Apple

Apple releases OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.5 with fixes for Mail, Wi-Fi, screen saver and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 12, 2013

Apple's OS X 10.8.5, better known as Mountain Lion, represents the company's ninth major release of the OS X desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. The company has been testing a fifth update to Mountain Lion for some time and today released the software for public consumption.

OS X 10.8.5 includes changes and fixes for various issues pertaining to the stock Mail app and the operating system's screen saver feature, in addition to improved performance for AFP file transfer.

Better Xsan reliability and fixes for Wi-Fi issues are also part of this update. It's available now through the Software Update option on the Mac menu or via the Mac App Store's Updates tab...

Apple tweaks Genius Bar reservation policies to deter scalpers

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Remember how devious Chinese scalpers adopted a new tactics and grabbed all of the available Apple Store Genius Bar appointment slots to make a quick buck by selling them for real money online?

Guess what? Apple took notice of the trend, too! In order to thwart scalpers, Apple now requires an Apple ID to book an appointment with a retail store Genius.

Previously, making an appointment was as easy as picking a desired store on the Apple Retail website and choosing a session. The company only required your first/last name and email address, which opened door to misuse...

iPhone 4 becomes China’s budget iPhone

Ed Sutherland ∙ September 12, 2013

Remember the concern over the higher-than-expected price of the newly-introduced iPhone 5c?

It was predicted to be Apple's entry into inexpensive smartphones for China and other emerging nations. Now comes news Apple may indeed have a low-cost iPhone for China: the iPhone 4.

The device - largely unavailable virtually everywhere after Tuesday's double iPhone 5s/5c launch - remains for sale in China at $423. The price tag happens to fall just where analyst originally expected for Apple's inexpensive iPhone...

Readdle launches iOS 7-ified Calendars 5

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 29, 2016

With so much on my plate, you could imagine that daily productivity of yours truly depends on a powerhouse mobile calendar software. I've been a longtime fan of Fantastical from Flexibits, but that's not saying I'm married to it. In fact, I'm expected to test new applications on a daily basis by virtue of my job.

Developer Readdle makes some of the finest productivity apps on the App Store and they just launched Calendars 5, a major new release optimized for the iOS 7 look and feel. It packs in such features as natural language input (take that, Fantastical!), support for iOS reminders, tasks, Google Calendars and much more...

Poll: will you get a new iPhone?

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 12, 2013

Now that Apple has told us everything there's to know about its new iPhone 5c for the colorful and the flagship fingerprint-scanning iPhone 5s that runs Apple's advanced, in-house designed, two times faster 64-bit A7 chip with M7 motion coprocessor, would-be shoppers will have a chance to pre-order the former starting tomorrow.

Even though the company won't provide pre-orders for the top-line iPhone 5s, both handsets are scheduled to simultaneously land on store shelves next Friday, September 20. Folks who frequent this blog by now have learned additional tidbits about the handsets in order to make an informed purchasing decision.

With that in mind, we've decided to put together a little non-scientific poll asking a simple question: which new iPhone are you planning on buying come September 20, if any...

How secret China flights bring iPhones to Apple Stores

Ed Sutherland ∙ September 12, 2013

Apple's fine-tuned supply chain is legendary, but we are just now getting a glimpse into its inner workings. As supply side wonk turned CEO Tim Cook Tuesday unveiled a new line of iPhones, an intriguing report revealed the coordination required to get the handsets to your local Apple store.

Using mammoth chartered jets and schedules so elaborate they almost make D-Day seem like a Girl Scouts delivery route, iDevices designed in California and built in China arrive in the US without a second to spare. A former FedEx executive likens it all to a Hollywood movie premiere...

Apple allegedly working on Maps car-finding feature

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 12, 2013

Apple hasn't talked much about its new M7 motion coprocessor that was specifically designed to work alongside the A7 chip inside the iPhone 5s to improve battery life by offloading some tasks that don't require the full power of the main A7 processor.

Some of these tasks include polling motion data from the accelerometer, gyroscope, and compass sensors without waking up the A7 chip

According to a new report, Apple has bigger plans for the M7 chip and could use it to enable new geolocation Maps features in a way that won't bring a significant hit on the battery...

Stronger battery inside iPhone 5s/5c detailed

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2016

Apple's marketing honcho Phil Schiller noted during Tuesday's iPhone 5s/5c keynote that both new iPhones feature a slightly bigger battery though he stopped short of giving us specifics. Now, Apple's specs page would have us believe that both new iPhones feature essentially the same battery, though that's not true.

Per Apple's stats, both devices provide ten hours of talk time on 3G, 250 hours standby time, 8 hours of Internet use on 3G (10 hours on LTE or Wi-Fi), 10 hours of video playback and 40 hours of audio playback.

What Apple didn't tell us is how it's managed to boost the iPhone 5s battery capacity by as much as ten percent. The iPhone 5c battery life gains are more modest at a respectable five percent compared to the iPhone 5...

Apple patent shines new light on potential iDevices made of sapphire

Ed Sutherland ∙ September 12, 2013

A newly-published patent suggests Apple is serious about bling. Not for diamond-encrusted gadgets, but iDevices made of sapphire, the second-hardest material on earth. The iPhone maker envisions smartphone screens able to resist scratches and breakage with bodies tough enough to withstand drops and spills.

Although up till now sapphire has been used for smaller items, such as the Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the iPhone 5s, the patent application outlines much wider application, according to a Thursday report...

Jumbo-sized ‘iPhad’ would be huge in China, but…

Ed Sutherland ∙ September 12, 2013

In astronomy, it is known as the 'Goldilocks Principle,' where Earth is located not too close to the Sun but not too far away. The 'just right' thinking needs to be applied to calls for a larger-screen iPhone, according to one analyst. While an iPhone with a larger screen is needed to increase demand in China, anything larger than a five-inch display risks creating an 'iPhad' that's part iPhone and part iPad...

Walmart to sell new iPhones with a discount, take iPhone 5c pre-orders tomorrow

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Just as Apple's U.S. carrier partners Verizon and Sprint announced iPhone 5c pre-orders beginning Friday at 12:01am Pacific, the U.S. retail chain Walmart said Thursday it too will start taking pre-orders for the device tomorrow.

The retailer typically carries iPhones at prices lower than other stores and new iPhones are no different: an iPhone 5s with sixteen gigabytes of storage will cost you $189 after a two-year contract, which is $10 cheaper from standard $199 downpayment...

Apple’s Find My iPhone helps recover 5-year-old in stolen SUV

Ed Sutherland ∙ September 12, 2013

Here's a use for the iPhone Apple may not have considered: do-it-yourself lojack. Thanks to the company's Find My iPhone app for iOS devices, Houston, Texas police Monday night recovered a five-year-old boy. Police say the father used his iPad to track the Apple smartphone that was in a stolen SUV which held the child. According to ABC 13, Houston police then used the information to track the family vehicle, stolen while the father went into a Houston liquor store Monday...