Apple today seeded the seventh beta of an upcoming iOS 12.4 update to developers, one week after seeding the sixth iOS 12.4 beta, and two months after releasing iOS 12.3, a major update that introduced a revamped TV app.
Registered developers can download the new iOS 12.4 beta from Apple's Developer Center or over the air once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Developer Center. Public Beta testers can download the beta over the air.
There were no new features discovered in the first six iOS 12.4 betas, so it's not entirely clear what's coming in the update. As a more significant 12.x update, it's possible that the update is focusing on a feature that's not yet available -- the Apple Card.
Apple is planning to release the Apple Card in the summer, so iOS 12.4 could be the update that prepares the iOS operating system for that launch, adding hidden features that will be unlocked when the update becomes available to the public. If we find new features in the seventh beta of iOS 12.4, we'll update this post.
iOS 12.4 may be one of the last updates to the iOS 12 operating system as Apple transitions to iOS 13, set to launch this September, and as we are now at beta seven, the update could see a release in the very near future.
Apple may be planning to reintroduce its classic rainbow logo on some of its new products as early as this year, according to a well-connected MacRumors tipster, who in turn cites a corporate Apple employee in Cupertino.
MacRumors concept
We don't know which products might be involved, but the Mac would be a good candidate, as the multicolored Apple logo was used on the original Macintosh in 1984 and on many other Apple computers before and after it. iPhones and iPads could also be suitable — perhaps special editions along the lines of (PRODUCT)RED.
To be clear, this rumor could very well be untrue. We have elected to share it since it comes from a tipster who has longstanding connections to both Apple and related industries, but no other sources have shared similar information that we know of. And, even if true, the plans could certainly change.
MacRumors concept
Apple's rainbow or "six-color" logo made its debut on the Apple II computer in 1977 and was widely used until 1998, when it began to be phased out in favor of a monochrome Apple logo similar to the one used today.
Despite not officially using its rainbow logo in over 20 years, Apple has continued to embrace its colors over the years.
Apple Park was recently decorated with the colors of the rainbow logo in celebration of the formal opening of Apple's new headquarters, and as a tribute to Steve Jobs. The colors were splashed on stairs, walkways, coffee cups, and even a stage with a rainbow arch used for an employee-only Lady Gaga performance.
Apple's departing design chief Jony Ive recently reflected on the rainbow's significance:
There is the resonance with the rainbow logo that's been part of our identity for many years. The rainbow is also a positive and joyful expression of some of our inclusion values and I think that one of the primary reasons the idea resonated so immediately and so profoundly with us was the form -- the connection from an aesthetic design point of view. A semi-circle relates so beautifully and naturally to the form of the ring.
Again, we do not know if this rumor is true, but our tipster is reputable enough in our opinion for us to at least share what we have heard.
Mophie today announced it is launching a new line of basic charging accessories for Apple devices like the iPhone and iPad, including a wireless charging pad, two car chargers, and a variety of USB and Lightning cables.
Wireless charging pad: Delivers up to 7.5W of power on contact to recharge Qi-enabled devices like the iPhone 8 or newer. Available in white or black. Can charge through cases up to 3mm thick. $39.95.
USB-A car charger: Single USB-A port with 12W charging output. Made of anodized aluminum with charge-indicator light. $24.95.
Dual USB-A car charger: Two USB-A ports with 12W charging output. Made of anodized aluminum with charge-indicator light. $29.95.
USB-A to Lightning cable: 1-meter cable for $19.95. 2-meter cable for $29.95.
USB-C to Lightning cable: 1-meter cable for $19.95. 2-meter cable for $34.95.
USB-A to USB-C cable: 1-meter cable for $19.95. 2-meter cable for $24.95.
USB-C to USB-C cable: 1-meter cable for $19.95. 2-meter cable for $24.95.
The accessories will be available on Apple.com and in select Apple Stores starting today, followed by Mophie.com later in July.
Product listings are not immediately available, but they should be soon.
Apple has reportedly stopped selling iPhone SE, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and iPhone 6s Plus in India, meaning anyone in the market for a new Apple smartphone will have to shell out more for a later model.
According to The Economic Times, the strategy indicates Apple is no longer prioritizing shifting iPhones in the country by volume and is instead refocusing efforts on increasing its revenue there.
