Firehose – News, Alerts, Docs
- Friday December 20
- 08:34 amM4 Ultra Mac Pro: Everything you need to know
Macworld Apple last updated the Mac Pro in 2023 when it was the last Mac to be outfitted with an M-series chip–three years after Apple started to use its own silicon in Macs. The Mac Pro may be on a longer update cycle than the other Macs because it’s an expensive machine with features that address the needs of a niche audience. But if you’re part of that audience, you’ll want to know when the next model will arrive, so we’ll be tracking the news and rumors about the Mac Pro. This article includes information about the potential updates to the Mac Pro, as well as offers perspective on what those rumored updates mean to Apple’s Mac lineup. Mac Pro M4: Release date With no new Mac Pro appearing in 2024, despite the arrival of the M4 Max, it looks like we will be stuck with the M2 Ultra Mac Pro until 2025. The lengthy wait isn’t a surprise. In a report in April 2024 by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman about Apple’s plans for its AI-enhanced M4 chip, he suggested that Apple would not update the Mac Pro until 2025. In June 2024, Gurman again reported that the Mac released schedule had not changed. The M4 Mac Pro is not expected until the second half of 2025. In August, Gurman reiterated that the M4 Mac Pro will be released in 2025. Mac Pro M4: Processor With the long wait, you may be thinking we might get an M5 Ultra Mac Pro, but it looks like it will be the M4 Ultra we will see in June 2025: in October 2024, Gurman reported that Apple “continues to work on an M4 version of the Mac Pro.” In his April 2024 report, Gurman stated that the Mac Pro will be part of Apple’s AI focus and will be upgraded with an M4 with enhanced AI capabilities. Gurman did not offer any details on how those AI enhancements will be implemented or any other specifications about the M4. Since that report, Apple has unveiled the M4 chip, first in the iPad Pro, then in the iMac, Mac mini and MacBook Pro. In our Geekbench 6 tests of the M4 Max chip that arrived in October 2024 we found it to be faster than the M2 Ultra. Read: How Apple’s M4 chips dispelled all my fears about buying a new Mac. While this is bad news for the M2 Ultra Mac Pro it should mean great things for the M4 Ultra, which is what will go in the Mac Pro. We also know that it has an improved Neural Engine for AI features. Presumably, this will be an M4 Ultra-type chip. Apple’s M1 Ultra and M2 Ultra chips are essentially two Max chips that work together, but there have been reports that Apple will be changing the processor’s architecture, so we could see higher performance than in previous Ultra chips. The Information reported in December 2024 that in the summer Apple had canceled a “high-performance chip for Macs” to focus on the development of an AI server chip. As John Gruber pointed out, the timing of that Mac chip project suggests that the canceled chip was likely one that is dubbed an “Extreme” chip that would be faster than an Ultra. Based on this report, the Mac Pro will get Ultra chips for the foreseeable future. Mac Pro M4: Design and specs Gurman also reported that Apple wants to dramatically increase the maximum amount of unified memory in the high-end desktop M4 Macs to 512GB. The current limit on the M2 Ultra Mac Pro is 192GB. So, the M4 Ultra Mac Pro could support more than twice the memory as the current M2 Ultra Mac Pro. The Mac Pro will be equipped with Thunderbolt 5. When Apple released the M4 Pro/Mac MacBook Pro, it upgraded to Thunderbolt 5, so the Mac Pro will follow suit. Learn more about Thunderbolt 5. No other reports have been made about the inner workings of the upcoming Mac Pro. Because Apple wants to focus on AI, the Mac Pro could be marketed as an AI development workstation, so Apple could upgrade other components to accommodate these needs. The Mac mini had a redesign in 2024, resulting in a much smaller device. Mac Pro has had its design for 11 years, but no reports have been made about the design, and if Apple changes anything it is very unlikely to make the Mac Pro smaller as this didn’t work out well last time. The next Mac Pro upgrade is expected to keep the same design, but the internal components will likely change, with the key one being an M4 Ultra upgrade.Foundry Mac Pro M4: Price Here are the prices for the current standard base configurations of the M2 Ultra Mac Pro for reference. Apple expects customers to customer configure their orders, so prices will vary from these base specifications. $6,999/£7,199/CA$8,999/AU$11,999 Mac Pro Tower: M2 Ultra, 24-core CPU, 60-core GPU, 32-core Neural Engine, 64GB Unified Memory, 1TB SSD $7,499/£7,699/CA$9,599/AU$12,999 Mac Pro Rack: M2 Ultra, 24-core CPU, 60-core GPU, 32-core Neural Engine, 64GB Unified Memory, 1TB SSD Pricing for the new Mac Pro has not been reported, though we expect pricing to remain the same in the U.S. The price may be adapted to more recent exchange rates elsewhere. We predict that in the U.K. the price will be in line with the U.S. for example: £6,999 rather than £7,199.08:31 amIssues updating of waiting room
Dec 20, 08:31 UTCInvestigating - Cloudflare is investigating issues related to an update of waiting room.More updates to follow shortly.08:02 amChatGPT for Mac can now draft notes and debug your code
ChatGPT's Mac app now works with more third-party apps, including Apple Notes, Notion, and Android Studio, to supercharge your productivity. (via Cult of Mac - Apple news, rumors, reviews and how-tos)08:00 amWish you had Apple Intelligence? Just download this
Macworld Jealous of those fancy new Macs with their “Apple Intelligence” that magically enhances photos and videos? Well, you don’t need to upgrade your perfectly good Mac just to get in on the AI action. This photo and video enhancer adds the same capabilities to your machine—no Apple Store visit required. Just pay $35.99 for a lifetime download (reg. $119). VideoProc’s AI-powered video enhancer is like having a whole team of editors at your fingertips. It lets you edit, convert, and resize even those massive 4K UHD videos without your MacBook sounding like it’s about to launch into orbit. But it’s not just about speed; VideoProc also uses AI to boost video quality. Think smoother footage, sharper images, and even noise reduction. And if you’re into photography, VideoProc has you covered there as well. It can help you touch up photos, create slideshows with music, and even convert images between different formats. Basically, it’s like having a mini version of Apple’s Photos app with Apple Intelligence. Get a VideoProc lifetime license here for $35.99 (reg. $119). You won’t find a better price anywhere else. VideoProc Converter: Lifetime Family License – $35.99 See Deal StackSocial prices subject to change.08:00 amThat’s not an AirTag! That’s… cooler? Check out this Cyber Week deal
Macworld Picture your beloved AirTag, but so flat it actually fits in your wallet. Yup, no awkward bulge in your pocket to keep track of your cards and cash—just this wallet tracker in the shape of a credit card. Bold claim: These KeySmart SmartCards might be better than the AirTag. They work with Apple’s Find My app, are Qi-wireless rechargeable, and are almost the same price during Cyber Week! Get this AirTag alternative for only $29.97 with free shipping through December 8 (reg. $39.99) — AirTags are $29. Unfamiliar with how Find My trackers work? Once paired with your iPhone or other Apple devices, you can track your wallet, luggage, or passport on a live map. You also get notifications when it’s left behind and play sounds to help locate it. Another perk of these wallet tracker cards is that you don’t have to purchase a keychain holder like you do with the AirTag. They have a lanyard slot if you want to add them to your keys or ID reel. Get a KeySmart SmartCard for $29.97 with free shipping (reg. $39.99) during Cyber Week. Deal ends December 8 at 11:59 p.m. PT and no coupon is needed. KeySmart® SmartCard – Thinnest Card Tracker & Works with Apple Find My – $29.97 See Deal StackSocial prices subject to change.07:52 amRussia SMS Carrier Maintenance – MegaFon
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Dec 24, 12:00 - 16:00 PSTDec 19, 23:31 PSTScheduled - The MegaFon network in Russia is conducting a planned maintenance from 24 December 2024 at 12:00 PST until 24 December 2024 at 16:00 PST. During the maintenance window, there could be intermittent delays delivering SMS to MegaFon Russia handsets.07:22 amThailand SMS Carrier Maintenance – AIS GSM
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Dec 22, 07:30 - 15:30 PSTDec 19, 23:12 PSTScheduled - The AIS GSM network in Thailand is conducting an emergency maintenance from 22 December 2024 at 07:30 PST until 22 December 2024 at 15:30 PST. During the maintenance window, there could be intermittent delays delivering SMS to and from AIS GSM Thailand handsets.07:01 amCan we control the paywall dynamically
I am new to ios and wanted to check if we can control the paywall options using api. For eg, I plan to get the 3 options approved from apple 1. Promotional offer 0$ ( non consumable in app purchase) 2.monthly x$ ( subscription) 3.yearly y$ ( subscription) I will controll the 1st option through […]05:50 amWhy is iOS app marketing so much harder than Android?
