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With all the buzz about the 2020 iPhone, what exactly are we going to see this year?

We expect Apple to unveil a brand-new iPhone in less than three weeks. And yet, oddly, many of the rumors — and nearly all of the most exciting rumors — about forthcoming Apple phones do not concern that particular model, expected to be called the iPhone 11. Rather, most of the really cool stuff is slated to debut on the following iPhone, which probably won’t be introduced until September 2020.

So, then, what exactly are we getting this year?

According to a series of reports published over the past few months — which range from authoritative sources like Bloomberg and Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo to Twitter leakers and rumormongers on the fringe — the iPhone 2019 will probably be a whole lot like the 2018 iPhone. Not exactly the same. But pretty similar.

Which means that Apple is going to try to get us excited about a lot of incremental upgrades: more advanced cameras, faster chips, the next version of the operating system (that’s iOS 13) and perhaps new colors (including dark green). And yet the flagship iPhone 11 is likely to cost just as much as the iPhone XS, with a starting price around $1,000. (Note that this is all conjecture; the company did not respond to our request for comment.)

Meanwhile, with Apple playing it safe this year, Samsung, Google and Huawei continue to deliver eye-catching phones stocked with innovative features — phones that are often considerably less expensive than the iPhone — blazing the trail for the next generation of mobile technology. Sure, some of those efforts have been more successful than others. But Apple executives were undoubtedly paying attention when Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Note 10 on Aug. 7. (Perhaps they were heartened by the media’s response, which mostly focused on the phone’s lack of a headphone jack — a shift Apple made years ago.)

Still, you can never count out Apple. Despite decreasing profits, the headwinds of a US-China trade war and executive attrition, the iPhone remains a premium product sold by a premium brand. The company may yet surprise us this fall with revolutionary features or distinctive aesthetics.

As we count down the weeks until the iPhone 11 debut, we’ll continue to collect the most credible and interesting rumors about the next models’ specs, features and prices right here. So, check back often.

Rumor: Three new iPhones coming on Sept. 10

Sticking with tradition, Apple intends to introduce three new iPhone models this fall, according to the Wall Street Journal. They are expected to include a “budget” successor to the iPhone XR, a midrange flagship like the iPhone XS and a supersize model in the vein of the iPhone XS Max.

Apple usually announces new phones in mid-September, and this year we expect the new phone to be introduced on Tuesday, Sept. 10. A new report from iHelpBR (via MacRumors) reveals that the most recent iOS 13 beta code includes a screenshot of the iPhone calendar showing that particular date, echoing a similar image found ahead of last year’s launch date.

In 2018, Apple unveiled three phones on Thursday, Sept. 13 and released the first two, the iPhone XS and XS Max, on Friday, Sept. 21, with the iPhone XR shipping more than a month later, on Oct. 26.

Rumor: The iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11R and iPhone 11 Max

The consensus is that Apple will call its next flagship the iPhone 11, and that part feels like a no-brainer. But as to the names of the particular models — all bets are off. The company has traditionally reserved the “Pro” designation for its highest-end products: the MacBook Pro laptop, the iPad Pro tablet, the forthcoming $6,000 Mac Pro desktop and, perhaps starting in 2019, its most premium iPhone.

The anonymous Twitter account that correctly leaked the names of last year’s iPhone XS, XS Max and XR reports that the next top-of-the-line iPhone will be called the iPhone 11 Pro, according to MacRumors. But I’ve also seen name variants like the iPhone 11R and 11 Max, in passing. As CNET’s Jessica Dolcourt has pointed out, the company may have dug itself into a hole, as there’s no obvious coherent sequel to the iPhone XS, XS Max and XR.

Rumor: Three rear-facing cameras for the 2019 iPhone

The biggest change coming to this year’s iPhone will likely be the camera setup. Since last year, we’ve been hearing that Apple would give at least one of the 2019 models — and perhaps the one called the iPhone 11 Pro — three rear-facing lenses (source: Bloomberg). And, in addition to keeping Apple in the ongoing lens-and-megapixel arms race with Huawei, Samsung and Google, the new array will give the iPhone 11 a greater capacity for wide-angle shots.

