Cheap Pionteklogix ST3002 Li-ion Other battery, Brand New ST3002 replacement battery for PionTeklogix Onii5 XT10 XT15 XT15F 7545XV

5300MAH 3.6V Pionteklogix ST3002 Batteries for PionTeklogix Onii5 XT10 XT15 XT15F 7545XV, Pionteklogix ST3002 Other battery is a brand new,100% Compatible original and replacement Laptop battery,Purchase wholesale and retail ST3002 with high quality and low price!

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ST3002

Specifications

  • Brand:PionTeklogix
  • Capacity :5300MAH
  • Voltage :3.6V
  • Type :Li-ion
  • Battery Cell Quality: Grade A
  • Descriptive: Replacement Battery – 1 Year Warranty
  • Description: Brand New, 1 Year Warranty! 30-Days Money Back! Fast Shipping!

How we test this Pionteklogix ST3002 Battery Li-ion 3.6V 5300MAH

Step 1: Make sure customer bought the correct battery.
Step 2: Check battery’s appearance and interface.
Step 3: Test battery charger and recharger function.
Step 4: Charger the battery to 100% and recharger to 0% to get real battery capacity
Step 5: Use Ev2300 to check the voltage difference of each goroup cells.
Step 6: Charger battery power more than 30%.
Step 7: Package battery carefully and send out

Compatible Part Numbers:

ST3002

Compatible Model Numbers:

PionTeklogix Onii5 XT10 XT15 XT15F 7545XV

How much do you know about how to run laptop well as any place? The follow Tips cut way back on protecting battery life.


1). Please recharge or change your Other battery when battery power low.
2). Using Li-Ion Replacement Pionteklogix ST3002 Other Battery for your notebook which can work longer time than Non Li-ion one.
3). It is better to defragmentation regularly for your Other battery life.
4). In order to reduce the laptop power consumpition, you can use some optical drive spin-down and hard drive in your Other .
5). Please keep your laptop in sleep or standby model without long time using, which both save the Replacement Pionteklogix ST3002 Other Battery power and extend battery using life.
6). Leave your battery in a dry and cool condition when without using.
7). When you rarely or generally plugged in fixed power using, Please take down your battery to avoid hurting battery life.

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Cheap Blackview A20 Li-ion Cell Phone battery, Brand New A20 replacement battery for Blackview A20 Pro

6400mAh /23.7Wh 3.7V/4.35V Blackview A20 Batteries for Blackview A20 Pro, Blackview A20 Cell Phone battery is a brand new,100% Compatible original and replacement Laptop battery,Purchase wholesale and retail A20 with high quality and low price!

A20 Battery blackview Li-ion 3.7V/4.35V 6400mAh /23.7Wh

A20

Specifications

  • Brand:Blackview
  • Capacity :6400mAh /23.7Wh
  • Voltage :3.7V/4.35V
  • Type :Li-ion
  • Battery Cell Quality: Grade A
  • Descriptive: Replacement Battery – 1 Year Warranty
  • Description: Brand New, 1 Year Warranty! 30-Days Money Back! Fast Shipping!

How we test this Blackview A20 Battery Li-ion 3.7V/4.35V 6400mAh /23.7Wh

Step 1: Make sure customer bought the correct battery.
Step 2: Check battery’s appearance and interface.
Step 3: Test battery charger and recharger function.
Step 4: Charger the battery to 100% and recharger to 0% to get real battery capacity
Step 5: Use Ev2300 to check the voltage difference of each goroup cells.
Step 6: Charger battery power more than 30%.
Step 7: Package battery carefully and send out

Compatible Part Numbers:

A20

Compatible Model Numbers:

Blackview A20 Pro

How much do you know about how to run laptop well as any place? The follow Tips cut way back on protecting battery life.


