For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with ColorWare to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win custom-painted AirPods Pro, available in dozens of colors. For those unfamiliar with ColorWare, it's a company that's been around for a long time, offering custom paint jobs and unique skins for a range of electronic devices, from consoles to earbuds. ‌AirPods Pro‌ can be ordered from ColorWare in custom colors for a fee of $389 for just the ‌AirPods Pro‌ or $439 for the ‌AirPods Pro‌ and the Wireless Charging Case. It's pricy, but it's the only way to get ‌AirPods Pro‌ in a color other than white. There are solid and metallic colors, with gloss and matte finishes available. Traditional black, gold, and silver colors are options, but there are also bright shades in every color of the rainbow. If you want ‌AirPods Pro‌ in blue, yellow, orange, green, teal, deep purple, pink, or one of dozens of other colors, ColorWare is the best option. You can even get them painted to match Apple's iPhones. The ‌AirPods Pro‌ can be custom painted in the same color as the case, or you can order each AirPod Pro and the case in all different colors, so there are quite a few available color combinations to choose from. ColorWare has been offering custom painted devices since 1998 and has perfected the painting process. ColorWare uses a coating process that includes a primer, an application of a proprietary color formula, and an X2 liquid plastic coating that protects the color. All ColorWare work is guaranteed for 12 months, and 24 months with the purchase of an additional warranty.

Executives from PopSockets, Sonos, Basecamp, and Tile are attending a congressional hearing today to testify in an ongoing antitrust inquiry involving major tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook, reports The Washington Post. The smaller companies are aiming to provide evidence that the tech giants have become too big and have practices in place that stifle competition and hurt sales. Tile in particular is gunning for Apple, claiming that Apple's iOS 13 Bluetooth and location tracking devices have hurt its business, and that Find My resembles Tile's own service. Apple made sweeping changes in ‌iOS 13‌, rolling out the ‌Find My‌ app alongside privacy-oriented changes that make it harder for third-party app developers to track customers without their knowledge. According to Tile, ‌Find My‌, which is designed to let users locate lost iOS and Mac devices, has a major advantage over competing products because location tracking for ‌Find My‌ is enabled by default, while Tile must obtain user permission for location access in "deep, hard-to-find smartphone settings" that also has to be reauthorized with regular follow-up reminders. Some lawmakers see Apple's changes as an effort to gain an edge over rival companies, but Apple says the ‌iOS 13‌ updates are designed to improve user privacy and prevent app developers from using customer data without permission. "Apple has not built a business model around knowing a customer's location or the location of their device," Apple spokesperson Fred Sainz told The Washington Post. Tile attorney Kirsten Daru said that

Apple today sent out emails notifying iPhone, iPad, and Mac users about the latest Apple Pay promo, which provides a 50 percent discount on gameplay at Dave & Buster's when loading a Power Card in the Dave & Buster's app using ‌Apple Pay‌. Dave & Buster's is a food and gaming venue that has multiple locations across the United States. Customers can get a 50 percent discount on card purchases and refills through January 30. Customers who want to take advantage of the deal must sign up for a Dave & Buster's Rewards account in the Dave & Buster's app to quality. The offer will be automatically applied for first-time customers when using ‌Apple Pay‌ within the app, but existing customers can also take advantage of the deal when reloading a card with ‌Apple Pay‌. Apple also promotes Apple Arcade in its latest ‌Apple Pay‌ email, suggesting customers who enjoy games sign up for the $4.99 per month

Apps designed for the Mac often don't receive as much attention as apps designed for iPhones and iPads, so we have a series here at MacRumors that highlights useful and interesting Macs worth checking out. This month's picks include apps for optimizing your Mac, learning keyboard shortcuts, searching cloud services, and watching streaming video. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Sensei - ($29/Year) - Sensei is a new Mac app designed for Mac optimization, offering a clean interface and a range of tools for disk cleaning, battery health monitoring, GPU, CPU, and RAM monitoring, temperature monitoring, SSD Trim enabling, uninstalling apps, fan control, file deleting, and more. Sensei costs $29 per year or $59 for a lifetime license, but there is a free trial to test it out. Mouseless ($15) - Mouseless is an app that helps you learn all of the keyboard shortcuts in your favorite apps, offering up short interactive training sessions that teach shortcuts and then reinforce the learning right away. It's a nifty little tool for anyone who wants to become more accustomed to app shortcuts. Clew (Free) - Clew is a search app designed to let you search through all of your connected cloud accounts so you can find exactly what you're looking for and then share it quickly using drag and drop. Clew supports Dropbox, Google Drive, Github, and more. Gooba (Free) - Gooba is a writing app and task manager that combines note taking, writing, and task management, so you can do things like write a document and then set a reminder for when to send it.

