MacRumors' Mac Blog: Mac Apps, News and Rumors

We're in between Memorial Day and Father's Day, which means deals less than impressive this week. There are a few sales on iMacs and older MacBooks, so now may be a good time to buy one of those, but if you're looking for a solid deal on a new iPad or MacBook, you may want to hold out until later this month as retailers will likely be offering Father's Day discounts. That said, we've gathered...

Google senior software engineer Peter Kasting this week announced that his team has been working to address Chrome for OS X battery hog complaints by improving the performance of the browser on Mac, especially in areas where Safari appears to do better (via iPhoneHacks). Chrome for OS X has received multiple under the hood improvements that should result in faster performance and longer...

Government officials in New York and Connecticut are investigating the deals Apple and major record companies established for Apple Music to determine whether there were any antitrust violations, reports The New York Times. Eric T. Schneiderman and George Jepsen, attorneys general in the two states, are suspicious Apple tried to convince record labels to abandon free, ad-supported music services...

OS X 10.11 El Capitan, the successor to OS X Yosemite, is capable of running on all Macs that are able to run Yosemite, according to the OS X 10.11 release notes (via Ars Technica). The first developer beta is listed as supporting the following Macs, which are the same that are able to run Yosemite: - iMac (Mid 2007 or newer) - MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer) - MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum,...

Apple today announced that it is merging all of its developer programs into a single developer program, letting developers pay one fee to access both Mac and iOS developer tools. Before today, Apple offered a Mac developer program and an iOS developer program, accessible with separate $100 fees. The new Apple Developer Program combines everything you need to develop, distribute, and manage...

Apple today announced a boost to performance coming to users with OS X El Capitan in the form of Metal, previously available only for iOS. The company promises the inclusion of Apple's breakthrough graphics technology into El Capitan will boost system-wide performance and battery life while simultaneously allowing games and graphics-intensive apps to "tap into the full power" of Mac graphics...

Apple's WWDC keynote will be kicking off in just a few hours, and as is tradition some MacRumors readers who can't follow the event live are interested in avoiding all of the announcements and waiting until Apple posts the recorded video of the event so as to experience it without already knowing the outcome. For those individuals, we've posted this news story, which will be updated with a...

Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke with Mashable at a ceremony yesterday honoring the recipients of the company's WWDC Scholarship Program, which awards up to 350 students and developers with tickets to the week-long Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. The program aims to promote diversity amongst lesser-represented groups in the tech industry - such as women - by awarding tickets to WWDC...

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off next Monday, but there's no reason to wait to make a purchase of a new iPad or Mac -- Apple isn't expected to introduce any new hardware at the event, instead focusing on software and services. Deals this week are decent, but there aren't many discounts on iPads to be had. There are a couple iMac deals worth checking out if you've been...

For several years running, AltConf has been held at the same time as Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, giving developers who did not get a ticket to attend WWDC a place to go to meet up and mingle. Content streamed live from Apple, including developer sessions and keynote events, has been shown at AltConf in past years, but this year, Apple has barred AltConf from streaming video...

Following several months of development, Tapbots today released Tweetbot 2 for Mac with a major visual overhaul inspired by the flat design of OS X Yosemite and more consistent with the iPhone version of the Twitter client. Tweetbot 2 for Mac is available as a free update through the Mac App Store for existing Tweetbot users and has been discounted to $12.99 from its regular $19.99 price for the...

Apple has set a principal amount of ¥250 billion ($2.01 billion) for its bond sale in Japan per a final pricing term sheet published by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. The yen-denominated bonds have an interest rate of 0.350% and are set to mature on June 10, 2020. Interest is to be paid semi-annually on June 10 and December 10, commencing December 10, 2015. The global ...

Following this morning's iCloud and iTunes downtime, Apple's services appear to be experiencing another outage, this time affecting several of the company's online stores. The App Store, iTunes Store, Mac App Store, iBooks Store, and Apple TV are non-functional for some users at the current time, with content inaccessible. MacRumors has received several complaints about App Store apps not...

A number of iCloud services are currently experiencing downtime in the United States, Canada and other countries, an issue that became widespread within the past hour or so. A significant number of users have tipped MacRumors and posted on Twitter and other social media platforms about being unable to sign into iCloud or access related services such as Mail and Find My iPhone. iTunes is ...

Apple's data center in Maiden, North Carolina has been affected by a chlorine leak that has injured at least five people, reports The Charlotte Observer. The leak was reported at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time and hazmat crews are said to be on site. Little else is known about the leak, including its cause, but it follows a fire last week at Apple's former GT Advanced facility in Mesa, Arizona. The...

As we head into June, deals aren't as good as they've been in past weeks, but there are still some decent discounts to be had. Best Buy is selling several of its iPad mini 3 models at a discount of $100 this week, and it's also offering $100 off the 2015 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro with 8GB RAM and 512GB storage. The 2014 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro is being sold at low prices following last...

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York today rejected Apple's bid to disqualify antitrust compliance monitor Michael Bromwich, who was appointed to watch the company since it was found liable of conspiring with publishers to fix e-book prices a few years ago, reports Reuters."The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said a lower court judge did not abuse her...

Local news affiliate ABC 15 Arizona is reporting that Apple's facility in Mesa, Arizona, which it acquired through its ill-fated partnership with GT Advanced last year, caught fire this afternoon. While the second-alarm fire has since been extinguished on the rooftop, which is equipped with multiple solar panels, local firefighters and emergency crews remain on the scene and authorities are...