B&H Photo is offering new discounts on the most recent models of Apple's 12-inch MacBook, with instant savings of as much as $600 off for a limited time. Each discount represents the lowest price available on these MacBook models, which were last updated in June 2017 with Kaby Lake processors, USB-C, faster SSDs, and more.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with B&H Photo. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
B&H Photo's new sale includes the Rose Gold color option on the MacBook, which Apple has stopped selling as of October 2018. Check out each MacBook on sale in the list below and be sure to head to B&H Photo soon before the discounts expire.
Twitter today confirmed plans to begin experimenting with a "Hide Replies" feature starting in June, which will provide Twitter users with more control over the replies that are visible following a tweet.
As TechCrunch points out, this has the potential to be controversial because the original person who tweets will be able to control which replies are visible in a conversation thread.
The feature will be experimental, so it could ultimately be tweaked or scrapped entirely based on how users react to its implementation. Twitter has said that hidden responses wouldn't show up automatically, but would be viewable by others using a menu option.
Along with announcing the new feature, Twitter today also shared details on its efforts to create a "healthier service" through cutting down on abuse and spam.
Twitter says that it has suspended three times more abusive accounts within 24 hours of a report compared to the same time last year, 2.5 times more private information has been removed, and there's been a 45 percent uptick in efforts to suspend users who create a new account after a suspension.
In the future, Twitter says it plans to introduce additional safety-related features, such as making it easier for Twitter users to share specifics when reporting abuse, adding more notices within Twitter about rule enforcement, and debuting rules that are easier to understand.
Facebook's executive team, including Mark Zuckerberg, used the data of Facebook users as leverage over partner companies, according to leaked emails, webchats, presentations, spreadsheets, and more obtained by NBC News.
More than 4,000 pages of leaked documents from 2011 to 2015 provide insight into how Facebook was taking advantage of user data while publicly promising to protect user privacy before and after its 2015 move to end broad access to user data.
The documents were sent to NBC News by British journalist Duncan Campbell and originated from a 2015 lawsuit filed against Facebook by startup Six4Three after Facebook cut back on third-party data access. Six4Three had an app called Pikinis that let users find photos of their friends in swimsuits that was not able to function after Facebook's data changes.
Facebook has claimed that it limited data access to protect user privacy and to keep its users safe from companies that mishandled data, but internally, privacy was not the concern Facebook was addressing when making the move. Instead, the documents suggest Facebook ended access to user data to give it more power over third-party apps and partner companies.
However, among the documents leaked, there's very little evidence that privacy was a major concern of Facebook's, and the issue was rarely discussed in the thousands of pages of emails and meeting summaries. Where privacy is mentioned, it is often in the context of how Facebook can use it as a public relations strategy to soften the blow of the sweeping changes to developers' access to user data. The documents include several examples suggesting that these changes were designed to cement Facebook's power in the marketplace, not to protect users.
Companies favored by Facebook were given access to the data of Facebook users through exclusive deals struck before the data changes, while rival companies or apps were denied access. Amazon, for example, was provided with "extended access" to Facebook user data because of its spending on Facebook advertising and its Fire phone partnership, while data was restricted from other apps.
Facebook believed app developers were getting more value from Facebook user data than Facebook was getting from app developers, a factor that led Facebook to limit access to user data and consider other monetization tactics.
According to NBC News and previously leaked documents, Facebook mulled ways for third-party apps to provide monetary compensation for user data, ranging from direct payment to advertising spending and data sharing setups, but ultimately decided on providing access to app developers who were "personal friends" of Zuckerberg or who spent money on Facebook and shared their own data.
Facebook has previously confirmed that it considered charging companies for access to user data, but has downplayed the discussions as a mere consideration of different business models. Approximately 400 pages of the 4,000 that NBC News obtained have been leaked previously, and Facebook has called these past documents "cherry-picked" and "misleading."
NBC News says that the new documents suggest charging for user data was more than a cursory exploration of different business models, as Facebook discussed plans to sell user data for years. Senior executives, including Zuckerberg, COO Sheryl Sandberg, and CPO Chris Cox were in favor of selling data.
