MacRumors' Mac Blog: Mac Apps, News and Rumors

First announced back in January as an interstellar continuation of Civilization: Beyond Earth, Firaxis' Sid Meier's Starships today launches for iPad, PC, and Mac (via iMore). Developed by Firaxis in conjunction with 2K Games and Meier himself, Starships places players at the helm of a fleet of starships and tasks them with building a thriving interplanetary federation. Image via GameSpot ...

Popular Apple accessory maker Belkin today announced a line of new cables and adapters designed to work with the newly announced 12-inch Retina MacBook, which ships with a single USB-C port. Most notably, the company has announced a USB-C to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter, which will allow the 12-inch MacBook to be connected to Gigabit Ethernet networks using its USB-C port. Apple is not offering...

Apple Stores' ability to generate a high rate of foot traffic in malls is allowing Apple to win "sweetheart deals" from mall operators while increasing mall sales 10%, according to a new Wall Street Journal report. Apple draws so many shoppers that its stores single-handedly lift sales by 10% at the malls in which they operate, according to Green Street Advisors, a real-estate research firm....

LaCie on Tuesday announced the Porsche Design Mobile Drive as the world's first external hard drive with a built-in USB-C port. The LaCie Mobile Drive features a reversible cable that supports Apple's latest MacBook with USB-C technology, delivering data transfer speeds up to 100 MB/s for quickly transferring photos, videos and other files or backing up with Time Machine."The LaCie™ Mobile...

Just under a week after researchers uncovered a security flaw referred to as "FREAK" (Factoring Attack on RSA-EXPORT Keys) that left many devices vulnerable to hacking attempts, Apple has issued fixes for all of its platforms. The fix is available in Apple TV 7.1 for Apple TV 3rd generation and later, iOS 8.2 for iPhone 4s and later, iPod touch 5th generation and later and iPad 2 and later....

Announced in conjunction with the new line of MacBooks revealed at today's "Spring Forward" event in San Francisco, the USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adaptor will allow users a dock-like experience with included HDMI, USB 3.1, and USB-C inputs located on the device. Mainly featured will be the ability to mirror a MacBook's display onto an HDMI-connected screen. The adapter will allow users to...

Following today's media event where Apple unveiled the 12-inch MacBook and new details on the Apple Watch, the company has released a minor update to iMovie for Mac that adds in support for Photos. With the new Photos integration in iMovie, it's now possible for iMovie users to browse Moments, Collections, Favorites, and Albums that have been stored in Photos, using the Photos app to insert...

Today at Apple's special media event, HBO CEO Richard Plepler took the stage with Apple CEO Tim Cook to announce HBO Now, HBO's new standalone streaming service. The announcement comes just under a week after it was first reported. The new service is exclusive for Apple TV and other Apple devices for $14.99 a month. The service will be ready in time for the series premiere of HBO hit show Gam...

Apple's "Spring Forward" media event will be kicking off in just a few hours, and as usual some MacRumors readers 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 link to the...

For our second giveaway here at MacRumors, we've partnered with Pad & Quill, the maker of premium MacBook, iPhone, and iPad cases along with other accessories. Pad & Quill is graciously offering The Messenger Bag as our prize for this giveaway. The Messenger Bag is made of leather and waxed canvas and features a padded laptop pocket that will fit a 15-inch MacBook Pro Retina and a 25-year...

A total of 379 companies, including Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, and Google, have joined together to urge the Supreme Court to rule in favor of blanketed nationwide support for marriage equality (via The Verge). The companies filed an amicus brief yesterday, represented by law firm Morgan Lewis, in the on-going Obergefell v. Hodges case, wherein two men are arguing that the state of Ohio...

Following several months of experimentation with how it curates the music portion of its iTunes Store, Apple has rolled back some of those changes to restore an emphasis on editorial rather than sales-based criteria, according to Billboard. The news comes after a few independent record labels voiced concern over their artists being lost under the better-performing singers and albums of bigger...

iCloud Photos is Apple's service that allows users to store their photo and video libraries in the cloud, making them accessible on all Apple devices and on the web through the iCloud.com website. ‌iCloud‌ ‌Photos‌ simplifies the photo taking and storing process by allowing users to get to their images no matter which of their devices are in use. Turning on iCloud Photo Library iOS:...

Case Logic is known its line of backpacks, cases, and other storage accessories, all of which are priced affordably, making it quite popular with people looking for inexpensive but quality solutions for carrying around their devices. We met up with Case Logic at CES this year, where the company had a large booth showcasing all of its products, including the Ibira backpack, one of its newest...

Earlier in the month, Apple's London-based iTunes team posted a job listing describing an "Editorial Producer" who would have past experience reporting on pop culture, with specific background in music journalism (via Music Ally). While far from definitive, the job post could be hinting at some editorial-related expansions coming to the revamped Beats/iTunes merger set to launch later in the...

Following Valentine's Day, deals are a bit sparse, but there are still some discounts to be had on the iPad Air 2 and the iPad mini 3. Best Buy is also continuing to offer discounts on its stock of now-discontinued higher-capacity iPad Air and iPad mini 2 models, and several sites have cut the prices on the Retina MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air. We've also got some discounts on Apple...

Popular image editing tool Adobe Photoshop turns 25 years old today and plans to celebrate by showcasing a collection of artists, all under 25, who use its comprehensive suite of tools in new and unique ways. Released on February 19, 1990 with a handful of basic editing features, the software has seen massive updates and overhauls throughout the years, with over a dozen major installments to...

StackSocial began offering eight Mac apps in its "Ultra-Premium" bundle today, which includes Cultured Code's Things 2, an Apple Design Award winner, and Realmac Software's Typed, which was just released in December. The bundle is priced at $44.99, but StackSocial is offering MacRumors readers a $5 discount with coupon code MRULTRA5, bringing the price down to $39.99. The total retail value...