Google last week announced its newest flagship smartphones, the Pixel 4 and the Pixel 4XL, both of which are meant to compete with the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro, Apple's newest devices launched in September.

In our latest YouTube video, we went hands-on with a Pixel 4XL and an iPhone 11 Pro Max to compare the cameras in the two devices to see how they measure up against one another.

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Both the Pixel 4XL and the ‌iPhone 11 Pro‌ have impressive cameras, and when it comes to standard shots taken with the rear-facing image, there's little difference in quality. Both smartphones are producing some great images, though the ‌iPhone 11 Pro Max‌ tends to create images with a cooler tone while the Pixel 4XL has a warmer overall tone.


Each smartphone does well with highlights and shadows, but the Pixel 4XL has a feature for adjusting these settings in real time while they need to be post processed on the iPhone. The iPhone does have one edge - a third ultra wide-angle camera lens. The Pixel 4XL is limited to two cameras, a standard wide-angle and a telephoto lens, so it can't quite match the capabilities of the ‌iPhone 11 Pro Max‌.


Google pioneered Night Sight (the equivalent of the iPhone's Night Mode) last year, and the feature continues to be impressive this year. Night Side and ‌Night Mode‌ are quite similar, and it's tough to pick a clear winner for low-light photos. The ‌iPhone 11 Pro Max‌ tends to produce photos that look a bit more natural, while the Pixel 4XL offers up sharper, more vibrant night time images that sometimes have blown out highlights.


When comparing Portrait Mode, the Pixel 4XL seems to produce sharper images and it has superior edge detection in most cases. It's imperfect and there are times that the iPhone wins out, but in most of our test images, the Pixel 4XL does a better job with Portrait Mode photos.


For the front-facing camera, the Pixel 4XL has a new wide-angle lens that can capture more around you, plus it produces some super sharp photos, especially in Portrait Mode. There's an option for a wider-angle field of view with the iPhone's camera too, but the images from the Pixel 4XL appear to be just a bit better even though they have a warmer tone.


The Pixel 4XL has a Night Sight option for the front-facing camera, which gives it an edge over the front-facing camera of the ‌iPhone 11 Pro Max‌ as it can take better selfies in low lighting conditions.

When it comes to video, the ‌iPhone 11 Pro Max‌ wins. Google appears to have focused more on photo quality than video quality, and both the front and rear-facing cameras are a bit lacking. The Pixel 4XL supports 4K video but maxes out at 30 frames per second, while the ‌iPhone 11 Pro Max‌ supports 60 frames per second. Both have solid stabilization capabilities, but the ‌iPhone 11 Pro‌ has a preferable color profile and look compared to the Pixel 4XL.


All in all, both of these smartphones have high-quality cameras capable of producing some impressive images, which makes it difficult to choose a clear winner. Preference is generally going to come down to platform choice and small aesthetic differences between features like color profile.

Which smartphone's camera do you prefer? ‌iPhone 11 Pro Max‌ or Pixel 4XL? Let us know in the comments.

Lee Pace and Jared Harris have scored lead roles in Apple's upcoming "Foundation" series that's based on the classic Isaac Asimov novel of the same name, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

Pace is known for his roles in "Pushing Daisies" and "Halt and Catch Fire," along with his work in "The Hobbit" movies. Harris is known for "Chernobyl," "Carnival Row," "The Crown," "The Expanse," and "Mad Men," among other TV shows and movies.

Image credit: Getty
Asimov's "Foundation" series follows a psychohistory expert and mathematician Hari Seldon who is able to predict the future. Seldon creates a group called the Foundation to preserve humanity's collective knowledge ahead of the impending fall of the Galactic Empire.

There are multiple novels in the "Foundation" series that span many years and cover the rise and fall of multiple empires. Harris will be playing Hari Seldon, the mathematical genius, while Pace will play Brother Day, the Emperor of the Galaxy.

Apple TV+ is set to launch on November 1, but as "Foundation" is still in the casting stages, it will be some time before it premieres. The service will launch with titles like "The Morning Show," "See," "For All Mankind," and "Dickinson."

Apple is charging $4.99 per month for ‌Apple TV‌+, but customers who purchase an iPhone, iPad, ‌Apple TV‌, or Mac can get a free year of service. Each $4.99 subscription fee allows up to six family members to watch.

