MacRumors' Mac Blog: Mac Apps, News and Rumors

Apple's plans for its first flagship store in Australia have been dealt another blow, with The Age reporting that the proposed location in Melbourne has won Heritage Protection status until late 2018. The Victorian branch of Australia's National Trust is said to have nominated Federation Square for protection earlier this month, shortly after Apple submitted revised blueprints for the planned...

Relay FM co-founder Stephen Hackett today shared an extensive collection of screenshots for every major release of the Mac operating system in the past 18 years, over which time its name has changed from Mac OS X to OS X to macOS. The library of over 1,500 screenshots is available on Hackett's blog 512 Pixels, providing a look back at the visual history of Mac OS X Cheetah in 2000 through...

Apple CEO Tim Cook recently donated 23,215 shares of Apple stock to charity, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission released today. At the stock's current closing price of $215.04, Cook's donation is worth close to $5 million. The SEC filing does not disclose the charity that Cook donated the shares to, as executives are not required to divulge that information. ...

Apple has added two China-based manufacturers to its list of MacBook chassis suppliers in an effort to push down prices quoted by Taiwan-based makers, according to a new report today by DigiTimes. China-based Shenzhen Everwin Precision Technology and AAC Technologies are said to have obtained Apple certification in 2017, and this year they began small-volume shipments of the metal-alloy...

You can share files you've synced to iCloud with friends and colleagues who have an Apple ID using the step-by-step guide below. Whether you're sharing from a Mac or an iPhone, you'll be able to give people one-way access to the file, or allow them to modify the document if you're collaborating on a piece of work. The sharing options you choose automatically sync across your devices, so you...

Logitech today announced the launch of the MX Vertical, the company's most advanced ergonomic mouse to date. The MX Vertical, which was designed in collaboration with ergonomic experts, combines ergonomic design elements with MX mouse performance for a mouse that cuts down on forearm strain and wrist pressure without impacting productivity. Up to 12 percent of computer users feel...

Microsoft Office appears to be experiencing activation issues on both Mac and PC today, according to several user reports on Twitter. MacRumors also received emails from multiple readers affected. At least some Office 365 subscribers who have attempted to use Word, Outlook, and other apps in the Microsoft Office suite have been prompted to reactivate their license, but the process fails to...

A Melbourne schoolboy has pleaded guilty to hacking into Apple's secure network after the company notified authorities of the intrusion (via The Age). The teen, who can't be named for legal reasons, appeared at an Australian Children's Court on Thursday facing allegations of hacking into Apple's servers on multiple occasions. Details of the case are still sketchy, but the boy's hacking is...

Apple doesn't often allow people to visit its data centers, which are located across the country, but The Arizona Republic was recently given a tour of Apple's Mesa Arizona data center, formerly the site of GT Advanced. The Mesa Arizona facility spans 1.3 million square feet, with long, sparse hallways equipped with servers. Apple calls the Mesa site its "global data command" center, which...

Apple recently reported sales of 3.72 million Macs in the third quarter, its fewest in any quarter since 2010. It was also the first time Apple sold fewer than four million Macs in any quarter since 2013. For that reason, it should come as no surprise that Apple's share of the worldwide notebook market took a hit last quarter. Taiwanese research firm TrendForce estimates that Apple...

Apple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser Apple first introduced over two years ago in March of 2016. Apple designed the Safari Technology Preview to test features that may be introduced into future release versions of Safari. Safari Technology Preview release 63 includes bug fixes and feature improvements for Dark Mode, Custom Elements, Media,...

Apple's latest retail location is set to open in Kyoto, Japan at 10:00 a.m. local time on August 25, the company announced today on its Apple Japan YouTube site and on a new page for the upcoming store. The new Kyoto store will be Apple's ninth retail store in Japan, and the first that's located in Kyoto. Apple has several other stores in Tokyo, along with locations in Osaka, Aichi, Miyagi,...

When Apple introduced refreshed MacBook Pro models back in July, the company also debuted new Leather Sleeves that are designed to fit 13 and 15-inch MacBook Pro models. In our latest YouTube video, we went hands-on with one of the new Leather Sleeves to see whether or not they're worth the $179 to $199 price tag. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Available in...

Newton, a popular email service for iOS and Mac, is shutting down on September 25, the company's founder Rohit Nadhani announced today. Newton is a subscription-based app that costs $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year, a business model that did not end up being successful. Nadhani says that the company explored "various business models" but wasn't able to "successfully figure out profitability &...

Apple has become a member of The Thread Group, an organization that supports companies interested in innovating networking solutions for consumer smart home devices using the Thread mesh standard (via 9to5Mac). Apple has been added to the list of official members on the group's website, although what that means in practical terms is unclear. According to literature available online, the...

Microsoft last month announced plans to shut down Skype 7, aka Skype Classic, on PCs and Macs in September, with the company encouraging customers to instead upgrade to the latest version of Skype, Skype 8. Skype 8, first introduced last year, features a total design overhaul that has not been popular with some customers, which led some Skype users to be unhappy with Microsoft's announcement. ...

Apple is partnering up with Akamai, Etsy, and Swiss Re to develop two new wind and solar energy farms in Illinois and Virginia, the companies announced today. The new energy projects are set to generate 290 megawatts for the PJM electric grid in the Eastern United States, covering areas like Virginia, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. A solar farm in China As a collective,...

There are many hidden features in both macOS and iOS that often go under the radar, either because they haven't received a lot of attention from Apple in marketing materials or they've been forgotten after a period of time. In our latest video over on YouTube, we've done a second video in our macOS tips series, offering up some useful tricks and shortcuts you might not know about. Subscribe ...