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Apple Shares New 'Remembering Apollo 11' Video With Details on Upcoming Apple TV+ Show 'For All Mankind'

Monday July 15, 2019 3:11 pm PDT by Juli Clover
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, Apple this afternoon shared a new video featuring clips from its upcoming Apple TV+ show "For All Mankind" along with commentary from show creator Ronald D. Moore and others who have worked on the series.

"For All Mankind," which stars Joel Kinnaman, features an alternate history that explores what might have happened had the global space race never ended and had the USSR landed the first humans on the moon. In the series, the U.S. will race to get astronauts on Mars and Saturn.


In the new spot highlighting "For All Mankind," Moore says that the space program "captured the world's imagination" when it first happened. "There's something about putting people in spaceships and going places. It's an idea of this optimistic feature where we not only travel in space, but it's been a good thing for all of mankind," he said about the show.

"For All Mankind" was inspired by the Apollo 11 mission and the space race, according to executive producer Matt Wolpert.
In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, watch as the executive producers of For All Mankind discuss the incredible human achievement of landing on the moon. For All Mankind, an Apple Original drama series, is coming this fall to Apple TV+. Get notified when Apple TV+ premieres on the Apple TV app: https://www.apple.com/apple-tv-plus

Acknowledging the bold and daring human spirit that got us to the moon and continues to inspire one generation after the next, "Remembering Apollo 11" highlights the collaboration, the intelligence, and the imagination it took.
Along with the new video, Ronald D. Moore and other show creators, engineers, and advisors did a series of interviews with various publications. Speaking to Inverse, Moore said that Apollo 11 was the catalyst that got him interested in science fiction. He decided to work with Apple because of an existing relationship with Zack Van Amburg, a former Sony executive and now one of the co-presidents running Apple TV+.
"I said to Zack, that the more exciting thing to me, was to do the space program that I felt we were promised and we never got. And that's how the journey to the alternate history version was born. So that's why it's at Apple, it came out of our personal relationship," Moore says.
In a separate interview with Syfy, "For All Mankind" technical advisors Garrett Reisman and Gerry Griffin, both of whom worked for NASA, said that they aimed to make the show as accurate as possible, even when it was difficult.
Getting cathode-ray tube displays, for example, was a nightmare that the production team cheated by using flat-screen TVs and putting a piece of curved glass to simulate the old-school screens. The NASA logo was another difficulty. In watching the trailer, fans may notice the logo is just a little off, like the Bizarro version of the real-life NASA symbol. That's because, as the trio explained, NASA has a policy to only lend support and use of emblems if the piece of media portrays the events of the space program exactly as they happened. Not really a possibility for an alt-history show.
Additional interviews and show details are available from Collider, CollectSPACE, and IndieWire.

"For All Mankind" is one of the TV shows that Apple is working on for its upcoming Apple TV+ streaming service, set to launch this fall. Apple has dozens of shows in the works, and a recap of everything that Apple is working on is available in our Apple TV+ show guide.

Though the first season of the series has yet to debut, Moore says that a second season is already being discussed. The team is getting stories and scripts ready, but Apple hasn't yet officially picked it up for a second season. "We're already moving ahead with planning in case they do," Moore told Syfy.

Tag: Apple's original content Guide
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Five iOS Games Worth Checking Out

Monday July 15, 2019 1:44 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Over on our YouTube channel, we have a series that highlights new, interesting, fun, and useful apps that we think are worth downloading and checking out.

For today's video, we've decided to focus on games, highlighting both new and old titles that we personally recommend and have spent some time playing.

Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.


- Dr. Mario World (Free) - Dr. Mario World is Nintendo's newest iOS app, which launched just last week. Dr. Mario World, like the classic title, is a match three game where the goal is to clear viruses off of the board by matching them with colored capsules. Players are tasked with using strategy to clear the viruses with the fewest number of moves, as capsules are limited, which is a deviation from the original gameplay. Dr. Mario World is a freemium game and while it's free to play, there are optional in-app purchases. Dr. Mario World, like other Nintendo titles, requires a persistent internet connection to play.

- Walk Master - (Free) - Walk Master is a free arcade-style game where players are tasked with controlling animals on stilts. The goal of the game is to traverse obstacles and terrain using precision timing. There are multiple challenging levels to beat, along with 26 characters to collect. There are in-app purchases to remove ads and to get coins. Walk Master was our sister site TouchArcade's game of the week last week due to its excellent controls and challenging but fun gameplay.