I've developed apps for both Android and iOS, and I’ve noticed that marketing an iOS app feels significantly more challenging compared to Android. On Android, it seems easier to get visibility and user downloads, but with iOS, the process feels much slower and more difficult. I’m curious if others have experienced this too. Why do […]05:34 amHow One Submission Choice Locked My Game Into iOS Limbo (12 Rejections Later…) | Reddit on iOS ProgrammingHow One Submission Choice Locked My Game Into iOS Limbo (12 Rejections Later…)
Launching my game on iOS has been one of the most frustrating experiences I’ve had as a developer. Originally, the plan was to launch on both Android and iOS on December 2nd. Android went live without a hitch. iOS? A total nightmare. I ended up with 12 rejections. The main issue? Apple kept categorizing my […]03:58 amHow to change FaceTime audio & video settings for clearer calls
Apple's iOS 18 enhances FaceTime & calls with advanced audio modes and cinematic video effects for clearer communication. Here's how — and when — to use them.FaceTimeFaceTime and phone calls in iOS 18 include three new audio settings, starting with Standard, the standard microphone mode ideal for everyday use and balanced sound.The second one is Wide Spectrum. It actually includes more of the background noise into the call. Wide Spectrum can make the audio sound more natural, making it the one to useif you're at a birthday party and want to include all the excitement in the background. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums03:54 amIs SceneKit dead?
I recently release an app that uses SceneKit. There are several WWDC videos from 2017, and not much has changed in the last 6-7 years. I don't understand why Apple has made no effort to update or even fix some issues with SceneKit. They more recently put work into RealityKit, but that is a different […]03:00 amHow to become Middle iOS Developer ?
Hi everybody, I’m an iOS Developer for 1.5 years. I’ve been using Swift and also Objective-C in my work. I developed apps using both UIKit and SwiftUI, I only use Objective-C to maintain and fix some old apps’ bugs My Role is Junior now, could you guys please give me a checklist to become a […]03:00 amApple Launched the Controversial 'Trashcan' Mac Pro 11 Years Ago Today
Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup. The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of the Mac Pro's components were mounted around a central thermal dissipation core, cooled by a single fan that pulled air from under the case, through the core, and out the top. The fan could spin more slowly than smaller fans and keep the Mac extremely quiet, even during intense operations. Apple announced the radically redesigned Mac Pro at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in 2013. During the announcement, Apple's Phil Schiller infamously remarked "Can't innovate anymore, my ass." The comment was directed at critics who pointed at the previous Mac Pro's lack of updates and claimed Apple had largely abandoned its pro user base and was out of ideas. Phil Schiller unveiling the redesigned Mac Pro in 2013 Apple said that the new Mac Pro offered twice the overall performance of the previous generation while taking up less than one-eighth of the volume, thanks to its unified thermal core. The Mac Pro twinned Intel Xeon processors with dual AMD FirePro workstation GPUs, enabling it to deliver seven teraflops of computing power. While the striking design was undoubtedly ambitious, users were unhappy with the way that almost all expansion had to be served externally by Thunderbolt 2 ports. Many professional users who were reliant on powerful hardware could not get past the Mac Pro's lack of internal slots to add graphics cards and memory. The result was a device that was unable to adapt to changing hardware trends. Even Apple seemed unsure how to offer a meaningful hardware update for the Mac Pro; as recently as 2019, it was possible to buy a brand new trashcan Mac Pro from Apple, with no upgrades coming to the device during the preceding six years. This led Apple to make a rare admission of the product's failure during a meeting with reporters in April 2017, explaining in detail why the device didn't succeed in the way it had hoped. In 2019, Apple's full mea culpa came in the form of yet another Mac Pro redesign, which took the machine back to a highly modular tower form factor with eight PCIe slots and three impeller fans. Yet in many respects, what the 2013 Mac Pro set out to achieve—a small, powerful computer for professionals, with external expansion only—lives on and has been executed more effectively by the Mac Studio. Related Roundup: Mac ProBuyer's Guide: Mac Pro (Neutral)Related Forum: Mac ProThis article, "" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums02:12 amEpisode One Projector review: Cheap and compact, with consequences
Episode One is a small, budget projector that delivers the features you'd expect, but it has weaknesses in brightness and audio.Episode One Projector reviewA small projector simply saves space. They're great to have in dorms, apartments, and other smaller or shared living spaces.The Episode One is made by Formovie, who's been making projectors since 2016. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums01:32 amWhere to store data secure from user read-write access?
I want to store local, persistent values such as how often ads are shown (fetched remotely from the server), and cache whether the user is on a Pro version before fetching it from the network. These should not be editable (and perhaps neither viewable) by the user. UserDefaults is not an option because iExplorer can […]01:14 amSMS Delivery Delays and Failures to Orange Network in Ivory Coast
Dec 19, 17:13 PSTUpdate - We are experiencing . Our engineers are working with our carrier partner to resolve the issue. We will provide another update in 1 hours or as soon as more information becomes available.Dec 19, 17:09 PSTInvestigating - Our monitoring systems have detected a potential issue with . Our engineering team has been alerted and is actively investigating. We will update as soon as we have more information.01:01 am28% of apps on the App Store used Flutter according to a stats firm
When I saw this headline I felt disappointed as I started learning iOS programming recently. Bty, I'm a senior Flutter developer, but decided to switch to iOS entirely, as way to land a high paying job Source: https://x.com/biz84/status/1869438650137923975?t=6JQwiJT73-DolcR_Qogo4w&s=19 submitted by /u/JKirkN [link] [comments]12:56 amiPhone 16 is surprisingly the best small phone of 2024 according to MKBHD
Every year, MKBHD holds its Smartphone Awards, choosing the best smartphones in different categories. For 2024, the YouTuber chose phones for 10 categories, and surprisingly, won an unexpected one – this year’s Best Small Phone. more…12:52 amSMS Delivery Delays and Failures to Orange Network in Ivory Coast
Dec 19, 16:51 PSTUpdate - We are experiencing . Our engineers are working with our carrier partner to resolve the issue. We will provide another update in 1 hour or as soon as more information becomes available.Dec 19, 16:43 PSTInvestigating - Our monitoring systems have detected a potential issue with SMS Delivery Delays and Failures to Movicel Network in Angola. Our engineering team has been alerted and is actively investigating. We will update as soon as we have more information.12:29 amPrivate Personal Finance App
I’ve been coding a personal finance app since September that is private on your device and iCloud account only. There is no syncing accounts, all manual entry. I’m planning on releasing a beta in January or February. I’m curious how many would be interested in something like this and who might help test it. Current […]12:17 amNeed help testing
Hey guys I would like to share my business app https://apps.apple.com/us/app/talk-bizz/id6470453605 with you all, its my first start up app and I need some people to test it and let me know what can be better with it, its a app where you can buy and sell your services and also post on the content […]12:08 amApple stops signing iOS 18.1.1, blocking downgrade from 18.2
Apple on Thursday stopped signing iOS 18.1.1, preventing users from downgrading to this version of the operating system if their iPhone or iPad is already running a newer version. The move comes a week after the release of iOS 18.2, which introduced significant new features and improvements. more…Thursday December 1911:48 pmSMS Delivery Delays and Failures to Movicel Network in Angola
Dec 19, 15:48 PSTUpdate - We are experiencing . Our engineers are working with our carrier partner to resolve the issue. We will provide another update in 1 hour or as soon as more information becomes available.Dec 19, 15:43 PSTInvestigating - Our monitoring systems have detected a potential issue with . Our engineering team has been alerted and is actively investigating. We will update as soon as we have more information.11:43 pmChatGPT for macOS now works with Apple Notes and more third-party apps
OpenAI last month announced a major update to the macOS ChatGPT app, which gained the ability to read on-screen content in certain apps. The company is now rolling out an update that expands support for Apple Notes and even more third-party apps. more…11:35 pmThis USB-C travel hub is your new vacation bestie
This USB-C travel hub has it all: 10 USB ports, high-power USB PD charging, memory card slots and even wireless MagSafe charging. (via Cult of Mac - Apple news, rumors, reviews and how-tos)11:22 pmUnited States Account Security Carrier Partner Maintenance – Verizon Wireless
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Dec 19, 18:00 - 22:00 PSTDec 19, 15:13 PSTScheduled - Our carrier partner Verizon Wireless United States is conducting a planned maintenance from 19 December 2024 at 18:00 PST until 19 December 2024 at 22:00 PST. During the maintenance window, there could be intermittent API request failures for Verizon Wireless United States customers.Impacted Product: Verify Silent Network AuthWe are aware of the short notice and are working with our Carrier Partners to provide earlier notification where possible.10:59 pmOn Call Engineers are Investigating an issue with SMS delivery delays to TeleTalk Network in Bangladesh | TwilioOn Call Engineers are Investigating an issue with SMS delivery delays to TeleTalk Network in Bangladesh
Dec 19, 14:59 PSTInvestigating - Our monitoring systems have detected a potential issue with SMS delivery delays to TeleTalk Network in Bangladesh. Our engineering team has been alerted and is actively investigating. We will update as soon as we have more information.10:39 pmHere are all the airlines that support the new AirTags feature in iOS 18.2
With iOS 18.2, Apple supercharged AirTags with a new feature called “Share Item Location.” This feature lets you share the location of a lost AirTag or Find My network accessory with a trusted third party. As part of the launch of Share Item Location, Apple is teaming up with airlines worldwide. Here are all the airlines that support this new feature more…10:32 pmCorrect way to save and display percentages?
