AirPods Are Here, Cook Talks Desktop Macs, LG's 5K Display, Super Mario Run - MacRumors

AirPods Impressions: ‘Better Than Expected’ Bluetooth, Sound, and Battery Impress Early Users Apple's AirPods wireless earphones began arriving on customers' doorsteps and in retail stores on Monday, and early impressions have been quite favorable. Sound quality seems to be a bit better than Apple's wired EarPods, which should be sufficient for most casual users. Bluetooth signal range and battery life are also proving impressive. Make sure to check out our hands-on video for a quick overview and our own first impressions. Shipping estimates through Apple remain at six weeks and in-store supplies are extremely tight, but AirPods are trickling into the company's stores on a regular basis. For more details on the new earphones, have a look at highlights from the teardown and our tidbits roundup.   Read Full Article Popular Stories Dec 22, 2016 Apple CEO Tim Cook: ‘We Have Great Desktops in Our Roadmap' With Apple's desktop lineup having received no updates during 2016, questions have continued to circulate about the future of desktop Macs. Likely in response to those questions, Tim Cook took to an internal Apple message board this week to reassure employees, saying "let me be very clear: we have great desktops in our roadmap." What exactly that roadmap entails remains unclear, with a new report from Bloomberg only reiterating previous claims that Apple has USB-C iMacs in the pipeline. Other Mac updates for 2017 should include speed bumps for the MacBook and MacBook Pro, but there's no word on other machines such as the Mac Pro and Mac mini. Apple is also reportedly working on a new Magic Keyboard that incorporates a Touch Bar and Touch ID, but whether it sees the light of the day apparently depends on the reception to those features on the new MacBook Pro. The Bloomberg report also takes a look at what might have been with a few of Apple's current notebooks, noting that Apple initially sought to use higher capacity terraced batteries in the new MacBook Pro, but they failed a key test that forced Apple to use smaller, more traditional battery designs. Apple also contemplated offering the new MacBook Pro in gold, but decided the color didn't look good on such a large machine. And finally on a different note, the company originally toyed with using Lightning rather than USB-C for the 12-inch MacBook.   Read Full Article Apple Now Selling LG's UltraFine 5K Display, Extends $974 Sale Price Until March 31 Apple this week officially began taking orders for LG's UltraFine 5K display, Apple's officially endorsed external display option for the new MacBook Pro. The display, along with its smaller 4K sibling, was introduced at Apple's October media event and the company apparently mistakenly took orders for an hour or so in late November, but sales are now officially live with the first orders arriving just before the end of December. The new UltraFine 5K display is officially only compatible with the new MacBook Pro models, as their Thunderbolt 3 support is required to transmit the amount of data needed to drive such a large display. Some older Macs can, however, use the display at lower, scaled resolutions. Alongside the start of UltraFine 5K display sales, Apple also extended its discount program on USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 adapters and accessories. The program, which sees discounts of up to 50 percent on qualifying products and includes a $325 savings on the UltraFine 5K display, had been scheduled to end on December 31 but now runs through the end of March.   Read Full Article Super Mario Run Sets App Store Record With 40 Million Downloads as New Game Mode Rolls Out Since the launch of Super Mario Run last week, various analytics firms have been trying to estimate the number of downloads of the new game, and they all fell far short as Nintendo has announced 40 million downloads in just four days, shattering App Store records. All is not rosy for Nintendo, however, as the company's stock price has taken a hit amid poor reviews from users upset about the $9.99 in-app purchase needed to unlock the full game beyond the first few levels. For a look at just what you get for that $9.99 purchase, check out our hands-on video of Super Mario Run.   Read Full Article OLED iPhone 8 to Feature Curved Display and New Touch-Sensitive Technology Rumors of at least one iPhone 8 model next year with a curved OLED display continue to circulate, and a new report claims the phone will also include a new touch-sensing technology that "enables the phone to respond when users touch any side of the device." Supplies of OLED displays are almost certain to be an issue, however, with only one company responsible for producing the massive machines that are used to manufacture OLED displays and that company being able to produce only a handful of machines per year and having a two-year backlog.   