Apple today announced an update for its Clips app for the iPhone and the iPad, which is adding new Selfie Scenes, additional filters, fresh posters, and new stickers, text labels, and soundtracks.
Clips, for those unfamiliar with the concept, is a video editing app designed to allow users to combine several video clips, images, and photos with voice-based titles, music, filters, and graphics to create enhanced videos that can be shared on social media sites.
Clips was released in early 2017 and has since seen several updates to add new features.
Today's update brings a total of six new Selfie Scenes, which are 360-degree backgrounds that work with devices equipped with a TrueDepth camera system. New Selfie Scenes include a rainforest, a mad scientist's lab, and a scene from "Incredibles 2."
There are three new filters, including aged film, a monochrome watercolor painting, and a black-and-white comic book, along with new posters that have themes like science, sports, and silent movies, plus content from "Coco" and "The Incredibles 2." Posters can be used as title cards for videos.
Apple has also added new stickers and text labels, plus there are 17 new royalty-free soundtracks that can be used in Clips creations.
The newly updated version of Clips is available starting today from the App Store. [Direct Link]
Clips is compatible with the iPhone 5s and later, the iPad Air and later, and the iPad mini 2 and later. Style transfer effects will require the iPhone 7 or 2017 iPad Pro or later, while Selfie Scenes require an iPhone or iPad Pro with TrueDepth Camera.
Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller and Apple chip expert Anand Shimpi, who created AnandTech, recently sat down for an interview with Ars Technica to provide a walkthrough of the A12X chip in the iPad Pro and some insight into Apple's chip development techniques.
The A12X is an 8-core chip with four performance and four efficiency cores, all of which can be active at once. The iPad Pro is the first iPad able to use so many cores simultaneously, and you're going to see major gains over the A10X when running heavily-threaded workflows, according to Shimpi.
"You typically only see this kind of performance in bigger machines--bigger machines with fans," Shimpi claimed. "You can deliver it in this 5.9 millimeter thin iPad Pro because we've built such a good, such a very efficient architecture."
The GPU in the iPad Pro is the first 7-core implementation of Apple's custom-designed GPU, Shimpi told Ars Technica. Each core is "faster and more efficient" than the GPU in the previous-generation A10X, leading to 2x improved graphics performance. "It's unheard of in this form factor, this is really an Xbox One S class GPU," said Shimpi.
With more memory bandwidth, the GPU is faster than what you might get on the iPhone with workloads that are able to take advantage of a 2x bigger memory subsystem. According to Shimpi, Apple takes content from the desktop, profiles it, and uses the data to drive its GPU architectures.
On the topic of why Apple designs its own custom silicon, Shimpi said the company wants to make sure it can deliver "whatever vision" it has for a given product, while Schiller says that Apple keeps pushing for more performance not because Apple is competing with other companies, but because employees are passionate about making things better for users.
What do we think we can do? It becomes this incredibly self-perpetuating thing. When you realize you can create a Neural Engine, you want to create a better Neural Engine! You realize you can create great graphics, you want to create even better graphics! And it just accelerates. It picks up speed within the organization.
If you're a team that makes an incredible, great Apple-designed A-series chip, well, next year you want to make an even better one, right? That's your passion. That's what you see across all Apple, is teams that take responsibility for their things are so passionate about making that thing better and better and better. It doesn't even matter what anyone else is doing.
Apple's success with creating high-powered chips can be attributed to the way teams inside of Apple work together on an ongoing basis, says Schiller.
Schiller and Shimpi declined to talk about Apple's future plans for its custom chips, but there have been multiple rumors suggesting Apple will eventually transition its chips from mobile devices to the Mac, with the change to happen as soon as 2020.
Ars Technica has a much deeper look at the A12X that you're going to want to read in full over at the site if you're at all interested in chip architecture and Apple's future chip plans.
Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming macOS Mojave 10.14.2 update to developers, one week after seeding the first beta and a little over a week after releasing the macOS Mojave 10.14.1 update.
The new macOS High Sierra 10.14.2 beta can be downloaded through the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences after the proper profile has been installed from Apple's Developer Center.
We don't yet know what improvements the second update to macOS Mojave will bring, but it is likely to include bug fixes and performance improvements for issues that weren't able to be addressed in the macOS 10.14.1 update.
No new features were discovered in the first 10.14.2 beta, but we'll update this post if anything new is found in the second beta.
macOS Mojave 10.14.2 comes shortly after the release of macOS 10.14.1, an update that brought support for Group FaceTime on the Mac and introduced new emoji characters.
