MacRumors' Mac Blog: Mac Apps, News and Rumors

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...

OS X 10.9.3, released last week, boosted the maximum VRAM used by the Intel HD 5000/5100/5200 graphics chips used in the most recent 2013/2014 MacBook Airs and Retina MacBook Pros. First noticed by French site Mac4Ever [Google Translation], updating to 10.9.3 increases available VRAM from 1024MB to 1536MB, boosting the size of the shared memory, possibly to further improve 4K performance on...

The original "rainbow" Apple logo signs that were used at Apple's Cupertino, California headquarters are set to be auctioned off in June for somewhere between $10,000-$15,000, reports Design Taxi (via The Verge). The signs will be auctioned off by British auction house Bonhams, with the larger, 46 x 49 inch version made out of foam and the smaller, 33 x 36 inch version made out of fiberglass. ...

Activist investor Carl Icahn has purchased another 2.8 million Apple shares worth some $1.70 billion according to a regulatory filing from Thursday (via The Wall Street Journal). In total, Icahn now owns more than 7.5 million shares of Apple, bringing his stake to almost $4.5 billion. Icahn's investment follows Apple's April announcement of a dramatic increase in its share repurchase...

There's a great deal on the entry-level 27-inch 3.2GHz iMac with 8GB of memory and a 1TB hard drive this week. It's available for $1,659.99 from Best Buy, Amazon, and B&H Photo, which marks a discount of $139 and one of the lowest prices we've seen. The best deal for many users will likely be from B&H Photo, as the site does not charge sales tax outside of the state of New York. Best Buy and ...

Apple today released iTunes 11.2 with several improvements to Podcast browsing, giving users a way to find new episodes with an "Unplayed" tab and the ability to save favorite episodes to a computer. Episodes can also now be deleted after they're played, and episodes that are available to download or stream can be found in the "Feed" tab. There's a fix for an issue that caused iTunes to become ...

Shipping estimates for the Mac Pro through Apple's online store continue to rapidly improve, with the company's European stores such as the UK now showing 1-2 weeks for new orders. Online stores for other regions are still listing estimates of 2-3 weeks, but they should be seeing a similar improvement shortly. After months of shortages for the completely revamped Mac Pro following its...

Apple today updated its professional audio software Logic Pro X to version 10.0.7, adding support for 24 processing threads on 12-core Mac Pro models along with several new features to enhance the functionality of the app and an array of bug fixes. What's new - Now supports 24 processing threads on 12-core Mac Pro models - The current volume, pan, and send values for all selected tracks...

Google has launched a new feature for its experimental Chrome Canary browser for Mac, enabling a beta function that allows users to open local Mac files using Chrome apps in Finder. Using the feature, Chrome apps can be associated with OS X files, bringing Google one step closer to replacing desktop functionality with its browser. For example, the Chrome Text app can be used to open any Mac...

There are some decent deals to be had on several Apple products this week, including the iMac, the cellular iPad Air, and the 2013 MacBook Air, all of which are available at low prices from various retailers. B&H, for example, is currently offering the 21.5-inch 2.7Ghz iMac with 8GB of memory and a 1TB hard drive for $1,149, a $149 savings off the regular price. The higher-end 21.5-inch iMac ...