News - page 44

Out with old, in with the new. As 2025 arrives, so does the CdkeySales New Year Sale! You can nab an incredible deal on Windows 11 Pro and score savings on other Microsoft software. The sale slashes some prices by up to 91%! And since the latest Windows 12 rumors indicate Microsoft won’t release its next big operating system update until late 2025, you can update your PC now the quick and easy way rather than waiting. Just buy a Windows 11 CD key on sale during the CdkeySales event.

You can get great deals on upgrade-ready Microsoft productivity software like Windows 11 Pro and Microsoft Office. Savings include Windows 10 Pro for just $17.05 — with a free upgrade to Windows 11 Pro.

Apple might not make meaningful camera hardware improvements to its Pro iPhones this year. The iPhone 17 Pro will supposedly stick to the same 48MP primary shooter as the current flagship iPhone.

The only notable camera improvement on this year’s iPhone would be the switch to a 48MP sensor for the 5x tetraprism shooter.

Apple Card is notifying customers impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires that they can delay their payments without incurring interest.

Apple is contacting Apple Card users living at an address declared a natural disaster zone. Affected users must enroll in the Disaster Relief Program to be eligible.

The new full-size Satechi SM3 Slim Mechanical Backlit Bluetooth Keyboard builds upon the success of its compact predecessor, the SM1. But it offers Mac and Windows users enhanced functionality through a complete 108-key layout including a numeric keypad, Satechi said upon unveiling the new keeb at CES 2025.

Mac shipments in the last three months of 2024 rose sharply, hitting 17.3% in year-over-year growth according to a market research firm. Apple enjoyed a better growth rate than any of its top rivals, some of which saw their shipments decline.

The company also experienced growth in Mac shipments for the entire year compared to 2023.

Apple will donate funds to support victims and bolster recovery efforts in response to the devastating wildfires Los Angeles faces, Apple CEO Tim Cook said. He posted it in a thank-you message to first responders on X.com late Wednesday.

If you would like to join Apple and donate to organizations responding to the fires, follow the link at the bottom of this article.

Getting a “Malware Blocked” warning on booting your Mac or when starting Docker? You are not alone. Hundreds of Mac users worldwide report seeing a similar message on their machine over the last few days.

The error is due to an issue with Docker, a popular platform designed to build and run apps using containers.

Apple recently agreed to pay $95 million to settle a Siri class action lawsuit alleging privacy violations. The company is now restating the voice assistant’s commitment to user privacy through an article on its newsroom.

Apple reassures users that it never used Siri data to build marketing profiles or sold it to anyone. Instead, it is always developing new ways to make Siri more privacy-friendly.

Here’s your chance to see comedy star Rob McElhenney buck naked (if you’re into that sort of thing). He appears that way in a frenzied new season 4 trailer for workplace comedy Mythic Quest, below. The quick-cutting trailer should get fans of the comedy, set at a California gaming company, pretty excited. And not just for the nudity. Season 4, which looks like it’s full of laughs, debuts soon — January 29.

And don’t forget: The hit comedy spawned a spinoff, Side Quest, which premieres in late March.

The chip fabrication plant TSMC opened in Arizona reportedly began producing a second Apple processor, a win for those eager to see more chips produced in the United States.

The fab now reportedly makes Apple Watch processors. It began manufacturing iPhone chips in 2024.

Dell rebranded all its PCs with names that should sound very familiar to Apple users. Going forward, the company’s computers will either be part of the Dell, Dell Pro or Dell Pro Max product lines.

That is, of course, exactly how Apple divides up the various iPhone versions. And the PC-maker immediately faced mockery for its new product names.

The Geo Digital Pencil from ESR costs a quarter of what Apple Pencil Pro does, but both iPad styli support Find My so they can be easily located. And they cling magnetically to an iPad, and can be used for writing or sketching.

In addition, ESR also unveiled a mouse that magnetically attaches to a MacBook for easy portability.

Apple is hard at work on iOS 18.3, iPhone SE 4 and iPad 11, but the company won’t launch the new devices alongside the operating system update, which should drop later this month or in early February.

Instead, the new budget iPhone and iPad reportedly will land in April.

