Yesterday, Apple launched OS X Yosemite which brought a complete redesign to the OS and a number of features like Continuity, an enhanced Notification Center with widget support, iCloud Drive, and more. A number of developers have updated their apps to take advantage of those new features, and we've rounded up some of the most notable apps for Yosemite below.
Popular password manager 1Password has received a number of new features that integrate with OS X Yosemite including support for Dark Mode, iCloud Drive compatibility for enhanced syncing between devices, and Wi-Fi sync which now works with attachments. The 1Password mini menubar attachment has also been refined, bringing faster access and new shortcuts.
Daft Logic Studio brings its iOS currency converter to the Mac with a flat look that is in line with the rest of OS X Yosemite and a Notification Center widget that can display multiple conversions at once. The full version of Coinverter for Mac will launch soon, and interested users can participate in a free public beta.
To-do app Wunderlist for Mac has received an update to 3.1.0 and brings a number of new features for OS Yosemite, including a custom Today widget in the Notification Center, a custom Share extension that works in Safari, and full Handoff support which allows users to edit lists between devices. The app has also received a redesign that allows for quicker access to list elements.
At Apple's introduction of the new 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K Display, Phil Schiller noted that the machine's $2499 starting price compares favorably with some of the higher-end 4K displays on the market today for closer to $3000, leading some to wonder whether it would be feasible to use the iMac as an external display for something like a Mac Pro.
For a number of years, iMacs have supported a feature known as target display mode, which allows them to serve as external displays for other computers, but as pointed out by TechCrunch's Matthew Panzarino yesterday, the new Retina 5K iMac does not support this mode.
The probable reason for this is also likely the reason why Apple did not announce a standalone Retina Thunderbolt Display yesterday: bandwidth limitations. The current DisplayPort 1.2 specification used over Thunderbolt 2 on Apple's latest Macs simply isn't capable of handling the bandwidth necessary for 5K video over a single cable.
As a result, no current Mac, including the Mac Pro and Retina MacBook Pro models that do support 4K displays, can currently drive a 5K external display. Technically, Apple could allow another Mac to output video at a lower resolution and have the Retina iMac scale the content up to fit its display, but this would not be ideal and Apple has apparently elected not to support it as an option.
As noted by Marco Arment, simple plug-and-play support for 5K external displays over a single cable will need the new DisplayPort 1.3 standard, but that won't be an option until Intel's Skylake platform, the successor to the upcoming Broadwell family, is launched.
Doing it right will require waiting until DisplayPort 1.3 in Thunderbolt 3 on Broadwell’s successor, Skylake, which isn’t supposed to come out for at least another year — and Intel is even worse at estimating ship dates than I am, so it’s likely to be longer. [...]
I’d estimate — granted, I’m wrong a lot — that Apple won’t ship a standalone 5K display until at least 2016, and it won’t work with any of today’s Macs, including the 2013 Mac Pro.
Arment points out that Dell's upcoming 5K display uses dual DisplayPort 1.2 cables for connectivity but that no current Macs appear to support the setup and even if they did performance would likely not be ideal.
Another potential product on the horizon is a Retina 21.5-inch iMac likely at 3840 x 2160 pixels, although it is unclear when Apple plans to launch such a machine. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicts a second half of 2015 launch for the machine in a similar pattern to that seen with the MacBook Pro, where the larger 15-inch model received a Retina display option a number of months before the 13-inch model followed suit.
Though the second-generation iPad Air was just announced yesterday, several prominent case manufacturers have already begun releasing cases for the new ultra thin tablets.
Many cases for the original iPad Air won't fit the new version of the iPad Air because it is 18 percent thinner at 6.1 mm instead of 7.5 mm, even though it has the same 9.4-inch height and 6.6-inch width. For that reason, prospective iPad Air 2 buyers who want to keep their tablets protected in a case will need to buy a case specifically created with the new design in mind.
We've gathered up a list of the iPad Air 2 cases that are available now or that will be available in the very near future below.
Griffin - Griffin has already come out with several different cases for the iPad Air 2, which have estimated shipping dates of one to two weeks. There's a Survivor All-Terrain Case and a Survivor Slim, both of which are priced at $79.99 and are designed to protect the iPad from drops and weather elements.
