WWDC 2012
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Apple announces iOS 6, beta available to developers today (updated)
Apple has announced iOS 6 with more than 200 new features, including significant changes to programs such as Siri. Other new icons spotted include Maps. We'll update with further details as the Apple's WWDC Keynote continues. Update: Apple has said that a beta release will be available to developers today with it being released to the general public this fall. iOS 6 will support the iPhone 3GS and newer, iPad 2 and newer and the fourth-generation iPod touch.
Apple brags: sells 365 million iOS devices, 140 million iMessage users
Apple has never shied away from taking a few shots at Android during its WWDC keynotes, and why would 2012 be any different. Just before taking the wraps off iOS 6, Apple took some time to toss out a few numbers highlighting its spectacular sales and sizable user base. All told, by the end of March, the company had moved 365 million iOS devices, with the vast majority of them (80 percent) running iOS 5 -- a point they made sure to drive home with a graphic comparing the install base of Android 4.0. But, sales alone mean nothing without an active user community. Which is why Cupertino was so happy to report that 140 million iMessage users were sending more than one billion messages each day, for a grand total of 150 billion SMS and MMS missives. Push notifications have also clearly taken off in a big way, with 1.5 trillion having graced our notification screens. Check out our full coverage of WWDC 2012 at our event hub! %Gallery-157909%
Apple announces Mountain Lion will be available in July for $19.99
Apple announced that Mountain Lion will be available in July for US$19.99. Upgrades to Macs purchased as of today will be free. Any system going back to Snow Leopard can update at this price. Several of the new features for the upcoming release of Mountain Lion revolve around iCloud, including Reminders, Messages and Notes. There will be Document-based apps as well, with document libraries available and updated across all Apple devices. This includes Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Preview and TextEdit. The notification center also will be added with a number of changes from the version currently in iOS. The Mac is gaining dictation in Mountain Lion, which can be used in third-party applications. Safari will have Twitter and other sharing options built into it, along with a unified search tool and syncing of tabs among all Apple devices. A new feature called Power Nap will update your Mac while it sleeps, but it's only available on certain models. Other features include AirPlay Mirroring, the GameCenter and several features were added specifically for Chinese markets including new input messages and support for Chinese social networks such as Baidu. We will have a full look into these Mountain Lion features throughout the day.
Apple unveils iOS 6 at WWDC, launch apps with Siri, Facebook integration, Maps
Looks like they didn't print the banner out for nothing -- as anticipated, it's not just refreshed MacBook Airs or Mountain Lion getting the red carpet treatment at today's World Wide Developer's Conference keynote. Cupertino has also taken the shiny cling wrap off of the latest version of iOS. What's new? Well at least 200 things! Most notably, Siri has gotten a little make over, including the ability to launch apps, more knowledge of sports, restaurants and movie times, it's also coming to iPad. There's better Facebook integration too, with photos, websites, maps and more getting the instant share option -- you can even "like" or share app from the Appstore. Other tweaks on the phone side of things let you dismiss incoming calls with a swipe, or send a pre-written SMS, even set it to give you a reminder once you change location. Another popular feature will be "Do Not Disturb" which holds off all those notifications (from your new Facebook friends, we guess). You'll still get them, but the won't alert, or light up the screen. Face-timers will also be pleased to see that feature finally working over cellular. Sharing images also just got easier with shared Photo Streams -- choose the pictures, choose the friends. Done. New "Guided Access" allows parents or teachers (for example) to keep users from exiting an app accidentally (or in the case of the teachers -- intentionally!). More info and PR after the break.
OS X Mountain Lion: arrives on Macs next month, priced at $20
You got it. The latest version of Mac OS X is coming in a matter of weeks, and will set you back just shy of twenty bucks. If any of those new beastly, Ivy Bridge-decked machines made you reconsider your bank balance, breathe a (small) sigh of relief -- you'll be treated to a free upgrade if you decide to buy one before Mountain Lion arrives in July. For more coverage of WWDC 2012, please visit our event hub!
Apple unveils new features for Safari: unified search, iCloud Tabs multi-device syncing and more
Apple's fresh new hardware may have gotten the headlines thus far during Apple's 2012 WWDC keynote, but there's also some good news for browser aficionados, too. Safari has taken a page out of Chrome's book by offering unified search for the web, your history and bookmarks. Additionally, Safari now syncs your web-browsing info across all your devices. Called iCloud Tabs, the feature lets you see the tabs you have open on any device simultaneously. That means you can surf the web on your iPhone while you're out and about, and continue your web session seamlessly on that shiny new MacBook Pro when you get home by clicking the new handy dandy iCloud button. Not only that, Safari's picked up some new multitouch tricks, letting you swipe all the way out to tab view, then pinch on the page you want to dive back in. Safari's Mobile version has also gained the ability to upload images directly and it now has an Offline Reading List that downloads and caches anything you add. Furthermore, Safari can now provide a notification if there's an app for the website you're browsing. Tapping the notification brings you to the App Store, and once downloaded, the browser pushes the URL to the app so you can pick up the content right where you left off. %Gallery-157904% For more coverage of WWDC 2012, please visit our event hub!
Diablo 3 updated with Retina display support for 'next generation' MacBook Pro
Apple revealed the "next generation" of its MacBook Pro laptops this afternoon, along with a refresh of its current line of Pro products. One particular standout of the Nvidia Kepler-powered Pro: Apple's decision to use its gorgeous Retina display, as revealed during the company's Worldwide Developers Conference keynote.Like the last iPad refresh, however, applications and games will have to be updated to utilize the new Retina screen. During his keynote, Apple's Phil Schiller revealed Diablo 3, Blizzard's latest addiction, will be updated for the upcoming laptop model.The new MacBook Pro line begins shipping today, but if you wanna get your hands on that fancy new Retina display, you'll be shelling out a minimum of $2,200. Blizzard has yet to reveal when the game will be updated for use with the new display, but we'll be sure to ask. For information on models and pricing, and everything else during Apple's WWDC, check out Engadget's ongoing live blog.
Apple brings Dictation to the Mac, tells Siri to stay in the car
Apple has just announced that it's bringing new iPad-style dictation to Mountain Lion. In the same way that you can tap the button on the digital keyboard, hitting the microphone button will allow you to speak directly into native software, websites like Facebook and even third-party applications like Microsoft Word. For more coverage of the WWDC 2012 Keynote, check out our liveblog!
Apple shows off iCloud integration in Mountain Lion
Tim Cook is currently demoing iCloud's integration in Mountain Lion onstage at the WWDC Keynote in San Francisco. iCloud, Apple's cloud sync service, has been a big hit on iOS already, with 125 million iCloud users registered and using the service currently. On Mountain Lion, iCloud will come in the form of Document syncing, which Cook showed took only a few seconds to sync a document from his iPad to a MacBook Pro. Reminders, Messages, and Notes are all being synced across iCloud as well, and presumably will work just as smoothly as they work currently. Safari browsing history and bookmarks will also get synced, and even tab views can be synced between devices, so you can view tabs on your MacBook Pro, and then take those exact browser tabs over to your iPad or iPhone. It all looks great. We should hear an official date for Mountain Lion soon, perhaps even later on today.
New versions of Final Cut Pro and Aperture revealed
During the presentation of the next-generation MacBook Pro, updates to Final Cut Pro and Aperture were revealed. Thus far, the UI has been updated in Aperture and you're able to look at four times the resolution. In Final Cut Pro, 1080p footage was seen in the upper-right corner of the app with room for a full timeline and library. We'll update this post as more details are released.
