New Macbooks.

At yesterday’s “Hello Again” Media event Apple revealed a new Macbook Pro!

Whatsup with it? For starters, it has a super rad looking integrated “Touch Bar” panel that unlocks new capabilities in apps. The models are thinner, lighter, with a better battery life, upgraded processors, and better displays.

Watch this:

And this:

The price point is a little ouchy – $1,799 in the United States for the entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro model with a Touch Bar, and $2,399 for the 15-inch MacBook Pro models.

Explaining the ouch Vs gain conundrum, straight from the Sauce, Apple exec Phil Shiller –

“Affordability is “absolutely something we care about,” Schiller says. “But we don’t design for price, we design for the experience and the quality people expect from Mac. Sometimes that means we end up at the higher end of the range, but not on purpose, just because that’s what it costs.”

Apple also introduced a new Apple TV app that serves as a TV guide to help users find what to watch, a new Accessibility site, and 4K and 5K monitors from LG.

Apple’s next big event is tomorrow!

Apple’s “Hello Again” Macbook event is tomorrow! How is time moving so fast!? We have no idea, but before you know it we’ll all be introduced to some swanky new MacBooks.

We can also apparently look forward to a new app that will help people JUST like you guys to discover TV shows using content users watch through their Apple TV’s.

Back in 1984 the Macintosh  introduced itself by speaking the words ‘Hello, I’m Macintosh. It sure is great to get out of that bag.’ Tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM PT at Apple headquarters, Apple us holding a special media event entitled “Hello Again”.

Coinkidink? We think not!

The expectation is that we are going to see some pretty nice new MacBook pro’s being revealed – the first models to be designed without input from the late Steve Jobs, which is pretty cray.

So what to expect from the reveal? USB-C ports. Thinner casing. The possibility of no more headphone port, a ‘magic toolbar’ that will replace the entire top row of keys, Touch ID capability, and for the keyboard to span almost the full width of the machine.

These features are building a very solid picture of a very nice machine – but will there be more? Tim? Will there be one more thing?

Time will tell.

Apple delaying launch of Airpods

Back in September when Apple announced their Airbuds, the expected launch date was set for late October. AirPods, powered by Bluetooth and an Apple-designed W1 chip, are entirely wireless with no cords between them.

Unfortunately, this expected release has been delayed. Today, Apple told the good guys over at TechCrunch that they need a little more time before they’re ready for the public release.

From the Sauce:

“The early response to AirPods has been incredible. We don’t believe in shipping a product before it’s ready, and we need a little more time before AirPods are ready for our customers,” an Apple spokesperson said to TechCrunch.

Bummer, but at least they’ll be perfect when they are released…. right guys?

Good Guy Google making sure you have all the information you need to Vote on November 8th!

Goog Guy Google has updated it’s search function in order to make sure you have all the information you need for the upcoming election.

When you search for local polling places or who is on you ballot, a box within the Google search results will appear, asking for your home address. Enter it in, and you’ll be given information to help you become an informed voter.

 
For ballot information, the search results will reflect everything from presidential candidates down to local offices like school board positions. From there, you can click into the individual results to find additional information about candidates.

The DL on iOS 10.

Are you on iOS 10 yet? We here at iPhone Antidote are, and we feel a little discombobulated about the whole thing. It’s kinda same same but different?

Here’s a short little DL on the differences you’ll see in iOS 10.

The biggest areas of difference can be seen in Messages, Photos, Maps, aaaaand the whole press-the-home-button-twice-to-unlock thing. That takes some getting used to, right? Welcome to the history pages slide-to-unlock! But after a while of getting used to it, we’ve decided we like it. Solid.

If you don’t think it’s solid?  Your iPhone can also unlock with Touch ID. Settings > General > Accessibility > Home Button > and then slide Rest Finger to Open to enable.

GUESS WHAT! You can now remove default apps that have no relevance in your life! Buh Bye Home! Just press it till it shakes and press the x to delete.

Now, to access the camera from the lock screen, instead of swiping up,  you now gotta swipe left. Whamm! This one took a couple of days to remember, we’re not going to lie.

If you have an iPhone SE, 6S or 7, you can enable Raise to Wake through Settings>Display & Brightness, which will allow you to turn on the display without pressing any buttons (sometimes buttons are hard, we get it) just by moving the iPhone.

In iMessage, you now get all the fancy shooting star, fireworks, and balloons, yes, but kinda importantly also? You can turn off read receipts for specific people. Booyah. In an iMessage conversation with someone, tap the ‘i’ button on the top right corner. There, you’ll see a slider to turn off send read receipts for that person.

Back to those fireworks for a sec, access them by pressing and holding the up arrow next to your message. You can also draw, send a heartbeat, send a drawn on video, and access stickers and games… it’s cool and there’s a lot to explore.

Also in iMessage, you can double tap a message from someone and auto reply with a heart, thumbs up/down, a ‘ha ha’ exclamation marks or a question mark.

Search Spotlight in iOS 10 by pulling down on the notification shade from anywhere, even with an app opened.

SiriLady now has support and integration for a bunch of apps including Lyft, WhatsApp, Venmo, Pinterest, Uber, LinkedIn, and Square Cash. Check out what other apps she likes in Settings>Siri>App Support.

Lastly, Photos now recognizes a bunch of faces and places and things. Good job Photos!

How are you guys going with iOS 10? Thumbs up or thumbs down? Or heads down thumbs up? Man… we love that game.

Amazon chargers 90% fraudulent

You might have heard of Mobile Star LLC? They sell supposedly genuine Apple chargers on Amazon and Groupon… and they’ve just been sued by Apple. Eep.

Apple believes that they are infringing upon its registered trademarks and copyrights by selling counterfeit 5W USB Power Adapters and Lightning to USB cables.

The main reason behind the lawsuit (according to Apple) is that the fake products are a significant fire safety hazard that may lead to overheating, fire, and electrical shock because of less than adequate insulation and/or spacing between low and high voltage circuits.

The safety of Apple’s customers is kind of a big deal to them, so this all makes sense.

Apple believes that in total, almost 90% of so-called genuine Apple products purchased from Amazon over the last 9 months were counterfeit. Yikes.

Apple is seeking damages of up to $150,000 for each registered copyright infringed, in addition to damages of up to $2 million per trademark infringed. Apple has demanded a jury trial in the case, titled Apple Inc. v. Mobile Star LLC, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

New Macs are coming at our faces!

Apple media invites went out yesterday!

The invite is for an event, as you can see above, that will be held on Thursday, October 27 at 10:00 a.m. at Apple’s Cupertino campus.

The event is expected to focus new Macs, including a new MacBook Pro with it’s first redesign in 4 years, as well as a new Macbook Air.
The new MacBook is said to be thinner and lighter with a wider, pressure-sensitive trackpad, available in the same 13 and 15-inch size options, and feature USB-C with USB 3.1 support for faster transfer speeds, Thunderbolt 3, and Touch ID.

This parts kinda crazy, so hold on to your britches – touch ID is expected to be built into a new OLED touch panel built into the top of the MacBook Pro, where it will replace the physical function key row. This panel is likely to feature contextual buttons that will change based on each app that’s in use.

A 13-inch MacBook Air with USB-C ports has been rumored plenty, but it is not clear if any internal changes will be made.

New iMacs are also rumored.

New concept Apple Stores

You guys wanna know something impressive? Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Retail, was the opening speaker for Fortune’s annual Most Powerful Women Summit.

That’s impressive.

In her speech, she spoke about Apple, how she was recruited back in 2014 (even though she tried to convince Tim Cook that she wasn’t right for the job!) and how she believes that:

“The bigger the company, the bigger the obligation” of that company to do something other than rake in profits.”

She then went into detail about her efforts in opening new Apple next generation retail stores. She explained that she wants the Apple retail stores to function as more than just a retail store, but something that integrates itself and adds to it’s surrounding community.

The new next-generation store designs are based on a town square concept that’s focused less on selling things and more on enriching lives.

For example; Apple wants to teach kids things they can’t learn in school, which is why the retail stores will start hosting Swift programming lessons for kids, teachers, and parents.

These lessons are currently available for teachers at Apple Union Square in San Francisco, and will slowly roll out to next-generation stores by next year. Kids, teachers, and parents will be able to attend Apple retail stores and learn to code for free three times a day. Currently, Apple also provides educational camps for kids during the summer.

Another new Apple retail store addition is the new Creative Pro position who will be there to help you figure out what to do with your Apple product, from photography lessons to coding to learning how to make movies or music.

This arts focus continues the community theme,  –

“On the weekend you’ll see an artist sketching things or a guy playing a guitar,” Ahrendts said.

Apple plans to have 95 of these next-generation Apple stores open by the end of the year.

Multiple Apple updates happening at the end of October. Spooky?

On October 28th, the Apple Watch Nike+ will launch!

The watch is designed for to be the ultimate best friend of runners, with aluminum casing similar to other Sports editions but with a unique perforated band that’s stretchy, light, and breathable. You also get the Nike+ Run Club app and other software designed to motivate, as well as unique watch faces and complications.

If you want one, you can pre-order the watch in four models:

Silver Aluminum Case with Flat Silver/Volt Nike Sport Band, Silver Aluminum Case with Flat Silver/White Nike Sport Band, Space Gray Aluminum Case with Black/Cool Gray Nike Sport Band, and the Space Gray Aluminum Case with Black/Volt Nike Sport Band.

You’re looking at $369 for the 38mm and $399 for the 42mm.

There’s been no confirmation, but we will likely also see the release of the Airpods on October 28th.

So what else, October? Well, this is not such a positive one, but on October 31st all iPhone 4 models, the late 2010 13-inch Macbook air, the third gen Airport Extreme and the mid 2009 Airport Time Capsule will all be added to Apple’s list of ‘vintage and obsolete’ products.

Vintage and Obsolete? Such a sad name, right? It means that products on the list are no longer eligible for hardware service. There are some exceptions – but they’re rare.

Let’s end on high note, shall we? Expected at the end of October is…. drum roll please… new MacBook Pros AND Macbook Airs! Wahoo!

Have you guys noticed something weird about the iPhones in Apple stores?

Have you been inside an Apple Store recently?

There’s been some revamping going on – and it’s all about simplifying.  They’ve been taking away iPad smart signage, moving displays to the side, and in a more surprising move – removing the security tethers from iPhones.

You know, those things that make it difficult to really look at the phone, but it’s existence makes sense because some people are stealers and no tether would be crazy, right?

WRONG.

No thether is apparentyl not too crazy for Apple and they’re removing them from Apple stores all over the world – Toronto, London, and the Bay Area. How Nice. 

Apple has faith in people, man. Good on them. As well as faith in the people, there’s the whole security camera/security guard thing. So makes some more sense. Also the fact that if someone does get away with stealing a phone, it’ll be unusable by Find My iPhone.