MacRumors' Mac Blog: Mac Apps, News and Rumors

Apple is planning to further expand at its Reno, Nevada data center site, reports the Reno Gazette-Journal, citing a recent permit Apple filed with Washoe County. Apple has requested permission to build a new data center adjacent to its exiting data center. Over the past several years, Apple has expanded at the site of its original data center several times to add on new buildings, but its...

Ahead of the kickoff of the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show, Seagate has unveiled its newest product, the Seagate Backup Plus Ultra Slim hard drive. According to Seagate, the Backup Plus Ultra Slim, which is the successor to the Backup Plus Slim Drive, is the "world's thinnest" 2TB mobile hard drive. The Backup Plus Ultra Slim features an all-new design with an enclosure that's just 9.6mm...

Under its premium LaCie brand, Seagate has debuted its latest design-focused product, the LaCie Chromé desktop solid state drive. The Chromé is LaCie's first product that takes advantage of USB 3.1 and USB-C connectivity, offering transfer speeds of up to 940MB/s. As a designer product, the Chromé features a mirrored exterior that was designed by Neil Poulton. The Chromé follows past...

Belkin today announced an expansion of its USB-C product lineup, debuting a 4-Port Mini Hub, charging cables, home and car chargers, and a USB-C to HDMI adapter, all of which are compatible with Apple's 12-inch Retina MacBook. The Retina MacBook is Apple's first device to use the universal USB-C port."Belkin is dedicated to creating quality products that support the current standard and make the...

Apple today updated its investor relations page to note that it will announce its earnings for the first fiscal quarter (fourth calendar quarter) of 2016 on Tuesday, January 26, 2016. The earnings release typically occurs just after 4:30 PM Eastern Time following the close of regular stock trading, and the conference call is scheduled to follow at 5:00 PM Eastern / 2:00 PM Pacific. The...

Apple has announced that its 29th retail store in China opens in Shenyang, the capital city of Liaoning, on Saturday, January 9 at 10:00 a.m. local time. The store will be located in the MixC shopping mall at 288 Qingnian Street in Shenyang's Heping District. The new store will be open Monday to Sunday between 10 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. local time, and offer traditional Apple Store services,...

Twitter for Mac today received its most significant upgrade since 2013, introducing a range of new features to bring the Mac app in line with the iOS and web experiences. Twitter for Mac 4.0 includes an updated design with improvements to icons, buttons, and interactions, and it brings a new dark theme to change the background from white to black. Along with a new look, Twitter for Mac is...

Apple has agreed to pay 318 million euros in Italy to settle an investigation that determined the iPhone and iPad maker failed to pay nearly triple that amount in corporate taxes in the country over a five year period, according to Italian newspaper La Repubblica. Italian regulators in Milan concluded a tax probe of Apple in March, accusing the company of booking profits generated in Italy...

Apple's newly promoted Senior Vice President of Hardware Technologies Johny Srouji was awarded 90,270 restricted stock units on October 5, 2015, according to a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The RSUs awarded vest 12.5% in semi-annual installments over a four year period ending October 2019. Srouji now has a total of 217,305 RSUs and 101,881 common stock units,...

In a recent securities filing, Apple announced that it plans to offer "proxy access", which allows longtime shareholders or a group of shareholders to nominate a member for its board of directors, reports the Wall Street Journal. In a securities filing, Apple said its board of directors had adopted amended bylaws Monday that allow a shareholder, or a group of up to 20 shareholders, holding 3% of ...

Apple has updated its vintage and obsolete products list with various older products that have not been manufactured for at least five years, including select Macs manufactured between early 2008 and late 2009, the second-generation Time Capsule and the 32GB original iPod touch. Apple products on the vintage and obsolete list are no longer eligible for hardware service, with a few exceptions....

Apple today spoke out against the UK's proposed Investigatory Powers bill, expressing concern that it would "weaken security" for millions of law-abiding customers, reports The Guardian. Apple added that in a "rapidly-evolving cyber-threat environment," technology companies should be allowed to "implement strong encryption to protect customers. Introduced last month by UK home secretary...

For procrastinators and last minute shoppers, Apple is planning to offer free next day delivery on December 23rd, ensuring Apple products and accessories will arrive in time for the upcoming Christmas holiday. According to Apple's website, customers who place an order for an in-stock item by 2:00 p.m. on 12/23 will be eligible for free next day delivery. In-store pickup orders made two hours...

Universal Pictures has announced the Digital HD and Blu-ray release dates for the underperforming Steve Jobs film, set to launch digitally on February 2 and then in retail locations two weeks later on February 16 of next year. The studio noted that some of the Blu-ray special features include: -Inside Jobs: The Making of Steve Jobs -Feature Commentary with Director Danny Boyle -Feature...

Anti-virus company MacKeeper is making headlines today for its lax security on a customer database that contained 13 million customer records complete with names, email addresses, usernames, password hashes, phone numbers, IP address, and system information. As shared in a reddit post, Chris Vickery (via Forbes) was able to download the records simply by entering an IP address, with no...

A decision in the European Commission probe of Ireland's alleged "sweetheart tax deal" with Apple will likely be delayed until after the Irish elections in early 2016, as Financial Times reports the executive cabinet has now requested supplementary questionnaires in the lengthy investigation. The European Commission began Apple's Irish tax probe in June 2014, and the Brussels-based executive...

Apple today released a minor iTunes update for OS X El Capitan users, which brings the desktop version of Apple Music in line with the recently released iOS 9.2 version of Apple Music. The update adds support for works, composers, and performers when listening to Classical music in Apple Music, and it brings general stability and performance improvements.This update allows you to see works,...

Apple has announced that its 28th retail store in China opens Saturday, December 12 at 2:00 p.m. local time. The store will be located in the MixC shopping mall at 136 Minzu Avenue in Nanning's Qingxiu District. MixC shopping mall in Nanning, China (Image: WeekendNotes) The new store will be open between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. local time on Monday-Thursday and Sunday, with extended hours on...