My model saves the percentage as a double in firebase and when I enter 15 it saves as 15 in firebase but when I go to display the value Text(value.formatted(.percent)) It displays as 1500% and not 15% like I would expect. So do I need to divide by 100 before saving or am I missing […]10:01 pmU.S. weighs ban on America’s most-popular router, China’s TP-Link
U.S. authorities are investigating whether TP-Link, a Chinese router manufacturer with approximately 65% of the U.S. home and… The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.09:59 pmIs this really the “right” way to work on a feature in iOS?
Hello, I am an experienced web developer new to Swift/iOS programming, developing and app on my own so I don't have experienced developers to show me best practices. Here's my setup: I am iterating on a certain screen in my app that requires several steps to navigate to. Every time I make a small change, […]09:36 pmWhy does Adaptable LazyVGrid tries to add more card in portrait than it does in landscape like it thinks portrait has more width than landscape? | Reddit on iOS ProgrammingWhy does Adaptable LazyVGrid tries to add more card in portrait than it does in landscape like it thinks portrait has more width than landscape?
I want to show cards of fixed width in column of 2 in landscape and in 1 on portrait. This can be done by sdaptable grid as width of card clearly maked addinf 2 cards in portrit not possible. I don't have acess to iPad so if it anyone try t confirm wether this is […]09:30 pm7 Troubling Tech Trends of 2024
From overhyped AI gimmicks to privacy erosion and unsustainable hardware practices, here are some of the worst tech trends of 2024 that have frustrated consumers and industry leaders. The post appeared first on TechNewsWorld.09:09 pmRumor Replay: Apple’s foldable iPad and iPhone are coming, AirTag 2 and more
This is Rumor Replay, a weekly column at 9to5Mac offering a quick rundown of the most recent Apple product rumors, with analysis and commentary. Today: Apple’s foldable iPad and iPhone are coming, plus a fresh Magic Mouse approach, and AirTag 2. Here are this week’s Apple rumors. more…08:50 pmUPDATE: Vertex Gemini API and Vertex AI in Firebase customers in us-central1 are experiencing elevated errors for requests to Gemini models | Google CloudUPDATE: Vertex Gemini API and Vertex AI in Firebase customers in us-central1 are experiencing elevated errors for requests to Gemini models
Incident began at 2024-12-19 11:36 (all times are US/Pacific).Summary: Vertex Gemini API and Vertex AI in Firebase customers in us-central1 are experiencing elevated errors for requests to Gemini models Description: We are experiencing an issue with Vertex Gemini API and Vertex AI in Firebase beginning at Thursday, 2024-12-19 11:36 US/Pacific. Our engineers are actively investigating the root cause of the issue and are currently testing a potential mitigation. We will provide an update by Thursday, 2024-12-19 14:00 US/Pacific with current details. We apologize to all who are affected by the disruption. Diagnosis: Vertex Gemini API customers in us-central1 are experiencing elevated errors for requests to Gemini models Vertex AI In Firebase - Calls to StreamGenerateContent and GenerateContent may experience increased rates of INTERNAL errors in us-central1 Workaround: Customers can redirect the traffic to a different region where feasible. Affected products: Vertex Gemini APIAffected locations: Iowa (us-central1)08:47 pmFinance tracker for the paranoid.
I’m working on a personal project of mine for the skeptics out there. Almost every finance tracker I have found somehow links to the internet, or directly to financial institutions through plaid. I’m building my own. Locally cached data with the ability to import/export data via CSV. Looking for feature suggestions beyond the obvious. Any […]08:17 pmHow to modularize a project in xcode?