LG is in talks with Apple to supply LCD displays for the successor to the iPhone SE, with the panels currently undergoing last-minute quality checks, according to industry sources cited by Korean website The Elec. The report claims the budget device is scheduled to be released in early 2020.


Apple sticking with an LCD for the device would be no surprise given cost considerations, with previous reports claiming the so-called "iPhone SE 2" will sport a 4.7-inch display like the iPhone 8. This has disappointed some fans of the original iPhone SE, which has a smaller 4-inch display ideal for one-handed usage.

There have been several reports about the iPhone SE 2 in recent weeks. The most detailed information has come from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who expects the device to look similar to the iPhone 8, including thick bezels and a Touch ID home button, but with a faster A13 Bionic chip and 3GB of RAM.

Kuo also expects the device to come in Space Gray, Silver, and Red, with 64GB and 128GB storage options. Like the iPhone 11 lineup, the ‌iPhone SE 2‌ is expected to ship without 3D Touch, which Apple has replaced with a software-based Haptic Touch solution. Kuo predicts pricing will start at $399 in the United States.

As we mentioned yesterday, ‌iPhone SE 2‌ might not be the final name of the device, with iPhone 8s and iPhone 9 speculated as other possibilities. The device is expected to be released by the end of the first quarter of 2020.

Apple premiered its futuristic thriller "See" at the Regency Village Theater in Westwood, California, on Monday night. The show is set to debut on Apple TV+ when the service launches on November 1.

Left to right: Alfre Woodard, Jason Momoa, Nesta Cooper, Archie Madekwe, Hera Hilmar, Yadira Guevara-Prip, Sylvia Hoeks, Christian Camargo.
Written and created by Steven Knight and directed by Francis Lawrence, "See" stars Jason Momoa and Alfre Woodard, and is reported to have a budget of $15 million per episode.

The epic post apocalyptic drama takes place in a world in which much of the human population has been wiped out by a virus and the remaining survivors have been left blind. According to Apple, dozens of visually impaired and blind actors were cast for the show, and consultants on blindness, biology and survival were hired to make the drama as realistic as possible.

Jason Momoa plays the lead role of Baba Voss, a fearless warrior, leader, and guardian. Momoa is well-known for his role as Khal Drogo in "Game of Thrones," as well as roles in "Aquaman," "Stargate Atlantis," and "Conan the Barbarian."

Jason Momoa at the premiere of "See".
Alfre Woodard plays Paris, an advisor and a priestess. Woodard has starred in movies that include "12 Years a Slave," "Annabelle," and "Captain America: Civil War," and she has had roles in several TV shows, such as "Luke Cage," "Desperate Housewives," and "State of Affairs."

The first three episodes of "See" will be available to watch on ‌Apple TV‌+ in over 100 countries and regions around the world from November 1, with new episodes scheduled to roll out weekly, every Friday.

The streaming service will be available on the ‌Apple TV‌ app on iPhone, iPad, ‌Apple TV‌, iPod touch, Mac and other platforms, including online via www.tv.apple.com. Customers who purchase any new iPhone, ‌iPad‌, ‌Apple TV‌, Mac or ‌iPod touch‌ starting September 10, 2019, are eligible for one year of ‌Apple TV‌+ for free.

Following a recent Bloomberg report that Adobe continues to be committed to releasing the promised Photoshop CC for iPad app by the end of 2019, Daring Fireball's John Gruber has offered up some additional info on Adobe's plans.

Gruber says that Adobe is "all in" on photoshop for ‌iPad‌, and that it's viewed as a "serious top-shelf project for creative professionals."

The team of engineers working on it has grown significantly from a year ago, and they have plans to add features iteratively on an aggressive schedule. It's reasonable to be disappointed that it isn't further along feature-count-wise, but anyone who cares about Photoshop for ‌iPad‌ as a long-term product should be very excited about its foundation, direction, and the attention Adobe is paying to the fine details of a touch-first Photoshop UI.

In response to reports that Photoshop for ‌iPad‌ beta testers are unhappy with limited and missing core Photoshop features, Gruber explains that Adobe is positioning the software as "real" Photoshop as it's built using the same code base that's used for the desktop version. That's been interpreted as a "full" version of Photoshop, which isn't quite correct.

Photoshop for ‌iPad‌ is real because it is using the same code base that's been running on the desktop for decades. That's an amazing technical accomplishment. Photoshop for ‌iPad‌ is not full -- and the initial release was never planned to be -- because it only exposes a subset of features from the desktop version.