1). Please recharge or change your Cell Phone battery when battery power low.
2). Using Li-Ion Replacement Blackview A20 Cell Phone Battery for your notebook which can work longer time than Non Li-ion one.
3). It is better to defragmentation regularly for your Cell Phone battery life.
4). In order to reduce the laptop power consumpition, you can use some optical drive spin-down and hard drive in your Cell Phone .
5). Please keep your laptop in sleep or standby model without long time using, which both save the Replacement Blackview A20 Cell Phone Battery power and extend battery using life.
6). Leave your battery in a dry and cool condition when without using.
7). When you rarely or generally plugged in fixed power using, Please take down your battery to avoid hurting battery life.

Hot Products

11.1V/12.4v 2300mah BOSE 404600 for Bose SOUNDLINK I II III16.8V/20V 400mA/2200mAH/32Wh BOSE 300769-003 for Bose Sounddock Portable Digita3.8 V 1300 mAh AMAZON MC-305070 for AMAZON Kindle Voyage3.85V/4.4V 3080MAH/11.86WH ALCATEL TLp030JC for Alcatel A3 XL 9008j3.8V 2930mAh/11.1Wh NETGEAR W-7 for Netgear AirCard 790S 790SP 8103.8V/4.35V 2000MAH/7.6Wh ALCATEL TLI020F7 for Alcatel Onetouch Pixi 4 (5) 507.7V 37Wh/4810mAh ACER AP16M5J for ACER A315-51-51SL N17Q1 SERIES3.8V 4000mAh/15.2Wh LENOVO L15D1P31 for Lenovo Yoga Tab3 Pro YT3-X90L3.7V/4.2V 1750MAH/6.5WH AMAZON GP-S10-346392-0100 for AMAZON KINDLE 3 3G WIFI Kindle11.4V 84Wh DELL 4GVGH for DELL XPS 15 9550 4GVGH 1P6KD

Cheap Lenovo L16M4PB3 Li-ion Laptop battery, Brand New L16M4PB3 replacement battery for Lenovo Ideapad 720S-13IKB ARR

6217mAh/48WH 7.72V/7.68V/8.8V Lenovo L16M4PB3 Batteries for Lenovo Ideapad 720S-13IKB ARR, Lenovo L16M4PB3 Laptop battery is a brand new,100% Compatible original and replacement Laptop battery,Purchase wholesale and retail L16M4PB3 with high quality and low price!

L16M4PB3 Battery lenovo Li-ion 7.72V/7.68V/8.8V 6217mAh/48WH

L16M4PB3

Specifications

  • Brand:Lenovo
  • Capacity :6217mAh/48WH
  • Voltage :7.72V/7.68V/8.8V
  • Type :Li-ion
  • Battery Cell Quality: Grade A
  • Descriptive: Replacement Battery – 1 Year Warranty
  • Description: Brand New, 1 Year Warranty! 30-Days Money Back! Fast Shipping!

How we test this Lenovo L16M4PB3 Battery Li-ion 7.72V/7.68V/8.8V 6217mAh/48WH

Step 1: Make sure customer bought the correct battery.
Step 2: Check battery’s appearance and interface.
Step 3: Test battery charger and recharger function.
Step 4: Charger the battery to 100% and recharger to 0% to get real battery capacity
Step 5: Use Ev2300 to check the voltage difference of each goroup cells.
Step 6: Charger battery power more than 30%.
Step 7: Package battery carefully and send out

Compatible Part Numbers:

L16M4PB3 L16C4PB3 L16L4PB3

Compatible Model Numbers:

Lenovo 720S-13IKB ARR

How much do you know about how to run laptop well as any place? The follow Tips cut way back on protecting battery life.


1). Please recharge or change your Laptop battery when battery power low.
2). Using Li-Ion Replacement Lenovo L16M4PB3 Laptop Battery for your notebook which can work longer time than Non Li-ion one.
3). It is better to defragmentation regularly for your Laptop battery life.
4). In order to reduce the laptop power consumpition, you can use some optical drive spin-down and hard drive in your Laptop .
5). Please keep your laptop in sleep or standby model without long time using, which both save the Replacement Lenovo L16M4PB3 Laptop Battery power and extend battery using life.
6). Leave your battery in a dry and cool condition when without using.
7). When you rarely or generally plugged in fixed power using, Please take down your battery to avoid hurting battery life.

