Ever since the Apple Watch launched in 2015, we’ve seen countless products that save up some counter or desktop space by letting you charge your ‌Apple Watch‌ and iPhone in one spot. There are numerous versions of this type of accessory, and now AT&T has released its own with the Power Drum.

The Power Drum is a cylindrical charger with a small 3-inch footprint that houses a built-in ‌Apple Watch‌ charger and is topped with a Qi-compatible wireless charging surface (subtly designed with the AT&T logo). The Power Drum can be used as a desktop charger through the included micro-USB charging cable, or on-the-go thanks to a 3,000 mAh internal battery.

There are a few things that work for the Power Drum, but to start with its most glaring issue, the accessory is just too small to reliably use as a wireless charger for the ‌iPhone‌. With just a 2-inch base to place your ‌iPhone‌ on (the top portion is smaller than the foot of the Power Drum), placing my iPhone 11 Pro Max on the Power Drum every night for the past week or so always felt like a risk.

Going about this process is frustrating because I had to not only aim for the Qi hotspot on my ‌iPhone‌, but also ensure that the ‌iPhone‌ was properly balanced on the Power Drum at the same time. The right wireless charging position typically never aligned with the perfect balancing position, and it always left me uncertain about leaving my brand-new ‌iPhone 11 Pro Max‌ dangling above the stand for any length of time.

In terms of ‌iPhone‌ charging, I found the Power Drum to offer the typical wireless charging performance. It trickle charged my ‌iPhone 11 Pro Max‌ at a solid rate overnight, but on a few occassions I did notice charging stopped before my ‌iPhone‌ was topped off. As a mobile battery, the Power Drum just isn’t sensible for the Pro Max. Its 3,000 mAh battery can offer a bit of charge to the 3,969 mAh battery on the Pro Max, but once you account for the efficiency loss of wireless charging, the Power Drum doesn’t come close to fully charging the smartphone.

AT&T’s accessory makes more sense as an ‌Apple Watch‌ charger in both desktop and mobile formats. I was able to charge my ‌Apple Watch‌ Series 5’s ~300 mAh battery multiple times without needing to fuel up the Power Drum. This makes the accessory a solid ‌Apple Watch‌ charger for places where a cord is unable to reach, like a bathroom countertop, but it is something you’ll have to remember to charge up every few days.

The Power Drum separates into two parts, including a rubberized base and the central drum-shaped battery. Under the base are inserts sized for each version of the ‌‌Apple Watch‌‌, helping to make sure your ‌Apple Watch‌ lines up with the charging puck on the front of the Power Drum.

The drum simply nests into the base, allowing you to place your ‌Apple Watch‌ around the drum and use Nightstand Mode, but I never found the two pieces were secured together enough. Easy disassembly will make packing it for travel less of a pain, but could also result in lost parts (particularly those ‌Apple Watch‌ case sizing inserts).

AT&T intends you to charge an ‌Apple Watch‌ and smartphone simultaneously, but I found the device to be more useful as an ‌Apple Watch‌ and AirPods charger. The Qi mat is just big enough for the AirPods Pro to fit, so it’s less of a risk than placing your ‌iPhone‌ on the top of the mat.

This makes the Power Drum a convenient home hub for your Apple accessories if you have a nearby outlet to keep it constantly plugged in. Still, even with my ‌AirPods Pro‌ I had to occasionally shift the ‌AirPods‌ around to find the right charging spot on the Power Drum.

Bottom Line

There are aspects to the design of the Power Drum that work, but AT&T’s overall execution of the device is lacking. Charging your ‌iPhone‌ on the accessory is simply not a good idea, so you’ll really only want to look into it if you have an ‌Apple Watch‌ and another, smaller Qi-supported device like the ‌AirPods‌.

But at $99.99 ($59.99 on sale), there just aren’t enough positive aspects of the Power Drum to recommend it. For those interested in learning more, you can find the Power Drum on AT&T’s website.