Update: Apple has also made a new beta of macOS Mojave 10.14.2 available for public beta testers.
Apple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser Apple first introduced over two years ago in March of 2016. Apple designed the Safari Technology Preview to test features that may be introduced into future release versions of Safari.
Safari Technology Preview release 69 includes bug fixes and feature improvements for Safari Technology Preview release 69 includes bug fixes and feature improvements for CSS, Intersection Observer, JavaScript, Media, Web Inspector, WebRTC, Payment Request, and Storage.
Apple says that today's update also introduces a new dark appearance scrollbar when the background of a webpage is dark or the document supports dark mode.
The new Safari Technology Preview update is available for both macOS High Sierra and macOS Mojave, the newest version of the Mac operating system that was released to the public in September.
Apple’s aim with Safari Technology Preview is to gather feedback from developers and users on its browser development process. Safari Technology Preview can run side-by-side with the existing Safari browser and while designed for developers, it does not require a developer account to download.
Big news for repairability and environmental responsibility: the battery can be individually replaced in the new MacBook Air, according to Apple's internal Service Readiness Guide for the notebook, obtained by MacRumors.
Apple demonstrating removal of battery in the new MacBook Air
In all other MacBook and MacBook Pro models with a Retina display released since 2012, when a customer has required a battery replacement, Apple has replaced the entire top case enclosure, including the keyboard and trackpad. This is because the battery is glued into the top case in Mac notebooks with Retina displays.
The battery in the new MacBook Air is still glued into the top case, the aluminum enclosure that houses the keyboard and trackpad, but Apple will be providing Genius Bars and Apple Authorized Service Providers with tools to remove the battery and reinstall a new one with no top case replacement required.
Once the new battery is installed, technicians are required to place the notebook in Apple's existing iPhone display press tool to activate the new adhesive. The glue strips are exactly the same as those used for iPhone batteries.
"This is a huge step forward," said Kyle Wiens, CEO of iFixit, a popular website dedicated to repairing Apple products. "Apple's glued-down battery design has been a challenge for consumers, recyclers, and for Apple's own technicians. Preserving the removability of the MacBook Air's battery is really important."
The trackpad in the new MacBook Air can also be individually replaced, according to the Service Readiness Guide, obtained from a reliable source.
We'll have to wait until iFixit tears down the new MacBook Air for a closer look inside the notebook, but Apple has presumably made design changes that allow for Genius Bars and Apple Authorized Service Providers to more easily replace the battery and trackpad, eliminating the need for a full-out top case replacement.
If there are indeed design changes, then Apple likely won't extend its new method to individually replace the battery to existing MacBook and MacBook Pro models with Retina displays, but it is certainly possible with next-generation models.
iFixit does have do-it-yourself guides for replacing the battery in MacBook and MacBook Pro models with Retina displays, which requires purchasing its battery replacement kit, but the process requires quite a bit of work and a careful hand. Do-it-yourself repairs also void Apple's warranty.
For comparison, the previous-generation MacBook Air has a screwed-down battery that can be removed and replaced by Apple and its service providers without a top case replacement, in line with other non-Retina notebooks.
In related news, Apple also states that replacing the Touch ID button on the new MacBook Air does not require a logic board replacement, but the notebook must pass Apple diagnostics in order for the repair to be completed.
Apple replacing the entire top case for a simple battery swap-out has always been a point of contention, so this change should be well received by the repair industry. It's also better for the environment, and will likely save Apple money, so it's a win-win-win. We've reached out to Apple for comment.
Apple and Qualcomm are not in talks "at any level" to settle a wide-ranging legal dispute spanning multiple countries, according to Reuters.
The report cites an unnamed source on Apple's side who said "there is absolutely no meaningful discussion taking place between us and Qualcomm, and there is no settlement in sight," with Apple "gearing up for trial."
The case is set to go to trial early next year, should the companies fail to reach a resolution, according to the report.
Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf had told investors on the company's quarterly earnings call in July that the two companies were in talks to resolve the litigation. "We hope that through the combination of either those paths, we could get to a resolution, and we're confident that we will," he said at the time.
Qualcomm countersued Apple in April 2017, accusing the company of failing to engage in good faith negotiations for a license to its 3G and 4G standard essential patents on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms. Qualcomm also accused Apple of encouraging regulatory attacks on its business in multiple countries.
