Dennis Sellers

<p>There are legitimate complaints that Macs have lost their “wow” factor. The MacBook Pro and Mac mini are long-in-the-tooth. And the Mac Pro is practically extinct by computer years.</p>

<p>On Saturday singer/songwriter/rapper Frank Ocean on Saturday debuted his new album, <em>Blonde</em>, on Apple Music and iTunes — as a two-week windowed exclusive on Apple's streaming music service. Some folks are’t happy about it.</p>

<p>Today marks the fifth anniversary since Tim Cook took over as Apple’s CEO asSteve Jobs stepped down and recommended Cook as his replacement. As you might expect, on that date (Aug. 24, 2011) there was lots of predictions that the sky was falling.</p>

<p>I’m old school and really need to use a joystick or joypad to play games on my Mac. Soon I’ll be able to use a $59.99 <a href="https://www.amazon.com/DualShock-Wireless-Controller-PlayStation-Black-4/dp/B00BGA9X9W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&sr=1-3&s=videogames&keywords=PS4%2Bcontroller&tag=9to5g-20&qid=1471983502">DualShock 4 </a>thanks to a new accessory for Sony. You could connect a DualShock 4 controller to a Mac for some time via USB and some workarounds, but the new adapter is designed to make it all more seamless.</p>

<p>Australian retailer giant Coles, the Australian Payments Clearing Association (APCA), and the Australian Retailers Association (APA) have <a target="_blank" href="http://www.zdnet.com/article/retailers-payments-association-want-banks-granted-negotiation-rights-with-apple/" rel="noopener noreferrer">expressed their support</a> to allow some of Australia's largest banks to collectively negotiate with third-party mobile providers such as Apple on conditions relating to competition, best practice standards, and efficiency and transparency.</p>

<p>If you're an iMac or Apple Thunderbolt Display owner, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.twelvesouth.com/product/hirise-for-imac" rel="noopener noreferrer">Twelve South's HiRise</a> offers a cool addition to your workspace. It's a $79.99, height-adjustable stand that's both functional and good-looking.</p>

<p>Approximately 65% of middle school students use a laptop, and more than 36% use a tablet. In addition, nearly 90% of college students own and use laptops on a daily basis.</p>

<p>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 today's picks.</p>

<p>According to the folks at iFixIt, repair experts from all over the world are reporting a <a href="http://createsend.ifixit.com/t/r-l-whtludl-xlkjygu-y/">widespread problem</a> killing iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus devices: an unresponsive touchscreen and a gray, flickering bar at the top of the display. </p>

<p>Kanex has shipped the $99.95 <a target="_blank" href="http://www.kanex.com/gopowerwatch" rel="noopener noreferrer">GoPower battery pack</a> for the Apple Watch. It contains a 4,000mAh cell, which can recharge the smartwatch around 10 times before it’s entirely out of juice.</p>

<p>The Apple Watch was the runner-up in the “Overall Best Smartwatch” category by <a target="_blank" href="http://pastemagazine.com" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Paste Magazine</em></a>. Here’s what the mag had to say about the Apple smartwatch: </p>

<p><a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.promise.com%2FApollo&esheet=51406086&newsitemid=20160823005269&lan=en-US&anchor=Apollo+Cloud&index=1&md5=daffc04ff6c25ea33fbc14c130b88ad9">Apollo Cloud</a>, Promise Technology’s first consumer product, brings new digital content management ability to users of the personal cloud device and app with a free software upgrade that includes Time Machine support.</p>

<p>A U.S. International Trade Commission judge handed Apple a win Friday, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.law360.com/technology/articles/831199?nl_pk=ade0cf2b-ea3f-464b-bc93-d8e19277ac63&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=technology" rel="noopener noreferrer">ruling </a>that a media player patent that netted Creative Technologies, a Singapore software company a $100 million settlement with Apple is invalid.</p>

<p>Apple files for — and is granted — lots of patents by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Many are for inventions that never see the light of day. However, you never can tell which ones will materialize in a real product, so here are today’s patent highlights: </p>

<p>A new study released by <a target="_blank" href="http://www.musicwatchinc.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">MusicWatch</a>, a company providing consumer research for the music industry,  profiled the usage patterns, playlist preferences, discovery habits and creation habits of music streamers. The study, which is based on 500 online interviews with users of Apple Music or Spotify who participate in listening to or creating playlists. </p>