Apple removing all vape related Apps from the App store.

Good news for people concerned about vaping in people they care about – Apple is currently removing all vaping-related apps from the App Store. This is in relation to the  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 2,172 lung injury cases linked to e-cigarette or vape products.

From the source:

We take great care to curate the App Store as a trusted place for customers, particularly youth, to download apps. We’re constantly evaluating apps, and consulting the latest evidence, to determine risks to users’ health and well-being.

Recently, experts ranging from the CDC to the American Heart Association have attributed a variety of lung injuries and fatalities to e-cigarette and vaping products, going so far as to call the spread of these devices a public health crisis and a youth epidemic.

We agree, and we’ve updated our App Store Review Guidelines to reflect that apps encouraging or facilitating the use of these products are not permitted. As of today, these apps are no longer available to download.”

However, be advised that vaping-related apps already installed on iOS devices will continue to function.

Trailer for new Apple+ show!

Apple has shared a new trailer for the upcoming Apple TV+ show “Servant,” which will come out in a little over two weeks.

The new show, produced and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, is a thriller that follows a Philadelphia couple who hire a nanny to look after their “child” following a tragedy. Yeah, those quotes are for a reason, guys.

Creepy much.

“Servant” will debut on Thursday, November 28. “Servant” is a shorter form show that will feature 10 x 30 minute episodes.

Will you be watching?

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!!

New Apple TV+ show!

You’ll never guess what it is!

Well, you might have guessed in the end, but you don’t have to, because here’s the answer: Apple has picked up the rights to  “A Christmas Carol,”: a live action musical!

So many good things in that sentence, could we fit anymore in? Yup! It’s going to star all round good guys Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell, who will also produce.

Apparently , and for good reason, the show was the subject of a harsh bidding war, but Apple won out with, well, money. According to reports, they’re paying above $60 million just for talent.

“A Christmas Carol” will be added to Apple’s Apple TV+ streaming service, which premieres on November 1st. It’s not known specifically when “A Christmas Carol” will be available, presumably near… Christmas?

Apple may end up bundling new services together

According to a report from the Financial Times, Apple is talking with record labels about the proposition of bundling Apple Music and Apple TV+ as part of one big bundle for one flat monthly rate.

This isn’t to say that it’s going to happen though – with some record labels apparently concerned about losing revenue modeling it this way.

If Apple wanted to bundle all of its subscription services together – Apple News+, Apple Arcade, AppleCare+, and iCloud storage – it would be great for the end user especially if it was a family subscription, as long as it was priced correctly.

The total cost currently for each individual subscription of Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple News+, and Apple Arcade rounds up to $30 per month, so any future mega bundle would need to be under that cost.

You can now buy the 10.2-Inch iPad in some Apple Stores

As of today in the US and Canada, you can buy a new 10.2-inch iPad on the Apple website and then select a 30-minute window to pick it up at an Apple Store.

You can also use this process to check the inventory of the device based on your ZIP code.

To check if your local store has the device in stock,  go to the 10.2-inch iPad purchase page on Apple’s website, configure whatever preferences you want regarding color and size, and under ‘pickup’ it will show you which stores have available devices in stock. You can click on ‘Show more stores’ to enter a zip code to see other availability too.

When you get to the Apple Store, let an employee know you have an order to pick up, show them your valid government-issued photo ID and BAM BRAND NEW IPAD, FRIEND!

 
The 10.2-inch iPad starts at $329.