Can someone please explain how to modularize a project in Xcode? I tried following some tutorials, like this one, but it didn’t work. :/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnv3K0mbIDo submitted by /u/Dramatic_Reporter_58 [link] [comments]08:15 pmApple is stumbling around when it comes to feature films in 2024
Apple gets a grade of "D" in the feature film department this year, after several missteps, including "Argylle," "Fly Me to the Moon," and… The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.07:50 pmNervous to promote my app 🥴
I just released my iOS app, put in SO MUCH effort but for some reason my fingers are cold when trying to promote it. i think i'm also suffering from pure-developer-syndrome where marketing simply doesn't come to me. Any tips or advice? I've really worked very hard on my app. Learnt swift too! submitted […]07:39 pmThe 10th-gen iPad’s incredible Black Friday pricing has returned
Macworld We know it’s the giving season, but sometimes it’s nice to get a little for ourselves. Like today’s deal: Amazon is selling the 10th-gen iPad for $250 when you click the coupon box, a cool $100 off its already-low MSRP and matching its amazing Black Friday pricing. The 10th gen iPad features Apple’s A14 chip with a pair of 12MP cameras, a stunning all-screen design, and Apple Pencil support. The 10.9-inch tablet has 64GB of storage space, but you can get the 256GB model for $70 off, which isn’t as great, but if you want more storage space, it’s going to have to do. One of the major upgrades for the 10th gen iPad was the 12MP Ultra Wide front camera with Center Stage, which keeps you focused when you move around during your calls. Its only drawback is it doesn’t support Apple Intelligence, but that shouldn’t be a huge drawback at this price. So go ahead and add the 10th-gen iPad to your cart for $250. It probably won’t arrive by Christmas but it’ll be a nice gift to yourself once the hustle and bustle of the holidays are over. Buy now at Amazon07:36 pmThe 10th Generation iPad with 64GB Storage is $70 Off
Amazon has the 10th Generation iPad on sale for 20% off, bringing the price down from $349 to only $279. Powered with the A14 Bionic chip, this iPad is able to perform well for activities that you plan to do, like play games or run multiple apps and work in between. The battery life can […] The post appeared first on iLounge.07:35 pmApple stops distributing the Third Generation iPhone SE, iPhone 14 and 14 Plus in Europe
Apple will reportly stop distributing the iPhone 14, Third Generation iPhone SE, and the iPhone 14 Plus this month for European Union countries, acting in accordance with a regulation that will soon need phones that are newly sold which have wired charging to be supplied with a port for USB-C in the said countries. The […] The post appeared first on iLounge.07:33 pmApple offering carry Sling Bag for Vision Pro and charging accessories exclusive to Apple online store | iLoungeApple offering carry Sling Bag for Vision Pro and charging accessories exclusive to Apple online store
This week, Apple online stores have started offering a variety of new accessories with some being exclusive that it cannot be purchased anywhere else other than Apple. Apple has the 3-in-1 Nimble Podium charger for charging AirPods, the Apple Watch, and iPhones on offer for $140. It comes in two colorways, multi-color with white and […] The post appeared first on iLounge.07:31 pmApple will start making AirPods in India In 2025
The AirPods for the first time will be produced in India next year. Foxconn will be in charge of making the earphones in a factory around Hyderabad City in the state of Telangana. The factory has been producing the earphones under a trial period, with its manufacture set to increase when production starts, making the […] The post appeared first on iLounge.07:30 pmThe Apple MagSafe Charger (2m) is $14 Off
Get convenient wireless charging for your compatible AirPods or iPhone with a MagSafe charger. Today, the official MagSafe charger (2 meters) is down to just $34.99 from its original price of $49 on Amazon. MagSafe is a relatively new wireless charging function that allows users to attach their devices on a magnetic accessory to juice […] The post appeared first on iLounge.07:28 pm‘Look Around’ feature now available for web version of Apple Maps
‘Look Around’ on Apple Maps is now available on the web or browser version. Apple rolled out Apple Maps web version in July, and it’s only now that ‘Look Around’ has been launched for it. ‘Look Around’ is the counterpart of Google Street View and allows a ground level view of streets, landmarks, retail stores, […] The post appeared first on iLounge.07:26 pmNew features coming to next Apple TV model
It was recently rumored that a new Apple TV model will be debuting soon. The last device, the Apple TV 4K, launched more than two years ago, and some believe that it’s time for a new one. Mark Gurman of Bloomberg said that Apple was developing a new Apple TV alongside a new HomePod mini. […] The post appeared first on iLounge.07:25 pmSleep apnea alerts on Apple Watch arrives in Brazil
Apple said that the sleep apnea notification feature was launched in Brazil after acquiring the license for it. The Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency granted Apple the license to make sleep apnea notifications available in Brazil. Currently, sleep apnea notifications are available in more than 150 regions. The technology uses the Apple Watch’s built-in accelerometer to […] The post appeared first on iLounge.07:24 pmIntroducing UIGestureRecognizerRepresentable protocol in SwiftUI
submitted by /u/majid8 [link] [comments]07:23 pmThe 13-inch M2 MacBook Air with 256GB Storage is $200 Off
The M2 MacBook Air is a handy and lightweight laptop that’s capable of performing most daily tasks and entertainment functions. Today, the 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD model is down to just $799 from its original price of $1,000 on Amazon. The redesigned MacBook Air is more portable than ever, weighing only 2.7 pounds. Inside […] The post appeared first on iLounge.07:21 pmInstagram debuts 2024 year in review
Social media platform Instagram has launched its annual year in review feature to all users. Instagram users can now create a collage based on posts from 2024 to share with other people. The option to create the year in review collage will become available from the story interface within the social media platform. Once selected, […] The post appeared first on iLounge.07:19 pmSearchGPT is now available
ChatGPT’s search engine has recently launched and is available for all ChatGPT users. OpenAI announced its built-in search engine has gone live during its ‘12 Days of OpenAI’ event. The company added SearchGPT in October and offers AI-based searches within ChatGPT’s web interface and app. OpenAI said that the search engine can search the web […] The post appeared first on iLounge.07:17 pmApple might launch a foldable iPad Pro in 2027
Display Supply Chain Consultants recently reported that Apple might launch a foldable iPad Pro and several more iPad models starting next year. The iPad expansion is looking robust in the coming years- Apple will be introducing an iPad mini with an OLED screen in 2026, and the OLED versions of the 13-inch and 11-inch iPad […] The post appeared first on iLounge.07:15 pmAmazon's best $249 iPad 10th Generation deal is back
The all-time best price on Apple's iPad 10th Generation has returned, with an on-page coupon discounting the tablet to $249.99.Apple's iPad 10th Gen returns to all-time best price.Black Friday pricing has returned on Apple's iPad 10th Generation, with the silver colorway dropping to $249.99 at Amazon. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums07:14 pmiCloud Backups No Longer Available for iPhones and iPads Running iOS 8 or Earlier
Making a device backup over iCloud now requires iOS 9 or later, which means iPhones and iPads that are running iOS 8 or earlier are no longer able to be backed up using iCloud. Apple announced the change in November, and as of this week, it has gone into effect. Support for iCloud backups on devices that run iOS 8 or older has ended, and Apple has deleted all existing iCloud backups of those devices. Apps and data stored on an iPhone or iPad running iOS 8 or earlier are not affected, and these devices can still be manually backed up to a Mac or a Windows PC. If you have a device on iOS 8 or older, if you can update, you can restore iCloud backup capabilities. Otherwise, all backups will need to be done manually. Apple says that it discontinued iCloud backups for older devices to "more closely align" with its minimum software requirements. With the iOS 9 update that came out years ago, Apple adopted CloudKit for iCloud backups and stopped using an older system, and it looks like this older system is what's being sunset.Tag: iCloudRelated Forum: Apple Music, Apple Pay/Card, iCloud, Fitness+This article, "" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums07:08 pmFoldable iPads, Apple Intelligence blowback, new Apple Music Radio stations
From now through December 31, save 20% on all 9to5Mac Daily Plus, 9to5Mac Happy Hour Plus, and 9to5Mac Pro annual subscriptions with promo code HOLIDAY! Visit 9to5mac.com/join to sign up. Benjamin and Chance react to the recent controversy around AI notification summaries, and how Apple could improve the situation. Also, Benjamin is frustrated with the lack of Apple Music Radio improvements, and the pair discuss the latest rumors about the company’s foldable plans. And in Happy Hour Plus, we debate what is Apple’s 9to5Mac product of the year for 2024. Subscribe at 9to5mac.com/join. Sponsored by Shopify: Grow your business no matter what stage you’re in. Sign up for a $1 per month trial at shopify.com/happyhour. Sponsored by SelectQuote: Get the right life insurance for YOU, for LESS, at SelectQuote.com/HAPPYHOUR. more…07:02 pmWhat do you think of Apple’s Mail redesign in iOS 18.2?