Griffin also has a simple TurnFolio case available for the iPad Air 2, which functions as a four-position workstand in landscape or portrait mode. The case, which ships in one to two weeks, is available for $49.99.
Apple - Apple has created its own Smart Cover and Smart Case for the iPad Air 2, which can be purchased from its online store. The iPad Air 2 polyurethane Smart Cover is designed to protect just the front of the iPad and is available in Black, White, Pink, Yellow, Blue, Green, and (PRODUCT) Red colors for $39. It appears that older iPad Air Smart Covers will fit the new tablet as new Smart Covers fit the original iPad Air.
Apple's leather Smart Case offers more protection and is designed to protect both the cover and the rear shell of the device. It's available in Black, Midnight Blue, Olive Brown, Soft Pink, and (PRODUCT) RED colors for $79.
Belkin also has simple folio-style cases for the iPad Air 2, including the Slim Style Cover for $49.99 and the Chambray Cover for $39.99.
Incipio - Incipio has four separate iPad Air 2 cases that will be available to purchase in the near future, including the $40 Octane Folio, designed to be impact resistant; the $35 Clarion, with a clear backing; the $40 Faraday, with a magnetic fold over closure; and the $50 Tuxen, a Snap-On Folio with a magnetic closure.
A limited number of existing iPad Air cases may fit the new iPad Air 2, and all sleeves and bags designed for the iPad Air will, of course, also be compatible with the new iPad Air 2. Additional Apple accessory makers will be coming out with iPad Air 2 cases in the coming weeks as well, now that the new tablets are shipping to customers in just a few days.
With yesterday's launch of OS X Yosemite, Apple's iCloud Drive file storage system is now functional across the company's products. Many users were frustrated following the launch of iOS 8 last month by the incompatibility between the new iCloud Drive system used with that operating system and the previous Documents in the Cloud system used on OS X Mavericks. The difference in launch dates between iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite temporarily left some users unable to sync their documents between devices if they elected to upgrade to iCloud Drive on their iOS devices.
That issue is now fixed with OS X Yosemite launching to the public, and Craig Federighi gave a very brief walkthrough of the feature at yesterday's media event, outlining how Mac and iOS apps can automatically generate their own folders for file storage accessible across devices and platforms.
iCloud Drive can also be used in a similar manner to Dropbox, Box, and other cloud storage services in that any type of file can simply be dragged and dropped into the iCloud Drive folder on Mac or iCloud.com and be synced across devices. Access is a bit more limited on iOS where there is no iCloud Drive app allowing access to all files, but the service still allows users of iCloud Drive-enabled apps to view and save files related to that app that are stored and synced with iCloud Drive.
Apple's iWork updates yesterday extend compatibility beyond the core OS X and iOS apps, and APIs are available to allow third-party developers to offer iCloud Drive support for their apps.
iCloud Drive taps into users' general iCloud storage allotments, with all users receiving 5 GB of space free of charge. But with iOS device backups and the upcoming iCloud Photo Library potentially requiring significant amounts of space, many users will find themselves looking to upgrade to paid storage tiers, which begin at $0.99 per month for 20 GB of space and go up to $19.99 per month for 1 TB.
During yesterday's iPad-centric media event, Apple executives announced that the first major update to iOS 8, iOS 8.1, would be released to the public on Monday, October 20.
First seeded to developers at the end of September, iOS 8.1 promises to bring a quite a few significant features to the operating system, offering new services and finally allowing Yosemite users to access the full functionality of Continuity.
While some major Continuity features like Handoff and Phone calls on the Mac are working for users who have both an iOS 8 device and a Mac running OS X Yosemite, other features, like SMS relay and Instant Hotspot will not be available until Monday, when iOS 8.1 is released.
With SMS relay, both Macs (running Yosemite) and iOS devices like iPads are able to receive SMS messages that have been routed through a user's iPhone. Currently, while iPads and Macs can receive iMessages, SMS messages are limited to iPhones. When SMS relay is functional, an SMS message that has been received will be forwarded to iPads and Macs, and users will be able to answer all of their messages on any device. It's also possible to start SMS-based conversations directly on a Mac or iPad.
Instant Hotspot is another facet of Continuity that will be enabled with iOS 8.1. This feature lets a Mac remotely activate the Personal Hotspot capabilities of an iPhone when the two devices are near each other. The Mac can automatically detect an iPhone with Hotspot and users can connect to a Hotspot via the Mac's Wi-Fi menu without needing to remove the iPhone from their pocket.
While these two Continuity features were originally slated to launch alongside iOS 8, Apple added a small footnote to its iOS 8 press release suggesting the features were unfinished and would come with the iOS 8.1 update.
iOS 8.1 will enable Apple Pay, a major new service and Apple's first foray into mobile payments. When Apple Pay becomes available on October 20, hundreds of retailers will be prepared to start taking payments using the service, and numerous banks will be on board. With Apple Pay, iPhone 6 and 6 Plus users can make purchases solely via their iPhone at any store that accepts contactless payments.
Along with Apple Pay and Continuity features, iOS 8.1 will bring several other minor changes as well, as detailed during Thursday's event. Many users were unhappy with the disappearance of the Camera Roll, which Apple announced will be reinstated in iOS 8.1, and beta iCloud Photo Library access will be provided to all iOS 8.1 users.
iCloud Photo Library is designed to store all of a user's photos and videos, making them accessible on all of their iOS devices. iCloud Photo Library is tied to a user's iCloud account, using the storage space of their iCloud plans. With iCloud Photo Library, photos are kept in the cloud with a smaller version available on iOS devices, taking up less storage space. iCloud Photo Library will also tie in to the upcoming Photos app for the Mac, but until that is available, iCloud Photo Library will only be available on iOS devices.
Finally, iOS 8.1 may bring several bug fixes, including a fix for an ongoing Bluetooth issue that has caused some iOS 8 users to have trouble pairing their phones with their Bluetooth devices. Apple has not provided a time for the release of iOS 8.1, stating only that it plans to release the software on Monday.
Apple has begun accepting online pre-orders for the iPad Air 2 and the iPad mini 3 in the United States and several other countries around the world. Rumors have suggested that initial supplies of the iPad Air 2 might be somewhat constrained, so prospective buyers should make their purchases as soon as possible. All models are currently showing shipping estimates of 2-4 business days in the U.S. store.
AT&T is also accepting pre-orders on cellular models of the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 with shipping estimates of 6-10 business days.
Announced on October 16, Apple’s second-generation iPad Air offers several significant improvements over the original iPad Air, including a thinner design, an A8X chip, Touch ID, 802.11ac, support for LTE Advanced, an improved 8-megapixel camera with an f/2.4 aperture, and an anti-reflective screen coating that cuts down on glare.
The iPad mini 3 offers the same internals as the iPad mini 2 (aka the iPad mini with Retina display), but it does come with Touch ID and a new gold color option.
Available in white/silver, white/gold, and black/space gray, the iPad Air 2 is available in 16, 64, and 128GB configurations, with the Wi-Fi only models priced at $499, $599, and $699, respectively. Wi-Fi + Cellular models carry a $130 premium over Wi-Fi models and are priced at $629/$729/$829 for 16/64/128GB capacities.
The iPad mini 3 is also available in white/silver, white/gold, and black/space gray, and it also comes in 16, 64, and 128GB configurations. The corresponding Wi-Fi only models are priced at $399, $499, and $599, while the Wi-Fi + Cellular models are priced at $529, $629, and $729 for 16, 64, and 128GB configurations.
Both models can be pre-ordered immediately from Apple's online store. The company has not yet provided information on when the iPad mini 3 and the iPad Air 2 will be available in stores, giving an availability date of "later next week."
Following a successful week of pre-orders, Apple today started selling its iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in China. The launch was relatively calm with hundreds of people reportedly waiting in lines at each retail store amidst strong security, according to The Wall Street Journal.
About 100 customers waited in line Friday morning outside Apple’s store in Beijing’s upscale Sanlitun shopping district, which opened its doors at 8 a.m. for buyers who had pre-ordered their new wares—the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6+. That was in part because the phone also went on sale at midnight elsewhere, including offices of China’s biggest telecom carriers.