- Beat the Intro (Free) - Beat the Intro is a music trivia app that's designed to test your music knowledge. The aim of the game is to guess the artist based on a music clip, and answering faster earns you more points. Every music genre is offered, with thousands of officially licensed music tracks included. The game is free, but a $2.49 weekly VIP pass unlocks all song packs, removes ads, and provides infinite gameplay energy. There are also in-app purchases for coins to buy new music packs. We don't recommend the subscription, but there's some free gameplay to be had that's worthwhile.

- LEGO Tower (Free) - LEGO Tower from NimbleBit is like the hit game Tiny Tower but with LEGO, as the name suggests. The goal is to build up a LEGO tower floor by floor to create apartments and businesses for the Minifigure residents. There are hundreds of unique Minifigures to collect, and tons of different businesses and areas to unlock. The game is free to play, but you can purchase Bux to speed up building times and other gameplay elements.

- Rescue Wings (Free) - Rescue Wings is a flying game where the goal is to take on the role of Scruffy the dog, flying through the outdoors to put out forest fires. You'll need to dive into lakes to fill up your water reservoir, and then dump that water onto fires. The ultimate goal is to fly as far as you can without crashing or missing a fire, and as you play, you can unlock new planes and skill boosts. The game is free, but there are in-app purchases for additional fuel, coins for unlocking items, and a $7.49 per week "Fire Chief" subscription that gives unlimited fuel. We don't recommend the subscription option because of its incredibly high price, but gameplay is fun and there's a decent amount of ad-supported free play.

Have a favorite iOS game? Let us know down in the comments. We're always looking for new iOS game and app ideas for this video series, and we'll check out all of your recommendations. You can also check out our recommendations from previous months here, and don't miss our similar Mac app series featuring some great Mac apps.

Tag: Top iOS Apps
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Apple Store Website Goes Down [Update: Back Up]

Monday July 15, 2019 11:23 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple's Apple Store online site is currently down when attempting to make a purchase of an Apple device or accessory, but it's not quite clear why the site is unavailable.

Sometimes the Apple online store goes down due to an imminent product refresh, but at other times, the store becomes unavailable for routine maintenance purposes.


Apple last week introduced refreshed MacBook Air models and a new 13-inch entry-level MacBook Pro to coincide with this year's Back to School promotion, but there's no word on whether another new product is on the horizon.

Apple could potentially be planning an iPad refresh as five new iPad models recently popped up in the Eurasian Economic Commission database, which could be a new 7th-generation low-cost iPad, but it's not known when that device is set to launch. It may not be coming until later this year, and this could potentially be a situation where Apple is doing site maintenance.

We'll update this post with more info when the store comes back up.

Update: The Apple Store website is back up and there doesn't appear to be anything immediately new, suggesting this was a maintenance update.

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Apple's 2019 256GB MacBook Air Includes Slower SSD Than 2018 Model

Monday July 15, 2019 9:30 am PDT by Juli Clover
The 2019 MacBook Air, refreshed last week, appears to have a slower SSD than the 2018 MacBook Air, according to testing by French site Consomac. Using testing with the Blackmagic Disk Speed benchmarking test, the site found that the read speeds of the new SSD are lower.

A test of the 2019 MacBook Air with 256GB of storage demonstrated write speeds of 1GB/s and read speeds of 1.3GB/s. An equivalent model released in 2018 featured write speeds of 920MB/s and read speeds of 2GB/s. While write speeds are on par with the older machine (and are even slightly better), read speeds have dropped 35 percent.


Consomac also saw write speeds of 500MB/s in the 128GB 2019 MacBook Air and read speeds of 1.3GB/s, but this is similar to the performance of the 128GB 2018 MacBook Air as that machine also featured large differences between read and write performance. Higher capacity SSDs were not tested, but may display the same slight decline in performance.

The 2019 MacBook Air features an updated True Tone display and a price drop, starting at $1,099 instead of $1,199. Students are able to get the new machine even cheaper, with the MacBook Air now priced at $999 with educational pricing.

It's possible Apple went with slower SSD performance in order to drop the MacBook Air's price to a more affordable level, and it's not a change that most MacBook Air users are likely to notice in day to day usage of the machine, especially those upgrading from a much older model.

Related Roundup: MacBook Air
Buyer's Guide: MacBook Air (Buy Now)
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Amazon Prime Day Live Blog: Follow Along for the Best Deals

Monday July 15, 2019 6:38 am PDT by Mitchel Broussard
It's the middle of July, which means it's time for Amazon's annual Prime Day shopping event, offering Amazon Prime customers the chance to save money on a vast array of items across the retailer's online storefront.

