MacRumors

Six months after the Apple Watch's unveiling, Apple's "Spring Forward" media event in San Francisco today will give us final details on the device ahead of its launch next month. We could see a few other announcements as well, but given the tagline and timing of the event, the Apple Watch will undoubtedly be the focus of today's proceedings.

The event is being held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco and begins at 10:00 AM Pacific Time / 1:00 PM Eastern Time. Apple will be providing a live video stream on its website for Mac and iOS users and via Apple TV.

Live Video Stream of Apple's March 2015 "Spring Forward" Media Event

In addition, we will be updating this article with summary coverage and issuing Twitter updates through our @MacRumorsLive account as the event unfolds. Highlights and separate news stories regarding the event announcements will go out through our @MacRumors account.

Apple's online stores around the world are currently down in advance of the event.

➜ Click here to read rest of article...

Apple is shifting its retail strategy for the Apple Watch to deliver a more personalized shopping experience, according to The Wall Street Journal. The report claims that Apple Stores will accept in-store reservations for customers to try on the Apple Watch and corroborates that Apple is training its retail employees to help customers choose an Apple Watch model that suits them best.

The report, citing sources familiar with the matter, adds that the high-end Apple Watch Edition will have scratch-resistant gold, which an in-depth analysis over the weekend revealed is because Apple mixes the metal with low-density ceramic particles. Apple is also said to have studied a platinum Apple Watch, but the model is unlikely to be announced Monday.

"The company has refined the smartwatch’s luxury features, making the gold in the Edition model scratch-resistant, according to people familiar with the matter," reports The Wall Street Journal. "It also has studied platinum watch casings, although the company isn’t expected to announce that on Monday, they said."

Apple CEO Tim Cook, during a visit to the Covent Garden Apple Store in London last month, told retail employees that Apple has "never sold anything as a company that people could try on before." The chief executive added that "tweaking the experience in the store" will likely be a requirement when the wrist-worn device launches in April. It also appears likely that the Apple Watch will be exclusive to Apple Stores immediately following the product's launch, although for how long remains unknown.

Follow the rest of our March 2015 event coverage for the latest Apple Watch information.

Best Buy may not carry the Apple Watch when the wrist-worn device launches in April, according to Reuters. The report, citing sources with direct knowledge of the matter, corroborates speculation that Apple might control the Apple Watch sales experience, at least initially, by limiting the product to Apple Stores.

Apple has been training its retail employees to deliver a more personalized shopping experience, as many customers will want to try on the various watch editions, faces and bands to determine which is best for them. Given that, it would make sense that Best Buy, and possibly other authorized resellers such as Walmart, Target and Sam's Club, might not immediately sell the Apple Watch.

While large fashion retailers such as Bloomingdale's and Saks Fifth Avenue in the United States confirmed no immediate plans to carry the Apple Watch, multiple high-end department stores in Europe will be showcasing the smartwatch when it launches. Last month, for example, sources told us that Apple is planning an Apple Watch pop-up shop at Selfridges in London near the iconic 19,000-square-foot Wonder Room. French department store Galeries Lafayette is also setting up an Apple Watch display in Paris.

"Other large retailers, including Macy's, Saks 5th Avenue, Bloomingdales and Barney's said they had no immediate plans to carry the watch. Target and Nordstrom,along with all the major phone carriers, declined to comment on their plans, though a source with knowledge of the situation said Nordstrom has engaged in discussions with Apple."

Apple is expected to provide further details about the Apple Watch during today's "Spring Forward" media event. The keynote begins at 10 AM Pacific with a live video stream available on Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple TV. MacRumors will also have full coverage of the event, with a live blog on our front page, news coverage and updates going out on our @MacRumorsLive Twitter account. Also follow and participate in the conversation in our discussion forums.

The online Apple Store has been taken offline this morning less than five hours prior to Apple's highly-anticipated "Spring Forward" media event in San Francisco, where the company is expected to unveil further details about the Apple Watch alongside other potential announcements. If history repeats itself, the storefront should remain down until shortly after the conclusion of Apple's keynote.

