Apple discontinues the 12-inch MacBook

With the upgrades done to the likes of the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, it seems like the right time to discontinue on old, possibly redundant Apple MacBook. And so we say goodbye to the 12-inch model. This laptop was first introduced back in 2015, and it’s the first model to bring in a new era of MacBook design. It was the first to offer USB-C, the first to introduce the controversial and problematic butterfly keyboard, and the first to not have a glowing Apple logo in years. As Engadget points out though, the recently refreshed Air made the MacBook a bit of an outlier. It was thinner and lighter than any computer in Apple’s lineup, but it was severely underpowered compared to the rest of Apple’s lineup.

‘Stranger Things 3’ breaks Netflix streaming views since its July 4th premiere

Netflix

Netflix is proudly showing off that it breaks another one of its own streaming records with the latest season of Stranger Things. Since its debut on July 4^th, the third season of the show has been seen by over 40.7 million Netflix accounts, with over 18 million having finished the whole season in the first four days. It’s now the most-viewed show of any kind on the service. Netflix treats these views as anyone who has watched at least 70 percent of an episode or movie. Netflix didn’t specify which region gained the most viewership. For context, Umbrella Academy, one of Netflix’s recent big TV show releases, took a month to reach 45 million account views.

Source: Engadget

Apple releases the second public beta of iOS 13 and iPadOS 13

Apple dropped a bunch of updates for the beta versions of iOS 13 and iPadOS 13. The second public beta version for these two platforms come two weeks after the first update was released. And these should be accessible in the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad. Aside from this Apple also dropped the third developer beta for iOS 13. The developers who are using iPhone 7 get the update as they didn’t receive one the last time. It brings with it some improvements and changes, including the new FaceTime Attention Correction feature.

Source: 9to5Mac

Instagram tries to combat bullying with new features

Instagram is introducing new features that the service is hoping will put a stop to bullying. The first one is already rolling out to users. It’s a new artificial intelligence-backed feature that reminds users to take a step back before making a potentially offensive comment. Users will receive an alert that says “Are you sure you want to post this?” with an undo option and more information hidden behind a Learn More prompt. Instagram claims, “From early tests of this feature, we have found that it encourages some people to undo their comment and share something less hurtful once they have had a chance to reflect.”

Another feature Instagram is introducing will help those bullied to escape those who are tormenting them. Instagram will basically let people restrict access to their accounts. This means if you restrict someone, the comments they make on your account will only be visible to that person. Or you can choose to make these comments visible by approving their comments. People you restrict won’t see if you’re active on Instagram or when you’ve read their messages. According to Instagram, they’ve done this because they “heard from young people in our community that they’re reluctant to block, unfollow, or report their bully because it could escalate the situation, especially if they interact with their bully in real life. Some of these actions also make it difficult for a target to keep track of their bully’s behavior.”

Source: 9to5Mac