posts

Apple PR:

Apple today announced that Phil Schiller will become an Apple Fellow, continuing a storied career that began at Apple in 1987. In this role, which reports to Apple CEO Tim Cook, Schiller will continue to lead the App Store and Apple Events. Greg (Joz) Joswiak, a longtime leader within the Product Marketing organization, will join the executive team as senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.

While I can’t help but think his oversight of the App Store and the company’s events won’t last for long, I think the marketing group is in good hands with Joz. I’ve always enjoyed his presentation style and he’s been at the company for two decades.

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Today, Apple has updated the iMac. While the design remains the same, it’s a meaningful update here in the twilight of the Intel era.

Here’s Apple:

“Now more than ever, our customers are relying on the Mac. And many of them need the most powerful and capable iMac we’ve ever made,” said Tom Boger, Apple’s senior director of Mac and iPad Product Marketing. “With blazing performance, double the memory, SSDs across the line with quadruple the storage, an even more stunning Retina 5K display, a better camera, higher fidelity speakers, and studio-quality mics, the 27-inch iMac is loaded with new features at the same price. It’s the ultimate desktop, to work, create, and communicate.”

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Apple Support:

The .AVI (Audio Video Interleave) file format is a container format which may contain audio and video codecs (compression formats) not supported by QuickTime and therefore not supported in iDVD.

In some cases, you may encounter issues with audio or video when adding .AVI assets to an iDVD project, or when attempting to burn a DVD or create a disc image from that project.

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This morning, my buddy Jason Snell is launching a new project: “20 Macs for 2020,” in which he is covering what he thinks are the most notable Macs. The list will include good, weird and even bad computers.

He’s kicking off the list with the Power Mac G5.

In addition to a new post every Monday, 20 Macs for 2020 also lives as a podcast on Relay FM. On each episode, Snell talks to a group of Mac watchers and enthusiasts about the machine in question.

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With Loopback, moving audio between applications goes from impossible to trivial. Loopback can combine audio from any software application and any hardware device, to make a virtual source usable anywhere.

Enhance the sound of your mic on Zoom calls, or pipe in music and sound effects. Podcasters can combine a mic with audio sources like Music.app or our own soundboard app Farrago, so remote guests all hear the same thing. Gamers can record gameplay videos with both game audio and commentary. With an easy-to-understand wire-based interface, Loopback gives you all the power of a high-end studio mixing board, right inside your computer!

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I recently joined Josh & Matt on their podcast Memory Protection, which is going through Apple history news, 20 years after the fact.¹ We spoke about Macworld July 2000, which included the announcement of the PowerMac G4 Cube.

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Hartley Charlton at MacRumors:

Twitter user @DongleBookPro has today posted images of what seems to be a first-generation iPod Touch prototype with a 2013 Mac Pro-style glossy black finish.

The Twitter user claims that the iPod Touch prototype pictured has “the same coating as the 2013 Mac Pro.” Had the finish been selected for the final product, it would have been the first metallic glossy black finish to be shipped on an Apple device.

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This week on MPU:

The editor of Mac Power Users, Jim Metzendorf, talks to Stephen and David about his background in audio and photography, and how the gear and workflows have changed in those fields over the years.

My thanks to our sponsors:

• 1Password: Have you ever forgotten a password? You don’t have to worry about that anymore.
• Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code MPU at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.
• The Intrazone by Microsoft SharePoint: Your bi-weekly conversation and interview podcast hosted by the SharePoint team
• TextExpander from Smile: Get 20% off with this link and type more with less effort! Expand short abbreviations into longer bits of text, even fill-ins, with TextExpander from Smile.

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My thanks to SheetPlanner for sponsoring 512 Pixels this week.

It helps you organize information, manage your projects, and schedule your tasks and activities with unparalleled power and flexibility. A free 21 day trial is available on the Mac App Store.

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Sam Byford, writing at The Verge:

Let’sLet’s play a quick game of word association: Microsoft — Windows? Excel? Xbox? All solid answers. But for me, for a while in the ’90s at least, I would have immediately answered “Flight Simulator.” Microsoft Flight Simulator is the very first thing I can remember ever doing on a computer, sat on my granddad’s lap as we soared across blocky landscapes together with a Sidewinder joystick. It is one of Microsoft’s all-time iconic brands.

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Apple PR:

Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2020 third quarter ended June 27, 2020. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $59.7 billion, an increase of 11 percent from the year-ago quarter, and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $2.58, up 18 percent. International sales accounted for 60 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

“Apple’s record June quarter was driven by double-digit growth in both Products and Services and growth in each of our geographic segments,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “In uncertain times, this performance is a testament to the important role our products play in our customers’ lives and to Apple’s relentless innovation. This is a challenging moment for our communities, and, from Apple’s new $100 million Racial Equity and Justice Initiative to a new commitment to be carbon neutral by 2030, we’re living the principle that what we make and do should create opportunity and leave the world better than we found it.”

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This week on Connected:

Tim Cook is answering to Congress about Apple’s App Store policies, and the guys break down his opening statement before getting into what the rest of the year could look like in terms of new iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and even Apple TV hardware.

On Connected Pro, there’s a lot of talk about summer camps, as my daughter is learning about horses this week. Also: Federico drinks a coffee and Myke wonders if being a parent ages you.¹

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