MacRumors


Steven Troughton-Smith today shared new evidence in iOS 12 that Apple is close to launching an iPad with Face ID.

The well-known developer discovered an iPad-ready implementation of AvatarKit, the software framework that Apple's Animoji feature relies on.

avatarkit ipad ios 12


Previously, only the iPhone X firmware has included the AvatarKit framework, which requires a TrueDepth camera to perform real-time face tracking, so the fact that Apple has included it in the iOS 12 beta offers another indication that an iPad with similar hardware is just around the corner.

The first hints in iOS 12 that Apple is readying a new-look tablet came in the form of tweaked iPad gestures that are similar to gestures on the iPhone X. These point to next-generation tablets with a notch-style layout with a TrueDepth Camera System and no Home button.

Indeed, rumors suggest Apple is working on a new high-end iPad Pro for release this year that will adopt many of the design elements that the company introduced with the iPhone X.

The device is said to feature slimmer edges, a faster processor, a custom Apple-built GPU, and the all-important TrueDepth camera with support for Face ID facial authentication.

ipadproconcept

iPad Pro concept by Álvaro Pabesio

Taiwanese site Economic Daily News has suggested Apple will introduce an iPad Pro with a display that measures in at approximately 11 inches, which is in line with reports suggesting the device could have slimmer bezels.

The thinking behind this is that a new iPad Pro could include the larger screen size without increasing the physical dimensions of the tablet.

According to Bloomberg, Apple is said to be aiming to introduce the new iPad "a little more than a year" after the last iPad Pro update, suggesting it will see a launch sometime around September of 2018.

TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims the iPad Pro will be released sometime in the third quarter of 2018, which also indicates a September launch.

Related Roundup: iPad Pro
Buyer's Guide: iPad Pro (Neutral)

Facebook has announced it is shutting down three apps that the company either launched itself or acquired from other companies over the last four years.

"Moves", "tbh", and the Android-only "Hello" all face the chop as part of the company's latest app cull. Facebook says the apps are being shuttered because of low usage.

moves main

Activity tracking app Moves was popular at the time of its acquisition

Fitness tracking app Moves was bought in 2014 from Helsinki-based company ProtoGeo Oy for an undisclosed amount. The app records daily activity, including walking, cycling, and running. Moves will shut down on July 31.

British-based Midnight Labs sold its anonymous teen social media app tbh to the social network in 2017 for an undisclosed sum, although TechCrunch reported that the price paid was likely less than $100 million.

Facebook says all user data associated with the apps will be deleted within 90 days following shutdown.

We regularly review our apps to assess which ones people value most. Sometimes this means closing an app and its accompanying APIs. We know some people are still using these apps and will be disappointed — and we'd like to take this opportunity to thank them for their support. But we need to prioritize our work so we don’t spread ourselves too thin. And it's only by trial and error that we'll create great social experiences for people.

Facebook's last app cull came in August 2017, when it removed two standalone apps from the iOS App Store: the high school chat app "Lifestage" and community-focused gathering place "Groups".

Apple today updated its investor relations page to announce that it will share its earnings results for the third fiscal quarter (second calendar quarter) of 2018 on Tuesday, July 31.

The earnings release will provide a look at continued sales of the iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus, along with data on how well the new low-cost 9.7-inch iPad is doing.

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Apple's guidance for the third fiscal quarter includes expected revenue of $51.5 to $53.5 billion and gross margin between 38 and 38.5 percent. Based on those guidance numbers, Apple will beat its Q3 2017 earnings results.

Apple's quarterly earnings statement will be released at 1:30 p.m. Pacific/4:30 p.m. Eastern, with a conference call to discuss the report taking place at 2:00 p.m. Pacific/5:00 p.m. Eastern. MacRumors will provide coverage of both the earnings release and conference call on July 31.

Tags: AAPL, Earnings

Some third-party email providers that work with services like Gmail are letting their employees read customer emails to create new and optimized software tools, according to an article warning about third-party email apps and services published today by The Wall Street Journal.

Return Path, a service for email marketers that has 163 app partners, two years ago allowed its employees to read approximately 8,000 full customer emails to train the company's software.

edisonmail
Similarly, Edison Software, a company that makes the Edison Mail app for iOS, had employees read the emails of hundreds of users to craft a new "smart replies" feature.

According to The Wall Street Journal, neither company asked users for specific permission to read their emails, but have said the practice is covered in their user agreements. Employees who read the emails were governed by "strict protocols," and in Edison's case, user information was redacted.