Bloomberg’s reporting bolsters leaks from two Twitter users in the know. Back in January, OnLeaks and Ice Universe posted renders showing a purported prototype with three cameras in a triangular configuration, plus a flash, housed in a large, square module. And, at this point, we’ve seen enough renders to increase our confidence that this squarish, triple-camera array — similar to the configuration on Google’s forthcoming Pixel 4 — is the real deal.

Rumor: Apple may finally drop 3D Touch in 2019

Ming-Chi Kuo continues to toll the bell for 3D Touch, and the Wall Street Journal reported on the demise of Apple’s pressure-sensitive interface back in January. After visiting with Apple suppliers in Asia, Barclay analysts (as cited by MacRumors) appear confident that Apple will say goodbye to the feature with the 2019 iPhone lineup. But the touch-based interface isn’t going to disappear completely: Apple is said to have developed a new Taptic Engine, code-named leap haptics, that will continue the evolution of the company’s Haptic Touch technology piloted in last year’s iPhone XR.

Rumor: Bilateral charging coming to the iPhone 11

Earlier this year, Apple officially killed its AirPower wireless charging mat, leaving us hanging with third-party solutions to power up our iPhones and AirPods. But the next-generation iPhone will support bilateral charging according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (as reported by 9to5Mac). That means you’ll be able to use your iPhone’s battery to share some juice with other iPhones or the new AirPods with the wireless charging case.

If true, Apple will again be playing catchup to Samsung, whose Galaxy S10 phones, released back in March, can charge other devices including the company’s Galaxy Buds and Galaxy Watch Active via the wireless Qi standard. (The new Galaxy Note 10 also supports this feature, which Samsung calls Wireless PowerShare.)

Kuo and DigiTimes (via MacRumors) have also predicted that each of the 2019 iPhones will have larger batteries than their predecessors — estimates range from 2 to 20 percent larger, depending on the model — presumably leading to better battery life. And that’s saying something: On our video playback battery drain test, the iPhone XR lasted for more than 19 hours, and the iPhone XS Max held out for over 17 hours, 23 minutes. But the iPhone XS ran for only 13 hours, 30 minutes, leaving much room for improvement on the flagship models.

Rumor: Apple will offer another LCD iPhone in 2019

Among the three phones Apple released in 2018, only the iPhone XR has an LCD display. The two higher-end models, the iPhone XS and XS Max, both have the high-resolution OLED panels that produce more vivid colors and images. Based on what we know so far, Apple is likely to follow this formula again with the next batch of iPhones.

Like so many promising next-generation features, Apple is said to be waiting for 2020 to bring the more expensive OLED panels to its entire lineup, according to the Wall Street Journal. DigiTimes has reported that the three 2020 OLED phones will be about the same size as the current generation iPhones, with 5.4-, 6.1- and 6.7-inch models.

(Note that, apart from a few patent filings, we’ve heard zero credible rumors about plans for a foldable iPhone for 2019 or 2020.)

Rumor: The A13 processor will power the iPhone 11

The A12 Bionic chip that powers the 2018 iPhones is incredibly powerful. According to analyst Ben Thompson, the processor is “so far ahead of the industry that it will still be competitive with the best Android phones in two years, and massively more powerful than lower-end phones.”

Apple doesn’t appear to be resting on its laurels, however — at least in the processor department. A Bloomberg article from May reported that Apple was then on the cusp of mass producing the next-generation processors expected to power the next series of phones. This could be a variant of the A12X processor that’s currently used in the newest iPad Pros — or a new chip, ostensibly called the A13.

Almost definite: The 2019 iPhone won’t support 5G

Apple’s most recent phones all use modems built by Intel, which had planned to have a 5G modem ready for commercial devices in the second half of 2019. But Intel ran into problems producing the 5G chip for the iPhone — problems so grave that it exited that business after Apple and Qualcomm reached a multiyear chip supply agreement in April. Since then, Apple has agreed to buy Intel’s smartphone modem business for $1 billion.

With that situation now tidied up, it seems as though Apple is back on track for 2020. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo had previously predicted that two of the three 2020 iPhones would be 5G-ready but has since amended that to include all three phones.

Rumor: The iPhone stays expensive in 2019

The iPhone XS and XS Max start at $999 and $1,099 respectively. CNET’s analysis shows a pattern of hefty price increases in the premium smartphone market over the past two years, and we expect Apple, Samsung and others to continue pushing the boundaries of customer budgets for the foreseeable future.

