MacRumors' Mac Blog: Mac Apps, News and Rumors

512 Pixels blogger Stephen Hackett has created a unique video showcasing Apple's new "Designed by Apple in California" coffee table book alongside actual Apple products, ranging from the PowerMac G5 to iPod socks. The video helps bring the book to life by providing a nostalgic look back on the past two decades of Apple products, starting with the original iMac in 1998 through to the Apple...

A developer has created a $5 device that can hack into screen-locked Macs and potentially other computers as long as a web browser is left running on the desktop. Samy Kamkar made a YouTube video showing what happens when his creation hacks into a target computer. Called a "Poison Tap", the device runs on a Raspberry Pi Zero which plugs into a computer's USB port. Once attached to the...

Amazon has slashed $100 off the official price of Apple's new 13-inch MacBook Pro sans Touch Bar, offering the machine at $1,399 instead of $1,499, presumably for a limited time. Spotted by AppAdvice, the discount is for the stock 13-inch model, which comes with a 2.0GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB RAM, and 256GB storage. Meanwhile, for anyone still debating whether a Touch Bar ...

Apple design chief Jony Ive and longtime collaborator Marc Newson's take on the London hotel Claridge's Christmas tree has been revealed – and perhaps not surprisingly, there's not a bauble in sight. Mayfair's landmark festive tree has been drawing crowds since 2009, when notable designers began creating the seasonal decoration each year. But Ive and Newson's interpretation takes the...

A small but growing number of users have reported issues using the "three finger drag" gesture on the new MacBook Pro's trackpad. Affected users say the gesture either works only intermittently or does not work whatsoever on both 13-inch and 15-inch late 2016 models. MacRumors reader Luke said the three finger drag gesture does not work in the upper left side of his MacBook Pro's trackpad....

iFixit has completed its teardown of the new 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, confirming the notebook is equipped with a non-removable SSD just like the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. Only the entry-level 13-inch model with a standard row of function keys has a removable SSD in Apple's new MacBook Pro lineup. 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar The teardown confirms the processor, RAM, ...

Setapp, an upcoming subscription service from MacPaw, aims to offer a Mac App Store alternative and change the way customers obtain software for their Macs. Setapp will make 40+ popular Mac apps available to Mac users for a flat monthly fee at launch, and there are plans to continually add new apps as the service grows. Much like Netflix, Setapp will charge users a flat $9.99 fee per month,...

Russia's communications regulator has blocked public access to LinkedIn after an earlier court ruling found the social networking firm to have violated data storage laws (via Reuters). LinkedIn, which has over 6 million registered users in Russia, becomes the first major social network to be blocked by Russian authorities after falling afoul of the country's stringent data storage laws, which...

Apple has eliminated the Product Manager of Automated Technologies role, ending Sal Soghoian's employment with the company. Soghoian revealed the news at the MacTech Conference in Los Angeles, according to Mac Observer. He also posted about the news on his website, which is dedicated to the user automation community. Q. I hear you no longer work for Apple; is that true? A. Correct. I joined...

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 18 includes bug fixes and updates for Input Events, Javascript, Shadow DOM, Web Inspector, CSS, Rendering, ...

Apple's new "Designed by Apple in California" photo book, chronicling 20 years of Apple design with 450 photos of its products and the processes used to make them, is now available for purchase on Apple's website in a smaller 10.2×12.8 inches size for $199 and a larger 13×16.3 inches size for $299. The 300-page hardback book, reflecting the time period between the original iMac and Apple...

Popular Mac image editing app Pixelmator today received a major update that incorporates many features included in macOS Sierra and introduces support for the Touch Bar on the new MacBook Pro. With macOS Sierra compatibility, Pixelmator supports tabs, so multiple windows can be combined for easier management, and it includes the Universal Clipboard feature introduced in Sierra, allowing for...

After a decade-long search, Apple is believed to be in the final stages of negotiating a deal to open a new AU$50 million flagship retail store in Melbourne's iconic Federation Square, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. Federation Square in Melbourne, Australia (Image: Architecter) Apple has reportedly been in lengthy and secretive negotiations with Federation Square's management and the ...

Music-recognizing app Shazam retains access to the Mac's microphone, keeping it in a constant on state, even when Shazam has been turned off. The potentially worrisome feature was discovered by security researcher Patrick Wardle, who developed an app called "OverSight" to warn users of when other apps are using their webcam and microphone. After its launch, one OverSight user contacted Wardle and ...

Microsoft plans to launch its integrated developer environment Visual Studio for the Mac later this week, turning its cloud-first development program into a cross-platform experience that developers can use on both Mac and Windows. Although the official press release has since been deleted, TechCrunch spotted the news and noted that the launch of Visual Studio on the Mac is expected to happen...

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Satechi to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a desktop prize package that includes Satechi's Aluminum Portable Laptop Stand, a Rechargeable Slim Aluminum Wireless Keypad, an Aluminum Mouse Pad, and a USB Type-C SD Card Reader. Satechi's Laptop Stand, priced at $35, is designed work with Apple's line of MacBooks and iPads. It has a...

E-commerce site Etsy, which gives independent crafters a place to sell their wares, today announced that it has begun accepting Apple Pay through both its desktop and mobile websites. Etsy previously accepted Apple Pay within the Etsy app for iOS devices, but with support for Apple Pay on the web, Apple users can pay with Apple Pay using Safari on any supported Mac or iOS device. Etsy is...

Spotify's desktop music streaming app has been accused of putting an unnecessary burden on users' machines by continuously writing massive amounts of data to local storage, even when the app is idle. Over the last five months, multiple users have posted about the problem in Spotify's official support forum, as well as on Reddit, Hacker News, and elsewhere. Users claim the Spotify app has been...