New iPod touch
Ideal for music, games, AR,
and moreIN THE WEEK before WWDC 2019, Apple shipped a new
iPod touch, starting at just $199. The design is unchanged
from the last update almost four years ago, with a 4–inch
(diagonal) display, headphone jack, and Home button
(but no Touch ID). The 326ppi, 1,136 x 640 screen is the
same as on the iPhone 5 and iPhone SE. Inside, however,
there’s a powerful Apple A10 Fusion chip, delivering twice
the speed and three times the graphics performance of
the previous model, Apple says.
The 7th–gen iPod touch runs the latest version of iOS,
and will do just about everything the latest iPhone can do
except for making calls and other functions that require
cellular network access, GPS, or NFC. You can’t pair it with
an Apple Watch or use it for Apple Pay, but you can use
messaging apps, play games, ask Siri, or access the
internet as long as you do it all over Wi–Fi or Bluetooth.
The A10 chip, for the first time on an iPod, also supports
Group FaceTime and AR apps using the 8MP rear camera
or FaceTime HD front camera, and will support the
forthcoming Apple Arcade game streaming service.
Just want to listen to your music? The new iPod touch
comes with up to 256GB of storage for downloaded and
purchased tracks, or you can stream 50m songs with an
Apple Music subscription.
The new iPod touch comes in six colors and starts at $
(32GB). The 128GB model is $299, and the 256GB version
is $399. Find out more at apple.com/ipod-touch.MacBook Pro recall
APPLE HAS RECALLED some 15–inch MacBook Pro
models because their batteries might overheat and pose
a fire safety risk. The recall applies to the “Mid 2015”
model MacBook Pro with 15–inch Retina screen, available
mainly between September 2015 and February 2017.
Apple will replace the batteries in affected machines,
free of charge. To find out more and check if yours is
eligible for the battery replacement, visit apple.com/
support/15-inch-macbook-pro-battery-recall.
and neighborhoods that were previously a long
journey from an oL·cial Apple repairer.
What’s uncertain is how this will impact on
the numerous independent repairers, many of
them Apple–certiĽed techs even if their
businesses are not Apple Authorized centers,
who have been providing expert service in their
neighborhoods, some of them for many years.
Fortune.com also comments that although
this expansion appears to oļer much wider and
more convenient access to services across the
country, it still falls short of the unrestricted
ģright to repairĤ demanded by activists.
(Meaning you would not have to go to an Apple
Authorized repairer but could choose any local
mom–and–pop shop, or do the work yourself,
without aļecting your warranty.) What’s more,
Fortune claims, “Authorized repair locations
aren’t typically allowed to do all the repairs the
Apple Store’s Jenius Bar would be able to do.
(Oike Ľxing those pesky MacBook keyboards,
for example.)Ĥ
It’s not clear, however, which if any third–
party Apple Authorized repairers are excluded
from Apple’s Neyboard Service Program for
notebook models with misbehaving “butterľyĤ
keyboards, or for that matter its MacBook Pro
battery recall program (see below). Apple’s
information page for the former at apple.com 2
support 2 keyboard 0 service 0 program 0 for 0 mac 0
notebooks 2 says without tualiĽcation, “Apple
or an Apple Authorized Service Provider will
service eligible MacBook, MacBook Air, and
MacBook Pro keyboards, free of charge.Ĥ And if
you have an eligible model, you can click a link
on the page to “Find an Apple Authorized
Service ProviderĤ to carry out an inspection
and get the ball rolling.
Image rights on page: Apple. maclife.comAUG 2019 9