MacRumors

Roland Borsky, an Apple computer repairman in Vienna, Austria, has amassed a private collection of 1,100 Apple computers that he's picked up over the years.

At 1,100 machines, his collection dwarfs the collection of computers at the Apple Museum in Prague, which claims to have the world's biggest private collection of Apple products. "Just as others collect cars and live in a little box to afford them, so it is with me," he said.

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There's little detail on the full extent of his collection, but according to Reuters, Borsky is searching for a buyer as he can no longer afford the rent on the warehouse where the computers are held.

Borsky told Reuters that his business has dried up after Apple opened its first store in Vienna in February, taking over repairs that used to be done by repair firms like his. Parts have also become harder to replace on Apple devices.

Borsky is hoping to find a benefactor who will pay 20,000 to 30,000 euros ($23,000 to $35,000) for his collection and who will put it on display. "I would be pleased if it is simply put on display anywhere... so people can see it," Borsky told Reuters.

Some of his computers are on display in temporary exhibits in Vienna, but he wants to find a permanent home for the equipment.

If he's unable to find a buyer, Borsky fears that his collection could be discarded. "It'll be shredded. That is what bothers me the most because I can't currently rent a storage space that I can afford," he said.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company or TSMC is set to remain one of Apple's most important suppliers in the years to come, according to a note to investors shared today by reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who now works for TF International Securities.

TSMC manufactures the A-Series chips that are used in Apple's iPhones. The company has been Apple's sole supplier for iPhone chips for a few years, and will continue to be Apple's only supplier in 2019 and 2020 for the A13 and A14 chips Apple is expected to use in those devices.

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According to Kuo, Apple will become increasingly dependent on TSMC in the years to come due to TSMC's "superior design and production capabilities" compared to its competitors and the fact that TSMC, unlike Samsung and other Apple suppliers, does not compete with Apple in other markets.

In the future, Kuo believes TSMC will manufacture Apple-designed ARM-based processors for Mac models starting in 2020 or 2021. Rumors have suggested Apple is planning to transition away from Intel chips to its own custom-made chips starting as early as 2020, which Kuo reiterates in today's report.

There are multiple benefits to custom-designed Mac chips, including no delays because of Intel's manufacturing issues, better profits, more control over design, and differentiation from competitors' products.

We also expect that Mac models will adopt Apple's in-house-designed processor starting 2020 or 2021, which will create four advantages for Apple: (1) Apple could control everything about the Mac's design and production and be rid of negative impacts from Intel's processor shipment schedule changes. (2) Better profits thanks to lower processor cost. (3) Mac market share gain if Apple lowers the price. (4) It could differentiate Mac from peers' products.

Kuo also suggests Apple will recruit TSMC to manufacture chips for its upcoming Apple Car starting in 2023 to 2025.

We believe that Apple Car's Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) will support either Level 4 (high automation) or Level 5 (full automation). Only TSMC's 3/5 nm process can meet Level 4 and Level 5 chip requirements.

In an August report, Kuo said that Apple will launch a full Apple Car in 2023 to 2025, reviving rumors about Apple's work on a complete vehicle. Prior to that report, it was believed Apple had shelved plans for a vehicle and was instead focusing solely on autonomous driving software that could perhaps be integrated into partner vehicles.

Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming macOS Mojave 10.14.1 update to developers, a little over one week after seeding the third beta and three weeks after releasing the macOS Mojave update.

macOS Mojave introduces a new method of installing software updates, so after the initial beta has been installed using the appropriate profile from the Developer Center, additional betas can be downloaded through opening up System Preferences and choosing the "Software Update" option.

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The 10.14.1 update includes support for Group FaceTime, a feature that was removed during the beta testing period. Group FaceTime, which lets you chat with up to 32 people at once, is also present in the iOS 12.1 beta.

macOS Mojave 10.14.1 introduces more than 70 new emoji characters that are also available in iOS 12.1 and watchOS 5.1. There are new options for red hair, curly hair, no hair, and gray hair, along with characters to represent superheroes, cold face, party face, pleading face, and face with hearts.