Hot Products

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Cheap Lenovo 45N1059 Li-ion Laptop battery, Brand New 45N1059 replacement battery for Lenovo Edge E120 E125 E320

5600mAh/63WH 11.1V Lenovo 45N1059 Batteries for Lenovo Edge E120 E125 E320, Lenovo 45N1059 Laptop battery is a brand new,100% Compatible original and replacement Laptop battery,Purchase wholesale and retail 45N1059 with high quality and low price!

45N1059 Battery lenovo Li-ion 11.1V 5600mAh/63WH

45N1059

Specifications

  • Brand:Lenovo
  • Capacity :5600mAh/63WH
  • Voltage :11.1V
  • Type :Li-ion
  • Battery Cell Quality: Grade A
  • Descriptive: Replacement Battery – 1 Year Warranty
  • Description: Brand New, 1 Year Warranty! 30-Days Money Back! Fast Shipping!

How we test this Lenovo 45N1059 Battery Li-ion 11.1V 5600mAh/63WH

Step 1: Make sure customer bought the correct battery.
Step 2: Check battery’s appearance and interface.
Step 3: Test battery charger and recharger function.
Step 4: Charger the battery to 100% and recharger to 0% to get real battery capacity
Step 5: Use Ev2300 to check the voltage difference of each goroup cells.
Step 6: Charger battery power more than 30%.
Step 7: Package battery carefully and send out

Compatible Part Numbers:

45N1059 45N1058

Compatible Model Numbers:

Lenovo Edge E120 E125 E320

How much do you know about how to run laptop well as any place? The follow Tips cut way back on protecting battery life.


1). Please recharge or change your Laptop battery when battery power low.
2). Using Li-Ion Replacement Lenovo 45N1059 Laptop Battery for your notebook which can work longer time than Non Li-ion one.
3). It is better to defragmentation regularly for your Laptop battery life.
4). In order to reduce the laptop power consumpition, you can use some optical drive spin-down and hard drive in your Laptop .
5). Please keep your laptop in sleep or standby model without long time using, which both save the Replacement Lenovo 45N1059 Laptop Battery power and extend battery using life.
6). Leave your battery in a dry and cool condition when without using.
7). When you rarely or generally plugged in fixed power using, Please take down your battery to avoid hurting battery life.

Hot Products

11.1V/12.4v 2300mah BOSE 404600 for Bose SOUNDLINK I II III16.8V/20V 400mA/2200mAH/32Wh BOSE 300769-003 for Bose Sounddock Portable Digita3.8 V 1300 mAh AMAZON MC-305070 for AMAZON Kindle Voyage3.85V/4.4V 3080MAH/11.86WH ALCATEL TLp030JC for Alcatel A3 XL 9008j3.8V 2930mAh/11.1Wh NETGEAR W-7 for Netgear AirCard 790S 790SP 8103.8V/4.35V 2000MAH/7.6Wh ALCATEL TLI020F7 for Alcatel Onetouch Pixi 4 (5) 507.7V 37Wh/4810mAh ACER AP16M5J for ACER A315-51-51SL N17Q1 SERIES3.8V 4000mAh/15.2Wh LENOVO L15D1P31 for Lenovo Yoga Tab3 Pro YT3-X90L3.7V/4.2V 1750MAH/6.5WH AMAZON GP-S10-346392-0100 for AMAZON KINDLE 3 3G WIFI Kindle11.4V 84Wh DELL 4GVGH for DELL XPS 15 9550 4GVGH 1P6KD

ThinkPad P73 has a problem with the fan control – Lenovo is working on a solution

Lenovo’s ThinkPad P73 is a classic mobile workstation, which does not use the slimmest chassis, but has a focus on good thermals and numerous ports instead. This is why we were surprised by the comparatively bad performance utilization of the Nvidia Quadro RTX 3000, especially under sustained workloads. The fans were very restrained at the same time; it appeared as if Lenovo favored a quiet operating noise.

Lenovo was also surprised by our results and contacted us. However, we were able to confirm our findings with an additional test sample of the ThinkPad P73, this time with the more powerful Nvidia Quadro RTX 4000. The maximum fan noise was once again ~33 dB(A), so we started to investigate (BIOS and drivers were up to date).

