Apple launched the iPhone SE 2020 – and delivery dates have already slipped into May… Uncle Tim has been appointed to the Californian Economic Taskforce. Zoom in the press for the wrong reasons (again). Google warn Chrome users to update to latest version immediately. Simon is joined by Andy J, Mark Chappell and James Ormiston to try and make sense of it all.

GIVEAWAYS & OFFERS

  • Glenn Fleishman’s Working From Home book is completely FREE and can be downloaded here
  • You can get Ghostery Midnight free for 3 months with the coupon code ‘workathome’
  • Steve at Geeks Corner was having another giveaway for a little game called Trance X head over there to enter if it’s still running.

Why not come and join the Slack community? You can now just click on this Slackroom Link to sign up and join in the chatter!

Slacker @MacJim has a family friendly Flickr group for listeners to share photos because the Darkroom channel in the Slack has become so popular – if you’re interested head over to to the Essential Apple Flickr and request an invitation.

Recorded 20th April 2020


Listen to the show:


This and other episodes are available at:

iTunes | Overcast | Essential Apple | My Mac | Pinecast | Spotify | Soundcloud | YouTube | RadioPublic | PlayerFM | TuneIn | Google Play | Direct Download | RSS


On this week’s show:

MARK CHAPPELL

JAMES ORMISTON

ANDY J (aka @dougee)

  • @dougee in the Slackroom
  • @dougee on the Twitter
  • Just launched a new blog at doug.ee

APPLE

  • Apple’s New $399 iPhone SE: Long Live the Small Screen and Home Button – WSJ
    • iPhone comparison page – Apple
    • iPhone SE vs iPhone XR comparison: Which should you buy? – 9to5 Mac
    • $79 AppleCare for 2020 iPhone SE, $50 price drop compared to iPhone 8 – 9to5 Mac
  • New macOS update can extend your MacBook’s battery lifespan – Laptop Mag
  • Watch Mac OS X Leopard running on 2020 iPad Pro – Cult of Mac
  • Apple wins dismissal of lawsuit claiming it ‘broke’ FaceTime on older iPhones – AppleInsider
  • Coronavirus: Disney’s Bob Iger, Apple’s Tim Cook, Arnold Schwarzenegger and more join California economic taskforce – Independent

TECHNOLOGY

  • GitHub sharply slashes plan pricing, offers core features for free to all – Ars Technica
  • Apple and Google in standoff with NHS over contact tracing – Cult of Mac

SECURITY & PRIVACY

WORTH A CHIRP / ESSENTIAL TIPS

  • Stream for free: Apple makes some Apple TV+ shows free for a limited time – 9to5 Mac

JUST A SNIPPET

For things that are not worth more than a flypast

  • Researchers used PC fan vibrations to steal air-gapped data – Input

NEMO’S HARDWARE STORE

  • Nemo is taking a break for the obvious reasons.

Essential Apple Recommended Services:

  • Pixel Privacy – a fabulous resource full of excellent articles and advice on how to protect yourself online.
  • Doug.ee Blog for Andy J’s security tips.
  • Ghostery – protect yourself from trackers, scripts and ads while browsing.
  • 33mail.com – Never give out your real email address online again.
  • Sudo – get up to 9 “avatars” with email addresses, phone numbers and more to mask your online identity. Free for the first year and priced from $0.99 US / £2.50 UK per month thereafter… You get to keep 2 free avatars though.
  • ProtonMail – end to end encrypted, open source, based in Switzerland. Prices start from FREE… what more can you ask?
  • ProtonVPN – a VPN to go with it perhaps? Prices also starting from nothing!
  • Comparitech DNS Leak Test – simple to use and understand VPN leak test.
  • Fake Name Generator – so much more than names! Create whole identities (for free) with all the information you could ever need.
  • Wire – free for personal use, open source and end to end encryted messenger and VoIP.
  • Pinecast – a fabulous podcast hosting service with costs that start from nothing.

Essential Apple is not affiliated with or paid to promote any of these services… We recommend services that we use ourselves and feel are either unique or outstanding in their field, or in some cases are just the best value for money in our opinion.


Social Media and Slack

You can follow us on:

Twitter / Slack / EssentialApple.com / Spotify / Soundcloud / YouTube / Facebook / Pinecast

    • Also a big SHOUT OUT to the members of the Slack room without whom we wouldn’t have half the stories we actually do – we thank you all for your contributions and engagement.
    • You can always help us out with a few pennies by using our Amazon Affiliate Link so we get a tiny kickback on anything you buy after using it.
    • If you really like the show that much and would like to make a regular donation then please consider joining our Patreon or using the Pinecast Tips Jar (which accepts one off or regular donations)
    • And a HUGE thank you to the patrons who already do.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.