Note: AT&T provided MacRumors with the Power Drum for the purpose of this review, and no other compensation was received. MacRumors is an affiliate partner with AT&T. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

This article, “Review: AT&T’s Power Drum Can Charge Your Apple Watch and Another Qi Device on the Go, but Phones Are a Bit of a Balancing Act” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple TV+ series “The Morning Show” has been nominated for three Screen Actors Guild Awards for outstanding male actor and outstanding female actor.

Steve Carell and Billy Crudup, who play Mitch Kessler and Corey Ellison, respectively, have been nominated for the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series award.

The two will be competing against Sterling K. Brown (Randall Pearson) from “This Is Us,” Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister) from “Game of Thrones,” and David Harbour (Jim Hopper) from “Stranger Things.”

Jennifer Aniston, who plays Alex Levy, was nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series. Reese Witherspoon, who plays Bradley Jackson in “The Morning Show” was not nominated.

Aniston will be competing against Helena Bonham Carter (Princess Margaret) and Olivia Coleman (Queen Elizabeth II) from “The Crown,” Jodie Comer (Villanelle) from “Killing Eve,” and Elisabeth Moss (June/Offred) from “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

Apple has also received several Golden Globe Award nominations for “The Morning Show,” including a nomination for best drama series. Both Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston have been nominated for best actress in a drama series Golden Globe awards as well.

Apple is competing against HBO’s “Big Little Lies” and “Succession,” BBC America’s “Killing Eve,” and Netflix’s “The Crown” for the best drama series Golden Globe award.

The SAG Awards are given by the Screen Actors Guild and they are considered one of the major award events in Hollywood. The Golden Globe Awards, also considered a major award event, are decided on by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

The SAG awards will take place on Sunday, January 19, 2020, while the Golden Globes will be held on Sunday, January 5, 2020.

Both the Golden Globes and the SAG Awards will be followed by the Academy Awards, given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Nominations for the Academy Awards, which will be held on February 9, have not yet been announced. SAG and Golden Globe nominations are often predictors of Academy Award nominations, though.

“The Morning Show” is the only one of Apple’s TV shows to receive award nominations in 2020, and it is the series with the most notable cast. Prior to launch, “The Morning Show” received less than stellar reviews from critics, but it has fared better with audiences.

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Apple is now offering the popular Brydge line of keyboards designed for the newest iPads in its online store.

As of today, Apple is selling the Brydge 10.2 Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard for the seventh-generation iPad and the Brydge 10.5 Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard for the third-generation ‌iPad‌ Air.

Available for $129.95, the Brydge keyboards are more affordable than Apple’s own Smart Keyboards and offer a more traditional typing experience with 1.2mm of key travel.

Brydge keyboards, which come in gray, silver, and gold to match the colors of the available ‌iPad‌ models, are unique among third-party keyboards because of their tab system.

The ‌iPad‌ is designed to nestle into two silicone-lined tabs at the top of the keyboard, with no additional cover required for the rest of the ‌iPad‌, which keeps the design more minimal. The tabs are hinged, so the keyboard can be closed over the ‌iPad‌ in a clamshell design.

Brydge keyboards aren’t able to take advantage of the Smart Connector on Apple’s iPads and instead must use Bluetooth, but Brydge says they’re able to last for up to 12 months on a single charge depending on usage. There are integrated iOS battery management tools to cut down on power drain.

The keys are backlit, there’s a row of function keys specific to iOS, and the keyboards use Bluetooth 4.0 to connect to the ‌iPad‌. Each keyboard is made from a heavy, durable aluminum that’s able to hold up to wear and tear, and it’s simple to remove the ‌iPad‌ from the tabs that hold it in place.

The Brydge keyboards are available from the Apple online store and Apple retail stores in the United States and Canada starting today.

