lasso swept the comedy category of the Critics Choice awards last night, winning every award it was nominated for.
The show itself picked up Best Comedy Series, Jason Sudeikis won for Best Actor in a Comedy Series and Hannah Waddingham won for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
Expand Expanding Close
The iMac Pro has been discontinued, with the Apple Store on Friday removed all build-to-order configurations for the product. The only model now available to buy is the $4999 base config and the Apple Store says that is only available ‘while supplies last’. Some other SKUs remain available at third-party retailers for the time being.
Expand Expanding Close
There has been a constant stream of display technology rumors over the last few years. Apple is rumored to be exploring mini-LED, micro-LED and OLED technologies across its product lineup. The upcoming 2021 successor to the 16-inch MacBook Pro is currently expected to feature a mini-LED screen.
Apple first used OLED in the Apple Watch, and later in the iPhone X. A report from Digitimes today says that Apple is also interested in releasing larger form factor products with OLED displays, like iPads and MacBooks.
Expand Expanding Close
The YouTube app is officially discontinued for third-generation Apple TV boxes. The third-gen box was released in 2012 and lacks an App Store. What are your alternative ways to stream to a TV in 2021?
Expand Expanding Close
Yesterday, we covered a story regarding Dustin Curtis’s experience with his Apple ID getting disabled when a payment to his Apple Card failed. Apple has today shared a statement with 9to5Mac clarifying the situation. The company says that Apple Card and Apple ID are not linked in the way that the blog post alleged, and the company does not disable Apple ID services because of missed Apple Card payments.
The situation arose because the trade-in process was left unresolved, and Apple was following its standard procedures in matters of money owed; this is not anything specific to the Apple Card. When an account is marked as in bad standing, use of Apple ID services is restricted; things like Apple Music or App Store purchases. iCloud is wholly separate and is not disabled at all. You can read Apple’s full statement on the matter after the break.
Expand Expanding Close
Apple TV+ has added a Golden Globe to its lineup of accolades. Last night, Jason Sudeikis picked up an award for his lead role in Ted Lasso. The show has been a breakout hit for Apple’s streaming service with wide recognition from viewers and critics alike.
Expand Expanding Close
Analysts at Wedbush today said that supply chain checks suggest that the next generation iPhone lineup, colloquially referred to as iPhone 13, will feature a 1 TB high-end storage option for the first time. The current iPhone 12 maxes out at 512 GB capacity.
The financial analysts remain optimistic that Apple iPhone sales will continue to be strong through this year as part of the post-pandemic ‘reopening environment’ as COVID vaccine rollouts continue worldwide.
Expand Expanding Close
In January, Ming Chi Kuo excited fans of Apple’s pro laptops with news that the 2021 MacBook Pro would feature a new design, Apple Silicon, and the return of MagSafe and more IO ports.
The analyst has followed up on that report today to be slightly more specific: he expects Apple’s 2021 MacBook Pro models to feature a HDMI port and a SD card slot. As a reminder, the current 16-inch MacBook Pro only features Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports and a headphone jack in terms of connectivity.
Expand Expanding Close
As part of its Television Critics Association presentation today, Apple announced that one of its popular comedy series Mythic Quest will return for a second season. The new instalment of Mythic Quest will premiere on May 7.
Expand Expanding Close
Apple is apparently developing a MagSafe battery pack accessory for the iPhone 12, according to the latest report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. With previous iPhone models, Apple has released Smart Battery Cases to compete with the likes of battery cases from Mophie and others, that offer protection and give your iPhone extra juice.
For the iPhone 12 generation, Apple is yet to release its own battery case. The Bloomberg report suggests that Apple may never do so, as it instead intends to use the MagSafe connector on the back of the iPhone to be able to create a wireless charging battery pack that simply magnetically snaps onto the back of the iPhone 12.
Expand Expanding Close
As of a week or so ago, the CBS All Access and Showtime bundle for Apple TV+ is no longer available, lasting just five months since its August 2020 launch. This bundle gave Apple TV+ subscribers access to both CBS All Access and Showtime for $9.99 per month, representing a significant 50% saving.
While current subscribers to the bundle can still access the service, it’s no longer possible to sign up to the bundle as a new user. This is probably because Viacom is preparing to sunset CBS All Access in favor of their new streaming platform: Paramount+, which launches in the US starting March 4.
Expand Expanding Close
As part of the iOS 14.5 beta, it appears Apple is testing new ways to monetize the App Store. Building on the existing App Store Search Ads program, users are now seeing a new sponsored ad slot appearing on the Search tab as a “suggested” item.
Previously, Apple only showed ads in the App Store when users searched for an app with advertisers bidding on keywords, similar to Google Search ads. This new ad type is naturally more prominent as it displays to the user before they search anything at all.
Expand Expanding Close
Earlier this week, Apple told developers in its DTK Apple silicon program to be prepared to return the early access prototype Mac mini soon. It said developers would receive a $200 credit towards the purchase of an M1 Mac as a token of appreciation.
However, this announcement was not met too kindly by the community. Apple has ‘heard the feedback’ and has increased the credit accordingly …
Expand Expanding Close
According to local newspaper DongA, Apple is set to announce a major contract with Kia Motors, worth about $3.6 billion as the company ramps up its efforts to build an electric car. According to the papers, the news could be officially announced as soon as February 17.
Apple is apparently looking to produce about 100,000 cars a year, starting in 2024. A previous report had suggested that Apple was looking to sign a deal with Hyundai by March.
Expand Expanding Close
Apple TV+ is posting more viewership stats, with the company announcing that the just-gone weekend saw viewership on the platform rise by 33% to set a new record (via Deadline).
The record numbers for the service come as the company launched its latest original film, “Palmer” starring Justin Timberlake, on Friday.
Expand Expanding Close
Apple TV+ has won the rights to hot Sundance film ‘CODA’, which premiered at the film festival on Friday. The film received a warm reception from early viewers and critics.
As reported by Deadline, a bidding war for the film raised prices to a new record for Sundance film, with Apple securing the deal for $25 million.
Expand Expanding Close
Just like last time the trial was extended, Apple is again handing out credits to paying Apple TV+ customers. Customers are being notified in emails being sent out by the company today.
Expand Expanding Close
According to the latest report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is developing a new MacBook Air model that will launch later this year or in 2022.
Described as a higher-end model in the MacBook Air family, it would offer an even thinner and lighter design than the current MacBook Air, and also come equipped with next-generation Apple silicon — suggesting even better performance than the M1 chip is not too far away.
Expand Expanding Close
Apple is again extending the free period for the Apple TV+ 1-year free trials given out with hardware. With the latest announcement, anybody with an Apple TV+ subscription that was set to expire from now until June will instead expire in July 2021.
This means customers who took advantage of the ‘year free’ deal back when the service first launched will now be getting an additional 9 months of free access to Apple original shows and movies.
Expand Expanding Close
Reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today released some interesting details about the upcoming MacBook Pro. Kuo describes this as the first major redesign of the laptop in five years, and will represent a significant upgrade over even the latest 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro. The new MacBook Pro will feature 14-inch and 16-inch sizes and feature ARM Apple silicon instead of Intel CPUs.
However, Kuo shares some much more surprising tidbits, namely that the Touch Bar will be gone in favor of physical function keys, the MagSafe charging connector returns along with more built-in IO ports that mean most users will not need to purchase additional dongles according to Kuo …
Expand Expanding Close
The Apple TV+ experience for web browser users has been improved today, with a new homepage interface that mirrors the design seen in the TV app when navigating to the Apple TV+ tab.
Expand Expanding Close
Medial research firm Biogen today announced a new collaboration with Apple in the form of a cognitive health research study, powered by iPhone and Apple Watch. The study is trying to identify digital biomarkers that can serve as early indicators of illnesses like Alzheimer’s.
The observational research study will commence later in the year. The companies aim to find patterns in the data collected by sensors in the Apple Watch and iPhone and correlate those to declines in cognitive health function.
Expand Expanding Close
As spotted by Khaos Tian on Twitter, there’s an interesting new setting in the Workout app for Apple Watch. Named “Time to Walk”, the setting describes a feature where walking workouts are downloaded to the watch when connected to power and the iPhone is nearby.
This toggle appears on the watch itself and in the companion Watch app on the iPhone. Combined with evidence from 9to5Mac code investigations, it seems that guided audio workouts from Apple are coming soon to the Watch.
Expand Expanding Close
Have you just got an Apple TV? The Apple TV HD or Apple TV 4K bring a collection of multimedia experiences to your television, from video apps to photos to games, but there are a few settings you might want to change in order to get the most out of your new set-top box.
Read on for five top tips for the best Apple TV experience …