There are a number of new animals and food items like kangaroo, parrot, lobster, mango, lettuce, and cupcake. Tweaks have been made to some existing emoji as well. The iPhone emoji, for example, has been updated to look like the iPhone X with no bezels or Home button.

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We didn't find any other significant new features in the first three developer betas of macOS Mojave, so it's not clear if there are any additional changes. The update likely includes performance improvements and bug fixes for issues that have been discovered since the release of the Mojave update.

Should new features be found in the fourth beta, we'll update this post.

macOS Mojave is a major update that brings features like a systemwide Dark Mode, stacks for organizing messy desktops, new Finder capabilities, new tools for taking screenshots, a Continuity Camera option for easily transferring photo scans and documents from iPhone to Mac, and more. For more on macOS Mojave, make sure to check out our roundup.

Update: Apple has also seeded a new macOS Mojave beta to its public beta testing group.

Related Forum: macOS Mojave

Starting today, when watching Hulu through the Hulu website, Hulu users will be able to use a new Night Mode feature that turns the interface a dark shade.

Hulu's new Night Mode options come just ahead of Halloween and are ideal for the streaming service's Halloween-related content, and it's also a feature that matches well with the Dark Mode introduced in Apple's macOS Mojave update.

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According to Hulu, the Night Mode feature can cut down on eye strain and glare when watching content on a desktop machine via a browser.

Hulu subscribers can enable Night Mode by clicking on their profile icon at the top of the website and selecting the new "Night Mode" option from the dropdown menu.

Night Mode is rolling out today and while it's not yet available for all users on the desktop, it should be coming soon.

Tag: Hulu

SoundCloud today announced that users on the SoundCloud Go+ subscription plan will now gain access to lossless audio streaming at no additional cost.

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SoundCloud Go is the company's enhanced streaming service, with three tiers that start at free with 120 million tracks to stream; $4.99/month with 120 million tracks, offline saving, and ad-free streaming; and SoundCloud Go+ with everything in the previous tiers plus 30 million "premium" tracks and high quality audio.

When you discover a track on SoundCloud, it’s all about connecting as closely as possible to the creator’s sound and vision. With high quality audio streaming now part of your SoundCloud Go+ subscription, you can experience what’s new, now and next in music on a higher level.

High quality audio means that content uploaded to SoundCloud in a lossless format doesn't lose the integrity of its engineered recording and will be available to stream in high quality at 256kbps AAC. Go+ subscribers can opt into this feature in SoundCloud settings > "Streaming quality."

SoundCloud has been expanding its streaming service over the years, launching "The Upload" playlist in May 2017 to personally curate a list of songs for each user. In December 2017, the company debuted a new home screen in the iOS app to further lean into user personalization. The revamped launch screen offers curated recommendations, personalized playlists, and "exclusive culture-focused audio content."

High quality streaming is a feature that has been missing from Apple Music since its launch in 2015, and one that a few of its rivals already have. Tidal launched with "HiFi" streaming as one of its premiere features, offering lossless audio using FLAC at a resolution of 44.1 kHz/16 bit, and further expanding with "Tidal Masters" that has "the highest-possible resolution" of around 96 kHz/24 bit. Tidal's plans with HiFi cost $19.99/month.

You can download the SoundCloud app from the iOS App Store for free [Direct Link].

Apple today is extending its full-featured Data and Privacy portal to the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

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Apple customers in those four countries will now have the option to download a copy of any data associated with their Apple ID account that Apple maintains, such as calendars, reminders, photos, and documents stored in iCloud, purchase histories, Game Center activity, and AppleCare support history.

The portal has been available to customers in the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland since May to comply with Europe's General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR. Apple said the service would be made available worldwide in the coming months, starting with today's expansion.

In the meantime, Apple customers who live in a country or region that's not listed above can still contact Apple to request a copy of their data.

Apple promises to fulfill all portal-based data requests within seven days, and emails customers to let them know it is preparing their data. Read our how-to for step-by-step instructions on requesting a copy of your data.

Update: The data-download option doesn't appear to be available immediately and may take some time to roll out to all users today.

