Top Stories - page 8

You can get the time without even looking at your Apple Watch using a little-known feature called Taptic Time. Simply hold two fingers on the device’s screen, and the watch will tap out the time on your wrist.

This is handy if you’re in a meeting and need to know the time, but you don’t want to look rude checking your watch. Or maybe you’re in the middle of a presidential debate.
Whatever the situation, turning on this little-known Apple Watch feature — and familiarizing yourself with how it works –can come in handy.

August 13, 2002: Apple unveils the final face-lift for its Power Mac G4, the Mirrored Drive Doors model.

The distinctive-looking computer borrows visually from the previous QuickSilver G4, released a year earlier. However, it adds a different front panel, with a mirrorlike finish for the media drive doors. And the new computer’s powerful processors force an unfortunate compromise.

People often accuse Google of stealing from Apple, but here’s something Apple should pinch from its rival ASAP.

The new Pixel Watch 5, unveiled Wednesday at the annual Made by Google event, comes with a new feature that can predict insulin resistance, a precursor to Type 2 diabetes. If flagged early, insulin resistance can often be reversed with lifestyle changes.

“A first-of-its-kind feature on Pixel and Fitbit wearables, Insulin Resistance Trends analyzes multi-week physiological data to track shifts in your metabolic health without requiring a single drop of blood,” Google said in a press release Wednesday.

It’s not the sort of full-blown blood sugar monitor Apple has been trying to build into the Apple Watch for years. However, Pixel Watch’s Insulin Resistance Trends feature could spot changes in the health of someone wearing the device in time for them to take action. And that could keep them from a potentially deadly diabetes diagnosis.

Nothing illustrates the power of Apple’s ecosystem like the Continuity features that help your Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch work seamlessly together.

Thanks to Continuity, your iPhone can serve as your Mac’s webcam — and you can remotely control your iPhone from your Mac. You can start an email on one device and instantly pick it up on another. You can use the same keyboard and mouse with a Mac and iPad, copy and paste across devices and more.

These features flex the power of Apple’s hardware and software — and they would never be possible on a PC.
In this post (and the accompanying video), I will show you some of the time-saving, annoyance-busting Continuity features you can enjoy when you go all-in on the Apple ecosystem.

August 12, 1981: The launch of the IBM Personal Computer ignites a long-running Apple-versus-PC rivalry.

Secure in the Apple II’s technical superiority over the new PC, Apple welcomes International Business Machines to the personal computing party in a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal. Things won’t stay positive for long, though.

The first new iMac in two years is right around the corner. This fall, we can look forward to Apple’s updated all-in-one desktop getting a significant improvement in performance thanks to the M6 processor, which is good news for those wanting to use it with Apple’s new AI features. And new colors!

Here’s what to expect from the 2026 iMac.

The Mophie Roam 3-in-1 Travel Charger pumps power more quickly into an iPhone than almost any other charger I’ve tested that’s designed for use on the go. And it can juice up an Apple Watch and AirPods case at the same time. There’s a trade-off, though.

I put the accessory through a full round of testing with my Apple devices. Here’s what I found.

August 11, 1987: The MultiFinder app brings the biggest software update to the Mac since the computer’s launch. Baked into Macintosh System Software 5, MultiFinder allows multitasking with two apps on screen for the first time.

While MultiFinder brings an undeniable boost to the Macintosh’s technical capabilities, it is built on a shaky foundation that soon begins to show its age.

After almost a month-long gap, Apple rolled out iOS 27 beta 5 to developers on Monday. With September fast approaching, the new beta adds the necessary polish before the OS’s public release this fall.

Below are all the changes spotted in iOS 27 beta 5 so far, including the (possible) name of the first folding iPhone.

The iPhone’s Lock Screen has always played by Apple’s rules. That changes with iOS 27, which hands far more design choices to iPhone users.

The upcoming update adds four new tools. You can generate AI wallpapers, stretch photos to fit properly, move the clock and hide the Now Playing widget. It’s the most flexible the iPhone Lock Screen has ever been.

August 10, 2008: The developer of I Am Rich, a pointless iPhone app that sold for a whopping $999.99, defends his notorious creation as “art.”

After Apple removed I Am Rich from the App Store in the wake of controversy over the app’s outrageous price and total lack of usefulness, its creator, German developer Armin Heinrich, says he made it as a sort of joke.

If Apple launches the first folding iPhone next to the iPhone 18 Pro Max this fall, it won’t just add a new phone. It will force an awkward question: How many “best iPhones” can Apple sell at once?

