Dennis Sellers

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">In the past, it's been suggested by some pundits that Apple release two versions of macOS: a “standard” version and a "pro" version. I’m dubious, but there’s evidence that the tech giant is at least considering this.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Global Mac sales dipped either 3% or 5.3% in the fourth quarter of 2019, depending on if you believe in new data from <a href="http://www.gartner.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gartner </a>or <a href="http://www.idc.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">IDC</a>.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">To “reduce electronic waste and make consumers’ life easier, members of the European Parliament want binding measures for chargers to fit all mobile phones and other portable devices, according to a <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/agenda/briefing/2020-01-13/13/call-to-introduce-common-charger-for-all-mobile-phones" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">briefing on the European Parliament website</a>.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">A 13-inch MacBook Pro with the Magic Keyboard introduced with the 16-inch MacBook Pro is likely arriving soon. As several blog posts have noted, a new filing for an upcoming MacBook has shown up on the Eurasian Economic Commission’s database.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Twelve South's <a href="https://www.twelvesouth.com/products/airsnap-pro?variant=31351705829433" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">AirSnap Pro</a> is the company’s newest addition to its AirSnap line of protective cases. It's designed and tailored to fit the AirPods Pro (see my review of the AirPods Pro <a href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2019/11/4/once-youve-used-the-airpods-pro-its-hard-to-go-back-to-the-non-pro-version?rq=AirPods%20Pro" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>).</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">In a note to clients — as noted by <a href="https://www.macrumors.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MacRumors </a>— analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reiterates that he expects four 5G-enabled iPhones to launch in the second half of the year. And he thinks there will be models with both sub-6GHz and mmWave support, depending on the region.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Oprah Winfrey has cancelled her involvement with a documentary on sexual assault and abuse in the music industry, only <a href="https://apple-tv-plus-press.apple.com/en-US/posts/2019/12/apple-announces-a-documentary-film-presented-by-oprah-winfrey-from-academy-award-nominated-filmmakers-kirby-dick-and-amy-ziering/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">one month after Apple announced it</a> would debut on Apple TV+ sometime this year.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has launched a <a href="https://support.apple.com/iphone-xs-xs-max-xr-smart-battery-case-replacement" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">battery case replacement program</a> for Smart Battery Cases designed for the iPhone XS, XS Max, and iPhone XR. </p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Skyrocketing popularity of streaming services and wireless earbuds along with 5G connectivity and artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled devices will drive revenue growth for the U.S. consumer tech industry to a record $422 billion in retail revenues in 2020 – nearly 4% growth over last year, according to a new Consumer Technology Association (CTA) <a href="http://www.cta.tech/"><span style="text-decoration:underline">report</span></a>.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">On a regular basis, <em>Apple World Today </em>posts a list of notable new apps or app updates that have been released. They may not necessarily be new, but they're popular and deserve mention. Here are this week’s picks.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Roughly one-in-five U.S. adults (21%) say they regularly wear a smart watch or wearable fitness tracker, according to a <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/01/09/about-one-in-five-americans-use-a-smart-watch-or-fitness-tracker/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pew Research Center survey</a> conducted June 3-17, 2019.</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple is accepting donations from users that will be used to help with the bushfires raging in Australia. The tech giant has updated its <a href="https://www.apple.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">U.S.</a> and <a href="https://www.apple.com/au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Australian</a> websites with an option to donate money to help with the bushfire relief efforts in Australia. </p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Another day, another lawsuit. Apple poached key employees from medical device maker Masimo Corp. and swiped some of the company's trade secrets and patent-protected technology for use in the Apple Watch series of products, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in California federal court, reports <a href="https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/1233069/apple-hit-with-ip-suit-over-watch-s-health-data-tracking-tech?nl_pk=ade0cf2b-ea3f-464b-bc93-d8e19277ac63&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=technology" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Law360</a> (a subscription is required to read the entire article).</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">The next version of the Apple Pencil may add new haptic features based on a newly granted patent (number 2020012358) for a “touch-based input for stylus.”</p>

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">In a new report <a href="https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.strategyanalytics.com%2Fstrategy-analytics%2Fhome&esheet=52156113&newsitemid=20200109005546&lan=en-US&anchor=Strategy+Analytics&index=1&md5=79b4928797fedfa55f2339be22e69188" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Strategy Analytics</a> forecasts Apple AirPods sales of nearly 60 million in 2019. As a category, Totally Wireless (TWS) Bluetooth headset sales grew by 200% in 2019. </p>