This week on The CultCast: It’s the best update in years. We’ll tell you everything you need to know about Apple’s very powerful new MacBook Pros. Plus: New Mac minis are on the way; Ming-Chi Kuo confirms Apple’s about to update its entire product line; how coke heads use Apple Watch to maximize their high. Finally, we talk killer whale attacks, port wines and the story of Saturday Night Live’s world-renowned sax player on an all-new What We’re Into.
Episode
CultCast #344 – The MacBook Pros we’ve been waiting for!
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@erfon / @bst3r / @lkahney
This week’s stories
Apple updates MacBook Pros with 8th gen Intel Coffee Lake CPUs and ”quieter” keyboards
- 13” gets 4 cores
- 15” get six cores with options
- i7s on both machines with faster i9 chip available on 15”
- Apple says that the 15-inch model will have a 70 percent performance increase, and the 13-inch model should double in speed.
- Keyboards have been made quieter, but Apple told The Verge that this 3rd gen keyboard has not been designed to alleviate the issues they say are only affecting a “tiny portion” of buyers
- 32GB RAM and 4TB SSD option now available on 15” model for a mere $6700
- Both models come with True Tone displays, which allows the screen to change its color temperature based on the color temperature of the room.
- Interestingly, the Touch Bar will also support True Tone
- These will also be Apple’s first laptops to support “Hey Siri”
New Mac mini and cheaper MacBook might finally land this fall
- Ming Chi Kuo has basically just confirmed what I’ve been saying the last couple of weeks: Apple is about to drop an orgasmic amount of updated hardware products on us.
- Yes, according to Kuo’s new report, Apple is getting ready to update almost their entire hardware line.
- iPhone – There are three iPhones in the works, two OLED models in 5.8 and 6.5-inch sizes and one lower-cost LED model that will be available in a 6.1-inch size. All three will feature Face ID and upgraded A12 processors. While the two OLED models will have dual-lens cameras, the lower-cost model will feature a single-lens camera.
- iPad Pro – Apple is working on two new 11 and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models that are equipped with a full-screen design similar to the iPhone X and no Home button, with Apple to replace Touch ID with Face ID.
- Mac mini – Kuo didn’t have a lot of information to share on this one, but he did say a processor upgrade is expected. He did not say if additional upgrades would be included, like as a redesigned body.
- It’s been over 3 and a half years since the Mac Mini was updated, and they’re still charging full price for it.
- MacBook – Processor upgrades expected.
- New Low-Priced Notebook – Ming-Chi believes Apple is designing a new low-priced notebook fo some kind. He originally said it would be part in the MacBook Air family, but now he seems to not be so sure. We’ll soon know.
- iMac – Kuo says he expect a significant display performance upgrade, along with a processor refresh.
- Apple Watch – Apple is working on two new Apple Watch models for 2018 that will have bigger displays and enhanced heart rate detection features. The two Apple Watch models will measure 39.9mm and 45.2mm, about 15 percent bigger than current models. Unknown if the Apple Watch itself will be larger or if the display size increase will come from a reduction in bezels.
Doctors worry that cocaine users rely on Apple Watch as a lifesaver
- According to a new report, medical experts are concerned that some drug users, particularly people taking cocaine, are using their Apple Watches and other wearables to monitor their heart rate while imbibing.
- From the users’ perspective, the idea is that doing this could alert them to dangerously high heart rates while taking drugs such as cocaine. However, doctors point out that the technology does not protect people against the dangers of drug use.
- The article details the story of several semi-regular cocaine users. One describes monitoring drug use as the only reason they wear a heart rate-tracking wearable. “I want an early warning system for when my heart’s going to explode,” one person wrote in a thread on Reddit.
- “If someone says, ‘Let’s do a line,’ I’ll look at my watch,” says one of the people interviewed. “If I see I’m at [heart rates of] 150 or 160, I’ll say, ‘I’m good.’
What We’re Into
Repair anything with Bondic plastic weld
