Dennis Sellers

<p>In a note to clients, the Barclays research group <a target="_blank" href="https://9to5mac.com/2017/09/05/barclays-apple-homekit-siri/" rel="noopener noreferrer">says</a> Apple’s smart home products won’t drive sales, but will build customer loyalty.</p>

<p><em>Bloomberg </em><a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-05/apple-returns-to-debt-market-to-fund-share-buybacks-dividends" rel="noopener noreferrer">is reporting</a> that Apple will sell up to $5 billion in debt to finance share buybacks. The four-part bond sale comes after dropping a two-year floating rate component and a 30-year security will make up the longest part of the sale. </p>

<p>Apple’s Ningbo, China location at Tianyi Square will open on Sept. 16, <a target="_blank" href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/09/05/ningbo-china-apple-store-at-tianyi-square-opens-sept-16-in-time-for-iphone-8-release" rel="noopener noreferrer">reports AppleInsider</a>. It will be the tech giant’s 41st retail store in the country. </p>

<p>The Pixelmator Team has unveiled the upcoming Pixelmator Pro 1.0, a new image editing app for the Mac. Codenamed Whirlwind, it will include a modern single-window interface, non-destructive, GPU-powered image editing tools, machine learning-enhanced editing features and much more, says Saulius Dailide, one of the founders of the Pixelmator Team.</p>

<p>JixiPix Software has introduced Watercolor Studio, an automatic photo-to-watercolor artistic app for the Mac and Windows. It renders any ordinary photo into a watercolor painting.</p>

<p>There’s more evidence that the Apple Pencil will come to the iPhone in a newly granted patent (number 9,753,556) dubbed “devices and methods for manipulating user interfaces with a stylus.” And perhaps the Mac, as well.</p>

<p>In a note to clients — as noted by <a target="_blank" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-8-people-arent-excited-upgrade-piper-jaffray-research-2017-9?r=UK&IR=T" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Business Insider</em></a> — Piper Jaffray says “the nature of the coming "iPhone 8" upgrade (shown in a fanciful mockup) still hasn't got through to many ordinary people” as only 16% of 400 iPhone owners surveyed said they expected to upgrade.</p>

<p>Apple has booked up the production capacity for above 12-megapixel lens modules at a new factory being built by smartphone lens module maker Largan Precision in central Taiwan, according to <em><a target="_blank" href="http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20170905PD200.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">DigiTimes</a></em>.</p>

<p>For the most part I’ve simply used the Smart Keyboard as the “case” for my 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Some cases I’ve tried were too bulky; others had to be removed to attach the Smart Keyboard. That’s changed with the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.otterbox.com/en-us/ipad-pro-12.9-inch/symmetry-series-hybrid-case/apl2-ipad-pro-12.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">Otterbox Symmetry Series</a>.</p>

<p>Since Apple has apparently lost interest in its AppleScript and Automator scripting solutions — almost a year ago, Sal Soghoian’s position as product manager of Automation Technologies at Apple was terminated, after nearly 20 years at the company — it’s about time to offer some details on when/if Workflow will come to the Mac. </p>

<p>Apple has updated its $350 Beats Studio 3 Wireless headphones, adding a W1 chip for simple pairing, as well as more advanced noise cancelation technology. They’re <a target="_blank" href="https://www.beatsbydre.com/headphones/studio3-wireless" rel="noopener noreferrer">now available</a> to preorder from Apple, and ship in mid-October. </p>

<p>Apple has confirmed to <a href="https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/apple-axes-annual-apple-music-festival-london-10-years/"><em>Music Business Daily</em></a> that it will no longer be hosting the annual Apple Music Festival at London’s Roundhouse.</p>

<p>There’s a lot happening in the world of Apple news this week. Following are the hottest articles for the week of August 28-September 2.</p>

<p>Another day, another lawsuit. China-based Guangdong Pisen Electronics has filed a lawsuit with the Beijing Intellectual Property Court against Apple for the “suspected engagement in monopolistic behavior.”</p>

<p>According to the latest market share survey from <a target="_blank" href="http://netmarkeshare.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">NetMarketShare</a>, the market share for both macOS and iOS was down last month. Which is a bit strange, since Macs continue to defy the industry sales trend for traditional computers and iPhone sales are strong.</p>