MacRumors' Mac Blog: Mac Apps, News and Rumors

Back in January, Google began testing integration of its Google Now personal assistant service with its Chrome browser for the desktop. The feature, which allows users to receive notifications for such topics as weather, traffic, and events and can tap into device location, first appeared in the experimental Chrome Canary builds and gradually worked its way through Chrome's testing phases, and...

After waiting for several years for Apple to release a new professional tower, the company finally released the new Mac Pro last year. With dual-GPUs and an innovative cooling system, the diminutive machine has impressed professional users.FCP.co decided to test out Final Cut Pro X and their well-equipped 8-core Mac Pro to absurd limits. The site put 1600 connected clips into the GUI, and...

Aspyr has updated Civilization V with support for the new Mac Pro, offering OpenCL frameworks to improve performance on NVIDIA and ATI chipsets in OS X Mavericks, as well as 4K resolution. The company says most Civilization V players should see faster game and visual performance as a result. Click the image for a full-sized 4K screenshot Civilization V is available on the Mac from the Mac App...

Apple today seeded build 13D21 of OS X 10.9.3 to developers, one week after releasing the second OS X 10.9.3 beta, build 13D17 and two weeks after the first 10.9.3 beta. The beta is available through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store as well as through the Mac Dev Center. Apple is currently asking developers to focus on Graphics Drivers and Audio. As was discovered with the...

In iOS 7, Apple redesigned the user interface from top to bottom, removing most "skeuomorphic" elements and giving the OS a cleaner and lighter look and feel. Back in January, it was reported that OS X 10.10 -- code named Syrah -- would also see a flatter redesign, but that it would not see as extensive a reworking as iOS did. Designer Danny Giebe has posted a series of concept images on...

Apple today updated GarageBand for Mac to version 10.0.2, bringing several improvements including the ability to export tracks in MP3 format and three new Drummer options in the $4.99 content pack. What's New in Version 10.0.2 - Improves stability and addresses a number of minor issues - Adds the option to export songs as an MP3 - Contains multiple enhancements to Accessibility -...

Apple has just pushed the first seed of Safari 7.0.3 for Mavericks and 6.1.3 for Mountain Lion to developers, asking them to focus on Push notifications, AutoFill and more. The betas are available through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store as well as through the Mac Dev Center. - General website compatibility - Safari Push Notifications - Login AutoFill - Credit Card...

Despite an earlier report suggesting a March launch, a new report from the Wall Street Journal now claims Amazon will start selling its video-streaming device in April through its own website and retailers like Best Buy. The device will run a version of Android akin to the company's Kindle Fire readers and will support common media streaming services like Netflix. The Amazon device will...

In a new video, former Apple marketing vice president Allison Johnson talked about marketing at Apple and what it was like to work under Steve Jobs. The interview, which took place at the 99U Pop-Up School last September (via Cult of Mac), covers words that were verboten at Apple -- "brand" and "marketing" among them -- as well as anecdotes about Steve Jobs, and some advice on marketing....

There have been several mockups of the next-generation iPhone and Apple's much-rumored iWatch, but few designers have tackled what could lie in store for Apple's upcoming revamped Apple TV set-top box. German technology magazine Curved has explored what the future of the Apple TV could look like, posting some conceptual images of a set-top box that includes iPhone 5s design elements and a...

Transcend has introduced new RAM updates for the 2013 Mac Pro, allowing users to bring the total amount of memory in their machines to 128 GB, double Apple and OWC's maximum 64 GBs of RAM. Transcend's DDR3 RDIMMs are available in 16 and 32 GB modules to boost Apple's 2013 Mac Pro machines to 64, 96, or 128 GB of memory, but its 1333 Mhz 32 GB modules run more slowly than the 16 GB 1866 Mhz...

Every year for the past seven years, hackers have gathered at the annual PWN2OWN event to hack high-profile software and mobile devices using previously unknown vulnerabilities. Apple's Safari browser and iOS platform are often included in the annual contest, which also targets Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, and Adobe's Flash and Reader applications. This year, Safari was taken down on day...

Apple today seeded build 13D17 of OS X 10.9.3 to developers, one week after releasing the first OS X 10.9.3 beta, build 13D12. The beta is available through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store as well as through the Mac Dev Center. Apple is currently asking developers to focus on Graphics Drivers and Audio. As was discovered last week, 10.9.3 adds new support for 4K displays,...

South Carolina-based accessory maker Twelve South has introduced a new version of its popular BookBook MacBook case called the Rutledge. Though it has the same basic design as previous BookBook for MacBook cases, the company is proud of a new leather coloring technique that it developed that involves adding and removing color multiple times to enhance the natural look of the leather.It's so...

Titanfall, the multiplayer first-person shooter developed by Respawn Entertainment exclusively for Windows, Xbox 360, and Xbox One, may be coming to the Mac in the future. In a post on Twitter last night (via Polygon), Respawn Entertainment co-founder Vince Zampella said the company is in talks with Mac game publisher Aspyr over possibly bringing Titanfall to Mac. "We are talking to Aspyr," he ...

AgileBits today has updated its popular password manager app, 1Password for Mac, to version 4.2, bringing 30 new features, including significant improvements for 1Password Mini, the app's menu bar extension (via Cult of Mac). 1Password mini - You can now edit items directly within 1Password mini! - Edit generated passwords in 1Password mini, too - Greatly improved URL matching makes logging ...

When the Apple TV was updated to version 6.1 earlier this week, it was initially thought that there were minimal changes outside of the ability to hide icons in the main menu. However, a new report from AFP548 (via Daring Fireball) indicates that Apple also enabled AirPlay device discovery over Bluetooth as well. Here’s one that will make educators and education network administrators...

iCloud, iTunes, and other Apple websites are currently experiencing issues, with many users indicating an inability to access Apple services. Some users are having having trouble loading Apple's System Status page, which is not displaying any information on the outage. iTunes is displaying connectivity error messages, as is the App Store on iOS devices, with users unable to load either service. ...