MacRumors' Mac Blog: Mac Apps, News and Rumors

Apple today released Mac Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.5, bringing fixes for several issues on the latest version of Apple's professional workstation. This update is recommended for all Mac Pro (Mid 2010) models and addresses the following issues: - Resolves an issue that prevented the firmware password prompt from being displayed - Resolves an issue that prevented the Boot Picker from being...

Apple's retail store at the Roseville Galleria outside of Sacramento, California has reopened as part of the first wave of stores just one week after an arsonist barricaded himself inside a mall store and set fire. Due to concerns over whether the arsonist carried an explosive device in his backpack, firefighters were unable to directly combat the fire for some time, resulting in over $50...

AFP reports that a Chinese firm has accused Apple of trademark infringement for its use of the "iPad" name in that country, seeking up to $800 million to settle the dispute. Proview Technology Co, Ltd, which is based in the southern city of Shenzhen, registered the iPad trademark in January 2000 and still owns the rights to its use in China, the Beijing News said, citing government archives....

Boy Genius Report notes that AT&T retail stores have received their initial shipment of iPads and related display materials, two days before the device is set to go on sale both there and at Verizon retail stores. We have just been told AT&T stores have started receiving iPad display models, iPads for sale, and iPad display accessories. There won't be a separate display area for the iPads, the...

Bloomberg reports that Apple has brought in IT service provider Unisys to help with support for its corporate and government customers, a growing area of focus for Apple. Unisys will provide maintenance and other services to companies and government agencies that purchase Apple devices, Gene Zapfel, a managing partner at Unisys, said in an interview. One of the first of its kind for Apple, the...

Apple today released a pair of software updates bringing new version of Java to Macs running Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Leopard. The updates deliver improvements to compatibility, security, and reliability. - Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 3 (74.30 MB, Requires Mac OS X 10.6.4) Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 3 delivers improved compatibility, security, and reliability by updating Java SE 6 to...

Apple today released MacBook Air (Late 2010) Software Update 1.0, a minor update for users of the company's just-revamped MacBook Air. This update fixes a few graphics issues including: - Resolves an issue where the system becomes unresponsive while playing back a movie trailer in iMovie. - Resolves an issue where the system becomes unresponsive after waking from sleep when an external...

Apple today released Aperture 3.1, bringing compatibility with the new iLife '11 suite as well as a host of bug fixes and improvements. This update improves overall stability and performance, and addresses compatibility with iLife '11. It also includes a number of specific fixes in the following areas: - Performance when opening large libraries - Performance when exporting heavily-adjusted...

Alongside Apple's other announcements today, the company also quietly added a new option to its 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pros, allowing customers to configure the machines with a 2.8 GHz Core i7 processor. The upgrade comes as an additional $200 charge on top of the 2.66 GHz Core i7 processor that had been the top-of-the-line...

Update: Stream available It seems Apple will not be offering a video feed for this event. We've created this spoiler free page for readers who prefer watching the keynote themselves without knowing the outcome. Apple will likely post a recorded QuickTime stream a few hours after the keynote ends. Bookmark this link You can also subscribe to our notification list which will send out...

Apple today released a pair of updates for its Logic audio workstation software packages, bringing improved compatibility with Apple's new Mac Pros and several other enhancements. Logic Pro 9.1.2 (193.01 MB) and Logic Express 9.1.2 (139.67 MB) each require Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later. Issues addressed with 9.1.2 include: - Improved compatibility with 6 and 12-core Mac Pro systems - Support...

MacStories reports that Apple has seeded a fourth developer preview version of Xcode 4, the company's development environment for the Mac and iOS platforms, to registered Mac developers. This is a pre-release version of Xcode 4, a major new release of Xcode for both Mac and iOS development. This release requires Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, and includes the iOS SDK 4.1, to develop apps for Mac,...

Microsoft today released several updates for users of its Office for Mac productivity suite, bringing security and stability improvements to Office 2008 and 2004, as well as a pair of ancillary updates. - Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac 12.2.7 Update (332.8 MB) This update improves stability. In addition, it includes fixes for vulnerabilities that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of...

Bloomberg Game Changers, a new documentary series from Bloomberg Television that debuted last week with an episode on Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, will this week turn its attention to Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Airing this Thursday, October 14th at 9:00 PM Eastern Time, the documentary will offer an overview of his career and feature clips from interviews with a number of Jobs' associates over the...

Apple has announced via an email to MobileMe members that pages created with the legacy .Mac Homepage web application will cease to be viewable online as of November 8, 2010. Dear MobileMe member, Over a year ago, we retired the .Mac HomePage application for publishing new pages, but allowed previously published pages to remain viewable on the web. On November 8, 2010, we will discontinue...

Electronista reports on a new research note from Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu claiming that Apple is set to launch new iPhone form factors in the relatively near future, offering different screen sizes in at least of pair of models bracketing the current iPhone's market position. Analyst Shaw Wu has stated that supply chain checks indicate signs of new form factor iPhones under development,...

Despite a strikingly similar user interface between the old and new Apple TV, the new Apple TV represents completely re-engineered hardware and software. The focus on the new Apple TV is a streaming-only device as compared to the previous generation storage-syncing device. It appears this fundamental change has opened up a loophole in Apple's rental procedures. Apple's stated rental...

9 to 5 Mac points to a book listing [Google translation] on Amazon's German site discussing the as-yet-unreleased iLife '11 suite. The cover artwork and Amazon description for the new book, which is set to launch in December, appear to reveal several features of the next revision of iLife, including the possibility of additional iOS apps beyond the current iMovie offering. In particular, a...