Apple Watch Gets New Striped Woven Nylon, Classic Buckle, and Standalone Nike Sport Bands

Tuesday March 21, 2017 7:05 am PDT by
As has been expected, Apple today debuted a new Spring 2017 lineup of Apple Watch bands that introduces all-new options like Striped Woven Nylon, sold-separately Nike Sport bands, and new colors for Hermès. Every band is available to order today on Apple.com. Striped Woven Nylon bands now come in Berry, Tahoe Blue, Orange, Red, and Pollen. There's also an all-new Midnight Blue Woven Nylon...

Apple Doubles iPhone SE Storage to 32GB and 128GB

Tuesday March 21, 2017 6:55 am PDT by
Apple has announced that it will soon offer the iPhone SE in 32GB and 128GB storage capacities for $399 and $499 respectively. iPhone SE was previously available in 16GB and 64GB storage capacities for $399 and $449 respectively. The 64GB model was initially $499, but it received a price cut following the iPhone 7 launch. The 4-inch smartphone will remain available in four colors: Gold, Rose ...

Apple Announces Video Creation iOS App 'Clips'

Tuesday March 21, 2017 6:42 am PDT by
Among announcements of a new 9.7-inch iPad and red iPhone 7, Apple today has unveiled a new first-party video creation app called "Clips." According to the company, with Clips users will be able to "create expressive videos" with ease on both an iPhone and iPad. The app lets users combine videos, images, and music into one seamless video that can then be shared through iMessages, and on other...

Swift Playgrounds Now Available in Five Additional Languages

Tuesday March 21, 2017 6:40 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its Swift Playgrounds app for iPad is now available in five additional languages, including Simplified Chinese, Japanese, French, German, and Latin American Spanish. The app, which was introduced at WWDC 2016, was previously only available in English. Swift Playgrounds is an iPad app aimed at teaching both children and adults how to code through simple interactive...

Chinese Mobile Dealer Teases Possible 'Red' Color Option for iPhone 7

Tuesday March 21, 2017 5:13 am PDT by
Chinese phone dealer and ecommerce site Taobao has posted a teasing picture to a Weibo account that suggests a red color option could be appearing imminently for the iPhone 7 and/or iPhone 7 Plus. As spotted by French tech blog igen.fr, the image very clearly plays on the possibility, with red dots like marching ants outlining a blank handset among a throng of iPhone 7 Plus devices and the...

U.S. Bans Tablets and Laptops on Flights From Eight Middle Eastern Countries [Update: U.K. Plans Similar Ban]

Tuesday March 21, 2017 4:47 am PDT by
The Department of Homeland of Security today announced new carry-on restrictions that prevent U.S.-bound passengers from eight Middle Eastern countries from carrying personal electronic devices larger than a smartphone in the passenger cabin. The TSA order, which does not have a stated end date, covers laptops, tablets, e-readers, cameras, portable DVD players, and handheld gaming devices...

New Apple Product Expectations See AAPL and Supplier Shares Surge to Record Highs

Tuesday March 21, 2017 4:02 am PDT by
Shares in Apple supplier Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) hit an all-time high on Tuesday, coming on the back of record spikes in Apple's share price over the last rontew trading days. TSMC share price rose to 195 New Taiwan Dollars, up NT$3.5 or 1.83 percent on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, breaking a previous record set in October 2016. Shares in other Apple parts suppliers in Asia also rallied ...

Developer Hacks Apple Watch to Run Game Boy Emulator

Monday March 20, 2017 4:57 pm PDT by
Developer Gabriel O'Flaherty-Chan recently shared a project where he managed to get a Game Boy emulator he dubbed "Giovanni" running on the second-generation Apple Watch, allowing it to play Game Boy and Game Boy Color games. According to O'Flaherty-Chan, it was a challenge finding the right balance "between framerate and performance," but he says the end result is a "surprisingly usable...

Drake's 'More Life' Streamed 29M More Times on Apple Music Than Spotify in Last 24 Hours

Monday March 20, 2017 4:33 pm PDT by
Drake's new More Life album was streamed 89.9 million times during its first 24 hours on Apple Music, breaking single-day album streaming records for all music services, Apple told The Verge. With 89.9 million streams on Apple Music during its first 24 hours of availability, More Life was significantly more popular on Apple's streaming service than on Spotify, where it was streamed 61.3...