Our first suspicion was the BIOS setting, where you can deactivate the integrated graphics unit of the processor. However, this was not successful, the fans just did not want to spin faster. A change of the Windows power profile did not improve the situation, either. After a lot of communication with Lenovo, the manufacturer now confirmed the problem and is already working on a solution via BIOS update. The CPU performance is not affected, we are only talking about the dedicated graphics card.

Until then, we can offer a workaround with the tool TPFancontrol, which is probably already familiar for many ThinkPad users anyway. The fans now reach around 39 dB(A) with the Auto-profile, which is pretty much the target value that was communicated to us by Lenovo. We have some results with and without TPFancontrol in the tables below. The GPU performance, especially under sustained workloads, is much better with the tool running.

The results clearly show that the GPU now runs at a much higher clock, but also stays cooler at the same time. The CPU temperature is also a bit lower, but the clock is identical. We noticed one more thing during our tests: The benchmark results for the CPU are lower when you select the Hybrid Graphics mode in the BIOS. You should therefore use the BIOS mode dGPU for the best performance, even though this will obviously affect the battery runtimes. However, we believe most P73 users will prefer the performance over stamina.

We are still in contact with Lenovo and are eager to test the new BIOS version. We will update this article as soon as we have new information.

WE COULD FINALLY SEE FLAGSHIP CHROMEBOOKS WITH POWERFUL AMD PROCESSORS AT CES

It has been a full 9 months since Gabriel unearthed the first signs of an AMD-powered Chromebook beginning development with the newer, more powerful Picasso chipset inside. That device was revealed to have the codename ‘Zork’ and all we knew about it at the time was the fact that it looked to be the first Chromebook packing a truly competitive APU from AMD inside.

Last year at CES, quite a few education-focused AMD-powered Chromebooks made their debuts. We had announcements from Acer and devices on-hand from HP, but these Chromebooks were 100% in either the super-affordable category or aimed at EDU. While I’m not saying we don’t need those types of devices in the mix, I was a bit sad about their overall build quality and lack of speed. This was not the entrance I was hoping for from AMD into the Chromebook market.

When ‘Zork’ did surface in early spring of 2019, I was again excited by the prospect of an AMD-powered Chromebook because this time, the processors getting included were newer and much more powerful. As AMD is starting to make a real dent in other markets, I was excited by the prospect of their excellent silicon becoming available in Chromebooks. In general, AMD devices have similar performance to Intel-based devices at a lower cost. With Chrome OS’ low overhead, a decent AMD chip could do wonders for both performance and price.

As the months have worn on, we’ve not seen anything firm on a manufacturer for ‘Zork’ nor have we had any real clues as to where we might finally see this new device come from. Not long ago, however, I did come across another board being developed in tandem with ‘Zork’ that goes by the name of ‘Trembyle’. Then, just today, I came across another board that has been in the works for a couple months at this point and it possesses the same AMD Picasso APU: ‘Mandolin’.

So now we have 3 boards in the works that could spawn countless Chromebooks. Even if we only get three base models out of this, that would be a solid entry into the Chromebook ecosystem at a time when all the focus is on the new ‘Hatch’ devices with Intel inside. That’s to say nothing of the slew of ‘Kukui’ devices we’re expecting with the MediaTek 8183 and whatever comes of Qualcomm’s efforts with the 7c, 8c, and 8x Snapdragon processors. You can check out our post and video about all these devices if you are interested.

WHY CES 2020 COULD BE THE TIME

Let me put together a few thougths as to why I believe we may see one or all of these devices at least get a debut at CES this year. First, we have simple timing. The AMD Chromebooks we saw at CES last year began development mid-2018 and were announced at CES and began shipping in the few months after. Of these new AMD device, ‘Zork’ was discovered in April of 2019, ‘Trembyle’ began development shortly after in May of 2019, and ‘Mandolin’ began showing up in April. That alone gives us enough of a hint as to when we could possibly see some of these Chromebooks break cover.

