Dennis Sellers

<p>Apple has released the first public beta of its next update (10.12.5) for macOS Sierra. It’s a minor update that focuses on bug fixes and speed improvements.</p>

<p>Estimated retail revenues from recorded music in the U.S. grew 11.4% in 2016 to $7.7 billion in 2016, according to a report from the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.riaa.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA</a>). The primary driver of that growth was a doubling of paid streaming music subscriptions such as Apple Music, which helped the American music business experience its biggest gain since 1998. </p>

<p>If you want to buy displays and USB-C peripherals for the 2016 MacBook, scoop ‘em now as discounted prices end tomorrow, March 31. The new MacBook Pro has Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports, which have a different connector than that of USB-A devices and cables like the iPhone sync cable. </p>

<p>At the end of April, Apple plans to eliminate such retail store positions as business manager, business events lead, events coordinator, and events lead according to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.macrumors.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">MacRumors</a>, quoting an unnamed “source who shared the company's plans.” Sources within the company, not authorized to speak on Apple's behalf, have confirmed the reorganization in some stores with <a target="_blank" href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/03/30/apple-to-cut-several-business-events-positions-at-retail-stores---report" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>AppleInsider</em></a>.</p>

<p>Call this a mini-review: earlier this month I <a target="_blank" href="https://appleworld.dreamhosters.com/blog/2017/3/14/the-second-gen-gamevice-really-enhances-game-playing-on-ios-devices?rq=Gamevice" rel="noopener noreferrer">critiqued</a> the second generation of the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.gamevice.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Gamevice</strong></a> controller, which has been upgraded with new buttons and thumb sticks,  on my iPhone 7 Plus. I found it to be great for certain games, but wondered if the 12.9-inch iPad Pro version would just too unwieldy to use.</p>

<p>If you wish you can record a FaceTime call with macOS Sierra. Here’s how to do it:<br />Open QuickTime on your Mac from your dock. It’s in the Applications folder. Or you can use the macOS LaunchPad. Or — my favorite method — you can tell Siri to “Open QuickTime.”</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>If you’re in the market for one of the new iPads you can order it at Apple’s online store for personal pickup at retail stores in the U.S. and Canada. Or you can simply drop by a store and hope they have some available.</p>

<p>Apple, Google, and Microsoft have teamed up with other corporations in the U.S. keeping to their pledges to combat climate change, despite recent actions by President Donald Trump, reports <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-03-30/apple-wal-mart-stick-with-climate-pledges-despite-trump-s-pivot" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bloomberg</a>.</p>

<p>Apple has filed for two patents designed to make it easier to record and author music on an iPhone or iPad. Patent number 20170092320) is for an <strong>“automatic music record and authoring tool.”</strong></p>

<p>Apple will begin selling the iPhone in Argentina in April for the first time in years, reports <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-30/iphone-is-legit-again-after-years-on-argentina-s-gray-market" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bloomberg</a>, quoting an unnamed “person familiar with the matter.”</p>

<p>Apple has been named “the most intimate brand,” according to the <a target="_blank" href="http://mblm.com/ranking-tool/" rel="noopener noreferrer">2017 Brand Intimacy Survey </a>by MBLM, a consulting, branding, experience and technology company. The rest of the top 10 were Disney, Amazon, Harley Davidson, Netflix, Nintendo, Samsung, Whole Foods, BMW and Toyota.</p>

<p>The Apple App Store is projected to remain the leading app store for the next five years and is slated to generate more than $60 billion in gross consumer spending in 2021, according to a new report by <a target="_blank" href="https://www.appannie.com/en/insights/market-data/app-annie-forecast-2017-mobile-app-store-revenue-exceed-139-billion-2021/" rel="noopener noreferrer">App Annie</a>.</p>

<p>Spotify may be the leader when it comes to the largest number of paid subscribers (50 million) for a streaming music service, but it’s Apple Music (which has over 20-million subscribers) that comes out on top when their respective audiences translate into monthly unique users, specifically on mobile, according to a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.vertoanalytics.com/verto-index-streaming-music/" rel="noopener noreferrer">report</a> published this week from mobile analytics firm Verto — as noted by <a target="_blank" href="https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/29/mobile-music/" rel="noopener noreferrer">TechCrunch</a>.</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>