The invitation-only “show time” event might not be for a few days, but that’s not stopping Apple from rolling out a slew of products. Following Monday’s iPad Air and iPad mini announcements, Apple updated the entire iMac line Tuesday morning with faster chips, better graphics, and more memory.

That makes the $1,799 iMac one of the best buys in the Apple Store. Not only do you get a glorious 5K display, you also get a 3.0GHz 6-core 8th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, Radeon Pro 570X with 4GB of GDDR5 memory, and 8GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory. That’s a beast of a machine, and with upgrade options that go all the way up to a 3.6GHz 8-core 9th-generation Intel Core i9 processor and a Radeon Pro Vega 48, it even gives the iMac Pro a run for its money.

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A few years ago, the iPad was in disarray. Sales were collapsing and the line-up of products was a mess. Fixing things takes time, but look at what we’ve got today: With the introduction of the fifth-generation iPad mini and the third-generation iPad Air, iPad is now Apple’s most coherent and complete product line (contrary to what other Macworlders think).

Cleaning up the mess

As iPad sales dropped from their early-decade highs, Apple had a problem: to push the iPad hardware forward and please a user base that clamored for more power and features, it would need to develop cutting-edge technology. But the rest of the tablet market (and the education market in general) was going in the opposite direction, toward cut-rate tablets so cheap they’re sometimes sold in bulk.

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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 April issue

In the April issue of Macworld we take a look at how the iPad might influence future Mac interfaces. We also look at Intel’s roadmap and what that tells us about the future of the Mac.

Also in this month’s issue:

• MacUser: 7 features we want to see in a redesigned 2019 MacBook Pro

• MacUser Reviews: Loopback 2, Luminar 3

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It’s been a minute since Angry Birds was a thing. Once practically synonymous with mobile gaming, the franchise was so ubiquitous that it spawned an animated series and even a star-studded theatrical release. While there’s a sequel film due for release this summer, the mobile gaming world just isn’t that hot on Angry Birds anymore.

Perhaps Rovio’s latest project (developed by Resolution Games) can change that. Angry Birds AR: Isle of Pigs builds on the versions of the game that were made for virtual reality (Vive and Oculus) and augmented reality (Magic Leap), but it doesn’t require specialized hardware. It uses ARKit to run right on your iPhone or iPad, so all you need is an ARKit compatible device (iPhone 6S or 5th generation iPad or newer).

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It’s a good day to get a whole lot of storage at a great price. Our favorite budget SSD is available for cheaper than it’s even been before. Amazon is selling the 1TB Samsung 860 QVO SSD for $108. That’s down from it’s MSRP of $130, and less than the 1TB Samsung 860 EVO’s current price of $148.

It’s understandable if you haven’t heard of the QVO line before. This is Samsung’s first consumer-grade quad-level cell (QLC) NAND drive. QLC NAND crams in four bits per cell versus three-bit per cell on the TLC NAND that underlies the 860 EVO. The end result is that with QLC, SSD makers can offer greater storage capacities at a lower cost.

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Following Monday’s news of new iPads, Apple on Tuesday revealed upgrades for its iMac lineup, featuring eighth-generation Intel Core processors in the standard configurations, with the option to upgrade to a ninth-generation processor.

The price points of the standard configuration models remain unchanged. Apple is currently taking orders from the new iMac, but it won’t ship or be available in the Apple Store until next week.

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Tim Cook has once again promised that Apple has a strong pipeline of products. In other words, he has engaged in marketing. How gauche. Please, only speak of your future products in the most self-effacing way possible.

“We got some stuff coming. It’s OK, I guess.”

Writing for Investor Place, James Brumley says “Apple Stock Can’t Be Rekindled by Feel-Good Words Alone.” (Tip o’ the antlers to Mickey.)

This is true. Of course, Apple introduces new products every quarter and is set to introduce a new streaming service next week. So, it’s not exactly just feel-good words going on. Also, it’s a bit of a fallacy to judge Apple by its share price since the market never understood the company in the first place.

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Surprise! Apple on Monday announced updated models of the iPad Air and the iPad mini. Some of us gave up on seeing new versions of these models, but suddenly they’re available for purchase. We should have our hands on the new tablets soon, but we wanted to give you a quick rundown on what’s new and what remains the same for both iPads.

iPad Air: What’s new

Let’s kick off with what’s new with the iPad Air, which we thought was effectively replaced with the 10.5-inch iPad Pro in 2017. In essence, this is the iPad Air 3, but much as with the iPad mini, Apple’s dropping the numerals. It’s now just the iPad Air.

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Apple is said to be spending as much as $1 billion over the course of 2018 on original TV programming. That’s a lot of TV! It’s not the $8 billion Netflix is going to spend, but it’s still a huge commitment.

What can you get for a billion dollars? Well, some simple math gives us 200 episodes at $5 million a piece (a reasonable per-episode price for high-end TV). But we’re not likely to actually see 10-20 shows with 10-20 episodes each, all costing around that much. For starters, that billion dollars has to cover a lot more than per-episode production costs.

