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This week:

• Even more juicy details leak on iPhone 8, plus a report says the keynote reveal is right around the corner.
• Leander shares the strange twist in Apple’s autonomous car project
• Why the 13” MacBook Pro might soon become your favorite Mac
• Story time with L Kahney - he’s going to share the highlights from his whirlwind tour of Japan and other defenseless Asian lands.
• Plus Erfon recalls what it’s like in the darkness of a total solar eclipse.

  This episode supported by   CultCloth will keep your iPhone 7, Apple Watch, Mac and iPad sparkling clean, and for a limited time you can use code CULTCAST to score a free CleanCloth with any order at CultCloth.co.   The Cult of Mac watch store has the best straps in the biz.     Thanks to Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com for the great music you hear on today's show.   On the show this week @erfon / @bst3r / @lkahney   This week’s intro (thanks Nick Bracken!) http://www.ngataonga.org.nz/collections/catalogue/catalogue-item?record_id=147476   The shadows take on the sun's new shape https://instagram.com/p/BYEHnqbHU1d/   We might know the iPhone 8 keynote date https://www.cultofmac.com/498836/iphone-8-release-date/

• Hot on the heels of Samsung’s grand unveiling of the Galaxy Note 8 today, carrier sources have supposedly informed Mac4Ever that Apple plans to unleash its device in just a few weeks.
• Apple’s keynote is allegedly slated for September 12 where the company will reveal three new iPhones. While we haven’t been able to verify the accuracy of the report ourselves, Apple usually hosts its iPhone keynote in the middle of September so the date could make sense.
• The French Apple blog claims that carriers have been informed by Apple to expect the device announcement on the second Tuesday of next month. Carriers usually receive a heads up so they can start planning marketing and to organize pre-orders to ensure inventory.
• And get this, the minimum storage capacity for Apple's OLED iPhone is said to be 64GB, with a 256GB option offered as the mid-tier capacity and a 512GB option at the highest tier, while 3GB of RAM is claimed to be included across the board.

  iPhone 8’s amazing facial recognition is super quick, works in the dark https://www.cultofmac.com/498426/iphone-8s-amazing-facial-recognition-super-quick-works-dark/

• The iPhone 8’s facial recognition feature will work in a millionth of a second, and be more secure than the existing Touch ID sensor, and even work in the dark, a pair of new reports claim.
• In addition to the regular iPhone sensors you’d expect to find, the upcoming handset will reportedly boast a new “structured light” sensor, which uses bounced infrared light to work out the depth of different poin