It’s been a long time since you could only get an iPhone directly from Apple or from AT&T. Today, it’s offered by all major carriers and big retailers, and many of them want to entice you to buy with them by offering special deals. Of course, you can always buy from Apple directly, either in-store or online.

If you haven’t yet put in your order for an iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 Pro, here’s a summary of some of the deals and promotions offered by different retailers to help you make up your mind. For each, we’ll tell you about any current special deals, when you should consider buying there, and when you shouldn’t.

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AirDrop lets you send lots of kinds of data to people right around you who are receptive to it, but one of the less-known elements is a password. Because AirDrop is both short range and encrypted between devices, it’s a secure way to transfer a password to someone else or even to another of your devices if you don’t have iCloud Keychain enabled for syncing.

IDG

In Safari for macOS, you can also share passwords by first selecting one and clicking Details.

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Congratulations! You’re now the proud owner of a new iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 Pro. You probably want to dive right into the phone the moment you get the box in your hands, but try to contain your excitement and do a little prep first!

We have a little setup advice you’re going to want to pay attention to. Sure, it seems like an unnecessary drag, but this stuff is going to really save you a lot of time and frustration later.

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The sound quality is clean, clear, and bright, but the bass is generally weak.

You don’t need to spend a dime to watch these fright-flick double features.

Apple is planting its own flag in the streaming wars with Apple TV+, its in-house streaming service that focuses almost entirely on original programming rather than an extensive library of existing TV shows or movies.

Though the service has been available less than a year and and doesn’t yet have a lot of shows or films available, there’s a lot in the works. This is a list of all the Apple TV+ content we know of so far, along with details about prominent stars, directors, producers, and release dates.

Updated 10/23/20: On the Rocks and Bruce Springsteen's Letter to You are now available.

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Apple’s free video editing app iMovie has been updated for iOS and iPadOS. There are quite a few significant new features, but the headlining improvements concern 4K 60fps video and HDR support.

With the new Dolby Vision video recording capabilities of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, which arrives in stores on Friday, iMovie has to be ready to edit the footage.

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Apple is spreading its TV app everywhere. It’s on smart TVs, Fire TV, and Roku set-top boxes, in addition to being found on nearly all of Apple’s devices: iPhones, iPads, Macs, and of course Apple TV hardware. You can find a full list of devices here.

But there’s one place that customers frequently access streaming services that Apple hasn’t yet tackled: game consoles. If current reports are true, that may be about to change.

Update 10/22/20: Sony has officially announced that the Apple TV app will come to PlayStation 5. The app will also come to PlayStation 4 consoles.

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Apple revealed the HomePod mini last week. Could it be the most important product Apple ships this year? We’ll talk about the smart speaker and more in this episode of the Macworld Podcast.

This is episode 718 with Jason Cross, Michael Simon, and Roman Loyola.

Listen to episode 718

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If you’ve ordered a new iPhone 12, you’ll notice that the box is a whole lot slimmer than previous years. That’s because the bulkiest accessory is gone: the power adapter. In fact, Apple has removed the charger from all iPhones it sells, so whether you’re spending $399 on an iPhone SE or $1,399 on a maxed-out iPhone 12 Pro Max, you need to bring your own charger.

Any old charger and Lightning cable you have lying around will work, of course. But if you’ve been using Apple’s old 5W adapter, it’s a perfect time to upgrade. For the first time, Apple is supplying a USB-C-to-Lightning cable in all iPhone boxes to allow for fast charging, so all you need is the right charger.

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Many things in life are inexplicable, and operating systems are no exception. Search for logic and a pattern as much as you like, and you may never find one. That was my reaction to discovering the solution to a problem with Image Capture on the Mac, when it stopped recognizing a scanner connected via USB.

After performing many scans, Image Capture began stating it had an error in connecting to the scanner. I did the usual troubleshooting: disconnect and reconnect the scanner over USB, power cycle the scanner, disconnect the power from the scanner and then plug it back in, and restart the Mac. None of this sufficed.

In searching for an answer, I found scattered references to IPv6, a method of addressing devices on the internet. Why would Internet Protocol version 6 have anything to do with scanner problems? That cry echoes into the void, as there’s no valid explanation for it.

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How to get CBS All Access for free every month

Updated 10/21/20: There have been a few tweaks to the Health app interface. This article has been updated to reflect them.

There are plenty of iPhone features that feel like you just can’t live without them. But there is one that can literally save your life: Medical ID.

If you get into an accident or otherwise become unconscious or unresponsive, a first responder can pick up your phone and place an emergency call. But they can also tap the Medical ID button to be taken to a screen that shows important information about you: Age, blood type, allergies, medical conditions...whatever information you wish to share that may help a medical professional to treat you properly.

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The iPhone 12 is still a couple of days away from reaching the eager hands of the general public, but lucky YouTuber Hic Tech got his hands on an early model. So he took the whole thing apart. As spotted by 9to5Mac, the short teardown is much lighter on the details that the in-depth analysis we typically get from iFixit, but it still reveals a few interesting tidbits about the new phone.

The battery is extremely small: If you thought the iPhone 11’s 3011mAh battery was small, wait till you see the iPhone 12’s battery. According to the video, it’s just 2815mAh, way smaller than the 4,000mAh battery inside the Galaxy S20 and other Android phones. Early benchmarks suggest that battery life is roughly the same as the iPhone 11 (and a couple of hours less when using 5G), but it’s still disappointing.