Apple today updated its privacy website to reflect the latest measures it has implemented in iOS 12 and macOS Mojave to protect customers.

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For example, the new page reflects that all apps submitted or updated on the App Store now require a privacy policy, a requirement that went into effect October 3. Apple already required a privacy policy for apps that accessed personal information, but even basic apps that do not share data must have one now.

In iOS 12 and macOS Mojave, Apple's so-called Intelligent Tracking Prevention feature has been improved. Now, when third-party tracking sites attempt to create cookies or store data, they can do so only with your explicit consent.

In macOS Mojave, Apple has made it harder for trackers to create a unique device fingerprint. Meanwhile, automatic strong passwords in Safari on iOS and macOS, which are end-to-end encrypted in iCloud Keychain, make it easier to sign in to sites without using social media logins that can facilitate user tracking.

Apple has also added protections for private data, such as requiring user consent for access to the camera and microphone on macOS Mojave.

Apple has expanded its use of end-to-end encryption to include Group FaceTime and Screen Time on iOS 12, while its use of Differential Privacy now extends to the personalized Memoji features users select to help identify popular features, such as hairstyle, so Apple can expand its choices in the future.

The updated privacy website also indicates that location data sent to nearby emergency services using RapidSOS is deleted after 24 hours.

As always, Apple believes privacy is a "fundamental human right," and aims to "minimize its collection of personal data." Apple says "the customer is not its product," and that its business model "does not depend on collecting personally identifiable information" to help targeted profiles marketed to advertisers.

Apple's privacy page has been updated a week before Apple CEO Tim Cook is set to speak at the 2018 International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners next Wednesday, October 24 in Brussels.

Apple has added 2018 models of the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar to its refurbished store in the U.S. for the first time. Prices are discounted by roughly 15 percent compared to the equivalent brand new models.

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A refurbished base model with a 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, 256GB of flash storage, 8GB of RAM, and Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655 is available for $1,529 in the United States, reflecting savings of $270 off Apple's regular price of $1,799. Available finishes include Silver and Space Gray.

A refurbished maxed-out model with a 2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, 2TB of flash storage, 16GB of RAM, and Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655 is available for $3,139 in the United States, reflecting savings of $560 off Apple's regular price of $3,699. This configuration is currently limited to Space Gray.

A variety of other models, including built-to-order configurations, are currently available. Quantities are limited, however, so we recommend acting fast or using Refurb Tracker to monitor when inventory is replenished.

Apple says refurbished MacBook Pro models are thoroughly inspected, tested, cleaned, and repackaged, including the manuals and cables included in the box. In our view, a refurbished MacBook Pro is virtually indistinguishable from a brand new model, so this represents a good opportunity for savings.

Note that third-party resellers sometimes offer better deals than Apple's refurbished prices, so be sure to monitor our deals roundup.

A refurbished MacBook Pro comes with Apple's standard one-year warranty effective on the date the notebook is delivered. The warranty can be extended to three years from the original purchase date with AppleCare+ for Mac, which costs $269 for the the 13-inch MacBook Pro in the United States.

Apple has also added refurbished 2018 models of the 13-inch MacBook Pro to its Canadian store, also at a 15 percent discount.

Update: 15-inch models are now available as well.

Related Forum: MacBook Pro

The latest Mac mini, introduced on October 16, 2014, is four years old as of this week. For emphasis, it has been 1,462 days since the portable desktop computer was last updated, according to the MacRumors Buyer's Guide.

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The current lineup, still sold on Apple.com, features five-generation-old Intel dual-core Haswell processors with clock speeds up to 3.0GHz. Other tech specs include up to 16GB of LPDDR3 RAM, up to 1TB of flash storage, and the choice of Intel HD Graphics 5000 or Intel Iris integrated graphics. Prices start at $499.

The good news is that the long wait for an update may be coming to an end, as two reliable sources in Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and Apple scoopster Mark Gurman both expect a new Mac mini to be released later this year.

Kuo didn't have a lot of information to share on the Mac mini, but he said a processor upgrade is expected. Gurman revealed more ambitious plans, claiming that the Mac mini is set to receive a "professional-focused upgrade," with new storage and processor options likely to make it "more expensive" than previous models.