Adobe first announced its plans to introduce an ‌iPad‌ version of Photoshop CC in October of 2018, promising it for release in 2019. Adobe has been testing the app with beta testers since May, but there's still no specific word on when it will launch.

Though it won't be a complete mirror of Photoshop on the desktop, the Photoshop CC app for ‌iPad‌ is designed to let users open and edit native PSD files for cross-platform functionality. Adobe is planning to add several features later, including rotate canvas, shapes/paths, custom brushes and fonts, color swatches, curve adjustment, smart objects, and grids and guides.

In a separate report released this afternoon, Bloomberg says that Adobe is also working on a version of Illustrator that will work on the ‌iPad‌. Adobe is said to be planning to preview Illustrator for ‌iPad‌ at its Adobe MAX conference in November before releasing the app in 2020.

Apple CEO Tim Cook is now the chairman of the advisory board of the Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management (SEM) in Beijing, and he recently hosted the 20th annual meeting of the committee.

The news of his appointment was shared in a recap of the 2019 meeting of the board, which is the 20th annual meeting since the committee was established.


Cook has been a member of the Beijing-based university's advisory board since October of 2013. Tsinghua SEM is considered one of the top schools in China, and other advisory board members include General Motors CEO Mary Barra, Dell CEO Michael Dell, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Foxconn CEO Terry Gou, Pepsi CEO Ramon Laguarta, Alibaba executive chairman Jack Ma, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and more.

Cook took over as chairman from Breyer Capital founder and CEO Jim Breyer, who led the board for the last three years.

In a speech at the meeting, Cook said that he plans to work with board members to "promote the development of the college" over the course of the next three years that he will hold the position.

Cook's promotion to chairman of the board at Tsinghua SEM comes as Apple struggles to navigate tensions between China and Hong Kong. Earlier this month, Apple pulled the HKMap Live app that protestors were using to communicate police movements after China suggested the app was being used to target specific police officers.

Last Friday, U.S. lawmakers condemned Apple's decision and called on the company to reinstate the app, but Apple has not yet responded.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

The so-called iPhone SE 2 will be equipped with an LCP aka liquid crystal polymer antenna design for improved wireless transmission, according to noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.


In a research note with TF International Securities today, viewed by MacRumors, Kuo said Career Technologies and Murata Manufacturing will begin supplying Apple with antenna components for the ‌iPhone SE 2‌ in early 2020, in time for the device to launch by the end of the first quarter.

In previous research notes, Kuo said the ‌iPhone SE 2‌ will have a similar design as the iPhone 8, including a 4.7-inch display and a Touch ID home button, but with a faster A13 Bionic chip and 3GB of RAM. He also expects the device to have 64GB and 128GB storage options and come in Space Gray, Silver, and Red.

Like the iPhone 11 lineup, the ‌iPhone SE 2‌ is expected to ship without 3D Touch, which Apple has replaced with a software-based Haptic Touch solution. Kuo predicts the device will start at $399 in the United States.

It is worth noting that ‌iPhone SE 2‌ might not be the final name of the device, with iPhone 8s and iPhone 9 speculated as other possibilities. With a larger 4.7-inch display, the device would certainly not be as portable as the original iPhone SE, which has disappointed some fans of the original device.

Many of these details have been corroborated by Bloomberg, Nikkei, and other sources.

Apple's widely rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro will be available by the end of October, suggesting that an announcement is imminent, according to supply chain sources cited by hit-or-miss industry publication DigiTimes.

16-inch MacBook Pro concept by MacRumors
The report claims Taiwanese manufacturer Quanta Computer has already begun volume shipments of the 16-inch MacBook Pro, which the supply chain sources expect to feature a more reliable scissor keyboard, an "ultra-thin bezel design," and Intel's latest Coffee Lake Refresh or Ice Lake processors, although Intel has yet to announce Ice Lake chips appropriate for a high-end MacBook Pro.

The slimmer bezels would result in the 16-inch MacBook Pro being around the same size as the existing 15-inch model despite having a larger display. IHS Markit analyst Jeff Lin said the notebook's resolution will be 3,072x1,920 pixels.