To that end, Apple's distributors in India are said to be informing retailers that supplies of the above iPhone models have stopped and the new "entry-level" iPhone will be the iPhone 6s. This will increase the starting price of an iPhone in India by almost Rs 8,000 (around $116).
Apple has been assembling the iPhone SE in India as well as the iPhone 6s and iPhone 7 over the last couple of years. Given the shift in strategy, idle capacity in these factories may now be used to expand production of other models, according to the report.
The decision is said to have been taken after Apple improved its revenue and profit in India by 12 percent over the last year, despite selling less iPhones than the previous year. Apple India’s sales in the April-June quarter went up after it brought in a promotion to drop iPhone XR prices.
"Cupertino does not want Apple India to chase volumes by discounting at the cost of profit," said one leading trade partner of Apple. "These models which are being phased out will increase the average selling price of iPhones in India and boost both profit and revenue." Apple India declined to comment on the matter.
In the Indian market, Apple ranks 11th and accounts for just one percent of India's phone sales, and sold fewer than one million iPhones during the first half of 2018. Comparatively, rival smartphone maker Xiaomi sold more than 19 million during that period, according to data gathered by Counterpoint Research.
According to a recent report, Apple CEO Tim Cook is believed to be working behind the scenes to "remold Apple's failing India strategy," in bid to revamp the company's presence there.
Apple has also been re-focusing efforts in India in hopes of expanding production outside of China in the wake of the ongoing trade war between the United States and China. Last summer, Apple detailed a new India strategy with official retail stores, overhauled relationships with independent retailers, more frequent sales, and improved apps and services.
Some of these plans have started to come to fruition, as Apple has now finalized a list of locations for its first retail store in India.
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.
"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.
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.
- 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.
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.
Apple today seeded the fifth beta of an upcoming macOS Mojave 10.14.6 update to developers, one week after seeding the fourth macOS Mojave 10.14.6 beta and two months after the release of macOS Mojave 10.14.5, which brought AirPlay 2 support for third-party TVs.
The new macOS Mojave 10.14.6 beta can be downloaded through the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences after the proper profile has been installed from Apple's Developer Center.
There were no new features or significant changes discovered in the first four betas of macOS Mojave 10.14.6, which indicates it likely focuses on bug fixes and performance improvements for issues that weren't able to be addressed in the macOS Mojave 10.14.5 update.
If new features are found in the fifth beta of macOS Mojave 10.14.6, we'll update this post with details.
macOS Mojave 10.14.6 is likely to be one of the last updates to the macOS Mojave operating system as Apple will soon transition to work on macOS Catalina, announced at WWDC.
Twitter today announced the launch of a new Twitter.com experience on the desktop, which includes several new features and design changes.
The Twitter website on desktop has a whole new look that's cleaner and more modern, along with support for bookmarks so you can save tweets plus an easily accessible Explore page for getting a quick look at what's trending. Design wise, it's similar to the Twitter for mobile experience.
Account switching can be done using the side navigation bar, which is an easier way to manage multiple accounts. The new Dim and Dark Mode Lights Out themes have been added, and there are other new color options to personalize your profile.
So fresh, so clean. The updated https://t.co/JFPfsFhrLg is here. We heard you, and here’s some of what’s new:
Built-in personalization, like colors and text size ☑️ More visible features, like Lists and Bookmarks ☑️
And so much more! Let us know what you think. https://t.co/Q5nkCw9Y2n
— Twitter Design (@TwitterDesign) July 15, 2019
Conversations are easier to follow thanks to new conversation threading tools, and along with better access to bookmarks, the new web experience offers up quick access to lists and profile options.
On the Twitter.com website, some people will see an option to enable the new look now, and Twitter says it will be launching for everyone in the near future.
New features and a new look are launching soon. Bookmarks, account switching, dark mode, and so much more -- before long, you'll be able to see what's happening even faster.
Twitter has long been teasing its updated web experience, and Twitter for web users won't have to wait much longer to give it a try.
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.
Airmail users awoke today to find out that the popular email app has switched to a subscription-based pricing model on the iPhone and iPad.
Airmail for iOS is now free to download on the App Store, but push notifications and multi-account support have become premium features priced at $2.99 per month or $9.99 per year in the United States. The app was previously available for a one-time, upfront cost of $4.99 with all features unlocked.
In response to this story, Airmail informed MacRumors that users who purchased the app still have access to multiple accounts but not push notifications, which it describes "a side service of the app." Those who purchased the app within the last four months will also have up to a four-month grace period.
Unsurprisingly, many Airmail users have voiced their displeasure about this on Twitter and Reddit after already paying $4.99, especially since developer Bloop apparently failed to provide users with any advanced notice about the change.
Push notifications now require a subscription.
— Airmail (@airmailer) July 15, 2019
.@airmailer#airmail if it bothers you that email client you paid for wants you to pay subscription for *existing* features, try @SparkMailApp . Just tried it out and it feels great!
And for the record, I would drop money for new features but not for that. You lost me.
— Vito Meznaric (@meznaricnet) July 15, 2019
And so came an end to using #Airmail. In my opinion it is bad practice to suddenly remove a feature and make it paid one (on an paid app). Especially when the feature itself didnt really work well from the beginning. IAP and subscriptions should be used for new func not existing. pic.twitter.com/UbGKaoAp8c
— Paul Peelen (@ppeelen) July 15, 2019
@airmailer Airmail now requires a subscription without any prior notification and from an app I’ve already paid for? What are you thinking? Bye bye Airmail! #airmail
— Marcel (@uit_drenthe) July 15, 2019
At face value, the change appears to violate Apple's App Store Review Guidelines, which state "if you are changing your existing app to a subscription-based business model, you should not take away the primary functionality existing users have already paid for." We've reached out to Airmail and Apple for comment.
Airmail for iOS won an Apple Design Award at WWDC 2017. The app has a straightforward, minimalistic design with a single unified "All Inboxes" view for quick email management. If you swipe from the left, more options emerge, including access to folders for to-do lists, snoozed emails, and attachments.
Bloop also recently raised the price of Airmail for Mac from $9.99 to $26.99.
Update: In a statement provided to MacRumors, Airmail developer Leonardo Chiantini said the change was made due to "increasing backend service expenses" and argued that making push notifications a subscriber-only feature does not affect the app's core functionality.
Chiantini added that existing users will continue to have access to multiple email accounts. His full response follows:
Airmail for iOS is now free and new users can use the app with a single account and no push notifications.
Customers who purchased the app can still have access to multiple accounts but not push notifications which, is a side service of the app and is not preventing the use of the app's core functionality.
We do understand users frustration, the decision was made to keep the business sustainable as we face increasing backend service expenses.
Customers who purchased the app in the last 4 months will be granted a grace period of premium subscription up to 4 months (depending on the purchase date).
Update 2: Airmail also says it is not using system push notifications of CloudKit or other operating system features, but its own server infrastructure.
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.
An interesting piece of technology history was highlighted by The Verge over the weekend that may be of interest to Apple users both young and old.
Amateur computer historian Kevin Savetz recently scanned the Fall 1989 issue of the NeXT catalog and uploaded the files to Archive.org. That makes the entire 138-page book available for perusal online, offering an intriguing glimpse into NeXT's software, user interface, peripherals, and more.
For those unfamiliar with the history, NeXT was the company that Steve Jobs founded in 1985 shortly after he was fired by Apple, along with a handful of co-workers. The company specialized in designing high-powered computer workstations for the higher education and business markets.
NeXT lasted until 1997, when Jobs was rehired at Apple. Apple purchased the company for $429 million (equivalent to $670 million in 2018) and 1.5 million shares of Apple stock.
Estimates suggest NeXT shipped about 50,000 computers in total, so sales were limited. However, the legacy of the NeXTSTEP OS and development environment proved to be highly influential, and eventually became the basis for macOS, iOS, watchOS, and tvOS.
Savetz told The Verge that the catalog was "part of a large lot of old computers that I bought from a local computer refurb/recycling organization. I had never seen a catalog like it, and couldn’t find much reference to it online, so it was an easy choice to scan it."
It was another big week for Apple news this week, with Apple launching its annual Back to School promotion and taking the opportunity to update some of its lower-end Mac notebook lineup. The refresh saw a lower price and a minor update for the MacBook Air, an updated entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro, and the discontinuation of the 12-inch MacBook. The moves help streamline Apple's notebook lineup while also providing a bit more differentiation for customers.