For years, the iPhone Pro Max has been the undisputed top of the line. Now rumors point to a foldable model, possibly called the iPhone Ultra or the iPhone Fold, arriving at the same time.

August 9, 2011: Apple overtakes oil giant ExxonMobil to become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company.

The milestone caps an astonishing turnaround for Cupertino. Just 15 years earlier, it looked like it was just about “game over” for Apple.

 Apple ships the Mac with several built-in apps that are surprisingly feature-rich and fast. But over time, I found myself replacing a handful of them with third-party alternatives that simply did more.

I didn’t make these switches overnight. Each replacement solved a specific problem or added a feature I couldn’t live without. These are the Mac apps and tools I use instead of Apple’s stock apps.

With automatic mail categorization in Apple Mail, you can organize your emails and keep your personal inbox less cluttered. It’ll intelligently put all your newsletters, receipts and promotions into separate folders.

If you struggle keeping up with your inbox, this feature is a great way to make your email easier to understand at a glance.

Keep reading below or watch our quick video.

Apple plans to refresh the base-model MacBook Pro this fall with its new M6 processor, according to numerous rumors. The performance boost should make it more appealing to those who want a macOS laptop with more ports than a MacBook Air, but at a lower price than Pro models with Pro and Max chips.

Here’s what to expect from the first (and possibly only) M6 MacBook Pro.

Continue reading

August 7, 2006: Apple unleashes the first Mac Pro, a high-end desktop computer that completes the company’s transition from PowerPC to Intel processors.

Built for computation-heavy tasks like 3D rendering and professional audio and video editing, the quad-core, 64-bit Mac Pro serves as a replacement for the Power Mac G5 (from which it borrows its aluminum “cheese grater” design).

August 6, 1997: In one of the most famous moments in Apple history, Steve Jobs reveals a $150 million Microsoft investment that saved his company from ruin.

Although often presented as an inexplicable gesture of good faith on the part of Microsoft boss Bill Gates, the cash infusion into Apple actually benefits both companies.

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Skip that annoyance with this Hostdeal domain names lifetime subscription. It lets you lock down six domains for life with a single payment of just $29.99 (regularly $120).

Charging your iPhone to 100% won’t instantly fry your battery. But regularly keeping it at full charge for hours matters more than you might think.

The real culprit isn’t the charge itself — it’s how long your phone stays plugged in at maximum capacity. Apple’s built-in tools do help, but temperature and charging habits matter even more.

August 5, 1997: Apple gets into a standoff with Power Computing, a maker of Macintosh clones. A very public clash at the Macworld Expo in Boston marks the beginning of the end for Apple’s mid-1990s strategy of licensing the Mac operating system.

“If the [Mac] platform goes closed, it is over,” predicts Power Computing CEO Joel J. Kocher of Apple’s strategy. “[It’s] total destruction. The kiss of death.” Of course, things don’t turn out exactly like that for Apple…

A handful of small but real changes are coming to Apple’s next budget iPhone, with iPhone 18e rumors pointing to a new chip and a RAM configuration nobody expected. None of it amounts to a redesign – this is still a budget phone, just slightly better.

The extra memory is the most interesting shift, but it comes with a catch. Most other specs, including the screen and camera, look set to carry over largely unchanged from the iPhone 17e. Here’s everything reported so far, and how solid each claim actually is.

Apple kept the iPad’s Split View feature alongside the new multitasking stuff in iPadOS 26, despite what you might have read online. And setting it up is as easy as a couple of flicks of your finger.

Here’s how to keep using Split View on your iPad. Apple even made a video that demonstrates what to do.

The Razer Travel Case Folio is a combination keyboard case/stand created for gamers who need a keyboard while they game on the go with an iPad, Steam Deck or even an iPhone. And it’s also useful when you need to get some work done on your tablet.

Put a Razer Joro or an Apple Magic Keyboard into the folio, then deploy its built-in kickstand and it’s ready to prop up your tablet, gaming handheld, etc. for fun or productivity.

I tested the new accessory with my mobile setup. Here’s what I found.

August 4, 2008: In an internal memo, Apple CEO Steve Jobs owns up to mistakes in launching MobileMe. He spins the company’s bungled cloud service rollout as a learning opportunity.

“It was a mistake to launch MobileMe at the same time as iPhone 3G, iPhone 2.0 software and the App Store,” Jobs writes in an email to Apple employees. “We all had more than enough to do, and MobileMe could have been delayed without consequence.”