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Apple may reveal its 16-inch MacBook Pro tomorrow
Don't worry, that fabled 16-inch MacBook Pro hasn't vanished... in fact, it might be right around the corner. Bloomberg sources hear that Apple may introduce the revamped laptop "as soon as" November 13th (that's tomorrow, if you're reading soon enough). The apparent leak doesn't share more about the design. It would still stuff a 16-inch display into a system roughly the size of today's 15-inch model, and would ditch the notoriously unreliable butterfly keyboard. However, the insiders claim the new MacBook Pro would cost roughly the same as the outgoing model, and would be available this week. You might not have to worry about Apple using this as an opportunity for a price hike.
Calvin Harris already has the new Mac Pro
Apple still won't say when the new Mac Pro will ship besides "this fall," but one of its early adopters might have hinted that it's getting close. DJ Calvin Harris has posted multiple Instagram Stories showing that he already has Apple's workstation as part of his music production setup. He didn't talk about it, to no one's surprise, but this suggests Apple is comfortable enough with the state of the Mac Pro to seed it to big-name creators.
AMD's 16-core Ryzen 3950X is its fastest desktop processor ever
After getting some wins against Intel in the desktop enthusiast processor race, AMD is trying to run up the score with its latest model, the Ryzen 9 3950X. It has 16 cores/32 threads, a 3.5 Ghz base clock with up to 4.7 GHz boost (on two cores) and 105 watt power consumption (TDP), and costs $749, compared to $1,199 for Intel's 12-core i9-9920X. At the same time, AMD claims it outperforms the i9-9920X in gaming and even more so for content creation, where those extra cores can be best exploited.
Intel's 5GHz-capable Core i9-9900KS arrives October 30th
Are you determined to have the best Intel gaming CPU on the block without splurging on an X-series? You'll soon have a chance to pick one up. Intel has revealed that its special edition Core i9-9900KS processor will be available on October 30th at a recommended price of $513. If you'll recall, this is really a top-binned version of the 9900K that can reach a 5GHz turbo speed across all eight cores rather than one, and hit a base speed of 4GHz instead of 3.6GHz. It won't represent a major leap in performance (especially if you're used to overclocking), but it could make a difference in games that make good use of multiple cores.
Crowdfunded case will give your Windows PC that Mac Pro look
Do you like the look of Apple's redesigned Mac Pro, but would rather not drop $5,999 on a workstation just to have that cheese-grater-on-steroids casing? You might not have to. Dune Case is close to crowdfunding the Dune Pro, a standard PC case that unsubtly mimics Apple's airflow-centric design. On the outside, it's basically a Mac Pro without Apple's logo -- you'll need to buy a "Dice Y" sound dampening cover to get the full look, but the stainless steel frame and aluminum enclosure are uncannily similar. The main sacrifice is the use of a more conventional side panel instead of the real Mac Pro's pull-up cover.
Apple gets US approval for Mac Pro tariff exemptions
President Trump may have claimed in July that Apple wouldn't get tariff exemptions for the redesigned Mac Pro, but the reality is very different. The US Trade Representative's office has confirmed that regulators approved 10 out of 15 of the company's tariff exemptions for computer components focusing primarily on the Mac Pro. It's not certain how much any remaining tariffs will affect pricing for the workstation, but any damage will clearly be limited.
Pocket Casts will give existing desktop customers Plus for life
Earlier this week the popular podcast app Pocket Casts announced some big changes. In addition to making the mobile app free, Pocket Casts unveiled a new paid subscription tier, Pocket Casts Plus. It said customers who previously paid for desktop access (a one-time fee of $9) would be given three years of access to the new Plus version. That didn't go over well with existing customers, so Pocket Casts has backtracked. Now, the company says anyone who paid for the desktop version will be given lifetime access to the new Plus tier.
The ASUS StudioBook One is the first laptop with NVIDIA's Quadro RTX 6000
Even with all of its might, the StudioBook Pro X that ASUS announced today isn't the most powerful StudioBook in terms of graphics. That accolade is reserved for the StudioBook One, with its Quadro RTX 6000 graphics. In fact, ASUS says this is the first (and currently only) laptop to harness the Quadro RTX 6000, and both it and NVIDIA say it's "the world's most graphically-powerful laptop." Well, at least it is for now.
B&H sale cuts up to $350 off Apple's 2019 iMacs
B&H is running a sale that might be too good to pass up if you're in the market for an all-in-one desktop. The 9to5Toys team has noticed that the electronics store is offering sizeable discounts on Apple's 2019 iMacs, making a purchase decidedly easier to swallow. The largest discount is for a high-spec 27-inch 5K model with a 3.6GHz Core i9, 16GB of RAM, Radeon Pro Vega 48 graphics and a 1TB SSD -- it's selling for 'just' $3,299, or $350 off the usual sticker.
Slack's latest update should make its desktop app more efficient
Slack has become an essential part of the daily workflow for many of us, but its desktop app has perhaps been in need of a little TLC. An update is rolling out over the next few weeks that Slack claims will make the app more efficient and help you get more things done.
iTunes isn't dead
I'll admit it. I had an emotional response to the idea that iTunes, the app that shaped my digital music habit, could be on the way out. With every iPod I owned, iTunes was the lifeline, the sole method for adding to and organizing the precious collection. The only problem was, somewhere along the way, iTunes became the catch-all for everything Apple sold. It wasn't just for music, or even audio content -- apps, movies and TV shows crept into the app as well. And in the end, Apple had a chaotic mess that was confusing and poorly organized.