Apple's media event starts at 10 AM Pacific with a live video stream available on Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple TV. MacRumors will also have full coverage of the event, with a live blog on our front page and updates going out on our @MacRumorsLive Twitter account. We'll also have specific coverage of today's announcements in separate news stories, and our forums are a great place for readers to discuss the announcements before, during and after the event.

With a few hours left to go before Apple's big "Spring Forward" media event, the company has once again unlocked the "Apple Events" channel on the Apple TV in preparation for the big event.

Largely expected to be the central focus later today is the Apple Watch, given the Daylight Saving Time reference in the title of the event and the small amount of pricing and launch-related information known about the device so close to its rumored release date of April.

Other outlying possibilities include small refreshes of the 11" and 13" MacBook Air and the 13" Retina MacBook Pro. Less likely to be seen are the long-rumored 12" Retina MacBook Air, and even the recently-rumored iPad mini 4.

Fans wanting to watch the event live can also use Apple's official website, the caveat as usual being users will need to be running Safari to stream the event. Apple points out that most any recent version of the software will run the stream, though those with older software may have trouble.

Live streaming video requires Safari 5.1.10 or later on OS X v10.6.8 or later; Safari on iOS 6.0 or later. Streaming via Apple TV requires second- or third-generation Apple TV with software 6.2 or later.

Apple's "Spring Forward" event begins at 10:00 AM Pacific Time. MacRumors will be covering all aspects of the event, including a live blog and live tweets which can be followed on the MacRumors Live Twitter page.

With just one day to go until Apple's "Spring Forward" media event in San Francisco, there are still plenty of unknowns about what the company will be showing off beyond a focus on the Apple Watch. As a result, we've put together this summary of what we expect to see, what we might see, and what we probably won't see at the event.

Apple Watch

Given the time-related tagline of "Spring Forward" and today's start of Daylight Saving Time in the United States, it's clear the Apple Watch is the focus of tomorrow's event. We got a first look at the device last September, but now with just a month to go until launch, it's time for Apple to provide final details and shape the marketing message. Expect more details on launch dates and pricing of course, as well as some updates on performance aspects such as battery life.

Also expect apps to play a significant role in the event, with Apple allowing a few developers to show off what they've been able to accomplish over the past few months since guidelines and developers tools for the device were made available.

Pricing will undoubtedly be one of the most interesting topics to be covered, with the company so far refusing to disclose any information beyond a $349 starting price. Daring Fireball's John Gruber has made his final predictions, arguing the stainless steel Apple Watch collection will be more expensive than people think.

[T]he steel Apple Watch, that’s something that most people still look at as for them. And so they expect the starting price to be around $500, and the various leather and metal band options to cost $100-300 more.

But if the starting price for the steel Apple Watch is $500, I don’t see why Apple Watch Sport exists at $350. $150 difference does not justify the difference. If they were that close in price, there’d only be one of them. [...] With Sport and steel Apple Watches, everything you can see or touch is different. Different metal (aluminum vs. steel), different finishes (matte vs. highly-polished), different displays (glass vs. sapphire), different case backs (plastic vs. ceramic and sapphire).

With that in mind, Gruber predicts the steel Apple Watch collection will start at $749 while the gold Apple Watch Edition collection starts at $7500. He expects Apple will charge a small premium for the 42mm size compared to the 38mm casing, and various band options will quickly drive up the cost of the steel and gold models.

Gruber is of course only one voice among many who are speculating about pricing, but he offers a clear and thorough argument for his pricing predictions, serving as a solid basis for debate and discussion.

➜ Click here to read rest of article...

Back in January, WayTools, a company known for its high-quality NextEngine 3D laser scanner, surprised the world with a collapsible, magnetic keyboard unlike anything we had seen before. Called the TextBlade, the keyboard garnered a significant amount of attention from the media and from prospective buyers who were intrigued with its unique design.

Commenters here on MacRumors and across the Internet were immediately curious about the TextBlade, and had several questions. How does it work? How easy is it to use? What's the learning curve? How does it feel?

Today we're going to answer all of those questions and more. Yesterday, WayTools invited MacRumors to visit its headquarters in Santa Monica to get an exclusive hands-on first look at the TextBlade. We met with WayTools CEO Mark Knighton, and a group of engineers who helped develop the product to get details on how it works and to try it out for ourselves.