Apple announces next-gen MacBook Pro with Retina display
Apple has just announced a brand new MacBook Pro model at the WWDC Keynote in San Francisco. The new notebook is still extremely small, though it's not quite as tiny as a MacBook Air -- about two times the height of a USB port, according to our friends at Engadget. The device weighs 4.46 pounds and obviously it's very powerful, but here's the kicker: It's a laptop with a Retina Display. Yes, Apple's big innovation on touchscreens has finally made its way back to a traditional computer. The screen runs at 2880x1800, which means there will be over 5 million pixels in the display. All of OS X's native apps, including Mail and Aperture, have been updated to work with the new display, and from all the reports so far, it's going to look gorgeous. The computer also runs USB 3.0 across two ports, as well as a Thunderbolt connection, a new thinner MagSafe power plug, and a place for an SD card. The new MacBook Pro with retina displays start at $2199. That'll get you 2.3GHz quad-core chip, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of flash storage. We'll have more information and full specs later on today. Retina has been a huge innovation on iOS, and Apple has now brought it back to the new MacBook Pro. We can't wait to see it. Update: Here's the official Apple page on the new unit. Can't wait to see that new display!
Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, Aperture, AutoCAD and more score Retina Display support
As we learned pretty quickly when the iPhone 4 introduced the Retina display to the world, all those pixels are pretty useless without apps that can truly take advantage. Thankfully, Apple wasn't about to leave the stage today without delivering the goods for its next gen MacBook Pros. In addition to all the stock apps being updated, Final Cut Pro and Aperture have also gotten the appropriate boost in pixel density, allowing them to be all they can be on that 220ppi display. Which, in the case of Final Cut, means full-res 1080p video docked in a corner of the interface with all the tools exposed to your itchy editing finger. If that isn't good enough for you, Adobe is hard at work on Photoshop and Autodesk will be delivering an update to AutoCAD as well. And, in case you're worried that all work and no play makes Tim Cook a dull boy, Diablo 3 has also been updated, instantly making the Mac our favorite platform to farm low level baddies for gold on. For more coverage of the WWDC 2012 keynote, head over to our liveblog!
New MacBook Pros announced with Ivy Bridge processors, up to 2.7GHz quad-core i7s.
Apple has announced a new line of MacBook Pros at WWDC today. The machines will have third-generation Ivy Bridge processors, up to 2.7GHz quad-core i7's. You can turbo-boost them to 3.7GHz. There will be up to 8 GB of 1600MHz memory and 60% faster integrated graphics from a Kepler GeForce GT650M card. All USB 3.0 and will have a 7-hour battery life. Prices start at US$1199 for the 13-inch model and $1799 for the 15-inch model. No mention was made of a 17-inch model MacBook Pro. The new MacBook Pros will be shipping today.
Apple announces first Retina display in a MacBook, 220ppi with 2880 x 1800 resolution
Apple just announced its next-generation MacBook Pro, and it comes equipped with a gorgeous 220 pixel-per-inch 2880 x 1800 display. That's quite a bit shy of the 326 ppi LCD on the iPhone 4S and the 264 ppi density of the new iPad's display, but it's still a massive improvement over the 1680 x 1050 pixels found on Apple's previous-generation clamshell. The new Retina is, as Apple marketing head Phil Shiller not-so-modestly pointed out during this morning's WWDC keynote, the "world's highest-resolution notebook display." It's also soon to be the highest-res LCD in any household, offering three million more pixels than your 1080p HDTV. It's a bit hard to determine just how impressive this next-gen tech is from where we're seated at the keynote, but we'll be back with more impressions just as soon as the presentation wraps. Or, if you have $2,199 to spare for a 2.3GHz model with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, you can pick up your very own today. For more coverage of WWDC 2012, please visit our event hub.%Gallery-157896%
New MacBook Air announced with Ivy Bridge CPUs, USB 3.0
Phil Schiller took the stage at WWDC 2012 this morning to announce an update to the MacBook Air. line. The new Airs feature New Ivy Bridge CPUs, up to 2GHz dual core. Inside you'll find up to 512GB of flash storage, up to 8GB of RAM and USB 3.0, which Apple says is "up to 10 times faster than USB 2." Additionally, the FaceTime camera now does 720p. Prices start at US$999 (11-inch model) and $1099 (13 inch). They'll start shipping today. For more, follow our meta live blog of the event.