NBC today announced that its upcoming Peacock streaming video service is set to launch in the United States on July 15. The service, which will offer upwards 7,500 hours of programming including NBC shows and Universal movies, will features three subscription tiers. NBC will offer an ad-supported tier that people can watch for free, and there will be two premium paid tiers that include live sports and early access to NBC's late night shows. The $4.99 per month premium tier will include ads, while a $9.99 per month version will be available ad-free. Providing access to live sports will allow NBC to differentiate the Peacock service from Disney+, Netflix, and Apple TV+. In addition to on-demand content and live sports, Peacock will include live breaking news coverage, same-day rebroadcasts, curated shorts, and access to "Dateline" and "NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt." Premium subscribers will get exclusive access to additional TV shows and movies, for a total of 15,000 hours of content. Peacock will also include original TV shows and films, such as Tina Fey's upcoming "Girls5Eva" and an adaptation of the classic Aldous Huxley novel "Brave New World." Customers who already subscribe to Comcast and Cox can get free access to the premium with ads version of Peacock, or pay $5 per month for the ad-free version. Comcast X1 and Flex customers will get access to Peacock on April 15, months ahead of the July 15 launch date. More details on Peacock are available through the investor webcast that NBC shared today and accompanying PDFs that list all of the

Apple plans to release "The Banker," an original Apple TV+ movie starring Samuel L. Jackson, in theaters in March, reports Variety. The movie was originally meant to premiere at the AFI Fest ahead of a December theatrical release, but Apple delayed its debut after "concerns" surrounding the film were brought to the company's attention. Apple's hesitation came after a family member of one of the men represented in the film accused one of the film's executive producers (another family member) of abuse. Apple investigated the issue and has decided to release the movie. Apple's statement to Variety on the matter:We created Apple TV Plus as a home for stories that matter and believe 'The Banker,' inspired by the brave actions of Bernard Garrett Sr. and Joe Morris, two African American businessmen who brought about positive social change, is one of those stories. We wanted to take the time to understand the situation at hand -- and after reviewing the information available to us, including documentation of the filmmakers' research, we've decided to make this important and enlightening film available to viewers."The Banker" is based on the true story of Bernard Garrett Sr. and Joe Morris, who devised a plan to help African Americans get access to real estate deals and bank loans during the 1960s. Along with Samuel L. Jackson, "The Banker" stars Anthony Mackie, Nicholas Hoult, and Nia Long. Following a theatrical debut on March 6, the film will be released on ‌Apple TV‌+ on March

In a news story about an Apple employee who has started a barbershop for at-risk youth, Apple today said that between its own donations and employee donations, it donated more than $100 million to charitable causes in 2019. Apple says that 21,000 Apple employees donated their time and donated $42 million to causes they care about. Combined with Apple's 1-for-1 donation match and $25 match per volunteer hour, the total amount donated climbed to over $100 million. Apple's vice president of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives Lisa Jackson said the company has a mission to "change the world for the better, and give back to the communities in which we live and work.""Apple employees like Jaz embody this culture of giving every day, volunteering over a quarter of a million hours last year. We share a deep commitment to our local communities and doing what we can to cause more good."Much of Apple's story focuses on Jaz Limos, an Apple Park Visitor Center manager in Cupertino who launched Saints of Steel, a nonprofit pop-up barber shop for at-risk youth and people looking for employment and housing. Saints of Steel was largely funded by Apple. 80 percent of the donations for the first year came from Benevity, a corporate giving program used by Apple, and 74 percent of that donation was made by Apple.In its first year, the organization was almost fully funded by volunteers and donations from Apple. "Our board, when we first started, was primarily made up of Apple employees who just jumped in and rolled up their sleeves," Limos says. "We saw the power of Benevity