Design

The first thing that's important to know about the TextBlade is that its design, which is the culmination of years of work and experimentation, has been engineered to be completely different from any keyboard that's on the market today.

According to Knighton, the company did not set out to develop a keyboard for the iPhone or the iPad, they set out to develop a keyboard that's a better experience, overall, than any available keyboard, mobile or desktop.

Portability is one of the key qualities that dictated the design of the TextBlade. The team at WayTools firmly believes that an accessory designed for the iPad or the iPhone should be smaller than the device itself. The TextBlade is approximately 1/3 of the size of an iPhone and it weighs an ounce and a half, so it's barely noticeable in a shirt or pants pocket.

➜ Click here to read rest of article...

Apple Watch will take approximately two hours to fully charge and deliver all-day battery life with normal on-and-off usage, according to TechCrunch. Those estimates corroborate a previous report that also claimed the Apple Watch will deliver all-day battery life and support up to five hours of heavy usage per charge.

The report also claims that the Apple Watch will only deliver notifications while worn on the wrist. The smartwatch will not ping you for notifications without being in contact with skin so that the device is not disruptive at unnecessary times. Apple Watch will also stop delivering notifications when the battery reaches 10% or lower in an effort to conserve the remaining power.

"Here’s a tidbit you might not know — in order to receive notifications from apps, the Watch must be on your wrist and locked. They require contact with your skin. There will be no in-app dropdown notifications or constant pinging while it’s off your wrist. Push notifications also cease when the battery reaches 10 percent. Those decisions speak to the care with which Apple is handling notifications."

Apple continues to tweak Digital Crown on the Apple Watch, giving the button a "weightier, higher-end feel." Pressing and holding down the Digital Crown activates Siri, which the report claims works well and can be used for labeling, directions and commands using a paired iPhone. The goal of the Apple Watch, the report describes, is to return some of your attention away from your smartphone by allowing you to communicate from your wrist on the go.

While both reports this afternoon have provided a closer look at the Apple Watch, there are still several question marks surrounding the wrist-worn device. That will change in less than three days, when Apple provides more details about the Apple Watch at its highly-anticipated "Spring Forward" media event in San Francisco. The keynote begins on Monday at 10 AM Pacific and MacRumors will be providing live coverage of the event.

Apple will be making significant changes to iPad deployment for education during the upcoming school year that should eliminate some of the hurdles that school districts face when adopting iPads for use in the classroom. In an email obtained by MacRumors, the company outlines plans to make app distribution easier by eliminating the need for an Apple ID to load apps, tweaking the Apple ID for Students program and unifying several deployment programs into one.

Apple plans to simplify app distribution by allowing schools to assign and distribute apps to a device without an Apple ID this fall, reducing the number of steps needed to set up an iPad. Schools will no longer be required to create generic Apple IDs solely to load content on the tablet, and teachers and administrators will have the option to block students from making personal purchases without approval.

"To simplify large deployments, including one-to-one and shared use, we want to make app distribution even easier. Today, Apple IDs are required in order to deliver apps and books to students. We are working to change this in the fall by allowing schools to assign and distribute apps to a device without an Apple ID. As currently planned, this will greatly reduce the number of steps needed to setup a device. This change should eliminate the need to create generic Apple IDs solely for the purposes of getting content onto iPad. Schools will also have the option to prevent students from making personal purchases without approval."

The email also outlines changes to the Apple ID for Students program to roll out during 2016, including schools gaining the ability to create and manage Apple IDs for students under 13 that can be used to access iCloud. System administrators will also be able to reset student passwords. The new approach will continue to meet COPPA requirements for children's online privacy in the United States.

Apple will also be improving its Apple Deployment Programs by unifying several programs into one for a simplified administrative experience, making it easier for school districts to enroll, manage, and support large iPad deployments. Apple hopes the changes will continue to result in increased student engagement, better attendance and higher test results at all grades and levels of education.

With just over two days to go until Apple's big March 9 "Spring Forward" event that's said to be heavily focused on the Apple Watch, information on the device is leaking out at a rapid pace. Apple's been relatively quiet about battery life, stating only that the Apple Watch will need to be charged on a daily basis, but 9to5Mac has a few more details on how long we can expect the Apple Watch to last between charges.