Qualcomm's countersuit said Apple "could not have built the incredible iPhone franchise" without relying upon the chipmaker's "fundamental cellular technologies." Qualcomm went as far as alleging that Apple "contributed virtually nothing to the development of core cellular technology."
Qualcomm also accused Apple of making "misleading statements" about the performance of Qualcomm and Intel modems in iPhones. In testing, iPhone 7 models with Qualcomm's modem achieved faster wireless speeds than those with Intel's modem, but Apple said there was "no discernible difference" between the two.
Apple broadened its lawsuit against Qualcomm in June 2017, accusing the chipmaker of "double-dipping" with unfair patent licensing agreements. Apple said Qualcomm charged it royalties based on a percentage of the entire iPhone's value, despite supplying just a single component of the device - the wireless modem.
The legal dispute encompasses several other claims, including Qualcomm's allegation that Apple shared Qualcomm's trade secrets with Intel to help improve its LTE modems, allowing Apple to stop using Qualcomm's modems.
Qualcomm was the exclusive supplier of wireless modems in iPhones until the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, when Apple added Intel as a secondary supplier. Likely due to this legal dispute, Intel became the exclusive supplier of wireless modems starting with the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR.
Apple is reportedly $7 billion behind in royalties owed to Qualcomm as it withholds payments as a result of the legal dispute.
Twelve South today launched the "PowerPic," a traditional wooden picture frame that includes a hidden, 10W wireless charger. You can place any 5" x 7" photo in the PowerPic, and then to charge an iPhone 8, 8 Plus, X, XS, XS Max, or XR, you simply place the device on top of the photo.
Twelve South says that the idea behind the PowerPic was to create a Qi charger that would not add to the clutter of a bedside table or desk, so that when your iPhone (or any compatible Qi smartphone) isn't charging, it just looks like any other framed picture in your home.
The main visual difference comes at the back of the frame, where a small status light lets you know when the smartphone is fully charged. The light can also alert you if a foreign object in a wallet case, like a bank card with a chip, is preventing the iPhone from charging. The PowerPic includes a 1.5m USB-C to USB-A cable, so the device can be plugged into any traditional USB 3.0 port.
The company also notes that there are potentially inventive ways for customers to use PowerPic, like taking two separate images -- one for the frame and one for your iPhone -- that when placed together are completed. Twelve South has a few ideas of its own to inspire users, offering a list of frame and iPhone wallpapers themed around New York City, Paris, the holidays, and Rockefeller Center, downloadable for free here.
Those interested can purchase the PowerPic for $79.99 in White or Black on TwelveSouth.com starting today.
Apple has contracted LG Display to begin production of OLED panels for iPhones. According to ETNews, the display panels will be produced at LG's E6 production line in Paju, with shipping to begin next month.
LG will supply approximately 400,000 OLED panels to Apple before the end of the year, with the cost of each unit expected to be around $90.
In September it was reported that LG's sixth-generation flexible OLED display panels passed a series of Apple's quality tests, which led to the preparation phase for mass production.
In April, a report claimed that Samsung would likely remain Apple's exclusive supplier of OLED display panels for its latest phones, after LG fell behind schedule due to mass production challenges.
However it looks like LG has cemented its position as Apple's secondary supplier of OLED panels. Korean newspaper Newspin reported about a potential deal signed between Apple and LG back in July.
Apple in September launched the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max with 5.8-inch and 6.5-inch OLED displays, respectively. Last month it launched the more affordable iPhone XR, but that phone has a 6.1-inch LCD "Liquid Retina" display.
Apple can potentially negotiate lower prices for OLED panels as Samsung and LG compete for its business, which should in turn lower its production costs of OLED-equipped iPhones.
Reviews for the new 2018 MacBook Air and Mac mini went live this morning ahead of tomorrow's launch, and in a press release, Apple this afternoon highlighted reviews from several media sites that were able to spend some time with the new machines.
Apple shared review passages from sites that include CNBC, WIRED, Daring Fireball, PC Mag, Six Colors, Tom's Guide, and more.
Daring Fireball, for example, called the MacBook Air the MacBook that "most people should buy," and the Daily Express said "fans of this laptop" will love the new update because "it takes the concept of power and ultimate portability to a whole new level."
Gear Patrol said the MacBook Air is the "perfect computer" for anyone looking to do "normal things" like web browsing, answering emails, and watching movies, while Refinery29 highlighted the MacBook Air's 12-hour battery life.
As for the Mac mini, Six Colors said that the new update allows it to fill a wide range of needs, from basic server needs to "high-end applications that require a great deal of processor power."
