Apple this afternoon shared a humorous new video on its YouTube channel focusing on using Apple products at work.
The spot kicks off with a design team that has just a few days to come up with a round pizza box prototype for an important meeting, which they manage to pull off using Apple's iPhones, iPads, and laptops.
Features shown off include Continuity Camera for scanning a document from an iPhone right to a Mac, Group FaceTime, Hey Siri, AirDrop, iPad multitasking, and more.
The Apple Pencil is used for design purposes, as are the iWork apps on Macs and Microsoft's suite of apps. The video ends with the tagline "This is Apple at work," and the description links to Apple's business site with more information on the apps and services in the video.
Apple products help employees work more simply and productively, solve problems creatively, and collaborate with a shared purpose. And they're all designed to work together beautifully. When people have the power to work the way they want, with the tools they love, they can do their best work and change the future of their business.
Apple has shared multiple iPad Pro videos in the past, but this is the first iPad and Mac focused video that's been aimed at Apple's enterprise customers.
Upwards of 200,000 iPhone, iPad, and Mac users signed up for an Apple News+ subscription following the service's March 25 launch, reports The New York Times.
The number comes from two unnamed sources who provided the figures to The New York Times and asked not to be named.
That's more than Texture, the service Apple News+ was based on, had during its peak. Apple purchased Texture in 2018 and is shutting it down at the end of May now that Apple News+ has launched.
Apple News+ provides access to more than 200 magazines as well as paywalled news from The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and a few other news publications.
Apple is going to be charging $9.99 per month for Apple News+, but those who subscribed following the event have a 30-day free trial. There are still more than three weeks before customers will be charged, and many may be planning to cancel ahead of when the trial expires.
It's still not clear how popular Apple News+ will be once that trial period runs out, but many magazines are hoping for the best. Pamela Wassserstein, CEO of New York Media, said that she felt Apple News+ would allow New York magazine, The Cut, and Vulture to reach a "new audience" in an environment that "feels right."
Apple takes 50 percent of the subscription price from Apple News+, and will be providing the rest to its publishing partners. Media companies will receive an amount based on the amount of time readers are devoting to their content.
This revenue split has been controversial and while many magazines have signed up because Texture worked in a similar way, Apple has been unable to woo major newspapers like The New York Times and The Washington Post.
Apple earlier this month introduced a refresh for its 21.5 and 27-inch 4K and 5K iMac models, which did not receive an update in 2018. The new iMac models feature the same design as the previous models, but have upgraded internals, including 8th and 9th-generation Coffee Lake processors from Intel.
In our latest video, we checked out the 27-inch 5K iMac with 16GB RAM, a 512GB SSD, Radeon Pro Vega 48 graphics, and the high-end 3.6GHz 8-core 9th-generation Core i9 Coffee Lake processor.
Apple hasn't updated the design of the iMac for six years. The slim unibody design that we're familiar with was first introduced in November 2012, and since then, there haven't been any design updates (with the exception of some display changes and port refreshes), which is a bit disappointing.
The 2019 21.5 and 27-inch iMacs continue to feature a slim 5mm display, aluminum stand, aluminum border at the bottom of the machine and relatively thick top and side bezels.
Both iMac sizes feature two Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports, four USB-A ports, an SD card slot, a headphone jack, and an Ethernet port, with support for one 5K display or two 4K displays. On the 27-inch model, RAM is user upgradeable through a slot in the back of the machine, so upgrading the RAM more affordably after purchase is an option.
The specific model that we tested uses Apple's highest-end iMac processor, the 9th-generation 8-core version from Intel. It's outfitted with 16GB RAM, a Radeon Pro Vega 48 graphics card, and 512GB of storage, making it a higher-end option priced at $3,449 that's ideal for creatives and professionals who need a lot of processing and graphics power.
For work like video editing, intensive photo editing, 3D modeling, and other tasks, you're going to want the best processor and graphics card you can get as these elements are not upgradeable after purchase.
Based on benchmarks, Apple's new 2019 iMac models offer significant speed improvements over the prior 2017 models. Multi-core performance on the machine we tested is up to 66 percent faster, and while single-core gains aren't quite as impressive, it's still approximately 6 to 11 percent faster on average.
This particular high-end iMac with 8-core chip is actually comparable to the 2017 iMac Pro with a 10-core chip. In real-world testing, performance was impressive and the iMac was more than capable of handling our video editing workflow.
Whether or not the 2019 iMac is worth the upgrade depends on your current machine. If you're using a much older model you're going to see significant speed improvements with the latest processors, but compared to something like a 2017 iMac, it's probably not worth shelling out the extra cash at this time because the processors are the bulk of what's new.
The 27-inch iMac that we tested is ideal for system-intensive workflows, but if you just need a machine for browsing the web, light photo editing, sending email, and other tasks, one of the more affordable 27-inch machines or even the smaller 21.5-inch iMacs will be a better pick.
If you're in the market for a new iMac and are trying to decide which one to get, make sure to check out our iMac Buyer's Guide.
What do you think of Apple's 2019 iMac refresh? Are you picking up a new machine? Let us know in the comments.
New Jersey resident Gina Priano-Keyser has filed a proposed class action lawsuit against Apple this week in U.S. district court, accusing the company of fraudulent business practices and breach of warranty related to the Apple Watch, according to court documents accessed by MacRumors.
Apple Watch with display popped off and swollen battery via Shawn Miller
Priano-Keyser alleges that all Apple Watches up to and including Series 4 models are prone to a defect that results in the lithium-ion battery swelling and causing the screen to "crack, shatter, or detach from the body" of the watch "through no fault of the wearer, oftentimes only days or weeks after purchase."
The plaintiff believes that Apple either knew or should have known that the Apple Watch models were defective before selling them, adding that they pose "a significant safety hazard to consumers" — a "number" of which have suffered "cuts and burns" as a result of the scratched, shattered, or detached screens.
Apple has acknowledged the possibility of swollen batteries in select Apple Watch models in the past, and offered free repairs up to three years after purchase. However, the complaint alleges that the company often attributes the issue to "accidental damage" and thus "refuses to cover repairs" under warranty.
Priano-Keyser states that she purchased an Apple Watch Series 3 in October 2017. In July 2018, while charging, she alleges that the screen "unexpectedly detached" from the watch's body and cracked. Her daughter "pushed the screen back into place," but the Apple Watch has been "unusable" ever since.
The plaintiff booked a Genius Bar appointment in August 2018, but upon inspection, she alleges that Apple denied to repair the Apple Watch free of charge under warranty and instead quoted her an out-of-warranty fee of $229 for service.
The plaintiff's damaged Apple Watch Series 3
The complaint cites over a dozen similar experiences described by users on the Apple Support Communities over the past few years.
Priano-Keyser is seeking damages in an amount to be proven at trial for herself and all others similarly situated. The proposed class includes all residents of New Jersey who are current and former owners of all models and sizes of the Apple Watch Series 1, Series 2, and Series 3 purchased in New Jersey.
The complaint was filed by Shepherd, Finkelman, Miller & Shah, LLP, the same law firm that filed a nearly identical class action lawsuit regarding the swollen Apple Watch batteries in California back in June 2018. That case was tossed by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in January due to being "vague."
"Plaintiff's description of the alleged defect identifies only the consequences of the alleged defect (i.e., cracking, shattering, or detaching), but is notably silent on identifying the defect that causes such consequences," Judge Koh stated.
The lawsuit in New Jersey addresses this by attempting to provide an explanation.
"Upon information and belief, the Defect is caused by aging or otherwise faulty li-on batteries, or by defective internal components of the Watches that regulate temperature, electrical currents, charging, and other mechanisms that could affect the Watches' li-on batteries," the complaint states.
It remains to be seen if the New Jersey case proceeds to trial or is also tossed.
Some iPad Pro owners who have 2017 and 2018 models have increasingly been running into issues with screen stuttering, based on a slew of threads on the Apple Support communities and the MacRumors forums.
Affected users have iPad Pro models that sometimes refuse to register touch gestures, stutter when scrolling, miss keystrokes, and have other similar issues. We here at MacRumors have not been able to replicate this issue, but the sheer number of complaints suggests something may be going on with the iPad Pro's display.
MacRumors reader Flasch describes the issue he had with his iPad Pro right out of the box:
I bought a new 12.9" iPad pro on the first available day last Wednesday. The o, k, and to a lesser extent i and j keys on the on-screen software keyboard consistently recognized touch with a click and change in colour of the key but the letter would often not appear in any program. For o in particular, it often required several attempts to make the letter register.