Apple today shared a pair of videos from content creators who designed posters for Apple TV+ shows "Dickinson" and "For All Mankind." Janice Sung, an illustrator and digital painter, said she created a poster for Apple TV+ series "Dickinson" using an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, and she outlined some of her creative process. Designer and illustrator duo Justin and Paige from Phantom City Creative in a separate video shared details on how they used an iPad Pro to create two new posters for Apple TV+ show "For All Mankind." Apple has in the past shared behind the scenes details on content created on the iPad Pro, but this is the first time Apple has shared iPad Pro-focused videos from Apple TV+ content

Apple today announced that several upcoming Apple TV+ projects are going to debut at the SXSW Film Festival, set to take place from March 13 to March 21. Newly acquired documentary "Beastie Boys Story" will be shown at the festival ahead of its ‌Apple TV‌+ release on April 24, and Apple will also premiere upcoming TV shows "Central Park" and "Home." Created by Loren Bouchard and Nora Smith, both known for popular TV series "Bob's Burgers," "Central Park" is an animated musical series that tells the story of a family of caretakers who live and work in Central Park and end up saving the world. The animated show features voice work from Josh Gad, Leslie Odom Jr., Tituss Burgess, Kristen Bell, Stanley Tucci, Daveed Diggs, and Kathryn Hahn. "Home," made by the creators of Netflix series "Chef's Table," is a docuseries that's designed to provide viewers with a never-before-seen look inside the "world's most innovative homes." The episode debuting at SXSW will focus on the home of lawyer and science fiction writer Christopher Brown, with the house being described as a "modern interpretation of Native American pit houses," which are huts that were traditionally constructed with mud and grass. There's no word on when these two shows are going to debut on ‌Apple TV‌+, but a launch could come not too long after their SXSW

Designer Philip Lee, who makes a range of "Classicbot" toys based on classic Mac designs, this week unveiled a new huggable 12-inch Classicbot Plush. The Classicbot Plush, priced at $67, is based on Apple's Macintosh Classic, which was sold in the early 90s. While expensive, the Classicbot Plush is highly detailed and has a few notable features worth pointing out. All of the Classic Macintosh details are carefully embroidered, and the plush features articulated arms that can be put into different positions. The fabric the Classicbot Plush is made from has been chosen because it's "very soft" to the touch. Along with articulated arms, the Classicbot Plush features interchangeable facial expressions thanks to velcro-backed pixel pieces that can be arranged in a multitude of ways. The Classicbot Plush can be pre-ordered from the Classicbot website as of today, with orders set to ship out at the end of April

Apple and M. Night Shyamalan, producer of Apple TV+ show "Servant," are being targeted in a new lawsuit that accuses "Servant" of copying 2013 film "The Truth About Emanuel," according to The Blast. "The Truth About Emanuel" director Francesca Gregorini claims that "Servant" appropriates the plot of her movie and uses the same "cinematic language," resulting in a "substantially similar feeling, mood, and theme." Along with parallel plot points, Gregorini says that Servant also features "strikingly similar--and highly idiosyncratic--characters, scenes, directorial choices, and modes of storytelling." Released in 2013 with Kaya Scoddelario and Jessica Biel, "The Truth About Emanuel" involves a 17-year-old babysitter who looks after a baby that turns out to be a doll replacing a baby that has died, which is indeed similar to the plot of "Servant." The lawsuit targets ‌Apple TV‌+, show creator Tony Basgallop, producer M. Night Shyamalan, and other producers on the series. Shyamalan and the other show creators say that "Servant" was in development prior to the release of "The Truth About Emanuel.""Defendants have arrogantly dismissed Ms. Gregorini's protests by vaguely claiming that Servant was in development long before Emanuel was made, and that any similarity is a coincidence. Indeed, Mr. Shyamalan and Mr. Basgallop implausibly claim they have never seen Emanuel--apparently not even curious enough to watch after hearing Ms. Gregorini's objections. Worse, Apple has brought stonewalling to a new level by simply referring inquiries to Mr. Shyamalan's lawyer (who