This orderly gathering is a marked difference from some previous iPhone launches which were marred by fights and near riots by waiting mobs of mostly scalpers.
Those waiting in line reportedly were interested in the bigger screen of the new iPhone with customers opting for the pricier 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus over the 4.7-inch iPhone 6. This preference also was apparent in pre-orders with Chinese e-commerce site Jingdong Mall (JD.com) processing more reservations for the iPhone 6 Plus.
As retailers handle in-store customers, car service Uber, which is known for occasionally offering delivery of offbeat items such ice cream or playtime with kittens, offered on-demand delivery of their 16 GB iPhone 6 units in Shanghai earlier today. Customers who requested the Uber service were able purchase a phone from an authorized specialist who was driven to the customer's desired location.
Beyond China, Apple this month is expanding its iPhone 6 and 6 Plus to 36 additional countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. It is the company's fastest iPhone rollout ever, with a goal to launch the iPhone in 115 countries by the end of the year.
Apple has taken its online store down to prepare for the launch of iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 pre-orders. When Apple announced the two new tablets, it said pre-orders would be available starting on October 17, although the company did not specify when exactly pre-orders would start.
Given the short amount of time between the announcement of the iPad Air 2 and the iPad mini 3 and the start of pre-orders, it is unclear whether other retailers and carriers will be prepared to offer iPad pre-orders.
Apple's iPad Air 2, which includes several upgrades like Touch ID, an A8X chip, an improved camera, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and an anti-reflective screen, is available in 16, 64, and 128GB capacities. Pricing in the United States starts at $499 for the entry-level 16GB Wi-Fi only model and goes as high as $849 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular 128GB model.
The iPad mini 3, which has been updated with Touch ID and a new gold color option, is also available in 16, 64, and 128GB configurations. Pricing for the iPad mini 3 begins at $399 for the Wi-Fi only 16GB model and goes as high as $729 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular 128GB model.
Apple has not announced when the iPad Air 2 and the iPad mini 3 will be in stores or when the two tablets will begin shipping out to customers, giving only an availability date of "later next week."
Belkin has announced a lineup of new cases made for Apple's new iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3, including new keyboard cases and a variety of protective covers catered to the design of both tablets.
The QODE Ultimate Pro Keyboard for the iPad Air 2
The QODE Ultimate Pro Keyboard for the iPad Air 2 ($149.99) features an improved keyboard layout that features the same amount of keys as a laptop, and also includes three brightness levels for backlighting. The keyboard is rated for up to one year of continuous battery life and also has adjustable landscape and portrait modes with two viewing angles.
The QODE Ultimate Keyboard for the iPad Air 2
Belkin is also offering the QODE Ultimate Keyboard for the iPad Air 2 ($129.99), which features a foldable design, three adjustable viewing angles, and up to six months of battery life. The QODE Slim Style Keyboard ($99.99) for the iPad Air and iPad Air 2 offers a folio-style cover and Bluetooth keyboard in one that contains a built-in stand and flexible corner tabs.
Slim Style Cover and Slim Stripe Cover for iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3
In addition to the keyboard cases, Belkin is also launching a variety of new covers for both the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 that are similar to Apple's own Smart Covers. Each cover can fold into a keyboard stand and features smart-wake technology. Made for the iPad Air 2 ($49.99) and iPad mini 3 ($39.99), the Slim Style Cover includes a curved, form-fitting design with a velvet finish, while the Stripe Cover for the iPad Air 2 ($39.99) and iPad mini 3 ($34.99) comes with a classic folio style. Belkin is also offering a Classic Cover for the iPad mini 3 ($29.99) that features a slim two-tone design and a Chambray Cover for the iPad Air 2 ($39.99) that features a folio style with a chambray finish.
Classic Cover for the iPad mini 3 and Chambray Cover for the iPad Air 2
Belkin's new protective covers for the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 are available to order now at its official website. Belkin's QODE Ultimate Pro Keyboard Case and the QODE Ultimate Keyboard Case for the iPad Air 2 will be available starting in December.
After releasing OS X Yosemite and updating its iWork suite of apps for the new operating system, Apple has now begun updating its iLife suite of apps alongside Aperture and Apple Configurator for Yosemite, as well as other new features.