Like we did last year, today we've launched a live blog that will track notable Prime Day discounts across Amazon, most of which will relate to Apple products and accessories. You can expect great discounts from companies like Anker, iOttie, and more.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Prime Day 2019 kicked off earlier this morning at 12:00 a.m. PT, and it will continue through tomorrow, Tuesday July 16 at 11:59 p.m. PT. This makes Prime Day 2019 the longest event so far at a total of 48 hours.

In contrast to deals that last for a majority of the event, there will also be limited-time lightning deals that appear at different times throughout Monday and Tuesday, and only last for an hour or so. According to Amazon, new deals will launch as often as every five minutes throughout the event.

In this live blog, we'll be tracking lightning deals and longer-lasting discounts as products get marked down throughout Prime Day, as well as competitor sales since retailers like Best Buy, eBay and Target have all been known to launch anti-Prime Day deals. Be sure to bookmark this page and check back for new bargains as Amazon's mid-year shopping event continues into Tuesday night.

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Tags: Amazon, Amazon Prime, Prime Day
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Facebook to Be Fined $5 Billion in Cambridge Analytica Privacy Scandal

Friday July 12, 2019 1:09 pm PDT by Eric Slivka
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has voted to approve a settlement with Facebook that will see the social media giant hit with a roughly $5 billion fine over the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal, reports The Wall Street Journal.

The matter has been moved to the Justice Department’s civil division and it is unclear how long it will take to finalize, the person said. Justice Department reviews are part of the FTC’s procedure but typically don’t change the outcome of an FTC decision.

A settlement is expected to include other government restrictions on how Facebook treats user privacy. The additional terms of the settlement couldn’t immediately be learned.
The scandal revolved around data firm Cambridge Analytica, which improperly collected information on tens of millions of Facebook users without their consent to create targeted political advertisements during the 2016 campaign.

The data collection came through an app called "This Is Your Digital Life," which requested that Facebook users complete a survey for academic use. In reality, the app's permissions allowed it to collect personal information on not just the Facebook users who took the survey but also their friends.

Facebook revamped its privacy practices in the wake of the scandal, but the company still faced investigations by regulators over multiple security lapses and marked a significant moment in efforts to raise awareness about digital privacy.

Apple CEO Tim Cook called the Cambridge Analytica situation "dire" and has on multiple occasions called for increased regulation to protect user privacy.

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.

Tag: Facebook
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iPad Air vs. Microsoft's Surface Go: Which Is a Better Laptop Replacement?

Friday July 12, 2019 11:27 am PDT by Eric Slivka
Apple's iPad Air, which was resurrected in March as essentially a tweaked version of the previous 10.5-inch iPad Pro, offers a significant amount of utility at a solid $499 price point, but how does it compare to other competitors in the market?

In his latest video, MacRumors videographer Dan compared the iPad Air to Microsoft's Surface Go to determine which one he liked better for on-the-go computing.

Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.

For this comparison, Dan decided to focus on using the iPad Air and the Surface Go as somewhat of a laptop replacement. The iPad Air starts at $499 while the Surface Go comes in at a $399 base price, but in an effort to look at these as potential laptop replacements Dan opted to consider the devices equipped with first-party keyboard accessories, which pushes the iPad Air up to $659 and the Surface Go to $529.

In his video, Dan shares his impressions on the design and features of each, including important productivity accessories like respective keyboards and styluses.

As potential laptop replacements, performance is really where the rubber meets the road, and Dan came away somewhat unimpressed with the Surface Go. He wanted to like its relatively full-fledged Windows 10 operating system, and it was fine for basic tasks like emails, web browsing, and document writing, but he found things bogging down a bit when trying to multitask.

With the iPad Air, you don't really get a desktop-class operating system, at least for now, but it generally works very well when you need to multitask, switching easily among Safari, Messages, Notes, Mail, iWork and more with no performance issues. And with iPadOS 13 coming later this year, the iPad will become even more powerful.

So where do we come down on the iPad Air versus the Surface Go? It's a challenging comparison considering they have some significant spec differences and everyone's use case is different. Overall, Dan found the iPad Air to offer a more enjoyable user experience, although it's not quite a laptop replacement. But neither is the Surface Go in his experience, and he wonders whether it isn't better to just point someone toward a Chromebook or more traditional Windows notebook if they're looking for a cheap laptop experience.

