Jeff Gamet

iOS 12.1 keeps offering up more clues saying we’re about to see an iPad Pro refresh. The latest comes in the form of a device icon tucked away in the code. 9to5Mac’s Guilherme Rambo notes:

A new icon found within iOS offers a more detailed view of the 2018 iPad Pro, which we expect to be announced during the Tuesday event in Brooklyn. This icon shows an iPad with rounded corners, no Home button and no notch. An interesting aspect of this icon is how large the bezels look when compared to the recent iPhones.

No Home button means no Touch ID, and that means Face ID support—something that’s already been found in iOS 12.1 code. If other reports prove true, this will also be the first iOS device with USB-C instead of a Lightning port. Apple’s “There’s More in the Making” media event is scheduled for 10 Am eastern time on Tuesday October 30th. Be sure to check in with The Mac Observer for our coverage and analysis of the day’s announcements.

Billy Crudup and Gugu Mbatha-Raw are the latest to sign on with the Jennifer Anniston and Reese Witherspoon original series for Apple’s streaming TV service. They’re joining Steve Carell who is playing the morning show anchor Mitch Kessler who is having trouble adapting to the changing market. Variety describes the new additions:

Mbatha-Raw will play Hannah Shoenfeld, a “whip-smart and charming” head booker of talent on the morning news show the series follows. Tony Award-winner Crudup will portray Cory Ellison, a forward-thinking president of the network news division.

Top notch talent is lining up both in front of and behind the cameras for Apple’s original content lineup. Word on the street is we’ll start seeing these shows in 2019, and I’m looking forward to seeing how they hold up against Amazon Prime and Netflix’s offerings.

Italy just slapped Apple with a €10.7 million fine (about US$12.27 million) for anti-trust violations stemming from the software fix for iPhones crashing because of worn out batteries, also known as “throttlegate.” Reuters summed up Italy’s reasoning for the fine saying,

Italian consumer groups had complained that software updates for mobile phones reduced the functionality of the devices and were designed to push clients into buying new handsets.

The idea that making a product perform poorly will make customers want to buy more from a company seems a little illogical to me. Still, Apple’s failure to tell customers what they were doing sits at the root of the problem. In this case, it’s a $12 million lesson in why transparency with customers is so important.

Apple’s original TV shows are launching in more than 100 countries, including the U.S., in 2019. That’s according to sources speaking with The Information. They say three “people familiar with the company’s plans” shared those details. From the report:

Apple is working to launch its new TV service in the U.S. in the first half of next year and will make the app available globally in the following months, the people said. It will include Apple’s original programs free to Apple device owners and also will enable users to sign up for TV network subscriptions owned by other companies, just as Amazon Prime Video subscribers can do through the Amazon Channels feature in the U.S., U.K., Germany and Japan.

I still find it weird that Apple would give away all that content, especially since people are already willing to pay for Apple Music. Still, more reports are coming out saying all those TV shows will be a free perk for owning an iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV.