MacRumors' Mac Blog: Mac Apps, News and Rumors

The artwork seen on the banner for iOS 8 at WWDC 2014 has been discovered on stock photo site GreenBox Art, revealing where Apple sourced the image. "Water Rays" artwork by Christopher Ross Titled "Water Rays", the photo was taken by artist Christopher Ross, who is noted as being the principal photographer for National Geographic Channel's "Expedition Great White/ Shark Men" special...

As announced earlier this month, Katie Cotton, head of Apple's public relations department and an 18-year veteran at Apple, has left the company, reports Re/code.Cotton is known for having been fiercely protective of Apple executives, particularly Steve Jobs, serving as gatekeeper for all media access and shepherding executives through their formal and informal meetings with the press.Given...

Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference (WWDC) kicks off on Monday, but a few retailers have some larger than normal discounts on some current Mac models. The 21.5" 2.7GHz current generation iMac is seeing a $149 discount at Adorama and Best Buy. The iMac, however, is near the end of its refresh cycle and while we probably won't see the new low-cost iMac debuted at WWDC, it does seem...

Walter Isaacson, known to the Apple community for his authorized Steve Jobs biography, believes the Apple co-founder would have approved of Apple's acquisition of Beats. Isaacson shared his thoughts on the Beats deal during a CNBC interview earlier today (via Fortune). Isaacson points to the close relationship between Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, both of...

Apple's upcoming Omotesando retail store located in Japan may incorporate a unique "green curtain" of vines and plants to help with climate control, according to Japanese Apple site Mac Otakara [Google Translation]. Though much of the store remains hidden under large curtains, one entire wall of the building appears to be entirely covered with plant life, which the site suggests is used to ...

Apple today removed the link to the iPod classic from the sidebar of its U.S. and Canadian refurbished stores, perhaps offering an indication that the ancient hard drive-based MP3 player is finally on its last legs. Though the link is gone, the actual page for the refurbished iPod classic remains on Apple's website. The sidebar link is still present in Apple's international refurbished stores...

A month after a public beta was made available, RSS news reader Reeder 2 has officially launched in the Mac App Store. The original Reeder app was discontinued following the shutdown of Google Reader last July. The new version of the program is compatible with RSS platforms such as Feedbin, Feedly, Feed Wrangler, Fever, and Readability along with support for local and standalone RSS. Other...

Mentions of new iMac models are buried inside the OS X Mavericks 10.9.4 beta that was seeded earlier today. There are three new resource files for power management that mention three new iMacs with model numbers beginning with 15, according to some digging done by Pike's Universum (via TonyMacx86). The current iMac line is made up of models 14,1 and 14,2. The most interesting part is the...

Apple today released iTunes 11.2.2, a minor update to the software that fixes a podcast bug that caused podcast episodes to unexpectedly download after an upgrade. It also includes several stability improvements.This update fixes a problem where certain podcast episodes may download unexpectedly after upgrading and includes several stability improvements.This is the third update to iTunes to be...

Apple may have considered including USB hard drive support in the AirPort Express initially released in June of 2012, according to an early support manual unearthed by French site Journal Du Lapin (via iPhone in Canada). Available in PDF format, the older manual references a section suggesting a USB hard disk or USB hub could be connected to the AirPort Express, allowing all computers on the...

Google subsidiary VirusTotal announced (via The Next Web) and launched a version of its VirusTotal Uploader for OS X, bringing the popular malware scanning tool to Apple's platform for the first time. After a quick installation, the program allows users to drag and drop any file, folder, or application to perform a malware scan. VirusTotal Uploader utilizes over 50 different databases to...

Apple kicked off a new promotion in time for Father's Day that offers free shipping on all online purchases placed through May 29. This limited time offer waives the $50 minimum purchase Apple usually requires for free shipping. Besides the Father's Day branding and shipping promotion, Apple also updated its website with a gift guide that showcases the top gifts this year for Dads. Items...

Pixelmator has updated its incredibly popular image editing software to version 3.2, including a completely redesigned repair tool, 16-bits per channel color support and a much-requested Lock Layers feature. The new repair tool includes quick, standard and advanced modes that use retouching algorithms to remove imperfections or unwanted objects from images more efficiently. The Lock Layers...

At Fortune's recent Brainstorm Green conference, Apple VP of Environmental Initiatives Lisa Jackson spoke about her role at Apple and the company's green initiatives, reports Philip Elmer-DeWitt of Apple 2.0. Jackson joined Apple's executive team last year and formerly served as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency. After a brief discussion of Jackson's background and Apple's...

Apple today released Safari 7.0.4 for OS X Mavericks and Safari 6.1.4 for OS X Mountain Lion and Lion, addressing a significant memory corruption issue in the WebKit engine powering Apple's browser. It also addresses an issue with handling of unicode characters that could be exploited.The Safari 7.0.4 update is recommended for all OS X Mavericks users and contains improvements to security. For ...

International aid organization Baptist World Aid Australia released its Electronics Industry Trends report that examines working conditions for employees throughout the technology supply and manufacturing chain (via ZDNet). Apple was one of the highest-ranking brands in the report, which includes suppliers in all facets of the supply chain starting with mineral extraction and extending to the end ...

Google has usurped Apple as the world's most valuable brand in Millward Brown's annual BrandZ study of global brands (via The Telegraph). This comes after the survey had named Apple the top brand for the past three years. The study saw Apple's brand value decline 20%, from $185 billion to $147 billion, while Google saw a 40% increase, from $113 billion to $158 billion. Samsung also grew,...

Waterfield Designs today introduced its new Mac Pro Go Case, a bag designed to transport the 2013 Mac Pro and necessary accessories. Created from padded ballistic nylon, the case is designed to fit snugly around Apple's newest desktop computer. The case cushions the Mac Pro with both internal padding and a plush liner, and there's a heavy duty plastic plate to protect the bottom of the...