Related Roundup: iPad Air
Tag: Surface Go
Buyer's Guide: iPad Air (Buy Now)
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Apple and BBC Co-Producing Comedy Series Starring Imelda Staunton From Harry Potter

Friday July 12, 2019 9:11 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple is teaming up with the BBC to co-produce an eight-part comedy-drama series with a working title of "Alabama," according to a report from British comedy website Chortle highlighted by Engadget.

Imelda Staunton

Written by former stand-up Andy Wolton, the show will reportedly star Imelda Staunton, who is best known for her performance in the British comedy television series "Up the Garden Path" and for playing Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter movies "Order of the Phoenix" and part one of "Deathly Hallows."

The series is reportedly in production and is slated to air worldwide next year on Apple's upcoming streaming video service, Apple TV+. Apple and BBC declined to comment on the series, and plot details have yet to be revealed.


Apple TV+ will feature dozens of original TV shows and movies with stars such as Steve Carell, Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, and Oprah Winfrey. The service is set to launch in over 100 countries in the fall within the Apple TV app on the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV, and Mac.

Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 12, tvOS 13
Tags: Apple's Hollywood ambitions, Apple TV Guide
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)
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Base 2019 13-Inch MacBook Pro Teardown Reveals Larger Battery, Soldered-Down SSD, and Updated Keyboard Material

Friday July 12, 2019 5:35 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
iFixit has shared a teardown of the new entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro, which was refreshed this week with Intel's latest 8th-generation processors, a True Tone display, Touch Bar, Touch ID, and the Apple T2 security chip.


The teardown reveals a larger battery with a 58.2 Wh capacity, which slightly exceeds the 54.5 Wh battery found in the previous-generation function key model. iFixit guesses this is how the 2019 model manages to power the Touch Bar, Touch ID, and T2 chip while keeping the same 10-hour battery life.

To make room for the Touch ID sensor alongside the Touch Bar, iFixit notes that Apple appears to be using a slightly smaller heat sink. The speaker opposite the fan also looks to have been shrunk in size.

While the previous-generation entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro had a modular SSD, storage is soldered down in the 2019 model. However, there are some newly modular components, including the Thunderbolt board and the speakers. This configuration is in line with other modern MacBook Pro designs.

As we confirmed earlier this week, the notebook has the same third-generation butterfly keyboard with updated material as the higher-end 2019 MacBook Pro models introduced in May, with Apple promising improved reliability.


Like most other modern MacBooks, this model earned a low repairability score from iFixit due to the usual concerns, such as Apple's use of proprietary pentalobe screws, a glued-in battery, and soldered-down storage and RAM. One positive is that the trackpad can be replaced without touching the battery.

Related Roundup: MacBook Pro
Tags: iFixit, teardown
Buyer's Guide: MacBook Pro (Buy Now)
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Powerbeats Pro Now Available to Order in Over 20 Additional Countries

Friday July 12, 2019 5:00 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple today began accepting Powerbeats Pro orders in over 20 additional countries, including many in Europe.


The rollout includes Austria, Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.

As in other countries, the headphones are only available in black at launch. Ivory, moss, and navy colors will be released later this year.

Powerbeats Pro first launched in the United States and Canada in early May, followed by the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, and China later in the month. The headphones have faced tight availability, with orders placed today estimated for delivery in between 10 and 20 days in many countries.

Powerbeats Pro are Apple's first totally wireless Beats earphones, equipped with the same H1 chip as the second-generation AirPods for hands-free "Hey Siri" and faster connection speeds between the iPhone, Apple Watch, and other devices.

Like the Powerbeats3, the Powerbeats Pro feature adjustable, secure-fit ear hooks and earbud tips with four size options. They're essentially sportier AirPods, complete with a durable design and sweat resistance. They'll last up to nine hours per charge, with more battery life via an included charging case.

Powerbeats Pro are priced at $249.95 in the United States and at €249.95 in many European countries.

Tags: Beats, Powerbeats Pro Guide
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Upcoming Apple TV+ Sci-Fi Drama 'See' Reported to Cost $15 Million Per Episode

Friday July 12, 2019 2:31 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple has several original TV shows in the works for its upcoming Apple TV+ streaming service, and a new report by The Wall Street Journal looks at the big budgets involved in these productions as competition hots up among rival streaming services eager to win over audiences in a market dominated by the likes of Netflix and HBO.


According to the report, Amazon and Netflix have increased budgets for original content in the last few years. Netflix originally spent $4.5 million per episode on "House of Cards," but now many newcomers are having to spend between $8 million and $15 million per episode on original content to compete with established services.

