MacRumors' Mac Blog: Mac Apps, News and Rumors

Apple's retail store in Palo Alto, California remains temporarily closed today, presumably to allow construction workers to repair the glass facade after robbers drove a vehicle directly into the storefront last month. The location has been closed since January 15, and Apple has not confirmed when it will reopen. Meanwhile, Apple is in the process of relocating its Fifth Avenue store in...

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with WaterField Designs to offer MacBook and MacBook Pro users a chance to win a Syde MacBook Case or a Maxwell Sleeve for their notebooks. Available for the MacBook, the 2016 13-inch MacBook Pro and the 2016 15-inch MacBook Pro, the Syde MacBook Case is priced at $159 and is a simple, slim bag that can hold a MacBook and a few other accessories. Made...

Sonnet Technologies yesterday launched its first Thunderbolt 3-to-PCIe card expansion systems for 2016 MacBook Pros, the Echo Express SEL — Thunderbolt 3 Edition and the Echo Express SE I — Thunderbolt 3 Edition. The SEL and SE I are compact and lightweight single-slot expansion systems that differ only in size and enable users to take advantage of the Thunderbolt 3's 2,750 MB/s of PCI...

Reddit users have recently discovered that YouTube refuses to stream newly uploaded 4K video in its native resolution if the website is accessed through Safari web browser. The issue was first raised almost a month ago by Reddit user GezimS, who wondered why the option to view 4K videos in 2160p was no longer available. Other users soon chimed in to confirm the anomaly, noting that it...

Adobe this week published three videos on YouTube, sharing details on what its research team is working on for inclusion in future Adobe products like Photoshop. A voice-based AI assistant like Siri is Adobe's most interesting project, which Adobe says is the first step towards a voice-based interface that would let Adobe users search and edit images in unique ways. According to Adobe,...

Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming macOS Sierra 10.12.3 update to developers, a few days after seeding the third 10.12.3 beta and more than a month after releasing macOS Sierra 10.12.2, the second update to the macOS Sierra operating system. The macOS Sierra 10.12.3 update is available for download through the Apple Developer Center or through the software update mechanism in...

Akitio has announced the release of the its Thunder3 Quad Mini, a 2.5" four-bay Thunderbolt 3 external storage solution for the latest MacBook Pro. The aluminum storage device has removable trays designed to house up to four 2.5" SATA SSDs or hard drives purchased separately. The device is equipped with two Thunderbolt 3 ports—the first one connects to the MacBook Pro, and the second one...

Opera today showcased its first ever concept browser, codenamed Opera Neon. Built on the same browser engine as the standard Opera browser, Neon is designed to focus primarily on content. Opera Neon includes a new user interface that consists of a start page using the user's current desktop background image, a sidebar with a video player, image gallery, and download manager, and a visual tab...

Reliable aerial coverage of Apple Campus 2 from Matthew Roberts has continued today, with the first drone footage of the campus in 2017 posted on Roberts' YouTube channel. As construction continues into the new year -- originally expected to be completed by the end of 2016 -- the new footage shows a nearly-complete main building, as well as free-standing structures such as the nearby parking...

Apple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser Apple first introduced 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 21 includes bug fixes and updates for JavaScript, Fetch API, IndexedDB 2.0, CSS, Rendering, Web API,...

Apple's hardbound photo book, "Designed by Apple in California," is now available for purchase in five additional countries around the world. As of this month, Apple's websites and retail stores in the following countries carry the book: Canada, Brazil, Singapore, New Zealand, and Ireland. Introduced in November, "Designed by Apple in California," showcases 20 years of Apple products,...

Apple's website has been updated to indicate the LG UltraFine 5K Display now ships in 3-5 business days in the United States, compared to a previous estimate of 2-4 weeks listed since just minutes after the display launched on December 20. The improvement suggests the display's supply and demand mix has improved. The new 5K display, created in partnership with Apple, remains on sale for $974 ...

Greenpeace has declared Apple to be the most environmentally friendly technology company in the world for the third year in a row. The conclusion was reached in the environmental organization's latest report, entitled Clicking Clean: Who is Winning the Race to Build a Green Internet, which awarded Apple a final 'A' grade and a clean energy index score of 83 percent. Facebook and Google also...

Apple is planning to open a flagship retail store underneath Piazza del Liberty, or Liberty Square, in Milan, the most populous metropolitan area in Italy, according to preliminary guidelines approved by the city's planning department last month. Render of planned flagship Apple Store in Milan, Italy The retail store will be developed by architecture firm Foster and Partners, who have...

Apple wants to use GT Advanced's former sapphire plant to produce hardware that will be used within its U.S. data centers, according to a notification published by the Federal Register and shared by Business Insider. Apple is seeking approval from the Foreign-Trade Zones Board to create "finished products and foreign status materials/components" in the factory. Specifically, Apple wants to...

Apple executives will attend a high-profile meeting with Indian officials later this month in order to discuss the company's plans to set up a manufacturing plant in the country. Apple is said to be seeking a number of tax and other incentives at the meeting, set to take place on January 25, and could potentially ask for long-term duty exemptions. According to PTI, Indian representatives from ...

Google spin-off Waymo unveiled its fleet of 100 self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivans in a preview event ahead of the North American International Auto Show on Sunday (via USA Today). John Krafcik, CEO of Waymo, told attendees at the Detroit event that the fleet packs an array of new sensors that were all developed in-house, including an enhanced vision system, improved radar and...

Apple will open its first retail store in South Korea this year, according to a report on Friday (via Reuters). The country's Yonhap News Agency said that construction was underway for a store in the southern district of Seoul and that work on the site would likely be completed by the end of November. Image: Flickr "We're excited about opening our first Apple Store in Korea, one of the...