According to the site's sources, final software tweaks and optimizations to the device have led to a battery life of approximately five hours of heavy application usage. The device reportedly will not run out of battery life "during a typical day of mixed and passive use," but it will need to be charged on a nightly basis as Apple has previously said. There's also been little said about how the Apple Watch will affect the battery of the iPhone, but 9to5Mac's sources say that there is no "meaningful" observed battery drain while using the device.

A Power Reserve Mode can be activated within the watch when the battery in the device becomes critically low, ensuring that it's primary function -- telling the time -- is always available. Power Reserve Mode can be activated at any time via a Battery Life Glance screen.

Power Reserve Mode can even be accessed when the Watch has a full 100% charge, and it is not solely activated when the Watch's battery life is low. The mode noticeably dims the display, slows down communication with the iPhone to an on-demand level, and puts the display to sleep after roughly two seconds of inactivity. One unit tested allowed access to all Apple Watch functions while in Power Reserve mode, while another unit was limited to the Clock face.

The Apple Watch is also said to have an interesting method of displaying remaining battery life. At 20 percent, the Battery Life Glance (which is just one of many default glances on the watch) will turn an orange/amber color to let users know that battery life is running low, and at 10 percent, it will turn from amber to red.

Along with battery life, there are also some new details on onboard storage. We've known for awhile that the device will have dedicated storage for features like music storage, but the exact amount of storage has not yet been shared. It appears that prototype devices have 8GB of storage, suggesting at least some devices will ship with that amount of storage space. Like with the iPhone, there may be several storage options that are available at an additional cost.

In just a few short days, we'll have a wealth of information on the Apple Watch. Apple is expected to share more details on battery life, storage space, pricing tiers, and accessory options at its upcoming March 9 event. Apple is planning to live stream the event, and MacRumors will also provide live coverage, both on MacRumors.com and through the MacRumorsLive Twitter account.

Apple has quietly listed the MagSafe to MagSafe 2 converter as discontinued on the Apple Online Store in the United States and Canada this week. The converter is required to charge a MagSafe 2-equipped MacBook Air or MacBook Pro when the notebook is connected to a Thunderbolt Display or Cinema Display. The converter still appears to have in-store availability, although for how long remains unknown.

Apple discontinuing the MagSafe to MagSafe 2 converter would prove problematic for Thunderbolt Display and Cinema Display users. The company does include the converter in the box for the Thunderbolt Display, but not being able to purchase a replacement if you misplace one would be an issue. Given that, it is possible that Apple could have larger plans in store.

It could be theorized that Apple may be planning a Thunderbolt Display refresh with MagSafe 2, USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt 2, although that is purely speculation. Rumors have also called for a 5K Thunderbolt Display, but several Mac models would need to be updated to support that technology. We have reached out to Apple for comment and will update this story if we hear back.

(Thanks, Chris!)

Update 5:35 PM PT: The MagSafe to MagSafe 2 converter is now back in stock in the Apple Online Store.

MacBook Air and 13" Retina MacBook Pro shipping times have slipped on the Apple Online Store from "in stock" to "1 business day" ahead of Apple's upcoming "Spring Forward" media event on Monday. Earlier this week, we reported that a MacBook Air refresh with the latest Intel Broadwell processors and Intel HD 6000 graphics appears imminent, and it is plausible that Apple also updates the MacBook Pro with similar hardware.

The shipping dates have slipped across North America, with the Apple Online Store in the United States, Canada and Mexico showing the longer "1 business day" estimate. A spot check of the United Kingdom and Australia online storefronts still shows regular shipping times. In-store availability of the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro in the also appears unaffected in the United States based on Apple Stores in New York and California.

Intel's Broadwell processors are available for all MacBook Air models and the 13-inch MacBook Pro, although more powerful chips for the 15-inch MacBook Pro are not expected until later this year. Nevertheless, Apple may choose to focus its March 9 media event solely on the Apple Watch and could hold off on refreshing its MacBook Air and MacBook Pro lineups until a later date.