That noted, there are some new factors at play this year, that could change things this year. The ongoing trade war between the US and China, and the recent implementation of additional tariffs, could drive prices higher. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that Apple had planned for the tariffs, according to MacRumors, and will be able to defer any price increases due to them.

And then there’s the fact that iPhone sales are slowing, which could also move Apple to change things up. In fact, the company slashed prices on the iPhone and a number of other products in China earlier this year. The follows an earlier move in 2018, when Apple began offering hundreds of dollars in incentives to customers around the world who traded in an old iPhone when upgrading to an iPhone XS or iPhone XR.

Other assorted rumors about the 2019 iPhone

A different iPhone for China: Apple may sell an even cheaper version of the iPhone 11 in China — and perhaps India, too — substituting a cheaper in-screen fingerprint scanner for Face ID, according to a report in Chinese newspaper Global Times. Ming-Chi Kuo has also suggested that the forthcoming Chinese version of the followup to the iPhone XS could have dual nano-SIM support, as reported by MacRumors.

New design details: Zhihu, Slashleaks and MacRumors all published the transcript of an interview with a purported employee of Foxconn, the facility in China that builds iPhones, who says that the iPhone 11 will come in black, white, gold and dark green — and that the word “iPhone” will no longer be printed on the back of the phone.

New mute button: Apart from the redesigned rear camera, the iPhone 11 is expected to closely resemble the iPhone XS, with a virtually identical steel-and-glass design and similar notches, bezels, connectors and buttons. One of the few departures we’ve heard about is a tweaked mute button on the side of the phone. According to renders published by OnLeaks on CashKaro, a smaller circular button will replace the elongated pill-shaped sliding button on the current model.

Jumping to USB-C: Apple has now replaced its proprietary Lightning connector with USB-C on the newest iPad Pros, MacBook Air and MacBook Pros, and Bloomberg reports that Apple is “testing” USB-C on some prototype iPhones.

Pencil support: Citi Research, an affiliate of the bank, has floated the possibility that the 2019 iPhone will support the Apple Pencil, according to Business Insider.

All of the rumors about the iPhone in 2020… and beyond

Apple may introduce three OLED phones in 2020: a smaller 5.4-inch model that would replace the current 5.8-inch model, the same 6.1-inch option as the XR and a larger 6.7-inch Max version, according to MacRumors and Ming-Chi Kuo.

Bloomberg reports that Apple’s forthcoming 3D camera, due for the 2020 models, will drive an updated version of Face ID that will extend the technology’s range, improve security and enable new AR capabilities.

Apple is said to be working on a new way for users to interface with future editions of the iPhone, according to Bloomberg. The “touchless gesture control” will let users interact with the phone without touching the screen. Though it’s not scheduled for 2020 or later, it sounds like it could be cool.

Apple’s 2020 iPhones may have full-screen Touch ID or an under-display fingerprint sensor.

Starting in 2020, the company will stop using Intel chips in its Macs in favor of custom ARM-based processors. This will let developers create a single version of their apps, starting sometime in 2021, which will work across Apple’s various operating systems on the iPhone, iPad and Mac, according to Bloomberg and Axios.

TMSC, the company that designs Apple’s mobile A-series chips for the iPhone, has announced the completion of its 5-nanometer chip design. According to MacRumors, this is likely to become the foundation for the A14 chip that will ostensibly power the 2020 iPhones.

Though Apple has filed some patents that could harken a folding phone, that product is at least a year out — if not more. According to UBS analysts (via CNBC), we could see a folding iPhone — or iPad — in 2020 but “2021 is more likely.”

Also coming in 2021: Apple will add an in-display fingerprint sensor to the iPhone, according to Ming-Chi Kuo (and reported by MacRumors).

As much as PCs have changed in recent years, at least one thing has stayed the same: at some point, you’ll need to restart your computer. With that in mind, the first of next year’s two big Windows 10 updates could offer a subtle but helpful tweak to how the operating system handles restarts.

As part of the latest Windows 10 Insider Preview Build (build 18965, if you’re counting), Microsoft is testing a new setting that gives Windows users more explicit control over whether their apps automatically launch when they restart their PC. Outside of the latest Preview Build, the option that controls app restart behaviour is bundled together with a menu item related to setting up a new device. Understandably, if you’re unaware that the two settings are tied together, it can seem like Windows isn’t capable of launching some apps automatically. By default, Microsoft says the new setting is disabled. Insiders can activate it by navigating to the “Sign-in options” section of the Accounts settings menu. Alternatively, it’s possible to access the toggle by typing “restart apps” into either Windows 10’s Start menu or settings search bar.

As usual, not all the features Microsoft showcases in a Preview Build will make their way to a final release of Windows 10. However, should the company decide to include this one, it’ll be available when Microsoft launches its “20H1” update at the start of next year. That’s the same updatewhere Microsoft plans to add a built-in Linux kernel to Windows 10.

Like any new update, Build 18965 includes its share of bug fixes and stability improvements. One bug Microsoft says it has addressed involved an instance in which some apps weren’t able to execute background tasks. The company has also fixed a bug that caused the taskbar to sometimes hide when launching Windows’ touch keyboard. Build 18965 is currently available to Windows Insiders in the fast ring, a classification Microsoft uses to describe individuals who have volunteered to test the company’s newest features first, regardless of potential bugs.

Intel has unveiled two new CPUs designed for large computing centers which will be the chipmaker’s first to utilize artificial intelligence (AI).

The two chips are the company’s first offerings from its Nervana Neural Network Processor (NPP) line and one will be used to train AI systems while the other will handle inference.

The Nervana NNP-T, codenamed Spring Crest, will be used for training and comes with 24 Tensor processing clusters that have been specifically designed to power neural networks. Intel’s new system on a chip (SoC) provides users with everything they’ll need to train an AI system on dedicated hardware.

The Nervana NNP-I, codenamed Spring Hill, is the company’s inference SoC that uses its 10 nanometer process technology along with Ice Lake cores to help users deploy trained AI systems.

Google could ditch Intel’s server CPUs for AMD Epyc

Intel debuts Comet Lake processors for laptops and tablets

‘Nearly all’ Intel chips have major security flaw

AI workloads

Intel’s new AI-focused SoCs are designed to handle AI workloads in data center environments so that users no longer have to utilize its Xeon CPUs to handle AI and machine learning tasks. Xeon chips are capable of handling such workloads, though they are not nearly as effective or efficient.

The Nervana NNP-T and NNP-I were designed to compete with Google’s Tensor Porcessing Unit, Nvidia’s NVDLA-based tech and Amazon’s AWS Inferentia chips.

Vice president and general manager of Intel’s Artificial Intelligence Products Group, Naveen Rao explained how the company’s new processors will help facilitate a future where AI is everywhere, saying:

“To get to a future state of ‘AI everywhere,’ we’ll need to address the crush of data being generated and ensure enterprises are empowered to make efficient use of their data, processing it where it’s collected when it makes sense and making smarter use of their upstream resources. Data centers and the cloud need to have access to performant and scalable general purpose computing and specialized acceleration for complex AI applications. In this future vision of AI everywhere, a holistic approach is needed—from hardware to software to applications.”

At least one case maker is expecting Apple Pencil support for the upcoming 2019 iPhones, despite no solid rumors suggesting the new devices will work with the Apple Pencil.

Case site Mobile Fun is, as of this morning, stocking an “iPhone 11 Pro” case from Olixarwith a built-in mini Apple Pencil holder. The case maker seems to believe Apple is designing a smaller version of the Apple Pencil that will work with at least the larger 6.5-inch iPhone XS Max successor.

The case in question is a rendering, not a real case, and it therefore doesn’t offer concrete evidence that Apple is planning to introduce Apple Pencil support for the 2019 iPhone lineup. It’s not even clear if Olixar has actually manufactured these cases, especially because the Apple Pencil sleeve on the back doesn’t look functional. From the accessory’s description:

Crafted from premium genuine leather, this exquisite grey case from Olixar for the iPhone 11 Pro provides stunning style and prestigious protection for your phone in a slim and sleek package, with the added convenience of an Apple Pencil sleeve.

There have been some rumors and analyst predictions hinting at Apple Pencil support, but thus far we’ve heard nothing from a reliable source.

Were Apple indeed developing a miniature version of the Apple Pencil that works with the 2019 iPhone, it’s likely we would have heard more about it by this point given the detailed rumors we’ve heard about other aspects of the 2019 iPhone lineup.

That said, Korean site The Investor said in 2017 that Apple would introduce Apple Pencilsupport for iPhone as soon as 2019, and recently, Citi Research listed the Apple Pencil as one prospective feature for the new devices.

One reliable source, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, has said that Apple Pencil support is a possibility for a future iPhone, but that was in 2018 and he has made no further mention about Apple Pencil support in the 2019 device lineup.

Many times, early case designs for upcoming iPhones are accurate because there’s a lot of money in being first to design a case for a new device, but in this situation, Olixar may just be aiming to draw eyes to its brand name using a case rendering for a feature that’s interesting, but likely not coming.

For details on all of the features we do expect in the 2019 iPhone lineup, such as triple-lens cameras, bilateral wireless charging, larger batteries, and more, make sure to check out our 2019 iPhone roundup.

Do you still have an Xbox 360 lying around? If so, there’s a surprise update for the console available now. As you’d expect from an update for the aging console, there’s nothing significant here, however.

The release notes for the update only cite “minor bug fixes and improvements.” So, if you’re still using your Xbox 360, your console may operate a little better after the update, but it’s unclear what issues it addresses.

In 2019, however, you’ll probably want to start eyeing an upgrade to an Xbox One if you’re still holding onto an Xbox 360. The newer console includes backward compatibility with a long list of supported games and we’re on the precipice of a new console generation next year with Xbox Project Scarlett. You can pick up an Xbox One S for far below $300nowadays as well.

Capping off Dell’s spate of laptop updates, today the company also announced an updated Vostro 13 laptop for small business. The relatively inexpensive Vostro 13 5391-series feature a solid build quality along with numerous enhancements that will be appreciated by business users, road warriors, and even consumers. The new machines pack Intel’s 10th Gen Core processors and a discrete GPU into a thin and light package.

The Dell Vostro 13 5391 comes in an aluminum and plastic chassis that is 14.9 mm thick, with total system weights starting from 1.18 kilograms, which is comparable to modern high-end notebooks such as Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1. According to Dell, the chassis is tested using 50 kinds of reliability, shock, and vibration programs to ensure its robust build quality. Furthermore, Dell will offer optional accidental damage and ProSupport services with this laptop. By default, the Vostro 13 5391 is equipped with a spill-resistant keyboard, whereas premium SKUs will come with a backlit spill resistant keyboard.

The Vostro 13 5391 is based on Intel’s 10th Generation Core i3/i5/i7 CPUs (Comet Lake), and are joined by NVIDIA’s GeForce MX 250 GPU with 2 GB of GDDR5 VRAM, 4 or 8 GB of system DRAM, as well as an M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD with up to 1 TB capacity. The platform is enhanced with a hardware TPM 2.0 module, which will be appreciated by those concerned with security.

When it comes to display, the mobile PC is equipped with a non-touch 13.3-inch Full-HD monitor with Dell’s TrueLife LED backlighting and wide viewing angles.

Meanwhile for connectivity, the Vostro 13 5391 includes 802.11ac Wi-Fi, one USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C port with DisplayPort, one USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A, one HDMI 1.4 port, a microSD card reader, a 3.5-mm connector for headsets, and a power plug. On the multimedia side of things the notebook has a Windows Hello-capable IR-enabled webcam, stereo speakers co-designed with Waves MaxxAudio, a microphone array, a Windows Hello-supporting fingerprint reader, and other things.

The manufacturer does not make claims regarding battery life of the Vostro 13 5391, but it says that various SKUs will come with a 46 Wh or a 52 Wh battery.

Dell will start sales of the Vostro 13 5391 this week with prices starting at $849.

Unlike the original Mac Pro introduced on August 7, 2006, the 2013 version is already fading into memory and may be remembered for its flaws instead of its benefits.

The first-ever Mac Pro would go on to define the best that Apple was capable of, and it was the range that would become a kind of canary for the company’s attitudes. Whenever the consensus was that Apple was ignoring its pro users in favor of consumers, it was always because the Mac Pro was lagging behind. We’ve now seen how opinions of the firm changed as soon as the 2019 Mac Pro was shown, but we’ve been here before.

