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Apple Announces New iPhone, HomePod Mini at Annual Reveal

McConnell Plans October Revote on Republican Stimulus Package

The Senate’s leader on Tuesday said he plans on returning a Republican COVID-19 relief plan for a vote, after Democrats blocked the bill last month. The $500 billion bill focuses on the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), liability protections for businesses, added unemployment benefits, and money for reopening schools. Senators will vote on the bill on Oct. 19, when the full Senate returns to Washington, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a statement. “We don’t agree with Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi that ‘nothing’ is better than ‘something’ for workers,” he said. “Unless Democrats block this aid for workers, we will have time to pass it before we proceed as planned to the pending Supreme Court nomination.” Pelosi, the leader of the House of Representatives, has suggested in recent weeks that…

Apple Announces New iPhone, HomePod Mini at Annual Reveal

SANTA CLARA, Calif.—Apple announced the latest iPhones and HomePod at an online Apple Event on Oct. 13.

In what Apple CEO Tim Cook calls “a new era for iPhones,” the technology company announced it will have four new phones—the iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max, all with 5G. Their prices start from $699, $799, $999, and $1,099, respectively.

The smaller two come in blue, green, black, white, and product red. The pro models come in graphite, silver, gold, and pacific blue.

Apple Announces New iPhone, HomePod Mini at Annual Reveal (Apple)
Apple Announces New iPhone, HomePod Mini at Annual Reveal (Apple)

The models will have improved cameras and be able to shoot HDR video with Dolby Vision. The pro models will be able to save photos in RAW format and have LiDAR scanners for better night photography.

According to Apple, 5G will have faster download and upload speeds.

The iPhone 12 models have an A14 Bionic chip for higher efficiency. The chip is expected to increase CPU and GPU speeds by up to 50 percent.

They will have a magnetic MagSafe for high-powered wireless charging.

Pre-orders for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro will start Oct. 16, and they will be available starting Oct. 23. The iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max will start pre-orders on Nov. 6 and be available Nov. 13.

Apple Announces New iPhone, HomePod Mini at Annual Reveal (Apple)

The HomePod Mini

The latest HomePod mini is designed to have better sound and more functions. With the virtual assistant known as Siri, the HomePod mini can recognize voices from different members of the household and customize each person’s preferences. People can ask Siri to provide daily updates, schedules, meetings, and texts.

It will also work with Apple devices, including calling from an iPhone, playing music from a Mac, or playing audio from Apple TV.

In addition, it will work with Apple Music, podcasts, and a few radio stations like iHeartRadio, radio.com, and TuneIn in the coming months.

The spherical speaker is 3.3 inches tall and costs $99.

Focus News: Apple Announces New iPhone, HomePod Mini at Annual Reveal

‘The $16 Trillion Virus’: Economists Estimate Financial Toll of COVID-19 on US

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and fellow Harvard University economist David Cutler argued in an essay on Oct. 12 that the pandemic will end up costing the United States $16 trillion, around four times the toll exacted by the 2007–2009 Great Recession. “Approximately half of this amount is the lost income from the COVID-19-induced recession; the remainder is the economic effects of shorter and less healthy life,” the two economists wrote in a paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, in which they called the outbreak of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus “the greatest threat to prosperity and well-being the U.S. has encountered since the Great Depression.” Estimates by Summers and Cutler as to direct economic losses are consistent with earlier projections by the Congressional Budget…