MacRumors' Mac Blog: Mac Apps, News and Rumors

Following the release of a new 10.9.5 beta for developers, Apple today released Safari 7.0.6 for OS X Mavericks and Safari 6.1.6 for OS X Mountain Lion to the public, bringing new security fixes to the browser. The new Safari builds can be downloaded through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store. Apple has also previously seeded Safari 6.2 and Safari 7.1 for Mountain...

Apple today seeded Mavericks 10.9.5 build 13F14 to developers, just over a week after seeding the second OS X 10.9.5 beta, build 13F12, and more than a month after releasing OS X 10.9.4 to the public. The beta is available through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store and through the Mac Developer Center. It is unclear what improvements the 10.9.5 update will bring to...

This week's Buyer's Guide includes some deals on the brand new 2014 Retina MacBook Pros, as vendors attempt to draw in customers with lower prices. Many retailers also continue to offer discounts on the previous-generation 2013 Retina MacBook Pros to clear out stock, and we've also got some deals on the 11-inch 2014 MacBook Air, several apps, and an array of Apple accessories. There are no...

Earlier this week, a Bloomberg report claimed China's National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance had prohibited government purchases of Apple hardware. While we acknowledged in our initial report that there was dispute about the reason for Apple's omission from the list, China's Central Government Procurement Centre, the finance ministry, and Apple have all come...

Apple today released iTunes 11.3.1, fixing two separate podcasts bugs that caused subscribed podcasts to cease updating with new episodes and that caused iTunes to freeze up when browsing a list of podcast episodes. iTunes 11.3.1 addresses a problem where subscribed podcasts may stop updating with new episodes and resolves an issue where iTunes may become unresponsive while browsing your...

Apple today seeded Mavericks 10.9.5 build 13F12 to developers, just over a week after seeding the first OS X 10.9.5 beta, build 13F7, and more than a month after releasing OS X 10.9.4 to the public. The beta is available through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store and through the Mac Developer Center. It is unclear what improvements the 10.9.5 update will bring to...

Former Apple retail employee Sam Sung is using his rather ironic name and job history to raise money for a Canadian charity (via Pocket-lint). Sung worked for Apple in Vancouver's Pacific Centre store as a specialist and recently found one of his old business cards in pristine condition when it fell out of a book. Realizing it may be a desirable memento, Sung is now auctioning the card with "no...

According to Bloomberg, China's National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance have prohibited government purchases of Apple hardware, citing security concerns as the reason for the ban. Ten Apple products were not included on a recent government procurement list from June that governs the spending of public funds, according to anonymous government officials who...

Following the launch of a 64-bit beta version of Chrome for Windows 7 and 8 users last week, Google has quietly added 64-bit support to Chrome Canary for OS X, the experimental build of its Chrome web browser designed for Mac users, and to its Mac Dev channels. As noted by The Next Web, the latest build of Chrome Canary, version 38.2114.2, has 64-bit clearly listed in the About section of the...

Bjango today released iStat Menus 5, the newest version of its popular Mac system monitor. The program brings a refreshed design, compatibility with OS X Yosemite, and enhanced per-app metrics and stats. Additionally, time and world clocks are now available for more than 120,000 cities along with support for additional languages. New menubar icons and revamped-drop down menus are emphasized...

Apple has announced on its website (via ifoAppleStore) that it will open its third store in the Netherlands this Saturday, August 9 at The Hague's Passage mall. Job listings for the store were posted over a year ago, as the location itself will join Apple's stores in Haarlem and Amsterdam. According to One More Thing [Google Translate], the new location in The Hague will also feature a...

Back in June, Apple announced plans to discontinue development on both Aperture and iPhoto in favor of the new Photos app that will be added to both iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite in the future. Adobe took advantage of Aperture's discontinuation, announcing its own plans to create a tool to help former Aperture and iPhoto customers transition to Lightroom, Adobe's professional photo editing software. ...

Alongside iOS 8 beta 5 and the fifth Yosemite beta, Apple today launched a new Apple TV software beta, which includes a long-awaited interface update. The new interface includes new icons, which are designed to resemble the icons in iOS 7, with a flatter, less glossy look. Several icons, like Music, Computers, and TV Shows have new colors, and the on-screen fonts have been updated as well. I ...

Work has begun on Apple's second retail location in Turkey, reports Turkish website ElmaDergisi (Google Translate, via ifoAppleStore). According to the report, the store will open in Istanbul's Akasya Shopping Center and may coincide with the launch of the iPhone 6 this fall. Photos of the store's construction show workers laying out flooring and wooden tables, as the store's front glass...

Beats Electronics today posted a new video to its Twitter account, celebrating Apple's acquisition of the company alongside Beats Music. The short video (via 9to5Mac) features Beats Pill mascots Tina and Mikey excited about the acquisition, with Siri informing the two that Dr. Dre would be having a party to celebrate. When the two ask Siri for directions to the party, Siri informs them that...

This week's Buyer's Guide includes some deals on the previous-generation 2013 Retina MacBook Pros, which are now available at rock bottom prices thanks to the launch of new 2014 Retina MacBook Pros on Tuesday. There's also a decent discount on the 2014 MacBook Air, and some discounted prices on an array of different Apple accessories. Retina MacBook Pro For users who are looking for a deal...

Coppertino today updated its popular Vox music player to version 2.1, adding SoundCloud integration and new options for organizing music. Vox now has the ability to stream HQ/FLAC/Lossless music from SoundCloud, giving users a way to listen to high quality music uploaded to SoundCloud. According to Coppertino founder Ivan Ablamskiy, Vox is the only third-party music player that allows users to ...

Apple today re-released its EFI Firmware 2.9 update for 2011 MacBook Air models after the original EFI update appeared to be causing trouble for many MacBook Air users. The update, originally released on July 15 to address sleep/wake issues, caused some MacBook Air machines to shut down completely for several hours. On other machines, the update simply refused to install. Today's re-released...