In emails to one of his friends in 2012, Zuckerberg explained that without limiting access to Facebook data, Facebook wouldn't have "any way to get developers to pay [Facebook] at all." He also said that he didn't feel that data leaks were a risk factor.
"I'm generally skeptical that there is as much data leak strategic risk as you think," he wrote in the email to Lessin. "I think we leak info to developers but I just can't think of any instances where that data has leaked from developer to developer and caused a real issue for us."
Facebook considered 100 deals with app developers to figure out the "real market value" of Facebook user data to learn "what developers would actually pay."
Zuckerberg ultimately decided not to charge outright for data access, but before implementing the sweeping changes in 2015, he explained in 2012 that access to Facebook data should be contingent on developers sharing "social content" generated by their apps back to Facebook and paying for advertising.
According to NBC News, the newly leaked documents could further an antitrust case against Facebook by establishing the value that Facebook placed on user data.
But if regulators can show that users were paying for access to Facebook with their personal data, and that Facebook valued that data as leverage against competitors, that could expose Facebook to an antitrust complaint, said Jason Kint, CEO of Digital Content Next, a trade association representing digital publishers.
"These emails clearly establish the value of consumer data to Facebook," Kint said. "It shows that it is not free."
The full exploration into Facebook's data sharing practices and additional details gleaned from the leaked documents can be read over at NBC News and is well worth checking out for anyone interested in Facebook's motivations.
Other World Computing today announced the launch of new Aura Pro X2 SSDs, which are designed to offer double the speed of Apple's SSDs at half the price.
Compared to its existing Aura SSD options, the Aura Pro X2 offers lower power consumption, lower heat, and better battery life. OWC says the SSDs it's offering to Mac users are cheaper, faster, and better.
The Aura Pro X2 SSDs offer read speeds up to 3200MB/s and write speeds up to 2400MB/s, with a maximum of 2TB of storage. OWC has designed the SSDs to be compatible with the latest versions of macOS, with support for APFS.
OWC says the new Aura Pro X2 SSDs are available for MacBook Air models from Mid 2013 to 2017, Retina MacBook Pro models from Late 2013 to Mid 2015, the 2013 Mac Pro, and the 2014 Mac mini, making OWC's upgrade option a solid one for eking more life out of an older Mac.
The Aura Pro X2 SSDs are not compatible with the 2018 MacBook Air or the redesigned MacBook Pro models released from 2016 to 2018.
OWC ships SSDs with an Envoy Pro enclosure designed to house your original SSD so you can repurpose it as an external USB drive and also use it to transfer your data to the new SSD.
Pricing on the Aura Pro X2 SSD starts at $120 for the 240GB model with SSD only, and goes up to $700 for the 2TB model. OWC offers 240GB, 480GB, 1TB, and 2TB options. Slightly more expensive packages with tools, transfer enclosures, heat sinks (desktop machines) and more are available for those who need the extra equipment.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with OWC. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
We've confirmed with Apple that this increase is tied to the macOS 10.14.4 software update released on March 25. Apple's release notes did mention that the update "corrects the default screen brightness" for 2018 MacBook Air models, although no specific details were known at the time.
Prior to macOS 10.14.4, Laptop Mag found that its 2018 MacBook Air review unit maxed out at a brightness of 234 nits, while NotebookCheck determined an average value of 315 nits. It's unclear why there is such a big discrepancy there, but it'll be interesting to see how much the number increases in subsequent testing.
Battery life stats for the 2018 MacBook Air remain unchanged on Apple's tech specs page.
Among the nine jurors selected are a former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Kansas City Royals, a woman who has never owned a smartphone, a retired clinical psychologist, a pilot, an accountant, a retired nurse, and an environmental consultant, according to reports from CNET and Bloomberg.
Opening statements will be heard today. Apple has accused Qualcomm of anticompetitive business practices by way of demanding excessive patent royalties, while Qualcomm alleges that Apple manufacturers Foxconn, Pegatron, Wistron, and Compal owe it more than $7.5 billion in unpaid royalties.
Qualcomm has already faced scrutiny from antitrust regulators in multiple countries, including the United States, where an FTC lawyer said "evidence is overwhelming that Qualcomm engaged in exclusionary conduct, and the effects of Qualcomm's conduct, when considered together, are anticompetitive."
