This is brilliant marketing. Serenity clearly loves Linea, shows it off just perfectly, and Iconfactory gets some nice buzz for their new app.

Wish I could draw.

Gordon Mah Ung, Macworld, gets to the bottom of the MacBook Pro’s disparate battery tests. Most testers got great battery life, others found it to be terrible. Why? Turns out, it’s a bug:

In looking at other battery run-down scenarios, I ran smack into a problem that’s likely at fault for many of the confusing battery life issues with the laptop, at least in macOS Sierra 10.12.2. On occasion, the laptop’s discrete GPU would just get stuck on and consume power even when it wasn’t used. Others had reported this too, but you’d really have to stumble onto it.

I was able to reproduce the issue in Safari by opening Google Maps, which would cause the laptop to switch over to the GPU for the WebGL workload. Opening additional browser tabs and then closing the Google Maps tab would, on occasion, leave the GPU consuming up to 10 watts of power while doing absolutely nothing.

Terrific job homing in on this. Nothing helps tech support more than a problem they can reliably reproduce.

Via Reddit, this is fascinating to me. Don’t want to reveal the spoiler, but if you make your way through this, be sure to read the comment at the bottom by a user named rouverius. I believe that is exactly what is happening here.

This is one of those posts filled with tips you’ll know most of. But scan through the list, just in case there are a few you don’t know.

Even better, pass this post along to the folks in your life to whom you are the go to tech support. Good, foundational info every Mac user should know.

If you use Time Machine for backups, read the post before you do a restore. Even better, do a verify periodically to make sure you are not backing up on top of a bad backup.

UPDATE: Turns out that the verify backup option is disabled (appears in grey) for USB drives. My sense is that this was designed for Time Capsule. Well here’s an article from a few years back that discusses this.

Mark Gurman and Ian King, Bloomberg:

Apple Inc. is designing a new chip for future Mac laptops that would take on more of the functionality currently handled by Intel Corp. processors, according to people familiar with the matter.

The chip, which went into development last year, is similar to one already used in the latest MacBook Pro to power the keyboard’s Touch Bar feature, the people said. The updated part, internally codenamed T310, would handle some of the computer’s low-power mode functionality, they said. The people asked not to be identified talking about private product development. It’s built using ARM Holdings Plc. technology and will work alongside an Intel processor.

If this interests you, take a look at Rene Ritchie’s take on the Bloomberg report. Here’s a taste:

Power efficiency is Apple’s jam. Unless and until they license x86 or swap MacBook to ARM, there’s only so much even the tight and belabored integration they do with Intel will deliver them.

Offloading low-power, low-level tasks to their own silicon, though, is absolutely something Apple could and would do regardless of the main processor architecture. Same as they could and did offload display to their own, custom timing controller when they wanted to bring 5K to the iMac and the industry just hadn’t gotten there yet.

To me, it makes sense for Apple to control as much of the silicon as it can. This is just another step down the road to an ARM Mac.

A U.S. jury in Texas on Wednesday ordered Facebook Inc, its virtual reality unit Oculus, and other defendants to pay a combined $500 million to ZeniMax Media Inc, a video game publisher that says Oculus stole its technology.

Ouch.

Live Science:

A stunning new video has captured a huge fire hose of lava streaming into the ocean at Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. The stream of lava is currently pouring into the ocean from a sea cliff near Kamokuna on the Big Island of Hawaii, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). When this massive lava chute hits the cool seawater below, the result is explosive steam.

Seeing this in person is definitely on my bucket list. Until then, watch the video and marvel at the power of nature.

Time:

Every year, companies spend millions of dollars for just a few seconds of airtime in hopes of getting consumers attention—and then, maybe, their money. Whether funny, sad, self-referential or downright weird, Super Bowl ads have become a spectacle and tradition in their own right.

This weekend is the proverbial “Big Game”. It’s no secret that a large number of people are more interested in the advertising than they are the football. We all know which one is number one, right?

Engadget:

Snapseed doesn’t see quite the amount of updates that other Google-owned products do, but each one lately has been pretty significant. The name of the game for the latest is the addition of curves. Essentially, what this new feature does is allow manipulating things like contrast, brightness and color intensity in a given image. Oftentimes, it’s one of the easiest and most dramatic ways you can edit a photo.

