iPad Air 3 Rumors, AT&T's Free iPhone Deal, MacKeeper Breach, iOS 9.2.1 and OS X 10.11.3 - MacRumors

No 3D Touch for iPad Air 3, Due in First Half of 2016 While Apple introduced the iPad Pro and iPad mini 4 back in October, the company did not launch an updated version of the iPad Air 2, in line with circulating rumors that had indicated an update was unlikely until 2016. We're now hearing a bit more about the iPad Air 3, including word that it should debut sometime in the first half of the year (perhaps at Apple's rumored March media event) and that it will not include support for the 3D Touch functionality introduced on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. Apple is said to be working on next-generation 3D Touch technology that will be supported on displays as large as the iPad Pro's, but the technology is not yet ready.   Read Full Article Popular Stories Dec 17, 2015 AT&T Offering 'Buy One Get One Free' Deal on iPhone 6s With the holiday shopping season rapidly coming to a close, AT&T is offering a new "buy one, get one free" deal on select smartphones including the iPhone 6s. It comes with a few strings such as it must be purchased through AT&T Next for a new line of service and the "free" comes in the form of monthly bill credits, but it could still be a good option for some iPhone users. The deal, which runs through December 31, is good with all iPhone 6s and 6s Plus models, but the maximum credit is $650, the full price of a 16 GB iPhone 6s.   Read Full Article MacKeeper Exposes Data on 13 Million Customers Controversial antivirus and system optimization software MacKeeper has made the news for lax security on its database of 13 million customers. Personal information, including weakly hashed passwords, was stored in a database that was left unprotected. MacKeeper has been the subject of much controversy over the years due to its aggressive advertising and questionable utility, with the software's developers having recently reached a settlement to refund customers who believe they were fooled by false advertising.   Read Full Article Apple Seeds First Betas of iOS 9.2.1 and OS X 10.11.3 Apple's holiday break is right around the corner, but that didn't stop its software teams from pushing out initial seeds of new iOS 9.2.1 and OS X 10.11.3 updates. As a minor x.x.1 update, iOS 9.2.1 is likely focused on a few significant bugs that need to be fixed fairly quickly, perhaps including one related to mobile device management (MDM) setups for enterprise and institutional users. OS X 10.11.3 may also be a fairly minor update as things begin settling down a bit more following the first couple of maintenance updates for OS X El Capitan.   Read Full Article Jeff Williams Named Apple Chief Operating Officer, Phil Schiller Takes Over App Store Leadership Apple has announced a few changes to its executive team, led by Jeff Williams being officially named chief operating officer. Williams has essentially served as COO for quite some time since Tim Cook took the reins at Apple, but now he has the official C-level title to go along with it. Perhaps even more significantly, Apple has shifted oversight of the App Store on all platforms from services chief Eddy Cue to marketing head Phil Schiller. The move reduces some of the burden on Cue, who has taken on responsibility for a number of areas in recent years including Apple Pay and Apple Music, while Schiller is a natural fit for the App Store given that he already oversees Apple's developer programs. Finally, Apple's chip guru Johny Srouji has been promoted to the senior executive team and noted marketing expert Tor Myhren will be joining Apple early next year to head up advertising and marketing communications.   Read Full Article Apple Working on Thinner, Brighter Displays at Secret Taiwanese Lab Apple reportedly opened a secret lab in Taiwan earlier this year, with roughly 50 employees (and more to come) currently working on building thinner and brighter displays for Apple's products. Apple is staffing up the former Qualcomm facility with a number of engineers recruited from display firms such as AU Optronics and Qualcomm subsidiary Sollink. Rumors have suggested the facility could be focusing on OLED and/or micro-LED technology such as that obtained by Apple when it acquired LuxVue Technology in 2014.   Read Full Article MacRumors Holiday Gift Guides: Reader and Staff Picks If you're still looking for some final gift ideas, we've put together some gift guides this year that might help provide some inspiration. Check out the recommendations from our editorial staff: Juli, Joe, Mitchel, Marianne, Eric, Matt, and Husain. And don't forget our reader picks, where we collected some suggestions from members of our forums!   Read Full Article

This email was sent to dasdisdusonline.apple@blogger.com Click here to unsubscribe or Update subscription preferences View in Browser | Subscribe to this mailing list. MacRumors.com, LLC 4870 Sadler Rd. Suite #300 Glen Allen, VA 23060 USA

iPhone 6s Smart Battery Case, iOS 9.2 and Other Software Updates, Apple TV Rumors - MacRumors