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Apple is rumored to launch four 5G-enabled iPhones in fall 2020, and while 5G-related components could raise the production costs of the devices by $30 to $100 depending on the model, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes Apple will not significantly increase the price of 5G iPhones compared to this year’s lineup.

iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max models start at $999 and $1,099 respectively in the United States, while the iPhone 11 starts at $699.

In a research note with TF International Securities, viewed by MacRumors, Kuo said Apple instead aims to offset the cost of 5G by reducing its supply chain expenses, potentially including dropping its upfront non-recurring engineering payment to suppliers of the redesigned metal chassis and frame for 5G iPhones.

Non-recurring engineering refers to the one-time cost to research, design, develop, and test a new product or component. Kuo believes Apple will shift more of this research and development in house.

While the non-recurring engineering payment has typically helped Apple’s suppliers stay afloat when iPhone sales start to slow during the spring and summer each year, Kuo believes it will be less essential in 2020 and beyond since Apple is expected to start releasing iPhones on a biannual basis going forward — lower-end iPhones in the spring and higher-end iPhones in the fall.

Kuo has previously claimed that 5G iPhones will sport a redesigned metal frame with an iPhone 4-like design, suggesting a return to flatter edges. In today’s note, he said both the chassis and frame on 5G iPhones will cost Apple significantly more to manufacture, perhaps pointing towards an even more premium design.

This article, “Kuo: Next Year’s 5G iPhones With Redesigned Metal Frame Won’t Have Major Price Increase” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple appears to be working on new “Powerbeats4” wireless earphones to replace the existing Powerbeats3, based on strings in iOS 13.3 code uncovered by MacRumors contributor Steve Moser.

Powerbeats3

9to5Mac was first to discover the Powerbeats4 reference, noting that the earphones will likely support hands-free “Hey Siri.” This means the Powerbeats4 will likely have an Apple-designed H1 chip or newer, which delivers a faster and more stable wireless connection to your devices.

With the H1 chip, the Powerbeats4 would likely support “Announce Messages with Siri.” When enabled, Siri reads your incoming messages out loud when your earphones are connected to your iPhone or iPad running iOS 13.2 or iPadOS 13.2 or later, you’re wearing them, and your device is locked. Siri plays a tone, then announces the sender’s name and reads the message.

Apple already released totally wireless Powerbeats Pro with “Hey Siri” support earlier this year for a regular price of $249.95. Powerbeats4 would likely be a cheaper version of the earphones and will presumably stick with the cord between the left and right earphone like the Powerbeats3, which retail for $199.95.

It is unclear if and when Apple will release the Powerbeats4 or if that will be the final consumer-facing name of the earphones.

iOS 13.3 was released yesterday.

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Apple, talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, and former first lady Michelle Obama have teamed up to donate Macs and iPads to Randle Highlands Elementary School in Washington, D.C., a school with a high percentage of low-income students.

Apple’s donation includes iMacs for the school, a MacBook Air for each teacher, and an iPad for each student. The school is also receiving a $100,000 cash donation and a new basketball court from Ellen.

“Every child deserves the opportunity to create something that can change the world,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook.

The donation was part of day one of Ellen’s “Greatest Night of Giveaways,” which will continue to air on NBC for the next two nights.

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Google has released Chrome 79 with a number of enhanced security features and improvements for lower CPU usage.

On the security front, when you type your credentials into a website, Chrome will now warn you if your username and password have been compromised in a data breach, and suggest that you change them everywhere they were used.

Google first introduced this technology earlier this year as the Password Checkup extension. In October it became a part of the Password Checkup in Google Account settings, and now it has evolved to offer warnings as you browse the web in Chrome.

In addition to password warnings, Chrome has brought its anti-phishing protections to desktop. Google’s Safe Browsing maintains a list of unsafe sites on the web that refreshes every 30 minutes, but Google found that some phishing sites were slipping through that 30-minute window, either by quickly switching domains or by hiding from Google’s crawlers.

To counter this, the desktop phishing protection is real-time, and should warn users when visiting malicious sites in 30 percent more cases. Google is rolling out this protection to everyone with the “Make searches and browsing better” setting enabled in Chrome.

