MacRumors' Mac Blog: Mac Apps, News and Rumors

Apple over the past two days has started approving Mac App Store apps that have been updated with Touch Bar support on the new MacBook Pro. One of the first Touch Bar apps is OmniGraffle 7, a popular vector drawing tool for designing graphics and diagrams. After updating to version 7.2, users will have access to text controls when editing labels, for example, or manipulation controls when...

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 17 includes bug fixes and updates for Safari Extensions, Custom Elements, Web APIs, Input Events, URL...

Pandora today began the rollout of a "completely overhauled" desktop site for its streaming radio service, coming on the heels of its rebranded iOS and Android apps last month. Pandora.com now has a couple of new features including an enhanced user interface and new additions for Pandora Plus listeners, which should begin appearing throughout the day as the rollout continues. The changes begin ...

Last week, a new legal challenge arose for Apple's massive data center in Galway County, Ireland at the hands of three individuals in the nearby town of Athenry, who filed official complaints against the data center with the Galway County Council, local planning body An Bord Pleanála, and even the High Court. Today, the Irish High Court has ruled in Apple's favor and pledged to fast-track...

Apple is seeking financial incentives within India to make it easier to build a new manufacturing plant within the country (via The Economic Times). The company has asked for incentives specifically from the Department of Revenue and the Department of Electronics and Information Technology in India as a way to offset the high cost of building an entirely new iPhone manufacturing unit in the...

Apple iTunes chief Eddy Cue brought in quite a bit of money this week, according to documents filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Cue cashed in 335,000 Apple shares at an average price of $111.86, netting himself $37,473,100. Cue's windfall follows the September vesting of 525,000 restricted stock units, which were worth approximately $59.6 million at the time. The ...

It's been three months since Apple finally gained approval to build its massive data center just outside of Athenry in Galway County, Ireland, and now "a small handful of locals" have been reported as working to derail Apple's data center project since the company got approval in August. The residents have filed complaints with Galway County Council, local planning body An Bord Pleanála, and...

Apple appears to have removed optical audio output support from the headphone jack on its new 13-inch MacBook Pro with function keys, suggesting it is unlikely to have made the transition in the Touch Bar equipped models either. Optical audio output is used to link Macs to home theater setups and A/V systems capable of multi-channel surround sound, by way of a mini TOSlink adapter connected...

OWC today introduced its latest product, a Thunderbolt 3 USB-C Dock designed to work with the newly announced MacBook Pro. Designed for users who are concerned about the limited number of ports on the MacBook Pro, OWC's Thunderbolt 3 Dock offers a range of different ports for connecting displays, external hard drives, and other accessories. The OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock has a total of 13 ports...

The heated debate over whether an iPad can replace a Mac as a day-to-day workhorse shows no sign of abating. One way of evading the crossfire is to plump for both, but to do that you need a bag that can conveniently accommodate the two devices for when you're on the move. Pad & Quill's Small Briefcase ($219) is one of the Minneapolis company's latest compact leather and canvas solutions for...

Apple today seeded a second version of the initial macOS Sierra 10.12.2 beta, which comes two days after the macOS Sierra 10.12.2 beta was originally seeded to developers. The build number of today's update is 16C32f, while the original 10.12.2 beta build number was 16C32e, indicating a small incremental update that does not count as a full second beta release. Because the new beta is not ...

Adobe's MAX creativity and design conference is set to kick off this morning, and during the MAX event, Adobe plans to show off several upcoming software updates and new software experiences that are coming to its product lineup later this year. All of Adobe's Creative Cloud apps are being updated with new features. Photoshop, for example, is gaining a new universal search bar with visual...

Mojang today launched "Minecraft: Education Edition" for macOS and Windows platforms, allowing educators and administrators to begin introducing the game to students and use its copious tools and in-game systems to teach lessons in science, technology, engineering, math, history, language, art, and more (via TechCrunch). The game will come with a "Classroom Mode" companion app so teachers can...

Apple today released iTunes 12.5.3, which is available for macOS Sierra and OS X El Capitan users. iTunes 12.5.3's changelog lists the same stability and performance improvements as iTunes 12.5.2, including a fix for an issue where albums may play in an unexpected order. A second fix resolves a problem that prevented lyrics from appearing while listening to Beats 1. iTunes 12.5.3 can be...

Apple has done away with the traditional startup chime on its new MacBook Pro lineup because the machines automatically power on when the lid is opened. Pingie.com was first to note the removal of the sound from Apple's new 13-inch and 15-inch laptops – both the models featuring Apple's new Touch Bar (as well as the 13-inch version without a Bar) automatically boot when opened or when...

Softorino today announced the launch of its next-generation WALTR app, introducing WALTR 2 for Mac. WALTR 2 builds on the features introduced with the original WALTR app, making it easier than ever to transfer any file from a Mac to an iOS device. With WALTR 2, you can transfer all kinds of media file types to an iPhone or iPad, even if they're not in a format that's normally compatible with...

Following the launch of the new MacBook Pro with four Thunderbolt 3 ports, LaCie has introduced its new lineup of Thunderbolt 3 storage solutions: the Bolt3 desktop drive and the enterprise-class 6big and 12big RAIDs. LaCie's new Bolt3 desktop drive with Thunderbolt 3 LaCie's Bolt3 combines dual Thunderbolt 3 ports with a pair of the latest M.2 PCIe SSDs, striped together into a 2TB volume,...

Yesterday during its Hello Again event, Apple confirmed that the Microsoft Office suite of apps will be gaining support for Touch Bar on the new MacBook Pro, and now Microsoft has detailed what that will look like for each app. The company said that with Touch Bar support on Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook, it's "continually evolving Office to take advantage of the latest and greatest...