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The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro aren’t the only Apple devices shipping to customers this week. There’s also the brand-new $599 iPad Air that launched last month, and based on the early reviews, it’s going to be a runaway hit.

The biggest change in the 2020 iPad Air over the prior model is the design. The new tablet takes its cues from the iPad Pro and eliminated the home button, slims the bezels, and flattens the sides. It also adds an array of new color options, all of which impressed Laptop Mag’s Phillip Tracy, who wrote: “Something about the Air gives off cool retro vibes. It could be the rounded machined aluminum corners, sculpted like an old Mercedes racing car, or that single prominent circular camera lens above a small mesh microphone. Whatever it is, the iPad Air’s elegance helps to offset the industrial aesthetic.”

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Mac 911 has received a sadly unsurprising number of emails this year from people whose loved ones have passed away, and who are left with computers, mobile devices, and cloud accounts that contain memories, legal documents, and much more.

I have written previously about various aspects of survivorship for Apple products and its ecosystem, but it’s worth extending and collecting that in one place, given the number of questions many of you have.

Make a plan before it’s too late

Most of us feel macabre talking about death, but dealing with the fussy details ahead of time can solve endless problems later. It’s especially true with digital resources, as giant technology firms, including Apple, may not be responsive to your queries when someone’s gone.

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The future is here. Yes, this week marks the release of the iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPad Air. But it’s also the week we all finally get to meet Apple’s latest processor design for the first time. The A14 is here, and it’s going to be playing a major part in the entire Apple universe for the next year.

Why it’s important

The iPhone would probably continue to be a popular product even if its speeds were comparable to top-end Android phones. But we haven’t had to test that theory in a while, because ever since Apple began designing its own processors, it has accelerated away from the competition.

For the last few years, by the time the new iPhones and Apple-designed A-series processors have arrived, the fastest smartphones available on the Android side have yet to match the performance of the previous fall’s iPhone. Yes, it’s true—Apple has lapped the field. And since Apple is the only phonemaker who can use Apple’s processors, it provides Apple with a huge advantage over all its competition.

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The latest Echo Dot is technically the best Dot yet, but only by a narrow margin.

Every day, Macworld brings you the essential daily news and other info about all things Apple. But staying on top of that torrent of information can be a constant challenge. One solution: the Macworld digital magazine. 

In the November issue

In November we review the Apple Watch SE. Is it the right watch for your wrist? We compare the SE to the Series 3 and Series 6. Find out everything you need to know about Apple One, Apple’s new subscription bundle. Plus, make your Chromebook look like a MacBook.

Also in this month’s issue:

• MacUser: Want to run Mac OS 8 on your Mac? Now you can. Plus, what Apple's new 'everything' gift cards mean to iTunes deals

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Apple has release iOS 14.1, a sort of intermediary release between the big iOS 14 release a month ago, and the iOS 14.2 release currently in beta testing. This iOS version didn’t go through the normal public beta testing process, but it also doesn’t really add a lot of important new features for those who don’t have an iPhone 12.

The one significant new feature is 10-bit HDR playback and editing. Those with an iPhone 8 or later can play and edit 10-bit HDR videos in the Photos app (recording 10-bit HDR videos is only possible on iPhone 12). Beyond that, this release is full of bug fixes.

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Are you where you think you are, or are you where I want you to think you are?

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Did 2020 just loop round to 1999?

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Better late than never, eh

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But company also has its eye on Kubernetes at the edge

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Gloomy workers unlikely to moan about open plan again as office reopening slides to July 2021

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'That button is there on the app' says minister. How many times have you heard a client make wild claims about functionality?

The NHS COVID-19 contact tracing app for England and Wales* has a major flaw. Yes, another one. People told to self-isolate by the app are unable to access a code required to claim a £500 financial support grant.…

It takes 'grit' to send in a holograph to meetings instead of struggling with mute buttons yourself...

Forrester has offered its contribution to the pantheon of failed predictions gathering smart-dust in the broom cupboard of IT history with its assertion that blockchain is coming to polish up AI's tarnished image.…

Snaps vs Flatpaks, losing in mobile, Microsoft and Linux, and avoiding another GNOME 2 to 3 disaster

Interview Patent assertion entities: do not pick a fight with open source. It won't end well for you. This is the message from GNOME Foundation executive director Neil McGovern, who will speak on the subject at the Open Source Summit Europe next week.…

Do you really need so much RAM, though?

Six months after OnePlus released a flagship, it followed with a slightly upgraded refresh of the same device. You can distinguish these souped-up variants from their predecessors by the "T" in the name. One such device is the OnePlus 8T — an affordable 5G powerhouse.…

My careful plan to save the economy

Something for the Weekend, Sir? People say I don’t care but I do. I care a lot.…

Greasy goodness plays havoc with a PC's disk

Bork!Bork!Bork! The best borks are the simplest, and today's is no exception. A black screen, a plaintive message, and a nugget of the Colonel's menu for the hungry masses has been lost.…

IBM: Our AI correctly predicts onset of Alzheimer’s 71% of the time, better than standard clinical tests

Machine-learning algorithms analyzing human communication can predict whether someone will develop Alzheimer’s disease more accurately than standard biomedical screening, say IBM and Pfizer.…

The 'S' in SX, stands for 'Sporty', ok?

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Immigration reforms allowing more skilled workers to stay seem to have resulted in permanent residency

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With DSTI’s data engineering MSc, you can study in Paris, Nice, Lagos… or home

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