The 11th Hour Dispatch — Tuesday, October 30, 2018
BINGE WATCH
Selma executive producer and director Ava DuVernay is working with Netflix to produce a documentary about the life of Prince. The director has worked on the project for a few months prior to this announcement with the full cooperation of Prince’s estate, which is providing Netflix and DuVernay with interviews, archival footage, photos, and archive access spanning throughout his career and life. This is DuVernay’s second doc project with Netflix. In 2017, she and her other Netflix project, 13th, were nominated for a Best Documentary Oscar.
BIG BUSINESS
Apple held its first ever hardware event in Brooklyn today and we got a skinny iPad, an even lighter MacBook Air, and a fancy $130 pencil! CEO Tim Cook (unfortunately not in his sweet white kicks) led the keynote, the second in two months, from the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Here’s what happened:
iPad
Apple called the changes to the iPad — including a 15% slimdown, removal of the headphone jack and Home button, and an edge-to-edge display — the biggest update to the iPad since it was created eight years ago. It’s also compatible with that snazzy pencil, which magnetically connects to the side of the new iPad Pro.MacBook Air
The MacBook Air also got an update, mostly that it dropped a few lbs. Cook promised the new model is 25% lighter than the past version, which is honestly kind of startling since it already felt like a piece of printer paper that I have definitely not almost dropped multiple times. Not to mention that it’s completely made out of recycled aluminum for all you tree huggers at heart.Mac Mini
Last, Timmy Boy touted the first update to the Mac Mini in four years. The desktop computer looks very similar to previous models, but now includes a quad-core Intel processor and four USB-C Thunderbolt 3 ports so you can quit toting dongles everywhere (and also saying the word “dongles”). The new Mac Mini is also reportedly five times faster than the last model.
Other than that, nothing super insane. Everything, in traditional new Apple product line fashion, is still relatively pricey. But don’t worry. There will probably be another update in the next two months that will devalue your current one anyway. Also, if you need 70 more new emoji for some reason, you can now upgrade your devices to the new iOS 12.1 or iOS 11353275102467.2. Honestly, I’ve lost count.
NOTHIN’ BUT ‘NET
Reminder that humans are trash. We have wiped out 60% of global wildlife in the last half decade, according to the WWF.
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