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After releasing iOS 12.1.3 with a few minor bugfixes, Apple has has moved on to iOS 12.2. The first beta was released to developers on January 24, 2019, with the first public release following on the 28th.

Registered developers can download the iOS beta profile by visiting developer.apple.com/download using the device on which they want to run the beta. Non-developers can enter the public beta program by visiting beta.apple.com on the device they wish to enroll in the beta.

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If you don't have hundreds of dollars to spend on new bulbs, hubs, and thermostats, you can still make your home a whole lot smarter. And today's a great time to start: B&H Photo is selling the TP-Link HS300 smart Wi-Fi power strip for $55Remove non-product link when applying the 31 percent coupon on the listing,, along with a three-pack of TP-Link's HS200 smart Wi-Fi switches for $57Remove non-product link, nearly 50 percent off its list price of $105.

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Apple is going retro with its new iPad lineup. Ahead of next week’s “Show time” event where we expect Apple to introduce a brand-new video streaming service, Apple has unveiled two new iPad models long thought to be ancient history. Making a return is the iPad Air, which was discontinued in 2017, while the aging iPad mini has received its first update in more than three and a half years.

Tim Cook

Touch ID is old hat, having first appeared in 2013 with the iPhone 5s. However, some features still remain obscure, based on reader email and conversations I have. A key one is that you don’t have to use only your own fingerprints for Touch ID for a device that is nominally yours.

Touch ID allows you to set up to five fingerprints total, including one you enroll initially when first configuring the phone, tablet, or laptop. In Settings > Touch ID & Passcode, you can enter your passcode and then tap Add a Fingerprint to enroll more. On a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro with Touch ID, open the Touch ID preference pane.

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Today’s a good day to head over to Amazon if you’ve held back on buying the 9.7-inch iPad because you’ve felt like an iPad Pro would be better suited to your needs. The retailer currently has a Gold Box Deal of the Day on previous-generation refurbished 64GB iPad Pros with Wi-FiRemove non-product link and it’s offering them in space gray, silver, rose gold, or gold for anywhere from 18 to 22 percent off.

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We spotlight a lot of hard drive deals on PCWorld, but today's is one of the best values we've ever seen. Newegg is selling the WD Elements 6TB USB 3.0 external drive for a crazy-low price of $100Remove non-product link today when using the code EMCTWUA65. That's nearly 50 percent off the list price and matches the lowest we've ever seen.

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Spotify’s war on Apple just reached a fevered pitch. After a PR blitz that attacked Apple’s App Store ‘tax’ and ‘unfair advantage’ in the music streaming marketplace, Apple has responded with a lengthy statement simply titled, ”Addressing Spotify’s claims.”

Unlike Steve Jobs’s famous “Thoughts on Music,” which was written in response to Apple’s FairPlay digital rights management system, this statement isn’t signed by Tim Cook or Eddie Cue or any other Apple executive. Despite the use of the editorial “we” throughout, it very much reads like a legal-approved PR statement, carefully picking apart each of Spotify’s claims with a series of bullet points.

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Anker’s affordable dash cams and car chargers are even more affordable today. The accessory maker is hosting a savings-stuffed one-day sale on AmazonRemove non-product link for a selection of its car gear, including chargers, dash cams, and phone mounts.

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Whether you’re a novelist, video editor, or freelance web developer, you’ll benefit from a highly organized schedule. In the past, schedules were organized on a calendar with pen and paper, but modern tools allow you to organize your schedule with greater detail than ever before. If you’re looking for a tool to manage and complete your projects in a timely manner, you need Aeon Timeline 2, which is currently $19.99.

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When you own multiple Macs that are linked to the same iCloud credentials and you also have iCloud Photos turned on, you may want to not sync the iCloud Photos library to every one of your Macs. Is that possible? Yes, but you need to read the fine print before checking or unchecking boxes.

Apple uses iCloud Photos (the newish name for iCloud Photos Library) as its keystone for letting you have your photos and videos on all your iCloud-linked devices. Through a combination of sync of thumbnails and full-resolution media, you can access all your assets wherever you are, even when you’re off the internet.

However, iCloud Photos requires a certain level of commitment. Any device linked to iCloud Photos has to retain the full library—even if each item of media is just a thumbnail—and you can’t pick and choose what’s synced.

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Last week, Sony blessed the App Store with its PS4 Remote Play app, which allows PS4 owners to stream games straight from their console to the iPhone. Provided you have a beastly internet connection and a good MFi (Made for iPhone) controller, you’ll be treated to an experience that’s vaguely reminiscent of playing games on a Nintendo Switch. Remote game streaming technology remains as rough as sandpaper on asphalt, but there was generally much rejoicing.

For some of us, though, there was also plenty of head-scratching. PS4 Remote Play isn’t all that functionally different from Valve’s Steam Link app, which Apple shot down last May merely a day after Valve announced its upcoming release. Both apps are owned by publishers other than Apple. Both stream games from another device to your iPhone over Wi-Fi connections. Both apps let you buy games through the app-maker’s own store without paying any commission to Apple. They’re so similar, in fact, that I’ve spent much of the last few days scanning my news feed for word that Apple had decided to pull the plug on Remote Play as well.

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