Tom's Guide said that the Mac mini is the best option for those who want a compact Mac desktop for streaming media or getting into Apple computing, and ZDNet said the new version is "designed for all types of users" and is "no longer serving a niche market."
As with prior reviews roundups for devices like the iPad Pro, Apple has only highlighted the positive elements from each review. For anyone considering a purchase of one of these machines, it's worth taking a deeper dive into the reviews to get a full picture of both the positives and the negatives.
Apple's full list of Mac mini and MacBook Air review selections can be seen in the article shared through the Apple Newsroom, while additional reviews can be found in our Mac mini and MacBook Air review roundups.
The new 2018 MacBook Air and Mac mini models officially launch tomorrow and base configurations will be available in Apple retail stores and from third-party retailers.
The first pre-orders for the machines are also set to be delivered on November 7 and have already started arriving in Australia and New Zealand.
Apple customers in Australia and New Zealand are always the first to get their hands on new devices on launch day because of time zone differences, and the Apple's newest devices are no exception.
It's morning time in Australia and New Zealand and customers who pre-ordered one a new iPad Pro, MacBook Air, or Mac mini are beginning to receive their shipments and have started sharing arrival news on Twitter, Instagram, and the MacRumors forums.
There are no Apple Stores in New Zealand, so customers in Australia are the first to be able to purchase one of Apple's new devices from an Apple retail location. Apple should have iPad Pro models available for walk-in purchases along with base models of the MacBook Air and Mac mini.
iPad Pro pre-orders sold out quickly after the new tablet was announced, so how much stock will be available for walk-in purchases is unknown.
Following New Zealand and Australia, iPad Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac mini sales sales will kick off in Asia, Europe, and finally, North America. Apple Stores globally are opening up at their standard times to allow customers to pick up reserved devices and make walk-in purchases.
In the United States, the first new device deliveries and sales will take place on the East Coast starting at 8:00 a.m.
Aside from Apple, other retailers including carriers and big box stores should also be stocking the new devices.
We'll be sharing first impressions of the new device from actual Apple customers in Australia and New Zealand, so make sure to stay tuned to MacRumors and if you've received a new MacBook Air, Mac mini, or iPad Pro, let us know what you think.
LaCie, Seagate's premium brand, today announced the launch of the new LaCie Portable SSD, a palm-sized storage device with up to 2TB of storage space.
The new Portable SSD is one of LaCie's smallest and lightest SSD options, with the 1TB model measuring in at about three and a half inches long and just under three inches wide. It's pocketable at about 1/4 of an inch thick, and it easily fits into a bag or backpack without taking up much space.
LaCie says this drive is suitable for on-the-go use with drop resistance of up to two meters. We dropped it a few times from a two-meter height onto wood flooring to test LaCie's claim, and the SSD suffered no harm.
The SSD is made from a black plastic material with a red-rimmed black metal plate at the top that catches the light and looks quite attractive. There's unobtrusive LaCie branding at the top of the drive and a white LED at the front that comes on when it's plugged into a computer. The LED is a bit too bright in a dimmer room, but it's not a dealbreaker.
LaCie offers the Portable SSD drive in 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB capacities, so there are a total of three models at three price points. 500GB of storage costs $125, 1TB of storage costs $270, and 2TB of storage costs $540.
LaCie says that the Portable SSD features USB 3.1 Gen 2 with maximum read/write speeds up to 540/500MB/s, which wasn't too far off of the speeds that we saw in our testing of the 1TB review unit that LaCie sent for evaluation ahead of the product's launch.
Using a Blackmagic Disk Speed Test with a 2016 MacBook Pro, read speeds for us maxed out at about 524MB/s, while write speeds maxed out at 485MB/s. We didn't quite see LaCie's maximum speeds with the 1TB model, but it was still quick.
Transferring 45GB of photos from the MacBook Pro to the LaCie drive took just about four minutes, and LaCie says that you can transfer one hour of 4K 30fps footage (aka 30GBs) to the drive in about a minute. We didn't see transfer speeds quite that fast, but on the 1TB model, but it wasn't far off.
Transfer speeds will, of course, differ based on what other peripherals you might have plugged into your Mac and your Mac's overall workload. During testing, the Portable SSD stayed cool, getting only the slightest bit warm when transferring a large number of files.
LaCie ships the Portable SSD with both a USB-C to USB-C cable for connecting USB-C accessories to one of Apple's Macs with a USB-C port and a USB-C to USB-A port to connect it a Mac with a USB-A port, so it's compatible with both. You won't get USB 3.1 Gen 2 speeds with a USB-A port though, so be aware of that.
