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Apple’s iMac Pro is its most powerful computer ever
Apple has another iMac to reveal. The iMac Pro is a powerful, familiar-looking all-in-one, decked in Space Gray -- and the company says it's the most powerful Mac ever. Period. The pro-level computer will ship with up to 18-core Xeon processors as well as Radeon Pro Vega graphics (a new GPU and high-bandwidth memory). That's apparently enough for up to 11 Teraflops of single precision (or 22 Teraflops at "half precision") processing power. You can also cram in up to 4TB of SSD storage, with a row of USB ports lining up with four Thunderbolt ports. These (and all the rest of the connections) can be found behind a 27-inch Retina 5K display, with all-flash memory architecture and an all-new thermal design, adding 80 percent more cooling capacity to match all that processing power.
What to expect from Apple at WWDC 2017
As a rule, Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference is predictable: New versions of iOS, macOS and watchOS are the stars of the show, and anything else is gravy. WWDC 2017, however, is shaping up to be different. Although there hasn't been much talk about what the new software will entail, the rumor mill has kicked into high gear with word of new Macs, new iPads and even a smart speaker. All told, operating systems may actually be the least exciting part of Apple's keynote. But which products are likely to steal the spotlight, and which ones are just wishful thinking? That's what we're here to sort out.
Apple hints you should wait to buy that MacBook Pro
If you needed a clue that Apple might be launching new Macs at WWDC, you just got it. Typical free shipping times for 15-inch MacBook Pro orders have slipped from same day to 3-5 business days in many countries, pushing deliveries to June 6th or later -- conveniently, a day after the WWDC keynote. There aren't any delays for the 13-inch model as of this writing, but it's not clear whether that's due to more bountiful supply or a lack of planned updates.
Apple reportedly announcing a slew of MacBook updates next month
Apple's annual developer conference hasn't been a venue for product launches in four years, but it might produce a bumper crop of laptops this time around. Bloomberg sources hear that Apple is planning to upgrade at least the 12-inch MacBook and MacBook Pro line when WWDC kicks off in June. The Pros would get improved 7th-generation Core (aka Kaby Lake) processors with little to no external changes, while the 12-inch system is only said to be getting a "faster Intel chip" (our money's on Y-series Core i5 and i7 CPUs). However, the biggest deal may be an update to a system many thought Apple had left for dead: the MacBook Air.
Merriam-Webster's idea of 'sheeple' are Apple fanboys
I'll admit it: I'm an unabashed Apple fanboy. I spent far too much on a Macbook Pro with specs that would cost half as much in the Windows world, I love my pair of ridiculous-looking and easily misplaced AirPods and I may or may not have a box full of old Newtons and Mac 512K parts. There's a term for folks like me, and Merriam-Webster just made it official: "Sheeple." The dictionary's editors just added the term, calling out its sick burn to Apple fans in a tweet.
Evernote for Mac puts shortcuts on the Touch Bar
When we reviewed the latest MacBook Pro after it came out last November, we found its brand-new Touch Bar feature to be useful, if unasked-for. But even as a peripheral appeared to give users the full touchscreen they really wanted, software mainstays like Office and Chrome have added support for the capacitative strip in the last few months. Evernote is the latest to integrate the Touch Bar into its MacBook edition, adding a handful of controls that mimic those found in its smartphone app.
Please don't buy a Mac Pro right now
This week, Apple finally admitted, after too damn long, that it had overdesigned the "trash can" Mac Pro into a corner. Its triangular thermal design was innovative but impossible to upgrade, and failed to anticipate shifts in computing following its launch. After several years of silence, the company finally apologized, admitting that a redesigned model will arrive at some point next year. Apple has now heavily discounted the 2013 model as an act of contrition, but is that enough for Pro users to bite? Dan Cooper is tempted to make the splash, but Aaron Souppouris is desperate to stop him.
WikiLeaks: CIA has all sorts of tools for hacking your 2008-era Mac (updated)
One of Apple's big talking points is that Macs don't get viruses and that they're relatively safe when compared to Windows PCs. Well, WikiLeaks would like you to reconsider that notion with more info about Vault 7. The organization's latest dump is a handful of documents from the Central Intelligence Agency that detail, among other things, how the agency can infect a MacBook Air during its boot cycle via a modified Thunderbolt-to-Ethernet adapter. With "Sonic Screwdriver," the CIA's monitoring tools are stored on the dongle and the machine can be infected even if it's password protected. Considering how dongle dependent the new MacBooks are, this sort of exploit becomes even more worrying.
Chrome Canary adds support for MacBook Pro's Touch Bar
Chrome could soon follow in the footsteps of other apps (like the Microsoft Office) that recently introduced support for the Macbook Pro's LCD strip. Google has just released version 58 of the experimental Chrome Canary build, and it now works with the laptop's Touch Bar. Its implementation seems to be simpler than Safari's -- according to 9to5Mac, it has escape, forward and backward, new tab, bookmark and refresh buttons. It also has a search and a URL text box that activates your browser's URL field when you tap it. However, the search bar doesn't have word prediction, and you won't find any playback controls when you play video or audio files
Microsoft Office for Mac gets Touch Bar support
Owners of the Macbook Pro with Touch Bar will be pleased to hear that Microsoft Office now works with the LCD strip Apple introduced with its latest laptop. Support for Touch Bar was announced alongside the new MacBook Pro at an Apple event last October, but Office support is now available to all users. The Touch Bar has special layouts ready for Word, Excel and PowerPoint, with Outlook and Skype additions coming soon. It's the latest high-profile app to get Touch Bar support and joins other massive apps like Adobe's Photoshop and Apple's own Final Cut Pro.
The Morning After: Friday, February 03 2017
Welcome to Friday. Snapchat makes a move to become an even bigger business, Uber's CEO bows out from President Donald Trump's advisory council and hey! There's the long-awaited, brand new Engadget app!
Apple's 'polarizing' new products are paying off
Throughout much of 2016, it seemed like lots of Apple fans were unhappy. The year brought few updates to the Mac (and the one big change was quite polarizing), a barely redesigned iPhone with no headphone jack, AirPods that shipped two months late and a new Apple Watch that was a modest improvement to a product still seen as nonessential. But it's time to accept that the complainers on the internet (including those of us in the media) might not have our fingers on the pulse of Apple fandom. Case in point: Apple just reported a massively successful quarter. According to CEO Tim Cook, both iPhone and Apple Watch sales hit records for both unit sales and revenue. In the case of the iPhone, that reversed three consecutive quarters of declining sales. The iPhone turnaround had to be a huge relief for Apple: The product is the company's biggest revenue source by far.
Apple's next custom Mac chip could do a lot more
Intel processors have powered Apple's Mac computers for over a decade now, but Apple has also found success designing its own A-series ARM-based chips for the iPhone and iPad. While the company isn't going to dump Intel chips in the Mac any time soon, a report from Bloomberg indicates that Apple at least intends to put its foot in the water and test out designing its own silicon for the Mac.
MacBook Pro Touch Bar banned from multiple state bar exams
Here's an unexpected drawback of Apple's latest flagship laptops: law students in several states are being asked to disable the Touch Bar on their new MacBook Pros, or leave them at home entirely, if they plan to use the machines when they take the bar exam in February. According to an announcement from testing software company ExamSoft, the Touch Bar's predictive text feature could compromise "exam integrity."
A software update will solve those MacBook Pro battery issues
Apple's latest MacBook Pros got plenty of mixed reviews, but the bugs with the laptop's battery life estimates were a bad ending to a tough year for Cupertino. Although Apple figured the machines would get a respectable a 10 hour battery life, independent tests from Consumer Reports showed wildly different results ranging from less than four hours to almost 20 hours, causing the group to pull their recommendation for the first time. While Apple put some of the blame on Intel's Skylake-based chips, a new software update has apparently fixed the issue to Consumer Reports' satisfaction.
Tesla hires key designer behind Apple's new MacBook Pro
Apple's Swift language architect isn't its only high-profile team member to have jumped ship for Tesla in recent memory. The 9to5Mac team has discovered that Matt Casebolt, a product design director for Apple, left the company in December to become a senior engineering director for "closures & mechanisms" at Tesla. It's not clear exactly how he'll shape Tesla design, but you'll definitely recognize his Apple work -- he was key to the designs of everything from the MacBook Air through to the current Mac Pro and new MacBook Pro.
LaCie's Thunderbolt drives are built for your MacBook Pro
If you bought a new MacBook Pro (or really, any Thunderbolt 3-equipped PC), there's a good chance that you're looking for high-capacity external storage that takes advantage of your system's newer, speedier ports. Well, you're in luck: As is its custom, LaCie is launching a pair of external drives that promise a load of extra space using newer interfaces. The centerpiece is the d2 Thunderbolt 3. While the hard disk itself is only slightly faster than before (240MB/s) and won't come close to saturating USB-C or Thunderbolt 3, the choice of connector makes it easy to daisy-chain other devices without sacrificing performance. You can hook up a 5K display, two 4K displays or five additional Thunderbolt 3 drives, so you may have to plug only one cable into your computer to power your entire setup.
MacBook Pro accessory adds ports that the 2016 model lacks
As you know by now, you have to learn to embrace dongle-city if you want to buy Apple's latest products. A component supplier called OWC has unveiled a different kind of expansion solution for the 2016 MacBook Pro's lack of ports, though. It's called the DEC, and it's a slab that sticks to the bottom of the laptop to add up to 4TB of additional flash or SSD storage, an SD card slot, full-size USB 3.0 ports and an Ethernet jack for wired internet.
2016 was a hard year to be an Apple fan
Tim Cook and the rest of Apple's leadership will probably not look back fondly on 2016. iPhone sales declined for the first time, and Apple's profits followed suit. There are still bright spots, like the company's growing services business, and the company is still making insane amounts of money. Even so, the stalled growth has to be concerning to both the company and its investors. Don't get me wrong, I'm not here to pity Apple. I'm here to commiserate with its fans, the ones who Apple shafted this year. Particularly those of us who waited all year long for a substantial update to the Mac lineup only to be offered a pair of intriguing but compromised new laptops. Or those of us who bought an iPhone 7 and can't use the headphones included with it in our new MacBook Pro, or even those of us trying to figure out which iPad to buy. Across the board, Apple has confusing product lineups with weird and unnecessary compromises. And if you believe the wailing of aggrieved fans across the internet, it seems like plenty of loyal Apple supporters might be contemplating life outside the company's ecosystem. How did we get here?
Apple extends its discounts on USB-C gear through March 31st
Apple has tacitly acknowledged that prospective MacBook Pro buyers remain skittish about having to buy dongles just to keep using their favorite peripherals. The company is extending its sale on USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 peripherals through March 31st, giving you another three months to pick up adapters and cables at a discount. As before, some of the bargains are better than others -- the USB-C to USB-A adapter is down from $19 to $9, for instance, while SanDisk's USB-C SD card reader is down from $49 to $29. This still won't be completely satisfying if you absolutely need dongles to attach your devices (a USB-A adapter in MacBook boxes would be great, Apple), but there's a bit less pressure to buy them before you're ready.