Apple is sending a set of Mac Pro posters to select journalists, according to TechCrunch. Writers at CNET, Dallas Morning News and TidBITS have all received copies of the posters, which feature images of the Mac Pro's radical cylindrical design along with the following message:
It's the computer we were insane to build. The one that turns conventional thinking on its head, then kicks the living $#&% out of it. We challenged all our assumptions. Abandoned our preconceptions. And blew away limitation after limitation. This is the new Mac Pro. It's like no Mac we've created before. And we can't wait to see what you create with it.
Images courtesy of TidBITS' Jeff Carlson
Apple on occasion sends promotional materials to members of the press. Earlier this year, the company gave select journalists gift cards featuring 100 handpicked songs to celebrate the company's 10th iTunes anniversary and Apple also sent out a 5th anniversary App Store poster as well.
First announced in June, Apple's redesigned Mac Pro starts at $2,999 and comes in several different configurations. The entry-level version includes a 3.7 Ghz quad-core Intel Xeon E5 processor, dual AMD FirePro D300 GPUs, 12 GB of memory, and 256 GB of PCIe-based flash storage.
With configure-to-order options, the Mac Pro can be customized with an 8-core or 12-core Xeon E5 processor, FirePro D700 GPUs, up to 64 GB of memory, and up to 1 TB of flash storage. While Apple has yet to provide a solid release date for the Mac Pro, it is expected sometime in December.
Thursday January 23, 2025 6:41 am PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 18.3 should be released to the public next week, following beta testing since mid-December. While the software update is a relatively minor one, it still includes a handful of new features, changes, and bug fixes for iPhones.
Below, we recap everything new in iOS 18.3.
Notification Summary Changes
Examples of inaccurate Apple Intelligence notification summaries
Apple Intelligence...
Friday January 24, 2025 1:55 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is set to release iOS 18.3 next week, bringing further refinements to Apple Intelligence features, a couple of neat new capabilities to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 devices, and bug fixes.
While not quite as packed with new features as Apple's preceding iOS 18 point releases, iOS 18.3 still introduces capabilities that aim to make your iPhone smarter and more intuitive. Below, we've...
Friday January 24, 2025 8:16 am PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 18.3 is expected to be widely released next week, and that means the first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner.
Apple has previously implied that iOS 18.4 will be released in April, as that is when it promised to make Apple Intelligence available in even more languages.
Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far.
Apple Intelligence for Siri
Siri ...
Thursday January 23, 2025 7:32 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Walmart still does not accept Apple Pay or other NFC payments at its more than 4,600 stores across the U.S., and it stood firm on its reasoning for that today.
A spokesperson for Walmart today informed MacRumors that its position on contactless payments has not changed since we last reached out about the matter in 2022. The big-box retailer said it remains focused on its own convenient...
Wednesday January 22, 2025 6:01 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
A new Apple TV is expected to be released later this year. In this article, we recap rumored features and changes for the device.
The next Apple TV will be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. He said the chip supports Wi-Fi 6E, which would be an upgrade over the current Apple TV's standard Wi-Fi 6 support. Wi-Fi 6E extends the...
Tuesday January 21, 2025 4:31 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 18.3 today, and with it comes release notes confirming what's new. While we knew about several of the features that are in the update, there are some lesser known tweaks and bug fixes.
The update adds new Visual Intelligence features for iPhone 16 models, it tweaks Notification summaries on all...
Friday January 24, 2025 9:09 am PST by Juli Clover
The upcoming iPhone 17 models that Apple plans to release this year will not feature a smaller Dynamic Island, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today.
On social media, he said that he is expecting the size of the Dynamic Island to remain "largely unchanged" across the iPhone 17 lineup. His statement is contrary to prior rumors that we've heard about planned changes for the iPhone 17 models.
...
Saturday January 25, 2025 5:07 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple's retail stores will be rolling out "merchandise/floor marketing updates" next week, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Gurman did not explicitly say if the store updates are related to any upcoming product announcements, but he did mention that next week is around the time that Apple rolls out its annual Black Unity watch band for the Apple Watch.
In each of the past four years, ...
Thursday January 23, 2025 2:48 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
It's also time for Apple's first product announcement of the year.
Last year, Apple said it would be launching Powerbeats Pro 2 in 2025, and the wireless earbuds are expected to launch very soon.
Powerbeats Pro 2 images found in iOS 18 code
In his Power On newsletter last weekend, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the Powerbeats Pro 2 are "due imminently." In addition to Apple filing the...
Not trying to be cynical, but besides form factor, what's revolutionary about this Mac "Pro"? They've done it before with iCube, the iMac on the stick (with a dome base, in face of predominantly square computers back then and even today). But otherwise, what's revolutionary here, I just don't see it?
With quicksilver PowerMac G4 - it was revolutionary, because unlike PC (and I've always build my own PCs), it could be opened in one motion with all expansion slots very easily accessible. To a bit lesser degree same was with Mac Pro G5. But G5 had innovation that on top of easily expandability, it had smart cooling and almost no visible internal wires.
What's innovative about new Mac Pro? They designed cylindrical from factor with a turbine inspired cooling, venting through the top... OK. Custom design proprietary motherboard to fit into small space (ala dome base iMac) - OK. But that's nice for a light consumer computer, where looks are super important. Heck for Apple pro-user, looks are really important. But what does it bring to the usability that pro users need? How does it improve my workflow when I cannot add graphics card, expansion cards, more hard drives - while retaining the elegant minimalistic looks?
It seems to me Apple thinks Mac pro users really don't need pro features, they THINK they need. Time will tell. But given that, there is no technological barriers this thing broke. Anyone with enough budget can design custom electronics to fit into a specific shape, especially if there is no requirement for extensive expandability.
