Virtualization competitors Parallels and VMWare were taking opposite sides of the South Hall at Macworld to show off Mac OS X Server running in a virtualized environment on Apple hardware (made possible by changes to Mac OS 10.5's EULA for Leopard Server).
For its part, Parallels showed off a new product, currently in beta, called Parallels Server (previously announced). Parallels is targeting Parallels Server for users of server hardware, as the software contains hooks that allow more in-depth monitoring of the hardware that the desktop edition does not allow. In beta, the software currently supports up to 2-way SMP for virtual machines, although they state that the shipping version will support 4-way SMP. This SMP support will eventually find its way into their Desktop product. Parallels received a Best of Show award for Parallels Server from Macworld.
Parallels Server Display, running on a previous generation Xserve
VMWare has also been busy working to support Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Server in a virtualized environment. At Macworld, they demoed a technology preview which showed VMWare running multiple server operating systems with the usual hardware support. Sound and accelerated video were not working, however, and VMWare could not commit whether such support would be included in the final shipping version. As a technology preview, no product was announced and no ship date yet available.
VMWare booth
VMWare also pointed out that VMWare Importer Beta 2 was released late last week which includes support for VirtualPC virtual machines and improves support for importing Parallels virtual machines.
Both companies offer free trial versions of their standard virtualization software which allows Intel Mac owners to run Windows or Linux: Parallels Desktop 3.0 and VMWare Fusion 1.1
Wednesday December 17, 2025 3:50 pm PST by Juli Clover
There's now a dedicated Apple Music app for ChatGPT, which allows ChatGPT to make music recommendations and build playlists.
Apple Music can be added to ChatGPT through the Settings section in the Mac app, website, or iOS app. Apple Music is listed under the apps option, and connecting to it requires signing in with your Apple Account for authorization purposes.
ChatGPT can be used to...
Tuesday December 16, 2025 8:44 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will be equipped with under-screen Face ID, and the front camera will be moved to the top-left corner of the screen, according to a new report from The Information's Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu.
As a result of these changes, the report said the iPhone 18 Pro models will not have a pill-shaped Dynamic Island cutout at the top of the screen....
You'd think things would be slowing down heading into the holidays, but this week saw a whirlwind of Apple leaks and rumors while Apple started its next cycle of betas following last week's release of iOS 26.2 and related updates.
This week also saw the release of a new Apple Music integration with ChatGPT, so read on below for all the details on this week's biggest stories!
Top Stories
i...
Thursday December 18, 2025 3:44 pm PST by Juli Clover
Since the AirPods Pro 3 launched, there have been complaints from users who have noticed a static-like sound or a crackling issue when using the earbuds, particularly when Active Noise Cancellation is on but no media is playing. Users have also run into strange high-pitched whistling sounds that happen intermittently.
We shared the issues back in late October, and despite two subsequent...
Tuesday December 16, 2025 4:42 pm PST by Juli Clover
There has been a whirlwind of rumors over the last few days, sourced from leaked internal software designed for the iPhone and the Mac, and news sites like The Information. Below, we have a quick recap of everything we've heard this week, which serves as a guide to Apple's product plans in 2026 and beyond.
We've organized the info by likely release date, though there are some products that...
Thursday December 18, 2025 1:31 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple Maps no longer offers a Flyover feature that provides users with automated tours of notable landmarks in major cities. The Flyover option appears to have been nixed around when iOS 26 launched, but its removal went largely unnoticed.
Flyover city tours were introduced in 2014 with iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite, using Flyover imagery to generate an aerial tour. Most cities with Flyover...
Friday December 19, 2025 10:37 am PST by Juli Clover
Since the beginning of December, Apple has been pushing iPhone users who opted to stay on iOS 18 to install iOS 26 instead. Apple started by making the iOS 18 upgrades less visible, and has now transitioned to making new iOS 18 updates unavailable on any device capable of running iOS 26.
If you have an iPhone 11 or later, Apple is no longer offering new versions of iOS 18, even though there...
