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The Glare-Killing Edition Wednesday, August 5, 2020

Last Hurrah? iMacs Get Intel Processor Upgrade, all-SSD Storage, T2 Chip, by Jason Snell, Six Colors

The biggest external change to the iMac this time around is an optional one: You can order one with the same glare-killing “nanotexture” glass texture as on Apple’s Pro Display XDR, for an additional $500. If you live in a very bright environment and the glare is making you sad, this upgrade might be worth it. Regardless of which texture, though, the iMac display also now supports TrueTone.

Third-Party RAM For 27-inch iMac Still Far More Affordable Than Apple's Checkout Upgrade Options, by Tim Hardwick, MacRumors

To max out the RAM at checkout, Apple charges an additional $2,600, which is like buying another whole ‌iMac‌. Fortunately, the memory in the 27-inch ‌iMac‌ is user-replaceable thanks to the easily-accessible memory backdoor slot, and there are far more affordable options available from third parties.

Where Does The iMac Go From Here?, by Jason Snell, Macworld

The big question is, what’s next for the iMac? While this new revision makes the current iMac a bit faster and a bit nicer, it’s a fairly modest upgrade. With the move to Apple silicon on the horizon, it’s worth pondering where the iMac goes from here—and how soon we might see truly big changes when it comes to Apple’s most popular desktop computer.

New Fellow

Phil Schiller Transitions Into Reduced Role As Apple Fellow; Greg Joswiak Newly Appointed SVP Of Worldwide Marketing, by Ryan Christoffel, MacStories

Apple announced a major change to its executive team today: Phil Schiller, who first started at Apple in 1987, is transitioning into a limited role with far fewer responsibilities, holding the title Apple Fellow. Schiller will retain oversight of the App Store and Apple Events, and continue reporting directly to CEO Tim Cook, but most of his current responsibilities will shift to Greg (Joz) Joswiak, who takes over the title of senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.

Phil Schiller, Friend Of Steve Jobs Who Helped Remake Apple, To Be ‘Apple Fellow’, by Sebastian Herrera, Wall Street Journal

“At Apple, marketing has really been central to strategy; it’s how they position the company, and that’s where Phil was superb,” Mr. Bajarin said. “He drove the brand—who Apple is, what Apple stood for and what Apple needed to be.”

On Health

Apple And UCLA Kick Off A Three-year Depression Study, by Christina Farr, CNBC

UCLA on Tuesday said it is launching a three-year study to better understand how factors such as sleep, physical activity, heart rate and daily routines impact symptoms of depression and anxiety.

UCLA is working with Apple to design the study, which will use data collected by the iPhone, Apple Watch and Beddit sleep-tracker, which Apple gained in a 2017 acquisition.

Coming Soon?

New MacBook Air Battery Spotted In Certification Listings, by Tim Hardwick, MacRumors

We’re still none the wiser about exactly when a new ‌MacBook Air‌ might launch, because regulatory bodies sometimes approve and test new hardware months before a new product comes out. However, several rumors have suggested that the ‌‌MacBook Air‌‌ will be one of the first Macs to get an Apple Silicon chip, and the new Arm-based machine could come before the end of 2020.

Stuff

Apple Expands Apple Maps 'Look Around' Feature To Japan, by Filipe Espósito, 9to5Mac

Starting today, Apple Maps users can explore four of Japan’s largest cities using Look Around: Tokyo, Kyoto, Nagoya, and Osaka. This is the first time Apple has expanded this feature to other cities outside the United States.

Firefox Gets Next-gen Anti-tracking Defense, Stymies 'Bounce' Trackers, by Gregg Keizer, Computerworld

Mozilla today announced a new defense against advanced tracking tactics that it will be switching on in Firefox 79 starting immediately and pushing out to the remaining user base during the next few weeks.

Develop

A Day Without Business, by Charlie Monroe

Apple has called and apologized for the complications. The issue was caused by my account being erroneously flagged by automated processes as malicious and was put on hold.

Notes

Understanding How Apple Security Research Devices Likely Work And Stay Secure, by David Shayer, TidBITS

Recent high-profile iPhone hacks may have prompted Apple to re-evaluate how it does security research. Given how secretive Apple usually is, the Security Research Device Program is an unusual step. As you can see, it’s also one that undoubtedly required a significant amount of work to ensure that it couldn’t be exploited by organized crime and government intelligence agencies. Hopefully, we’ll all get more secure iPhones as a result.

Bottom of the Page

With today's iMac updates, it's definitely seems likely that Apple will be updating the lower-end Macs over to the new chip first. The mystery for me is how Apple considers the 13-inch MacBook Pros.

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Thanks for reading.