Known for its modular light panels, Nanoleaf pushed boundaries Tuesday at CES 2025 with a new and slightly disturbing LED Light Therapy Face Mask as well as its first smart floor lamp. Those are in addition to other lighting products, like light strips, plus a new software subscription service. If you’re looking to enhance your setup with immersive lighting effects that mirror screen content, check out Nanoleaf’s PC Screen Mirror Lightstrip.

 ShiftCam calls the Planck “the world’s smallest portable SSD,” and it’s certainly very small. That and the unusual placement of its USB-C connector allow the drive to fit neatly on the bottom of an iPhone Pro and hold up to 2 TB of high-resolution ProRes video as it’s being recorded.

The accessory hits the market soon and is being shown off at CES 2025 this week.

The espresso 15 Pro checks all the boxes for Apple users looking for a high-end portable monitor. 4K? Check. Touchscreen? Check. USB-C? Check.

The 15-inch screen — a smaller version of the espresso 17 Pro — is on display at CES 2025. It even scored espresso Displays a CES Innovation Award.

Anker Solix unveiled two cool outdoor products Monday at CES 2025 in Las Vegas: Its first solar-powered beach umbrella, and an upgraded, high-performance electric cooler in three sizes, designed for extended outdoor use.

They can work together, and both charge other gadgets, so you can be tech king of your beach trip or barbecue come summertime.

In a move that’s sure to catch the attention of Mac users — particularly those with the latest M4 Pro machines — LG just unveiled its new UltraFine 6K Display at CES 2025. It calls the monitor, model 32U990A (no firm release date yet), the world’s first 6K display to feature Thunderbolt 5 connectivity.

So not only does it share Pro Display XDR’s amazing resolution, it packs the bleeding-edge connectivity speeds of TB5. That makes it an ideal companion for the recently launched M4 Pro Mac mini and M4 Pro and Max MacBook Pro models.

A powerful new Anker Charger (140W) featuring a window display plus “vertical hanging ports” (aka downward-facing ports) to help keep USB-C and USB-A cables secure debuted Monday evening at CES in Las Vegas, the company said.

And along with the 140-watt charger, the accessories giant added a potent new 25,000mAh power bank (165-watt) that features retractable cables and TSA certification for air travel. Both devices are available now, see below.

Safari on the Mac feels a lot faster to use than Google Chrome. It is also more battery efficient and takes fewer resources. Yet, I prefer using Google Chrome on my MacBook.

Despite its faults, Google Chrome trumps Safari in many key aspects. There’s a reason why Google’s browser is the most popular choice worldwide.

After facing pressure to remove its AI news summaries after multiple reports of false headlines, Apple plans to tweak how the feature works.

Apple will update notification summaries to highlight when they are generated using Apple Intelligence.

Home cleaning technology saw an advancement at the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Monday in Las Vegas when eufy unveiled its new eufy Robot Vacuum 3-in-1 E20. Billed as the first successful integration of robot vacuum, stick vacuum and handheld vacuum in a single, transformable unit with a number of advanced features, it won a CES Best of Innovation award.

The SanDisk Creator Phone SSD sets itself apart from rival portable drives with MagSafe. This means the drive magnetically clings to an iPhone where it’s available to hold up to 2 TB of ProRes video as it’s recorded.

SanDisk unveiled the SSD at CES 2025, along with other new storage options.

Samsung committed itself on Monday to integrating Qi2 wireless charging into its Galaxy line of Android-based smartphones. It’s been dragging its feet for years, while the last four generations of iPhone models all support the standard.

Samsung’s just-announced adoption of Qi2 should benefit iPhone users, who until now have been the only ones able to take advantage of the new standard. More handsets using the magnetically enhanced wireless charging capability should lead to more accessories that employ it. More cross-platform accessories are a win for everyone.

The new flagship EarFun Air Pro 4+ noise-canceling earbuds feature AI-powered language translation. EarFun also will roll out other new products this week at CES, the big consumer electronics show in Las Vegas. The lineup includes clip-on earbuds and hook-on open-ear earbuds for workouts, affordable noise-canceling over-ear headphones, and an Auracast USB-C dongle that can enable lossless audio for devices. If you’re looking for a comparison with AirPods Mac, check out how they stack up against these new releases.