Apple Healthcare Studies update!

Apple has released its Research app today, making it easier for users to contribute to three studies related to: heart and movement, women’s health, and hearing.

If you do want to participate, you can download the free Research app from the App Store and enroll in the multi-year studies starting today. After enrolling, and using an iPhone or Apple Watch, you can contribute movement, heart rate, and noise level data captured during everyday activities.

The three studies are as follows:
– Apple Women’s Health Study. In partnership with Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), this is the first long-term study of this scale focused on menstrual cycles and gynecological conditions.

– Apple Heart and Movement Study. In partnership with Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the American Heart Association, this is a comprehensive study of how heart rate and mobility signals relate to hospitalizations, falls, heart health and quality of life.

– Apple Hearing Study. With the University of Michigan, this study is the first of its kind to collect data over time in order to understand how everyday sound exposure can impact hearing.

From the Source,  Apple COO Jeff Williams:
“Today marks an important moment as we embark on research initiatives that may offer incredible learnings in areas long sought after by the medical community. Participants on the Research app have the opportunity to make a tremendous impact that could lead to new discoveries and help millions lead healthier lives.”

For those understandably concerned about privacy, an enrollment screen explains how data will be used and allows a user to control the type of data shared with each study, and Apple says the data collected will never be sold to third parties.

In other health study news, Stanford Medicine has today published results from the Apple Heart Study that kicked off in 2017, marking the third time data from the study has been shared.

Stanford & Apple wanted to determine whether the Apple Watch is able to detect atrial fibrillation, which can be an indicator of serious heart health problems.

A total of 419,297 people in the United States participated in the study, and according to researchers, the low number of warnings in the study indicates that the device does not cause an excess of false notifications in healthy people who wear the watch. Additionally, it ultimately determined that the ‌Apple Watch‌ can detect atrial fibrillation.

The full Apple Heart Study published by Stanford Medicine can be read in The New England Journal of Medicine.

New MacBook Pro is here! All the details.

Apple has announced it’s 16-inch MacBook Pro!

The new laptop features a large display with a resolution of 3072×1920 pixels and slimmer bezels than the 15-inch MacBook Pro, as well as an updated “Magic Keyboard” that returns to a scissor mechanism (rather than butterfly). It also has Intel’s latest 9th-generation processors with up to 8 cores, up to 64GB of RAM and 8TB of SSD storage, a redesigned six-speaker sound system and upgraded microphones, and a larger 100Wh battery for longer battery life.

Something that should make many people happy, the new MacBook Pro still has the Touch Bar, but it also has a physical Esc key*virtual high five*, and  the Touch ID sensor has been separated from the Touch Bar.

So here’s the crunch. All sweet things come at a price: starting at $2,399 to be precise. OR if you want to be super fancy, you can max it out – get a 16-inch MacBook Pro with a 2.4GHz 8‑core Core i9 processor, 64GB of RAM, 8TB of SSD storage, and AMD Radeon Pro 5500M graphics for $6,099. Sure, go on!

It’s currently available through Apple.com and the Apple Store app, and will be available in Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Resellers later this week.

Check out this video if you need some well shot/edited footage to convince you to spend the dosh!

Lastly, Apple has also announced that a new Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR will be available starting in December. The new ‌Mac Pro‌ will be available with up to 8TB of SSD storage, an 8-core 3.5GHz Intel Xeon processor, a Radeon Pro 580X GPU, 32GB of RAM, and 256GB of SSD storage, and will start at $5,999.

The Pro Display XDR will cost $4,999, or $5,999 for a version with a “nano-texture” matte coating. The stand costs $999 and a VESA mount costs $199.

New MacBook Pro?

According to those in the know, Apple will announce a 16-inch MacBook Pro this week, as early as today, but likely tomorrow.

The 16-inch MacBook Pro will probably have slimmer bezels, a better scissor switch keyboard, and a standalone Touch ID sensor. Pricing will more than likely be higher than the $2,799 high-end 15-inch MacBook Pro.

We can also look forward to the imminent release of Apple’s annual holiday gift guide BECAUSE IT’S ALMOST CHRISTMAS!!

And you know what looks great under a Christmas tree? A shiny new Macbook Pro. Or a puppy. And world peace. Christmas shopping done?

New Apple show casting news

Now that the first run of Apple TV+ shows have seen some success and been renewed (The Morning Show, See, For All Mankind, and Dickinson),  Apple has begun working on their upcoming shows.  Adam Scott has been cast as the lead in a project called “Severance”, described as a workplace thriller set at a company “looking to take work-life balance to a new level.”

The show will have a 10 episode first season ( launch date unknown as of yet), was created by Dan Erickson and will be produced by Ben Stiller.

You can get free 7-day trial for ‌Apple TV‌+, which costs $4.99/ month or $49.99/ year. Apple is also offering all customers who purchased an ‌Apple TV‌, iPhone, iPad, Mac, or iPod touch after September 10 one free year of access to ‌Apple TV‌+.

Get your hands on this iPad deal!

Christmas is 48 days away people. FORTY EIGHT DAYS!!

You know a brand new iPad will look all kinds of pretty sitting under that tree, and Best Buy have a deal going on right now where you can get the 32GB Apple iPad 10.2″ Retina Display w/ WiFi (Latest Model; MW742LL/A) on sale for $249.99 with free shipping or in store pickup.

The price is normally $329.99, so that’s a nice shiny deal right there.

If you’re after more space, you can also get the 128GB Apple iPad 10.2″ Retina Display w/ WiFi (Latest Model; MW782LL/A) on sale for $329.99, which is usually $429.99.

You do have to be logged into your account and availability for in-store pickup may change depending on where you are.

Happy shopping!!