Apple Launches Official $99 Battery Enhancing Case for iPhone 6s Apple this week jumped into the iPhone battery case market, introducing a $99 Smart Battery Case for the iPhone 6s in white and charcoal gray. The case includes some nice integration with iOS and conveniently charges via Lightning, but has seen a lot of controversy over its design, which includes a prominent "hump" housing the battery pack itself. Tim Cook even saw fit to weigh in, highlighting how the design allows for a one-piece fluoroelastomer case that can slip easily on and off the iPhone, compared to some of the trickier two-piece designs common on other battery cases.   Read Full Article Popular Stories Dec 11, 2015 Apple Releases iOS 9.2, OS X 10.11.2, tvOS 9.1, and watchOS 2.1 It's been a busy week for Apple on the software front, with the company pushing out software updates for all of its major platforms. The update drawing the most attention is iOS 9.2, which introduces a number of updates and bug fixes, including an apparent fix for unresponsive iPad Pro issues. On the Mac side, Apple delivered OS X 10.11.2 with some improvements to Wi-Fi, Handoff, AirDrop, and more, while the Apple Watch saw the release of watchOS 2.1 with support for new languages and some bug fixes. Finally, the new Apple TV was updated with tvOS 9.1, which brought Siri support for Apple Music as well as much-requested support for the iOS Remote app with the new box. Apple has even more in store on that front, with Eddy Cue revealing Apple plans to launch a new Remote app for iOS with full Siri support for controlling the Apple TV some time in the first half of next year.   Read Full Article Apple Raises iTunes Match and Apple Music Library Matching Limits to 100,000 Tracks As promised earlier this year, Apple has rolled out support for iTunes Match and Apple Music libraries of up to 100,000 tracks for matching and uploading to the cloud. The previous limit had been 25,000 tracks, but Apple indicated at the launch of Apple Music in late June that the limit would be raised to 100,000 later in the year. Eddy Cue confirmed to MacRumors late last week that the increase was indeed going into effect.   Read Full Article Apple's TV Plans Fell Apart Over Content Owners' Resistance to Skinny Bundles One key part of Apple's rumored television strategy that has yet to appear is its much-discussed subscription package of live TV channels, and CBS CEO Les Moonves has now indicated that Apple "pressed the hold button" on those negotiations several months ago amid rumors Apple has been unable to piece together a viable package at its desired $30-40/month price point. A follow-up report from Re/code indicates a major sticking point has been Apple's insistence on a so-called "skinny bundle" containing no more than 20 channels. Content providers have reportedly been reluctant to offer only their top channels for the bundle, believing more of their channels should be included in any packages. On the hardware front, the new Apple TV box has only been out for a little over a month, but one admittedly sketchy report claims Apple is already moving toward production of a fifth-generation set-top box. The new box would include a faster processor and improved heat dissipation, allowing for even better performance. The report claims the next-generation Apple TV could go into production early next year, but that seems awfully soon to us.   Read Full Article Apple Planning March 2016 Event to Unveil Next-Generation Apple Watch, iPhone 6c Possible Too Rumors of an updated Apple Watch and a new 4-inch "iPhone 6c" targeted for launch early next year have been circulating, and a new report claims Apple is planning a March media event where it could show off the new products. Also potentially on the docket would be new Macs, as we're still waiting for most of Apple's Mac lineup to be updated with new and forthcoming Skylake chips from Intel.   Read Full Article Best Buy Offering $100 Discount on Apple Watch If you're looking to get your hands on one of the current Apple Watch models for the holiday shopping season, Best Buy is your best bet right now, as the retailer has knocked $100 off of its full Apple Watch lineup through at least Christmas. In another sign that the Apple Watch continues to go mainstream, Walmart has begun selling a handful of Apple Watch Sport models and some accessories through its online store. The world's largest retailer is, however, not currently offering any discounts on the Apple Watch.   Read Full Article

This email was sent to dasdisdusonline.apple@blogger.com Click here to unsubscribe or Update subscription preferences View in Browser | Subscribe to this mailing list. MacRumors.com, LLC 4870 Sadler Rd. Suite #300 Glen Allen, VA 23060 USA

iPhone 7 Could Lose Headphone Jack, Thinner and Larger MacBook Airs, Colorful 'iPhone 6c' in Early 2016? - MacRumors