We were thrilled at the 2006 Mac Pro, and many of us still are. We were somewhat less thrilled about the 2013 Mac Pro, but were still pretty excited —and that excitement didn’t last.

Perhaps we should call it the 2013-2017 Mac Pro. It was in 2017 that Apple essentially told us not to buy this machine anymore, that it had something much better coming. And then while the new 2019 Mac Pro is not out yet, still Apple took the old model off its website in June this year.

You could still get it in certain Apple Stores, and at time of writing it remains on sale at Amazon. Yet the 2013 Mac Pro has been a dead man walking, or if you’ve been around computing long enough, it faced the Osbourne effect for two of its six years.

It’s a sad ending for what was actually a strong computer. The 2013 Mac Pro was top of Apple’s range, it was the most powerful Mac, it was in so many ways exactly the machine that had been clamored for.

Some Macs become beloved once Apple stops making them —take the MacBook for instance. Some of them are immediate favorites, like the SE/30, the IIfx or the iMac. And some of them are barely noticed even as you use them.

Compared to all of this, the 2013 Mac Pro is unlikely to become a beloved memory or even a hot seller on eBay, but it did at least get one moment of triumphant glory.

Flashback to 2013

We still believe that Apple refuses to talk about its future products, yet the 2019 Mac Pro was revealed in a sneak peek and so was the iMac Pro. What we forget is that the 2013 Mac Pro, too, and for much the same reasons.

We also forget that Tim Cook told us in advance that a new Mac Pro was coming for 2013.

“Let me do something different,” said Phil Schiller at WWDC 2013.

“We don’t usually do this but you’re a really important audience so we’d like to give you a sneak peek of something we’re working on,” he said. “Would you like that? Only because you’re 6,000 of my most important friends.”

He did it because Apple was in an eerily similar position to where it would be ahead of its 2017 news about Mac Pro.

In 2013, the company, correctly or not, was seen as ignoring its professional users in favor of consumers, and perhaps of ignoring the Mac in favor of the iPhone. It was also being accused of stagnating, of no longer being the company of Steve Jobs, the company that made amazing new devices.

Innovation was dead at Apple, said the more hyped-up of the company’s critics. And you know where we’re going now.

“Can’t innovate any more, my ass,” said Schiller in that presentation.

Today that gets remembered alongside his 2016 claim that Apple had ‘courage’ when it removed the headphone jack from iPhones. Yet at the time, he was applauded —and he wasn’t wrong.

He wasn’t really wrong in 2016, either. But, as that 2013 WWDC audience cheered him, it looked like Apple was back at the top of its game.

If you watched the presentation then, you went through the same sequence of reactions as that audience did. Starting with how you peered at the screen, trying to figure out what this new machine looked like through all of Apple’s marketing photography.

At the end of the unveiling video, you then may charitably have thought that it was the shape of a battery, maybe the shape of a Coke can, but you couldn’t quite grasp what size it was.

Schiller kept us waiting for that for over three minutes. We heard about the power of this new Mac Pro, we got details of how it was thermally cooled, and Schiller explicitly spoke about its expandability.

Then, quite casually, he brought up a slide showing it next to the previous generation Mac Pro.

Or rather, the new Mac Pro was so small that he showed it next to just the bottom half of the previous generation and the crowd whooped. It looked like a trashcan had been placed next to an old Mac Pro, and we all whooped.

“It is a Mac unlike any we’ve ever made,” he said. “It delivers so much more performance capabilities and expansion than anything we’ve made. The team has packed all this capability inside 1/8th of the volume of the previous generation.”

It’s a little unfair that everyone remembers Schiller’s line about innovation and, solely in retrospect, believes him to have been wrong. It would be fairer if we all remembered that line about delivering so much more expansion, because that’s where this went actually wrong.

Just not at first

Initially, the 2013 Mac Pro got rave reviews —including from us.

“Put toe-to-toe with any Mac past or present, the new Mac Pro will always come away the winner,” said AppleInsider. “It is, quite simply, the best Mac ever made.”

And it was at the time. We did point out that the software you use needed to be configured correctly to exploit the power, though.

