Apple

Apple Music and Vice release new ‘The Score’ docu-series about local music scenes

Apple has extended its partnership with cultural news network Vice to release a new docu-series on local music scenes around the world, TechCrunch reported Wednesday. The six-episode series will be called “The Score,” with the first episode taking a look at a techno scene in South Africa and hip hop coming straight out of Minnesota’s Native American nations.

Subsequent episodes will cover local music scene in Brazil, Iceland, Vietnam and other countries, with accompanying playlist for each episode being promoted on Apple Music.

9.7-inch iPad Pro and iPhone SE confirmed to have 2GB of RAM

With Apple's announcement of the iPhone SE and 9.7-inch iPad Pro on Monday at the 'Let us loop you in' event, there has been a ton of excitement over the amount of power built into these smaller packages.

Following the event, iDB shared the tech specs of the iPhone SE and the tech specs of the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, but one of the things Apple never shares and prefers to keep to itself are the RAM specs for its devices. New information on Tuesday reveals both devices come with 2GB of RAM.

Google Photos rolls out smarter albums with text, maps and locations

Google has been rolling out new features to its Photos mobile and web app at a rapid clip. And now, the Internet giant has introduced smarter albums in Google Photos that can be customized with text, maps and locations. “After an event or trip, Google Photos will now suggest a new album curated with your best shots and the locations of where you've been,” said the search giant on Tuesday.

Poll: have you updated to iOS 9.3?

After closing its 'Let us loop you in' special event on Monday, Apple released iOS 9.3 to the public, along with OS X El Capitan 10.11.4, tvOS 9.2, and watchOS 2.2.

iOS 9.3 is a big update for iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads, and as a result, we're interested in learning whether or not the update was big enough for you to download on your daily drivers.

iOS 9 adoption hits 80 percent mark

In less than two weeks since iOS 9 was powering a reported 79 percent of devices, that figure has now climbed by one percentage point to eighty percent of devices, a significant milestone. While the new iOS 9 adoption numbers are yet to be publicized on Apple's App Store dashboard for developers, the freshest figure was mentioned on stage at yesterday's 'Let us loop you in' media event by Greg Joswiak, Apple's Vice President of iPhone Marketing.

Cellular edition of Apple’s new 9.7″ iPad Pro has an integrated, non-removable Apple SIM

Tucked away on the iPad Pro Tech Specs webpage is an interesting tidbit about Apple's new 12.9-inch iPad Pro model. If you're in the market for that device and are contemplating buying a Wi-Fi + Cellular edition (Model A1674), know that the 9.7-inch iPad Pro ships with an integrated, non-removable Apple SIM.

This is the first time an Apple device has embedded the Apple SIM since its debut. The Apple SIM started shipping in October 2014 with the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 4 and was added last fall to the 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

DigiTimes: ultra-thin 13 and 15-inch MacBooks coming this summer

DigiTimes, a hit-and-miss Taiwanese trade publication, cited upstream supply chain sources in a report this morning as saying that Apple will ship a pair of all-new “ultra-thin” MacBook models with thirteen and fifteen-inch screens at the end of the second quarter of this year.

If true, Apple could allocate some stage time to these new MacBooks at its summer conference for developers, which is yet to be formally announced. According to the report, the new 13 and 15-inch MacBooks share a design similar to the existing 12-inch MacBook and are “thinner than the existing MacBook Air”.

Apple looking to buy troubled iPhone graphics provider Imagination Technologies

Ars Technica reported this morning that Apple is in “advanced talks” regarding a possible takeover of British fabless semiconductor maker Imagination Technologies. The chip designer develops GPU blueprints that other companies license and incorporate into their own chips.

Apple owns at least a 9.5 percent stake in Imagination and has long used their PowerVR line of graphics-processing units (GPU) inside its own A-series processors since the emergence of the A4 chip, which powered the original iPad, the iPhone 4 and the fourth-generation iPod touch.

These five well-known iPhone apps are some of the worst battery hogs

Have you ever wondered about the top battery hogs on the App Store? We all know the mobile Facebook app is notorious for its background fetching, which in combination with location tracking consumes a lot of power, but did you know Twitter just as easily rips through your iPhone's battery life while you're using it?

ZDNet has performed some eyebrow-raising testing of a raft of popular apps to uncover which have the biggest impact on your iPhone's battery life, and here's the shame list.