I have literally dozens of image editing apps on my iPhone to adjust photos but Snapseed remains my favorite.

Inspired by a typewriter—I think this will certainly have its fans when released.

I had no idea there was a firmware update available for the AirPods, but I followed the instructions on TidBITS and sure enough it updated. To be clear, the way the update is done, you’ll eventually get the update, but I did it manually anyway.

The New York Times:

Our objective in making this film was something of a psychology experiment: We sought to capture people facing a difficult situation, to make a portrait of humans in doubt. We’ve all seen actors playing doubt in fiction films, but we have few true images of the feeling in documentaries. To make them, we decided to put people in a situation powerful enough not to need any classic narrative framework. A high dive seemed like the perfect scenario.

I still remember my first jump off the ten meter (approx 33 feet) tower at a public pool. I was ten years old and I was utterly terrified.

Tesla Motors Inc changed its name to “Tesla Inc” as Chief Executive Elon Musk looks to transform the Silicon Valley firm from an electric car maker to a diversified energy products company.

It’s weird, I never really considered Tesla as just an automobile company. I always just referred to it as Tesla, knowing that the company had its fingers in a lot of different tech.

Say it ain’t so, Justin Long. Say it ain’t so.

One down point in Apple’s numbers was reported iPad sales. Jason Snell:

Apple sold half as many iPads for the 2016 holiday quarter as it did in 2013.

And:

Meanwhile, average selling price sagged, after a brief buoying caused by the release of the 9.7-inch iPad Pro—a sign that during this sluggish holiday period, iPad sales were largely comprised of older, cheaper models.

I chalk this up to iPad maturity. My iPad is more than a year old, and I don’t have any sense that it is slow, outdated. I use it regularly, and have no performance complaints. Sluggish performance is a major factor that would drive me to replace my iPad.

Jason again:

The iPad has 85 percent of the market of tablets priced over $200. The important facts here: Apple’s not interested in selling a sub-$200 iPad, and so that means it’s doing spectacularly well in the market.

If there’s a problem, it’s that Apple built a product that does what it is supposed to do and does it so well that it does not bear replacement. And that’s not a problem for me.

Rene Ritchie pulls together quotes from Apple’s earnings call, tweets from Apple watchers, and sales estimates, to make the case that Apple Watch is not only a success, but a critical part of Apple’s ecosystem.

My 2 cents: I agree wholeheartedly. At the very least, the Apple Watch is a reliable, elegant, affordable timepiece.

Add in the most basic of its capabilities, the ability to receive a steady stream of notifications, and the Apple Watch is a no-brainer. If you then layer in fitness tracking, calendar management, and the ability to run third party apps, the Apple Watch climbs onto its own worthy perch in the ecosystem.

Trip Mickle, Wall Street Journal:

> Apple Inc. is weighing legal action and continuing to press the Trump administration to reverse its executive order on immigration, Chief Executive Tim Cook said in an interview. > > Mr. Cook said hundreds of Apple employees have been affected by the order, which suspended entry to the U.S. for refugees and travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations. He added that he continues to contact “very, very senior people in the White House” and impress on them why repealing the executive order is important not only for Apple but for the country. > > “More than any country in the world, this country is strong because of our immigrant background and our capacity and ability as people to welcome people from all kinds of backgrounds. That’s what makes us special,” said Mr. Cook. “We ought to pause and really think deeply through that.”

And:

> Mr. Cook declined to elaborate on Apple’s possible legal options, except to say that “we want to be constructive and productive.” He said that since the order was signed, he’s received numerous emails from Apple employees with “heart-wrenching stories” about how the order will affect friends and family. One employee who’s expecting a child said the future grandparents have Canadian and Iranian citizenship and won’t be able to visit to meet their new grandchild. > > “These are people that have friends and family. They’re co-workers. They’re taxpayers. They’re key parts of the community,” Mr. Cook said.

And:

> In recent days, Apple employees have been increasing their contributions to refugee relief funds, which Mr. Cook said the company will match on a 2-to-1 basis. The contributions come a year after Apple gave $2.5 million to refugee relief. Investors who would like to move to Portugal may need to apply for a portugal golden visa 2025.