Apple's venerable Mail app has received its biggest redesign ever with the releases of iOS 18.2. While the mailbox screen remains familiar… The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.06:56 pm11th-gen iPad: Everything you need to know about the 2025 refresh
Macworld After skipping all of 2023, Apple updated its entire lineup of iPads in 2024 save one: the 10th-gen model. While it did get an aggressive price cut to $349, Apple opted to leave its cheapest tablet with the same specs it’s had since its 2022 launch. But it shouldn’t be much longer until it gets an update: Here’s what we know so far. When will the 11th-gen iPad be released? Apple once had a steady release schedule for its cheapest iPad alongside the latest iPhones in the September event. In 2022, the 10th-gen revamp saw a slight adjustment to this with an October debut alongside the M2 iPad Pro and Apple TV 4K (3rd-gen). Here’s when the previous iPad models launched: iPad (10th-generation) – October 2022 iPad (9th-generation) – September 2021 iPad (8th-generation) – September 2020 iPad (7th-generation) – September 2019 iPad (6th-generation) – March 2018 So when can we expect an update to the standard iPad? It looks like Apple may switch things up with a spring release in 2025 alongside the 4th-gen iPhone SE at an event in March or April. How much will the 11th-gen iPad cost? Pricing was consistent up until the arrival of the iPad (10th-generation) in 2022, but following the redesign, Apple upped the price quite significantly, from $329 to $449. However, in May 2024, Apple dropped the price of the 10th-gen model around the world by $100 to $349/£349/€439. Therefore, we don’t know what pricing is for the 11th-generation iPad. Apple may keep the same $349 price tag or raise it back to $449 and keep the 10th-gen model in the lineup as a budget option. What features will we see in the 11th-gen iPad? The 10th-gen iPad delivered a major redesign, so we don’t expect too much to change with the 11th-generation model. However, there will be some notable upgrades: Processor and RAM Like the 2024 iPad mini, the most obvious update to the 11th-gen iPad will be the chipset. The current iPad 10 runs on an A14 chipset, which debuted in 2020 with the 4th-gen iPad Air and iPhone 12. We expect the new iPad mini will get either the A17 Pro or A18 processor with 8GB of RAM so it can run Apple Intelligence. Following the iPad mini’s 2024 A17 Pro update, the 10th-gen iPad is Apple’s only tablet that doesn’t support Apple Intelligence, which requires at least 8GB of RAM. Display As the display was increased from 10.2 inches to 10.9 inches with the 10th-gen revamp, we don’t expect any changes to the screen size. The only possible change is the use of a laminated display, which would make the device slightly thinner and offer better clarity. Apple Cameras Since the 10th-gen iPad was Apple’s first tablet to change the placement of the front camera from portrait to landscape mode and already has Center Stage, we don’t expect Apple to change the front camera. It’s possible Apple upgrades the rear camera slightly, but since the M2 iPad Air released in 2024 has the same 12MP wide camera, it’s likely any improvements come from software. Storage If there’s a standout upgrade that could make life easier for people, it’s storage. The base model still has just 64GB of storage, while the rest of the lineup starts with at least 128GB. Like the iPhone SE, we expect Apple to bump the base storage of its entry-level tablet up to 128GB when the 11th-gen iPad arrives, as well as increase the top offering to 512GB. We’ll keep updating this article as more information becomes available. Until then, you should check out our best iPad 9th and 10th-generation deals and best iPad mini deals roundups to see if you can bag yourself a bargain on one of Apple’s other offerings.06:47 pmApple Watch Ultra 3: Three new features are coming next year
Apple Watch Ultra, outside of a very nice new titanium black, hasn’t been meaningfully upgraded since 2023. But next year that’s going to change when the Apple Watch Ultra 3 arrives. Here are three new features coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3 in 2025. more…06:25 pmHow to change the size and color of your Mac’s cursor
The pointer is black with a white outline by default, but you can change the Mac cursor color to whatever you want and even change its size. (via Cult of Mac - Apple news, rumors, reviews and how-tos)06:00 pmBest CarPlay solutions and accessories to gift iPhone users for the holidays
What do you get the iPhone user who has everything? CarPlay solutions and accessories are a great place to start! These are the best CarPlay related gifts for the holiday season. more…05:51 pmUnable to add subscription plan in App Store Connect
I have an existing app. I want to add the first subscription. I've created a subscription group and a subscription. Signed all the agreements, added bank account. And yet, the status of the subscription is "Missing Metadata" and the status of the subscription localization is "Prepare for Submission". I added a screenshot in the subscription […]05:35 pmAVAsserWriter inconsistently writes videos buffers without audio buffers | Reddit on iOS ProgrammingAVAsserWriter inconsistently writes videos buffers without audio buffers
Any senior iOS engineers here with tons of AVFoundation experience? I’m trying to record videos with AvAssetWriter but sometimes my videos exempt audio buffers recorded and when audio is included, the video freezes till the end. really need help below gist is my code. https://gist.github.com/kwameaj67/70a3409c84d48cf758b3734c08a46244 submitted by /u/kwabs_dev [link] [comments]05:26 pm9to5Mac Daily: December 18, 2024 – TikTok ban, Vision Pro content
Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from 9to5Mac. 9to5Mac Daily is available on iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players. Sponsored by CardPointers: The best way to maximize your credit card rewards. 9to5Mac Daily listeners can exclusively save 50%. more…05:24 pmBBC complains to Apple over misleading Luigi Mangione headline
The BBC has filed a complaint with Apple after its new iPhone feature, Apple Intelligence, generated a false headline about the… The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.05:20 pmThe Mac in 2025: Small updates and big hopes
Macworld The Mac lineup ended 2024 with a bang, with Apple introducing the M4 chip series and upgrades to the MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac. Those releases brought the Mac a nice momentum swing as we enter 2025. So what about 2025? The Mac releases next year may not be as drastic as the M4 flurry to close out 2024, but there will be more than enough to keep the Mac interesting and relevant. Here are the top five Mac developments we’re looking out for in 2025 (and one longshot). M4 MacBook Air The model that kicks off the 2025 Mac releases will be the M4 upgrade to the MacBook Air., which will likely land between January and March. The current M3 MacBook Air was released in March 2024, so the M4 model will arrive about a year later. With the 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro, Apple introduced other changes to go along with the new chip: an additional Thunderbolt/USB 4 port, an increase in RAM from 8GB to 16GB, an option for Nano-texture glass, and a Space Black color option. Rumors have indicated that the M4 MacBook Air will be little more than a chip upgrade, but any of these options could make an appearance. The M4 MacBook Air will be released in the early part of 2024.Foundry However, there’s one functional change that will likely arrive with the M4 MacBook Air With the M3 MacBook Air, you can run up to two external displays (one at 6K/60Hz, the other at 5K/60Hz) with the laptop closed. The M4 chip in the MacBook Pro has more robust support, where you can run two external displays in addition to the laptop’s display, for a total of three usable screens. Now, maybe thermal considerations prevent the M4 in the MacBook Air from having the same support as the M4 in the MacBook Pro, but we still think it’s a likely upgrade. Also, Apple upgraded the M3 MacBook Air with 16GB of RAM during the M4 Mac release, so it’s a lock that the M4 MacBook Air will start at 16GB, too. Read more about the M4 MacBook Air M4 Max/Ultra Mac Studio The current Mac Studio has an M2 Max/Ultra chip and was released in 2023, so it’s overdue for an update and will get one in 2024. Reports have stated that the M4 Max and Ultra Mac Studio will be released in the first half of the year, perhaps at a spring event in March or at WWDC in June. The new Mac Studio will feature the debut of the M4 Ultra, Apple’s top-end chip, which was absent from the M3 family. Apple’s Ultra chips are basically two Max chips with an interconnect, so we can look at the M4 Max to get an idea of what we could see in the M4 Ultra: a 32-core CPU, an 80-core GPU, a 32-core Neural Engine, and 96GB of RAM to start. Even if the M4 Ultra Mac Studio changes the design and has slightly different specs, it’s going to be a powerful machine. Does an M4 Ultra Mac Studio with Thunderbolt 5 sound powerful enough for you?Willis Lai/Foundry Another nice upgrade for the Mac Studio is Thunderbolt 5 support, which made its debut in the M4 Pro/Max MacBook Pro. Thunderb0lt 5 offers up to 120Gbps throughput, though you must have Thunderbolt 5 devices (and cables) to take full advantage of the bandwidth. Read more about the M4 Mac Studio M4 Ultra Mac Pro Since the M2 Ultra is no longer the fastest Apple chip (surpassed by the M4 Pro and M4 Max), Apple needs to do something about the Mac Pro. According to reports, that something won’t happen until the latter part of 2025. As mentioned with the Mac Studio, the M4 Ultra should be a beast of a chip and Apple will implement Thunderbolt 5, which will be a boon to media professionals who rely on Thunderbolt 5 devices for production. After the M4 Ultra upgrade, it may be a couple of years before Apple upgrades the Mac Pro again.Foundry As for the tower design, it sounds as though Apple will stick with the same design–at least we haven’t heard any reports to the contrary. The current design is fine and even though it will be six years old by the time the new Mac Pro is released, it doesn’t seem dated. However, with the improvements in efficiency and heat dissipation, and the removal of RAM slots, It would be nice to see Apple do something different with the design, perhaps with a smaller enclosure. Read more about the M4 Ultra Mac Pro. New Apple displays The current Apple Studio Display will be three years old in March 2025. The current Pro Display XDR will turn six years old in 2025 as well. These displays need to be updated, the Pro Display XDR, especially. The M4 MacBook Pro features mini-LED displays that use quantum dot technology to improve color accuracy. That sounds ideal for a new ProDisplay XDR, along with a ProMotion-style higher refresh rate. The launch of a new display is harder to pin down, but we expect the Studio Display alongside the Mac Studio and the Pro Display XDR to arrive with the new Mac Pro. Could 2025 be the year the Pro Display XDR is updated?Foundry M5 processor How can we be talking about M5 Macs when the M4 is barely a month old? With the Apple transition over and development moving fast, reports say that M5/M5 Pro/M5 Max upgrades to the MacBook Pro could happen a year from now. Another recent report said that Apple is also planning to release an M5 iPad Pro next year. The M5, M5 Pro, and M5 Max are expected to provide an incremental boost over the M4 series they will replace. That likely means an increase between 15 and 25 percent. Reports about the Mac’s M5 have focused on the MacBook Pro and not mentioned the Mac mini and iMac. It’s possible Apple could forego M5 upgrades for the Mac mini and iMac as it has previously skipped chip generations for those Macs in the past. Longshot: A bigger iMac For years, there have been reports that Apple has an iMac larger than the current 24-inch iMac in development, but the company has not made a decision on when or whether it will be released. Some older rumors put its release around 2025, so It could be ready by the later part of next year–which would mean it would have an M5 chip. The iMac Pro could make a comeback in 2025.Dominik Tomaszewski/IDG Speculation is that this larger iMac wouldn’t just be a larger display, but a pro-level computer that follows the footsteps of the late iMac Pro. That could mean a Pro or Max chip, Thunderbolt 5 support, and a 32-inch (or larger) display that would make for a great high-end all-in-one and a fantastic 2025 surprise. Read the rumors about the new Mac Pro.05:14 pmHow much does it help when you have an app title that describes exactly what it does within the name? | Reddit on iOS ProgrammingHow much does it help when you have an app title that describes exactly what it does within the name?
