There's a lot to love about the new MacBook Pro. Photo: Apple
The new MacBook Pro won’t ship for another 2-3 weeks, but members of the media who got their fingers on the new Touch Bar came away from Apple’s event with rave reviews.
Apple hosted a hands-on section after today’s keynote and based on the quick impression the new MacBook Pro made, it looks like Apple has another hit on its hands.
An adaptor, like this hub from Satechi with a MacBook, will let you plug in your peripheral devices into the USB-C ports on the new MacBook Pro. Photo: Satechi
Allow yourself to bask in the glow of a brighter screen and the multifunction Touch Bar. But when the high subsides and you’re ready to order the new MacBook Pro, you will need to deal with a slight inconvenience: all those USB-C ports.
But because Apple prepared us for the new industry standard last year when it introduced a single USB-C port on the 12-inch MacBook, accessories companies responded with loads of affordable adapters that allow users to plug in peripheral devices.
The MacBook Pro will be more affordable next year. Photo: Apple
While Apple is touting the new MacBook Pros as a major evolution of the laptop, the internet is in open revolt over the cost of the new machines.
The new MacBook Pros will set you back at least $200 more than last year’s models, and sometimes much more.
The top-of-the-line 15-inch MacBook Pro, for example, costs an eye-popping $4,299 — without tax, and with no preinstalled software.
Prices are even worse in Europe and Asia, where potential buyers are wondering if it would be cheaper to fly to the U.S. to buy a new machine than get one at home.
Want to try the new MacBook Pro Touch Bar without dropping a few grand? Photo: Apple
Apple’s new Touch Bar looks like the most exciting new feature we’ve seen on the MacBook Pro in years.
Instead of fumbling to remember shortcuts, Touch Bar puts a handful of commands at your fingertips and dynamically adjusts to whatever app you’re in.
That sounds pretty magical, but what will that actually be good for? Developers will need to add support for their apps, so it might take a few months before Touch Bar really takes off. But if you’re doubting the usefulness of having a touch screen bar at the top of your keyboard, here are the cool things you can do on the Touch Bar.
While Apple was busying announcing two new 13-inch MacBook Pros today, the company quietly killed the smallest notebook it makes.
Apple officially discontinued the 11-inch MacBook Air today, making it no longer available for purchase. Now if you want the cheapest MacBook available, you’re going to have to think bigger.
The MacBook Pro refresh we’ve been eagerly anticipating for months is finally here, and it’s everything we dreamt it would be.
Apple’s new high-end notebooks deliver a sleeker design, Intel’s latest Skylake processors, and that magic Touch Bar with Touch ID that we’ve been hearing so much about. The only real problem is the price.
The new TV app doesn't like ripped videos. Photo: Apple
Apple is making it a lot easier for Apple TV owners to find their favorite video content, with an all-new app called simply “TV” that puts everything in one place.
The new TV app debuted at an Apple event this morning that showcased how viewers will be able find new shows to watch as well as tune into live TV.
Are you ready to finally get some new Macs? It seems like forever since Apple busted out big updates for the iMac and MacBook, but today the wait for something new is over.
Apple’s “Hello Again” event is expected to feature tons of new Mac hardware. The keynote kicks off at 10 a.m. Pacific today, and will livestream from the company’s HQ in Cupertino, California. We’ve already seen tons of pictures of the new MacBook Pro and heard of a new app for Apple TV that’s coming, too. But today’s event could feature some game-changing hardware no one was expecting.
Cult of Mac is here to to liveblog all the action once the festivities start, with all the brilliant analysis, dull wit and pithy snark we can come up with. Join us for the wild ride.
Get ready! Apple Store is down in preparation for today's keynote. Photo: Apple
The Apple Online Store has temporarily gone down in advance of today’s Apple keynote.
When it returns, we’re expecting to see a new MacBook Pro with Magic Toolbar, MacBook, and potentially more — and there’s a chance you may even be able to order them today.
"Tell me what you're wearing, Siri." Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
With the improvements Apple made in iOS 10, Siri is more useful than ever. It is proving particularly helpful to lonely guys desperately looking for love, with hundreds of people turning to virtual assistants for “sexually explicit” conversations every day.
Apple previously shelled out 318 million euros over its lack of corporate tax payments in Italy. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
An Apple executive has avoided jail as part of an Italian investigation into Apple’s failure to pay corporate tax in the country.
The executive in question, the head of Apple’s Irish-based Apple Sales International, was being investigated as part of the case. Apple agreed to pay 318 million euros last year to close the investigation, but the exec could still have been forced to spend six months in prison for his part in it.
Apple's saying "Hello Again" to the prospect of queues. Photo: wollae/Reddit
There’s typically a period of anticipation after every Apple keynote, between a new product being announced and it arriving in stores for customers to buy.
That may not be the case with today’s Mac event, as a photo shared online show Apple Stores set up with outside line dividers — suggesting that whatever Apple announces today may well go on sale immediately following the event.
