John Gruber broke the news, the next Mac Pro will be a modular system. Apple is currently hard at work on a “completely rethought” Mac Pro, with a modular design that can accommodate high-end CPUs and big honking hot-running GPUs, and which should make it easier for Apple to update with new components on a regular basis. They’re also working on Apple-branded pro displays to go with them. Phil Schiller elaborates:
Since the release of Mac OS X Lion: Holding down Command + R at startup told your Mac to boot from the local Recovery Partition, allowing you to restore your Mac’s installed operating system. Holding down Command + Option + R at startup told your Mac to NetBoot from Apple’s Internet Recovery, allowing you to restore your Mac to its original operating system. This all changed on Tuesday when Apple released macOS 10.
I became a FreeHand fan during the Macromedia era after the release Freehand 5.5. Despite its falling popularity, I have always found Freehand’s powerful page layout tools and unique approach to vector illustration appealing. Even after FreeHand’s untimely demise in 2005, you could still find a copy of FreeHand MX in my Dock until the release of Mac OS Lion and the end of PowerPC support on the Mac. Even today with modern vector drawing options like Adobe Illustrator CC available to me, I still long for the days when FreeHand was never more than a click away.
Joe Rossignol writing for MacRumors: For years, Apple has sent new Genius hires to its Infinite Loop headquarters in Cupertino, or sometimes an auxiliary campus in Austin or Atlanta, to receive hands-on training for up to three weeks. Recently, however, Apple appears to have stopped offering these group-oriented trips, according to people familiar with the matter. Apple’s off-site Genius Training program has been replaced by an in-store, self-guided experience using company-provided reference materials, according to a source.
It is almost Spring and Stephen Hackett is back with a new nerdy t-shirt to celebrate the iMac G3 and his 512 Pixels website The original iMac brought Apple back from the brink with a lovable, colorful design. The quote on the back of the shirt is from Steve Job’s introduction of the machine, and became a joke in Apple keynote for years to come. The shirts will be on sale until March 16 over at TeeSpring.
When I was a Mac Genius in 2003, Apple retail charged $30 for the installation of extra RAM, Airport wireless networking, or software purchased in the store.. For most Mac models $30 was a silly expense. It didn’t take much effort to install Microsoft Office on a iMac, an Airport Card in a iBook G3, or extra RAM in a Power Mac G4 tower. (Having a Mac Genius crack open an original Mac mini to install hardware upgrades was probably worth the $30 price tag.
Dr. Drang makes the argument that software not hardware is holding the iPad back from becoming an independent platform. He compares the iPad’s capabilities to features the Mac had during its first seven years of life. What’s surprising to me is how slow iPad software has advanced in the seven years since its introduction. I’ve always thought of the iPad as the apotheosis of Steve Jobs’s conception of what a computer should be, what the Mac would have been in 1984 if the hardware were available.
I agree with Rob Griffiths when he says: “limited ports limit my interest in new Mac laptops.” Apple’s pursuit of an insanely stupid “as thin as a knife edge at all costs” design goal has led to a new generation of machines that make them much less portable than they were before…despite being thinner and lighter. Here’t the thing, Apple: Beyond a certain point, thinness is irrelevant. And honesty, you’ve more than reached that point with every laptop you make.
Ben Lovejoy writing for 9to5Mac: Apple is fighting ‘right to repair’ legislation which would give consumers and third-party repair shops the legal right to purchase spare parts and access service manuals. The state of Nebraska is holding a hearing on the proposed legislation next month, and Motherboard reports that Apple will be formally opposing the bill. Apple does not want just anyone repairing their computers. They restrict access to service manuals, tools, training, and replacement parts in an effort to control the customer experience.
Andrew Cunningham writing for ArsTechnica: Beta builds of iOS 10.3, the first of which was issued last week, generate warning messages when you try to run older 32-bit apps. The message, originally discovered by PSPDFKit CEO and app developer Peter Steinberger, warns that the apps “will not work with future versions of iOS” and that the app must be updated by its developer in order to continue running. The apps still run in iOS 10.
