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ExtraBITS for 27 October 2014

In its tear-down of the iPad Air 2, iFixit found some surprising hardware; Steve Wozniak is heading to the Land Down Under; and Managing Editor Josh Centers joins the MacJury to debate Apple’s recent moves.

iFixit Reveals Secrets of the iPad Air 2 — The tinkerers at iFixit have torn apart the new iPad Air 2 and discovered that it contains NFC hardware, which would theoretically allow for in-store Apple Pay transactions. Whether that ever happens or not, rest assured that your iPad Air’s Smart Cover is compatible with the new model. However, it appears that the battery is slightly smaller than the previous generation, and early reports indicate that battery life has suffered for it. If you had hopes of repairing your own iPad Air 2, forget it: just about everything inside the iPad Air 2 is glued in
place.

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Woz Heads Down Under — Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is heading to Australia. He has accepted a position as adjunct professor at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). Wozniak has long professed his love for Australia, and he’ll be working in the UTS Magic Lab, which researches robotics and artificial intelligence.

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Josh Centers Joins the MacJury to Discuss Recent Apple Releases — Managing Editor Josh Centers joined host Chuck Joiner, TUAW’s Michael T. Rose, and Smile’s Nat Osten to discuss recent Apple releases, including Apple Pay, the iPad Air 2, and the iMac with 5K Retina display. Josh explained why he thinks the new iPads are lame, pondered the plateaus of computing, and confirmed that he is not a communist.

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