Apple today shared two new "Behind the Mac" videos on its YouTube channel, offering a look at how Macs can be used in creative workflows. The new videos feature photographer Tyler Mitchell and musician James Blake.
Among the new additions to the series is a spotlight on New York photographer Tyler Mitchell. The video reveals how Mitchell shoots and edits his new portrait series using elements only from his own bedroom, within 24 hours. Apple says that remote cameras were set up around the photographer's apartment, capturing his natural creative process.
The second of the new videos features James Blake as he uses Logic Pro X to create his new song "Ask For More," also shot within 24 hours. This is the second video in Apple's Behind the Mac series that has focused on James Blake, the first of which was released last week.
The new videos are a continuation of Apple's "Behind the Mac" series, launched in 2018, which highlights how various high-profile creative individuals use the Mac for their work on a daily basis.
While much of our attention has been focused on iOS 14 over the past weeks, Apple was finishing up some final updates for the iOS 13 series of releases, and this week delivered iOS 13.6 and associated updates for other platforms to the public. New iOS features include audio stories for Apple News+, support for digital car keys, and more.
One incredibly popular story (and in fact one of our most popular stories in years) was about a new Apple support document warning users to be careful about installing physical webcam covers on their Mac notebooks. Other top stories included a major Twitter security breach that saw Apple's official account tweet out a Bitcoin scam, the opening of filing for cash payments in the iPhone "Batterygate" lawsuit, and more.
Check out our video above and read on below for more on all of this week's biggest stories!
Apple Warns Against Closing MacBooks With a Cover Over the Camera
Apple said that customers should instead look for a green indicator light to know when the webcam is active, and decide which apps can use the camera in System Preferences. Apple ensures that the camera is engineered so that it can’t activate without the light also turning on.
Apple Releases iOS 13.6 With Car Key, Apple News+ Audio, and More
At launch, the Car Key feature is limited to select BMW models manufactured after July 1, 2020, including the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, X5, X6, X7, X5M, X6M and Z4.
Apple also publicly released macOS 10.15.6, watchOS 6.2.8, tvOS 13.4.8, and a HomePod update.
Apple's Twitter Account Hacked by Bitcoin Scammers
All of the compromised Twitter accounts tweeted out a similar message that claimed users could send Bitcoin to a certain address and receive double the amount in return. The hackers appear to have received more than $100,000 worth of cryptocurrency before Twitter took action.
Twitter continues to investigate the breach, which it described as a "coordinated social engineering attack by people who successfully targeted some of our employees with access to internal systems and tools."
iPhone Users Can Now File to Receive Around $25 From Apple Over 'Batterygate'
Earlier this year, Apple agreed to settle a U.S. class action lawsuit that accused the company of "secretly throttling" older iPhone models, and affected customers can now claim their share of the settlement.
The class includes any U.S. resident who owns or previously owned an iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and/or iPhone SE that ran iOS 10.2.1 or later, and/or an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus that ran iOS 11.2 or later, before December 21, 2017. Class members must have experienced "diminished performance" on their devices in order to qualify.
Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.