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- Tuesday April 28
- 02:19 pmApple paid $1.2M to privately hire police to protect its San Francisco stores – Wired
A new report says Apple paid more than $1.2 million in one year to privately hire police to protect three of its San Francisco retail stores. The payment was said to have been made through a private security company. San Francisco allows private companies to pay police officers to protect their shops and offices, and the report says that many tech companies take advantage of this … more…02:14 pmWaiting for the right M5 MacBook Air deal? It just hit a record-low $950
Macworld M5 MacBook Air View Deal (function () { document.querySelector("#sticky-promo-block a").addEventListener("click", function(e) { const debug = document.location.host.search(/lndo.site|go-vip.net/) !== -1; const text = this.closest("#sticky-promo-block").querySelector("p.promo-title").textContent; const data = { event: "stickyConversionUnitClick", eventCategory: "Sticky Conversion", eventAction: "Click", eventLabel: text }; if(debug)console.log("Sticky Conversion CLick - pushing to dataLayer: ", data); dataLayer.push(data); return true; }); })(); ‘Tis the time to get the best affordable laptop out there! Stop wasting time and take advantage of the M5 MacBook Air for just $950 at Amazon, a savings of $150 off its MSRP, and the best price we’ve seen. And remember, the MacBook Air now starts at 512GB of storage, which would have previously cost $1,199, so it’s like you’re really saving $250. We love the M5 MacBook Air around here, and the 4.5-star rating we gave it when we reviewed the laptop is evidence enough. We even gave it our Editors’ Choice award, appreciating the fantastic performance, incredible SSD speeds, and the all-day battery life. The laptop features Apple’s advanced M5 chip that ensures swift multitasking across all sorts of apps, no matter how complicated. From productivity apps to creative tools and loads of AI features, the M5 can handle it all. Plus, the MacBook Air features a gorgeous 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display that will deliver gorgeous graphics and crisp text at all times. If you’ve been eying a MacBook Neo but aren’t sure if it’s powerful enough for your needs, this is a great step-up model. So take advantage of this incredible M5 MacBook Air deal and grab yourself a new laptop while it’s still live at Amazon.02:11 pmTed Lasso season 4 just got its Apple TV release date and first trailer
We believed, and now it’s finally happening: Ted Lasso returns for season 4 this summer, and Apple TV just announced the release date and debuted its first trailer. more…02:06 pmApple to close first unionized U.S. Retail Store in Towson, citing crime and mall decline; union cries ‘union-busting’ | Mac Daily NewsApple to close first unionized U.S. Retail Store in Towson, citing crime and mall decline; union cries ‘union-busting’
Apple will permanently close its Towson Town Center store in June, marking the shutdown of the first Apple retail location in the U.S. to… The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.02:00 pmHands-on: Satechi CubeDock packs Thunderbolt 5 and NVMe storage in a Mac mini-like design [Video] | 9 to 5 MacHands-on: Satechi CubeDock packs Thunderbolt 5 and NVMe storage in a Mac mini-like design [Video]
Thunderbolt 5 debuted in September 2023. It was introduced as the new Thunderbolt standard that would slowly begin to replace Thunderbolt 4. It entered the scene, and we saw a big jump forward in bandwidth, display support, and overall capability. But what I noticed is that it was relatively slow to roll out, and the products we saw that did implement Thunderbolt 5 only did that. They just switched from Thunderbolt 4 to Thunderbolt 5 and shipped the same product otherwise. So when I saw Satechi announce some actual changes and improvements to their Thunderbolt 5 CubeDock, I had to check it out. I have used it for over two weeks, and this is what you should know. more…01:48 pmThe OpenAI smartphone will fail, but it’ll be good for iPhone users
The past few days have seen conflicting views from AI companies about the future of smartphones. Perplexity thinks AI will only benefit iPhones, while OpenAI reportedly thinks its own smartphone can render them obsolete. I would bet very heavily that the OpenAI smartphone will either never materialize or will be a commercial failure, but I still think the attempt is good news for iPhone users … more…01:48 pmThe OpenAI smartphone will fail, but it’ll be good for iPhone users
The past few days have seen conflicting views from AI companies about the future of smartphones. Perplexity thinks AI will only benefit iPhones, while OpenAI reportedly thinks its own smartphone can render them obsolete. I would bet very heavily that the OpenAI smartphone will either never materialize or will be a commercial failure, but I still think the attempt is good news for iPhone users … more…01:48 pmThe OpenAI smartphone will fail, but it’ll be good for iPhone users