Apple unveils new MacBook Pro with Ivy Bridge at WWDC
Apple is certainly making WWDC a hardware conference this year -- it just unveiled a refresh of the existing MacBook Pro running Intel's newer Ivy Bridge processors on the San Francisco gathering's opening day. The 13- and 15-inch portables run up to 2.7GHz quad Core i7s (turbo up to 3.7GHz), carry up to 8GB of RAM and have GeForce GT 650M-based graphics 60 percent faster than the previous generation. Like the new MacBook Air, they tout USB 3.0 ports. If you're more comfortable with Apple's conventional MacBook Pro design than the new variety, Apple will ask $1,099 for the base 13-inch version and $1,799 for a 15-inch version, with an upgraded 15-inch model going for $2,199. All of them are shipping today -- we're not seeing any mention of an updated 17-inch version, so it may have been cast aside. For more coverage of WWDC 2012, please visit our event hub.
Apple announces refreshed MacBook Air: Ivy Bridge processor, USB 3.0, shipping today
Apple's skinnier, lighter MacBook option checked in for another (irregular) hardware update at this year's WWDC. Just under a year since the last time the range was renovated, the move to Ivy Bridge processors wasn't the only thing that changed. First up, those processors will reach up to 2GHz Core i7, with Turbo Boost tipping these up to 3.2GHz. The FaceTime camera is now 720p, with the display on the 11-inch model staying put at 1366 x 768 (but with Intel's HD graphics 4000 doing the pushing). The 13-incher will house a 1440 x 900 screen and both will arrive with a pair of USB 3.0 ports and capacity for up to 8GB of RAM. Storage will now extend to 512GB, while prices will start at $999 for the most basic option, up to $1099 for the speediest offering. The best part? They'll start shipping today.%Gallery-157897%%Gallery-157963% For more coverage of WWDC 2012, please visit our event hub.
App Store has 650K apps, 30B app downloads and 400M accounts
Apple kicked off WWDC 2012 with a few jokes from Siri and whole lotta sales figures. Here are the higlights from Cook's keynote: 400 million accounts in the App Store with credit cards and one-click payments 650,000 apps in the App Store 225,000 apps made just for the iPad 30 billion app downloads $5 billion paid out to devs App Store available in 120 countries with the goal of reaching 150 That's impressive for an App Store that opened almost three years ago today (July 10, 2008). For more, follow our meta live blog of the event.
App Store hits 650,000 apps, 30 billion downloads, $5 billion doled out to developers
One of the first pieces of news out of the gate at Apple's WWDC 2012 keynote is its success with mobile apps so far. The company has hit 650,000 apps in the App Store -- 225,000 of which are specific to the iPad. Customers have downloaded 30 billion of the apps since they became an option four years ago. Developers also have a good reason to salivate: there are now over 400 million iTunes accounts with credit cards, and they've been paid a total of $5 billion for all of their app sales. Whatever pressure exists to support other platforms, Apple wants its coders to know they're taken care of. For more coverage of WWDC 2012, please visit our event hub.
Apple WWDC 2012 liveblog!
Back in March, at the tail end of the new iPad's launch, Apple CEO Tim Cook did something atypical. He encouraged us to expect even more from his company in 2012. From an outfit that rarely sets lofty expectations, that's saying something. Here at WWDC 2012, we're on hand to find out what exactly Apple has in the hopper. A deep dive into iOS 6 is guaranteed, but beyond that, all we have are rumors, smoke signals and few underground whispers. New MacBook Air / Pro laptops with Retina graphics? New iMacs with more pixels that are calculable by mere mortals? A new iPhone? Join us here at 10AM PT (that's 1PM on the right coast; pre-breakfast over in Kauai) for the blow-by-blow coverage you've come to expect! June 11, 2012 1:00 PM EDT
