At MacWorld San Francisco today, Apple announced a major update to its iLife suite of applications. iLife '09 will be available by late January 2009. Upgrade costs are $79, with a family pack at $99. It is shipping on all new macs. Here's a quick breakdown of some of the standout features of the new apps:
iPhoto '09 - Faces: Addition of facial recognition to events. Photos can be tagged to recognize faces, as in Facebook. - Places: Uses geotagging to find information about the latitude and longitude of a photo. This information can be supplied either by a newer camera with built-in gps capabilities, or manually by user input. - Slideshow Themes: Uses facial detection to properly position pictures in a slideshow. There's also support for Facebook and Flickr, with built-in geotagging.
iMovie '09 - Dynamic Themes: Context-sensitive menus for clips, along with animated travel maps - Automatic Image Stabilization: Helps reduce motion in shaky video - Precision Editor: Video and audio - Advanced Drag and Drop: For placing video wherever you want it in the timeline - Video Effects: Brings back special effects to iMovie
GarageBand '09 - Learn to Play: Teaches how to play an instrument with video instruction from professionals/celebrities. Nine basic lessons included, with additional downloads available at $4.99 each from within the app.
Since OS X 10.5.x is required to run the new iLife, Apple is also offering a package of OS X 10.5, iLife '09 and iWork '09 for $169. This "Mac Box Set" will ship in late January when iLife '09 ships.
Thursday February 5, 2026 12:54 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple turns 50 this year, and its CEO Tim Cook has promised to celebrate the milestone. The big day falls on April 1, 2026.
"I've been unusually reflective lately about Apple because we have been working on what do we do to mark this moment," Cook told employees today, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "When you really stop and pause and think about the last 50 years, it makes your heart ...
Tuesday February 3, 2026 7:47 am PST by Joe Rossignol
While the iOS 26.3 Release Candidate is now available ahead of a public release, the first iOS 26.4 beta is likely still at least a week away. Following beta testing, iOS 26.4 will likely be released to the general public in March or April.
Below, we have recapped known or rumored iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 features so far.
iOS 26.3
iPhone to Android Transfer Tool
iOS 26.3 makes it easier...
Tuesday February 3, 2026 12:45 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple recently acquired Israeli startup Q.ai for close to $2 billion, according to Financial Times sources. That would make this Apple's second-biggest acquisition ever, after it paid $3 billion for the popular headphone maker Beats in 2014.
This is also the largest known Apple acquisition since the company purchased Intel's smartphone modem business and patents for $1 billion in 2019....
Thursday February 5, 2026 12:22 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld.
The report, citing industry sources, is available in English on Macworld.
Apple announced the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, February 19 last year, so the iPhone 17e would be unveiled exactly one year later if this rumor is accurate. It is quite uncommon for Apple to unveil...
Friday February 6, 2026 3:06 pm PST by Juli Clover
In the iOS 26.4 update that's coming this spring, Apple will introduce a new version of Siri that's going to overhaul how we interact with the personal assistant and what it's able to do.
The iOS 26.4 version of Siri won't work like ChatGPT or Claude, but it will rely on large language models (LLMs) and has been updated from the ground up.
Upgraded Architecture
The next-generation...