I have an e-reader app that I'm putting together and trying to determine the direction to take the name in order to maximize it's search ranking in both the App Store and Play Store. For fictitious purposes let's say it's an app that allows me to store and read my favorite cookbooks in the cloud. […]05:12 pmHow Apple's smart home revolution begins in 2025
Apple has a master plan to conquer the smart home, and after years of HomeKit being just a hobby, it all will begin in 2025. Here's what Apple has in mind.Apple is ready to take the smart home seriously starting in 2025The smart home market has been somewhat slow on the uptick while simultaneously changing at a rapid pace. It's led Apple to appear, at least at face value, behind the competition.In the last few years we've seen new standards for connectivity and working across platforms, dozens of new device types, and countless new products come to market. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums05:07 pmWeb Hacking Service ‘Araneida’ Tied to Turkish IT Firm
Cybercriminals are selling hundreds of thousands of credential sets stolen with the help of a cracked version of Acunetix, a powerful commercial web app vulnerability scanner, new research finds. The cracked software is being resold as a cloud-based attack tool by at least two different services, one of which KrebsOnSecurity traced to an information technology firm based in Turkey.04:58 pmUPDATE: We are experiencing an issue with Vertex Gemini API in Asia
Incident began at 2024-12-19 08:25 (all times are US/Pacific).Summary: We are experiencing an issue with Vertex Gemini API in Asia Description: We are experiencing an issue with Vertex Gemini API. Our engineering team continues to investigate the issue. We will provide an update by Thursday, 2024-12-19 09:30 US/Pacific with current details. We apologize to all who are affected by the disruption Diagnosis: Customers impacted by this issue may see 5xx errors. Workaround: None at this time. Affected products: Vertex Gemini API04:52 pmMIA (Miami) on 2024-12-20
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Dec 20, 07:00 - 13:00 UTCDec 19, 16:31 UTCScheduled - We will be performing scheduled maintenance in MIA (Miami) datacenter on 2024-12-20 between 07:00 and 13:00 UTC.Traffic might be re-routed from this location, hence there is a possibility of a slight increase in latency during this maintenance window for end-users in the affected region. For PNI / CNI customers connecting with us in this location, please make sure you are expecting this traffic to fail over elsewhere during this maintenance window as network interfaces in this datacentre may become temporarily unavailable.You can now subscribe to these notifications via Cloudflare dashboard and receive these updates directly via email, PagerDuty and webhooks (based on your plan): https://developers.cloudflare.com/notifications/notification-available/#cloudflare-status.04:49 pmiOS 18.2 adds two hidden tools for controlling your iPhone’s volume
iOS 18.2 comes with a lot of new features that are hard to miss, like the Mail redesign, new Image Playground app, and Genmoji. But there are also two new tools hidden inside the Settings app in iOS 18.2: you can add volume controls back to your iPhone’s Lock Screen, and also set maximum volume limits. more…04:38 pmDeals: M4/Pro MacBook Pro up to $250 off from $1,399, iPad 10 $250, iPhone SSDs, HomeKit gear, more | 9 to 5 MacDeals: M4/Pro MacBook Pro up to $250 off from $1,399, iPad 10 $250, iPhone SSDs, HomeKit gear, more
Today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break is headlined by a pair of return all-time lows on Apple’s most affordable M4 and M4 Pro MacBook Pro configurations. You’re looking at $200 and $250 off, respectively, to mark the return of the best prices ever on the 16GB 14-inch M4 model at $1,399 and the 14-inch 24GB M4 Pro variant at $1,749 – there’s no telling how long these deals might last for. From there we move over to the return of Doorbuster pricing on the black Apple Watch Ultra 2 for Best Buy members (this deal will be live for everyone tomorrow morning) alongside Apple’s iPad 10 down at $250 and a sweet deal on . All of that and more awaits down below. more…04:35 pmToday in Apple history: Apple crushes Think Secret rumors site
On December 19, 2007, Apple settled a lawsuit with Nick Ciarelli that shuttered “Think Secret,” his popular Apple rumors site. (via Cult of Mac - Apple news, rumors, reviews and how-tos)04:22 pmPossible to use Cal.com APIs with a custom UI for a cal.com workspace?
