Anyone on the hunt for Apple’s new 16-inch MacBook Pro should check out Amazon today, which is discounting the notebook by as much as $250. As with most Amazon sales, some models have low stock, so if you’re interested be sure to check them out soon.

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With these sales, you’ll find lowest-ever prices on the 1TB model of the 16-inch MacBook Pro, which is available for $2,549.00, down from $2,799.00. There are also a few 512GB models being discounted on Amazon, available for $2,199.00, down from $2,399.00. You can find them all in the list below.

16-inch MacBook Pro Sale

• 2.6 GHz 6-Core, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Silver – $2,199.00, down from $2,399.00 ($200 off)
• 2.6 GHz 6-Core, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Space Gray – $2,199.00, down from $2,399.00 ($200 off)
• 2.3 GHz 8-Core, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Silver – $2,549.00, down from $2,799.00 ($250 off, lowest ever)
• 2.3 GHz 8-Core, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Space Gray – $2,549.00, down from $2,799.00 ($250 off, lowest ever)

Amazon is also discounting the 27-inch iMac from early 2019 (3.7 GHz, 8GB RAM, 2TB), available for $1,999.00, down from $2,299.00. This $300 discount is the lowest we’ve tracked on this model of the new Retina iMac.

For more sales and offers, be sure to visit our full Deals Roundup.

This article, “Deals Spotlight: Get the 1TB 16-Inch MacBook Pro for $2,549.00 ($250 Off, Lowest Ever)” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Hong Kong transit riders will not be able to use their Octopus card with Apple Pay this year as originally promised.

As noted by the blog Ata Distance, Octopus Cards Limited today announced that Apple Pay support has been delayed until later in 2020, after previously indicating that the rollout would be completed by the end of 2019.

Apple Pay support will allow the Octopus card to be added to the Wallet app for contactless fare payment using an iPhone or Apple Watch. Express Transit mode will likely be supported, allowing for tap-and-go payment without needing to authenticate the iPhone or Apple Watch with Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode.

2019 was a big year for Apple Pay with Express Transit mode, with major cities like London and New York City rolling out support. Other cities like Philadelphia, San Diego, Shenzhen, and Washington, D.C. also have plans to support Apple Pay in 2020. Apple maintains a list of supported cities on its website.

(Thanks, Kanjo!)

This article, “Hong Kong’s Octopus Card Delays Apple Pay Support Until 2020” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple has released an open-source version of its HomeKit Accessory Development Kit (ADK), following news that it is joining a new industry effort to create an open standard for smart home devices.

On Wednesday, Apple, Amazon, Google, and the Zigbee Alliance announced the formation of a new working group that plans to develop and promote the adoption of a new IP-based connectivity standard for smart home products, with a focus on increased compatibility, security, and simplified development for manufacturers.

In a news post on its developer website, Apple said the release of the open-source ‌HomeKit‌ ADK is designed to accelerate development of the new universal smart home standard:

To accelerate the development of the new universal standard, Apple is open-sourcing portions of its ‌HomeKit‌ Accessory Development Kit (ADK). ‌HomeKit‌ has grown to become the most extensive, powerful and secure smart home platform available on more than a billion iOS and iPadOS devices. Built from the ground up to protect customer data, ‌HomeKit‌ and the Home app use innovative privacy technologies and techniques to help minimize the amount of data anyone — including Apple — can access as well as powerful security features that protect personal information. By open-sourcing its ‌HomeKit‌ technology, Apple will be helping to jump-start the initiative and ultimately deliver an even better experience to customers.

The release of the ADK means anyone can start developing non-commercial smart home accessories and even build ‌HomeKit‌ devices for their own home, while accessory manufacturers can use it to test products before officially joining the ‌HomeKit‌ MFi program, which can be a time-consuming process, not to mention an expensive undertaking.

