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

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