News

Jony Ive discusses 20 years of iconic Apple designs and that pricey new coffee table book

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 15, 2016

Apple is releasing a pricey book, titled “Designed by Apple in California,” in which it chronicles many iconically designed products it's churned out over the span of past 20 years. Discussing the book's launch, Chief Design Office Jony Ive sat down with Tony Chambers of Wallpaper.com to explain why the iPhone maker set out to publish this book in the first place. Plus, Ive reflects on the nature of objects, the fragility of ideas and much more.

Apple removed nearly 50,000 apps from App Store in October

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 15, 2016

The Great App Store Purge, announced in September, has resulted in the removal of nearly 47,300 outdated, abandoned or non-functioning iPhone, iPad and iPod touch apps from the App Store in October.

That's a 238 percent increase versus the previous month and about 3.4 times more than the average month for the App Store prior to the Great Purge, according to data from research firm Sensor Tower shared by TechCrunch.

KGI details three new iPhones coming in 2017, including 5.5″ OLED model with dual cameras

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 15, 2016

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is out with a new report to clients Tuesday, a copy of which was obtained by MacRumors, that lays out his predictions for Apple's 2017 iPhone refresh. The analyst is calling for a trio of new iPhones next fall, two of which should be upgraded versions of the current models with classic TFT-LCD screens.

As for a third model, it will boast all-new industrial design and utilize power-sipping organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display technology, according to the analyst's note.

SSD in the new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar can’t be upgraded

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated December 27, 2023

After seeing in iFixit's teardown that the base model of the new 2016 MacBook Pro without the Touch Bar had a removable PCIe SSD storage unit, many were excited at the possibility of aftermarket upgrade parts across the new MacBook Pro lineup.

But new images surfacing on the web this week after the first MacBook Pro with Touch Bar units began reaching the hands of buyers are showing that the Touch Bar models don't follow suit and have SSD storage chips soldered into their logic boards instead.

Super Mario Run is coming to iPhone and iPad on December 15

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 15, 2016

Apple dropped quite a bombshell at its iPhone 7 event two months ago when it announced Super Mario would be coming to the iPhone in the form of a brand new endless platformer specifically designed for one-handed gaming, called Super Mario Run.

Nintendo later promised launch in time for holidays and today the Japanese gaming giant officially confirmed the game's price point and release date.

Super Mario Run is scheduled to hit the App Store on December 15 as a free download for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch with an optional $9.99 upgrade to give you unrestricted access to the game's three modes.

WhatsApp rolls out end-to-end encrypted video calling

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 15, 2016

Facebook-owned WhatsApp announced yesterday that it had begun rolling out video calling to the more than one billion users it claims across iOS, Android and Windows Phone platforms around the world.

According to TechCrunch, video calls on WhatsApp are end-to-end encrypted just like with FaceTime in order to prevent rogue parties from eavesdropping on your communications.

WhatsApp previously rolled out end-to-end encryption for chats. “We obviously try to be in tune with what our users want,” WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum told Reuters. “We're obsessed with making sure that voice and video work well even on low-end phones.”

Pixelmator for Mac gains Touch Bar and P3 color support, tabs, full Sierra compatibility & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 15, 2016

Popular Photoshop alternative Pixelmator for Mac was updated in the Mac App Store today with a bunch of new features, including support for tabbed image editing on Sierra and custom shortcuts on the new MacBook Pro's Touch Bar, universal clipboard for effortless pasting of content between devices and other Sierra-specific features. Plus, you get more than a dozen improvements like the new content-aware Smart Refine and Refine Selection tools, support for wide color images and displays and more.

Apple unveils hardbound photo book chronicling 20 years of product designs

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 30, 2017

Apple today announced a hardbound photo book which tells the story of award-winning design at the company. Aptly titled “Designed by Apple in California,” the book is dedicated to the memory of Steve Jobs and covers 20 years of Apple’s design as expressed through hundreds of photographs of past and current product designs, from the 1998 iMac to the 2015 Apple Pencil. The photo book, which also documents the materials and techniques used by Jony Ive's design team, will be available beginning tomorrow for $199 or $299 from Apple.com and Apple retail stores.

TOMS introduces new Apple Watch bands

Cody Lee ∙ November 14, 2016

Popular shoe and apparel company TOMS has introduced two new lines of Apple Watch bands. The two lines are the Utility Collection and the Artisan Collection, and are priced at $50 and $75 respectively.

Utility bands come in 6 colorways and feature premium, durable grosgrain fabric and genuine leather detailing. The Artisan bands come in just 4 colors and feature woven fabric and genuine leather backing.

Apple working on digital glasses for possible release in 2018

Cody Lee ∙ November 14, 2016

Apple is considering expanding into the digital glasses space, reports Bloomberg. Citing people familiar with the matter, the outlet says it's still the exploration phase, but if the project is given the green light, the glasses could launch as early as 2018.

The glasses would connect wirelessly to iPhones, and project images and other information into the wearer's field of vision. Sources say it's possible that they could utilize augmented reality, and it seems likely given Apple's public interest in the tech.

Reviewers weigh in on the new MacBook Pro…

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 14, 2016

As first customers begin to receive the new MacBook Pro, reviews of the long-expected hardware refresh to Apple's Pro notebook family hit the web this morning. Depending on the reviewer, the Touch Bar feature is either a gimmick or a productivity-boosting addition.

As for performance, the reviews are mixed: some people are saying that a lot faster SSD and RAM make the machine super snappy and others note Intel's Skylake chips barely push performance forward versus 2013 or later MacBook Pros.