Apple says it will contribute its ‌HomeKit‌ Accessory Protocol to the new consortium, and noted that anyone planning to sell HomeKit-compatible accessories must use the commercial version of the kit supplied by the Apple MFi program. The company also confirmed that existing ‌HomeKit‌ accessories will remain compatible with the new protocol when it’s eventually released.

To access the ‌HomeKit‌ Open Source ADK, visit www.github.com/apple/HomeKitADK.

This article, “Apple Publishes Open-Source Version of HomeKit Accessory Development Kit” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Leaked images allegedly showing Samsung’s next folding smartphone have appeared on Weibo, offering a preview of what the company’s Galaxy Fold successor could look like.

Images via Wang Benhong – Weibo

First spotted by mobile leaker Ice Universe, the images depict a clamshell-like device reminiscent of a traditional flip phone that folds up into a compact palm-sized phone, making it small enough to easily fit into a pocket. Two cameras can be seen on the back next to a digital clock readout.

Bloomberg first reported in March that Samsung plans on releasing two additional folding smartphone models to succeed the Galaxy Fold. One was described as a clamshell-like device that folds from top to bottom, like the one shown in the images. Another, high-end folding smartphone is also reportedly in the works.

Samsung actually shared concept images of its clamshell device in October, and these images do bear a resemblance to them. Samsung offered no details at the time on when it planned to bring the handset to market, but earlier this month Bloomberg reported that the Galaxy Fold clamshell device would be launched in February alongside the Galaxy S11.

Images via Wang Benhong – Weibo

Here’s where some of the details don’t add up though. Bloomberg‘s latest report claimed the Galaxy Fold successor will get the same five-camera setup that’s coming to the Galaxy S11, but the device in these leaked images appears to have only two cameras. It could be that Samsung decided having a giant photographic arsenal strapped onto the back of a flip phone wasn’t a good look, but we’ll just have to wait and see.

The new clamshell-like Galaxy Fold is expected to be more affordable than its book-style predecessor, which costs $1,980 in the U.S. Last month, Motorola announced the resurrection of its Razr brand in the form of a similar-looking vertically folding Android phone. The new mid-range Razr will cost $1,499 when it’s released in January, so it’ll be interesting to see if Samsung is willing or able to keep the price down on its next flagship foldable.

There are no rumors suggesting that Apple has plans to release a foldable smartphone in the near future, but Apple is undoubtedly looking into foldable devices given that its major competitors are coming out with them. In the past, Apple has patented some foldable display technology, and a rumor earlier this year suggested Samsung has provided folding display samples to Apple.

This article, “Alleged Leaked Images of Samsung’s Clamshell-Style Galaxy Fold Appear Online” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Twitter today updated its official Twitter app for iPad with a redesigned interface that makes better use of the iOS device’s larger screen.

The new Twitter interface on ‌iPad‌, first spotted by Applesfera

Up until now, Twitter on ‌iPad‌ adopted the exact same interface as on the iPhone, which meant ‌iPad‌ users were presented with a single timeline with two big white unused spaces on either side of it.

Fortunately, the update sees Twitter for ‌iPad‌ ditch the single timeline layout of the previous version and replace it with a multi-column view that works in both portrait and landscape mode and puts a lot more content at the user’s fingertips.

If the design looks familiar, that’s because it’s pretty similar to the Twitter web app layout. The menu bar has been relocated from the bottom of the screen to the left side of the timeline, while trending topics and other variable content appear on the right side of the timeline.

Unlike third-party clients, Twitter has seemingly opted to keep things simple in its official app, as there’s no way to customize the three-column view to display things like additional timelines, direct messages, or mentions. But the update at least means the additional screen real estate of ‌iPad‌ is no longer being under-utilized.

Twitter on ‌iPad‌ is a free download available on the App Store, while existing users of the app can update to the new version today. [Direct Link]

This article, “Twitter for iPad Updated With Redesigned Interface and Multi-Column Layout” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming tvOS 13.3.1 update to developers, one week after releasing the tvOS 13.3 update.

Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models, the new tvOS 13.3.1 developer beta can be downloaded onto the ‌‌‌Apple TV‌‌‌ via a profile that’s installed using Xcode.

tvOS updates are typically minor in scale, focusing on under-the-hood bug fixes and improvements rather than major outward-facing changes. Apple provides little to no information on what’s included in tvOS beta updates, so we may not discover anything new after installing the software.

While we don’t often know what’s new in tvOS during the beta testing process, we let MacRumors readers know when new updates are available so those who are developers can download it upon release.

If we find anything new in the tvOS 13.3.1 beta, we’ll update this article.

This article, “Apple Seeds First Beta of tvOS 13.3.1 Update to Developers [Update: Public Beta Available]” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS and iPadOS 13.3.1 updates to developers, one week after the release of iOS 13.3 with Communication Limits for Screen Time.

iOS and ‌iPadOS‌ 13.3.1 can be downloaded from the Apple Developer center or over the air once the proper developer profile has been installed.

There’s no word yet on what’s included in the iOS 13.3.1 update, but it likely includes bug fixes for issues unable to be addressed in the iOS 13.3 update. Specifically, it could address some issues with Communication Limits, fixing a workaround with the Contacts app that allowed children text someone who contacted them from an unknown number.

Once we download the update and take a look at what’s new, we’ll update this article.

This article, “Apple Seeds First Betas of iOS 13.3.1 and iPadOS 13.3.1 to Developers [Update: Public Beta Available]” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Westpac, the second largest bank in Australia, has announced plans to implement support for Apple Pay across its brands in 2020, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.

‌Apple Pay‌ is now available for the St. George, BankSA, and Bank of Melbourne brands. Customers of these banks with an eligible Visa debit or credit card can now use ‌Apple Pay‌ for contactless payments and online purchases in Australia.

Westpac customers will have access to ‌Apple Pay‌ by June 2020, and the rollout to the main Westpac brand is said to take longer because Westpac currently uses a different banking platform. As the Westpac system is updated, ‌Apple Pay‌ will be rolling out for its regional brands.

“We want to assure Westpac customers we are working to bring them ‌Apple Pay‌ as quickly as possible, while we roll-out the technology across our different banking platforms,” said chief executive of consumer banking David Lindberg.

Westpac has been a notable ‌Apple Pay‌ holdout and is the fourth of Australia’s “big four” banks to implement support for ‌Apple Pay‌. Along with NAB and Commonwealth Bank, Westpac attempted to collectively bargain with Apple in an attempt to force Apple to open up the iPhone‘s NFC capabilities to support other digital wallets, like those offered by Westpac itself.

Apple argued that this would be harmful to consumers and would stifle innovation, and Australian regulators took Apple’s side in the dispute. The banks were not provided with authorization to collectively bargain with Apple.

ANZ, one of the four major banks, has supported ‌Apple Pay‌ since it launched in Australia. Commonwealth Bank, Australia’s largest bank, has supported ‌Apple Pay‌ since January 2019, and NAB implemented support in May 2019.

This article, “Australia’s Westpac Bank Announces Upcoming Support for Apple Pay” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Upcoming Apple TV+ comedy “Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet” is set to debut on Friday. February 7, Apple announced today.

“Mythic Quest” was created by Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day, known for their work on long running series “Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” Day won’t star in the show, but McElhenney will.

The series is a live-action comedy that will feature nine half-hour episodes, all of which will be available on the February 7 launch date.

“Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet” will follow a team of video game developers as they navigate the challenges of running a popular video game. McElhenney will play the role of the company’s creative director, while other cast members will include F. Murray Abraham, Danny Pudi, Imani Hakim, Charlotte Nicdao, David Hornsby, Ashly Burch, and Jessie Ennis.

The new comedy series will be one of the first comedy shows on ‌Apple TV‌+, joining existing shows like “Dickinson,” “For All Mankind,” “See,” “Servant,” and “The Morning Show.”

This article, “Apple TV+ Comedy Series ‘Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet’ Debuting February 7” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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