Amidst the legal battle, Apple dropped Qualcomm as a supplier of cellular modems starting with last year's iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR, switching to Intel for all modems in those devices.
Amazon is discounting the 2018 iPad Pros this week to notable new low prices, including both the 11-inch and 12.9-inch models. These are the iPad Pros that Apple updated last fall, with a new edge-to-edge display, slimmer bezels, Face ID, and support for Apple Pencil 2.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
There are quite a few models on sale, with discounts reaching as much as $200 off. We've listed all of the models on sale below, and note that these discounts represent the lowest prices available for the iPad Pros among the major Apple resellers online.
Apple will be donating to Notre Dame rebuilding efforts to help restore the historic cathedral in Paris, according to a tweet from its CEO Tim Cook.
Notre Dame was significantly damaged in a fire on Monday. While the cause of the blaze remains unknown, the cathedral had been undergoing renovations, and at this point it is believed that it may have been accidental. Fortunately, reports indicate that no lives were lost in the fire, but at least one first responder is injured.
We are heartbroken for the French people and those around the world for whom Notre Dame is a symbol of hope. Relieved that everyone is safe. Apple will be donating to the rebuilding efforts to help restore Notre Dame’s precious heritage for future generations.🇫🇷
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 16, 2019
Cook did not indicate how much Apple will donate to the efforts. Less than 24 hours after the fire, French billionaires and other companies have already pledged over $450 million to help rebuild Notre Dame.
macOS 10.15 will have a new feature that allows users to send any window of any app to an external display, according to 9to5Mac's Guilherme Rambo. The external display can supposedly be a monitor connected to the Mac or even an iPad.
Luna Display
The report claims this functionality will be accessible via a new menu that can be opened by hovering over the green "maximize" button in a Mac app window for a split second. The menu is expected to provide options for making windows full-screen, tiling windows, and moving windows to external displays.
The feature, codenamed "Sidecar," is said to be similar to the Luna Display hardware solution that turns an iPad into a second display for the Mac.
Users with an iPad that supports Apple Pencil will be able to draw with the Pencil when the iPad is being used as an external display for the Mac, effectively "turning the iPad into a Wacom-like tablet," according to the report.
The report claims Apple is also working on options that will allow windows to be easily snapped to one side of the screen.
Japanese electronics maker Yamaha has announced that it will be rolling out AirPlay 2 support to 15 of its current home audio products, including a sound bar, wireless speakers, and receivers, starting later this month.
The rollout will begin in late April and includes the following products:
Users will be automatically prompted to install the firmware update via Yahama's MusicCast Controller app for iOS devices.
AirPlay 2 will allow for Yamaha's home audio products to work with other AirPlay 2-enabled devices, such as the HomePod, Apple TV, and Sonos speakers, complete with multi-room audio syncing. AirPlay 2 devices can also be controlled with Siri and appear in the Home app across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch.
Additionally, starting today, over 70 Yamaha audio products will gain support for Actions on Google through an update to the MusicCast app, enabling voice control of compatible Yamaha devices via Google Assistant, either using the Google Home or an Android or iOS device with the Google Assistant app.
Huawei said on Tuesday it has not held talks with Apple about supplying 5G chips for future iPhones, just a day after its founder admitted it was "open" to doing so (via Reuters).
"We have not had discussions with Apple on this issue," Huawei's rotating Chairman Ken Hu said on Tuesday, adding he looked forward to Apple's competition in the 5G phone market.
Last week we covered a report suggesting that the Chinese tech firm might be interested in supplying the next-generation modem chips to Apple. The rumor was later confirmed on Monday, when CNBC published an interview with Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei in which he said the same thing.
The Chinese tech firm develops its own components including processors and modem chips, but has previously refused to supply them to third-parties, making its self-declared openness to sell to Apple all the more notable.
However, Apple has expressed no interest in using Huawei tech, despite potential suitability for Apple devices. That could be related to Huawei's dispute with the U.S. government, or perhaps Apple's own accusations that the firm uses "dubious tactics" to steal trade secrets.
Apple is rumored to be struggling in its plans to support 5G technology, with plans to introduce a 5G iPhone in 2020 stymied by partner Intel's inability to meet its own production timeline.