Edison, Return Path, and other third-party email services also use computer scanning to analyze emails, a common practice. For its article, The Wall Street Journal interviewed over two dozen current and former employees from email and data companies.

Google no longer scans the inboxes of Gmail users itself as of last year for privacy reasons, but it continues to allow third-party software developers to do so. Other email services, like Yahoo and Microsoft, are similarly impacted, providing access with user consent.

Return Path, Edison, and other developers of apps that work with Gmail and similar email services don't appear to have misused customer information, but many customers are likely to be concerned about the fact that employees at some email companies are reading their emails. Many customers are also likely unaware they're consenting to such practices when signing up for a third-party email app.

In a written statement, Google said that it provides data to outside developers who have been vetted and who have been granted permission by users to access their email. Google says its own employees read emails only in "very specific cases where you ask us to and give consent, or where we need to for security purposes, such as investigating a bug or abuse."

As The Wall Street Journal points out, customers should be wary of email apps because Google does not have strong consumer protections in place when it comes to email. It's a simple process to build an app that connects to Gmail accounts, and with permission to access the Gmail inbox granted, a developer can see the entire contents of the inbox. It's not just large corporations that are able to get to this data - Google also gives permission to one-person startups, and data privacy protections can vary.

Customers concerned with how their emails are handled by third-party apps should stick with first-party apps such as Gmail or Inbox by Gmail for Gmail users and/or take a close look at the app's privacy policies and ask further questions about data usage.

Instagram today launched a new "You're All Caught Up" feature, which is designed to let users know when they've viewed all new posts from the last 48 hours.

Instagram has not used a chronological feed for several years now and it can be difficult to tell when all content has been viewed, something the new feature, which has been in testing since mid-May, should fix.

instagramallcaughtup

Today, you'll start noticing a "You're All Caught Up" message when you've seen every post from the last two days. We've heard that it can be difficult to keep track of your seen posts. With this message, you'll have a better understanding of your Feed and know you haven't missed recent photos or videos.

Below the "All Caught Up" message, Instagram will display posts that have already been viewed as well as posts that are older than two days old. The feature is rolling out on both iOS and Android starting today.

In related news, TechCrunch says Instagram and Facebook are testing new Do Not Disturb features that will let people turn off notifications from the social networks for 30 minutes, one hour, two hours, eight hours, one day, or until they're turned back on manually.

Instagram and Facebook declined to comment on the possible new feature, and it's not clear when it might roll out.

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

Apple's 2018 iPhones are expected to include a new 6-core A12 processor, and the A12, like all of Apple's processor iterations, is expected to bring speed and efficiency improvements. A new benchmark taken from a 2018 iPhone may give us some insight into just how much faster the new A12 is than the A11 in the iPhone X, provided the benchmark is legitimate.

Uploaded to Geekbench 4 on June 27 (via French site iGeneration), the benchmark for the 2018 iPhone suggests a single-core score of 4673 and a multi-core score of 10912.

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Comparatively, the iPhone X with an A11 processor features a single-core score of 4206 and a multi-core score of 10128, indicating the new A12 chip will be approximately 10 percent faster than the A11 chip when it comes to both multi-core and single-core performance.

Compute scores for the 2018 iPhone were also included, and it features a Metal score of 21691. Compared to the iPhone X's Metal score of 15234, the result suggests GPU improvements.

2018iphonegeekbenchmetal
We don't know which of the three iPhones was benchmarked using Geekbench 4, but so far, rumors suggest that all three will use the same A12 chip. The iPhone is labeled "11,2," and it is running a version of iOS 12.

Notably, the benchmarked device appears to include 4GB RAM, up from 3GB RAM in the iPhone X. Well-respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has suggested the two OLED iPhones coming in 2018 will feature 4GB RAM while the lower-priced LCD model will continue to feature 3GB RAM, suggesting the benchmark may pertain to one of the OLED models.

We can't confirm the veracity of the benchmark because it's not impossible to fake these results, but early benchmarks do sometimes pop up in the months ahead of a new device's release because there are prototype iPhones being tested by Apple employees who may have opted to run the Geekbench 4 app.

We asked Geekbench founder John Poole about the results, and he said there was nothing "obviously wrong" that stood out, but he did warn that he had not yet had time to dig into the scores.

Apple in 2018 is rumored to be introducing three new iPhones, all of which will feature upgraded processors, faster LTE speeds, a TrueDepth camera system, slimmer bezels, and no Home button, as Apple is transitioning to an all Face ID lineup. We're expecting a 5.8-inch OLED that's identical in design to the current iPhone X (but perhaps with a new gold color), a larger 6.5-inch OLED device that can be thought of as an "iPhone X Plus," and a 6.1-inch LCD device that will be available at a lower price point.

The two OLED devices are expected to include better camera technology, with Apple sticking to dual-cameras for those iPhones. The LCD device, meanwhile, may only feature a single-lens camera.

Related Forum: iPhone

Apple today seeded the fifth beta of an upcoming iOS 11.4.1 update to developers, one week after seeding the fourth beta and over a month after releasing iOS 11.4, an update that introduced AirPlay 2 and Messages in iCloud.

Registered developers can download the new iOS 11.4.1 beta from Apple's Developer Center or over-the-air once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Developer Center. Public beta testers can get the beta over-the-air once the proper profile has been installed from Apple's beta testing website.

ios1141beta
No new features were discovered in the first four iOS 11.4.1 betas, suggesting it focuses on bug fixes and performance improvements to address issues discovered since the release of iOS 11.4.

We'll update this post should we discover any new features in the fifth iOS 11.4.1 beta, but we're not expecting major changes now that Apple has shifted its focus to iOS 12, which is also available to developers for beta testing purposes.

Related Forum: iOS 11

Apple today seeded the fifth beta of an upcoming macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 update to developers for testing purposes, one week after seeding the fourth 10.13.6 beta.

The new macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 beta can be downloaded through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store with the proper profile installed.

macos hs beta
We don't yet know what improvements the sixth update to macOS High Sierra will bring, but it likely focuses on bug fixes and performance improvements for issues that were not able to be addressed in macOS High Sierra 10.13.5.

No feature changes were discovered in the first four macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 betas, but we'll update this post if new features or notable bug fixes are discovered in the fifth beta.

Work on macOS High Sierra is wrapping up, with Apple now shifting focus to the next-generation version of macOS, macOS 10.14, which was unveiled at the Worldwide Developers Conference in early June.

Related Forum: macOS High Sierra

In watchOS 5, you can rearrange the Control Center to put the Control Center features that you use at the top, so they're quicker to access when you swipe up on your Apple Watch.

Unfortunately, there's no way to remove features you don't often use, but you can bury those less desirable options at the bottom of the menu.

  1. Bring up the Control Center by swiping upwards on the Apple Watch's display from the watch face.
  2. Scroll down to the bottom.
  3. Select "Edit."
  4. While the Control Center icons are wiggling, use a finger to pull an icon out of its position and then drag it into a new one.applewatchcontrolcenteredit
  5. When finished, tap "Done."

That's all there is to it. It's a simple little function that you might not think to look for, but it can be handy if there are Control Center features that you use on a regular basis because you're able to get to them more quickly.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)

A few weeks after our last offer, MacRumors has again partnered with Anker to offer our readers up to 40 percent off eight of Anker's iPhone and iPad charging products. The savings target two lightning cables, a Qi-compatible wireless charger, a wall charger, a car charger, and three portable battery packs, two of which have high-capacity batteries and dual USB-C/USB-A support for the latest MacBooks.

macrumors anker exclusive july 2018
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.

As usual, Anker's discounts are offered on Amazon, so once you find an accessory that you're interested in you can add it to your cart, proceed to checkout, enter the relevant promo code into the Gift cards & promotional codes field, and then click "Apply." Discount prices in this article don't include taxes or shipping costs, but Amazon Prime subscribers can get the typical free two-day shipping on their orders.

Check out every Anker item on sale in the list below, and be sure to place orders this week as this sale is a bit shorter and will last from today, July 2, through Sunday, July 8. (Note that only one code can be used per order, so if you'd like to order more than one type of item, you'll need to place separate orders.)

Portable Chargers

anker july sale 9

Lightning Cables

anker july sale 2

Car, Wireless, and Wall Chargers

anker july sale 11

You can also head over to our full Deals Roundup for more of the latest discounts and sales happening this week.

Related Roundup: Apple Deals
Tag: Anker

Recent rumors and CAD renderings have suggested Apple may be planning to include an 18-watt USB-C charger and a Lightning to USB cable in the box with its iOS devices later this year, allowing for faster charging without requiring users to purchase separate charging accessories at additional cost.

apple 18w charger side
New photos shared by Chongdiantou (via Mac Otakara) show what is claimed to be an engineering prototype of the actual U.S. version of the charger, although their legitimacy cannot be confirmed.

apple 18w charger port
The design of the charger is generally in line with previous renderings, featuring a compact body in the style of Apple's 5-watt charger that has always been included in the box with iPhones. The design otherwise simply includes a pair of prongs on one side and a USB-C port on the other end. The charger does, however, appear somewhat fatter than depicted in the original leaked rendering.

apple 18w charger prongs
Text on the charger is somewhat different from Apple's usual markings, although this may be due to its prototype nature. The text lists the charger with a model number of A1720, in line with Apple's numbering scheme, and it confirms the charger offers output up to 5V at 3A (15W) or 9V at 2A (18W).

Apple is rumored to be including the more powerful charger with its new iPhones coming later this year, but it would make sense to also include it with upcoming iPad models, which have traditionally included 10–12W adapters.

Related Forum: iPhone

AT&T's live TV streaming service DirecTV Now will increase the price of every subscription tier by $5 per month beginning sometime around August 1, 2018. AT&T confirmed the price hike to CordCutters, stating that the move was made to ensure that the cost of DirecTV Now remains "in line with the market."

directv now apple tv 4k offer
The company is referencing the cost of rival services Hulu with Live TV, which started at $40/month, and YouTube TV, which recently raised to $40/month to compete with Hulu. Now, DirecTV Now's entry-level "Live a Little" plan is raising from $35/month to $40/month, aligning with the competition.

In the 18 months since our launch, we have continued to evolve our DIRECTV NOW products to serve this new customer set and compare favorably with our competitors. To continue delivering the best possible streaming experience for both new and existing customers, we're bringing the cost of this service in line with the market—which starts at a $40 price point.

Above the basic plan, "Just Right" will increase from $50/month to $55/month, "Go Big" will increase from $60/month to $65/month, and "Gotta Have It" will increase from $70/month to $75/month. While some emails sent out to customers reference an August 1 start date for the new prices, some users have noted earlier dates.

Although unconfirmed, AT&T's $15 credit for Unlimited cellular plan users should still apply to the new DirecTV Now prices. With the price hike, this means that these users will pay $25/month for the "Live a Little" DirecTV Now plan.

The email messages also remind users of upcoming enhancements to DirecTV Now, including an option to upgrade from 20 hours of the True Cloud DVR Beta to 100 hours, parental controls, more local channels, and more. Coming sooner will be an option to add a simultaneous third stream to a plan and a new Spanish language and sports package.

Sling TV also increased a plan price recently, requiring Sling Orange subscribers to pay $25/month for its entry-level tier, up from $20/month.

A British advertising regulatory body has overruled objections to an Apple television ad in which the company claims iPhone X is capable of "studio quality" portraits (via AppleInsider).

The TV ad in question, which began airing in March, showcases the smartphone's "radically new cameras with Portrait Lighting" and uses the phrasing, "Studio-quality portraits. Without the studio."

iphone x portraits ad
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) was compelled to review two complaints filed by viewers "who believed that the phone could not achieve studio quality photography, and challenged whether the claim 'Studio-quality portraits' was misleading and could be substantiated."

In overruling the objections, the ASA said it had "considered consumers would understand the term 'studio-quality portraits' to mean that the lighting effects on the phone allowed the user to imitate a portrait photograph when taken in a studio".

We acknowledged that the camera on the iPhone X featured a focal lens commonly found in studio photography and understood that the images shown in the ad were photographs taken with the phone. We considered that the lighting effects that could be used when capturing and after having captured an image allowed the user to mimic a photograph similar to those taken in a studio.

We recognized that there were many effects, techniques and tools used in studio photography which played a vital role in capturing high standard images, many of which were not available to someone solely using the iPhone X. However, we recognized the emphasis was placed on the significance of the lighting effects on achieving the quality of image the ad demonstrated, and we understood that those images shown were a true reflection of the capabilities of the iPhone X’s camera. For those reasons, we concluded that the ad was not misleading.

In Apple's response to the finding, the company pointed out that there was no industry standard definition of "studio-quality portraits" and that there "were wide variances between techniques, equipment, lighting and talent," which led it to understand the term as a subjective one.

Apple stated that the 50 mm focal lens in the iPhone X was one of the most popular professional studio portrait lenses and the lighting options available on the phone mimicked what could be done in a studio.

Clearcast stated that they met Apple at the time the product was released for a demonstration of the product and found that the images in the ad were a fair reflection of the camera’s capabilities. They stated that “Studio-quality” was not an official, measurable term and that the quality of the photographs, to some extent, depended on the skill of the photographer.

This isn't the first time the British watchdog has looked at viewer complaints regarding Apple ads. In 2008, Android users took umbrage at an Apple ad that claimed "all parts of the internet are on the iPhone".

The reasoning behind the complaints was that Java and Flash content aren't supported on iPhone, therefore the claim was misleading. The complaint was upheld and the ad was banned in the U.K., as was another Apple ad that was adjudged to have exaggerated the speed of the iPhone 3G.

Tag: Ads
Related Forum: iPhone

Drake's fifth album, Scorpion, has surpassed the artist's own single-day streaming record on Apple Music, with over 170 million streams in its first 24 hours of availability.

drake scorpion
Apple told The Verge that Scorpion now holds both the U.S. and global streaming records for the company's streaming service, and the debut is the biggest ever single-day streaming total for any album on any streaming service.

Drake's last album, More Life, held the previous record with 89.9 million streams in its first day. It also set records on Apple's Beats 1 radio service, marking the biggest Beats 1 show in its history at the time.

Apple promoted the artist's latest release by launching a site that lets visitors make their own Scorpion album cover art with personal photos. The company also made sure Siri had something to say when fans asked the virtual assistant what Drake's nicknames are.


Scorpion appeared on almost 30 of Spotify's popular playlists, but the rival service was still unable to keep up with the Apple Music's streaming figures for the album, despite it having around 120 million fewer subscribers than Spotify.

According to Spotify's public charts, the album was streamed over 132 million times in its first 24 hours, but Spotify said that number could end up being higher once it finishes tallying the results.

Scorpion is expected to shatter the single-week streaming record of 431 million streams currently held by Post Malone's Beerbongs & Bentleys.

WhatsApp rolled out an update over the weekend that introduces a useful new administrator setting to the popular messaging platform to make group chats more functional.

Essentially, the new setting allows group chats to be set up so that only approved admins are able to send messages to the group, which should help prevent important information from being lost in a hail of messages from group members.

whatsapp group chat
WhatsApp says the feature is intended for certain use cases where groups are used to receive important announcements, including parents and teachers at schools, community centers, and non-profit organizations.

To enable the setting in WhatsApp, tap Group Settings -> Send Messages and select Only Admins.

Facebook-owned WhatsApp has focused on improving the group chat experience over the last few months, introducing group descriptions, a catch-up feature, and protection for users who are being added repeatedly to groups they've left.

Popular iOS photography app Darkroom received a major update today, introducing a long list of app-wide improvements, a new Frames tool, a premium filter pack, and more.

The new Frames tool, which marks Darkroom's first top-level tool addition in three years, offers up content-aware frame colors. Content-aware color allows the frames tool to analyze the colors in your photograph and generate a set of frame colors that will match your image.

darkroomframes

The color of the frame itself is hugely impactful to how the viewer's eye perceives colors in your photos. That's why we added content-aware colors which automatically analyze the photo and pick a curated set of colors that perfectly match your photo. This ensures you always have frame colors to pick from with just a tap, that will fit the mood of your photo seamlessly.

Support has also been added for the 9:16 aspect ratio for Snapchat and Instagram stories, as well as 4:5 for Instagram portrait photos. 2:1 has also been included, and all of the frame aspects can be used when exporting a single image or multiple images.

Also included in today's update is a new premium filter pack, Duotone Filters. Darkroom says these filters are designed to be "extremely graphical and punchy," to make photos "feel like they popped right out of a magazine."

New privacy tools have been added to allow users to enable or disable embedded location information when exporting photos. The option will let location be included on your phone for captured photos, but it gives users the ability to strip it out when publicly sharing photos.

darkroomremovelocation
In addition to these new features, the new version of Darkroom includes app-wide refinements that make the Darkroom editing experience on iOS better. Specifically, "drastic improvements" have been made to how Darkroom handles photos that were previously edited in other apps, with the ability to "gracefully overwrite them."

A full list of changes and updates in Darkroom can be found on the Darkroom website. The Darkroom app can be downloaded from the App Store for free, but unlocking full functionality requires a $7.99 in-app purchase. [Direct Link]

Microsoft is working on a pocket-sized dual-screen Surface device according to information sourced from Microsoft internal documents and shared by The Verge.