It's unclear if the Mac mini will be redesigned, but the new processor options will hopefully include quad-core options at the very least.

Apple is expected to unveil the new Mac mini at a media event later this month, alongside new iPad Pro models with Face ID, updated iMac models, and an all-new MacBook or MacBook Air at the low end of its notebook lineup.

The big question: when will Apple hold its rumored October event? With invites yet to be issued to the media, and with Apple CEO Tim Cook in Belgium next Wednesday, the most likely date for an October event at this point is Tuesday, October 30, two days before its fourth quarter earnings results.

There's a very slim chance that invites go out today or tomorrow for an event next Wednesday or Thursday, with or without Cook appearing on stage, but Apple likely wants the spotlight to be on the iPhone XR until it launches Friday, October 26.

(Thanks, Jason!)

Related Roundup: Mac mini
Buyer's Guide: Mac Mini (Buy Now)
Related Forum: Mac mini

Earlier this year, drone company Skydio introduced its first product, the self-flying R1 drone camera with advanced automation and tracking capabilities.

The R1 was designed to be the first fully autonomous drone, able to work without the need for a person controlling its every movement. Prior to today, using the R1 was as easy as tapping a few buttons in the Skydio iPhone app, and now it's getting even easier.

As of today, the R1 can be directed through a newly introduced Apple Watch app that provides one-tap controls and directives right on your wrist.


The Skydio Apple Watch interface provides quick access buttons to set the R1 to follow you or a friend as well as options for doing tricks and stopping flight. While there are no manual controls available via the wrist, the R1 operates largely on its own. If you do want to control it manually, you'll need to do so through the iPhone app.

MacRumors was able to give the R1 and the new Apple Watch app a try ahead of its launch, and it's as simple as Skydio describes. The R1 detects people in front of it, and with just a tap, it can be set to follow you, where it records everything you're doing as a sort of flying personal camera or photographer.

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The R1 is a hands-off action cam replacement that's fantastic for hiking, biking, skiing, and similar activities where you might want to capture action-oriented video without the hassle of controlling a drone.

What's great about the R1 is that it has complex built-in obstacle avoidance capabilities. We wove it through trees and watched as it artfully dodged trunk after trunk with skill that even some advanced drone pilots would be unable to match.

The R1 is able to avoid obstacles because it's outfitted with 13 cameras that can see in every direction and identify objects like trees, people, cars, and more, using that information to decide what to do and what to avoid.

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Once you set the R1 to auto follow mode, it basically flies itself, and there are some neat tricks that Skydio has programmed into it, such as the Boomerang that sends it flying forwards and backwards to capture a unique video shot.

The Apple Watch app offers up little thumbnails of the people around so you can set it to follow someone (or yourself), and it uses the Digital Crown in a unique way -- a twist of the knob rotates the direction of the drone.

Because it flies on its own, the R1 can do a series of neat little tricks, most of which are executable from the wrist. There are options for Dronie, Rocket, and Orbit, for example.

A Dronie starts close and then zooms out and up for a birds-eye view of a scene, while a Rocket shot starts close and then zooms straight up. An Orbit shot, as the name suggests, spins around you slowly. The Apple Watch app also includes a feature to return the drone to back to its starting place at the iPhone and shut it down, so you can get a full flight from the wrist.

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Skydio's R1 basically flies itself and it needs so little interaction that it's simple to use right out of the box, even for those who have no drone piloting experience. All it takes is an iPhone for setup and it can be controlled with nothing other than the Apple Watch.

The R1 is excellent at obstacle avoidance, but it's still a drone and an expensive one at $1,999, so there are rules to follow. It can't be flown in windy conditions, and its cameras aren't able to detect thin branches as we learned during a crash, so caution needs to be exercised.

Skydio is continually improving the R1 drone with new features and further autonomous research. It's out of the price range of most people who would use it casually at this point in time, and it's not the most portable at the size of a pizza box, but the technology is worth paying attention to because this kind of autonomy could be the future of mass-market drone usage in a few years time.