Further, I found a commit speaking to the development needed for the Picasso AMD chips and the underlying frameworks already in place from the current AMD Chromebooks on the market. In this commit, it is clear that there is enough IP shared with Stoney Ridge (the internal name for the A4 and A6 processors in use in AMD-powered Chromebooks available since early 2019) to use the underlying framework with some additional tweaks. This only solidifies the fact that development for Picasso chips in Chromebooks can move along even faster than it did with the older devices already available.

All of this timing together with the existing development for AMD-based Chromebooks tells me that we’re getting very, very close to seeing a few of these new Chromebooks in the wild. It is unclear if they will be completely unique devices or simply variants of new Chromebooks based on the ‘Hatch’ baseboard we’re expecting early in 2020. Only time will be able to tell us whether we’ll get unique Chromebooks from this new chipset, but I’d put money on the appearance of a few of them showing up at CES in just under 2 weeks from now. Added to our highly-anticipated device list for early 2020, these new AMD Chromebooks could get in the game at a time when new Chromebooks are as intriguing as ever. Stay tuned.

OnePlus 6 and 6T Android 10 update rolling out again as Oxygen OS 10.0.1

Reports have been trickling in for the last couple of hours that the stable Android 10 update for the OnePlus 6T has been rolling out — apparently without any fanfare or an associated announcement at the OnePlus forums, as is customary. In addition to bringing all the Android 10 features you can expect, the OxygenOS 10 update for the 6T also includes the company’s Game Space feature and the “Contextual display” ambient display feature.

This timing corresponds to the best-case scenario for the company’s initially projected roadmap, which claimed the OnePlus 6T and 6 would get Android 10 sometime in November. Today, being the first of the month, would be the earliest that could happen. It also follows the Open Beta release late last month.

The full changelog for this update (which mostly matches the previous Open Beta) is just below:

System

Upgraded to Android 10

Brand new UI design

Enhanced location permissions for privacy

New customization feature in Settings allowing you to choose icon shapes to be displayed in the Quick Settings

General bug fixes and improvements

Full Screen Gestures

Added inward swipes from the left or right edge of the screen to go back

Added a bottom navigation bar to allow switching left or right for recent apps

Game Space

New Game Space feature now joins all your favorite games in one place for easier access and better gaming experience

Contextual display

Intelligent info based on specific times, locations, and events for Ambient Display (Settings – Display – Ambient Display – Smart Display)

Message

Now possible to block spam by keywords for Message (Messages – Spam – Settings – Blocking settings)

About half of the log, by volume, corresponds to general Android 10-related changes like the new gesture navigation system, enhanced permissions model, and icon shape customization. A few of the features are OnePlus/OxygenOS-specific and new to the 6T, like the keyword blocking in the OnePlus Messages app and the contextual display feature (previously called smart display), which was one of my favorite features our recent OnePlus 7T review.

As usual, the update is rolling out in a limited fashion for the time being. None of my own devices see it on their own. Some have had luck pulling it down using a VPN to connect to one of OnePlus’ test markets, like Germany. You can also grab the update for the 6T right now via the third-party Oxygen Updater app (also available on APK Mirror). Note that there are a few reports of image verification failing upon download, though I didn’t have an issue, myself.

It’s a pretty big update in size, too, clocking in at around 1.8GB for what we assume is the full image. You might want to get on Wi-Fi before you pull it down.

At the time of writing, the update doesn’t appear to be rolling out for the older OnePlus 6 just yet, though historically updates come to the pair of phones at around the same time. More anecdotally, my OnePlus 6 doesn’t see any available update in either settings or Oxygen Updater, and reports online appear to be limited to the 6T for the time being.

We’ll be sure to let you know when the update is spotted in the wild on that device, or if an official announcement lands for the update.

Apple’s 2019: Macs to the max, but don’t mention Siri

How did Apple fare over the course of 2019? That’s what we’re aiming to discern in this piece, taking a look at the big launches for the company this year, and the positive advances, as well as the niggles and missteps, or even downright fails.

