Apple made a new commercial by shaving off a hipster model’s beard a little bit at a time and assembling it stop-motion style into a video to demonstrate Face ID.
Bryan Chaffin
Bryan Chaffin is the cofounder of The Mac Observer and currently serves as Afternoon Editor. He has contributed to MacAddict and MacFormat magazines, and co-authored the last two updates of iPad and iPad Pro for Dummies with Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus and Ed Baig. You can find out more about Bryan at his personal site, GeekTells, or find his Twitter link below.
Articles by Bryan Chaffin
VPN Unlimited 3-Year Subscription: $18
Our friends at Stack Commerce have put together an even better deal for VPN Unlimited. The service features unlimited bandwidth, servers in more than 50 countries, and more. It’s normally $29.99, but coupon code GREEN40 drops it down to $18, the best deal we’ve had on this company’s service.
Apple Looks to New SEC Guidance as Tool for Bypassing Some Shareholder Proposals
Reuters reported that Apple has asked the SEC for permission to skip four shareholder proposals under the premise they’re part of Apple’s “ordinary business.”
Making Sense of Bitcoin’s Price Increase and Rollercoaster Ride
No one knows exactly why Bitcoin’s price is so crazy right now, but Bryan Chaffin examines what we do know so we can keep things in perspective.
Inception Drive, Emulators, Tyranny of the Masses vs. Bloatware, Future Man - Pop.0 Ep.23
Bryan Chaffin and John Kheit discuss the Inception Drive and its potential to change the world. Looking more to the past, they look at Mac emulators and the many ways they can help you out. They also pit the tyranny of the masses against bloatware, and revel in the glory that is Hulu Live’s Future Man. Make sure you hit the Subscribe button! (WARNING NSFW: PROFANITY & RANTS)
Kinkoo 3-Outlet Surge Protecting Smart Power Strip: $21.25
There never seem to be enough outlets for charging up our tech gear at the office or on the go, so Kinkoo is aiming to fix that with their 3-Outlet Surge Protecting Smart Power Strip. It also sports three USB A ports and a USB-C port for charging up our phones and portable batteries, too. The strip is only 8-inches long so it’s small enough to travel with, yet versatile enough to juice up a wide range of devices. It’s regularly priced at US$35, but you can get yours for $24.99 with TMO’s special deal—and coupon code GIFTSHOP15 brings it down to $21.25.
Stock-Graphics Lifetime Subscription: $16.15
We have a deal on a lifetime subscription to Stock-Graphics. The company offers a library of 13,500-plus photos and 2,900-plus vector images, with more added every month. Using coupon code GIFTSHOP15, it’s $16.15 for a lifetime subscription.
Apple Hires Another TV Exec for Scripted Programming
From 2012 until now, Ms. Lee was producing partner to Emmy-winning writer and showrunner Jason Katims at Universal Television-based True Jack Productions.
Mr. Cook Goes to China, Sonos Meets Ikea, Apple Buys Pop Up Archive – ACM 440
Tim Cook took a recent trip to China, and some have accused him of endorsing Chinese censorship. Bryan and Jeff talk about how complicated doing business in China is. They also look at why Sonos and IKEA have announced a partnership, and what Apple’s purchase of Pop Up Archive might mean. Then they fall down the rabbit hole of TextArc.
Apple Releases macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 to Public
As anticipated by the beta development cycle, Apple’s patch notes specify bug fixes in this release.
Here's a Portable Battery That's Also a Qi Wireless Charger: $58
Check out the Wireless Power Bank + Wireless Charger Adapter, a portable battery that comes with a Qi wireless charging pad. That means you can use it to charge your iPhone 8/Plus and iPhone X wirelessly on the go. It’s $68.25 through our deal, but coupon code GIFTSHOP15 brings it down to $58. The link takes you to a white model, but there’s a black option, too. You can also get the battery without the adapter if you want.
Apple reportedly Buys Company that Can Search Spoken Words
The short version of what this company does is making it possible to transcribe, organize, and search audio files.
Ai.Type Keyboard Replacement Leaks Data for 31 Million Users
Kromtech said the user data was exposed—rather than hacked—most likely by misconfiguration of a MongoDB database.
GOOSE VPN 5-Year Subscription: $34
We have a deal on a five year subscription to GOOSE VPN. The service includes 59 servers around the world, plus simultaneous use on an unlimited number of devices. Platforms supported include Mac, iOS, Windows, and Android. It’s $39.99 through us, but we have a coupon code—GIFTSHOP15—that brings it down to $34.
![Apple Pay Cash Begins Rolling Out – [Update: It’s Back Again]](https://www.macobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/apple-pay-cash-rollout-3a.jpg)
Apple Pay Cash Begins Rolling Out - [Update: It's Back Again]
Really, we promise, and we have some screenshots that sort of prove it. [Update: Apple Pay Cash is back for some users, and TMO staff and TMO readers are reporting that it’s active.]
HEX's Star Wars Leather iPhone Cases Are Way Cool
Designs include: Darth Vader, Storm Trooper, R2D2, Rebel Pilot, and Boba Fett.
Watch Apple's New Commercial, 'iPad Pro - Markup'
Apple has a new spot called iPad Pro – Markup. It shows the same young woman featured in the What’s a Computer? spot. In this commercial, she’s sitting around with her iPad Pro talking to a friend with FaceTime. She snags a screenshot, marks up the screenshot, and then sends it to the friend in iMessage while continuing the conversation. It’s all fluid, natural, and easy. It ends with the tagline, “A new way to markup instantly.” On the one hand, I’m not sure how many kids can afford an iPad Pro. On the other, I think this delivery speaks perfectly to young people, and that’s entirely the target market.
HomeSpot USB-C Hub with HDMI for MacBook Pro: $69.99
We have a deal on the HomeSpot USB-C Hub with HDMI for MacBook Pro. It supports 5K video out, and the HDMI port supports 4K. It also has two USB-C ports and three USB ports, as well as an SD port and MicroSD. It’s $69.99 through us.
![Apple Releases iOS 11.2, Launching Apple Pay Cash, Faster Wireless Charging, Notifications Bug Fix [Update]](https://www.macobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/apple-pay-cash.jpg)
Apple Releases iOS 11.2, Launching Apple Pay Cash, Faster Wireless Charging, Notifications Bug Fix [Update]
This update marks the official launch of Apple Pay Cash, the company’s peer-to-peer payment platform, and support for faster wireless charging on iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus with 7.5W Qi chargers.
Apple Has 4 New Commercials for Apple Watch S3 as the 'Gift of Go'
Two of them feature the cellular abilities of Apple Watch Series GPS + Cellular, while one demonstrates workouts. The fourth shows Apple Watch’s ability to go in a pool.
Apple Reminds Developers that Mac App Store Submissions Must Support 64-Bit Starting January 2018
Updates to existing apps have until June of 2018 to support 64-bit computing.
Apple Seeds macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 Developer Beta 6
This development cycle for macOS High Sierra is a bug fix and performance-centric update, with the only known new features being Mac App Store improvements.
Apple Seeds Developer Beta 6 of iOS 11.2
This is the second developer beta this week, as Apple works on a Now Playing control for Apple TV in Control Center, a bug fix for Calculator, and Apple Pay Cash.
iMazing 2: Universal License for Mac and Windows: $14.99
We have an absolutely stellar deal on iMazing 2, a product we’ve written about. iMazing let’s you browse and manage your backups, extract and print your text messages, and drag and drop songs to your iPhone. Our deal is $24.99 for a universal license good on unlimited iOS devices and up to 2 Macs or PCs—but today coupon code CYBER40 will bring it down to $14.99.