Along with introducing a new Apple Watch app for controlling the R1, Skydio has additional news. Starting today, the R1 is available on the Apple online store and at select Apple retail locations. It can also be purchased from the Skydio website.

Apple today announced that the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR will be available to customers in additional countries and territories between Friday, October 26 and Friday, November 2.

iphone xs vs xr
Availability information:

  • iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max pre-orders begin Friday, October 19 at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time, with availability beginning Friday, October 26 at 8:00 a.m. local time, in Chile, Colombia, Malaysia, and Thailand.

  • iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max will be available in South Korea and more than 10 additional countries on Friday, November 2.

  • iPhone XR will be available in Israel beginning Thursday, November 1.

  • iPhone XR will be available in Armenia, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Macau, Maldives, Myanmar, Ukraine, and Vietnam beginning Friday, November 2.

As a reminder, iPhone XR pre-orders begin Friday, October 19 at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time in the United States and more than 50 countries, with deliveries to customers and in-store availability beginning Friday, October 26.

The new iPhones can be ordered through Apple.com, or purchased at an Apple Store or authorized resellers where available.

Related Forum: iPhone

Ember today announced that its temperature control mugs will now sync with Apple's Health iOS app, allowing users to track their caffeine consumption throughout the day alongside other Health app statistics. The updated Ember app introduces this Health integration, with features like setting a maximum caffeine intake measurement for the day that will warn users when they near the limit.

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The company explains that users will also be able to use the Health app's information to understand how their caffeine consumption affects other data tracked in Health, like heart rate and sleep patterns. Version 3.0 of the Ember iOS app [Direct Link] is available to download now on the iOS App Store.

"As a design-led brand, we are committed to delivering world class innovation that is as human and intuitive as possible. The updated Ember app with the Apple Health feature will give consumers a simple, easy way to track their caffeine consumption during the day, in order to make more informed decisions about what they are drinking. It's one more step Ember is taking to provide the best experience for coffee and tea lovers."

Ember's mugs allow the user to set a precise drinking temperature to ensure that their coffee or tea remains at the perfect level of heat. Both the Travel Mug and Ceramic Mug support caffeine tracking, favorite drink presets, and integration with the Health app. The Ceramic Mug maintains the ideal drinking temperature for one hour (or all day if set on the charging coaster), while the Travel Mug maintains temperature for two hours (and similarly for all day on a charging coaster).

The Ember iOS app syncs to the mugs, allowing users to set their desired temperature, receive notifications when the temperature is reached, create and customize temperature presets, set timers when making tea, and more. Up to three mugs can be paired with the app at once.

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Additionally, Ember announced that its mugs will be available in select Apple stores starting today, in countries including the United States, Canada, Europe, Hong Kong, Macao, and Singapore. Apple will also gain the new Ember Travel Mug ($149.95) in white as an exclusive on Apple.com and in Apple Stores in the U.S. and Canada. The Ember Ceramic Mug ($79.95) in black will be sold as an exclusive in select Apple stores across Europe, the U.S., Canada, Hong Kong, Macao, and Singapore and on Apple.com.

Tag: Ember

Google has announced it is introducing electric vehicle (EV) charging stations to its Maps coverage, allowing EV drivers to see on the map where they can stop to recharge during their journeys.

google maps charging stations
Searching in Google Maps for keywords like "ev charging" or "EV charging stations" will display the nearest supported stations, including information on the types of ports available, charging speeds, and how many ports there are. However, there's currently nothing to tell you how many ports are currently occupied at a given station.

Typical location information is also provided for EV stations, so you can check out user-posted photos, ratings, reviews, and questions. Businesses that have charging stations will also feature links to information about the chargers.

The types of charging stations Google Maps supports around the world:

  • Global: Tesla, Chargepoint
  • US: SemaConnect, EVgo, Blink
  • UK: Chargemaster, Pod Point
  • AU & NZ: Chargefox

Google says the ability to search for electric vehicle charging stations is rolling out now on Android and iOS devices after users have updated the Maps app, with desktop support launching in the coming weeks.