Read Full Article Minecraft Launches on Apple TV Today for $19.99 Following its unveiling at Apple's October media event, Minecraft for Apple TV launched this week. Priced at $19.99, the Apple TV version of Minecraft includes seven pieces of bonus content including skin packs and mash-up packs, and a game controller is required. Separately, Apple has released a bunch of new aerial screen savers for the Apple TV. The high-quality videos slowly pan around city and nature scenes in various locations, with day and night scenes matched to the user's local time.   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

AirPods Now Available to Order, MacBook Pro Battery Life, Super Mario Run, iOS 10.2 Released - MacRumors

AirPods Now Available to Order, but Shipping Times Quickly Slip to 6 Weeks With no advance notice, Apple this week allowed customers to begin placing orders for the company's new AirPods wireless earphones. Priced at $159, the earphones were announced at Apple's September iPhone 7 event and originally planned to launch by the end of October, but Apple pushed back the launch as it found more time was needed to finalize them. Those who were able to place their orders as soon as they went live on Tuesday morning will receive them as soon as next week ahead of Christmas, but shipping estimates quickly slipped in the United States in particular, and within 90 minutes of launch Apple was quoting four weeks for shipment of new orders. Shipping estimates have since slipped to six weeks in nearly all countries, although limited supplies will be available in-store at Apple's retail stores and at third-party retailers and carrier partners starting next week. For those who are able to obtain AirPods, they may be interested to know Apple will charge $69 for a replacement if you happen to lose one of the tiny earphones.   Read Full Article Popular Stories Dec 15, 2016 macOS Sierra 10.12.2 Removes 'Time Remaining' Battery Life Indicator Apple this week released macOS 10.12.2, addressing a number of issues with the new MacBook Pro in particular, and perhaps the most discussed change was the removal of Apple's estimate of battery time remaining accessible through the menu bar. Many users had complained about poor battery life or at least estimates of poor battery life on the new MacBook Pro, and Apple says it did away with displaying the time remaining because it was frequently misleading due to the ever-changing loads users are putting on their systems. Apple didn't mention any specific improvements to battery life in macOS 10.12.2, but some users are indeed reporting significantly longer running times with the new update. Meanwhile, developers are continuing to roll out support for the new Touch Bar on the MacBook Pro, with iTunes, Photoshop, DaVinci Resolve, and Capo 3 all being updated this week. Other developers are getting creative with the Touch Bar and building cool apps such as a piano and versions of Lemmings and Pac-Man. Finally, Microsoft has been trying to take advantage of some of the criticism about the new MacBook Pro such as high pricing and performance limitations like a maximum 16 GB of RAM, saying that "disappointment" over the MacBook Pro has more people than ever before switching from Macs to Microsoft's Surface lineup.   Read Full Article 'Super Mario Run' Launches on App Store for iPhone and iPad One of the most highly anticipated App Store launches in years has just hit in the form of Nintendo's Super Mario Run, which offers a one-handed gaming experience that offers some unique features but which will be immediately familiar to Mario fans. Aside from a traditional tour mode that sees players advance through increasingly difficult worlds, the game also includes a Toad Rally challenge mode for competing against friends or strangers, as well as a Kingdom Builder mode for customizing kingdoms and unlocking mini-games and characters. Super Mario Run is a free download from the App Store, but requires a one-time $9.99 in-app purchase to unlock the full game beyond the first three levels. The game also requires an always-on internet connection during play.   