There was certainly a flurry of action at the close of 2019 in terms of new Mac products, as you probably noticed. But did these really hit the mark? In short, we think so, but read on for the much longer and more in-depth answer.

Note that we are primarily focusing on the computing side of Apple in this article – by which we mean Macs in the main – but we will also touch upon how the company performed elsewhere, such as in the mobile arena.

Super-sized MacBook

Apple brought in some rather pedestrian refreshes for its MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops in the middle of the year, which were a definite disappointment to some. That said, Apple took much more decisive action in other respects, saving the best for last with a larger MacBook Pro 16-inch going on sale in November – which replaced the 15-inch notebooks, plus the MacBook 12-inch was killed off.

So in 2019 Apple essentially reshaped its laptop line-up to consist of the MacBook Air, along with the MacBook Pro 13-inch and 16-inch, and a year which was otherwise trundling along pretty quietly ended with a bang.

The headline news with the super-sized 16-inch laptop is that we feel it’s quite simply the best MacBook Pro ever made. The larger display is nothing less than stunning, and battery life is fantastic, which is a particularly laudable achievement given the performance packed into this machine. Plus Apple has addressed pain points like the keyboard, removing the much-complained-about Butterfly switches and replacing them with Scissor switches – the result of which is the best keyboard experience we’ve ever had with a MacBook Pro.

Unsurprisingly, the 16-inch notebook remains expensive, but at least the entry-level variant isn’t any dearer than the previous 15-inch model.

All in all, then, the MacBook Pro 16-inch was a definite triumph for Apple this year; a fresh jewel in the Mac laptop crown. But that said, MacBook gremlins remained crawling around in the works during 2019, including flaws pertaining to the new bigger model…

MacBook gremlins

With the introduction of new MacBook models seemingly comes the inevitable complaints around various issues with these laptops, and 2019 was no exception in this respect.

The MacBook Pro 16-inch might be a tasty piece of kit, but it can reportedly suffer from troublesome flaws, namely ghosting with the display, and speakers making nasty popping noises; for some owners, anyway. At least the latter problem has a software fix incoming, by all accounts.

There were also issues with some MacBook Pro 13-inch 2019 models unexpectedly shutting themselves down. Apple admitted these problems existed, and fortunately provided a fix which we detailed here.

A further headache for Apple was a flight ban on some (older) MacBook Pro laptops which was instigated by airlines in the US and across the globe. This was after some MacBook Pro 15-inch models were deemed a fire risk by the Federal Aviation Administration in the US. If you somehow missed this, and are interested to learn more, here’s everything you need to know about the MacBook Pro flight ban.

Sales story

So how were Apple’s machinations with MacBooks reflected in the firm’s actual sales figures? Well, 2019 was a somewhat up and down story in terms of the flow of revenue, with the last available quarter’s figures from IDC (Q3 – at the time of writing) showing that Apple dipped 6% with its Mac sales (supply issues of some manner were apparently part of this, according to the analyst firm).

The previous quarter, however, witnessed growth of almost 10%, which was second only to top-dog PC manufacturer Lenovo. But then again, Apple’s own fiscal Q2 figures (reported in April) observed a minor dip in Mac sales, with problems around Intel processor supplies highlighted as not helping (likely the same inventory issues referred to by IDC above – and this is potentially another reason for Apple to turn to ARM chips instead, which has long been rumored to be happening for Macs in 2020).

Overall, then, things weren’t great, but hardly disastrous either – although now that Apple no longer officially reports unit sales of Macs, these are all analyst estimates anyway, so must be taken with a degree of caution.

Further note that the Q3 figures only run up to the end of September, of course, so don’t include the impact of Apple’s new MacBook Pro 16-inch (which only went on sale mid-November).

MacBook sales may have only been so-so from what we can glean, then, but what about the iPhone? According to the most recent figures from Gartner (for Q3), Apple witnessed a considerable decline in sales of 12% in the smartphone market. IDC, on the other hand, pegged Apple as dipping a much less worrying 0.6%. China is a concern for Apple, though, with Huawei hugely increasing its dominance; and it’s a big market where Tim Cook’s firm can ill afford to lose its footing.