Apple has retained Lisa Ellman, a lawyer specializing in drone and aviation law, as a Washington lobbyist, reports Bloomberg. Ellman, a partner at law firm Hogan Lovells, leads her firm's Unmanned Aircraft Systems practice and also co-founded the Commercial Drone Alliance. She has been doing lobbying work for Apple since December. A DJI Mavic Pro drone Apple since 2016 has been using drones for data collection purposes to boost the quality of Apple Maps. Apple's drones are able to capture and update mapping data faster than the LiDAR-equipped minivans that it has used to collect mapping information since 2015. Apple in 2018 was also a participant in a pilot program that allows the company to operate drones in ways restricted by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. Apple partnered with the North Carolina Department of Transportation to use drones to capture aerial mapping data. Bloomberg suggests that Apple's new lobbying efforts indicate a new push into the growing drone field. Apple also has a team working on satellites that Ellman could potentially assist with when it comes to regulations. In addition to employing drones for mapping purposes, Apple also sells popular drones from DJI in its Apple retail stores and on its

Apple has purchased Seattle startup Xnor.ai, a company that specializes in on-device artificial intelligence, reports GeekWire, citing sources with knowledge of the acquisition. Apple is said to have paid around $200 million for Xnor.ai, and while both Apple and Xnor.ai have declined to comment on the potential acquisition, much of the Xnor.ai website has been taken offline and GeekWire says that a move from the Xnor.ai offices is taking place in Seattle. Xnor.ai's technology lets companies run deep learning algorithms locally on devices that include smartphones and wearables rather than requiring these computations to be done in the cloud. Xnor promised complete privacy of data along with reduced memory load and power demands. Given Apple's deep interest in personal privacy, an acquisition of technology for handling AI on device is unsurprising. Apple has, in the past, purchased other similar AI companies, such as Turi. Xnor.ai's work could potentially be incorporated into future iPhones, improving Siri and other AI and machine learning-based tasks that are done on device. Update: Apple confirmed the acquisition of Xnor.ai to Axios with its standard acquisition statement: "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time and we generally do not discuss our purpose or

Apple has acquired the rights to "Beastie Boys Story" a documentary about the band directed by Spike Jonze and penned by Beastie Boys members Mike Diamond and Adam Horovitz, reports Deadline. Under the terms of the deal, the film will be available in IMAX theaters in a limited release on April 3 before launching on Apple TV+ on April 24. Image Credit: Ilpo Musto/REX/Shutterstock The release of the documentary comes ahead of the 26th anniversary of the release of "Ill Communication," the band's fourth album. Spike Jonze originally directed the music video for the hit song "Sabotage." "Beastie Boys Story" is described as a live documentary experience that focuses on the history and the legacy of the group and its personal story. It's based on the "Beastie Boys Book," published in October 2018, and will feature Horovitz and Diamond discussing their long running friendship and rise to

Microsoft today announced the first stable launch of its Edge browser built on the Google Chromium open source project. Microsoft Edge can be downloaded on both Windows machines and Macs. A beta version of the Microsoft Edge browser has been available for several months ahead of the official, stable launch. Microsoft's aim with the Edge browser is to provide better web compatibility with improved performance for customers while also making sure there's less fragmentation of the web for developers. Edge for Mac has been designed to be similar to the Edge experience on Windows, but Microsoft has added optimizations to make it feel more Mac-like. Extensions can be added from the Microsoft Addons store or other Chromium-based web stores like the Chrome Web Store. The browser includes tracking prevention (enabled by default), customization options, built-in search capabilities with Bing, an Internet Explorer mode for viewing older web pages, and a new wave-style logo that replaces the traditional "e" that past Microsoft browsers have used. For Mac users who plan to use Edge, the browser is available cross platform and can be downloaded on Mac, Windows, and iOS devices with the Edge iOS app. Microsoft is planning regular updates for the Edge browser, with Canary, Dev, and Beta updates on a daily, weekly, and multi-week basis. The next stable version of Edge will see an update sometime in

CloudApp, a Mac app designed for visual collaboration and content sharing, today launched a new iOS app that expands CloudApp's capabilities to the iPhone and the iPad. The app has been in testing with a soft launch since December, but is now being officially announced. CloudApp for iOS mirrors what CloudApp for Mac is able to do, allowing customers to upload images, videos, and files from an ‌iPhone‌ or download CloudApp "drops" that include screenshots, videos, screen recordings, and GIFs to the ‌iPhone‌. Uploading to CloudApp can be done from other iOS apps, such as the Photos app. The new iOS app supports screen recording of the ‌iPhone‌ for creating tutorials or collaborating regardless of location, and there are options for previewing and sharing files, screenshots, screen recordings, and more. There's a customized thumbnail view for quickly scrolling through available files, and key content can be favorited for easy access. Collections can also be created, letting users sort their content into different folders for better organization. CloudApp for ‌iPhone‌ can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

