MacRumors' Mac Blog: Mac Apps, News and Rumors

A new Mac OS X trojan horse that monitors web browsing traffic in order to steal Bitcoins has been discovered by SecureMac. The trojan, called OSX/CoinThief.A, is disguised as an innocuous Bitcoin app called StealthBit that purports to send and receive anonymous payments.The app was posted on open-source website GitHub, but the precompiled version of the app had the malicious payload installed. ...

The first Apple retail location could have opened in the late 70s, according to a new account from distinguished Silicon Valley marketer Regis McKenna (via CNET). During a fireside chat held Thursday at the Computer History Museum, McKenna recalled a 1976 meeting in which he turned down an offer from Apple founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak to market the Apple II. However, McKenna stated...

Apple today seeded build 13C53 of OS X 10.9.2 to developers, marking the fifth beta iteration of 10.9.2. The release comes a week after the fourth OS X 10.9.2 beta, build 13C48, and over a month after the first OS X 10.9.2 beta. The update is available to registered developers through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store as well as through the Mac Dev Center. Apple continues...

Apple's director of Federal Government Affairs appeared at a daylong summit for the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation to discuss distracted driving. A number of other executives appeared at the session as well, including representatives from Google, Samsung, AT&T, Sprint, Toyota, General Motors, and more.The summit, a multi-part roundtable discussion called...

As noted this morning, Apple has plans to open its first retail store in Brazil on Saturday, February 15. The store is located in the Village Mall luxury shopping center in Rio de Janeiro's famous Barra Da Tijuca borough. Brazilian news site The Globe [Google Translation] had an opportunity to speak with Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer about the store opening, which has been in ...

The first two buildings in Apple's new Austin, Texas campus are ready for occupancy, with the company having been issued temporary occupancy permits for two office buildings that span 290,000 square feet, according to a report in the Austin Business Journal. Photos published last year showed the buildings under construction along with a landscaped pond, fences and sidewalks, while new photos...

An exhaustive list of all the Apple references ever made in long-running television cartoons The Simpsons and Futurama has been compiled by Yoni Heisler of TUAW. On the air since 1989 and 1999, respectively, The Simpsons and Futurama have featured Apple products in various episodes more than 40 times. Some standouts include a 2010 episode of Futurama where Bender declares the Mac to be better...

Following Adobe's release of a "critical" update for Flash Player yesterday to address a security issue that is currently being exploited in the wild, Apple has updated its "Xprotect" anti-malware system to disable older versions of the plug-in. The move forces users to upgrade to the latest version of Flash if they wish to continue using the still-common media plug-in. Updated Xprotect ...

Apple today released a new support document that offers a solution for Late 2013 MacBook Pro and Mac Pro owners having difficulty with Airplay mirroring when connecting to an 802.11 b or g network. The company suggests that users who are experiencing issues with dropped connections and frozen images on the television when using Airplay mirroring should turn off Bluetooth.Turning off...

Steve Jobs had a desire to launch an OS X-compatible Sony VAIO, according to a new blog post from longtime Japanese freelance writer Nobuyuki Hayashi (via The Verge). The account comes from a 2011 interview with former Sony president Kunitake Ando, who stated Jobs and another Apple executive presented him with a VAIO running OS X during a winter golf tournament in Hawaii. Most of Sony's...

Adobe has released a "critical update" for its Adobe Flash Player software on both Mac and Windows, addressing a zero-day vulnerability that gives complete control over compromised systems to hackers. The vulnerability affects all Macs with Adobe Flash Player version 12.0.0.43 and earlier and all users are urged to update immediately. Adobe has a site where users can check what version of Flash...

Screenshots from the latest version of North Korea's home-grown "Red Star" Linux operating system reveal a striking resemblance to OS X, as shown in a new report from IDG News Service. The new look seen in version 3.0 of the software replaces the Windows-inspired design of version 2.0. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, might the folks in Cupertino be pleased when they see the...

Apple CEO Tim Cook will meet with Turkish President Abdullah Gül tomorrow at the ü">Çankaya Presidential Compound in Ankara, according to the President's official calendar. The visit comes as Apple is planning to open its first retail store in the heart of Istanbul's new multi-use Zorlu Center sometime in 2014. Apple is also heavily involved in the bidding for Turkey's $4.5 billion tablet...

Apple today seeded build 13C48 of OS X 10.9.2 to developers, marking the fourth beta iteration of 10.9.2. The release comes a week after the third OS X 10.9.2 beta, build 13C44, and a little over a month after the first OS X 10.9.2 beta. The update is available to registered developers through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store as well as through the Mac Dev Center. Apple ...

In an email to customers, hardware upgrade company Sonnet has announced yet another shipment delay for its Echo 15 and Echo 15 Pro+ Thunderbolt docking stations. Unveiled in April 2013, the hardware is still in the pre-order stage. The latest delay is the result of a company decision to upgrade the device to support Thunderbolt 2.0. Following our last Echo 15 and Echo 15 Pro+ Thunderbolt Dock...

Last October, Apple angered a lot of iWork power users when it introduced new versions of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.The new versions were rewritten from the ground up for improved usability and cross-platform compatibility across OS X, iOS and iWork in iCloud, but, as a result, some power user features didn't make it into the machine at release.Apple promised to restore the lost features...

Activist investor Carl Icahn revealed this morning that he has purchased an additional $500 million in Apple shares following Wall Street's disappointment with the company's earnings announcement yesterday.Apple's share price closed at $550 yesterday, before falling as low as $503 at open this morning.Just last week, Icahn announced that his share in Apple had passed $3 billion, then a day...

Industry-wide notebook shipments will continue to decline in 2014, claims NPD DisplaySearch. Revised estimates predict shipments from all vendors, including Apple, will reach 134 million units, down from an earlier estimate of 152 million unit. One factor contributing to this decline is the expected Q3 2014 launch of Intel's upcoming Broadwell CPU. Intel confirmed in its latest earnings...