Mac

Stay up-to-date on the latest Mac news, and tutorials. Get expert tips and tricks to optimize your Mac’s performance and learn about the latest Apple products and software updates. Discover the best Mac apps and accessories to enhance your user experience.

Apple sold more Macs and iOS devices than all Windows PCs combined last quarter

Apple may not have impressed Wall Street with its holiday quarter, but it did reach a major [symbolic] milestone. During the 3-month period, the Cupertino company sold more Macs, iPhones, iPads and iPod touches than the total number of Windows computers combined.

According to data gathered by analyst Benedict Evans, this is the first time Apple has surpassed the PC market in hardware sales. Now this doesn't include Windows Phone. If you add that in, the two are more or less exactly equal, though Apple still wins in average selling price...

Apple’s VP of iPad and Mac operations retires

Apple has lost one of its key iPad and Mac executives, Rita Lane, who has retired from the company, according to her public LinkedIn profile highlighted by Mark Gurman of 9to5Mac. Her role at Apple as Vice President of Operations was a significant one.

As such, she was instrumental in helping manage Apple's supply chain and manufacturing for iPads, Macs and Mac accessories. Lane worked under the supervision of Apple's Senior Vice President of Operations, Jeff Williams, who took over from the previous op-chief Tim Cook, now the Apple CEO...

Tim Cook on bigger iPhones, ‘crappy’ Android experience, not making junk and more

Following notable excerpts from Daisuke Wakabayashi’s interview with Tim Cook in The Wall Street Journal, the financial newspaper has now posted the whole thing on its Digits blog.

The full interview gives us a more detailed insight into the mindset of Tim Cook's Apple as the CEO discusses recent topics of interest, including Lenovo's $2.9 billion purchase of Google's Motorola Mobility unit and additional information regarding Apple's share buyback program.

He also took time to touch upon the ongoing discussion concerning supposedly bigger iPhones in the pipeline, the current products not yet hitting the ceiling and lots more. I've included the best quotes and tidbits for your reading pleasure after the break...

Apple seeds fifth OS X 10.9.2 beta to developers

Apple has seeded the fifth OS X 10.9.2 beta to registered Mac developers this evening. The last few beta releases have each come about a week apart, suggesting that they're nearing a final version.

The new build is available to registered Mac developers through the Software Update tab in the Mac App Store, or as a full download via the Mac section of Apple’s online developer portal…

Steve Jobs said to have approached Sony about using OS X in VAIOs

As serious as Apple has always been about making all of its own hardware and software, it's hard to believe that OS X almost wound up on Sony VAIO PCs. But it's true, according to Japanese freelance writer Nobuyuki Hayashi.

It's even harder to believe that the effort was spearheaded by Steve Jobs himself, but it was. In a recent blog post, Hayashi recounts a time when Jobs and other Apple executives met with Sony and pitched them the OS X VAIO...

Evernote for Mac gets natural-language searching

Evernote for Mac has expanded on its stock search capabilities by introducing natural-language processing for your queries.

Activated from Evernote’s search bar and dubbed Descriptive Search, the feature allows for descriptive searching across your images, notes, documents, attachments and other data.

With Descriptive Search, Evernote fans can now search their notes by place, file contents, date ranges and lots more. This feature is now live in the new Evernote 5.5, available free of charge in the Mac App Store.

The full reveal is after the jump...

Apple goes behind the scenes of its new ‘1.24.14’ Mac anniversary ad

Apple this morning published a new 30th Mac anniversary video, titled '1.24.14' and shot entirely on iPhones and edited on Macs.

Now, less than an hour ago, the company's YouTube channel got refreshed with a behind-the-scenes video detailing the thought process that went into the creation of the well-received '1.24.14' ad.

I've included it for your viewing pleasure right after the break so give it a watch and then meet us in comments...

Apple offers bandaid solution to ‘no new mail’ bug in Mail on OS X Mavericks

Apple has offered up an interesting remedy to a persisting bug plaguing the OS X 10.9 Mavericks Mail application which manifests itself by preventing the app from receiving any new messages until it is quit and reopened. Apple's workaround solution is a primitive one, albeit effective.

As Mail needs to reestablish a connection to the troublesome mail server (which typically means Gmail), Apple advises quitting and reopening Mail.

As a result, this forces Mail to re-establish a connection. An alternative solution entails a manual process that reinitializes an affected mailbox without having to restart the program...

Apple celebrates Mac’s 30th anniversary with new video shot entirely on iPhone 5s, edited on Mac

OK, Apple didn't exactly return to Super Bowl with a 30th Mac anniversary ad like advertising legend Lee Clow a week ago hinted it would, but that doesn't mean the company is letting the Super Bowl ad blitz mute its message.

Not only did Apple celebrate the occasion by letting ABC News and MacWorld interview CEO Tim Cook, it also posted an interactive Mac timeline on Apple.com and a new ‘Happy Birthday, Mac’ section on the Mac App Store, dressed up retail stores' window displays in Mac-themed graphics and hung commemorative posters up on the walls of its Cupertino HQ.

The company even hid a custom font on its servers featuring gorgeous Mac model icons. And now, Apple has posted a new video on its homepage dedicated to the 30 years of Mac innovation. The 125-second clip was shot entirely on iPhones and edited on Macs, have a look at it right below the fold and meet us in comments...

Tweetbot for Mac refreshed with conversation icon, ‘Save Image As’ option

Tapbots has just issued a maintenance update to Tweetbot for Mac which added a pair of feature tweaks and some bug fixes. Tweetbot version 1.4.2, now available as a free update in the Mac App Store, finally allows you to save images from tweets to folders other than the default Downloads folder.

There's also a new conversation icon next to tweets that are a reply to another tweet, which allows for a more visual navigation and helps make sense of your feed.

The full breakdown is after the break...

UnlockID is a jailbreak tweak that can unlock your Mac with Touch ID

UnlockID is a super-cool new jailbreak tweak that does exactly what the headline says—it allows you to unlock your Mac using the Touch ID sensor found on the iPhone 5s. Using Bluetooth Low Energy, the tweak features a Mac component that allows your iPhone 5s to communicate with your OS X installation.

Although the tweak's practicality may be up for debate, there's no debating the fact that this is one of the most innovate and coolest looking Touch ID tweaks we've seen thus far. We've taken UnlockID for a thorough walkthrough. Check out our hands-on video after the break.

Apple seeds fourth OS X 10.9.2 beta to developers

Apple has seeded the fourth OS X 10.9.2 beta to registered Mac developers this evening. The release comes just one week after the third beta, suggesting Apple is honing in on a final version.

The new build is available to registered Mac developers through the Software Update tab in the Mac App Store, or as a full download via the Mac section of Apple’s online developer portal…