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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.

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Apple Podcasts app for iPhone crashing today for some users

podcasts iOS 13

We have received several reports that users are experiencing repeated crashes when using the Apple Podcasts app on their iPhone today. During playback of shows, the app is inexplicably crashing as frequently as once every two minutes in what appears to be some kind of bug relating to how the Podcasts app syncs progress between devices.

The issue seems to have been caused by some kind of server-side change on Apple’s part, as the crashes have only become prolific recently, weeks after Apple’s latest software update, iOS 13.2.3, was released.


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Swiss cable company offering alternative remote to control Apple TV, like Apple’s own IR remote

A Swiss broadband provider, Salt, uses the Apple TV as a faux-cable box for its home fibre broadband customers, similar to deals Apple has struck with other cable companies around the world.

Apparently, some of Salt’s customer base aren’t too happy with the normal Apple TV input method and the company is now offering an alternative remote control (via MacRumors). The Siri Remote is controversial, but it is easy to forget that Apple also sells an alternative remote of its own.


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The new Mac Pro gets FCC approval ahead of launch [update: rack mounted model too]

Mac Pro lattice

Update: The new Mac Pro model aimed at rack mounting also passed FCC clearance today, ahead of the computer going on sale tomorrow. Apple previously announced that a ‘optimised version for rack deployment’ would be released in the fall.

The Mac Pro has appeared today on the FCC registry site, with its regulatory testing information publicly released. This usually means a product launch is imminent.


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Apple’s ‘The Morning Show’ gets nominated for multiple Golden Globes awards, including best TV series

The Golden Globes are today announcing their nominations and it turns out Apple has a chance to make a splash this awards season with The Morning Show.

Apple’s flagship original show received multiple nominations across a couple of categories, most significantly as a candidate for best TV series drama. Stars Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon also picked up best actress nominations for their roles in Apple’s show.


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Apple News launches daily email newsletter

Apple News is expanding its mail notifications with a new ‘Good Morning’ daily newsletter. Previously, users could opt in to receive email alerts from Apple News about select featured stories. The company appears to be formalizing that into a regular daily newsletter.

Apple says it will bring top news, analysis, and fascinating features every morning, collating the ‘best stories from the most trusted sources’.


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9to5Mac Gift Guide: Best accessories to enjoy Apple Arcade and Apple TV+

This year, Apple made a renewed push into Services with new content subscriptions for reading news, watching television, and playing new games.

Apple Arcade and Apple TV+ each cost $4.99 per month, and offer compelling original TV and games to play. However, there are a few extra things you may want to buy to improve the experience. These accessories can make great gift ideas for any Apple fan.


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Apple launches Apple Music Awards, will live stream Billie Eilish performance at Steve Jobs Theater

In addition to announcing its App Store Best of 2019 today, Apple is also launching its first-ever Apple Music Awards. The company says it handpicked winners for Global Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year and Breakthrough Artist of the Year. It also gave awards to the most streamed song and album.

With Billie Eilish picking up three awards, Apple is celebrating the first year of Apple Music Awards with a performance from the artist held at Steve Jobs Theater. The event will be live-streamed tomorrow at 6:30 PM PST.


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Analyst expects Apple to split flagship iPhone releases into separate summer and fall launches, starting 2021

Apple could switch up its iPhone release cycle as soon as 2021 according to a new analyst report from JP Morgan’s Samik Chatterjee (via Marketwatch).

Since the iPhone 4S in 2011, Apple has released its flagship iPhone models all at once in the fall — almost always in mid-September. What JPMorgan proposes is that there would be two pairs of iPhone launches in 2021, one in the first half (presumably in the March-June timeframe) and one in the second half (the normal September holiday period).


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No Face ID required: Apple Pay Express Mode now available for the London Underground, here’s how to set it up

If you are in London, you can now travel using Apple Pay on the Underground network without having to use Touch ID or Face ID authentication.

This means that you don’t need to hold up the queue at the turnstile when travelling the Underground. You can simply tap and go with either iPhone or Apple Watch.


