Adobe has released a preview release of the 10.1 Flash Player for Mac OS X that supports H.264 video hardware decoding on Mac OS X 10.6.3. Apple recently released information to allow 3rd party developers to take advantage of this hardware support.
Hardware video decoding allows Flash Player to offload H.264 video decoding tasks from the CPU to deliver smooth, high quality video with minimal overhead, improving video playback performance, reducing system resource utilization, and extending battery life.
The new version of Flash Player, code-named "Gala", requires one of the following graphics hardware: NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, GeForce 320M or GeForce GT 330M. For those unfamiliar with their specific graphics hardware, this blog post details the computers which are supported:
- MacBooks shipped after January 21st, 2009 - Mac Minis shipped after March 3rd, 2009 - MacBook Pros shipped after October 14th, 2008 - iMacs which shipped after the first quarter of 2009
Mac Pros are not presently supported. The blog post goes on to detail other conditions that hardware support may or may not be available at this time. In the preview release, you can recognize when hardware decoding is in use as a small white square will appear in the upper left corner of the video.
This new feature is expected to make it into the final shipping version of Flash Player 10.1.
Early anecdotal reports in our forums show significant improvements in Flash video playback.
Monday November 3, 2025 5:54 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Following more than a month of beta testing, Apple released iOS 26.1 on Monday, November 3. The update includes a handful of new features and changes, including the ability to adjust the look of Liquid Glass and more.
Below, we outline iOS 26.1's key new features.
Liquid Glass Toggle
iOS 26.1 lets you choose your preferred look for Liquid Glass.
In the Settings app, under Display...
Wednesday November 5, 2025 11:57 am PST by Juli Clover
The smarter, more capable version of Siri that Apple is developing will be powered by Google Gemini, reports Bloomberg. Apple will pay Google approximately $1 billion per year for a 1.2 trillion parameter artificial intelligence model that was developed by Google.
For context, parameters are a measure of how a model understands and responds to queries. More parameters generally means more...
Thursday November 6, 2025 11:12 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today updated its trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models. Trade-ins can be completed on Apple's website, or at an Apple Store.
The charts below provide an overview of Apple's current and previous trade-in values in the U.S., according to its website. Maximum values for most devices either decreased or saw no change, but the iPad Air received a slight bump.
...
Apple is planning to launch at least 15 new products in 2026, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Gurman outlined what to expect from Apple in 2026 in the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter. He said the company is heading "into one of its most pivotal years in recent memory," with the rollout of major new Apple Intelligence features, intense regulatory pressure on the App Store,...
Monday November 3, 2025 1:11 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released iOS 26.1, the first major update to the iOS 26 operating system that came out in September, iOS 26.1 comes over a month after iOS 26 launched. iOS 26.1 is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and later, as well as the second-generation iPhone SE.
The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones over-the-air by going to Settings > General >...
Thursday November 6, 2025 2:45 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple is promoting the new Liquid Glass design in iOS 26, showing off the ways that third-party developers are embracing the aesthetic in their apps. On its developer website, Apple is featuring a visual gallery that demonstrates how "teams of all sizes" are creating Liquid Glass experiences.
The gallery features examples of Liquid Glass in apps for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac. Apple...
Thursday November 6, 2025 4:37 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple in iOS 26.2 will disable automatic Wi-Fi network syncing between iPhone and Apple Watch in the European Union to comply with the bloc's regulations, suggests a new report.
Normally, when an iPhone connects to a new Wi-Fi network, it automatically shares the network credentials with the paired Apple Watch. This allows the watch to connect to the same network independently – for...
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...
