Quick Takes: Jurassic World Gets New Game, UnitedHealthcare Offers Apple Watch to Members, and More

In addition to our standalone articles covering the latest Apple news and rumors at MacRumors, this Quick Takes column provides a bite-sized recap of other headlines about Apple and its competitors on weekdays.

Wednesday, March 7

- Apple Watch soon available through UnitedHealthcare Motion: Apple Watch will be integrated into the wellness program, which provides participants with an eligible plan access to activity trackers that can enable them to earn up to $1,000 in incentives per year by meeting certain daily walking goals.

apple watch activity
Select program participants will have access to an Apple Watch starting in July, with full availability later this year. The cost of shipping and taxes on the Apple Watch is due upfront, and then participants can apply their earnings towards paying off the cost of the device in as little as six months.

UnitedHealthcare Motion is available to employers with self-funded and fully insured health plans nationwide. The program enables employees to earn up to $4 per day in financial incentives based on achieving F.I.T. goals:

Frequency: complete 500 steps within seven minutes six times per day, at least an hour apart;
Intensity: complete 3,000 steps within 30 minutes; and
Tenacity: complete 10,000 total steps each day.

Commentary: UnitedHealthcare should benefit from offering this program in the long-run by encouraging its customers to live more active lifestyles, ideally resulting in fewer health insurance claims being filed. Similar programs are offered by life and health insurance providers John Hancock and Vitality.

- Universal announces Jurassic World Alive: The augmented reality game enables players to collect a variety of dinosaurs while exploring their own neighborhoods and cities around the world. Players discover dinosaurs by locating them on a map and deploying an in-game drone to collect DNA samples.


Commentary: Jurassic World Alive sounds a whole lot like Pokémon GO. The game is intended to promote the film Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which debuts in theaters across North America on June 22. Pre-register here.

- Ireland chooses Bank of New York Mellon to manage Apple's escrow fund: The European Commission ruled in August 2016 that Apple received illegal state aid from Ireland, and ordered the country to collect 13 billion euros (currently $16 billion) in back taxes from the iPhone maker.

Apple EU
Commentary: The Bank of New York Mellon will hold the funds while Apple and Ireland both appeal the decision before the European General Court. Apple expects the amount will be reported as restricted cash on its balance sheet.

- Macintosh Portrait Display released on this day in 1989: The 15-inch display was released for $1,099 alongside the Macintosh IIcx. The grayscale monitor featured a vertical orientation designed to show full pages on a single screen, making it useful for desktop publishing.

macintosh portrait display
Commentary: Apple discontinued the Macintosh Portrait Display in late 1992, but tech specs are still available on its website for those who want to take a trip down memory lane. Nowadays, we wait for Apple to deliver on its promise of a new pro display to succeed the nearly seven year old Thunderbolt Display.

For more Apple news and rumors coverage, visit our Front Page, Mac Blog, and iOS Blog. Also visit our forums to join in the discussion.

Top Rated Comments

present_news Avatar
66 months ago
Is Apple still a computer company? o_O
What's a computer?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ignatius345 Avatar
66 months ago
- Macintosh Portrait Display released on this day in 1989 ('https://www.cultofmac.com/469981/today-in-apple-history-remember-the-macintosh-portrait-display/'): The 15-inch display was released for $1,099 alongside the Macintosh IIcx. The grayscale monitor featured a vertical orientation designed to show full pages on a single screen, making it useful for desktop publishing.
Portrait orientation is underrated. It's really useful for writing to be able to see a couple pages at once, since most software still doesn't support side-by-side page layout very well.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SeattleMoose Avatar
66 months ago
I was at an Aerospace company that was 100% Mac in 1989-1995. Some had this model but most had the regular all-in-one Macs. After that the "pizza box" models with separate displays started coming out. I did a lot of heavy dBase work that involved setting up algorithms to crunch data that took the whole night. 10 years later (circa 2005) I was using the same App/Data and what took 12 hours was improved to just minutes to a half hour. It was amazing from 1985 to 2005 how CPU/Storage/Display improved almost yearly. Computer technology was on a wild ride up in performance in those days. And here we are 13 years after that with CPU rates that haven't changed much in the last decade and storage that has gone up at a much slower pace. The revolution has been in Apps and GUIs and portable electronics...great strides there.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
calzon65 Avatar
66 months ago
Is Apple still a computer company? o_O
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
the johnmc Avatar
66 months ago
We could have a portrait display today, if OS X were able to extend its desktop to the iPad Pro decently...
I have two portrait oriented displays attached to my iMac right now.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macduke Avatar
66 months ago
FINALLY these companies are getting it.

I have United Health Care and my work itself already offers some benefits such as $450 in cash incentives for completing certain health related challenges and training throughout the year. It's fairly easy to do but has gotten slightly more difficult each year since inception a few years ago. The first year it was available I used that to fund my first Apple Watch. Subsequent years I put it towards other tech gear. This year it's going towards an Apple Watch Series 4 to replace my Series 0 that has gone downhill in battery life.

I wonder if I'll be able to combine this new $1000/yr thing with my work incentive, or if this will replace it. Either way it's great news. I easily hit these goals all the time (unless it's really cold or really hot outside or I'm sick) and I don't even consider myself to be very fit. But I'm getting better and have lost 30lbs by walking more each day, increasing fiber intake and cutting some calories at lunch time. I have 20lbs left to go before my doctor says I'm in a healthy weight zone. But I already feel a big difference this year coming out of winter and able to more quickly get back to my pre-holiday weight with an extra spring in my step. I thought I was doomed to declining health for the rest of my life but Apple Watch helped me turn that around. It's a lifesaver.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 16

Apple Releases iOS 16.4 With New Emoji, Safari Web Push Notifications, Beta Changes, Voice Isolation for Calls and More

Monday March 27, 2023 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 16.4, the fourth major update to the iOS 16 operating system that initially came out last September. iOS 16.4 comes two months after the launch of iOS 16.3, an update that added Security Keys for Apple ID. iOS 16‌.4 and iPadOS 16.4 can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. It can take a few minutes...
iOS 16

iOS 16.4 Will Add These 8 New Features to Your iPhone

Sunday March 26, 2023 8:06 am PDT by
Following nearly six weeks of beta testing, iOS 16.4 is expected to be released to the public as soon as this week. The software update includes a handful of new features and changes for the iPhone 8 and newer. To install an iOS update, open the Settings app on the iPhone, tap General → Software Update, and follow the on-screen instructions. Below, we have recapped eight new features and...
apple mixed reality headset concept by david lewis and marcus kane

Some Apple Employees Seriously Concerned About Mixed-Reality Headset as Announcement Draws Closer

Sunday March 26, 2023 8:25 am PDT by
Some Apple employees are concerned about the usefulness and price point of the company's upcoming mixed-reality headset, The New York Times reports. Apple headset concept by David Lewis and Marcus Kane Initial enthusiasm around the device at the company has apparently become skepticism, according to eight current and former Apple employees speaking to The New York Times. The change of tone...
iOS 17 on Phone Feature

Gurman: iOS 17 to Provide Several 'Most Requested Features'

Sunday March 26, 2023 6:05 am PDT by
Apple changed the strategy for iOS 17 later in its development process to add several new features, suggesting that the update may be more significant than previously thought, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. In January, Gurman said that iOS 17 could be a less significant update than iPhone updates in previous years due to the company's intense focus on its long-awaited mixed-reality...
apple tv 4k red image

Apple Releases tvOS 16.4 for Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD

Monday March 27, 2023 10:00 am PDT by
Apple today released tvOS 16.4, the fourth major point update to the tvOS 16 operating system that came out last September. Available for the Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD, tvOS 16.4 comes two months following the release of tvOS 16.3. The tvOS 16.4 update can be downloaded over the air through the Settings app on the ‌‌‌‌Apple TV‌‌‌‌ by going to System > Software Update....
Steve Jobs Theater dusk

Apple Reportedly Demoed Mixed-Reality Headset to Executives in the Steve Jobs Theater Last Week

Sunday March 26, 2023 5:53 am PDT by
Apple showcased its mixed-reality headset to the company's top 100 executives in the Steve Jobs Theater last week, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman explained that the "momentous gathering" is a "key milestone" ahead of the headset's public announcement planned for June. The event was intended to rally Apple's top members of...
Apple Music Classical

Apple Explains Why It Launched an iPhone App Dedicated to Classical Music

Monday March 27, 2023 8:54 pm PDT by
Apple today published a support document explaining why it decided to release a standalone Apple Music Classical app for classical music. In short, Apple says the app was designed to support classical music's complex metadata:Classical music is different. It has longer and more detailed titles, multiple artists for each work, and hundreds of recordings of well-known pieces. The Apple Music...
iPhone 15 Pro Buttons CAD Leak

iPhone 15 Pro Low-Energy Chip to Allow Solid-State Buttons to Work When Device is Off or Out of Battery

Wednesday March 29, 2023 1:54 am PDT by
The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will use a new ultra-low energy microprocessor allowing certain features like the new capacitive solid-state buttons to remain functional even when the handset is powered off or the battery has run out, according to a source that shared details on the MacRumors forums. CAD-based render of new solid-state buttons on iPhone 15 Pro models The source of this rumor is ...