The drive comes formatted in exFAT, so it is compatible with both Mac and Windows machines, but it can be reformatted using the Disk Utility feature in macOS. It comes equipped with a link for registration and to download the LaCie Toolkit software for managing the device.
LaCie's software is designed to sync files between mirrored folders on your computer and the Portable SSD and it is not required.
LaCie's drive features a three-year warranty and a three-year Seagate Rescue Data Recovery Plan that offers data recovery should the drive fail.
Bottom Line
If you need ultraportable storage for uploading and saving content while on the go, LaCie's new Portable SSD is worth checking out thanks to its small size, durability, and fast transfer speeds. It is pricier than some other options that you might find on Amazon, but it does come with a three-year warranty, which is worth taking into account.
How to Buy
The LaCie Portable SSD can be purchased starting this month from third-party resellers like Best Buy, Adorama, B&H Photo, and more. 500GB of storage is available for $125, 1TB of storage is available for $270, and 2TB of storage is available for $540.
Note: LaCie provided MacRumors with a 1TB Portable SSD for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received.
Apple today updated its dedicated Shortcuts app for iOS 12 devices to version 2.1.1, introducing support for the new iPad Pro models that are set to be released tomorrow.
Apple's 11 and 12.9-inch 2018 iPad Pro models are the latest Apple devices that will work with the Shortcuts app, which is designed to let you create multi-step shortcuts and automations using first and third-party apps that can then be activated with Siri commands.
With Shortcuts, for example, you can create an automation to do something like turn on the thermostat at home using the Nest app, text your roommate that you're on the way with Messages, and open up the Maps app with directions home all with a single "I'm going home" Siri command spoken when leaving work.
Shortcuts are deeply customizable, with Apple's Shortcuts app providing a gallery of Shortcut suggestions along with the tools to create your own.
In addition to support for the new iPad Pro models, the 2.1.1 update introduces a long list of bug fixes, as outlined in Apple's Shortcuts support document.
Fixed an issue where some actions (including Send Email, Dictate Text, Run Home Scene, and Vibrate Device) may not work when invoked from Siri
Fixed an issue where the Set Flashlight action caused an error message to appear
Fixed an issue where the Call action wasn't able to dial phone numbers with special characters (such as * or #)
Fixed an issue where entered decimal numbers may not be recognized properly in locales that use a comma as the decimal separator
Fixed an issue where the selected photo album in the Save to Photo Album action may be reset to "All Photos"
Fixed an issue where the Toggle Alarm action wouldn't disable alarms until the "Enable" switch was turned on and back off
Fixed an issue where the Speak Text action spoke using lower-quality voices
Shortcuts can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Apple today released an updated version of iOS 12.1 for the iPhone XR, one week after the initial launch of iOS 12.1 and a little over a week since the iPhone XR's October 26 launch.
The new iOS 12.1 software for the iPhone XR carries a build number of 16B94, a slight change from the original 16B93 build number.
The update doesn't appear to be showing up on devices that have already installed iOS 12.1, suggesting the new version of the software is designed for customers who have not yet upgraded their iPhone XR devices to the iOS 12.1 update. Why Apple released an updated version of iOS 12.1 for the XR is unknown, but it's likely to include minor bug fixes.
iPhone XR owners who have not yet installed iOS 12.1 can do so over-the-air by going to Settings --> General --> Software Update.
iOS 12.1 is a major update that brings a host of new features to the iPhone XR. It brings support for the eSIM, a digital SIM that lets you activate a cellular plan from a carrier without the need to use a physical SIM card.
eSIM support is not yet available from U.S. carriers, but AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile are working on implementing support before the end of the year. Other carriers around the world have begun introducing eSIM support.
iOS 12.1 also brings a new real-time Depth Control feature, which lets you adjust the depth of field of your Portrait Mode photos before you capture them, and it adds support for Group FaceTime calls with up to 32 people.
Other new features include more than 70 new emoji and several important bug fixes that should entice anyone who has not yet installed the update to do so.
Excessive skin-smoothing with the front-facing camera, for example, has been addressed, with Apple updating the Smart HDR feature of the iPhone XR's camera to use a sharper base frame to preserve more detail.
The update also improves cellular connectivity on the iPhone XR and fixes bugs with voicemails, the phone app, Screen Time, Family Sharing, and more.
