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This week on Mac Power Users, we dive deep into a quintessential Mac tool:

BetterTouchTool takes a Mac’s input devices and turns them into automation triggers. It can transform the Touch Bar into a customized set of tools and make a Trackpad or Mouse much more powerful. This week Stephen and David dive into this utility and what it can do.

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My thanks to Micro.blog for sponsoring 512 Pixels this week. If you’re looking to start a blog, look no further. It has native macOS and iOS apps, podcast hosting, a welcoming community and if you’re a teacher, you can sign up for free for six months.

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Adam Engst:

One of the most insightful comments I’ve seen about the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic points out that we’re in a state of narrative collapse. Our societal stories, the tales we tell ourselves to make sense of the world and even how to navigate it, have failed us. We’re all reaching out to family and friends like never before to learn how they’re holding up, how they’ve chosen or been forced to deal, if they’re going to be OK. Events are changing too fast for anyone to gain a firm footing, and while the uncertainty horizon is slowly increasing, we can still really only forecast that next week will probably be like this week. Next month—who knows?

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Apple has seeded a new developer build of macOS Catalina with some new tricks up its sleeve to improve the longevity of Mac notebooks by monitoring their battery temperature and charging data.

Jason Snell has details:

The feature works by analyzing the temperature of the battery over time, as well as the charging pattern the laptop has experienced—in other words, does the laptop frequently get drained most of the way and then recharge fully, or is it mostly kept full and plugged in? In the latter case, Battery Health Management is more likely to stop a bit short of full capacity in order to extend the battery’s long-term lifespan. (All charging data is kept private on the MacBook unless the Mac has been opted in to share anonymous analytics data with Apple.)

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This week on the show:

Federico rejects a new iPhone charging solution, Myke opens a new store and Stephen passes a collection basket to add a set of wheels to his Mac Pro. Then, the three talk about the new iPhone SE.

I think the new SE is going to be a terrific phone for a whole lot of people. I’m glad Apple has gotten it launched, alongside some Mac Pro accessories and the Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro.

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Juli Clover, MacRumors:

Starting today, customers who purchase a Mac Pro can choose to add a Radeon Pro W5700X graphics card with 16GB of GDDR6 memory to their machines when using Apple’s build-to-order feature, a new option that was just added.

The card can be added to a custom machine for $600, while a dual-GPU option is $1,600. The single GPU option can be ordered on the Apple Store here for $1,000.

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The wheels will run you an eye-watering $699 and require assembly:

Installation required. A 1/4-inch to 4 mm hex bit is included, but additional tools are necessary. Replacing the Mac Pro feet with wheels adds approximately one inch to the height of the frame.

The feet, on the other hand, cost $299 for the set.

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Apple has announced a new iPhone SE today.

It retains the design of the iPhone 8 with its 4.7-inch Retina HD display, but the following internal specs:

• A13 Bionic
• Single 12 MP camera with portrait mode for human subjects
• Touch ID
• Haptic Touch
• IP67 Rating
• Qi Wireless Charging

It starts at $399 for 64 GB of storage, but 128 GB and 256 GB models will be available as well, at $449 and $549, respectively. The phone is available in red, black and white. Preorders start Friday.

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This is a lot earlier than I expected, as Apple told everyone it was coming in May.

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Shot; chaser.

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Google / Nest in an email to customers:

In response to community issues caused by COVID-19, we’re temporarily adjusting your camera quality and bandwidth in an effort to conserve internet resources.

With so many people working and attending school from home, we’re stretching our resources in ways we haven’t before—including the internet. As local internet resources are stretched past their limits, you and many others may have noticed interruptions like dropped video calls or frozen screens. During this time, it’s critical for us to work together to ensure we find ways to help the community at large.

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I’ve put together a little video treat this week:

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