MacRumors' Mac Blog: Mac Apps, News and Rumors

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...

As spotted by iClarified, Apple is now reminding customers of upcoming "sales tax holidays" that allow residents in several US states to purchase select Apple gear without paying an additional sales tax charge. Customers potentially could save hundreds of dollars by purchasing high-priced items like MacBooks during this annual discount opportunity. If your state offers a tax holiday this...

Following this morning's release of Retina MacBook Pros with improved Haswell processors, OWC has procured both the entry-level 13-inch and and the entry-level 15-inch 2014 Retina MacBook Pro and provided a gallery of unboxing photos featuring the new devices. As expected, the packaging on the updated versions is the same as previous-generation Retina MacBook Pros. The site did a quick...

Thieves last night stole an unknown number of MacBooks in a smash-and-grab theft at the Apple Store located in the Southpoint Mall in Durham, North Carolina. The MacBook units reportedly were display models situated in the front section of the store. The Apple Store is part of The Streets at Southpoint, a shopping destination that includes both an indoor mall and an outdoor shopping...

Connected Data today launched an updated version of its Drobo Mini that includes Solid State Disk (SSD) drives (Via ZDNet). The new model offers an 80 percent performance improvement over a similar Drobo Mini equipped only with hard disk drives. The new Drobo Mini with SSDs is a portable storage solution designed for photographers, videographers and other on-the-go media professionals who...

The European Commission has approved Apple's acquisition of Beats Electronics and Beats Music (Via Engadget). The Commission concluded that merger posed no threat to competition as "the combined market share of Apple and Beats Electronics is low." In its decision, the Commission noted that the Apple and Beats merger would not negatively effect either the headphone or the streaming music...

Apple is planning to make a number of changes at its retail stores ahead of the upcoming holiday season, which include adjustments to Genius Bar appointments and training for its employees on a new initiative, according to 9to5Mac. The report notes that Apple will do away with the suggested 15 minute time limit for Genius Bar appointments in favor of a system that allows customers to book...

This week's Buyer's Guide includes deals on the MacBook Air, the Retina MacBook Pro, and AppleCare, as well as an array of Apple-related accessories that are currently on sale. MacBook Air Apple's MacBook Air is currently available for up to $150 off at Best Buy, with Adorama, Amazon, and B&H Photo offering similar deals on some models. The entry-level 11-inch MacBook Air with 128 GB of...

Apple has seeded developers with new versions of Safari 7.1 for OS X Mavericks and Safari 6.2 for OS X Mountain Lion as works continues on OS X Yosemite. In its release notes for both betas, Apple is asking developers to test AutoFill for passwords and credit cards as well as general website compatibility and extension compatibility. Focus Areas - Please focus testing on the following areas: - ...

Apple has announced on its official Chinese website that it will open its new retail store in Wuxi, China at Wuxi Hang Lung Plaza, which is about an hour's train ride from Shanghai, on Saturday, August 2 at 10 AM. Photo of Wuxi, China retail store before opening. Last week, Apple announced that its new Chongqing store is set to open this Saturday, July 26. New Apple retail chief Angela...

Apple's recent EFI Firmware 2.9 update for 2011 MacBook Air models appears to be causing trouble for several MacBook Air users, according to a thread on the Apple Support Communities. Released on July 15 to fix sleep/wake issues and a bug that caused fans to run at full speed after waking from sleep, the EFI update has caused some MacBook Air machines to shut down completely for several hours...

The Apple TV may gain a new FXNOW channel that includes Simpsons World content, according to TV writer Jason Lynch who tweeted the news yesterday (via iLounge). Lynch said the FXNOW channel will come to the Apple TV, Roku, and other devices within the next 12 months. FXNOW is the on-demand portion of the FX, FXX, and FXM television channels, all of which are owned by the Fox Entertainment...

Netflix for the Apple TV was updated today to add a new "Up Next" feature, which lets users automatically select the next episode of a television show for playback. While easy playback of the next episode in a series has been long available on the web and in the Netflix app for iOS devices, it's been noticeably missing from the Apple TV. Prior to today's update, Apple TV users were forced to...

Apple has announced on its official Chinese website (via 9to5Mac) that it will be opening a new retail store at the Paradise Walk Mall in the Chinese city of Chongqing on Saturday, July 26th, at 10 AM. Last Wednesday, Apple put up a colorful banner over the store's exterior, signaling that the store would be opening shortly. The store will be Apple's eleventh in the country, joining four...

There are some solid deals on Apple's Retina MacBook Pro this week, as well as some decent deals on the iMac, the MacBook Air, and AppleCare. Retina MacBook Pro Like last week, multiple retailers are offering $100 to $150 off most Retina MacBook Pro models. The 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro with 4GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage is $1,199 at Adorama and B&H Photo. The 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro ...