Dennis Sellers

<p class="">Apple Music head Oliver Schusser will be taking the top post at Beats, replacing Luke Wood, who's leaving the company on April 30, according to <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/an-apple-veteran-will-take-over-the-beats-headphones-business/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CNET</a>.</p>

<p class="">Apple CEO Tim Cook has been named to a task force in California that will focus on getting the economy up and running again, reports <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/17/gov-newsom-names-tom-steyer-tim-cook-to-business-recovery-task-force.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CNBC</a>.</p>

<p class="">Two new games — Beyond Blue and A Fold Apart -- have been added to Apple Arcade, Apple’s game streaming service that costs US$4.99 per month or $4.99 per year. They're available on the iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. Alas, neither seem to be available for the Mac.</p>

<p class="">Blackmagic tells <a href="https://www.macrumors.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MacRumors </a>that it is no longer manufacturing its Blackmagic eGPU Pro due to AMD discontinuing its Radeon RX Vega 56 graphics chip. The eGPU Pro — an US$1,199, non-upgradeable external graphics processor featuring the aforementioned graphics processor — debuted in October 2018.</p>

<p class="">Goldman Sachs expects iPhone shipment to drop 36% during the third quarter due to coronavirus-related lockdowns around the world and downgraded Apple Inc stock to “sell," according to <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-apple-iphone/goldman-predicts-36-drop-in-iphone-shipment-says-time-to-sell-apple-shares-idUKKBN21Z1QW" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reuters</a>.</p>

<p class="">The second generation iPhone SE is <a href="http://www.apple.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">available for pre-order.</a> It comes in three colors — black, white and (PRODUCT)RED — with prices starting at US$399.</p>

<p class="">The American Civil Liberties Union has <a href="https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/apple-and-google-announced-a-coronavirus-tracking-system-how-worried-should-we-be/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">raised concerns </a>about Apple and Google's joint contact tracing effort to to help alert people who have been in close proximity to someone who tested positive for COVID-19.</p>

<p class="">"Home," a documentary series about folks who live in innovative houses, has debuted on Apple TV+, Apple’s streaming service.</p>

<p class="">Macstock organizer Mike Potter has announced that this year’s event has joined the list of cancellations due to COVID-19. On the <a href="https://youtu.be/ZljfeiNHx-I" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">latest episode of MacVoices</a>, he joins host Chuck Joiner to walk us through the behind-the-scenes factors that went into that decision.</p>

<p class="">I’m anxiously awaiting the release of the <a href="https://www.apple.com/ipad-pro/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Magic Keyboard</a> now that iPadOS now offers dedicated trackpad/mouse support. However, if the thought of paying US$299 for a keyboard/case combo for an Apple tablet gives you shudders, you may want to check out the $149.99 <a href="https://www.zagg.com/en_us/rugged-book-go-ipad-12-inch-pro" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rugged Book Go</a> for the third and fourth generation iPad Pros. Of course, you won’t get a built-in trackpad, so keep that in mind.</p>

<p class="">Unless you’re wearing specially designed gloves, Apple touchscreen devices such as iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches may not respond to a touch by your gloved finger. A newly granted patent (number 10,620,758) shows that the tech giant wants to change this.</p>

<p class="">In a company-wide virtual meeting, CEO Tim Cook said the company was, despite the problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, in good financial shape and will continue to invest in new products and research and development in a "really significant way,” Apple employee <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-16/apple-ceo-sees-company-emerging-strongly-from-covid-19-crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told</a> Bloomberg.</p>

<p class="">Apple has released the second developer beta of macOS Catalina 10.15.5. And it will, among other things, include new Battery Health Management features for Mac laptops.</p>

<p class="">Apple has released the first public betas of iOS 13.4.5 and iPadOS 13.4.5. 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>

<p class="">The launch of a new high-end 12.9-inch iPad Pro with a Mini-LED display may be pushed until early 2021 due to the device's "complex panel design," analyst Jeff Pu said in an investor note with Chinese research firm GF Securities — as noted by <a href="http://www.macrumors.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MacRumors</a>.</p>