Read Full Article Apple Releases iOS 10.2 With New TV App, New Emoji, and More After seven betas and a month and a half of testing, Apple this week released iOS 10.2 to the public, bringing a new TV app to U.S. users, adding a number of new and redesigned emoji, and making numerous fixes and improvements across Apple's stock apps. Make sure to check out our videos showing what's new in the update and some of the emoji changes! Apple also released tvOS 10.1, a parallel update to iOS 10.2 that brings the new TV app to the Apple TV. On both iOS and tvOS, the TV app helps bring together content you're watching from across a variety of other apps, making it easy to see what you're in the middle of and resume playing. With the new updates released to the public, Apple has already begun seeding testers with the next set of beta updates for iOS 10.2.1, macOS 10.12.3, and tvOS 10.1.1.   Read Full Article Apple Pulls watchOS 3.1.1 Update After Bricking Complaints Alongside iOS 10.2, macOS 10.12.2, and tvOS 10.1, Apple this week also released a minor watchOS 3.1.1 update for the Apple Watch, but users quickly began reporting problems with the update bricking their watches. A small but significant number of users found their devices hanging during the update process, eventually becoming bricked entirely and displaying a red exclamation mark icon and directing users to service options. Even Apple Store Genius Bars can't handle these repairs, and the watches must be sent out to an off-site repair depot to have them reset through their diagnostic ports. A day after the release, Apple pulled the watchOS 3.1.1 update while it addresses the issue, and an updated version should be released shortly.   Read Full Article Apple Says BeatsX Earphones Delayed Until February While Apple is just barely starting to ship its AirPods wireless earphones to customers in time for Christmas, at least for those who were able to order immediately after launch, the company has announced that its BeatsX wireless earphones won't be shipping until February. The BeatsX earphones had been scheduled to launch in late fall, but as the calendar turned to December questions arose about the timing. Just last weekend, reseller B&H Photo emailed a customer to let them know Apple had informed B&H that the BeatsX earphones would not be launching for another 2–3 months, and on Tuesday Apple confirmed the delay by updating its own site to list a February availability date.   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 Battery Issue, MacBook Pro Battery and Graphics Problems, 'iPhone 7s' Rumors - MacRumors

Apple Preparing Diagnostic Tool in New iOS Update as iPhone 6s Battery Issue Expands Following last month's launch of a repair program to replace defective batteries in certain iPhone 6s devices, Apple last week began allowing users to check their serial numbers online to see if their devices are included in the program. The company has also released some new details on the issue which apparently was caused by exposure to air during the manufacturing process. As consumer complaints about the issue have continued to surface, Apple has been investigating reports regarding affected devices outside of the originally announced manufacturing window of September to October 2015. As a result, the company will be including some new battery diagnostics in a software update, presumably iOS 10.2, coming next week.   Read Full Article Popular Stories Dec 08, 2016 MacBook Pro Users Express Concerns About Limited Battery Life Apple claims the new MacBook Pro gets up to ten hours of battery life, but a number of users have been experiencing much shorter run times with their machines. Battery life is highly dependent on usage situations, and many of the users experiencing short battery life are doing power-hungry tasks like driving external displays or using apps that are either demanding or not well optimized, but concerns remain. In other MacBook Pro news, users have also been complaining about graphics problems on the new machines. Apple says it believes all of these issues will be fixed in the forthcoming macOS 10.12.2 update, but users running the latest beta version are still reporting a few problems. Finally, macOS 10.12.2 will reportedly also fix an issue that was causing new MacBook Pro machines to crash when trying to back up to a USB-C drive via Time Machine.   Read Full Article 'iPhone 7s' and 'iPhone 7s Plus' Said to Come in All-New Red Color, Lack New Design and Wireless Charging We've been hearing a lot of conflicting rumors about the 2017 iPhone, but the general consensus has been that Apple is working on a premium phone with an OLED display, a glass casing, and wireless charging that would debut alongside more traditional LCD-based models in the current 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch sizes. What's less certain is what those LCD-based models will look like, with some rumors claiming they will adopt similar glass casings and wireless charging as the OLED model and other rumors suggesting they may be more minor refinements of the current iPhone 7 design. A new rumor from Mac Otakara points to the latter possibility, indicating the "iPhone 7s" models will be very similar to the iPhone 7 in design and lack wireless charging. One significant change would be the addition of a new red color option.   