MacRumors' Mac Blog: Mac Apps, News and Rumors

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with WaterField Designs to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a Zip Laptop Brief, which is one of WaterField Designs' newest products. Like all WaterField Designs bags, the Zip Brief is carefully constructed right in San Francisco in small batches. It's available in four color combinations and made from either a ballistic nylon or waxed canvas,...

Apple has leased additional office buildings in Santa Clara, California, and has started "a significant reconstruction" of the interior space, reports the San Jose Mercury News. The two buildings under construction are located near the southeast corner of Kifer Road and Uranium Drive in Santa Clara, approximately six miles away from 1 Infinite Loop and five miles away from its new Apple Park...

Skype today announced the release of a preview version of its next-generation desktop software, which is designed to emulate the redesigned mobile experience that it released in June. The new version of Skype shares design elements with the mobile version, but it has been created for the desktop's larger screen. Microsoft calls it the "most expressive Skype ever" with livelier group chats,...

Best Buy today announced the upcoming launch of a 50-hour sale filled with Black Friday-like deals in celebration of its 51st anniversary. The sale will kick off this Friday and will last through Sunday night. Best Buy's sale will see the company offering discounts on a wide range of Apple products, from the MacBook to the iPhone. Select MacBook, MacBook Pro, and iMac models will be up to...

Sling TV announced its first in-browser desktop content player on Tuesday. Using the latest version of Google Chrome, subscribers to the streaming television platform can log in at sling.com to access their favorite content and start playback right from within the browser. It's not yet clear at what quality the content is played within the browser, but Sling TV customers watching on Google...

Twelve South today announced the launch of the Curve, a new stand based on a simple, classic design. Described as an "elegant" stand that's designed to complement the lines of an Apple notebook while elevating it to an ideal angle, Curve comes in a matte black aluminum that matches well with the Space Gray MacBook models. Curve elevates the screen by 6.5 inches while keeping 70 percent of ...

Apple is accepting donations to the Canadian Red Cross through iTunes to help people affected by ongoing wildfires in British Columbia. The province declared a state of emergency in July. iTunes users in Canada can donate $5, $10, $25, $50, $100, or $200 with a credit card tied to their account. Apple will transfer 100 percent of the proceeds to the Canadian Red Cross, which is providing...

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Satechi to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win one of Satechi's Aluminum Type-C Pro Hub Adapters, designed for Apple's 2016 and 2017 13 and 15-inch MacBook Pro models. With these machines, a hub is a must because of the limited number of ports and the lack of USB-A. Satechi's Pro Hub measures in at 4.5 inches long and 1.1 inches wide, and it ...

Apple has announced that its West Towne Mall retail store in Madison, Wisconsin will be moving to the nearby Hilldale Shopping Center tomorrow. Apple Store at West Towne Mall Apple Hilldale's grand opening will take place Saturday, August 12 at 10:00 a.m. local time. Apple West Towne will permanently close tonight. West Towne Mall has been home to Madison's only Apple retail store since...

Popular game-streaming platform Twitch officially launched its first desktop app on Thursday, allowing Mac users to enjoy all the features of the existing web-based platform within a standalone native application. Based on the CurseForge platform acquired last year, the Twitch Desktop App lets users watch live streams, clips, and video on demand, all while chatting with fellow gamers. Plus...

Password management app Dashlane has enlisted a group of researchers to assess and rank the password policy and security of 37 consumer and 11 enterprise websites. The study examined five password security criteria to result in a point-based ranking system, with points awarded for the following categories: requiring 8+ characters, needing alphanumeric passwords, including a password strength...

After previously giving four Microsoft Surface devices a purchase "recommendation" status, Consumer Reports today has pulled that status from the Microsoft products. The publication said that because of "poor predicted reliability" in comparison with rival brands, it can no longer recommend any Surface laptops or tablets to consumers. The decision specifically targets four Microsoft Surface...

Vivaldi web browser, the spiritual successor to Opera 12, reached version 1.11 on Thursday, bringing an improved Reader Mode, animation controls, and advanced accessibility features to the highly configurable Mac app. Vivaldi, which claims to be the most customizable browser for power users, has quietly been carving its own niche in the desktop web browser market and now boasts over 1...

Apple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser Apple first introduced one year 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 37 includes fixes and improvements for Web API, JavaScript, WebAssembly, CSS, Web Inspector,...

Sonnet today released a Thunderbolt 3 to dual DisplayPort adapter compatible with both Mac and Windows PCs. The bus-powered device enables users to connect up to two 4K Ultra HD displays or one 5K display with DisplayPort to a single Thunderbolt 3 port, each at 60Hz, including the 2016 or later MacBook Pro. The adapter also works with displays with lower resolutions like 1,920×1,080 or...

Mozilla released Firefox 55 for macOS on Wednesday, touting new performance settings, faster speeds, several new features including a screenshot utility, and the addition of WebVR support. Firefox 55's major front end feature is Firefox Screenshots, accessed via a new screenshots icon on the toolbar. The feature allows users to capture a region of a web page by clicking and dragging a...

One of Apple's tiniest retail stores, at the WestQuay shopping center in Southampton, UK, is getting a much-needed expansion this weekend. Apple's tiny WestQuay retail store opened in February 2007 The current store, which recently turned 10 years old, will close on Friday evening for the final time, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. On Saturday, a larger store will open...

France and Germany are looking to stop tech companies like Apple from exploiting tax loopholes in their respective countries. The loopholes are said to have allowed Apple to "minimize taxes and grab market share" at the expense of Europe-based companies. France will draft and propose a list of "simpler rules" that will be aimed at creating a "real taxation" law for non-European companies,...