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Benjamin Mayo

bzamayo

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.

on Twitter and follow @bzamayo on Threads.

Connect with Benjamin Mayo

Defining the decade: ten years of Apple on one page

Apple entered the 2010s just as the iPhone began to explode in popularity. The iPhone became the most successful consumer product, ever. Sales surged for another five years and still make up a majority of Apple’s revenues. However, we exit the decade with the iPhone making up a smaller portion of Apple’s business than ever before, as the company diversifies into strong lineups of wearables, tablets and services offerings.

But nothing is a simple straight line. Apple had to graduate through the passing of its founder, juggle relationships with an ever-expanding list of consumer and professional market segments, and adapt to the public attention and scrunity that only comes along as a consequence of being the biggest company in the world. This is a decade in Apple, on one page.


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Analyst: Apple to launch sub-6GHz 5G iPhones this year, but faster mmWave 5G iPhones delayed until 2021

In Ming-Chi Kuo’s most recent report, the analyst said Apple is looking to launch four 5G-compatible iPhone models in 2020 but would not be drawn on their exact specification. The two competing standards for 5G work on either mmWave and sub-6 GHz spectrum, and devices can support one or the other, or both.

A report today from analysts at Susquehanna claims that Apple will only launch sub-6 GHz compatible 5G phones in 2020. mmWave models may not be available until 2021 in small volumes.


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Apple wins Christmas: iPhone claims top 9 spots for mobile device activations in the US

In a report from Flurry Analytics, Apple was the winner of the holiday gift season with the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and a healthy mix of older models contributing to the company’s dominance over every other manufacturer, in the United States at least.

For the period Christmas Day through New Year’s Eve, Apple iPhones and iPads represented about 43% of all mobile device activations in the US, according to the report.


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IKEA Tradfri smart blinds finally rolling out support for Apple HomeKit

After several false starts, IKEA is finally ready to offer HomeKit support for its inexpensive line of Tradfri smart blinds. The update is rolling out now, although not all Tradfri owners are seeing the necessary firmware update just yet.

The category of HomeKit blinds has been a thing for a while now, but the IKEA range has been hotly anticipated due to their affordability. The Fyrtur range cost between $129 and $179. You’ll also need the IKEA Tradfri hub in order to control the blinds via HomeKit though.


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iPhone 11 charging slowly? Get a fast charger to dramatically speed up charge times

Have you just got a new iPhone for Christmas? Upgraded from an older iPhone to a new colorful iPhone 11, with its new camera system and upgraded battery life? You may notice that although the iPhone battery life is significantly improved, it takes even longer to charge than your old phone. A fast charger makes a big difference …


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Bloomberg: Apple researching ways to use satellites to beam data directly to iPhone and its other devices

Within 5 years, Apple could send data to your iPhone directly from the Earth’s atmosphere. At least, that appears to be its goal according to a new report from Bloomberg.

The company is said to be hiring software, hardware, and aerospace engineers to find new methods of data transfer for the iPhone and its other fleet of consumer products.


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Pixelmator Pro’s new ML-powered ‘Super Resolution’ mode enlarges images while maintaining sharpness

Just before the holidays, the Pixelmator Pro team have pushed out another update with an impressive new image resizing algorithm, powered by a machine learning model.

Pixelmator Pro are calling it ‘ML Super Resolution’. It’s a new scaling mode that can allow you to increase images without the blurriness you come to expect when you make a bitmap image larger than its original size.


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iPhone 11 Pro knocked out in first round of MKBHD’s blind smartphone camera test

The iPhone 11 Pro triple-camera system re-established Apple’s crown as a critic’s choice this year for smartphone cameras, but Marques Brownlee’s blind Twitter survey always turns up some interesting results.

Last year, the iPhone lost to a BlackBerry … and for 2019, the iPhone 11 Pro didn’t make it past the first round losing to a photo taken by the OnePlus 7T Pro.


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You can now ask Alexa to play Apple Podcasts on Amazon Echo speakers

Apple has partnered with Amazon to launch support for Apple Podcasts on Amazon Echo devices. Starting today, Echo owners in the United States can ask Alexa to play any of the 800,000 shows in the Apple Podcasts directory.

To set up the integration, Echo customers must first link their Apple ID in the Alexa app. As well as asking Alexa to play a specific show, playback progress will automatically sync with all of your Apple Podcasts app across iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac.


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AAPL drops premarket as Credit Suisse analyst claims China iPhone shipments fell >35% last month

iPhone shipments fell in Q3 despite record revenue

This week, a few different financial analysts are reporting pessimism towards Apple iPhone 11 shipments. Rosenblatt reported that Apple is reducing production by about 25%.

Today, Credit Suisse analyst Matt Cabral said that shipments of iPhone in China fell more than 35% in November, compared to the same month in 2018. Apple infamously suffered a mass slowdown in China iPhone demand for the holiday quarter in 2018, so a fall compared to that reduced level is possibly significant.


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Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR now available to order from Apple Online Store

Mac Pro pictured with Pro Display XDR

Six years since the computer was last updated, and more than two years since the modular high-end revamp of the Mac Pro was promised, Apple today released the Mac Pro and accompanying Apple Pro Display XDR, which start at $5999 and $4999 respectively. First configurations ship December 18th.

The Mac Pro base starts at a rather measly 8-core 32 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD config but can be specced to up to insanely high-end internals, accompanied by an insanely high price, aimed at true professional environments like video editing bays.


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Apple launching iPhone financing plan today for Apple Card users: 0% interest over 24 months

Apple Card

Apple is today launching its zero-interest iPhone financing plan for Apple Card owners today. As reported by TechCrunch, the purchase method will roll out today across Apple retail stores, Apple.com and the Apple Store app on iOS.

If you have an Apple Card, then you will be able to buy a new iPhone through that card and pay back the phone through monthly installments over 24 months with 0% interest.


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