Read Full Article Apple Negotiating to Offer Rentals for Movies Still in Theaters, but at a Price Want to watch movies that are still showing in theaters right from the comfort of your home? Apple is said to be negotiating with movie studios for the rights to offer iTunes rentals of movies as soon as two weeks after they debut in theaters. They wouldn't be cheap, with price points of $25 or $50 being discussed, but if you consider the cost of several movie tickets and perhaps a babysitter, it could very well work out to be cheaper and easier than heading out to the movies.   Read Full Article Tim Cook Says Apple Watch Set New Sales Record in First Holiday Shopping Week Following a report that the Apple Watch dropped to a 5% share of the wearables market in the third quarter after a 70% year-over-year drop in sales, Tim Cook pushed back on those claims to highlight the strength of the Apple Watch Series 2 launch that occurred at the very end of the quarter. According to Cook, the Apple Watch set a new sales record in the first week of the holiday shopping season, and the company says the Apple Watch is on track for its best quarter of sales ever. The company does not, however, release sales figures for the device.    Read Full Article Samsung's Next-Generation Galaxy S8 Won't Include a Headphone Jack Samsung's next flagship phone, the Galaxy S8, is due to be unveiled at Mobile World Congress next February, and like the iPhone 7, the device will reportedly not include a dedicated headphone jack. Owners will need to use either USB-C or wireless headphones with the device, leading to some of the same limitations iPhone 7 owners have faced. The Galaxy S8 is also said to have a bezel-free design and lack a home button, similar to rumors for Apple's 2017 iPhone. Samsung has been in the news for other reasons this week too, with the company officially unveiling its new "Black Pearl" color for the Galaxy S7 Edge. It's not the first time Samsung has offered a similar black color, but its mid-cycle introduction shortly after Apple's addition of a glossy "Jet Black" color for the iPhone 7 has certainly raised some eyebrows. The Supreme Court has also weighed in on the long-running Apple-Samsung lawsuit, with the court reversing a $399 million award to Apple after Samsung had been found guilty of copying the design of the iPhone. The case now goes back to a lower court that needs to consider whether Apple is entitled to damages based on the cost of the entire phone or just the specific components such as the front face or the casing that have been ruled to be infringing on Apple's designs.   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

iCloud Calendar Spam, iPhone 8 and iPad Rumors, MacBook Pro Tidbits - MacRumors

Brought to you by: Apple Working to Put a Stop to iCloud Calendar Spam Over the past few weeks, there has been a massive influx of spam calendar invitations targeted largely at iCloud users, inserting offers for such products as knockoff Ray-Ban sunglasses and Michael Kors handbags into users' Calendar apps. The issue is intensified by the way Apple handles these invitations, automatically displaying them on the user's calendar even before they are accepted. Apple's Calendar apps also only offer options to accept or decline an invitation, both of which notify the spammer the address is valid and thus increase the risk of further spam attacks. We've outlined a few tips for removing these spam invitations without notifying the spammers and for setting an option to receive invitations as emails rather than direct calendar entries, making them easier to discard when they arrive. Apple has apologized for the issue and says it's working to block spam senders and content.    Read Full Article Sponsored Stories Automatically Control Your HomeKit-Enabled Accessories When You Enter or Exit a Room Let your presence bring your home to life. Eve Motion detects movement, allowing you to automatically set scenes and control your connected accessories when you enter or exit a room. Create powerful rules with conditions to control your HomeKit-enabled accessories. Automatically activate your "I’m home" scene when you or a family member roll up the driveway, but only after sunset. Or activate a fan when you enter your living room, but only if your climate sensor has registered a certain temperature. With Eve Motion, make your accessories work in harmony with your lifestyle. The wireless motion sensor connects directly to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch using Bluetooth low energy technology, without the need for a hub, gateway, bridge, or complicated WiFi configuration. And with Apple TV at home, Eve Motion detects presence and prompts your HomeKit-enabled accessories even while you’re away. Eve Motion has been carefully designed to seamlessly blend into your home environment. Long-lasting, replaceable batteries eliminate the need for cumbersome power cords, while Bluetooth low energy technology makes setup a breeze, and ensures reliable operation without exhausting your already crowded WiFi setup. Get yours today!   Visit Sponsor Popular Stories Dec 01, 2016 Apple Testing More Than 10 Prototype iPhone Models, Including One With Curved OLED Display Rumors about next year's so-called "iPhone 8" continue to circulate, and The Wall Street Journal weighed in this week with claims Apple has been testing at least ten different prototype designs including one with an OLED display. The feature has previously been rumored by a number of sources, but the accumulating reports are helping to increase confidence in the claims. Separately, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo released a new research report this week, predicting strong demand for the iPhone 8 with the OLED display appealing to high-end customers and even lower-end customers being attracted to a redesigned glass body and wireless charging. Larger models may also benefit from improved dual-lens rear cameras.   Read Full Article Apple Has an SSD Data Recovery Tool for Touch Bar MacBook Pros That Refuse to Boot With Apple's new Touch Bar-equipped MacBook Pro models featuring non-removable SSD storage, there has been some concern about what happens in the event repair is needed. Fortunately it appears Apple has planned for this possibility, including a special port on the logic board and delivering a proprietary in-house tool to repair staff that will allow them to quickly and easily transfer data to a new MacBook Pro. In other news, early users of the new MacBook Pro trying to use Boot Camp to boot into Windows have sometimes experienced popping noises that appear to result in permanent damage to the machine's speakers. The issue seems to have been related to Windows audio drivers, and Apple has now updated those drivers, so users should be aware of the potential issue when installing Boot Camp. Finally, some clever developers have been taking advantage of the new Touch Bar on the MacBook Pro to create app switchers, so some users might be interesting in checking out those options.   Read Full Article Apple Planning Thicker Bezel-Free 10.9" iPad Pro With 9.7" Footprint and No Home Button Japanese site Mac Otakara is out with a detailed report claiming the next mid-size iPad Pro will carry a 10.9-inch display in a body with the same footprint as the current 9.7-inch model. The nearly bezel-free design would eliminate the iconic home button, leaving only a thin bezel at the top for the device's FaceTime camera. The device would also get a bit thicker, presumably due to more components needing to be placed behind the screen. Rumors on the exact display size continue to conflict, however, with another report claiming the new iPad Pro will have a 10.5-inch screen. Regardless of the exact size, sources seem to be pointing toward a refresh of the iPad lineup around the March or April timeframe.   Read Full Article AT&T Unveils 'DirecTV Now' Streaming Television Service AT&T this week officially debuted its "DirecTV Now" streaming television service, offering several channel bundles at varying price points ranging from $35 to $70 per month. HBO and Cinemax can be added for just $5 per month each, and a temporary deal will allow users to receive the $60 bundle for just $35. DirecTV Now comes with a seven-day free trial, and AT&T is also offering users who prepay for three months of service a free Apple TV. DirecTV Now's apps for iOS and Apple TV are available now.   Read Full Article Apple Seeds Fourth Beta of iOS 10.2 With New 'TV' App Apple is continuing to work on its next set of operating system updates, providing developers with new betas of iOS 10.2, macOS Sierra 10.12.2, watchOS 3.1.1, and tvOS 10.1. The highlight of the upcoming set of updates remains the new "TV" app for iOS and tvOS that will allow users to organize their viewing from across a number of third-party apps all in one place and receive recommendations on additional content they might be interested in. It's still a work in progress and will initially launch only in the U.S., but Apple has said it will debut in December so we're probably getting pretty close to a public debut. 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