Google Maps can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

When you use Finder's List view to work with files on your Mac, a glance at the Size column tells you the size of each file, but when it comes to folders in the list, Finder just shows a couple of dashes instead.

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Finder skips showing folder sizes because calculating them takes time – if several folders contained thousands of files, working out the total size would likely slow down your Mac. So while omitting this information can get annoying, it does ensure file browsing in Finder stays snappy.

But what if you want to use List view and still keep an eye on the size of a handful of folders in a specific location – in Documents, for instance, or in a directory synced to a cloud storage service? It might not be obvious, but thankfully it is possible to make Finder calculate folder size when navigating items as a list.

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To do so, open the folder in question, select View -> Show View Options from the menu bar or press the keys Command-J, and check Calculate All Sizes. Finder will now remember your viewing preference for that particular location only.

If you're looking for a more global solution for keeping tabs on folder sizes that will work in any Finder view mode, you might consider enabling the Preview panel. To do this, open a Finder window and select the menu bar option View -> Show Preview, or press the keys Shift-Command-P.

Finder preview mode
In the Preview panel, the size of the selected folder always appears immediately below the folder name. If this is the only folder information you want to see in the Preview panel, you can select the menu bar option View -> Show Preview Options and uncheck all other metadata options.

To be honest though, relying on the Preview panel to keep a check on individual folder sizes isn't a great use of Finder window space. This is where the menu bar option File -> Get Info (or key combo Command-I) can come in helpful. Opening a separate Get Info panel lets you see the size of the item in question, regardless of whether it's a file or a folder.

Finder Get Info 1
The only problem with a Get Info panel is that it only relates to the item you originally selected it for, and every new panel that you open for each additional selected item will hang around on your desktop until you close it manually.

Finder Get Info panels
Fortunately, this inconvenience can be easily solved: Click File in the menu bar and hold the Option key, and Get Info will turn into Show Inspector. Unlike a Get Info panel, the Inspector panel is dynamically updated and will always display information for the active Finder window's currently selected file or folder – including, of course, its size.

To celebrate the 90th anniversary of Mickey Mouse, Apple has introduced special edition Mickey-themed Beats Solo 3 Wireless Headphones.

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Priced at $329.95, the headphones are a gray color with a classic Mickey design. The headphones come with a matching gray felt carrying case, a collectible pin, and a decal sticker.

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Celebrate "The True Original" with Mickey's 90th Anniversary Edition Beats Solo3 Wireless headphones. Keep the magic going with award-winning sound and up to 40 hours of battery life. The cool-gray headphone features Mickey Mouse in the iconic pose seen on classic t-shirts that we all know and love. It also comes with a custom felt case inspired by the materials from Mickey Mouse ear hats, along with a collectible pin and decal sticker to honor the collaboration.

Mickey Mouse made his first appearance on November 18, 1928 to replace Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, one of Disney's original characters. He made his debut in the short Plane Crazy, which was shown in short film Steamboat Willie, and from there, Mickey was in more than 130 films, both short and feature length.

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Mickey Mouse is now one of the most iconic and well-known Disney characters, which is likely why Apple has designed Mickey-themed headphones. The Beats brand has done similar character collaborations in the past and once created Hello Kitty themed Solo Wireless Headphones and UrBeats.


The new Mickey Mouse headphones are listed as "Coming Soon" on Apple's own website, but can be pre-ordered from Amazon. The official launch date on Amazon is listed as November 11, 2018.

appstorelogocleanApple today announced expanded features for App Store bundles, introducing support for both Mac apps and free apps with subscriptions for the first time.

Mac app developers are now able to create bundles of up to 10 apps, allowing customers to purchase multiple Mac apps at once at a discounted price.

Bundles like these have long been available through the iOS app store for purchasing multiple games or apps at one time, but until today, Mac App Store developers were not able to create similar bundles.

Apple is also now allowing app developers to set up bundles that include free apps with auto-renewable subscriptions, letting users purchase an app bundle and access multiple apps at one subscription price.

For free apps with subscriptions, each app in the bundle must have an approved auto-renewable subscription. If a user subscribes in one app, they must be able to access all other apps in the bundle at no additional cost. Learn about offering subscriptions across multiple apps.

Mac App Store developers have long wanted the ability to create app bundles, and the introduction of the feature follows the launch of the revamped macOS Mojave Mac App Store that makes it easier for customers to find and download new Mac apps.

Earlier this year, Signify (formerly Philips) debuted a new range of outdoor Hue lighting products that are designed to bring the iPhone-controlled multi-colored lights that you're used to using inside to the outside.

There are outdoor spotlights, wall lanterns, pathway lights, outdoor bulbs, and for accent lighting, the Hue White and Color Ambiance Outdoor Lightstrip.

hue lightstrip outdoor
Measuring in at 80 inches, the $89 Outdoor Lightstrip is perfect for balconies, patios, backyards, and anywhere else you'd like to add gorgeous and functional accent lighting that's also weatherproof.

Design

I've been using Hue products for years and I have a standard indoor Hue Lightstrip, and when I got the outdoor version, I assumed it'd be similar. It is, in the sense that it's a long string of LEDs, but the similarities end there.

While the indoor Hue Lightstrip features LEDs that are uncovered, for weatherproofing reasons, the outdoor Hue Lightstrip's LEDs are protected by an opaque silicone cover that diffuses the light and looks fantastic.

huelightstripsiliconedesign
I'm a fan of my indoor Hue Lightstrips, but the way the outdoor version diffuses the light is superior, and I wish the indoor models looked like this. Because of the silicone-covered design, the Outdoor Lightstrip doesn't need to be used as background accent lighting, it can be front and center on a pathway, along a railing, on a fence, or in other similar spots.

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The Outdoor Lightstrips are available in 80 or 197 inch configurations. Unlike the indoor version, there is no adhesive involved here. Instead, the Outdoor Lightstrip is made from a flexible material that can be manipulated and shaped into the design that you need. It's not going to fully bend, but it can be routed along a soft curve.

huelightstriporange
Hue's Outdoor Lightstrip is fully weatherproof, so it's going to hold up in rain, snow, and other harsh weather conditions. There are some limitations to be aware of if you live in an area with extreme temperatures, though, because it has an operational range of -4 degrees Fahrenheit to 113 degrees Fahrenheit.

It is a heavy duty setup with a large weatherproof power supply and an extra long two-piece cord, all of which is resistant to rain, dust, and other outdoor elements. I was tempted to use the Outdoor Lightstrip indoors because I loved the look of the diffuse light, but there is a lot of cord to deal with and no option to make it shorter.

huelightstripcablemess
The Outdoor Lightstrip measures in at .78 inches tall and .43 inches wide, so it's slim enough to go just about anywhere. There is no adhesive involved because it likely wouldn't stick outdoors. Instead, Signify supplies mounting brackets and screws that can be used to attach the Lightstrip to a fence, an overhang, or anywhere else.

huelightstriphardware
I live in an apartment so my ability to permanently attach the Lightstrip to an outdoor area is limited, but I did install it on a set of shelves that I have to hold my plants, where it worked brilliantly. With the individual LEDs covered, the Outdoor Lightstrip looks like one continual light strand.

➜ Click here to read more...

Apple this morning added a new "Skyline" collection of Beats Studio 3 Wireless Headphones to its online Apple Store, with a selection of new color options.

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The Skyline Studio 3 Wireless Headphones come in Crystal Blue, Desert Sand, Midnight Black, and Shadow Grey. All of the colors feature gold accents with a gold beats logo and gold band.

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Studio 3 Wireless Headphones feature Apple's Pure Adaptive Noise Canceling technology, designed to block external noise when listening. They are also equipped with an Apple W1 chip that's designed to make it easy to switch between devices when listening, and thanks to the efficiency of the chip, the Studio 3 Headphones last for 22 hours on one charge for all-day listening.

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Like Apple's other Studio 3 Wireless Headphones, the new Skyline collection is priced at $349.95. Skyline Beats are not yet available in Apple retail stores and must be ordered online, but should be arriving in retail locations soon.

Tag: Beats