For example, Disney's Star Wars spinoff "The Mandalorian" costs nearly $15 million per episode, according to people who spoke to WSJ. As for Apple, it is said to be spending nearly $15 million per episode to produce sci-fi drama "See," which stars Jason Momoa of "Game of Thrones" and Aquaman fame.
In the case of Apple's "See," the cost has neared $15 million for each roughly 60-minute episode, according to a person familiar with the matter. That is more than the cost of a typical independent feature film.

"See," set centuries in the future after a virus has wiped out much of Earth's population and left survivors blind, appears to be taking cues from the "Game of Thrones" playbook of cinematic world-building. Footage shown at Apple’s programming event featured Mr. Momoa ready-set for battle alongside dozens of actors in sweeping vistas filmed in the fields and forests of British Columbia.
These kinds of figures per episode mean shows can easily exceed $150 million per season – or as much as a typical big-budget movie. One driving factor, according to the report, is that high-profile TV shows are offered up next to theatrical films available to stream on the same service, so "original programming can't risk looking like B-material next to the movies."

Apple is working on dozens of original TV shows and movies with high-profile directors, producers, and actors. The company was reported to have a budget of about $1 billion for its original content and TV shows in 2017.

It's unclear if Apple's budget has risen since that time, but as the WSJ report concludes, a certain power comes with paying big money for A-list actors, since it signals to other top actors and directors that Apple is committed to writing big checks for its top shows.

For example, Apple has signed a deal for two seasons of morning talk show drama "The Morning Show," starring Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston. According to a report in January 2018, the two key stars are set to earn $1.25 million per episode.

Apple TV+, Apple's new streaming television service, is coming this fall. It will be available on all devices where the TV app is available, which includes iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple TV, along with the Mac. There's no TV app for Mac right now, but Apple plans to introduce one later this year.

Apple has not yet announced pricing for the service, but it is ad free and shows will be available to watch on demand. For more information on Apple TV+, make sure to check out our Apple TV+ guide.

Tag: Apple's Hollywood ambitions
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Research Firms Paint Contrasting Pictures of Apple's Mac Shipments in Q2 2019

Thursday July 11, 2019 3:58 pm PDT by Eric Slivka
Prominent research firms Gartner and IDC attempt to estimate shipments of computers around the world on a quarterly basis, and both firms today released their estimates for the second calendar quarter.

Gartner's and IDC's estimates are just that — estimates – and with Apple no longer reporting unit sales of Macs and other products, we won't know how accurate these estimates end up being. But as revealed in today's releases, they can differ quite a bit.

Gartner's Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2Q19 (Thousands of Units)

Gartner says worldwide PC shipments were up 1.5 percent year-over-year, with Lenovo leading the way on strong growth and HP and Dell sitting in second and third places respectively. Apple registered in fourth place with an estimated 3.711 million Macs shipped, a 0.2 percent decline over the previous year, while Acer and Asus rounded out the top vendors on a global basis.
“Worldwide PC shipments growth was driven by demand from the Windows 10 refresh in the business market in the second quarter of 2019. Desktop PC growth was strong, which offset a decline in mobile PC shipments,” said Mikako Kitagawa, senior principal analyst at Gartner.

“Additionally, there are signs that the Intel CPU shortage is easing, which has been an ongoing impact to the market for the past 18 months. The shortage mainly impacted small and midsize vendors as large vendors took advantage and continued to grow, taking market share away from the smaller vendors that struggled to secure CPUs.”
Turning to the U.S., the overall market saw a slight 0.4 percent decline compared to the second quarter of 2018, but Apple's shipments dropped by an estimated 5.6 percent to 1.585 million. Apple maintained its fourth-place ranking in the U.S. behind HP, Dell, and Lenovo, and well ahead of Microsoft and Acer.

Gartner's Preliminary U.S. Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2Q19 (Thousands of Units)

If accurate, Gartner's estimates would put Apple with its lowest share of the U.S. PC market since the first quarter of 2014 and the lowest recorded on a global basis since Gartner started including Apple as a top global vendor in the third quarter of 2014.

Apple's Market Share Trend: 1Q06–1Q19 (Gartner)

IDC's estimates paint a much different picture, however, projecting worldwide PC shipment growth of 4.7 percent compared to the second quarter of 2018. IDC pegs Apple as having shipped 4.011 million Macs in the quarter for nearly 10 percent year-over-year growth.


IDC says Apple benefited from increased inventory levels due not only to the launch of new MacBook Pro models but also some proactive shipments into the distribution channels to guard against potential upcoming tariffs.

Tags: IDC, Gartner
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