Chrome 79 also introduces automatic tab freezing, which aims to reduce the browser’s CPU usage, especially when lots of tabs are open. With automatic tab freezing, Chrome pauses any tabs that have been in the background for a while so that they don’t load content or do anything else that could tax the system.

Users will still be able to play audio in a backgrounded tab, but if there’s no interaction with a tab for a while then Chrome will freeze it until the user returns to it.

Google Chrome for Mac is a free download available directly from Google’s servers. Google Chrome for iOS is a free download for iPhone and iPad available on the App Store. [Direct Link]

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Early reports from 16-inch MacBook Pro owners who have installed the macOS Catalina 10.15.2 update suggest that the new software fixes some of the speaker popping issues that were plaguing these machines.

According to a reddit user, after installing the update, the popping issue is no longer occurring, even after attempts to trigger it in VLC, Safari, Chrome, Netflix, YouTube, Premiere Pro, and Amazon Prime Video, all apps 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ owners previously complained were affected.

There are similar reports from 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ owners on the MacRumors forums. MacRumors readers Dextera, donawalt, and Lobwedgephil say their popping problems are entirely solved.

Just installed it over 10.15.1, ran about 6-7 different loud Youtube songs, tried the skip ahead/right arrow, and stopping songs, NADA! FIXED!

Reports from other 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ owners are more mixed, though. Some users say that the update improves the popping problem, but does not eliminate it entirely.

Some users are hearing lighter and more muted popping sounds in apps like Chrome and Safari, and some report that the popping has stopped for some apps like Spotify, but not for others. From MacRumors reader Ries:

10.15.2, occasional pops still happen for me in all scenarios. Thou a lot less frequent and at lower volume than they used to be.

From MacRumors reader covedrop:

Just installed 10.15.2 and can confirm that although the popping has been significantly reduced (more often it sounds like a minor crackle as I would expect when signal is cut), it is still there. I’m inclined to think that since the issue has been reduced as it has, if you’re not hearing it you may just not be hearing the old sound, as it now sounds different. It’s about 50% of the max it was previously (the loudest I experienced).

I also had to skip pretty aggressively in YouTube to really get a good pop – better, but certainly not fixed. I also had my volume up quite loud, but not full.

16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ owners have been complaining of popping sounds since the machine was first released in October. Apple in a memo to Apple Authorized Service Providers confirmed the popping issue last week and said that a fix would be implemented in the near future.

When using Final Cut Pro X, Logic Pro X, QuickTime Player, Music, Movies, or other applications to play audio, users may hear a pop come from the speakers after playback has ended. Apple is investigating the issue. A fix is planned in future software updates. Do not set up service, or replace the user’s computer, as this is a software-related issue.

Apple in its note to service providers said that the fix would require updates plural, not a single update, which may explain the mixed reports that we’re hearing from 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ owners. The macOS Catalina 10.15.2 software appears to partially address the problem, but further software updates may be required to stamp it out entirely.

This article, “Initial Reports Suggest macOS Catalina 10.15.2 May Fix 16-Inch MacBook Pro Popping Sound Bug for Some Users” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple CEO Tim Cook this week spent time in Japan, and during his trip, he sat down with Japanese news site Nikkei to cover familiar topics like privacy, manufacturing, and health.

Cook visited Apple supplier Seiko Advance in Tokyo, met with developers in the area, visited a primary school, and stopped by several local Apple Stores.

Cook said that Apple does manufacturing by looking at “all countries” and seeing what skills are available. “We pick the best,” Cook said. He pointed out that Apple has created well over two million jobs in the United States, and says there’s “enormous manufacturing” happening there. “Just not the assembly of the final product,” he said.

On the topic of Apple’s ability to innovate, Cook said that the smartphone market has not yet reached its peak and there are still advancements to come.

