Apple software

November 28, 2001: People download QuickTime 5 for Mac and PC a million times every three days, Apple says, putting the multimedia software on track to exceed 100 million downloads in its first year of distribution. The announcement comes as websites adopt the MPEG-4 format, and online video begins to take off in a big way.

In particular, Apple’s movie trailer website proves a massive success. Millions of people download previews of upcoming blockbusters like Spider-Man and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Online trailer releases for films like The Lord of the Rings become buzz-worthy events.

In a pre-YouTube world, Apple has everything to gain!

November 21, 1985: Following Steve Jobs’ departure, Apple comes close to signing its own death warrant by licensing the Macintosh’s look and feel to Microsoft. The Apple-Microsoft deal — struck by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Apple CEO John Sculley — comes hot on the heels of the Windows operating system’s release.

The pact gives Microsoft a “non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, nontransferable license to use [parts of the Mac technology] in present and future software programs, and to license them to and through third parties for use in their software programs.”

Oh, boy!

Powerful new Logic Pro updates for Mac and iPad will transform how musicians create beats and produce electronic music, Apple said Wednesday. The updates bring enhanced audio processing capabilities, innovative recording recovery features and fresh sound libraries.

Loud and proud in the update mix are the improved AI-driven Stem Splitter, which can make multiple audio tracks from one recording, and the new Flashback Capture, for those times you make great sounds but forget to hit “record.”

Apple made an unexpected software update available Thursday with a bug fix across devices, releasing macOS Sonoma 14.3.1, iOS 17.3.1, iPadOS 17.3.1 and watchOS 10.3.1 for users to install.

The fix relates to text that automatically duplicates or overlaps in various apps, like Safari, Mail and Messages.

Apple said Monday it updated its Logic Pro music software to help spark users’ creativity and let them produce pro-level tracks.

New features for Mac include Mastering Assistant, 32-bit recording, Sample Alchemy and Beat Breaker. And Quick Sampler Recorder adds to the slate of iPad features.

Thanks to the recently launched iPadOS, I can finally do simple things on my iPad that I’ve always been able to do on my Mac. Like opening multiple documents in the same app, or installing fonts.

Trouble is, while these things are easy to do on a Mac, they’re fiendishly difficult with an iPad.

In the early days, everyone celebrated the iPad for being easier and more intuitive to use than a Mac. But as Apple crams in more features, that is no longer true. iPad is still easier to use for simple things, but it is much harder and more cumbersome for performing advanced tasks.

Why couldn’t you type the F-word on the iPhone? Why did Steve Jobs make weird eye movements during demos? What kind of manager was Scott Forstall?

These and other questions are answered in a new book by Ken Kocienda, a former iPhone programmer who spent 15 years at Apple helping to develop the first iPhone, iPad and Safari web browser.

Published this week, Creative Selection, Inside Apple’s Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs, is a fascinating account of Kocienda’s career that focuses on how Apple makes great software. (read our review here)

Here are some of the most interesting things we learned from the book.

Mac owners can now take advantage of all the new emoji iPhone users got earlier this week, thanks to today’s release of macOS 10.12.2.

Apple launched the macOS update this morning, bringing a host of performance enhancements to users, as well as couple new features and small tweaks.

The first public update for iOS 9 this year has finally arrived in the form of iOS 9.2.1, which was made available to all iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users this morning.

The newest build of OS X El Capitan is now available to the public after undergoing a month of beta testing.

OS X 10.11.3 can now be downloaded and installed by all Mac users with supported hardware. It’s a free update that promises to bring a number of enhancements, including performance improvements and tons of bug fixes.

Welcome back to another week of amazing Cult of Mac action. We sent a crack team of staffers this year to Las Vegas’ all-you-can-eat buffet of technology, CES. Their on-the-spot reporting has resulted in a plate piled high with goodies, and we’re here to share it with you.

This week, we’ve got the best (and worst) of CES, a poll on which glitchy software Apple should fix, some more solid rumors about the upcoming iPhone 7, a quick look at some great knockoff Apple Watch bands, and a “one-click upgrade” that will double your MacBook’s hard drive.

Here’s the rundown this week:

All three of Apple’s productivity apps just came out of beta on iCloud.com, and Apple’s also updated all of them for both iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan. There’s a host of improvements and fixes both large and small for each app on each platform.

All the full specifications are over at Apple’s productivity suite landing page, but here are ten of the best improvements for this long-running, venerable suite of word processing, presentation, and spreadsheet apps from our favorite Cupertino-based company.