Switching to Qualcomm 5G chips instead seems increasingly unlikely, given Apple's ongoing legal battle with the company. Meanwhile, Apple has been in talks with Samsung and MediaTek about making 5G chips for 2020 iPhones, but there's no word on how discussions have been going.
Apple is also working on its own LTE chip designs for future iPhones, but that technology is not expected to be ready to ship until 2021.
The Procreate app for iOS was today updated to version 4.3, introducing several major features that enable new text manipulation abilities within illustrations, as well as general speed and performance improvements.
Users of the popular illustration app for iPad can now add editable typography to their illustrations, while precision sliders make it possible to refine spacing and alignment, and rasterize the results to finish.
This release also introduces the ability to drag and drop fonts into Procreate, while new layer export options allow you to share layers as folders containing PNG images, a multi-page PDF, or an animated GIF.
Elsewhere, there's new pressure smoothing settings to enhance strokes, and new layer blend modes including Darker/Lighter Color, Vivid Light, Linear Light, Pin Light, Hard Mix and Divide.
Procreate 4.3 is a free update for existing users. New users can download Procreate from the App Store for $9.99. [Direct Link]
Facebook will discontinue its peer-to-peer payments feature for Messenger users in the United Kingdom and France on June 15, the company announced on Tuesday (via TechCrunch).
The social network sent out notices to users of the service in the two countries informing them of the decision, adding that they would continue to be able to make charitable donations through Facebook itself. A note on the company's online help center reads:
"On 15 June 2019, we will discontinue P2P services on Messenger or through Facebook messages for all residents in the UK and France. While you won't be able to exchange money with friends and family, you'll still be able to complete other transactions through Facebook, such as making donations to charitable organisations."
Facebook's Messenger instant payments service originally launched in 2015, but wasn't available to users outside of the United State until November 2017, when it began rolling out in the U.K. It appears that the service will continue to remain active in the U.S. for now, despite the pullback in Europe.
Facebook offered no reason for its decision to end the payments service in the two countries, although the company is reportedly working on its own cryptocurrency that could enable people to send money to each other over the social network.
Apple has agreed to open a new 20,000-square-foot retail store in the heart of Knightsbridge, one of London's most luxurious shopping areas, according to local media.
Proposed development in Knightsbridge, London (Image via Chelsfield)
Citing property sources, The Evening Standard reports that Apple has signed a deal with Chelsfield, the property asset manager overseeing a makeover of The Knightsbridge Estate, to secure retail lettings between high-end department stores Harrods and Harvey Nichols.
The transformation of The Estate as a whole is expected to deliver a mix of new "world-class" retail accommodation, including six flagship stores, 66,000 square feet of Grade A offices, 35 rental apartments around an internal courtyard garden, and a rooftop restaurant.
The landmark development is currently surrounded by a public artwork installation called "The Knights of Knightsbridge" to conceal construction.
Apple has five retail locations in the English capital, including flagship stores Regent Street and Covent Garden, which reopened late last year following a three-month renovation.
Every year, Apple provides free scholarships to students and STEM organization members who don't have the $1,599 necessary to purchase a ticket to the Worldwide Developers Conference.
For Apple's 2019 WWDC event, scholarship applications were accepted from March 14 to March 24, with Apple promising to notify winners on April 15. April 15 has rolled around and emails are going out to those who were chosen to receive a scholarship now that Apple has reviewed the submissions.
Apple is offering 350 scholarships in total, which will include a WWDC ticket, free lodging, and a one-year membership to the Apple Developer Program.
🎊 I've won a #WWDC19 Scholarship! 🎊 Whether or not you were accepted, it was a great learning experience, and it was tons of fun chatting and having fun in the #WWDCScholars chat pic.twitter.com/ccn35lxIQ8
— Julian Schiavo (@justJS_dev) April 15, 2019
Apple asked scholarship applicants to create an interactive Swift Playground able to be experienced within three minutes. Like last year, submissions were judged applications based on technical accomplishment, creativity of ideas, and content of written responses on the accompanying application.
Apple held its developer ticket lottery in March and notified developers who won a full price ticket on March 21.