“I know of no one who would call a 12-year-old mature,” he said. “Sometimes these steps are humongous, sometimes these steps are smaller. But the key is to always make things better, not just change for change’s sake.”

“The ethos and the DNA of the company have never been stronger on the innovation front. The product line has never been stronger.”

Cook went on to say that he believes Apple’s greatest contribution to humankind will be in health, something that he’s said several times before. He specifically pointed out the ECG function of the Apple Watch as evidence of Apple’s progress.

Cook also spoke about competition and monopolies, claiming that Apple has “more competitors than any company on earth.” Apple is facing regulatory investigations in the United States and Europe over its App Store policies amid accusations that Apple has an unfair advantage over third-party app developers.

“A monopoly by itself isn’t bad if it’s not abused,” Cook said, while insisting that Apple does not have a monopoly in any sector. “The question for those companies is, do they abuse it? And that is for regulators to decide, not for me to decide.”

Cook ended the interview with a spiel on privacy, a topic that he often covers. He reiterated once again that customers are not Apple’s product, and that Apple does not believe in trafficking data.

‌Tim Cook‌’s full interview with Nikkei can be read over on the Nikkei website.

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With the new 2019 Mac Pro now available for purchase, Apple has begun sharing support documents and tutorial videos covering the new high-end machine that’s designed for professional users.

Two new support videos shared this morning walk ‌Mac Pro‌ owners through RAM upgrades and graphics upgrades through adding a new MPX Module. Apple designed the ‌Mac Pro‌ to be upgradeable over time, so all of the components can be swapped out.

Upgrading the ‌Mac Pro‌’s RAM can be done by lifting off the aluminum housing, opening up the DIMM cover, opening the DIMM ejectors, pulling out old RAM, and then aligning the DIMMs of the new memory into the optimal slots and pushing it in gently.

Installing a new MPX Module requires lifting off the aluminum housing, loosening the screws of the MPX base with a screwdriver and removing the clamp plates, unlocking the MPX base, and then sliding in a new module.

Apple also has a support document highlighting all of the parts that can be replaced and upgraded in the ‌Mac Pro‌, including the memory, PCIe cards, Apple I/O card, power supply, SSD, and wheels.

Many other ‌Mac Pro‌ support documents are available to walk users through component replacement and other features, with a list below:

• Mac Pro Technical Specifications
• Install and replace parts in your Mac Pro
• 2019 Mac Pro memory specifications
• Install and replace memory in your Mac Pro
• Install PCIe cards in your Mac Pro
• PCIe cards you can install in your Mac Pro
• About graphics-card compatibility between Mac Pro models
• Use the Radeon Pro 580X MPX Module with your Mac Pro
• Use the Radeon Pro Vega II MPX Module with your Mac Pro
• Use the Radeon Pro Vega II Duo MPX Module with your Mac Pro
• Using AMD graphics cards with Microsoft Windows on Mac Pro
• About the Promise Pegasus R4i MPX RAID storage module for Mac Pro
• Mac Pro status indicator light behavior
• Replace the power supply in your Mac Pro
• Replace the Apple I/O card in your Mac Pro
• About the Afterburner accelerator card for Mac Pro
• Use multiple displays with your Mac Pro

Apple warns that damage caused by failing to follow the specific instructions provided on replacing components in the ‌Mac Pro‌ is not covered by Apple’s warranty.

There are also some support documents specific to the new Pro Display XDR.

• Pro Display XDR Technical Specifications
• Set up and use Apple Pro Display XDR
• Use reference modes with your Apple Pro Display XDR
• How to clean your Apple Pro Display XDR
• Change the refresh rate on your Apple Pro Display XDR

Both the ‌Mac Pro‌ and the Pro Display XDR are available for purchase starting today, with pricing on the ‌Mac Pro‌ starting at $5,999 and pricing on the Pro Display XDR starting at $4,999.

This article, “Apple Shares Mac Pro Support Docs and Tutorial Videos on Adding RAM and MPX Modules” first appeared on MacRumors.com

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