Apple has announced that two of its retail stores in the United States will reopen over the next week following months of renovations, while two brand new locations are also expected to open in Paris and Bangkok.
Apple Third Street Promenade prior to renovations this year
Apple The Westchester in White Plains, New York is set to reopen Saturday, November 10 at 10 a.m. local time, while Apple Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, California is slated to reopen Saturday, November 17 at 10 a.m. local time. Each store has received a facelift based on Apple's latest retail design.
Apple is celebrating the reopening of its Third Street Promenade store with colorful artwork and Today at Apple sessions.
"We're celebrating the vibrant creative minds that fill Santa Monica with color through a new wave of inspiring Today at Apple sessions," the store listing on Apple.com says. "From snapping creative selfies to developing a unique sound — and an hour of discovery just for kids — it's all happening at Apple."
Apple Third Street Promenade first opened in 2003, before relocating in 2012 to a larger space with a glass rooftop. The Third Street Promenade is a pedestrian-only, outdoor shopping district in the downtown area of Santa Monica.
Apple The Westchester is located in an indoor shopping mall of the same name in downtown White Plains, New York, an affluent community in Westchester County, roughly 30 miles north of Midtown Manhattan. The store originally opened in September 2002 as one of Apple's first 50 retail locations worldwide.
Elsewhere, Apple previously announced that its first retail store in Thailand will open at the Iconsiam shopping mall in Bangkok on Saturday, November 10 at 10 a.m. local time. Like the Third Street Promenade store, Apple is celebrating its first Thai store with special artwork and Today at Apple sessions.
And in Paris, France, a brand new Apple Store will "soon" open along The Avenue des Champs-Élysées, one of the city's most iconic streets. The store will replace the nearby Apple Carrousel du Louvre, which permanently closed last month.
Update: Apple Champs-Élysées opens Sunday, November 18. The grand opening will take place at 12 p.m. local time, according to iPhon.fr's Laurent Gatignol.
We're just over two weeks away from Black Friday 2018, and in preparation we have begun compiling sales that we know are coming in our dedicated Black Friday Roundup. This Roundup includes sales on Apple devices and other tech-related items that have been shared early ahead of the shopping holiday, or in some cases have leaked online.
So far, we know that Target will have sales on iPhone, Apple Watch, and iPad mini 4. Apple Watch Series 3 will be marked down by $80 (as low as $199 for the 38mm GPS only model), and the iPad mini 4 will be available for $249.99, a $150 discount from the regular price of $399.99. Macy's is matching Target's sale on Apple Watch Series 3, and Costco will have its on sale on the 32GB 9.7-inch iPad from Early 2018, priced at $249.99, down from $319.99.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
So far, other major retailers with Black Friday deals we know about include Belk, Kohl's, JCPenney, and Dell, so we're still waiting on other companies like Best Buy, Walmart, The Home Depot, GameStop, and more. The shopping tracker site BestBlackFriday.com is keeping track of all these ad scans, deals, and more. For specific discounts, offers, store times, and more related to Black Friday, be sure to keep an eye on our Black Friday Roundup as we'll continuously update it leading up to November 23.
Ahead of Black Friday, Anker has outlined its promo codes for the month of November, this time including a few USB-C cables and accessories that will pair well with the new 2018 iPad Pro. The full list of Anker's new Amazon sale can be found below, and be sure to pay attention to the expiration dates and place your order before the codes are discontinued.
Mobile accessory company Targus recently began a new 15 percent off sitewide sale that will last until the end of 2018, timing that will be perfect for both early and late holiday shoppers. Targus is known for its laptop bags and cases, luggage, iPad cases, and the company also makes multiple docking stations that support USB-C/Thunderbolt 3. You can get 15 percent off your order using the promo code TARGUS15SAS, which includes items on the Targus sale page.
Additionally, Targus is offering free shipping with no minimum using promo code FREESHIPPINGSAS. These codes can't be used within the same order, however, so you'll have to choose which works best with your purchase. For all orders, Targus offers free shipping when your cart exceeds $35. Head to Targus to start browsing, and you have until December 31 to place your order and take advantage of the sitewide and free shipping promo codes.
Over on iTunes, this week Apple introduced an "Iconic Moments" movie sale, offering a group of films at a reduced price of $7.99 with new pieces of cover art that reference memorable moments within each film. Check out all of the movies in the list below, and if you're interested be sure to pick up the movies before next Tuesday, when the iTunes Movies store will refresh again.