Andrew Cunningham, Ars Technica:

Beta builds of iOS 10.3, the first of which was issued last week, generate warning messages when you try to run older 32-bit apps. The message, originally discovered by PSPDFKit CEO and app developer Peter Steinberger, warns that the apps “will not work with future versions of iOS” and that the app must be updated by its developer in order to continue running. The apps still run in iOS 10.3, but it seems likely that iOS 11 will drop support for them entirely.

Apple planted the seeds for this a few years ago when they mandated that all new apps be 64-bit compatible. Then, last summer, warning alerts appeared when 32-bit apps were run, reminding the user that using the app “may affect overall system performance”. So this is simply the next step in the progression.

Jason Snell pulled together a terrific series of charts breaking down Apple revenues, units shipped, sales growth, and more, all broken down quarter by quarter.

Serenity Caldwell does her usual amazing job transcribing the call for our reading, searching, and quoting pleasure.

All of us know that animals respond to music (my cats Roger and Chloe love to hang with me when I mix), but are there certain genres that they like better? A new study by the University of Glasgow in conjunction with the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals found out that shelter dogs definitely had some music preferences.

My dogs loved Ozzy.

DIYZ:

DIYZ gives you the information and guidance you’ll need to tackle any DIY home improvement project with confidence.

No matter what your skill level, DIYZ puts the power of money-saving, soul-satisfying DIY home projects right in the palm of your hand.

I am completely incompetent, almost dangerous, when it comes to using tools. I wouldn’t even attempt a DIY project without a lot of handholding. This might be just that kind of service, except for the fact it’s not available in Canada.

[Via Darby Lines]

A group of technology companies plans to meet on Tuesday to discuss filing an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit challenging U.S. President Donald Trump’s order restricting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries, said a spokesperson for a company organizing the gathering.

Vance Powell is a friend and an amazing audio engineer. He’s worked with some of the best artists in the music industry over the years and at NAMM, he gave a session on how he recorded a project. He goes over the mic choice and even placement of the amps. This is well worth watching.

Lifehacker:

If you’re on the lookout for a digital painting tool and Photoshop is too expensive, Krita is a fast, free, and open source art tool that was developed by artists looking for something that met their needs without a ton of bloat or overhead. Plus, it’s completely cross-platform.

When we say “photoshop alternative,” we don’t strictly mean an alternative tool to help you manage photos, color correct them, resize them, and get them ready to share. Sure, you could probably do those things with Krita, but the tool is really designed for artists looking for a painting application to create original digital art, web and print comics, concept art, and more.

As the article said, this won’t replace Photoshop completely but if your needs are specific and you don’t require the full power of Photoshop, this might be a good alternative for digital artists.

Greg Barbosa, 9to5Mac, lays out the voice commands that work for your AirPods, even if you don’t have internet access. This requires you to switch your iOS “Press to Hold and Speak” Accessibility settings from Siri to Voice Control.

Not something you’ll want to do on the fly, but quite helpful if you frequently use your AirPods in an area without net access.

Nice find, Greg.

This Apple knowledge base page (via 512 Pixels) has beautifully detailed pictures of each Apple Watch band style, along with instructions on properly fastening each band type, as well as tips on getting the best fit.

What I found fascinating about the page was the pair of warnings at the bottom:

Apple Watch, the space gray and rose gold aluminum Apple Watch Sport, the stainless steel portions of some Apple Watch bands, and the magnets in the watch and bands contain some nickel. However, they all fall below the strict nickel restrictions set by European REACh regulation. Therefore, while nickel exposure is unlikely to be a problem, you should be aware of the possibility in case you’re susceptible to nickel-related reactions.

And:

The Apple Watch case, the Milanese Loop, Modern Buckle, and Leather Loop bands contain trace amounts of methacrylates from adhesives. Methacrylates are commonly found in many consumer products that come in contact with the skin, including adhesive bandages, but some people may be sensitive to them, or develop sensitivities over time. Methacrylate exposure from Apple Watch and the bands listed above is unlikely, but customers with known methacrylate allergies should be attentive when wearing the bands until they can determine they are not experiencing an allergic reaction.

The page was published last September, so this is likely old news, but this is the first time I’ve encountered these warnings.