Last week, icons depicting a MacBook Pro with slimmer bezels in Silver and Space Gray were uncovered in the macOS Catalina 10.15.1 beta, lending credence to an upcoming release. Both icons were created just over a week ago, have "16" in the filename, and reference an unreleased MacBookPro16,1 model.

15-inch MacBook Pro icon on left, possible 16-inch MacBook Pro icon on right via MacGeneration
Apple's plans to release a 16-inch MacBook Pro were first revealed by Ming-Chi Kuo, who back in February said the notebook would be released in 2019. Kuo later said the notebook would be equipped with a scissor keyboard. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has also reported that the notebook is coming in 2019.

Apple is expected to position the 16-inch MacBook Pro at the high end of its notebook lineup, with existing 15-inch and 13-inch MacBook Pro models remaining available and following suit with scissor keyboards in 2020, according to Kuo.

WIRED has published a lengthy feature about Apple's foray into streaming video, and while many of the details are known, the article serves as a nice primer ahead of the launch of Apple TV+ on November 1.


In an interview, Apple TV+ co-chief Zack Van Amburg said Apple is focused on quality rather than demographic programming. "No one here is sitting around saying we need to find the next show for males 18 to 34, or the next show for females older than 32. We're defining our programming by quality."

While TV shows on traditional networks are often aimed at capturing viewers between the ages of 18 and 49, a key demographic for advertising, Apple TV+ can avoid this since the subscription-based service has no commercials.

One of Apple TV+'s first series will be Ronald D. Moore's space-race drama "For All Mankind," with the article noting that Moore pitched the series with an impressive level of detail spanning up to seven seasons:

On the wall, a series of timelines and character profiles helped illustrate how the show might progress over the seven seasons that Moore and his writers had broken down. "The level of detail was overwhelming," Erlicht says. "Every aspect of the butterfly effect that would happen from the slightest change in that event." The executives walked out into the hallway, grinned at each other, and negotiated which one of them was going to give Moore the good news.

Apple TV+ will be available on the Apple TV app on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac, and other platforms, including online at tv.apple.com, for $4.99 per month with a seven-day free trial. Since September 10, customers who purchase any iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod touch, or Mac can get one year of Apple TV+ for free.

Full Article: Inside Apple's High-Flying Bid to Become a Streaming Giant

When Dark Mode was marketed as a headline feature in iOS 13, Apple promoted it as an alternative new look that was easier on the eyes when viewed in dark environments. Oddly though, Apple never mentioned that it also potentially offers energy-saving benefits – particularly for OLED iPhones, since pixels on an OLED panel are individually powered and true black pixels remain inactive.

That potential battery saving has now been put to the test. In an experiment shared on YouTube, PhoneBuff used robotic arms to interact with two fully charged iPhones running ‌iOS 13‌, with one running in ‌Dark Mode‌ and the other in Light mode. The robots worked their way through various native and third-party apps, all of which support both iOS display modes, until the iPhones died.

The results are pretty conclusive: The test found that an iPhone XS Max using ‌Dark Mode‌ uses up significantly less battery than an ‌iPhone XS‌ Max using Light Mode. When the Light Mode-enabled ‌iPhone XS‌ Max died, the ‌Dark Mode‌ ‌iPhone XS‌ Max still had 30 percent battery life remaining.


PhoneBuff notes one important variable in his test that conditioned the results: The iPhones both had their displays set to 200 nits brightness. At 100 nits, which is what you'd expect indoors, two hours on Twitter saved just 5 percent more battery in ‌Dark Mode‌. The same test performed at 300 nits, which is closer to outdoors use, saw ‌Dark Mode‌ save 12 percent battery.

• How to Enable Dark Mode in iOS 13

Either way, the test appears to prove that ‌Dark Mode‌ is a significant battery saver for OLED iPhones, which include the iPhone X, ‌iPhone XS‌, and iPhone 11 Pro, but not the iPhone XR or iPhone 11. You can watch the video embedded above for the full lowdown.

Apple has targeted a 2020 release for its augmented reality headset, although the timeframe could be pushed back if the product needs more development, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

Google Glasses
The report claims the glasses are expected to wirelessly pair with an iPhone to display information such as messages, emails, and maps over the wearer's field of vision. It would also be possible to play games on the headset, with Apple reportedly considering having an App Store for the headset.

Apple has a few other releases planned for later in 2020, the report adds, including Apple Watch models with sleep tracking and Macs with custom Apple-designed processors that are expected to be Arm-based.