Apple Seeds Seventh Beta of watchOS 3.2 to Developers

Monday March 20, 2017 11:02 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the seventh beta of an upcoming watchOS 3.2 update to developers for testing purposes, less than one week after seeding the sixth watchOS 3.2 beta and nearly two months after the release of watchOS 3.1.3, the current public version of the operating system. The watchOS 3.2 beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General -->...

Samsung Introduces Siri Rival 'Bixby' Ahead of Galaxy S8

Monday March 20, 2017 8:51 am PDT by
Samsung today officially announced Bixby, a new intelligent interface for its devices, starting with the upcoming Galaxy S8. Galaxy S8 renders leaked by Evan Blass Samsung said Bixby will be "fundamentally different" than virtual assistants like Siri and Cortana in that it will be deeply integrated within apps. The interface will be able to support almost every task that an app is capable of...

TSMC Won't Make Official Decision About Building U.S. Plant Until 2018

Monday March 20, 2017 6:25 am PDT by
Apple supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company won't make a decision about moving some of its chip manufacturing into the United States until sometime in 2018, according to company spokesperson Michael Kramer (via Reuters). Although recent reports have focused on Foxconn's potential move stateside for Apple-specific iPhone manufacturing, TSMC chairman Morris Chang in January...

MacRumors Giveaway: Win an iPad Pro DraftTable From ElevationLab

Friday March 17, 2017 12:01 pm PDT by
For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with ElevationLab to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win one of the company's new DraftTable accessories that's designed to work with the iPad Pro. Priced at $99.95, the DraftTable is meant to serve as a stable, sturdy stand to be used with the iPad Pro and the Apple Pencil for drawing, sketching, writing, game playing, movie watching, and more. It ...

Apple Adds Permanent Indie Games Section to App Store, Offers Discounts

Friday March 17, 2017 10:57 am PDT by
Last week, Apple added an indie games section to the App Store to promote the huge range of games made by smaller developers. As it turns out, the indie games section is a permanent addition to the App Store, and will be available indefinitely to help users discover new titles to play. Love the games we’ve debuted? Starting today, we’ll have a permanent spot on the App Store just for ...

iPhone 7 Pre-Orders in Indonesia Begin March 24 Following Apple R&D Investment

Friday March 17, 2017 8:57 am PDT by
Indonesian carrier Smartfren has announced it will begin accepting iPhone 7 pre-orders on Friday, March 24. Pricing has not been disclosed, but customers can sign up on Smartfren's website to receive more information. In-store sales at select authorized resellers will begin on Friday, March 31. While the iPhone 7 has been available in many other countries since September, the Indonesian...

Philips Hue Reveals New Candle Light Bulb Coming to Europe in April and U.S. Later This Year

Friday March 17, 2017 8:28 am PDT by
Philips today announced that its connected smart bulb lighting system, Philips Hue, is getting a new addition in the form of the E14 candle light bulb. Customers will be able to buy the new bulb in both color and white ambience versions in the U.S. later this year, and in Europe in April. The common candle bulb will fit a wide array of household lighting fixtures, and Philips said this means that ...

Google 'Motion Stills' Update Lets Users Customize Default Frame of Live Photos

Friday March 17, 2017 7:41 am PDT by
Last year Google launched an app called Motion Stills that fixed a lot of issues that users had -- and still have -- with Apple's new Live Photos feature introduced in the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. With the new update, Motion Stills now lets users customize the displayed frame that appears automatically in the camera roll of the iOS Photos app. The intent is to display more clearly what...

Swatch Working on Apple Watch Competitor With Custom-Made OS and Better Battery Life

Friday March 17, 2017 6:53 am PDT by
Swatch is developing its own operating system for an all-new smartwatch intended to compete directly with Apple Watch and Android Wear, according to company CEO Nick Hayek (via Bloomberg). The new smartwatch will be an addition to the Tissot brand, a subsidiary of The Swatch Group, and is set to launch towards the end of 2018. With its debut so far out, details remain scarce on both the watch...