While iPhoto and Aperture only received compatibility updates for Yosemite, Garageband, Configurator and iMovie received numerous new features. Garageband now allows users to build their own bass rigs and includes a new Voice Template for fast and easy vocal recordings. iMovie received a brand new design inspired by the look of OS X Yosemite and other features like Custom H.264 file export options. Configurator now includes the ability to allow Handoff, support for new configuration payloads in iOS 8 and more.
Similar to the iWork suite, the iLife suite is free to users who have recently purchased a new Mac or iOS device. Otherwise, iMovie is $14.99 while Garageband includes a $4.99 one-time in-app purchase to unlock additional instruments and sounds for each platform. Aperture is available for $79.99 while Configurator is available for free.
Earlier this year, Apple announced that it was ending development on Aperture in order to work on an upcoming Photos app for OS X that will replace both Aperture and iPhoto.
The free plugin, which can be downloaded from Adobe's site, will make it simple for Aperture users to migrate their libraries into Lightroom, a task that takes quite a bit of time to do manually. It is available only for Mac users and requires Lightroom 5.6 or later.
Using the plugin, Aperture users can import the following data into Lightroom: Flags, Star Ratings, Keywords, GPS Data, Rejects, Hidden Files, Color Labels, Stacks, and Face Tags.
Color Labels, Stacks, and Face Tags are imported as Lightroom keywords, and because adjustments to photos made in Aperture can't be read into Lightroom, the tool will import both original images and copies of images with adjustments applied.
Former Aperture users who sign up for Adobe's Creative Cloud Photography Plan (priced at $9.99 per month) will receive a free three-month membership to photography site KelbyOne, which offers a number of tutorials on transitioning from Aperture to Lightroom and several Lightroom training videos.
The now-discontinued Aperture has long lagged behind competing software like Lightroom for Adobe, and as its last major version update came in October of 2013, it is no surprise that Apple has opted to abandon the software. Apple has offered a final update to Aperture to allow it to run on OS X Yosemite, but plans to stop development after that.
Though Aperture is no longer being updated, early screenshots of the OS X Photos app and information from Apple representatives suggests that some of Aperture's professional-grade features might make it into the upcoming Photos app.
GT Advanced Technologies today notified City Council members in Mesa, Arizona that it plans to permanently eliminate 727 jobs at its sapphire plant. Layoffs will include 524 production workers, 108 technical positions, 70 management jobs, and 25 administrative jobs.
Affected employees were notified about their impending layoffs on Thursday. Layoffs will start on Tuesday and employees will be "separated from employment" beginning on December 15, according to a notice provided by Linda Luman, GT's vp of human resources.
News that GT would eliminate hundreds of positions first surfaced last week, after the company asked the court for permission to "wind down" operations at its Mesa, Arizona manufacturing plant. The facility, which was purchased and outfitted by Apple, has been operational for less than a year.
GT Advanced first filed for bankruptcy earlier this month, after Apple withheld a $139 million loan payment because the sapphire supplier failed to meet necessary technical milestones. According to court documents and securities filings, GT may have begun having issues with sapphire production as early as February.
Apple gave GT Advanced a $440 million loan for purchasing sapphire equipment, but according to information leaked during the GT's court proceedings, the sapphire company was unable to produce sapphire up to Apple's standards, leading Apple to stick with Gorilla Glass for the iPhone and the iPhone 6.
GT Advanced has plans to shut down its Mesa, Arizona plant, and it has also asked for court approval to void its contracts related to the operation, calling the terms of the contracts with Apple "oppressive and burdensome." The company will wind down operations over the course of the next few months, keeping on a small number of workers to monitor ongoing sapphire growth.
Once the current sapphire boules have been prepared for sale, employees will clean and decommission furnaces and then clean the plant itself, with a final closure coming on December 31. Apple has not commented publicly on the matter beyond its initial pledge promising to work to preserve jobs in the area.
Apple today updated the Mac mini, introducing significant upgrades including Haswell processors, Intel HD 5000/Iris graphics, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and PCIe-based flash storage options for the higher-end models.