Spent time on the phone with apple and they didn't have a solution. A full restore to factory settings didn't help.
I returned it to the store today and picked up a new 12.9" iPad pro. Brought it home and this one is worse. Ofter 5 or more presses of o or k to get it to register. When the iPad is turned clockwise to landscape mode, the q and w are then in the same region of the device and they don't work either. Seven presses of the q before a letter appeared on the screen. It seems the bottom right of the touchscreen has an issue.
Other iPad Pro users are having the same issue with touchscreen unresponsiveness, which can also impact scrolling and general usage. From MacRumors reader Codeseven:
Newest 12.9'" iPad Pro, 1 TB/6 Gb model running iOS 12.1.3., no Screen Protector applied. Seems to occur on all areas of the screen.
Screen freezes. Started cropping up just in the last few weeks, seems to be getting worse. Reacts as though the screen was very dirty or my finger isn't contacting then screen completely. Interestingly, the freeze will sometimes stop when the iPad is changed from any angle to level. Also, sometimes if allot of finger pressure is used then the freeze is gone.
The problem appears to be primarily impacting new 2018 iPad Pro models, though there have also been complaints from some 2016 and 2017 iPad Pro owners.
A video demonstrating the stuttering issue
MacRumors reader Roger, who let us know about the issue, says that after approximately a month, his 2018 iPad Pro had issues with scrolling and wouldn't register input. He was able to get a replacement, as were many other customers who have experienced this issue, but he said that the replacement model has also been exhibiting the same issues.
It's not clear if this is a software or a hardware issue, and there are certainly many 2017 and 2018 iPad Pro models out there that have no problems like this at all, which makes it difficult to determine what's going on. Some of the issues with the 2017 model appear to have started with the release of iOS 11.3, but have persisted through software updates. Many users who are running iOS 12.2 are still reporting problems.
Some users have noticed that the stuttering problem goes away on the 2018 models when the Apple Pencil 2 is attached to the iPad, perhaps suggestive of an Apple Pencil-related connectivity issue.
On the whole, though, it's not clear what's causing issues for iPad Pro owners who are having touchscreen responsiveness problems. Anyone with an unresponsive touchscreen should bring it into an Apple Store or an Apple Authorized Repair Shop for service as some users have been able to get replacement units.
Apple today updated its Clips app for the iPhone and the iPad to introduce new posters, new title and caption options, updated stickers, a camcorder filter, and more.
The Clips app, for those unfamiliar with it, is a video editing app that's designed to let users combine video clips, images, and photos with voice-based titles, music, filters, and graphics to create unique videos that can be shared on social media.
Apple has added a new camcorder filter that's designed to introduce a retro video camera look for your videos, and there are eight new poster background options with colorful vintage designs, a camcorder recording screen, and an animated globe in honor of earth day.
You can create titles and captions using three newly introduced Live Titles styles, and there are new 8-bit and 3D stickers you can add to your videos. Songs created in GarageBand or other music apps can be added to your Clips projects, and there's now ClassKit support to allow students to deliver video assignments to teachers through the Schoolwork app. Full release notes are below:
- Use the new camcorder filter to give your videos a retro video camera look
- Choose from 8 new posters including options with solid backgrounds, colorful vintage designs, a classic blue camcorder recording screen, and an animated globe to celebrate Earth Day.
- Create titles and captions with 3 new Live Titles styles featuring static text that appears all at once or animated text that highlights each word as it's spoken
- Apply new 8-bit and 3D-styled stickers to add emphasis to your videos
- Create songs in GarageBand and other music apps, then add them directly to new or existing Clips projects
- Duplicate and rename projects
- Share projects with friends via AirDrop or email, save them to Files, or upload them to cloud storage service with share extensions
- ClassKit support lets students deliver video assignments to teachers using the Schoolwork app
Apple first released clips in early 2017 and has since updated it multiple times. Clips is compatible with the iPhone 5s and later, the original iPad Air and later, and the iPad mini 2 and later. Style transfer effects require the iPhone 7 or 2017 iPad Pro or later, while Selfie Scenes require an iPhone or iPad Pro with TrueDepth Camera.