United States President Donald Trump this afternoon weighed in on a disagreement between Apple and the FBI, calling on Apple to "step up to the plate" and "help our great country" by unlocking the iPhones used by Florida shooter Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani. Trump said that the U.S. is "helping Apple all of the time" but Apple refuses to "unlock" smartphones used by "killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements." The Twitter rant comes following a request yesterday from U.S. Attorney General William Barr, who asked Apple to unlock the iPhone 5 and iPhone 7 used by Alshamrani. Barr complained that Apple had provided "no substantive assistance" and said that it is critical "that the public be able to get access to digital evidence." We are helping Apple all of the time on TRADE and so many other issues, and yet they refuse to unlock phones used by killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements. They will have to step up to the plate and help our great Country, NOW! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2020 Apple previously said that it had provided all of the information in its possession (such as iCloud backups) to the FBI earlier in the month after the FBI asked for assistance obtaining the shooter's data. Law enforcement officials are not satisfied with the iCloud data, however, and want Apple to provide a way to unlock the shooter's iPhones, which is not possible without a backdoor into the software. After Barr's request, Apple issued another statement and provided further detail on the data that

Apple has signed a multi-year content deal with Lee Eisenberg, the co-creator, executive producer, and co-showrunner of Apple TV+ series "Little America," reports Variety. Eisenberg will be launching a new production company, Piece of Work Entertainment, and he will create digital media projects exclusively for ‌Apple TV‌+. Image credit: Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP/Shutterstock Eisenberg is one of several film industry creators that have inked deals with Apple. Apple has content deals with Alfonso Cuaron, Jon Chu, Justin Lin, Jason Katims, and more. Along with "Little America," Eisenberg is known for his work on "The Office," where he served as a writer and co-executive producer. He has also worked on screenplays that include "Year One" and "Bad Teacher." "Little America," Eisenberg's first ‌Apple TV‌+ show, is set to debut this Friday on January 17. "Little America" is an anthology series that highlights the stories of immigrants, and it was produced by Eisenberg, Kumail Nanjiani, and Emily V. Gordon, among others. The series has received largely positive reviews from critics, who have called it the best ‌Apple TV‌+ show yet. "Little America" has already been renewed for season

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming macOS 10.15.3 update to developers for testing purposes, nearly a month after seeding the first beta and over a month after releasing the macOS Catalina 10.15.2 update. The new ‌‌‌macOS Catalina‌‌‌ beta can be downloaded using the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences after installing the proper software from the Developer Center. We don't yet know what improvements the third update to ‌macOS Catalina‌ will bring, but it will likely focus on performance improvements, security updates, and fixes for bugs that weren't able to be fixed in the ‌macOS Catalina‌ 10.15.2 update. ‌macOS Catalina‌ 10.15.3 has code in it that suggests a new "Pro Mode" is coming to Apple's Macs. Pro Mode appears to be an optional setting that overrides fan speed limits and energy saving restrictions to improve performance. The code says that apps "may run faster" but battery life could decrease and fan noise could increase. It's not entirely clear if Pro Mode is coming to Macs in the 10.15.3 release, but the code is there so it is a possibility. We didn't find any other new changes in the first beta of ‌macOS Catalina‌ 10.15.3, but we'll update this post if there's anything new in the second

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming watchOS 6.1.2 update to developers, almost a month after releasing the first beta and over a month after releasing the watchOS 6.1.1 update with bug fixes. Once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Apple Developer Center, the new watchOS beta can be downloaded through the dedicated ‌‌Apple Watch‌‌ app on the iPhone by going to General > Software Update. To install the update, the ‌‌‌Apple Watch‌‌‌ needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it has to be in range of the ‌‌iPhone‌‌. There's no word yet on what features are included in the watchOS 6.1.2 beta, and there were no new features discovered in the first beta, but we'll update this article should anything new be found in the second