If you're on the hunt for more sales as holiday shopping begins, be sure to visit our full Deals Roundup, which today includes a flash sale on the official Apple Leather Case in Taupe for iPhone X and iPhone 7 Plus/8 Plus, priced at $22.99 on Best Buy.
Parallels Toolbox for Mac has been updated with a handful of macOS Mojave features, including Dark Mode support and the ability to annotate screenshots with the new and improved systemwide Take Screenshot tool.
Parallels Toolbox 3, a free update for existing users, features three new tools for quickly uninstalling apps, viewing local times in various locations around the world, and revealing files and folders that are normally hidden in macOS.
The complete list of new and enhanced features added in Toolbox 3, as outlined in Parallels' press release:
Uninstall Apps: Easily remove applications and their files with a single click for faster removals.
World Time: See local times in various locations around the world to save time when working with colleagues globally.
Hidden Files: Reveals and conceals files normally hidden in MacOS to reduce desktop clutter and increase productivity.
Annotate Screenshots: Available only for macOS Mojave users, they can now use the Take Screenshot tool to add helpful markups including text, arrows, circles and more for quicker use in emails or presentations
Support for playlist download from video hosting websites: Quickly download playlists from Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, and many more
Safari Extension for Download Video: Users can now enjoy a download video extension on their Safari browsers for quicker access downloading online videos to their desktops (compatible with macOS Mojave and Safari 12)
Dark Mode: Support for the setting in macOS Mojave
Customizable "Save As": Each individual tool now allows new files to be saved in customizable locations, rather than the same default destination, for streamlined efficiency
Resize Image: HEIF now joins JPEG, TIFF, and PNG as supported formats
Record Audio: Users can now save audio recordings in a MP3 file format, with the built-in microphone in a single click. You can also record from an external microphone or the computer if it's selected as the input source in System Preferences › Sound
Demo videos:
Parallels Toolbox adds a dropdown menu to the macOS menu bar with a collection of tools and shortcuts that simplify common tasks to just a click or two, such as taking screenshots, resizing images, hiding the desktop, recording audio, switching resolutions, creating password-protected archives of files, and more.
Note that while Parallels is best known for its virtualization software that allows for Windows and Linux to be run within macOS, its Toolbox software can be used natively on any compatible Mac or Windows PC.
In iOS 12, Do Not Disturb mode conveniently allows you to silence all calls, alerts, and notifications on iPhone or iPad for a given period and reduce the potential for unnecessary distractions.
Aside from new time-limited options in iOS 12's Control Center, Do Not Disturb can be turned on and scheduled ahead of time by going to Settings -> Do Not Disturb. Among these settings, there's also an Allow Calls From option for which you can choose Everyone, No One, or Favorites.
Given these last three choices, it would seem fair to assume that the only way to let specific contacts get through to you when Do Not Disturb is on, is to add them to your Favorites list. However, there's another way to let a contact bypass Do Not Disturb mode, and it has nothing to do with enabling the Repeated Calls option.
In fact, the little-known feature described below is arguably more powerful, since it lets you receive only text messages from that contact, or only phone calls from them (or both, if you wish) for just as long as the feature is enabled. Keep reading to learn how it's done.
Launch the Contacts app on your iPhone.
Tap a contact in the list.
Tap Edit.
If you want to let calls come through from this contact when Do Not Disturb mode is active, tap Ringtone and then on the next screen toggle the Emergency Bypass switch to the green ON position.
Tap Done to return to the Contact card.
Similarly, if you want to let text messages come through from the contact, tap Text Tone and then enable Emergency Bypass on the next screen.
Tap Done to return to the Contact card.
Tap Done to finish.
As some readers have noted, enabling Emergency Bypass also allows the contact's call ringtone or message alert to sound even when your iPhone or iPad is muted, so it's best to use the feature selectively, i.e. when you're expecting to hear from that contact.
The first round of Mac mini reviews were published online this morning. Below we've highlighted some of the key takeaways from around the web ahead of Apple's official November 7 launch.
Four years in the waiting, the new Mac mini comes in Space Gray, features 4- and 6-core 8th-Generation Intel Core processors, four Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports, support for up to 64GB RAM, and up to 2TB of solid-state storage. It also includes Apple's T2 chip for added security.
In the last few years, Intel has pushed the idea of extremely small desktop PCs, leading people like me to speculate that perhaps the next Mac mini would be even more mini. That didn’t happen. Instead, Apple has decided to use the existing Mac mini design, a low-lying slab of machined aluminum with curved edges. The only real difference is that now it’s darker, the old silver look replaced with a new space gray finish.