Mike Wuerthele writing for Apple Insider. The shift appears to have taken place on Dec. 6, according to a Reddit thread delving into the issue. Google has been pushing the open and royalty-free VP9 codec as an alternative to the paid H.265 spec since 2014, but has never said that it would stop offering 4K video on the YouTube site in other formats, like the Apple-preferred H.264. Videos uploaded to the service prior to Dec.
Wesley Moore: I deeply value the consistency, versatility, reliability and integration of Mac OS X and the excellent quality hardware it runs on. However the current state of the Mac has me considering whether it’s still the right platform for me. I started looking at alternatives to Mac OS after OS X Yosemite was released. When Apple’s software began integrating features from iOS and iCloud I didn’t care to use, and Apple’s hardware began shedding performance and pounds for a price I didn’t care to pay.
Steve Frank has brought the Einstein Newton Emulator back to life: On behalf of the Einstein team, I’m happy to announce that a new release, Einstein 2017.1.0, is available for download! (For anyone who doesn’t already know, Einstein is an emulator for the NewtonOS platform.) This release includes pre-built binaries for macOS 10.8+ and Ubuntu Linux 16 (xenial). The iOS build is also functional but must be built from source with Xcode.
Shaun Inman: As of today I’m officially suspending sales and support of Mint and Fever. But! As self-hosted software, absolutely nothing changes and you can continue using both Mint and Fever as you were yesterday. I have been a Fever customer since 2012. It is still my RSS reader of choice today. I usually Fever through the browser, but sometimes via Unread. I wish things had gone differently for Fever.
Kirk McElhearn, writing for Macworld, is frusterated he can’t choose his default apps in iOS. But iOS offers no such option. If you tap a URL, it opens in Safari. If you tap a link to send an email, it opens in Mail. The default calendar is Apple’s Calendar app. And so on. You may not want to work that way and because Apple doesn’t give you any choice, you’re stuck with workarounds: using share sheets to open a web page in a different browser; copying an email link or address to create an email; and so on.
Nick Heer: I’ve been trying to book some time at my local Apple Store to get my iPhone’s battery swapped, and it has not been easy — at least, not compared to the way it used to be. Previously, I’d open the Apple Store app on my phone, open up my store’s page, and tap the button to get support. I could easily make a Genius Bar appointment from there with just a few taps.
Mark Gurman writing for Bloomberg: Apple Inc. has disbanded its division that develops wireless routers, another move to try to sharpen the company’s focus on consumer products that generate the bulk of its revenue, according to people familiar with the matter. If the rumors are true, and Apple is out of the standalone display business, this report makes sense. In a world where the most popular computers have a always-on cellular connection, and every ISP gives you a free wireless router on contract, it makes sense for Apple to get out of wireless router business.
Workouts++ is a new app for your Apple Watch from David Smith. It allows you to customize your workouts and view them in new ways on your iPhone.nI am a long distance runner so I won’t be writing about how Workouts++ works with a bicycle, on a rowboat, or in a Yoga class. Instead I can tell you how Workouts++ has helped me target my training for this year’s Boston Marathon.
Last weekend I had the chance to visit my local Apple Store and check out the new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. I was not impressed. The Touch Bar could have been the greatest user interface advancement to hit the Mac since the Multitouch Trackpad. Instead it is a Gimmick Strip used to quickly tap commonly used keyboard shortcuts and emoji. Complex tasks, like those used in Final Cut Pro X, are possible.
Take a moment to look over Apple’s product line. Pay special attention to the Macintosh. On the desktop side we have the Mac mini, iMac, and Mac Pro. On the notebook side we have the MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro, Several models come in more than one screen size. The larger models usually offer better performance. Some models don’t come with a screen. Most models are over a year old.