Pandora finally made a native desktop app
Pandora has finally rolled out a desktop app, so you don't have to be stuck using its web player on a browser anymore if you want to play music on your computer. It doesn't play podcasts yet, and it doesn't quite have all the features of the mobile application, but it does give you access to handy keyboard controls that lets you play, pause, replay, skip, shuffle and even rate songs. It also shows on-screen notifications that display the artist and the song that's playing, as well as the album the tune came from.
Razer's new eGPU box packs more power and Chroma RGB support
Razer's back with another external GPU case, and this time it's beefier than ever. Like other eGPUs, the Razer Core X Chroma is designed to bring desktop-level graphics to ultraportable laptops, and this iteration features a 700W power supply, USB and Ethernet connections and space for three slot-wide desktop graphics cards. It also comes with a unique Thunderbolt dual-chip design, which helps distribute load and will prevent losing keyboard and mouse connectivity when you're plugging it into your computer.
Microsoft's phone-screen mirroring beta hits Windows 10 this week
When Microsoft launched the "Your Phone" app last year, it gave users instant access to their mobile photos and text messages on Windows 10 PCs. And at its Surface launch last fall, it teased at something even better: mirroring and accessing your entire phone via your PC. With this week's Your Phone update, Windows Insiders will finally get to test the "phone screen" mirroring feature. So rather than reach for your phone to respond to a Snap, you'll be able to respond directly from your desktop.
Panoskin makes it easier to post GoPro footage to Street View
Uploading your own Street View Photos -- even with a 360-degree camera -- can be a pretty laborious process. Google introduced "Street View ready" standards in 2017 to make things easier, and now things are set to become even more straightforward. Chicago-based company Panoskin is launching a desktop app that lets anyone with a GoPro Fusion 360 camera convert and publish their footage directly to Street View.
Native Instruments’ Traktor DJ 2 breaks free from the iPad
Last fall, Native Instruments gave its DJ and production hardware a significant refresh, especially at the entry level. Today, the company is introducing a second wave of tools to complement the new line up, along with even more new hardware.
Windows Sandbox is a safer way to run programs you don't trust
Downloading and running an unknown .exe file can be fraught with terror -- or at the very least, a whole lot of a faff as you're required to set up a clean installation of Windows on a virtual machine. Now, Microsoft is introducing a new solution that brings it in line with a standard already found on other operating systems: Windows Sandbox. The feature creates "an isolated, temporary desktop environment" (and lightweight, at 100MB) on which to run an app, and once you've finished with it, the entire sandbox is deleted -- everything else on your PC is safe and separate. The feature is available for users of Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise running Build 18301 or later, and requires AMD64 and virtualization capabilities enabled in BIOS.
VSCO will discontinue its desktop photo editing presets on March 1st
VSCO is pretty well-known for its photo and video editing app, but the company has sold desktop presets as well. However, VSCO has now announced that it will shift its focus entirely towards mobile in the coming year and will, therefore, be discontinuing its desktop presets. VSCO Film will be fully discontinued starting March 1st, 2019 and users will no longer be able to download purchased preset packs, view their license keys or seek technical support from VSCO at that time.
The best gear for photo and video editing
If you do a lot of video or photo editing, the one thing you want to avoid when buying equipment is nasty surprises. A slow or badly equipped PC, laptop or tablet will be a drag on your creative process. Meanwhile, a subpar monitor or laptop display could yield videos that look shockingly different than what you saw during production. And you may miss a deadline if your machine can't render the final product quickly enough. This doesn't just apply to PCs. Adobe is planning a full version of Photoshop for the iPad, and it's developing an all-in-one video tool, Project Rush, that will work across platforms. Whichever app you choose, it's crucial to do some hardware research to ensure that your equipment will work with the app rather than against it. Luckily, we've already done a good chunk of the homework for you. Here's how to pick gear for photo and video creation, whether you've got $500 or $5,000.
Apple Mac Mini review (2018): A video editor’s perspective
The Mac Mini has had a rough few years. Its last update, in 2014, was disappointing. After offering quad-core CPUs on the 2011 and 2012 editions, the 2014 model was stuck with a dual-core CPU. This meant it was actually slower at some tasks than the computer it was supposed to replace. Add in the fact that aside from storage it was not upgradable, and you had a computer that left a lot of users unhappy. Amazingly, until last month the 2014 Mini was still available on Apple's web store for $500. The lack of updates over the past four years left a lot of us wondering if we'd ever see a new model. Fortunately, Apple has rectified the situation with the 2018 Mini. This new model retains the unibody design that we loved on the 2014 edition but sports a sleek space-gray color -- a first for the Mini line. (It's also now made entirely from recycled aluminum, as is the new MacBook Air.) With vastly improved components, the Mini is now a viable competitor in the compact-desktop market. And it does have competition. In the past four years, micro PCs have vastly improved, and most of the major manufacturers now offer a tiny Windows machine. Still, I was impressed with the Mini's performance, and it's the cheapest way to get a macOS machine. Despite this, the 2018 Mini has a few flaws that will probably keep it from being the best choice for most people.