The biggest turn on the I/O side of things, however, is the inclusion of an impressive four Thunderbolt 3 ports. That’s the same number found on the iMac Pro and twice as many as you get on the 2017 standard iMac. It opens things up to a lot more computing versatility. As far as my own desk is concerned, I welcome the ability to power the LG 4K monitor Apple sent along for testing purposes.
The ports are different, and versatile. Like the iMac Pro, the Mac mini recognizes that it’s useful to offer both USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 and USB-A ports. There are four of those Thunderbolt 3 ports, two classic USB-A ports, HDMI, a headphone jack, and Ethernet—Gigabit by default, with up to 10Gb Nbase-T Ethernet available as a $100 option. You can hang two 4K displays or one 5K display off of the Thunderbolt 3 ports. You can use adapters to connect to Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 2 or to give yourself more USB-A or… really, whatever you can think of. It’s a lot of ports.
The $799 model comes with a 128GB drive, but if that isn’t enough, Apple offers upgrades all the way up to 2TB if you’re willing to pay. The SSDs are PCI-e cards and Apple doesn’t consider them user-upgradeable. So, if you prefer to house your storage inside the computer instead of attaching an external drive, you might consider shelling out more money for an upgrade.
The $799 Mac mini comes standard with 8GB of 2666MHz DDR4 memory, installed as a pair of 4GB SO-DIMMs. The mini supports a maximum of 64GB, and you can upgrade the memory later, but Apple doesn’t consider the Mac mini to be user-configurable, and it recommends that memory upgrades be performed by a certified Apple service provider.
Today the Mac mini is about flexibility and filling niches. This update allows it to span a wide range from basic server needs all the way up to high-end applications that require a great deal of processor power, fast storage, ultra-fast networking, and even beyond (via Thunderbolt 3). The high-end configurations might actually provide enough power for people to consider them over buying the Mac Pro, whenever it comes out.
The big story to me is how incredibly fast this thing is. Granted, I’m testing the fastest CPU offered, but damn.
Geekbench results are very strong. The i7 Mac Mini scored better on single-core performance than every other Mac today (!) at 5912, and its multi-core score of nearly 24,740 beats every Mac to date except the iMac Pro and the old 12-core 2013 Mac Pro.
"Performance-competitive with pro Macs" was not high on my prediction list for a Mac Mini update, but here we are.
For many pros, it may be hamstrung by Intel's integrated graphics processor. I'm not saying it needs a powerful gaming or rendering GPU. A Kaby Lake G CPU, for example, would be a nice alternative to the i3 simply to make the system low-end VR ready, to take some of the video decoding burden or to help reduce overhead in audio production.
[...]
Apple really seems to be betting on external GPUs as a solution for much of its graphics woes. But one of the benefits of the Mini is that it's mini. Having to make space for a big eGPU just for better-than-basic graphics acceleration kind of defeats the purpose of a tiny system, especially when you're likely going to be hanging a multitude of external drives and other accessories off it as well.
TechCrunch's Brian Heater:
Even the lowest-speced version should be plenty fine for most tasks. I've shifted my standard tech blogger work flow over the machine for the last couple of days and am perfectly happy with the results. On the other hand, if your workload requires anything processor or graphics intensive, you're going to want to pimp this thing out — or seriously consider picking up a desktop with the word "Pro" in the name.
On the Mac mini's price:
Marco Arment:
Apple lent me a high-end configuration for review — 6-core i7, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD — which would cost $2499 (much of which is the SSD). This would’ve sounded crazy to spend on a Mac Mini a few years ago, but when it’s specced up like this, it’s targeting a much higher-end market than the previous model could. Compared to similarly specced iMacs and MacBook Pros, the pricing is generally reasonable.
TechCrunch's Brian Heater:
For the budget-strapped, it’s also easy to flinch at the $300 price increase on the base-level. While it’s true that the components are pricier this time, it’s hard to shake the feeling that the company has priced out the true entry-level user this time out, in favor of offering a product that’s more of a gateway into the Pro ecosystem.
Pricing on the Mac mini starts at $799 for the base model with a 3.6GHz processor, 128GB of storage, and 8GB RAM and goes up to $4,199 for a maxed out machine with 3.2GHz Core i7 processor, 64GB RAM, a 2TB SSD, and the upgraded 10Gb Ethernet option.
The Mac mini is available for purchase from Apple's online store. Orders will be delivered on November 7, the day that it will be available for purchase in retail stores.
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