Dennis Sellers

<p class="">Apple’s latest hardware releases — the revamped MacBook Air, Mac mini, and iPad Pro -- go under the microscope in a <a href="http://www.macvoices.com/macvoices-20102-peter-cohen-on-the-new-mac-mini-ipad-pro-and-macbook-air-part-1/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MacVoices discussion</a> with Peter Cohen.</p>

<p class="">In a note to clients -- as noted by <a href="http://www.macrumors.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MacRumors </a>— analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says Apple plans to launch several laptop AND desktop Macs with its own custom designed ARM-based processors in the first quarter of 2021 (or perhaps late this year).</p>

<p class="">I’ve been playing — er, working with — the new 12.9-inch iPad Pro since March 25 and have found it to be — not surprisingly — a great tablet. But I know your question: is it now a feasible laptop alternative/replacement? My answer remains the same as it has been for some time: “yes” for many folks, “no” for others (including me).</p>

<p class="">As noted by <a href="http://www.macrumors.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MacRumors</a>, Apple is offering new free trial options for Final Cut Pro X and Logic Pro X, its pro video and pro audio editing applications. The tech giant is giving customers 90 days to try ‘em before buying ‘em.</p>

<p class="">A currently unpatched security vulnerability affecting iOS 13.3.1 or later prevents virtual private networks (VPNs) from encrypting all traffic and can lead to some Internet connections bypassing VPN encryption to expose users' data or leak their IP addresses, reports <a href="https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/unpatched-ios-bug-blocks-vpns-from-encrypting-all-traffic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bleeping Computer</a>.</p>

<p class="">If there's one company that’s in a great position to survive the coronavirus pandemic, it's Apple. The tech giant ended 2019 with US$247 billion in cash, securities and account receivables.</p>

<p class=""><a href="https://sensortower.com/blog/revenue-per-iphone-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">According to</a> a study by <em>Sensor Tower</em>, consumer spending per active iPhone reached a “key milestone” in the U.S. last year with the average amount spent on in-app purchases (IAP) and premium apps reaching an estimated US$100 for the first time.</p>

<p class="">Good news for the Apple Watch: the global smart watch market was valued at shipments volume of 44 million in 2018 and it is expected to reach a volume of 109 million by 2024, registering a compound annual growth rate [CAGR] of 14.5% through 2024, predicts <a href="http://www.researchandmarkets.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Research and Markets.</a> The Apple Watch is widely expected to continue its domination of the market.</p>

<p class="">iPhone assembler Wistron expects to have 50% of production outside China by 2021, according to <a href="https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20200326PD207.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Digitimes</a>.</p>

<p class="">Loup Ventures’ <a href="https://loupventures.com/fall-iphone-event-likely-to-remain-a-bedrock-for-apple/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gene Munster says </a>he thinks Apple’s 5G iPhone will indeed launch this fall despite <a href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2020/3/25/apple-reportedly-may-delay-release-of-next-iphone-by-months" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">rumors</a> that it will be delayed for “month” due to the coronavirus pandemic.</p>

<p class="">Future Mac keyboards (on laptops and standalone keyboards) may sport built-in microphones per a new Apple patent filing (number 2020097053) for a “method for porting a microphone through keyboard.”</p>

<p class="">It’s been predicted for a while, but a newly filed Apple patent (number 20200097747) hints at Face ID will eventually come to the Mac (at least to laptops). It's dubbed "light recognition module for determining a user of a computing device.”</p>

<p class="">On the new <a href="http://www.macvoices.com/macvoices-20101-briefing-five-ways-to-improve-your-videoconferencing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MacVoices,</a> host Chuck Joiner offers five (plus a bonus) tips on how to look and sound better when conducting video conference calls.</p>

<p class="">CEO Tim Cook <a href="https://twitter.com/tim_cook/status/1242894121372512256" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">has tweeted</a> that Apple has donated more than 10 million masks in the fight against the coronavirus.</p>

<p class="">Apple is considering delaying the release of the next gen iPhone by “months” due, of course, to the coronavirus crisis, according to <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Coronavirus/Apple-weighs-delaying-5G-iPhone-launch-by-months-sources-say" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nikkei</a>, citing three unnamed "people familiar with the matter.”</p>