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Updated Nov 28 with Apple’s Black Friday Deals; Article originally published on November 27.
Taking a look at another week of Cupertino news and headlines, this week’s Apple Loop includes an impressive iPhone 13 leak, curated Black Friday deals, a review of the iPhone 12 Pro Max, a closer look at the MacBook Pro M1. , why you might want to stream the new MacBooks, Apple moved some of the production out of China, the new HomePod Mini Christmas announcement, Apple Watch 6 vs Watch SE, and how COVID-19 has changed smartphones.
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Apple Loop is here to remind you of some of the many discussions that have taken place at Apple over the past seven days (and you can read my weekly Android news roundup here on Forbes).
No more breaches in the latest iPhone 13 leak
Looking ahead, it is clear that the addition of MagSafe wireless charging to the iPhone will be used not only to present a portless iPhone with no nasty gaps to weaken the chassis, but also to provide Apple with a control technology that preserves the spirit of the iPhone. Made for iPhone stamp of approval. Forbes’ Gordon Kelly goes over the details in the latest leak from Front Page Tech Jon Prosser:
“” Not all iPhones next year will be portless, but one will be … the transition is happening, “he explained.” MagSafe is the bridge between lightning and [portless]. It’s also Apple’s way of keeping things proprietary without giving in to something as universal as USB-C ”.”
Read more here on Forbes.
UKRAINE – 10/13/2020: In this photo illustration, a screenshot of Apple’s launch promotion. … [+]
SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images
Selected Black Friday deals (Updated November 28)
With Black Friday here, retailers are offering a number of deep discounts on Apple products. Some that deserve attention
- iPhone SE (64GB) – BestBuy – On sale for $ 199 with a trade-in for iPhone 7 or later; or a qualified activation. Link.
- iPad (32GB) – BestBuy – $ 50 off to $ 280. Link
- iPad (128GB) – BestBuy – $ 70 off to $ 360. Link
- AirPods (includes wireless charger case) – Amazon – $ 50 off to $ 150. Link.
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Apple has also launched its Black Friday / Cyber Monday offer. Over the weekend, any eligible purchases made through the Apple Store will come with a free gift card, worth up to $ 150, depending on what you buy. I’ll pick three …
- $ 50 gift card with the purchase of an iPhone SE, iPhone 11, or iPhone XR.
- $ 100 gift card with the purchase of an Apple TV 4K, Apple TV HD, or Home Pod.
- $ 150 gift card with the purchase of multiple MacBook Pro or iMac models.
Full details on Apple’s offerings can be found here.
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iPhone 12 Pro Max reviewed
With a starting price of £ 1099, the iPhone 12 Pro Max is a great phone in all respects, especially if you bump it up to 512GB of storage. The increased capacity of the camera is one of the main selling points, but it is not the only one. Samuel Gibbs takes a look at the largest iPhone and looks at both looks and performance:
“Thanks to the hard edges, the 12 Pro Max was much easier for me to grasp than its rounded and equally heavy predecessor, the iPhone 11 Pro Max. I could use it with one hand with a bit of finger gymnastics and didn’t suffer from the pain of hand provoking me trying to grab the 11 Pro Max in the form of a bar of soap. “
Read the full review in The Guardian.
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Review of the new MacBook Pro M1
Thanks to the performance of the M1 processor, the new M1-powered Mac machines have garnered critical acclaim in terms of available power and benchmarking during initial reviews. Now that the machines are available for purchase, the second wave of opinion is here and the nuts and bolts of ARM-based Macs are becoming clear. Unsurprisingly, it is no longer black and white. Patrick Moorhead has taken a deep look at the key areas, including emulation, performance, and battery life. Summarize the experience:
“The new MacBook Pro 13 M1 is going to be fine for users who only use Apple software, but for those who want more, I recommend opting for the Intel version for $ 100 more or looking at the much more competitive and diverse Windows-based options. . there.
“In the Windows ecosystem, you can get lighter and more diverse designs, higher resolution displays, touchscreens, LTE and 5G, peripheral and software compatibility, and pay less.”
Read more here.
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The Mac M1 will be the slowest in history
The new MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac Mini machines with M1s may be the fastest game in town (at least if you’re just looking at the Apple ecosystem), but it’s important to remember that these are first-gen products. M1 chips will be the slowest Macs with ARM, and Apple has stuck with the previous Mac design. Noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reports on the upcoming redesign of the external ones in 2021. There is going to be something better next year, as I explained earlier this week:
“It’s worth noting that Kuo’s date of the second half of 2021 would roughly be one year after the Mac M1 was launched. Tim Cook and his team are no longer reliant on chip advancements from Intel to establish the Apple’s release schedule. hardware. With the Axx chips being updated annually to match the hardware version, it would be a reasonable assumption to assume that any Mac hardware released late in the second quarter will pick up the so-called M2 “
Read more here on Forbes.
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iPad and MacBooks move out of China
Foxconn is moving some of the iPad and MacBook assembly lines out of China, at Apple’s request, according to reports this week. The move comes with a nod to rising trade tensions between the US and China, where most of Apple’s products are assembled. Yimou Lee reports:
“Taiwanese manufacturers, wary of being caught up in the tit-for-tat trade war, have relocated or are considering relocating some of China’s production to countries such as Vietnam, Mexico and India.
“Foxconn is building assembly lines for Apple’s iPad tablet and MacBook laptop at its plant in Vietnam’s northeastern Bac Giang province to be online in the first half of 2021, said the person, who declined be identified because the plan was private. “
More on Reuters.
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HomePod Mini for Christmas
Apple’s latest holiday ad has been released. It features rapper Tierra Whack reduced to the size of the HomePod Mini. You also have Academy Award winner Spike Jonze and singer-songwriter FKA twigs in the credits. David Griner reports:
“The ad serves as the brand’s Christmas advertisement for 2020. Whack’s selection as the ad star is reminiscent of Apple’s far-sighted selection of Billie Eilish for its 2018 Christmas runway, shortly before Eilish became a global phenomenon.
“… Apple is known for being a brand with an eye for emerging musical talent, with the spotlight this time on Whack. Two of his songs, Feel Good and Pepper and Onions, appear in the ad. “
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More on AdWeek.
See vs See
Following their promotion as a ‘leading product’ at Apple’s September event, the two Apple Watch models will battle it out this holiday season to become the best-selling wearable device. The Apple Watch SE has the price advantage, while the Apple Watch Series 6 leans more towards features. But which one is better? Chance Millar has the comparison, including the difference in wellness characteristics:
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“Another important differentiator in this comparison is that the Apple Watch Series 6 features several notable health features that are not available on the Apple Watch SE. The main feature of the Apple Watch Series 6 is its blood oxygen sensor, which allows you to monitor your oxygen saturation from your wrist “
More on 9to5Mac.
And finally…
The economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the smartphone ecosystem has been one of the key influences in 2020, but what has it done to the usage patterns of smartphone users? Kantar offers some ideas in his latest report, such as the use of fitness trackers:
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“One activity where behavior has fundamentally changed is the use of fitness tracking apps on smartphones. In the EU5, the use of such apps has seen an average growth of 5% during the lockdown, a trend that has continued even through the third quarter and shows no signs of returning to pre-COVID levels. By contrast, in the US, fitness tracking showed a 7% decline during lockdown and remains lower than pre-COVID levels. “
Read the report on the Kantar website.
Apple Loop brings you seven-day highlights every weekend here at Forbes. Don’t forget to follow me so you don’t miss out on any coverage in the future. Last week’s Apple Loop can be read here, or this week’s issue of Loop’s sister column, Android Circuit, is also available on Forbes.
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