MacRumors' Mac Blog: Mac Apps, News and Rumors

Construction on Apple's spaceship-shaped second campus is progressing, as detailed in a new close-up video shared by Skycore on Vimeo. Shot last Monday, the video offers a look at the current state of construction, depicting a finished foundation, the first walls of the ring-shaped structure, and work on an underground parking facility. Apple has had some issues with campus construction as...

Father's Day is this weekend and there are some decent deals on iPads, iMacs, and the MacBook Air. Best Buy's running a promo discounting some iPad mini 3 models by $100, so now is an excellent time to pick up an iPad mini 3 if you've been waiting for a sale. Best Buy's also discounting the 2015 13-inch MacBook Air by $100. We've also rounded up some deals on Apple accessories including Beats ...

Samsung today asked the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider a central part of a recent ruling that ensured Apple would receive $548 million in damages, according to the San Jose Mercury News. The Korean company wants the court to hear the case with its full 12-judge roster rather than the 3-judge panel it used in the previous ruling. "Unlike rugs, spoons, and simple...

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...