I am attempting to use the Cal.com API to authenticate and work with user data in an iOS app. However, I am not using a Cal login but a login to a domain where Cal is the provider. The account specific to this domain will not authenticate using typical Cal APIs and I'm wondering if […]04:04 pmM4 Mac mini proves Apple has fixed its biggest mistakes of the past
Apple’s M4 Mac mini is a surprisingly and wildly successful product. Per our homepage poll, it’s readers’ favorite product of the year—by far. Why is it such a hit? Because it’s the strongest evidence yet that Apple has learned from past mistakes. more…04:03 pmApple says Meta’s iOS access requests risk privacy in EU
Amidst increasing EU pressure to open its ecosystem to competitors, Apple has raised privacy concerns regarding Meta's requests… The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.03:59 pmApple-Nvidia collaboration triples speed of AI model production
Apple's latest machine learning research could make creating models for Apple Intelligence faster, by coming up with a technique to almost triple the rate of generating tokens when using Nvidia GPUs.Training models for machine learning is a processor-intensive taskOne of the problems in creating large language models (LLMs) for tools and apps that offer AI-based functionality, such as Apple Intelligence, is inefficiencies in producing the LLMs in the first place. Training models for machine learning is a resource-intensive and slow process, which is often countered by buying more hardware and taking on increased energy costs.Earlier in 2024, Apple published and open-sourced Recurrent Drafter, known as ReDrafter, a method of speculative decoding to improve performance in training. It used an RNN (Recurrent Neural Network) draft model combining beam search with dynamic tree attention for predicting and verifying draft tokens from multiple paths. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums03:54 pmFuture MacBook notch may get replaced with removable cameras on a rotating screen
The FaceTime camera on a MacBook Pro is famously not as good as one on an iPhone, but new research shows Apple is continuing to work on it — and may have decided that the answer involves mounting larger cameras on a rotating display.The notch could be replaced by a protruding camera — but one which could also be repositionedMaybe you don't give the camera notch on the MacBook Pro a second thought. But even if you loathe it, and believe it's taking up screen real estate, the one thing you can't say is that it is thick.It's quite wide, wide enough that you wonder why it doesn't include Face ID yet. But it doesn't add to the thickness of the MacBook Pro lid, and maybe it's this thickness that limits how good a camera system Apple can fit in there. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums03:52 pmRussia SMS Carrier Maintenance – MegaFon
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Dec 25, 12:00 - 16:00 PSTDec 19, 07:28 PSTScheduled - The MegaFon network in Russia is conducting a planned maintenance from 25 December 2024 at 12:00 PST until 25 December 2024 at 16:00 PST. During the maintenance window, there could be intermittent delays delivering SMS to and from MegaFon Russia handsets.03:52 pmRussia SMS Carrier Maintenance – MegaFon
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Dec 23, 12:00 - 16:00 PSTDec 19, 07:26 PSTScheduled - The MegaFon network in Russia is conducting a planned maintenance from 23 December 2024 at 12:00 PST until 23 December 2024 at 16:00 PST. During the maintenance window, there could be intermittent delays delivering SMS to and from MegaFon Russia handsets.03:52 pmApple pressured to drop AI news summaries after false Mangione suicide headline
After Apple's AI news summary falsely said accused murderer Luigi Mangione killed himself, a major journalism group calls for action. (via Cult of Mac - Apple news, rumors, reviews and how-tos)03:31 pmApple’s Vision Pro strategy will succeed in creating a two-tier market – TrendForce
Apple’s Vision Pro strategy of launching a very high-end professional product first, and a more affordable consumer version second, is likely to prove successful in the long-run, predicts market intelligence company TrendForce. The company says that although many have criticized the very high price tag, the device has still captured a respectable 5% of the market, and has created expectations which competitor brands will need to meet … more…03:28 pmEU Pushes Apple To Make iPhones More Compatible With Rival Devices
The European Union has issued draft recommendations requiring Apple to make its iOS and iPadOS operating systems more compatible with competitors' devices, setting up a clash over privacy concerns. The proposals would allow third-party smartwatches and headsets to interact more seamlessly with iPhones. Apple has responded [PDF] with warnings about security risks, particularly citing Meta's requests for access to Apple's technology. The Commission seeks industry feedback by January 2025, with final measures expected by March. Non-compliance could trigger EU fines up to 10% of Apple's global annual sales. Read more of this story at Slashdot.03:26 pmDuo Support Phone System Issue
Dec 19, 10:26 ESTIdentified - We have identified an issue with Phone Support availability for our Duo Support Team and are working to deploy a fix.If you need to submit a case, please utilize the Duo Support Portal or send us an email to support@duo.com03:20 pmEU could force Apple to open AirDrop and AirPlay to Android
Learn about the European Union's push for interoperability with Apple's AirDrop and AirPlay technologies and the concerns over user privacy. (via Cult of Mac - Apple news, rumors, reviews and how-tos)03:19 pmApple's 10th Gen iPad Returns to Black Friday Price of $249.99 ($99 Off)
Amazon has brought back the all-time low Black Friday price on Apple's 10th generation iPad (64GB Wi-Fi), available for $249.99 in Silver, down from $349.00. You'll need to clip an on-page coupon worth $29.01 in order to see the final deal price at checkout. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running. This is the first time since Black Friday that we've seen a return of the record low price on the iPad, and this one isn't expected to last long with only one color on sale. Delivery is also estimated to arrive after Christmas, so you'll have to be willing to wait until January for the tablet. Note: You won't see the deal price until checkout. $99 OFFiPad (64GB Wi-Fi) for $249.99 This iPad features Apple's A14 Bionic processor, a 10.9-inch display, 12-megapixel Ultra Wide front camera with Center Stage, 12-megapixel rear camera, and Touch ID. If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week. Deals Newsletter Interested in hearing more about the best deals you can find during the holiday season? Sign up for our Deals Newsletter and we'll keep you updated so you don't miss the biggest deals of the season! Related Roundup: Apple DealsThis article, "" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums03:16 pmApple faces criminal complaints over use of illegally sourced minerals
Apple reported on Tuesday that its products do not use minerals from countries in conflict regions. According to Reuters, the iPhone maker asked its suppliers earlier this year to stop purchasing minerals from Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. The suppliers were reportedly asked to stop their smelters and refiners from buying tantalum, tin, gold, […] The post appeared first on iLounge.03:03 pmApple nears end of iPhone 16 ban in Indonesia
Apple is close to getting Indonesia to lift its ban on iPhone 16 sales, after President Prabowo Subianto gave his approval for the… The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.02:55 pmApple Likely to Make Vision Pro Lineup More Affordable in Two Ways
Apple plans to launch its next-generation Vision headsets as early as 2026, and they will likely be more affordable, according to TrendForce. In line with previous rumors, the Taiwanese research firm today said Apple is planning to introduce both a next-generation Vision Pro and a mainstream headset, which would likely be named "Apple Vision" without the "Pro" modifier. For the next-generation Vision Pro, TrendForce said Apple will likely consider sourcing components from suppliers beyond Sony to reduce production costs, and this move could contribute to the headset having a lower price. Currently, the Vision Pro starts at $3,499 in the U.S., and this price has naturally limited sales of the device. In an interview earlier this year, Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledged that the Vision Pro is not a mass-market product due to its high price. "At $3,500, it's not a mass-market product," said Cook. "Right now, it's an early-adopter product. People who want to have tomorrow's technology today—that's who it's for. Fortunately, there's enough people who are in that camp that it's exciting." In July, research firm IDC estimated that Vision Pro sales would be below 500,000 units this year. While the next Vision Pro could be at least slightly more affordable, TrendForce ensured that the device will continue to have high-end specifications, including display technology with a resolution exceeding 3,000 pixels per inch. In addition to a Vision Pro price cut, a lower-end model is also expected eventually. For this mainstream Vision headset, the research firm said that Apple is expected to focus on "affordability and "cost-efficiency" as a main priority, which should make visionOS accessible to more customers at a considerably lower price compared to the Vision Pro. It said the device could have less-advanced displays to keep costs down. "Possible display options for this model include glass-based OLED displays and LCDs with LTPO backplane technology, both of which offer a balance between performance and cost," said TrendForce, in a press release. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo last month said the next Vision Pro will actually launch in 2025, with an M5 chip in place of the current M2 chip, but he said Apple pushed back its plans for a cheaper Vision headset until beyond 2027.Related Roundup: Apple Vision ProTag: TrendForceBuyer's Guide: Vision Pro (Buy Now)Related Forum: Apple Vision ProThis article, "" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums02:45 pmSMS/MMS filtering Extension Keychain Access
