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Midweek news bites – Mac Pro, Holiday Promos, Privacy Debate

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Plenty of Apple, iPhone, and iPad news gets released each week – but we know you’re busy, so we’ve got your back. Here, we’ve picked out some of the most notable things you should know from the past few days and summarized them for easy digestion. You’re welcome.

So please dig into this week’s Apple news bites, freshly sourced from all around the web. As ever, click through to read the full stories if you want to know more!

Wallet-busting Mac Pro finally released

The long-awaited revamp of the Mac Pro line is now available to purchase, which should please macOS fans who need the very best in power and performance for jobs in video editing and the like. Mac Pro starts at an eye-watering $5999, while the accompanying Pro Display XDR costs a further $4999. Upgrade the computer to the maximum possible specifications and you’re looking at an eye-watering $55k on the table. Oh, and don’t even think about using a third-party cloth on the fancy display!

Apple reveals Christmas gift list with new promotions

Apple has published its yearly Holiday Gifts page, hoping to convince customers to pick up a few Apple products and accessories for their nearest and dearest. What’s interesting is that this year, Apple Card users can get 6% cashback when buying gifts direct from Apple – and in some areas, you can get products delivered in just two hours. At this time of year, you can also get free product engravings – and Apple typically extends its returns policy until after Christmas in case of unwanted prezzies. Finally, a new promotion means Apple Card users can pick up a new iPhone on an interest-free payment plan.

Tim Cook talks manufacturing, regulation, and privacy

A new interview in Japan sheds light on Apple’s stance on many important topics, as Tim Cook talked up the number of jobs he’s created in the US and how more of its manufacturing is coming to home soil. He also touched on the recent tech industry antitrust probe and explains why he thinks the smartphone market is still burgeoning despite slowing iPhone sales.

Apple fights back as Senate revives anti-encryption debate

The big Apple-versus-the-FBI story of 2016 is back, kinda. The Senate is once again asking tech companies to program “back doors” into their software, weakening encryption to allow governmental access in certain circumstances, such as criminal investigations. Apple has the same view as ever: “We do not know of a way to deploy encryption that provides access only for the good guys, without making it easier for the bad guys to break in.”