It may be Friday the 13th, but there’s very little bad luck involved with today’s Apple World Today News Update podcast, with the exception of a scarcity of news:
- AR Tape Measure has been our sponsor this week. Be sure to pick up this free app and see how augmented reality can help you in your daily life
- Certain 15-inch MacBook Pros with Retina displays from mid-2012 and early 2013 are eligible for free — but extremely slow — repairs if they need battery service
- Hungry? Facebook now lets you order food for delivery or pickup from a variety of local restaurants in the USA
The text version of the podcast can be read below. To listen to the podcast here, click the play button on the player below. Apple News readers need to visit Apple World Today in order to listen to the podcast.
Text Version
This is Steve Sande for Apple World Today, and you’re listening to the AWT News Update podcast for Friday, October 13th, 2017. Our sponsor this month is It’s About Time Products, and this week we’re focusing on a free iOS app that takes advantage of Apple’s ARKit framework and iOS 11 — it’s called AR Tape Measure, and it lets you measure distances, angles and areas directly from your iOS device. Check out the sponsorship post on Apple World Today for more information.
Well, I live with two black cats, walked under a ladder this morning, and I’m thinking of spilling salt and breaking a mirror. Yes, it’s Friday the 13th, and the only bad luck I’ve experienced today was having problems with my Comcast email account…which isn’t surprising. That, and there aren’t a lot of news items for the podcast today.
Do you have a 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display from mid-2012 or early 2013? If you’re running into battery issues and your MBP qualifies for battery service, the repair could be free…if you’re willing to wait for about a month. Apple has told Apple Authorized Service Providers and Genius Bar employees to offer the free battery repair if they’re willing to wait until at least November 15 to have the service completed. There’s a reason for this — there’s a shortage of the aluminum (or aluminium if you’re Jony Ive) enclosure that the battery is glued into on those MacBook Pro models. If you can’t live without your Retina 15-inch MacBook Pro for that long, the standard out-of-warranty service price runs $199 in the US. How can you tell if your MacBook Pro needs battery service? Click the Apple logo in the menu bar, select About This Mac > System Report > Power, and if it says “Service Battery” in the Health Information section, you know you need help. Apple will then confirm the diagnosis at a Genius Bar.
Facebook is continuing its move toward world domination through its app and website, which today added food ordering and delivery. To get to this important feature, you just need to go to the Explore tab of the Facebook iOS app, which is found in the so-called “Hamburger menu” in the lower right corner of the app or go to your home feed page on the website and look at Explore in the left sidebar. Scroll through the many items in the Explore tab and you’ll find “Order Food”. Facebook says that this section of the app and website takes options from a number of food ordering services and aggregates them into one place. Any restaurant near you that takes orders from EatStreet, Zuppler, Slice, Delivery.com, DoorDash, ChowNow and Olo will show up, as well as any Jack in the Box, Five Guys, Papa John’s, Wingstop, TGI Friday’s, Denny’s, El Pollo Loco, Chipotle, Jimmy John’s or Panera franchises. Some other local spots are also part of the Order Food service. Note that it’s rolling out to everyone in the USA; it reached my iPhone before it got to my iPad Pro, and your first try may be a little slow. If my favorite local Mexican restaurant ever gets onto this list of restaurants, I may never leave home again…
That’s all for today; I’ll be back Monday afternoon with another edition of the AWT News Update.
