Originally published at: http://appletalk.com.au/2016/11/thursday-morning-news101116/
A few outlets are reporting that Apple are selling refurbished iPhones directly to customers via the online store, but it appears to be a US-only thing for now, as Apple Australia’s online refurbished store shows no sign of any iPhones. We do, however, get refurb models of the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, the one with the True Tone display and the same Apple Pencil support as its larger sibling.
Back home, Apple Pay will be coming to over 30 credit unions thanks to a partnership between Apple and payments group Cuscal. A number of smaller banks are also included in the list, while three out of the big four continue to do battle with Apple over who can stand their ground the longest.
Apple has released an updated version of the iOS 10.1.1 update with a minor build number difference compared to the original release just over a week ago. There’s no need to re-download the update if you already have it, which raises questions about why a new build was necessary.
Apple’s iTunes Link Maker now allows direct linking to tvOS apps, even from other devices. While the App Store has supported Apple TV screenshots for universal apps across iPhone and iPad, there’s still no way to browse or download tvOS apps from anything other than an Apple TV.
An Apple support article outlines how Airplane mode no longer disables the GPS portion of iOS devices. According to The Mac Observer, this change is supposed to allow you to geo-tag photos when you’re in an area with no mobile reception, and apparently it’s been this way since iOS 8.3.
MacStories reviews the mechanical clickyness of Razer’s Mechanical Keyboard Case for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Besides having a set of great low-profile mechanical keys to give you a more tactile typing experience, the Mechanical Keyboard Case also has a pretty good kickstand which makes up for a lot of the size disadvantages of the biggest iPad.
Ben Brooks thinks that asking him to convince you that the iPad Pro is better than whatever you currently use is the wrong statement to be making. Instead, you should be asking yourself a few questions which will determine whether an iPad Pro will work for you.
Ars Technica’s guide to living a Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C life involves a few new cables and a few more adapter dongles for the other peripherals that you’d occasionally need to connect to.
Macworld’s write up on why 2016 has been such a bad year for the Mac says that the lack of updates has really hurt perception about the lineup. If Apple isn’t updating the lineup, does that mean they no longer care?
Marco Arment makes some very good points in his post on keeping the Mac Pro alive. Even the much-publicised 2013 update hasn’t seen a speed bump in over 1050 days. Maybe Apple are to blame, maybe there are other factors at play, but whatever the case, a world without the Mac Pro is bleak indeed.