Though Apple continues to offer three separate Mac mini options priced at $499, $699, and $999, it does not offer an OS X Server option as it has done in the past. Previously, the high-end Mac mini came with OS X Server and offered two 1TB hard drives for a total of 2TB of storage space.
Apple's new Mac minis max out at 1TB of storage space, with the high end model coming equipped with a 1TB Fusion Drive or up to 1TB of PCIe-based flash storage.
The Mac mini with Server configuration initially shipped with an OS X Server version of OS X, but later models came with the standard version of OS X and a separate OS X Server package. Later, Apple went on to release OS X Server in the App Store, essentially making the Mac mini with OS X Server obsolete.
While the new Mac minis can't be expanded to 2TB of storage space, they have two Thunderbolt two ports and four USB 3.0 ports, allowing for plenty of external storage options.
Apple's new Mac minis are available today from the company's online store, with prices starting at $499.
With the release of OS X Yosemite today, Apple has updated its iWork suite of productivity apps on both Mac and iOS with support for the new version of OS X and Continuity, which allows users to continue their work from their iOS devices to Macs and back again.
iWork for Mac received the biggest improvements, with all new looks for Pages, Keynote and Numbers inspired by the look of OS X Yosemite. iWork for iOS received support for third-party storage providers, allowing users to save their documents with providers like Dropbox. Both versions of iWork received numerous improvements and refinements, like updated file formats for easier sharing through Gmail and Dropbox, customizable alignments and much more.
Apple's line of iWork apps are free to users who have recently purchased a new Mac or iOS device. Otherwise, each iWork app for Mac is available for $19.99 while each iWork app for iOS is available for $9.99.
Alongside OS X Yosemite, Apple today released iTunes 12.0.1, a revamped version of iTunes that’s been designed with OS X Yosemite in mind. iTunes 12.0.1 can be downloaded from the Mac App Store and is available for both Mavericks and OS X Yosemite.
iTunes 12 offers an elegant new design that incorporates translucency to improve depth. It also has a streamlined toolbar that aims to give users more room to experience content, and it melds the iTunes Store with the Library, making it easier to navigate between personal collections and what’s available in the store.
There are dedicated icons for music, movies, and TV shows, and Recently Added albums, movies, and TV shows are displayed at the top of the library for easy access.
iTunes 12 also includes support for several iOS 8/Yosemite features, including Family Sharing, and it brings improved playlist editing as well.
After today's media event that saw the introduction of new iPads and new Macs, members of the press were invited to experience all of Apple's new products. Several sites have posted first impressions of Apple's 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K Display, which we've summarized to give users an overview of the company's newest desktop and its ultra high-resolution screen.
Engadgetsays that the new 27-inch iMac has a "stunning display" with great viewing angles, and was left impressed with the all-in-one's image quality even at a resolution of 5120 x 2880. Brightness is said to be "level throughout" with no bleeding. The website also praised the extra screen real-estate that the new 27-inch Retina iMac will allow for video editing.
TechCrunchsays that the iMac's display shows "full resolution photos with zoomed crops that look better than most originals coming out of the camera" and credits Apple for fitting such a panel into the same tapered design. The screen is noted as being a "huge step up" from the one found on the Retina MacBook Pro. Overall, the new 27-inch iMac is described to be "the future of desktop computing" and is even said to be right up there with Apple's Mac Pro in terms of choices for power users.
Ars Technica praises the new 27-inch iMac's color, contrast, and viewing angles, and thinks that the faster Radeon M290X or M295X GPUs with 2GB and 4GB of RAM respectively are solid upgrades over the Nvidia GeForce GT 700M GPUs found in Apple's non-Retina iMacs. However, the website did take issue with the desktop's price for what it offers internally:
The only thing we can really complain about based on our hands-on time is the price, which isn’t bad for what you’re getting but is still objectively pretty high. We’re glad to see Fusion Drives become standard (something we’d honestly like to see on every iMac and Mac Mini Apple ships), but 8GB of RAM seems a little low for a power-user-focused, $2500 computer. And the big drawback of all-in-one computers still applies—the machine’s internals are going to feel their age much faster than the display itself will.
