Apple

With new 12″ MacBooks in the mix, Apple discounts refurbished models

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 19, 2016

With this morning's refresh of the twelve-inch MacBook lineup around Intel's latest processors, Apple's now discounted refurbished twelve-inch MacBooks, bringing their already reduced price down by up to an additional fifteen percent for most models.

If you've been eyeing Apple's ultra-thin notebook but have refrained from taking the plunge due to their a bit steep price point—and you don't mind buying a slightly used, good-as-new products—you can now get an entry-level model of the original twelve-inch MacBook for as low as $929, netting a savings of a cool $370 versus its standard $1,2999 asking price.

Apple’s generously made 8GB of RAM standard across all 13″ MacBook Air configurations

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 19, 2016

In addition to updating its twelve-inch MacBook lineup around Intel's latest SkyLake chips, a new Rose Gold finish and other perks, Apple also announced that all configurations of the 13-inch MacBook Air now ship with eight gigabytes of RAM.

“Apple also today made 8GB of memory standard across all configurations of the 13-inch MacBook Air,” reads a line in Apple's press release announcing its notebook refresh.

Apple's two 13-inch MacBook Air models still start at $999 (128GB model) and $1,099 (256GB model) like before so customers now get twice the memory for the same price. The 11-inch Air models continue to ship with 4GB of RAM as a standard option.

Apple updates 12″ MacBook with faster CPU/GPU, Rose Gold model, longer battery life & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 19, 2016

Apple on Tuesday via a press release and a website update announced a second-generation twelve-inch MacBook with Intel's latest Skylake chips with faster graphics, a longer battery life, faster flash storage, a brand new Rose Gold color option and more.

The twelve-inch notebook is now available in four aluminum finishes: Gold, Silver, Space Gray and Rose Gold. In addition, the Cupertino firm has made 8GB of memory standard across all configurations of the 13-inch MacBook Air.

The refreshed twelve-inch notebook starts at the same $1,299 like before and will be available starting tomorrow.

Apple opens registration for WWDC ticket lottery

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Apple on Monday confirmed Siri's claim that WWDC will take place June 13-17 this year, and opened registration for its WWDC ticket lottery. The company's annual conference has become so popular that it has to randomly issue tickets to registered developers.

Registration will be available from April 18, to Friday April 22nd. You must be a member of Apple's developer program (having joined prior to today's announcement) to qualify for the lottery, and if you are lucky enough to be selected, tickets are priced at $1,599.

Apple meeting with top talent to develop original programming

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Apple has been secretly meeting with top entertainment talent, reports Fast Company. In a lengthy article detailing the streaming ambitions of various tech giants, the outlet says the iPhone-maker has its sights set on building a lineup of original programming.

According to sources, the company quietly set up shop at the Imperial Hotel in Utah during this year's Sundance Film Festival. There, it hosted a series of private events, known as the "iTunes Lounge," where it discussed content deals with actors and filmmakers.

GoPro unveils powerful new cameras and an app for viewing 360-degree and VR content

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 5, 2018

Monday, action camera maker GoPro announced at The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show a pair of powerful new camera rigs in the Omni and Odyssey series alongside a new VR sharing platform and a brand new mobile application which lets you view 360-degree videos and virtual reality content hosted at vr.gopro.com on an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad.

The new six-camera synchronized Omni rig costs five grands and packs in pro-grade features that allow pixel-level synchronization, making stitching in post-production easier and more exact than using unsynchronized camera arrays.

Pricing for the more capable panoramic stereoscopic 16-camera Odyssey rig, which is optimized to work with Google's Jump VR Platform, will be out of the reach for most people unless they create professional VR content for a living.

Downgrades no longer possible as Apple stops signing iOS 9.3 for some devices

Anthony Bouchard ∙ April 18, 2016

On Monday, Apple has pulled the signing plug on its iOS 9.3 firmware for its lineup of iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads.

As a result, downgrades through iTunes to iOS 9.3 are no longer possible, and there's no way to upgrade specifically to iOS 9.3 from an earlier firmware.

Instead, users will be directed to install iOS 9.3.1 when restoring or updating their devices through iTunes.

Update: It seems that not all versions of iOS 9.3 have stopped being signed. It appears that iOS 9.3 is not being any longer for newer devices (i.e. iPhone 6s, iPad Air 2), but it is still being signed for older devices (ie. iPhone 5s).

True Silicon Valley icon and former longtime Apple board member Bill Campbell dies at age 75

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 18, 2016

Silicon Valley has lost its coach: longtime Apple board member and true Silicon Valley icon, Bill Campbell, has died today at the age of 76 after a long battle with cancer, Re/code reported Monday. Best-known as simply “The Coach” for his business acumen and coaching skills, he coached many big name Silicon Valley executives, including Google’s Larry Page and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.

He, of course, acted as an unofficial adviser to Apple’s executive team and coached Apple's own Steve Jobs. “News of his passing popped up on Facebook early this morning and many prominent tech players also confirmed the death to me, wrote reporter Kara Swisher.

WWDC 2016 will run from June 13 through June 17, Siri has it on good authority

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 18, 2016

Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac has discovered that asking Siri about Apple's summer developers conference has now started to produce a more concrete answer than before. Whereas asking Siri about the WWDC 2016 schedule would yield a “WWDC is not yet announced” response just earlier in the day, a backend change has updated that answer with the June 13-17 date.

“The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) will be held June 13 through June 17 in San Francisco. Can't wait!,” reads Siri's response.

Apple Maps gains Transit data for Seattle

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 18, 2016

After adding transit data last week for public transportation in Portland, Oregon and Montreal, the second-largest city in Canada, Apple on Monday brought Apple Maps' Transit feature to Seattle in Washington.

First spotted by MacRumors, the most recent Transit expansion lets Apple's customers in the city incorporate public transportation options like the Link Light Rail, Monorail, buses and more into Maps when seeking turn-by-turn directions.

How to increase your privacy by removing location from Diagnostic & Usage Data logs

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 13, 2018

Apple collects anonymous information about how you use your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and other devices so that it can improve its products in future releases. End users can easily opt in and out of diagnostic collection in the Settings → Privacy → Diagnostics & Usage section.

I have this enabled to help Apple improve their products, but privacy-minded people might opt out of diagnostic collection on the grounds that the logs include their approximate location.

In this tutorial, we'll explore increasing your privacy on iOS by having your location excluded from diagnostic data that iOS creates.

KGI: major iPhone redesign due in 2017 with all-glass enclosure, AMOLED Retina screen and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 18, 2016

An iPhone 7, which we expect will launch this fall, won't differ much from the existing iPhone 6/6s design style because Apple is saving a major visual refresh of its smartphone for 2017, according to a research note Sunday by well-informed KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

The note, a copy of which was obtained by MacRumors, quotes the analyst as saying that a 2107 iPhone refresh will bring not only the rumored jump to the superior AMOLED display technology but a whole new design language for the iconic smartphone that will ditch the all-metal appearance in favor of an all-glass enclosure.