Apple did, however, reportedly get more iPhone 11 orders than anticipated upon launch, and increased orders for handsets as a result. Furthermore, profits (rather than revenue) remain particularly strong and way ahead of other manufacturers, according to another recent report, thanks to loyal customers in the US, Europe and Japan.

Mac Pro plus

Right at the close of the year in December, Apple pushed out its all-new Mac Pro. It’s an incredibly powerful PC, and very smartly designed in terms of allowing for modular upgrades and being highly repair-friendly (no matter what you might think about the machine’s looks).

And when we say powerful, we mean really powerful: The Mac Pro 2019 can be specified with up to a 28-core Intel Xeon processor, an 8TB SSD, and 1.5TB of ECC system memory (yes, 1,500GB of RAM).

Many of the headlines revolved around how ridiculously expensive the Mac Pro is, and indeed if you want the highest spec, you will be paying well north of $50,000. So yes, it’s eye-wateringly expensive, but this is a machine targeted at professionals, not consumers, and we have to bear that firmly in mind.

As a workstation offering the kind of performance the higher-spec Mac Pros are capable of, it’s competitively priced – everything is relative, although that said charging $400 for wheels on the machine does seem rather inexcusable.

Still, for the likes of pro videographers who need heavyweight computing power, this is an excellent machine, and it comes with a matching seriously pricey Pro Display XDR which is equally premium (featuring a 32-inch Retina 6K display).

Despite the expense, and some of the much-highlighted pricing quirks, the Mac Pro 2019 is a definite win for Apple when it comes to the professional target audience. For those who really need the power, it’s a top-notch product which seriously future-proofs itself in terms of repairs and upgradability (and with something this pricey, the benefit of that cannot be underestimated, either).

Catalina capers

Having covered the main moves on the hardware front throughout 2019, what about software? Apple pushed out its yearly update for macOS in the guise of Catalina, which was, on balance, a solid operating system release which certainly added some useful new features.

These included Sidecar which allows you to extend the Mac’s display to your iPad, basically giving you a secondary display for nothing (assuming you already own an iPad, that is), and voice control which facilitates issuing verbal commands to your Mac.

Also, iTunes has been ditched, replaced with Apple Music, Podcasts, Books and TV, powerful and polished apps which offer a lot more on the whole. Particularly with the introduction of Apple TV, which gives macOS users access to the new subscription offering Apple TV+.

Of course, the premium TV+ service was another major release for Apple in 2019, but got off to a slightly wobbly start at least in terms of the launch content being rather sparse in a highly competitive field (but that’s likely to change in the future, to be fair). Whatever the case, these new media apps are definitely a welcome addition to Catalina.

There wasn’t much to dislike with the latest release, aside from a few bugs, and probably the biggest sticking point for upgrading macOS users is that Catalina no longer supports 32-bit applications. That’s not really a problem for most software, but a minority who use some legacy apps which haven’t transitioned to 64-bit did feel some pain.

Overall, there was nothing massively exciting in Catalina, but it represents a decent step forward, and equally there was nothing to really get hung up on.

Siri slipup

Apple did stumble with a privacy blunder in 2019 when it came to its AI assistant (which now resides on Macs as well as mobiles, of course, and has done since 2016). In August, it emerged that third-party contractors were listening to Siri conversations – albeit anonymized recordings – in an effort to improve and better train the digital assistant.

The problem being that these were folks outside of Apple, and while the data might have been anonymized, apparently some very sensitive situations were involved (such as sexual activity, or indeed criminal dealings), plus it was reportedly relatively easy to discover who the recordings might belong to.

In fairness, Apple apologized over the affair and has made it clear that this practice has ended, and third-party contractors will no longer participate in evaluating and improving the accuracy of Siri. Furthermore, more broadly, audio recordings won’t be used any longer, but rather anonymized, computer-generated transcripts – and only for users who have consented to sample analysis (by an Apple employee).

Finally, don’t think Apple was alone in this practice, either: Microsoft also has employees and contractors listening to Cortana interactions and indeed Skype conversations (and still does, going by Microsoft’s current privacy policy).

