Dennis Sellers

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Let the Apple Car rumors keep rolling. <a href="https://electrek.co/2019/03/30/apple-car-tesla-electric-powertrain/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Electrek</em> reports </a>that Apple has hired Michael Schwekutsch, Tesla’s engineering vice president in charge of powertrains, leading to renewed hope/speculation that the company plans a complete auto of its own.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Gerard Williams III, lead designer of Apple's custom iOS chips from A7 to A12X, has left the company, <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-loses-engineer-overseeing-the-processors-powering-iphones-ipads/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">according to </a><a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-loses-engineer-overseeing-the-processors-powering-iphones-ipads/"><em>CNET</em></a>. The reason for his departure is unknown, but the article says his work will “likely show upon in future Apple processors as he’s listed as the inventor on more than 60 Apple patents.”</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">When Apple’s video streaming service, Apple TV +, finally rolls out this fall, it will have plenty of competition.Three out of every four Americans has at least one online subscription, according to a new <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2413532-1&h=2023569951&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.comparecards.com%2Fblog%2F3-in-4-americans-have-online-subscription-study%2F&a=report" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">report</a> from CompareCards.com. Video streaming is the most popular choice among subscribers.</p>

<p 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 style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><em>iFixit</em>, which tears down tech items so you don’t have to, had published a <a href="https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/AirPods+2+Teardown/121471" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">teardown of the second-generation AirPods</a>, providing a closer look at the H1 chip with Bluetooth 5.0 and the same 93 milliwatt hour battery in each of the AirPods in line with the original pair.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">It’s official; the AirPower is dead (though it never actually lived).. Dan Riccio, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, made the announcement in a statement to <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/29/apple-cancels-airpower-product-citing-inability-to-meet-its-high-standards-for-hardware/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>TechCrunch</em></a>.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.jamf.com/">Jamf</a>, which specializes in Apple management, is partnering with Google Cloud to provide both schools and enterprises with a simple, unified authentication process. With <a href="https://www.jamf.com/products/jamf-connect/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jamf Connect</a>, users can unbox their Apple device, power it on and access their corporate and learning applications after signing on with Cloud Identity (or G Suite) credentials.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">The global market for smart home devices is expected to grow 26.9% year over year in 2019 to 832.7 million shipments, according to the International Data Corporation (<span style="text-decoration:underline">IDC</span>) <a href="https://www.idc.com/tracker/showproductinfo.jsp?prod_id=1781" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="text-decoration:underline">Worldwide Quarterly Smart Home Device Tracker</span></a>. </p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple's AirPods captured 60% of the fully wireless earbud market during the December quarter, according to a new report by <a href="http://www.counterpointresearch.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Counterpoint Research</a>.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">A <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/exclusive-data-shows-iphone-users-want-apple-card-2019-3?r=US&IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">survey</a> by <em>Business Insider</em> of 1,022 iPhone users find that most want the upcoming Apple Card, which was announced by Apple this week. </p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">My favorite game controller for use on a Mac, iPad Pro and Apple TV is the $49.95 <a href="https://steelseries.com/gaming-controllers/nimbus" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nimbus Wireless Controller</a>. See my review <a href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2019/3/18/if-you-enjoy-gaming-on-an-apple-device-youll-enjoy-the-nimbus?rq=Nimbus" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here.</a> It also works with the iPhone, but I prefer a bigger display when gaming.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">A patent application (number 20190094032) by Apple shows that future versions of its Maps app may integrate ride hailing services such as Uber and Lyft.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has updated Pages, Numbers, and Keynote for its macOS and iOS devices.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Last week, Apple added a 256GB RAM configure-to-order option for the iMac Pro. However, if you already purchased an iMac Pro with 128GB of RAM or less, upgrading to 256GB isn’t an option. <a href="https://www.macrumors.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>MacRumors </em></a>reports that it’s a build-to-order option only.</p>

<p style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Apple has released the first public betas of iOS 12.3, tvOS 12.3, and watchOS 5..2.1.The public betas are available on <a href="https://beta.apple.com/sp/betaprogram/">Apple's Beta Software Program website</a>. Just remember that beta software, so proceed with care.</p>