“Final Cut Pro X is currently the best example of tailor-made Mac Pro software done right,” we said. “The app’s multi-threaded processes address all of the Pro’s CPU and GPU assets, freeing the machine to flex its muscle.”

In comparison, regular apps like Safari or iMovie showed little improvement. Still, this was not built for consumers browsing the web, it was made for people whose work needed everything Apple could give them.

One snag

Phil Schiller carefully phrased one part of his presentation where he wanted you to come away thinking that the 2013 Mac Pro was at least as good as the previous one in a particular area.

He spoke about how everyone loved the handles on the older machine, which meant “you could move it around to get access to the I/O.”

“Well, now the entire top of the new generation Mac Pro is a handle,” he said. “Just put your hand in it, you can spin it around, get access to the I/O.”

It was all true, but it papered over a crack that would become significant. Where the new Mac Pro had all these expansion ports on the back, the old one had the capability of being expanded internally. Rather than plugging drives or graphics cards, into the back, you could fit them inside the old one, and you couldn’t with the new.

What’s more, the idea of being able to “spin it around” was stretching a point too. You absolutely could do that, until you’d stuffed some ports with cables. Then if you tried to spin it around, you’d bring half a rack of equipment with you.

You can argue that with the connectivity speeds that the 2013 Mac Pro offered, there wasn’t a giant difference between internal and external expansion. Certainly Apple didn’t think there was. Yet this business of how the 2013 model became substantially less easy to expand, to turn it around to plug something in, was a design flaw.

As it turned out, it wasn’t the only one.

Back to the past

By 2017, we were back where we started. Apple had updated the 2013 Mac Pro but not really so that you’d notice.

It was fundamentally the same machine Schiller had unveiled, and by this point people were saying Apple couldn’t innovate, that Apple was ignoring the professional market.

Then as it had with the 2013 Mac Pro, Apple gave us a sneak peek. It wasn’t quite the same, we wouldn’t actually see the new machine until WWDC 2019, but in 2017, Apple openly talked about what it was planning.

And it also talked about why. Phil Schiller said that Apple was “completely rethinking the Mac Pro.”

“We’re committed to making it our highest-end, high-throughput desktop system,” he continued, “designed for our demanding pro customers.”

Craig Federighi even said then that the 2013 model had gone wrong. He didn’t put it quite that way, but it’s what he meant.

“We designed a system with the kind of GPUs that at the time we thought we needed, and that we thought we could well serve with a two-GPU architecture,” Federighi said. “That that was the thermal limit we needed, or the thermal capacity we needed. But workloads didn’t materialize to fit that as broadly as we hoped.”

It’s a curious fact that people obsess over every detail of what Apple says, and yet they can still get it wrong. Practically every news report about Apple saying they were redesigning the Mac Pro said that it was coming out in 2018.

All Apple had said at this 2017 briefing, even when pressed, was that the new Mac Pro “will not ship this year.” The collective consensus that this must mean it would come in 2018 was so strong that about a year later, Apple found something else to say about it in order to remind people they hadn’t said that.

Enter 2019, exit the 2013 Mac Pro

You know what happened next. We eventually got to see the new 2019 Mac Pro unveiled at WWDC in June.

At time of writing, there’s still no specific official launch date for when you’ll be able to buy one, although that hasn’t stopped many professionals saving up in readiness.

That’s not surprising, given how good the new machine looks, but what was perhaps unexpected was just how soon Apple would stop selling the 2013 model. Usually Apple keeps its machines available on the online store until the day they’re replaced and retired, but this time it pulled the 2013 Mac Pro months ahead of time. Which means that it is effectively already an ex-Mac Pro, an ex-top of the line machine. It is effectively a vintage model, and if some of those do remain fan favorites forever, others do not.

The 2013 Mac Pro is unlikely to be missed, in the same way that the end of the line for the 5,1 Mac Pro tower is.

It’s just been superseded

If you managed to buy a discontinued MacBook today, you’d be getting an excellent machine and probably at a very good, discounted price. If you bought one of the original cheese grater Mac Pro models from 2006 onwards, well, you’d definitely get a good price. And you might well be able to make something pretty powerful out of it. Whereas, if you buy a 2013 Mac Pro today, all you really get is the gorgeous trashcan design.