Apple May Replace 3.5mm Headphone Jack on iPhone 7 With All-in-One Lightning Connector While many Apple fans were chasing down Black Friday deals for their holiday shopping, a new report was making the rounds claiming Apple plans to eliminate the 3.5-millimeter headphone jack on next year's iPhone 7. The change would require users to either embrace wireless headphones or use the device's Lightning port with either Lightning-equipped headphones or a Lightning to 3.5mm adapter for traditional headphones. The change is reportedly part of an effort to allow Apple to make the next iPhone even thinner, and Apple already supports headphone connections over Lightning, but the move would certainly still be a controversial one.   Read Full Article Popular Stories Dec 03, 2015 Thinner MacBook Air in 13" and 15" Sizes Coming at WWDC 2016? According to a new report out of Taiwan, Apple is planning a major overhaul of its MacBook Air lineup at WWDC 2016, likely scheduled for next June. The changes would see a thinner design and a complete reworking of internal components. The revamped MacBook Air is also said to arrive in 13-inch and new 15-inch sizes, with Apple potentially dropping the current 11-inch size from the lineup. With the debut of the new MacBook earlier this year, many have assumed Apple intends to merge the MacBook and MacBook Air lines once pricing on Retina displays and other components comes down enough to enable the MacBook to occupy the sub-$1000 entry-level price point for Apple notebooks. A redesigned MacBook Air, however, would indicate Apple plans to continue offering three separate notebook families for an extended period of time.   Read Full Article Amazon Prime Video Coming to New Apple TV Possibly Within a 'Few Weeks' As of late October, Amazon ceased selling the Apple TV and Google Chromecast, citing incompatibility with Amazon's own Instant Video streaming service. But with a new Apple TV launching the following day with support for third-party apps, any lack of Instant Video support was clearly exposed as Amazon's responsibility. Amazon has now informed at least one customer who inquired about Instant Video support for Apple TV that an app is in development and could launch "within a few weeks span." There is, however, no word on whether Amazon will reinstate the Apple TV to its online marketplace once the app launches.   Read Full Article New A9-Based 4-Inch iPhone Expected to Launch Early 2016 With Apple Pay and Colorful Metal Casing Continuing to fuel rumors of a new 4-inch iPhone under development, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has released a report claiming Apple is indeed targeting an early 2016 launch for the device. Backing up another report from earlier this week, Kuo says the so-called "iPhone 6c" will come in several colors but use a metal shell rather than the plastic body used on the iPhone 5c back in 2013. Kuo also says the iPhone 6c will include an A9 chip, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and NFC for Apple Pay support.   Read Full Article Popular Design App 'Sketch' Leaves Mac App Store Due to Poor Customer Experience Sketch is the latest high-profile app to be removed from the Mac App Store by its creators, with developer Bohemian Coding deciding that the poor customer experience of the store outweighs the benefits of being in Apple's official marketplace. Among the concerns are lengthy app review times, functionality restrictions such as sandboxing, and a lack of support for upgrade pricing. Sketch's departure has reignited the debate about Apple's "broken" Mac App Store and what can be done to improve the experience for both developers and customers.   Read Full Article 2016 U.S. CarPlay Vehicles: Chevrolet, Honda, Volkswagen and More It's been a bit of a slog for Apple's in-vehicle CarPlay solution, with auto manufacturers taking a bit longer than initially anticipated to add support for the feature on their infotainment systems. But with 2016 models rolling into dealerships over the past couple of months, we're starting to see some more momentum for CarPlay. If you're planning to do some car shopping and CarPlay is important to you, check out our extensive list to see what makes and models are currently supporting it. In somewhat related news, Ford has just announced a software update for its second-generation SYNC in-vehicle software that will bring support for Siri Eyes Free mode to over five million vehicles dating back to the 2011 model year. While it's not nearly as powerful as CarPlay, Eyes Free lets the driver interact with an iPhone without needing to look at the device's display, relying on Siri voice recognition and spoken feedback. Ford has also been announced as a CarPlay partner, but has yet to announce specific plans for rolling out that support.   Read Full Article Apple's Swift Programming Language Now Open Source In line with earlier promises, Apple has officially made its Swift programming language open source, allowing anyone to contribute to its ongoing development. Introduced at WWDC 2014, Swift is now Apple's preferred programming language across iOS, OS X, watchOS, and tvOS, and a port of it is now available for Linux. Apple is inviting the developer community on board as work proceeds on Swift 3, the next major update for the language likely arriving later next year.   Read Full Article

This email was sent to dasdisdusonline.apple@blogger.com Click here to unsubscribe or Update subscription preferences View in Browser | Subscribe to this mailing list. MacRumors.com, LLC 4870 Sadler Rd. Suite #300 Glen Allen, VA 23060 USA