Other news included rumors about new iPhones, iPads, and AirPods, the release of a new iOS 13 public beta, and a significant issue with the Walkie-Talkie app for Apple Watch. Read on for all of the details on the week's top stories.
Apple Launches 2019 MacBook Air and New Entry-Level 13" MacBook Pro With Touch Bar and Touch ID
Apple this week launched its annual Back to School promotion, offering free Beats headphones with the purchase of select new Mac or iPad models to qualifying students and educators for a limited time.
Introduced in March 2015, the 12-inch MacBook had not been updated since June 2017. Over time, it became increasingly unclear whether the notebook had a future in Apple's product lineup, especially after the MacBook Air was overhauled last year with a similar design.
Apple said it had just become aware of the vulnerability and immediately disabled the app while it works on a fix as quickly as possible. Apple is not aware of any use of the vulnerability against a customer.
The issue is reminiscent of a serious Group FaceTime bug discovered early this year that could allow callers to hear the recipient's audio without the call being accepted. At least in this case, Apple has taken quicker action.
Four New iPhone Models Expected in 2020, Possibly One With Full-Screen Touch ID and No Notch
We're likely just two months away from a trio of new iPhones for 2019, but rumors are already looking ahead to 2020 and even 2021.
A new JPMorgan report predicts four new iPhones next year, including higher-end 5.4-inch, 6.1-inch, and 6.7-inch models and a new lower-end model without 5G support or an OLED display.
Looking ahead, there are rumors of two new iPad Pro models entering mass production between late 2019 and early 2020, while a sketchier rumor calls for a foldable iPad with 5G support by as early as next year.
Apple Releases Second Public Betas of iOS 13 and iPadOS
There's also a sixth and hopefully final beta of iOS 12.4. This update is widely expected to include support for the Apple Card, which will likely launch soon. Finally, Apple released new developer betas of macOS 10.14.6 and watchOS 5.3, which should publicly launch alongside iOS 12.4.
AirPods 3 With Water Resistance Expected to Launch Later This Year
Apple will release third-generation AirPods with water resistance and possibly a new design in late 2019, a fresh rumor suggested this week. Other reports say they will also feature noise cancelation.
Earlier this year, reputable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said two new AirPods models will likely enter mass production between late 2019 and early 2020, with one featuring an "all-new form factor design" — and a higher price.
MacRumors Newsletter
Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
There are a few deals going on as we head into the weekend, including an ongoing discount on the latest AirPods update, a sitewide discount on Pad & Quill, and deep discounts on Apple's iPad Smart Covers.
AirPods With Wireless Charging Case
Amazon has further discounted the new AirPods With Wireless Charging Case, now priced at $179.00, down from $199.00. This is a solid $20 discount on the normal price of the most expensive AirPods, which Apple just updated earlier this year with all-new "Hey Siri" and wireless charging features.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Furthermore, you can get the AirPods With Charging Case for $144.99, down from $159.00 on Amazon. We routinely track the best deals on AirPods in this guide, so be sure to bookmark it and check it often if you're shopping around for the AirPods.
Pad & Quill
Accessory maker Pad & Quill is offering shoppers a chance to save 15 percent sitewide when using the code SUMMER15. Pad & Quill sells a variety of leather-bound Apple accessories, including iPad cases, MacBook cases, iPhone cases, and bands for the Apple Watch.
You can also browse the retailer's high-end bag line, including briefcases, messenger bags, travel organizers, laptop bags, and more. Head to Pad & Quill now to browse the site and use the code SUMMER15 soon to save 15 percent on your order.
iPad Smart Covers
Target is offering notable discounts on Apple's Smart Covers for the 9.7-inch iPad and 10.5-inch iPad Pro or iPad Air. You can get the 9.7-inch Smart Cover for $10.49 in Charcoal Gray, down from around $40.
The 10.5-inch Smart Cover is available for $11.84 in Charcoal Gray, down from around $50. These are some of the lowest prices we've seen on Apple's official Smart Covers, so head to Target to check out the accessories soon if you're interested.
More sales and discounts can be found in our full Deals Roundup.
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Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
