Facebook launches revamped message compose interface on Messenger

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 7, 2017

As part of today's rollout of Facebook's AI-powered personal assistant to all users in the United States, the social networking company mentioned that you should now start seeing a redesigned message compose interface within the mobile Messenger app. We first caught wind of this new iOS 10 Messages-style chat experience two months ago.

At the time, Facebook was still testing the redesign with a small percentage of users. The new way to compose messages is currently rolling out to Messenger users across the globe so check back in a few days if it's currently unavailable to you.

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Apple apparently working on additional MacBook Pro models without Touch Bar

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 13, 2017

Thom Holwerda, managing editor of OSnews, heard from “people and sources who know their stuff” that Apple's been working on additional MacBook Pro models without TouchBar. Sources claim the decision to develop new MacBook Pros sans Touch Bar was made because Apple was taken aback by harsh criticism that professional users leveled at the latest MacBook Pro models.

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This tweak adds a character counter to the top of the Notes app

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated April 13, 2017

Most of the world’s best text editors and word processors have some kind of character or word counter, but for whatever reason, Apple’s Notes app is the lone exception.

For those who wish this wasn't the case, a new free jailbreak tweak called NotesCharacterCount by iOS developer hvyc enables a character counter at the top of the Notes app.

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Facebook launches AI assistant in Messenger to all U.S. users with suggestions based on chats

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 7, 2017

Facebook today announced that M, its AI-powered personal assistant in the mobile Messenger app, is now available to everyone in the United States with a new suggestions feature. Suggestions from M appear when it recognizes intent in a conversation. Initially, M will suggest about half a dozen actions, including getting a ride via Lyft or Uber, paying or requesting money, sending stickers and more. M is launching today to all iOS and Android users in the U.S. and will eventually roll out to other countries.

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Will the next Mac Pro ship in 2018 or 2019?

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 13, 2017

Apple has confirmed it's working on a completely rethought, highly modular Mac Pro that won't arrive this year. Thom Holwerda, managing editor of OSNews, is not entirely convinced that the machine will ship next year either.

After talking to people and sources “who know their stuff”, he now suspects we won't see the new Pros before late 2018 or early 2019 given how long it takes to develop a new desktop like a Mac Pro.

Keep in mind that his comments appear to be derived from anecdotal evidence, meaning you should take the story with a grain of salt.

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Apple’s Clips app does not work on 32-bit devices

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 6, 2017

Has Clips, Apple's new video editing app, piqued your interest? If so, good luck downloading it on your iPhone 5/5c or iPad 4. That's because the free of charge video creation app lacks support for 32-bit iOS devices despite requiring the recently-released iOS 10.3, which in itself runs on 32-bit iOS devices.

As first noted by AppleInsider, this could be interpreted as another sign that Apple will stop supporting 32-bit devices when iOS 11 releases later this year.

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The next Mac mini won’t be so mini anymore

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 13, 2017

Apple's most affordable Mac starts at just $499. Described as a BYODKM desktop computer (Bring Your Own Display, Keyboard and Mouse), it's just an inch and a half tall and weighs 2.6 pounds.

They're calling it Mac mini and it comes with four USB 3 ports, two Thunderbolt 2 ports, HDMI video output, Gigabit Ethernet, an SD card slot and more.

The next Mac mini “won't be so mini anymore.”

That's according to a source, cited by the Pike's Universe blog, that's usually “pretty accurate”. The comment suggests that Apple's next flagship Mac mini model could feature a taller chassis in order to accommodate for more powerful hardware.

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Hands on with Clips, Apple’s new social video editing app

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 6, 2017

Apple today released Clips, its brand new social video editing app that was previewed on March 21 as part of the company's Spring product refresh. Available at no charge on App Store, Clips comes with some interesting features, like voice-activated captions, effects, emoji, animated speech bubbles, motion backgrounds, built-in soundtracks and more.

After spending some time with Clips, our own video editor Andrew O'Hara has created a video walkthrough showcasing just how easy it is to create fun videos that are sharable on Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social networks.

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Is Apple working on 8K display for its completely rethought Mac Pro?

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 13, 2017

Apple is working on a “completely rethought” Mac Pro model with a highly modular design, slated for release in 2018, that should cater to the needs of its most-demanding pro users. As confirmed by company executives earlier this week, its engineers are also developing an external display that will launch at some point next year, too.

According to the Pike's Universe blog, the rumored Apple-branded display will feature a massive 8K resolution, giving it twice the pixels of a standard 4K screen and sixty percent more pixels than the 27-inch iMac with 5K Retina display.

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New iMacs could sport Xeon E3 chips, ECC RAM, Thunderbolt 3/USB-C, new keyboard & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 13, 2017

Following up on a comment from Apple's Phil Schiller regarding upcoming iMacs with pro-grade features, Pike's Universum today shared a few specifics on what said upgrades might entail. Citing a “pretty accurate” source, the blog claims next-gen iMacs will feature Intel's more powerful Xeon E3 chips with up to sixty-four gigabytes of Error-Correcting Code (ECC) RAM, faster flash storage with capacities up to two terabytes, Thunderbolt 3, USB-C and more.

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Clips: Apple’s new video creation app is now available on iPhone and iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 6, 2017

Clips, a new video creation app from Apple, is now available for download on App Store. Previewed on March 21 as part of Apple's Spring product refresh, Clips lets you create expressive videos on your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch with just a few taps. The app includes some nifty features like a selection of cartoonish effects and the ability to create captions on the fly using just your voice. Clips is available on App Store at no charge and requires iOS 10.3, which launched last week.

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