MacRumors' Mac Blog: Mac Apps, News and Rumors

Apple has issued updates for MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air notebook models to fix a rare battery issue. The updates are available via Apple's software updates page or through Software Update and the Mac App Store.This update addresses a rare issue on some Apple notebooks where a battery that has accumulated more than 1000 charge cycles may unexpectedly shut down or stop functioning.Updat...

Apple today seeded build 12D61 of OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.3 to developers, marking the eighth beta iteration of the newest version of Mountain Lion. 10.8.3 was first seeded to developers back in November. Build 12D61 has been released less than a week after build 12D58. The new build asks developers and testers to focus on AirPlay, AirPort, Game Center, Graphics Drivers, and Safari. As with ...

Bloomberg reports that Apple is to open its first store in Berlin, in the upmarket shopping district of Ku'damm. The store, for which Apple began hiring over a year ago, will be in a former movie theatre at Ku'damm 26, opposite the Hard Rock Cafe and close to the city's most famous department store, Kaufhaus des Westens. The area is home to Berlin's biggest concentration of luxury shops,...

Best Buy is offering Apple's June 2011 Airport Extreme Base Station -- the current model that Apple sells new for $179 -- for $89.99 as its deal of the day.Apple sells the same device refurbished for $139.Originally released June 2011The sleek, easy-to-use AirPort Extreme Base Station with simultaneous dual-band support is the perfect wireless access point for home, school or small business. ...

Following the release of iOS 6.1, Apple has updated its Xcode developer toolset as well. The new version, Xcode 4.6, includes improvements in code completion heuristics, new compiler warnings, and other coding improvements.What's new- Includes SDKs for OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion and iOS 6.1.- Code completion heuristics are more accurate, and use an optimized default data set.- New compiler...

A blog entry at Zero Hedge suggests that a deliberate share dump in the final second of trading may have been partly responsible for yet another drop in Apple's share price on Friday. Zero Hedge cites several Nanex charts as evidence, observing that some 800,000 shares worth $350 million were traded in the final seconds of trading on Friday.Unlike traditional flash crashes where the trade is ...

Best Buy is having a Winter Doorbuster Days sale on Friday, January 25 and Saturday, January 26, providing discounts on several products. Most notably, the retailer is offering $200 off on select MacBook Airs. Both the 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air models are discounted, giving the entry level 11-inch Air with 4GB of RAM and a 64GB SSD a price tag of $799.99. The base model 13-inch MacBook...

Half-Life, the first person shooter originally released in 1998, skyrocketed developer Valve to fame and influenced an entire generation of first person shooters. Despite its popularity, the game has never been available through Steam for Mac, until today. As discovered by Cult of Mac, Valve released Half-Life for Mac on Steam this morning, though the company has yet to make an official...

Apple is to move its Tokyo HQ from the Shinjuku district to a $2.2 billion development in the more central area of Roppongi Hills, reports Bloomberg. Apple is said to be planning to take one or two floors of the 54-story building, which is home to Goldman Sachs and Barclays. Roppongi Hills is one of Japan's largest integrated property developments, the complex including a Grand Hyatt hotel,...

The 10% drop in Apple's share value following the company's earnings release earlier this week was not entirely the fault of Apple, Fortune suggests, but rather that of overheated analyst predictions. Fortune assessed the accuracy of the predictions made by 68 analysts, and found that revenue figures ranged from $51.7 billion to $65.69 billion against Apple's actual performance of $54.51...

Apple today began a new 'Get Stuff Done' promotional sale, offering discounts on several popular productivity apps. The sale, which will take place over three weeks, features three categories: Prioritize, Organize, and Utilize. This week’s category is Prioritize, and features list making apps like Clear and Things at a deep discount. Here’s a full list along with prices: -Clear: $6.99...

Origin, Electronic Art's digital distribution platform, is available for Macs as of today via an open alpha testing period. Origin for Mac was initially announced in August of last year, when EA noted that the Mac version of its upcoming SimCity game was expected to launch alongside the PC version. SimCity will no longer be released simultaneously on the Mac and the PC, but EA will presumably...

Apple today seeded build 12D58 of OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.3 to developers, marking the seventh beta iteration of the newest version of Mountain Lion. 10.8.3 was first seeded to developers in November. Build 12D58 comes a week after build 12D54, and like the previous build, contains no known issues or features. Build 12D54 brought significant changes to WiFi, and asked developers to focus on ...

Today at the Hollywood Radio and Television Panel, Disney CEO and Apple board of directors member Bob Iger discussed his relationship with Steve Jobs, according to The Wrap. Jobs became Disney's largest shareholder after he sold Pixar to Disney for $7.4 billion, which also set the stage for Disney's acquisitions of Marvel and Lucasfilm later on. Iger recalled that the deal almost never...

The Ashton Kutcher-led jOBS film will be opening in theaters on April 19, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The biopic, directed by Joshua Michael Stern and written by Matthew Whitely, chronicles Jobs' ascension from college dropout to one of the most revered entrepreneurs of the 20th century. Part of the film was shot in the historic garage where Jobs first set up shop at his family's home ...

Just over a year after TwelveSouth released its PlugBug Mac and iDevice charger, it has gone international. The new PlugBug World is the same as the original, but includes five swappable prong adapters for use in the UK, Continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand, North America, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Japan and a number of other countries.PlugBug World is an international version of the...

NZweek reports (via The Next Web) that government officials in Indonesia have revealed that Apple has submitted an application outlining plans to relaunch its online store in the country, to be followed by the opening of its first Indonesian retail store in Jakarta.Chatib Basri, BKPM chairman, said BKPM has given official permission to Apple relating to its plan to open online store in Indonesia. ...

Shipping estimates for new orders of 21.5-inch iMac models began slipping in Apple's online stores in many European countries such as the United Kingdom today, moving from 7-10 business days to 2-3 weeks. The changes have not yet propagated to stores for other regions. Estimates for the 21.5-inch models had remained steady at 7-10 business days since just after they became available for...