Called Andromeda, Microsoft's dual-screen Surface project has been in development for at least two years and it's designed to "blur the lines between mobile and stationary computing," according to an internal document.

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Andromeda rendering via David Breyer

"It's a new pocketable Surface device form factor that brings together innovative new hardware and software experiences to create a truly personal and versatile computing experience," is exactly how Microsoft describes the device internally.

Microsoft's device will feature a wraparound display that bridges the gap of the hinge when it is fully opened, and according to The Verge, December renderings shared by David Breyer are "identical" to the current prototype versions of the upcoming Surface. The pocketable Surface can be folded in either direction or laid flat, as can be seen in the renderings.

microsoftpocketsurface2

Andromeda rendering via David Breyer

Microsoft is said to be experimenting with stylus input for the pocket Surface, with prototype devices equipped with styluses and notepad-like apps for note taking.

The Verge's sources warn that work on Andromeda could be ceased at anytime, but Microsoft is said to have tentative 2018 release date plans, which would mean development on the device is nearing completion.

Some nebulous rumors have suggested Apple too is exploring some similar concepts, working with LG to develop an iPhone with a foldable display. Apple explores many concepts and designs for its devices, so there is likely to be some truth to the rumor.

The folding display technology being developed by LG is still a few years off, so if Apple moves forward with some sort of design that's similar to what Microsoft is working on, we won't be seeing it for several years.

At the current time, Apple is focusing on edge-to-edge displays and making a transition to OLED technology. In fall 2018, Apple is expected to introduce a second-generation 5.8-inch OLED iPhone X, a 6.5-inch OLED device that can be thought of as an "iPhone X Plus," and a 6.1-inch iPhone with an LCD display that will be available at a more affordable price point.

All three devices will feature edge-to-edge displays and no Home button, instead adopting Face ID and the TrueDepth camera system.

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Plex to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a cord-cutting bundle that includes a lifetime Plex Pass, a TV tuner, and an antenna.

Plex, for those unfamiliar with it, is an all-in-one media hub that organizes your entire library of content, from TV shows and movies to music and photos, plus it offers free access to news, support for Podcasts, and, most importantly for those who want to cut ties with cable companies, access to live television.

plexlivetvhardware
To handle all of your own media content, you can set up the Plex Media Server on a Mac, which makes everything you own accessible on all of your devices through the Plex iOS and Apple TV apps, along with Plex apps for consoles, Android devices, and other set-top boxes. You can watch and stream all of your content along with live TV content, news, and more from your Mac to any device, anywhere.

plexdevices
Accessing the Plex Live TV service does not require a cable subscription, and it's relatively simple to set up if you know what to buy.

You'll need a digital tuner and a digital antenna to access HD content from channels that are available for free over-the-air, such as major U.S. networks like ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, the CW, and local programming that includes news and sports. You can enter your zip code on the Plex site to see the channels you can receive over the air in your area.

Plex's website also outlines the exact equipment that is compatible with Plex Live TV, and a tuner will run you about $50 to $150. For our giveaway, Plex is providing a Mac-compatible HD HomeRun Connect Quatro, which lets you watch live TV on up to four devices simultaneously.

plextunerantennahardware
TV tuners need to be paired with an antenna, priced right around $60. Our giveaway includes the ClearStream Flex Amplified Sure Grip Indoor HDTV Antenna, which can be stuck on any flat surface like a window or a wall to receive over-the-air television signals.

All in all, the setup will run you $100 to $200, but after that, you have the tools you need to get cable channels sans paying an exorbitant fee. You will need a Plex Pass subscription for Live TV access, priced at $5 per month, $40 per year, or $120 for a lifetime subscription, but that's cheaper than cable.

That price offers access to all of Plex's premium features, including live TV and the ability to pause and record shows and skip commercials with Plex DVR. All of your DVR content will sync seamlessly with your existing media library, and it can also be played anywhere.

Plex also just recently announced a new live TV grid view, which makes it easier than ever to see what's on and what's available to you, and it's simple to schedule your DVR recordings using either an Apple TV or an iOS device.

plexlivetvschedule
We have one cord-cutting bundle to give away, complete with Mac-compatible tuner and antenna plus a lifetime Plex Pass subscription. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

The contest will run from today (June 29) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on July 6. The winner will be chosen randomly on July 6 and will be contacted by email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before a new winner is chosen.

Tags: Giveaway, Plex