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Apple Store Black Friday promotion live in the United States, get a gift card up to $200 value

Apple’s Black Friday shopping event is now live in the United States. Don’t go celebrating too much — the deals aren’t the best. Apple is giving away up to $200 in gift cards with select purchases (that excludes newer hardware like AirPods Pro or 16-inch MacBook Pro).

Check out the latest offers on 9to5Toys for the best deals from Black Friday through Cyber Monday.


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Apple’s Black Friday deals go live in Australia: free gift card with select iPhone, iPad, AirPods and Mac purchases

Apple’s Black Friday shopping event is now live in Australia, which gives a glimpse of what we can expect to see around the world when Apple’s promotions begin in the United States on Friday.

As expected, Apple is giving gift cards of value up to $200 USD ($320 AUD) with select older iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, AirPods, Apple Watch and Mac purchases.


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Jony Ive removed from Apple executive leadership page as he officially departs the company

Apple today updated the executive leadership page, removing the biography page for Jony Ive, ex- Chief Design Officer (via MacGeneration).

As announced in a statement earlier this year, Ive’s departure would see Evans Hankey become the new head of the design group (some have since criticized Hankey for being more of a manager than creative designer) as VP of Industrial Design alongside software design chief Alan Dye, VP of Human Interface Design. Interestingly, Apple has not included either of their bios on the leadership page which leaves the page absent of any design-focused executive representation.


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Apple said to double AirPods Pro monthly production from 1 million to 2 million units due to strong demand

Over the weekend, Bloomberg said that its sources indicated that the Apple AirPods Pro were beating sales expectations.

Now, Nikkei is also corroborating that line of thinking quoting supply chain sources in China who say that Apple has doubled AirPods Pro orders from 1 million to ‘at least’ 2 million units per month. The standard AirPods with wireless charging case have sold well throughout their lifetime and AirPods Pro are very much set to continue that trend.


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Apple reportedly forecasting >100 million iPhone 12 sales in 2020, thanks to 5G demand

Apple is reportedly telling its supply chain partners to expect in excess of 100 million orders for the iPhone 12 next year, as reported by Digitimes.

For 2019, the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro is expected to sell around 80 million units. A jump to 100 million or more would represent a significant increase in sales demand. This level of customer interest is apparently fueled by the 5G ‘super cycle’ although the iPhone 12 is also expected to feature significant hardware upgrades compared to the last couple of years.


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Apple announces its Black Friday deals: up to $200 Apple Store gift card with device purchase

Apple has announced its official Black Friday shopping event, which runs from Black Friday (Friday 29th) through Cyber Monday (December 2nd).

Following the release of Apple’s official guide, Apple is teasing its Apple Store deals today with a homepage banner, inviting customers to ‘save the date’. The company will offer up to $200 gift cards with the purchase of eligible Apple products like iPhones, iPads, and Macs. As is usual, third-party sellers like Amazon will almost certainly beat Apple on deal prices.


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Bloomberg: Apple is changing the way it tests software following iOS 13’s buggy debut, new process starts with iOS 14

iOS 13, especially the first couple of versions, quickly gained a reputation for being riddled with bugs and issues.

Bloomberg reports that Apple is changing the way it develops internal builds of operating systems in an attempt to stop history from repeating itself, with work on iOS 14 already using the new approach.


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Apple files lawsuit against SoftBank-owned firm for bringing repeated ‘nuisance patent suits’ against them

Apple and Intel have filed an antitrust lawsuit against Fortress Investment Group, a company backed by SoftBank, reports Reuters.

The lawsuit essentially claims that Fortress is an extreme patent troll who is fielding repeated nonsense cases against the tech giants. It alleges Fortress stockpiled patents for the primary purpose of suing companies in a manner that violates antitrust laws.


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Apple tells government antitrust committee that it does not make a profit from repair services

Huawei says Chinese retaliation against Apple would be wrong

A judiciary committee in July asked questions surrounding antitrust and competition concerns of big tech. The documentation from those hearings has now been released.

Apple addressed its policies on the App Store, competition in markets where Apple offers first-party apps, disallowing alternative browser engines, among other topics. On the subject of Apple’s role in the repair industry, the company said that the ‘cost of providing repair services has exceeded the revenue generated by repairs’, implying it does not tightly control repairs for financial gain.


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