MacRumors' Mac Blog: Mac Apps, News and Rumors

Apple today seeded developers with new versions of Safari for OS X Mavericks (Safari 7.1) and OS X Mountain Lion (Safari 6.2) to parallel continued work on OS X Yosemite. In particular, Apple is asking developers to test general website and extension compatibility for several reasons.Please test general website compatibility. - Subpixel rendering is now on by default for all web content. Web...

Apple today posted an updated support document noting that it is now blocking older version of the Adobe's Flash Player plug-in due to a major security issue present in older versions. In a posting to its security mailing list, Apple notes that users must upgrade to the latest 14.0.0.145 version of Flash Player if possible. For those users running systems incompatible with Flash Player 14,...

Apple this morning unveiled an artistic multi-colored barrier around its forthcoming location in Edinburgh, Scotland, signaling that it will soon open its first store in the country's capital city, reports the Edinburgh Evening News (via ifoAppleStore). The store will be located on the historic Princes Street, with inside sources saying that the location's opening is "imminent." Based on the ...

Apple is now allowed to register the layout of its retail stores as a trademark in Europe following a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union, reports The Wall Street Journal. The EU's top court said Thursday that Apple's flagship stores fulfilled the three criteria for a trade mark: they constitute a sign; they can be represented in a graphic; and they can distinguish the goods ...

Video site Vimeo today announced a revamp of its Apple TV channel, simplifying the interface, launching a new "Staff Favorites" monthly feature, and making several other enhancements. The updates focus on improving video discovery and reducing the number of clicks it takes to access videos. Simplified navigation We took our old menu, cut it down to the essentials, and put it at the top of...

Former Apple retail chief Ron Johnson spoke earlier this year at his alma mater Stanford University and talked about the early years of Apple retail stores (via ifoAppleStore). Johnson oversaw the development of the Apple Store and is credited with creating the company's distinctive retail experience. After joining Apple in 2000, Johnson was given complete control over the company's retail...

Apple will open its newest retail store in Basel, Switzerland on Saturday, July 12 at Freie Strasse, a shopping area famous in Basel. The shopping street has a number of high end stores and restaurants, with Apple opening at building number 47. The Basel store will join three other Apple retail locations in Switzerland, located in Geneva, Zurich, and Wallisellen. The store, which has been...

Apple has struck a deal for a new 100-acre solar farm near its Maiden, North Carolina data center, the third such farm providing energy for the facility, reports the Hickory Daily Record. According to the report, Apple will be making an initial investment of $55 million in the solar farm, which will generate 17.5 megawatts of power.Apple plans to have a grading permit submitted for the property...

There are some solid deals on Apple-related software and accessories this week due to the Fourth of July holiday in the United States, as well as some decent discounts on the iMac, MacBook Air, and Retina MacBook Pro. iMac Best Buy is running a four-day 4th of July sale offering $120 off of Apple's entire lineup of iMacs. This drops the price of the new entry level 1.4Ghz iMac to $979.99....

Apple today launched a new $49 Mac Pro Security Lock Adapter in its online store, offering users of the new Mac Pro a way to easily secure their machines using existing Kensington locks. Previously, users had to resort to custom building their own locks or ordering more expensive third-party solutions. Apple's lock adapter is a simple metal bracket that secures the lift-off cover of the Mac...

While Adobe has responded to Apple's announcement that it is ending development of its Aperture professional photo editing and management app for OS X by promising to "double down" on Lightroom, there are other players in the market. Corel is one of those competitors, and the company is hoping to attract some current Aperture users to switch to its AfterShot Pro 2 software launched last month. ...

There are some great deals on Apple-related software and accessories this week, as well as some decent discounts on the iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, and the new iMac. For the next day, customers can get the new low-end 21.5-inch iMac for just $830 from Best Buy with a $120 discount on the iMac itself combined with a $150 discount on all Macs for students with an .EDU email address, a total price drop ...

After announcing plans to cease development of its professional photo editing software, Aperture, Apple is assuring users of its other professional-oriented software that it plans to continue video development with a series of new updates. Final Cut Pro, Motion, Compressor, and MainStage Pro are all being updated today, with Final Cut Pro receiving the largest update. The update for the...

Apple today seeded build 13E25 of OS X 10.9.4 to developers, just under a week after seeding the third OS X 10.9.4 beta, build 13E19, and more than a month after the public release of OS X 10.9.3, which included enhanced support for 4K displays and syncing improvements. The beta is available through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store and through the Mac Dev Center. It...

Apple today updated its iWork for iCloud software suite, adding new features to Pages, Keynote, and Numbers (via The Loop). All three cloud-based applications now remember a user's last used document settings and a user's most recent screen name when opening a shared document. The apps also now include tips on how to perform certain actions using keyboard when right-clicking on objects and...

Best Buy is now offering the new entry-level iMac for $979.99, a $120 discount off its standard price of $1099. Combined with the recent educational discount that takes an additional $150 off the price of Apple iMacs and MacBooks, the new iMac model can be purchased by qualifying customers for just $829.99. While the $980 sale price is available to all customers until June 28, the extra...

Microsoft today announced that it will provide up to $650 in store credit for select MacBook Air models, in an effort to get MacBook Air owners to switch to the company's new Surface Pro 3, which it claims has the "power of a laptop in a lightweight, versatile form." Trade-ins must be conducted within a Microsoft retail store. First announced in May, the Surface Pro 3 offers a 12-inch display, ...

Microsoft announced today via Computerworld) that it will be dropping support for older versions of Skype on Mac and Windows over the next few months to make way for newer editions. Specifically, Skype for Mac 6.14 and below will be retired in the near future, as Microsoft noted that users will no longer be able to sign into the service until they upgrade to the latest version of Skype. Skype ...