The past few days have seen conflicting views from AI companies about the future of smartphones. Perplexity thinks AI will only benefit iPhones, while OpenAI reportedly thinks its own smartphone can render them obsolete. I would bet very heavily that the OpenAI smartphone will either never materialize or will be a commercial failure, but I still think the attempt is good news for iPhone users … more…01:30 pmThis nutrition and fitness app makes meal planning and workout tracking simple
The NutriAI nutrition and workout app generates daily meal plans tailored to your goals, with grocery lists so you know exactly what to buy. (via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)01:20 pmApple kills App Store bill with ‘tidal wave lobbying effort’
Macworld Apple has avoided an inconvenient constraint on the way it runs the App Store, thanks to what a political opponent has described as “a tidal wave lobbying effort.” The Cupertino company, along with other owners of very large software storefronts, can now carry on promoting its own apps and giving them preferential treatment, leaving smaller developers to struggle for exposure. Last month, Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) proposed the BASED Act, the name standing for Blocking Anticompetitive Self-preferencing by Entrenched Dominant platforms. The idea of this legislation was to prohibit owners of platforms with a market cap above $1 trillion and at least 100 million monthly users in the U.S. from pushing those users towards their own offerings, which is clearly aimed at Apple. “Anticompetitive behavior is everywhere on the internet,” argued Wiener. “From rigged search results, to manipulative nudges boosting the ‘house’ product, to anti-discount policies that raise prices, to the dreaded green bubble that ‘breaks’ the group chat. When the world’s largest digital platforms rig the game to favor their own products and services, we all lose. By prohibiting these anticompetitive practices, the BASED Act will protect competition online, empower consumers and startups, and promote innovations to improve all our lives.” This sounded promising for smaller app makers, many of whom formed an alliance to support the bill. But they were unable to defeat the far greater resources brought to bear by Apple and Google, which would also have been affected because of the size of its Play store, and the measure was “buried in little more than a month,” Bloomberg reported this week. The trade group Chamber of Progress, of which both Apple and Google are partners, reportedly identified defeating the BASED Act as its top priority for this year. Lobbyists against the bill also included the California Chamber of Commerce. “They absolutely flooded the Capitol with lobbyists to trash the bill and to spread misinformation,” complained Wiener. “It was a tidal wave lobbying effort, and we were at a real disadvantage.” Apple has never been shy about dabbling in politics and is fairly open about its lobbying activities. On the company’s site, it describes this process as working to “help policy makers at every level of government understand our products, our innovations, and our business.” You can scrutinise these activities using the dropdown state-selection tool. As well as the Chamber of Progress, Apple belongs to the App Association, which works “to promote a policy environment that rewards and inspires innovation”; the Digital Media Association, which “advocates for music streaming services by championing policies and public conversations that encourage innovation”; NetChoice, which is very keen on “light-touch regulation”; and more than 40 other groups and trade associations. At the start of this decade, a report found that Apple spent $1.56m on political lobbying in three months, and that number is likely to have risen significantly in recent years. Tim Cook, meanwhile, has given time and money to develop a fruitful relationship with President Trump, an occupation that will likely dominate his duties as chairman of the board from this fall. Any further attempts to curb the company’s power through political means will face an uphill struggle.01:15 pmHighly adaptable Edifier M90 speakers earn a spot in any Apple setup [Review] ★★★★☆
Our hands-on Edifier M90 speaker review finds the compact boxes can power great sound in a variety of settings. (via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)01:15 pmUAG is running the craziest sale we’ve ever seen: 60% off for 6 minutes each day
Macworld Urban Armor Gear (UAG) is known for its stylish yet ultra-protective tech accessories, such as iPhone, iPad, and MacBook cases and sleeves, Apple Watch bands, backpacks, power banks and chargers, stands, and tracker cards. But if you’re really fast, today you can get anything they sell for a whopping 60 percent off—but you need to act fast. UAG is hosting a “Mega Sale” with a twist: To get the discount, you need to shop this week during a specific 6-minute window each day. Today’s sale runs between 5:30 pm and 5:36 pm PST with the code SAVE60. You can get future codes on the UAG website or sign up to receive the codes by email and text. UAG makes a ton of accessories we love, such as the Monarch, Pathfinder, Civilian, and Pylo iPhone cases, heat-molded soft neoprene sleeves for the MacBook Air or Pro, the clear impact-resistant armor shell for MacBook Neo, Active and Scout Apple Watch bands, and SRGE Rugged magnetic power banks. And there’s much more on the UAG website, so go pick out what you want now because the sale doesn’t leave much time for browsing. Also check these accessories out in our Best Cases for iPhone 17, Best MacBook Bags, Best FindMy Tracker Cards and Best Magnetic Power Banks features. Get your daily Mega Sale codes here 60% off everything but be quick, it's time-limited each day GET CODE (function () { document.querySelector("#sticky-promo-block a").addEventListener("click", function(e) { const debug = document.location.host.search(/lndo.site|go-vip.net/) !== -1; const text = this.closest("#sticky-promo-block").querySelector("p.promo-title").textContent; const data = { event: "stickyConversionUnitClick", eventCategory: "Sticky Conversion", eventAction: "Click", eventLabel: text }; if(debug)console.log("Sticky Conversion CLick - pushing to dataLayer: ", data); dataLayer.push(data); return true; }); })();01:13 pm15 years ago, Apple ‘finally’ released the white iPhone 4 after a 300+ day delay
The white iPhone 4 release day is always a fun Apple anniversary for me to think about. It comes one week before I bought my first iPhone (the iPhone 4 in white, of course) and 308 days after the black iPhone 4 arrived in stores. more…01:00 pm5 best Apple products of the Tim Cook era
We give outgoing CEO Tim Cook credit where credit is due for the best Apple products released while he ran the show in Cupertino. (via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)01:00 pmAdobe Photoshop gets AI object rotation, as Lightroom adds new presets, better search, more | 9 to 5 MacAdobe Photoshop gets AI object rotation, as Lightroom adds new presets, better search, more
Adobe is rolling out updates to Photoshop and Lightroom today, with new AI-powered tools, workflow improvements, and performance upgrades across both apps. Here are the details. more…12:58 pmThis 20th Anniversary iPhone rumor is speculative but persuasive
Former Apple design chief Jony Ive famously prioritized sleek aesthetics over almost everything else, and there was widespread agreement that he sometimes took this a little too far. However, his long-term vision of the future of the iPhone as a single slab of glass has persisted beyond his tenure, and a new post does seem to present a persuasive view of what we might expect from a 20th Anniversary iPhone next year … more…12:57 pmApple’s gripping new space-race drama ‘Star City’ premieres at CANNESERIES
at the Cannes International Series Festival (CANNESERIES), Apple TV celebrated the global premiere of “Star City” with creators and… The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.12:14 pmAdobe Firefly AI Assistant is in open beta. It's not great.
Adobe's shift towards agentic creativity is terrible so far, and might end up being a win for someone, somewhere. It won't be artists.Adobe Firefly AI | Image credit: AdobeAllow me to pull back the curtain on the inner workings of AppleInsider, just a peek, so that you may understand how the sausage gets made.I show up, five days a week, to a digital office of sorts: the fabled "Work Slack." And, on many of those days, my compatriots have taken to showing me, specifically, "some AI bullshit." Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums12:06 pm'Liquid Glass Display' may kill iPhone bezel with optical trickery
The next generation of iPhone screen is rumored to be called the "Liquid Glass Display," with an all-glass design that bends light to minimize the bezel.Apple's next iPhone screen overhaul could use a lot more curved glass.The iPhone display has been the topic of rumors for a while, with most attention on the flexible version in the iPhone Fold. However, Apple is always looking to create screens that take advantage of new technologies, shaking up the aesthetics of its premier models.According to a Monday tweet by leaker Ice Universe, Apple's next generation of screen will be called a "Liquid Glass Display." The leaker insists it's not a traditional quad curved display, nor will it be like the curved displays seen on Android devices. Rumor Score: 🤔 Possible Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums12:03 pmHere’s why the Apple Ultra rumors make sense to me
A report yesterday suggested that we may be seeing a succession of Apple Ultra products, including the upcoming folding iPhone and an M6-powered MacBook. So far, of course, we’ve only seen the branding used for an Apple Watch. It may potentially be pointing to a new tier of Apple products across almost the company’s entire range of devices, and to me that would make sense for both the company and its customers … more…