Finally, The Vergecalls the desktop's new 5K display "incredible" with a crisp, sharp and accurate picture despite it being a bit reflective. The website notes that it initially worried about performance issues with the iMac now powering an ultra high-resolution screen, but a demonstration proved that performance "doesn't seem to be an issue."
The new 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display is shipping today. The base model starts at $2,499 and comes with a 3.5 GHz quad-core Intel i5 processor, AMD Radeon R9 M290X graphics processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 1TB Fusion Drive. Build-to-order configurations can also be outfitted with a 4.0 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor and AMD Radeon R9 M295X graphics processor.
Following today's media event that saw Apple introduce new iPads and a new Retina iMac, Apple released OS X Yosemite to the public, after several months of beta testing.
OS X Yosemite is available from the Mac App Store as a free download for all eligible Macs. [Direct Link]
First introduced at WWDC in June, OS X Yosemite will do for the Mac what iOS 7 did for iOS devices. The new operating system introduces redesign that focuses on a flatter, more modern look that emphasizes translucency, smarter controls, and streamlined toolbars.
OS X Yosemite doesn't just bring a fantastic new look to the Mac, it also includes several major features introduce unprecedented levels of integration between iOS and OS X. With Continuity features like Handoff, for example, users can begin a task on one device and finish it on another with a seamless transition. SMS relay features, meanwhile, will let Mac users answer calls from their iOS devices.
Other improvements include a "Today" view in Notification Center that integrates with third-party apps and an improved Spotlight search that pulls data from new sources. Several core apps have been updated with new features, with Safari gaining a revamped look and Mail gaining tools like Mail Drop, for handling large attachments, and Markup, for annotating images right within email messages.
Macs will need 2GB of RAM to run Yosemite, along with 8GB of storage. Snow Leopard must be installed for Mac App Store access, but the Yosemite software itself is available as a free download, much like Mavericks was last year.
Update: Many users are seeing a "Temporarily Unavailable" error when attempting to download Yosemite as it just hit the App Store, but it should be available shortly.
After Apple introduced the new iPad Air 2 at its media event today, members of the press were invited to go hands-on with the new tablet. Several sites have now begun publishing their hands-on first impressions of the iPad Air 2, which we've gathered up below to provide an overall impression of the new device.
TechCrunch says that although the iPad Air 2's resolution is the same as the iPad Air, the display looks better than the previous models. By combining screen components, Apple has made "things look a lot more touchable". The effect is similar to that of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, which makes the display seem like a "high resolution mock-up, rather than an actual display you can interact with and change."
Gizmodo notes that Apple shaving off .04 pounds and 1.4 mm from iPad Air makes the iPad Air 2 feel lighter than the smaller iPad mini 3 even though it's a quarter of a pound heavier than Apple's new 7.9-inch tablet.
Not only is it way, way thinner than the smaller iPad mini 3 — and this will sound crazy — but it feels lighter too. Even though it's nearly a quarter of a pound heavier, the 6.1mm-thin chassis is so thin and easy to lift with a single hand that it makes the mini seem downright fat by comparison. I feel like I could hold it over my head in bed without any worry of smacking myself. Not something I can say about any other 10-inch tablet.
The Verge has similar thoughts on the iPad Air 2's thinness, saying it feels like "there's almost nothing left to take away" and that holding the device is like "you're holding a screen and nothing more." The Verge also noted that the new 8 MP camera is much improved over the iPad Air.
One thing is that is definitively better is the new camera, which is now 8 megapixels; it's a lot faster and shots seemed a lot clearer, at least in Apple's hectic demo room. Apple made a big deal out of this camera and the interesting apps people are building for the iPad that use the camera; we've fought it for years but tablet photography seems to be a thing now.
TechCrunch shares similar sentiments about the iPad Air 2's camera, noting that the camera improvements are good enough to make some consider the tablet as a worthy camera choice.
The Verge also points out that the lack of a mute switch next to the volume rocker feels like a "casualty of thinness", and that although users can mute the device by holding down the volume-down button or lock the orientation in Control Center, the lack of the mute switch makes both things less convenient.
Pre-orders for the new iPad Air 2 begin tomorrow, October 17, and will begin shipping next week. Prices for the iPad Air 2 begin at $499 for 16 GB with Wi-Fi.