You can already see this happening on eBay. The number of 2013 Mac Pro machines sold there will surely increase after the 2019 model is available.

Right now, you could snap up a 2013 Mac Pro for around $1,200, going by recently-completed sales on eBay. It would typically have 256GB SSD storage, and 16GB of RAM.

However, you can buy an i7 Mac mini brand new from Apple that costs around the same, has around the same storage and RAM. And, it is faster in most tasks other than the most GPU-bound ones.

The entry-level Mac is, in a lot of cases, faster than what was the top of the range before.

That changes when you start looking for eight-core Mac Pro models that sell for substantively more used than that Mac mini. Still, for price to performance, you’re generally better off buying new than getting an old Mac Pro.

The 2006 through 2012 Mac Pro is practically venerated, and the 2019 one is being lusted after. At the same time, the 2013 is going to fade away. For what was such a good Mac, that is a huge shame.

Developer beta 6 of iOS 13 has been released. Here are all the changes found this time around including tweaks to folders, Control Center, and more.

Several apps have new splash screens upon launch after updating. The App Store touts the new update location —as well as Apple Arcade. Photos teases the new video editing and immersive experience. Game Center also has a splash screen when launching an app that utilizes it.

Dark mode now has its own top-level toggle inside of Control Center. This avoids the annoyance of having to 3D Touch on the brightness toggle. It can be enabled within the Control Center settings.

Folders now have a more saturated background that reflects the wallpaper behind them. This looks good in places like a dark background, but odd in others. We aren’t sure if this is a bug or a purposeful design choice.

There are a few other changes including screenshots returning to rectangular corners instead of being cropped to curves, URL previews can now be hidden on a per-app basis, and the signal bar designator for cellular is back to its smaller size.

ETA sharing in Maps seems to be gone at this time. Hopefully it returns before the full release. (Thanks Jason!)

Once again, Apple has made shivers run down my spine—but not in a good way. Today, as part of its “Shot on iPhone” campaign, Apple released a series of four ASMR videos to its YouTube channel. There’s some lady whisperingabout weird shit, a dude carving wood, crunching noises on a hike, and what’s supposed to be soothing rainfall.

ASMR is big on YouTube, with categories ranging from nerdy cosplay to glamorous baking channels. Some fans say the amplified sounds give them relaxing, tingling sensations—a sort of eargasm if you will. For me, ASMR feels like I’m a ghost and someone’s poured ice-cold gasoline over my grave. I listened to each of Apple’s four videos, and now I feel like I’ve died and some Baba Yaga has lightly run her crusty nails over my spine over and over again.

I guess you could say my reaction means Apple’s done a pretty good job with these videos, even if the intense reaction it invokes in me is cringing instead of pleasure. The video descriptions say they were shot by Anson Fogel, who’s done other Apple ads. Each was shot on iPhone XS and XS Max, but it’s a bit misleading to think you’ll get the same results with just an iPhone. The video descriptions note that additional software and professional hardware were used.

The videos were also described as “Season 1″, meaning it’s possible we’ll see more from Apple in the future. But for the love of god, Apple, please, please, please don’t do a cooking one. If my editors ask me to listen to wet ingredients squelching as they mix with dry, I may just have to chuck my computer out a window.

Samsung usually schedules several events throughout the year, but the most interesting, by far, are the “Unpacked” events for its updates to the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note lines. The latest Unpacked, on Aug. 7, focused entirely on the Galaxy Note 10.

Also: Galaxy Note 10: Rumours, features, and release date

As with many smartphone launches, you were able to stream the show online. Although the live stream itself has now concluded, Samsung kept it available so that people can tune in and watch or re-watch whenever they have time.

How to watch Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10 event

On Wednesday, Aug. 7, Samsung hosted Unpacked in New York to announce the Galaxy Note 10. This event happened a couple weeks after Samsung announced its Galaxy Fold would finally launch in September. It also followed two rather quiet product launches for the new Samsung Galaxy Active 2 smartwatch and Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 tablet.

WHAT TIME WAS THE EVENT?

Samsung uses the name “Unpacked” for all its smartphone launches, and this year was no different. The Galaxy Note 10 Unpacked event took place on Wednesday, Aug. 7 at 4pm ET/1pm PT at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It’s the same time and place that the Galaxy Note 9 was launched last year.