The AWT News Update is on hiatus while my compadre, Steve, takes a road trip. In its place, I’ll offer a text-only (no podcast) summary of breaking stories with a tip o’ my hat to my former website, Apple Daily Report.
Apple has posted a new Apple Music ad that continues its “distractingly good” campaign. The ad stars Drake, an artist who has developed a good relationship with Apple and its music service. Apple has also shared a new TV ad called “Frankie’s Holiday” in time for the holiday season, accompanied with the tagline “open your heart to everyone.”
Some buyers of Apple’s new MacBook Pros are finding that the three-finger drag gesture is working inconsistently on their trackpads, if at all, according to complaints on Apple’s support forums and elsewhere. Where the problem is intermittent, it may manifest only on some parts of the trackpad. Some owners, including people on MacRumors forums, have speculated that the issue is related to palm rejection technology.
There was also speculation in September that Apple had made an approach to invest in or buy McLaren Automotive, according to the Financial Times. However, “There wasn’t a bid from Apple,” CEO Mike Flewitt said. “They visited. We talked. We talked about what they did. We talked about what we did. They toured. It never matured to a definitive proposition.”
As announced in October, Apple Chief Design Officer Jony Ive and colleague Marc Newson were tasked with designing the Christmas tree at Claridges hotel in London. The attraction has now been unveiled and it turns out Ive and Newson have gone beyond one single tree and instead designed an entire room like a snow-covered forest — the hotel is calling it a “festive installation.”