Concluding thoughts

2019 was a pretty positive and productive year for Apple, with some enticing new product launches – although we had to wait until the end of the year before we saw the really good stuff.

By which we mean the MacBook Pro 16-inch which came amid a rejigging of Apple’s entire laptop range, and gave us what we consider to be the best MacBook Pro ever produced, no less.

And let’s not forget the Mac Pro which also represented a major victory for Apple; it was a long time in the works, but worth waiting for. While a lot of what was written about this pro-targeted computer focused on exorbitant pricing – and elements like those stupidly pricey wheels hardly helped – this PC actually represents a very competitive workstation proposition compared to rivals. And it has been greeted with some impressively positive feedback thus far from its target audience (professional creative types).

MacBook sales, on the other hand, weren’t all they could be, although not exactly a cause for concern – and the figures we’ve highlighted here don’t include the impact from the recently launched MacBook Pro 16-inch.

Perhaps more worrying was some of the gremlins pertaining to the new MacBook Pro models, and that airline flight ban. And we saw a few macOS security scares this year, as ever, but nothing major – and certainly nothing as damaging as some past Apple security hiccups, although the Siri privacy incident was a distinct blot on Apple’s 2019.

On balance, we have to conclude that 2019 was a good year for Apple, witnessing some further interesting moves with services like the introduction of Apple TV+, which holds promise (even if it does suffer from a somewhat lackluster initial line-up).

Apple needs to capitalize on this Mac momentum going into 2020 – where we might see even bigger changes, such as the possibility of ARM-based machines we’ve previously touched on – and keep pushing with those services like Apple TV and Music (the latter exceeded 60 million subscribers in June of this year), not forgetting Apple Arcade.

Throw in some more genuine innovation – maybe we’ll even see those AR glasses, finally, or perhaps some form of AR headset – and the future Apple could be looking rosy indeed.

DS4Windows 2.0 release makes pairing a DualShock 4 to your PC easier than ever

Most PC games that support controllers are designed to work with the XInput Windows API, which is perfect for Xbox controllers, but not so much for the Sony DualShock 4. The DS4Windows utility fixes this by emulating an Xbox controller when a DualShock is connected, and now the incredibly-useful program has received a major update.

DS4Windows 2.0 was released yesterday, and as you might guess from the major version change, this is a big update. The interface is improved, the macro editor has been overhauled, and the entire program promises to be “snappier.”

Here’s the full changelog:

Re-wrote GUI classes to use Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) instead of Windows Forms

More utilization of data binding in application. More use of custom events for ControlService

Added application file logger

Refactored macro editor

Changed Run as Task routine. Old routine will be replaced, if it exists, upon the first run of version 2.0.0

New translation system is in place. Currently, only English and Japanese language packs are available. Looking for volunteers to provide updated translations for other language packs

Re-written auto profile routine

Snappier program and mapper routine

Many other changes

This looks like a nice upgrade, and for people who prefer the feel of the DualShock 4, it potentially puts it in contention as the best PC controller. 

Google Chrome affected by serious security flaw

Another serious security flaw has been found in the popular Google Chrome Internet browser.

Known as Magellan 2.0, it is actually a set of five vulnerabilities relating to how Chrome uses the SQLite function to work with data.

Discovered by researchers at the Tencent Blade Team, the Magellan 2.0 vulnerabilities come just after a year since the same team discovered a similar set of issues within the Chrome browser.

SQLite flaws

These vulnerabilities all relate to how data input is validated by Chrome’s built in SQL database, specially the way its WebSQL API changes JavaScript code into SQL commands.

At best any of these five vulnerabilities could have resulted in the Chrome browser crashing. At worst, the researchers claim the vulnerabilities could have allowed an attacker to set up a SQL operation to hijack some part of the browser functions, through remote code execution.

However, there’s no need to panic as Tencent Blade have already notified Google and SQLite of the vulnerabilities, and these have been patched in the latest version of the Google Chrome browser.

Additionally, the Tencent Blade Team announced that they haven’t detected any exploitation of the reported vulnerabilities against general internet users.