At this year's WWDC event, Apple is expected to debut iOS 13, macOS 10.15, tvOS 13, and watchOS 6 at a keynote event set to be held on June 3. WWDC 2019 will take place from June 3 to June 7 at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California.
Scholarship students and developers who were not chosen to attend the event will be able to follow along with the conference using the WWDC app and developer website.
Some publishers who have joined Apple News+ are unhappy with the launch of the service and have shared details on some "early headaches" with media site Digiday.
When encouraging publications to sign up, Apple promised design resources and templates for customizing content for the Apple News format, but as it turns out, Apple is shutting out some smaller publications and "playing favorites" with larger publishers.
All participating publishers have been provided with an email address for sending pitches for design help, but a smaller group of publishers has been provided with access to a private Slack channel.
But a smaller, select group of publishers were invited to join a private Slack channel where they could connect with Apple more directly, a move that exasperated several sources when they were informed of the channel's existence. "They're basically playing favorites," that first source said. "It always seems to be good for the big guys, but not for the rest of us."
Apple has not provided Apple-designed article or content templates to publishers and has "largely outsourced" templates to vendors, which has resulted in bugs and other issues, along with much more work for publishers.
Magazine publishers need to use tools to scan PDFs and convert them into individual articles and advertisements, but the technology is said to be so buggy that each issue needs to be "effectively copy- and design-edited all over again."
Smaller magazines that don't have the resources for these full redesigns need to either invest time and money anyway or submit a PDF instead. A lot of the content within Apple News+ at the current time is PDF-based, which does not make for the greatest user reading experience.
Publishers are also said to be frustrated with the "uneven user experience" in Apple News with the split between PDFs and the new Apple News format. "You think of Apple, and they're so design-conscious," said one publisher. "This doesn't feel like that at all."
According to Digiday, the publishers that it spoke to said that the flaws in Apple News+ do not "bode well for its long-term future" unless Apple adapts its approach and makes some key changes to the service.
Apple News+ users have also expressed frustration with the service, and at MacRumors we've heard numerous complaints from Apple customers confused by the unintuitive user interface and unhappy with the lack of features.
Amazon is in talks to launch a free, ad-supported music service, reports Billboard. Amazon currently offers an Amazon Music Unlimited service with 50 million songs and a Prime Music service, which offers up around 2 million songs to Amazon Prime members.
Amazon Prime costs $119 per year, while Amazon Music Unlimited is priced at $9.99 per month. Prime Members have low-cost access to Amazon Music Unlimited, as Amazon charges a discounted $7.99 per month price for those who want to listen on any device or $3.99 per month for those who only listen on an Amazon Echo. Amazon does not currently offer free listening options.
According to Billboard, the new ad-supported music service will join Amazon's existing services and will be marketed through the company's voice-activated Echo speakers. Like Prime Music, it will have a limited catalog.
Offering a free ad-supported music tier would put more competitive pressure on Spotify, one of the few music services that has a free music option. Other competing services, such as Apple Music and Tidal, are subscription only and do not offer free ad-supported listening.
To score deals with some record companies, Amazon is offering to pay per stream, regardless of how much advertising is sold.
Spotify uses its free music tier to draw in new paying subscribers. Spotify has around 116 million free listeners and 96 million paying customers, while Apple Music, a major Amazon and Spotify competitor, has 56 million paying subscribers. Amazon has not provided details on how many paying subscribers it has, but estimates have suggested the total might be somewhere around 20 million.
Amazon could be planning to launch its new ad-supported free streaming music service as soon as next week.
Apple this afternoon shared a new video in its ongoing "Shot on iPhone XS" series, this time focusing on the Maldives Shark Research Programme, a charity focused on whale shark research and community-focused conservation efforts.
The eight minute long video features underwater shots of whale sharks and the researchers that are studying them, as well as providing insights into how researchers use Apple products to further their conservation goals.
In addition to showing off the iPhone, the MacBook Pro and iPad also make an appearance.
While the video was captured entirely on the iPhone, Apple says that some additional equipment was used, including the Freefly Movi Cinema Robot, the FiLMiC Pro App, the AxisGO Water Housing, and a Beastgrip.
Apple has shared many "Shot on iPhone" videos and photos over the course of the last several years, including one in the same vein that was recently captured in Cuba.
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Twitter today 
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