posts

In no particular order:

• Jacob Kastrenakes at The Verge, writing about Syniverse, which is a company AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint use to route SMS messages to customers. This story is bonkers, and the power this company has is a bit startling, as no one has ever heard of them.
• Guilherme Rambo was locked out of his Apple developer account for months. He went public, and after his post was shared on Daring Fireball and Six Colors, Apple suddenly fixed his account. Casey had the best take.
• Over on Bloomberg, Mark Gurman has reported on big changes Apple is making in the ramp up to iOS 14 and macOS 10.16 next year. If the situation was as chaotic as it sounds in this article, it’s amazing iOS 13 shipped at all, probably.
• Tim Cook looks like he had a bad week, but he didn’t have to have a bad week but it’s 2019 and that’s where things are, I guess.
• David Sparks tried out the new 16-inch MacBook Pro, and he seems to like it. Likewise, I was impressed when I checked it out at the Apple Store, but I’m typing this on the 2019 15-inch MacBook Pro I bought earlier this year.
• Tesla has unveiled its upcoming Cybertruck. I think it is ugly as hell, and the company hasn’t made a great pitch to traditional truck buyers, in my opinion as a pickup owner who very often uses it as an actual truck. I think they’ve mostly designed a pointy status symbol that’s part Pontiac Aztek, part Lamborghini LM002. Don’t @ me, Elon Bros.
• Apple is now selling a Smart Battery Case for the iPhones 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max. I picked one up and am glad to have it back in my life for travel days. This MacRumors hands-on post is worth a look.
• Photoshop for iPad should get much better soon.

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Last week, a beta version of firmware for the Logitech Circle 2 cameras enabled use with HomeKit Secure video. As the user of a couple of Nest cameras, I’ve been keeping an eye on this, as storing footage in my iCloud account is quite appealing. I bought a Circle 2 camera on Amazon and set it up over the weekend.

I didn’t get very far before bugging Zac Hall at 9to5 Mac, as he writes:

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This week on Connected:

Federico and Stephen each attempted to use HomeKit Secure Video, and it didn’t go well. Myke is excited about a new folding phone, and the whole crew orders iPhone 11 Pro battery cases before solving many mysteries presented in photos of Apple’s new Mac Pro factory.

Things got weird this week, and there are … a lot … of chapters in this episode:

My thanks to our sponsors:

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There is some irony in that iTunes now only lives on as a Windows app, but it seems like its days there are numbered, too.

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This week on Ungeniused:

Due to an obscure legal loophole, it’s theoretically possible that a criminal could get away with any crime — including murder — in a small corner of Yellowstone National Park.

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This week on Liftoff, we’re marking the 50th anniversary of the second lunar mission:

Apollo 12 forever lives in the shadow of the mission before it, but it shouldn’t. Pete Conrad, Dick Gordon and Al Bean made plenty of their own history, with some terror and plenty of laughs along the way.

Not every mission starts by getting hit by lightning two times.

My thanks to our sponsors:

• Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code LIFTOFF at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.
• HelloFresh: Say hello to easy home cooking. Get 9 meals free.

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It was fun to break out some old iPods and sync them with my MacBook Pro:

Come for the sample video from an old iPod nano; stay for the construction of MEGA DONGLE.

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Apple Support:

With an iPhone Lightning Dock, you can listen to music, plus charge and sync an iPhone 5 or later or an iPod touch (5th generation or later).

The iPhone Lightning Dock also has headphone playback support and audio line out. This means you can use the volume controls on your headphones or your stereo. If your iPhone has an Apple case, you can leave it on while using an iPhone Lightning Dock.

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This week on Mac Power Users, it’s time for the annual MPU Holiday Gift Guide.

My thanks to our sponsors:

• Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code MPU at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.
• The Omni Group: We’re passionate about productivity for Mac, iPhone and iPad.
• 1Password: Have you ever forgotten a password? You don’t have to worry about that anymore.

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Hey there, scissor switches.

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Remember those guys who were going around California recreating macOS wallpapers with their own photos? Well, they’re back at it:

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Gerry Smith and Mark Gurman:

Apple Inc. is considering bundling its paid internet services, including News+, Apple TV+ and Apple Music, as soon as 2020, in a bid to gain more subscribers, according to people familiar with the matter.

The latest sign of this strategy is a provision that Apple included in deals with publishers that lets the iPhone maker bundle the News+ subscription service with other paid digital offerings, the people said. They asked not to be identified discussing private deals.

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