One thing Apple didn’t tell us during its big MacBook Pro unveiling on Thursday is that its new machine runs iOS. However, it’s not quite the iOS you’re already used to.
Instead, Apple’s mobile operating system is there solely to power the MacBook Pro’s new OLED Touch Bar.
Anybody watching Apple’s “Hello Again” event probably suspected we’d get “one more thing” in addition to the long-rumored Touch Bar and the recently leaked TV app. Or maybe a couple more things.
Instead we got … a Final Cut Pro update and a new accessibility website?
Underwhelming! And cruelly disappointing to all the Apple faithful hoping against hope for new hardware. Here are all the other things we wanted — but got so viciously denied — during Apple’s MacBook Pro event today.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
When you spend time every day online, you’re adding to the risk of having your data stolen. That’s ignoring minor headaches like location restrictions, preventing you from getting your favorite streaming content when traveling. All of the above can be avoided though by connecting to the web via a virtual private network, or VPN. That might sound technical or expensive, but it doesn’t have to be either — right now you can get Shimo, one of the most secure and versatile VPN clients available, for just $19 at Cult of Mac Deals.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
Watch the iPhone 7 kill the Pixel XL:
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.
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.
If you’re an Apple Watch and iPhone owner, there’s a good chance you suffer from cluttered-nightstand syndrome. There’s only so much surface space on your standard bedside table, and plugging in multiple devices for overnight charging can mean a tangle of wires and general disarray.
The Belkin PowerHouse charging dock, which juices up an iPhone and an Apple Watch at the same time, will cure you instantly of this 21st-century malady.
Let’s face it — smart watches are sleek and feature rich, but they also seem to miss the point of what a ‘watch’ is supposed to do. Watches used to be timepieces, something you look to for an instant check on where you’re at in the day. The Martian Notifier seems to have kept the essential usefulness of the wristwatch in mind, striking a balance between the familiar mechanical watch, and the usefulness of notifications and other smartwatch goodies. It’s a classic take on the new trend in watches, and right now you can get one for $29.00 at Cult of Mac Deals, a quarter of the usual price.
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.
Here’s what we learned from the Q4 earnings call:
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.
Come join the fun — it’s livestreaming on Apple’s investor site.
Xiaomi’s incredible new Mi Mix smartphone brings a jaw-dropping “edgeless” display, a ceramic design and groundbreaking new technologies.
Unveiled today, it isn’t just the prettiest smartphone of 2016; it’s the prettiest smartphone to date.
The Mi Mix is not an iPhone clone — something Xiaomi has become famous for — but it could tell us a lot about Apple’s next handset.
Need more proof that Apple is going to launch a new MacBook Pro on Thursday?
Apple accidentally leaked images of the OLED touchbar on the upcoming MacBook Pro in its latest update for macOS Sierra. Not only do the images confirm what we’ve known for months, but they also give us a glimpse at how the Magic Toolbar will work.
Check it out:
Wicked Lasers, the company behind the popular Spyder lasers and the world’s most powerful flashlight, has a new product designed to take parties to the next level. The LaserDock houses a laser projector and music visualizer in one. And it promises to be easy enough for anyone with a Mac or PC to operate.
The LaserDock was introduced on Indiegogo with much fanfare in September, surpassing its original goal. But does it deliver? Check out our video review below.
Much like Google offers personalized searching, macOS Sierra delivers location-based tips as part of its suggestions within Spotlight, Siri, Safari and Maps. That means Apple will try to recommend relevant services within your immediate vicinity.
If you don’t want this feature, however, there is a way to get rid of it. Check out our guide below to show how to do this — and how to turn it back on again if you change your mind.
If you haven’t already installed Apple’s latest iOS 10.1 update, do it now. Thanks to a vulnerability in earlier release of its software, it’s possible for your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to be hacked using only a malicious JPEG image or PDF file.