Jaybird's X3 wireless earbuds sing like two birdies in your ears. Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac
SAN FRANCISCO — Rene Oehlerking is positively stoked that Apple killed the headphone jack on the iPhone 7.
That’s because, as chief marketing officer of Jaybird, he’s been touting the winning combo of killer audio and wireless freedom for years. With its controversial move, Apple made Bluetooth headphones the new normal virtually overnight.
“We’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time,” Oehlerking said during a demo of his company’s latest headphones, the Jaybird X3. “It puts pressure on everyone to just buck up.”
Snag great deals on tiny Apple tablets, a third-party Apple Watch band and an essential iOS app. Photos: Apple, Cambond, Duet
We’ve got iPad minis for every budget (as long as your budget falls between $220 and $325). You’ll find those, plus a super-affordable third-party Apple Watch band, in this week’s roundup of the best Apple deals.
You'll have to wait a little longer to get AirPods. Photo: Apple
Apple’s wireless future has been delayed.
The iPhone-maker revealed today that it is still not ready to start shipping AirPods, even though customers were told they would launch by the end of October.
Google’s new smartphone, the Pixel XL, can’t match the iPhone 7 Plus when it comes real-world speed.
In a new speed test pitting the mighty iPhone 7 Plus against Google’s handset, the Pixel XL gets absolutely stomped, despite having more RAM and the latest SnapDragon 821 processor.
Microsoft's Surface Studio is a tablet and a PC. Photo: Microsoft.
On the eve before Apple is expected to unveil the future of the Mac, Microsoft fired its biggest shot at taking down the Mac with its first ever all-in-one PC.
It’s beautiful. It’s powerful. And it could give the iMac some serious competition.
The Magic Toolbar will change depending on the app being used. Illustration: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple faces a serious challenge when it rolls out the rumored OLED “Magic Toolbar” on new MacBook Pros tomorrow: It must convince the world that the new adaptive touchpad is more than a gimmick.
Offering customizable function keys that work in different ways depending on which apps are running, the Magic Toolbar could make the new MacBook Pro one of Apple’s most exciting laptops in years.
But to be more than a gimmick, the Magic Toolbar needs to improve the way we interact with our Macs, not simply add another confusing control element to the laptops. The Magic Toolbar needs to make it easier to perform tasks that we now do using keyboard shortcuts or on-screen toolbars. If it can’t do that, the Magic Toolbar will go down in the history books as a failure.
Luckily, there’s one simple step Apple can take to ensure that the Magic Toolbar becomes a success.
This could be the last iPhone made of metal. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple’s next iPhone will feature an all-glass back, according to the latest rumor out of Asia that also claims the 2017 iPhone will come in three different sizes, with one that’s in between the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
Jake Harms in his Nebraska workshop, where he turns old iMacs into home furnishings. Photo: Steph Harms
Jake Harms was on his way to the warehouse when a supervisor asked him to take a cart full of garbage to the dumpster. On top of the cart was an old indigo blue iMac G3.
Crossing the warehouse floor, Harms needed to turn left toward the dumpster. Instead, he steered the cart right toward the parking lot so that he could offload the broken iMac into his car.
That rescued iMac would become the first of more than 700 to get a second life as an aquarium.
Apple TV may get some love at the "Hello Again" keynote. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple plans to unveil a new way to discover what to watch on TV at its event tomorrow.
The new recommendation service will come in the form of an app, according to a new report that claims it will also help networks by giving them a place to promote new show.
Apple's Services division is making hella bank. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple’s Services business is now worth more than its individual iPad, Mac and Apple Watch businesses, according to the company’s quarterly earnings — and beautifully illustrated by the Apple-watching website Six Colors.
iPhone sales were down in Q4 2016. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple can’t make enough iPhone 7 devices to satisfy demand from customers (and from Wall Street to make more money).
During Apple’s Q4 2016 earnings call today, Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri hinted that big things are in the pipeline that should put the company back on track to growth — and it all starts Thursday with the MacBook Pro.
Revenues are expected to be down year-over-year. Photo: Ste Smith
Apple is set to report its Q4 2016 earnings today, only instead of it being a time for celebration, the company is expected to announce its first annual revenue decline in 15 years.
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Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri warned Wall Street that this quarter wouldn’t smash any records, but with the iPhone 7 doing better than expected, could relief be on the way?
Investors and analysts will grill Apple about how well the company expects to perform next quarter during today’s earnings call. And Cult of Mac will be right here, liveblogging the whole shebang when it starts at 2 p.m. Pacific.
Yep, Apple made a bunch of money, again. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple today revealed its results for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2016. While the company made as much revenue as expected, it still posted its first annual revenue decline since 2001.
The good news for investors is that Apple is projecting a lot of iPhone growth next quarter. In Q4 2016, Apple earned $46.9 billion in revenue and $9 billion in profit, but in Q1 2017 Apple predicts it will rake in $76 billion to $78 billion.