MacRumors' Mac Blog: Mac Apps, News and Rumors

Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller and his wife Kim have donated $10 million to Bowdoin College's Coastal Studies Center on Harpswell Sound in Harpswell, Maine, as a user on Reddit pointed out today. In a press release, Bowdoin explained that the gift will allow it to "substantially expand" the facilities in which students perform ocean research and study...

Logitech resurrected the trackball device today with its announcement of the MX ERGO, which the company is calling its "first new innovative trackball in nearly a decade". Pitched to consumers looking for alternatives to mice and touchpads, the Bluetooth-based MX ERGO features an adjustable metal hinge with angle options at either zero or 20 degrees for personalizing the comfort level, which...

As Apple prepares to launch a new line of iPhones next week, the company is selling another round of bonds to further fund share buybacks and dividends, reports Bloomberg. Apple plans to offer $5 billion of debt in four parts to raise cash for its current capital return program.The iPhone maker is offering $5 billion of debt in four parts, after dropping a two-year floating rate component,...

I've covered a lot of Thunderbolt 3 docks in recent months, but there's one more upcoming model that's worth taking a look at. The TBT3-UDV is Plugable's upcoming flagship Thunderbolt 3 dock, featuring five USB 3.0 Type-A ports, Gigabit Ethernet, DisplayPort, stereo in/out, and a pair of Thunderbolt 3 ports. The dock isn't available for purchase yet, as Plugable is still awaiting Thunderbolt...

Apple has announced that its newest retail store will be opening on Saturday, September 16 within the shopping district known as Tianyi Square, located in Ningbo, in the Zhejiang province of China. As with all Apple retail grand openings, Apple Tianyi Square will open at 10:00 am local time. Under the leadership of Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts, the company began aggressively expanding...

The team behind the popular Pixelmator photo editing app for iOS and Mac today announced plans to unveil an all new pro-level app, Pixelmator Pro. According to the Pixelmator Pro teaser site, the new software features a reimagined editing workflow, simplified editing tools, and intelligent image editing features powered by machine learning. Pixelmator Pro is a powerful, beautiful, and easy...

Surtees Studios recently announced it has released a public beta of Bartender 3 for testing on macOS High Sierra and macOS Sierra. It's a free update available within Bartender 2, which costs $15 after a free four-week trial. The popular tool for rearranging or hiding Mac menu bar items has been completely rewritten in Swift, according to the release notes. Bartender 3 also no longer...

YoYo Games launched GameMaker Studio 2 on macOS this week, bringing the popular multiplatform 2D game development engine to the Mac for the first time. To date, the GameMaker Studio family of products has been downloaded more than 10 million times since 2012 and currently has 200,000 monthly active users, according to the developers. The Scotland-based outfit originally launched GameMaker...

Apple has announced that its retail store at the Simi Valley Town Center in Simi Valley, California, located approximately 30 miles from downtown Los Angeles, will permanently close later this month. Apple Store at Simi Valley Town Center Friday, September 15 is the last day the store will be open. Apple provided thanks for "over 10 great years" and advised customers to visit its retail store ...

Hundreds of chief executive officers, chief operating officers, chairmen, presidents, and other business leaders have added their signatures to an open letter asking President Trump to preserve the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The program protects young adults brought illegally into the U.S. -- called "Dreamers" -- and grants them the "basic opportunity to work and...

Popular Steam game Prison Architect, which was originally released in October as part of Steam's Early Access program, is making its way to the Mac App Store today through a partnership between developer Introversion Software and MacPlay. Prison Architect is a top-down simulation game where the goal is to build and run a successful prison. Players are tasked with building cells, recruiting...

Logitech today announced CRAFT, the company's latest $200 "advanced keyboard" for Mac and PC that features a creative input dial for more easily accessing context-specific controls while working. Called the Crown, the "smart aluminum dial" sits on the top-left of the new full-size keyboard and is touch sensitive, enabling creative users to tap or turn it to adjust settings like brush size,...

Pad & Quill today introduced its latest product, the Attaché Leather Messenger Bag, which is designed as an upgrade to its popular standard messenger bag. Like all Pad & Quill products, the new Messenger Bag is made from high-quality full-grain bridle leather by hand and outfitted with nickel and copper hardware. It features a padded laptop pocket that can accommodate a laptop up to 15...

Apple's newest 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro models offer new features like the Touch Bar and an expanded Trackpad, but they also lack features many deemed necessary, most notably any port other than USB Type-C. That means adapters, adapters, and more adapters. DockCase is hoping to help by introducing a case for the MacBook Pro that has a USB-C dock built in, eliminating the need for most...

Apple appears to have informed some customers that its repair center in Houston, Texas is unsurprisingly closed due to Hurricane Harvey, which has caused catastrophic flooding and damage in the area since making landfall five days ago. In a discussion on Reddit, one user said his Mac has been sitting at a FedEx shipping facility since Friday. FedEx, UPS, and the United States Postal Service...

Thunderbolt 3 docks continue to flood the market, and today I'm taking a look at IOGEAR's Thunderbolt 3 Quantum Docking Station. IOGEAR's dock offers many of the same features typically seen on other Thunderbolt 3 docks, including multiple USB ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, headphone and microphone jacks, a DisplayPort port, and a pair of Thunderbolt 3 ports to allow for daisy chaining, all in a ...

Apple this week announced that two of its retail stores, located at Village Pointe in Omaha, Nebraska and South Hills Village in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, will reopen Saturday, September 2 at 10:00 a.m. local time. Both locations have been closed for renovations for the past several weeks. Apple's old Village Pointe store in Omaha, Nebraska Apple Village Pointe will remain located on...

Apple CEO Tim Cook today sold more than $43 million worth of Apple stock, according to documents filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Cook sold 268,623 shares at prices ranging from $159.27 to $161.43, earning more than $43 million, all of which is held in a trust. Cook's stock was sold as part of a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 Plan set up in May of 2017, according to...