Currently documentation of SMS/MMS filtering Extension down. https://developer.apple.com/documentation/sms_and_call_reporting/sms_and_mms_message_filtering Is it possible to "READ" data from keychain on the Extension? I remember reading the documentation mentioning "We can't WRITE" data to container. Any thoughts? submitted by /u/kinginthenorth_lanka [link] [comments]02:38 pmBest VPN for Mac 2024-2025: Reviews and buying advice for Mac users
Macworld If you are concerned about your privacy and security online using a VPN could give you some reassurance. Apple provides various measures in macOS that make Macs more secure, but if you want to ensure that the connection between your Mac and the internet is protected, rather than the computer itself, you need a VPN. Using a VPN essentially makes you invisible on the web–your data is encrypted, your IP address is hidden, and you can even make it look like you are surfing from another country. This latter reason is the main reason many people use a VPN: they want to access services that are locked to a particular region, such as accessing U.S. Netflix from the U.K or BBC iPlayer from the U.S. If you are looking for a VPN to protect your privacy and security online, and to grant you a way to access content as if you are in a different country, we are here to help. There are a lot of VPN providers vying for your business, which can make finding the best one to suit your needs difficult. To help you sort out the right provider for you, we’ve committed to extensive research and testing of VPN services that cater to Mac owners in our guide to the top VPN services for Mac. Best VPNs for Mac: Reviewed & Ranked Our top choice right now is NordVPN, which we feel stands out in many areas, from speed and privacy to unblocking and ease of use. Get NordVPN here Below you will find the VPN services for Mac that we recommend based on our tests. Most of these will cost less than $3/£3 per month if you sign up for a one- or two-year deal. However, once the deal period ends the price often jumps, so it’s worth setting a reminder to shop around a month before your subscription runs out so you can search for a better deal, alternatively, you could cancel and sign up with another email address. You may be able to save money if you take a look at our round-up of VPN deals. ProtonVPN has a free tier. All of these VPNs will also work on your iPhone and iPad as well, and many with Apple TV, but you might want to check out our separate guides to the best VPNs for iPhone and best VPNs for iPad. 1. NordVPN Pros Easy to use Impressive WireGuard speeds Lots of servers Cons Two separate apps can be confusing Price When Reviewed: Basic plan from $2.99 a month for two years + 3 free months. Usually $12.99. Best Prices Today: Retailer Price NordVPN (Monthly) $2.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $2.99 at NordVPN (Monthly) 5,300 servers 10 simultaneous connections NordVPN is one of the biggest and best-known VPN services. It’s a fully featured VPN option that’s secure, easy to use, and unbelievably fast compared to its competitors. There are cheaper options, with unlimited connections and more in-depth VPN features, but NordVPN is our top choice right now because it stands out in so many areas, from speed and privacy to unblocking and ease of use. Nord has an up-to-date independent audit. It also has specialty servers for specific purposes. There are more than 5,300 servers (none of which are virtual) available across 60 countries, which sounds great. You probably only care about the servers where you want to unblock content, but the more servers the better as it means you have a better chance of finding one that’s not overloaded. You won’t have to figure out which one to choose thanks to the handy ‘Quick connect’ feature that picks the server best suited to your needs. Connections are fast and reliable, and NordVPN unblocks popular streaming services around the world including Netflix and BBC iPlayer. You can connect up to six devices simultaneously including your Apple TV. Nord has added support for the faster WireGuard protocol in NordLynx, making it one of the fastest VPN services out there. However, it’s only available on the ‘IKE’ version of the app, which only offers a permanently enabled kill switch. To have more control, you’ll need to download the ‘OpenVPN’ version, albeit with slightly slower speeds. Nord frequently has deals on offer that save money on the usual monthly price if you take advantage of the two-year plan. NordVPN offers three tiers: Standard, Plus and Ultimate. You can get Plus features (data breach scanner and password manager) or the Ultimate tier adds cloud storage and insurance options. Prices change all the time, so take a look at the prices and plans at NordVPN.com. Read our full NordVPN review 2. ExpressVPN Pros Easy-to-use Broad device support Excellent speeds Cons Illusive ExpressVPN team Expensive Price When Reviewed: From $4.99 a month for 2 years + 6 free months Best Prices Today: Retailer Price ExpressVPN (Monthly) $4.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $4.99 at ExpressVPN (Monthly) 2,000 servers 8 simultaneous connections If you want to circumnavigate geoblocking to get access to content not available where you live, protect your data while browsing the web from a public network, and keep your web browsing habits private, ExpressVPN, with its server locations across 105 countries, can do just about all of this with two or three clicks. ExpressVPN is remarkably easy to use, but if you have any difficulties the 24-hour live chat means you can be connected to a real human to discuss issues within minutes. There are native apps on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac, Android and Windows. Plus you can use it on eight devices at once (the limit was five previously). Like all VPNs there is some speed loss because you are routing via a server in another country, but ExpressVPN does well to mitigate this, dropping less than 13% of download speed in our testing. NordVPN remains faster with a 12% loss in our tests, but ExpressVPN’s 13% is still better than most. ExpressVPN offers no fewer than six different choices for protocol. Lightway, the company’s own option, is rapid. For improved compatibility you can switch to another version of Lightway or OpenVPN – things slowed down with 24% of speed loss with the latter. There’s no Malware protection with ExpressVPN, but you can install a password manager called ExpressVPN Keys. The company is headquartered in the British Virgin Islands, so it’s free from the majority of intelligence-sharing agencies’ jurisdiction. While it also operates a no-log policy, it doesn’t have PureVPN’s “always-on” audit process, but it undergoes audits each year. ExpressVPN’s more expensive than many of its contemporaries and doesn’t allow access from unlimited devices (just eight). But you get a solid, speedy connection with minimal fuss, and you don’t have to tie-in for a two-year deal to get the best value. That latter point is important because VPN legislation can change regularly. See ExpressVPN subscription plans here. Read our full ExpressVPN review 3. ProtonVPN Pros Simple to use Free plan Great speed Cons Setup on macOS was a little fiddly Price When Reviewed: From $4.49 a month for two years. Usually $9.99 a month. Best Prices Today: Retailer Price Proton Technologies (Monthly) $4.49 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $4.49 at Proton Technologies (Monthly) 6,500+ servers in 100+ countries (access servers in 5 countries on free plan, on one device) 10 simultaneous connections ProtonVPN‘s free tier of membership helps to set Proton VPN apart from some of its rivals. It’s naturally limited, with US, Japan, and Netherlands as the server locations and some speed drop – but it’s still pretty usable If you pay for the service it offers a sleek interface, impressive connection speeds and just about enough features to improve your day-to-day web experience without throwing too many complex concepts at new users. Proton VPN Plus offers a host of features, including an ad and tracker blocker and speed of up to 10 Gbps, as well as a 10-device limit. There’s Port Forwarding for downloads and gaming, too, as well as a Kill Switch for disconnecting should the VPN drop out. Some VPN services offer features like dark web data notifications. Proton VPN sticks to the basics – and does so very well. The company’s “no-logs” policy confirms it doesn’t track sites, IP addresses, communications, or session lengths, nor does it track location-based information. Proton is Swiss-based, and only Swiss court orders can request data from the company, but since it doesn’t log data there’s very little it can offer to law enforcement. For the privacy-minded, Secure Core, routes traffic through one of the company’s ‘Secure’ servers, minimizing the potential of a data leak. These secure servers are owned by Proton and are located in more than 90 countries. Proton VPN does increase latency, but only by about 29% in our testing on a modest 60 Mbps broadband. In fact, it’s only about 7% slower when downloading and 5.5% slower when uploading, making it one of the slicker VPNs we’ve tested. In terms of included VPN protocols, Smart will be ideal for most users, automatically setting the right protocol for your current usage, but WireGuard, WireGuard (TCP), IKEv2 and Stealth are also offered. Proton VPN is an easy recommendation both for new and experienced users. Read our full ProtonVPN review 4. Private Internet Access Pros Lots of servers Fast WireGuard speeds Split tunneling works well Unblocks BBC iPlayer Cons Clunky Mac app Based within 14-eyes Price When Reviewed: From $2.19 a month for two years + 2 free months. Usually $11.99 a month. Best Prices Today: Retailer Price Private Internet Access (Monthly) $2.19 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $2.19 at Private Internet Access (Monthly) 35,000+ servers, 91 countries Unlimited connections Private Internet Access (PIA) is a powerful VPN designed for savvy users, offering “power user” tools and features such as custom DNS, connection rules, split tunnelling, and more at a lower cost than many competitors. The PIA Mac app offers pretty much everything its Microsoft counterpart does. The app can be used on any device and offers servers in 91 countries. In my testing, the “auto” setting did a good job of picking servers that balanced speed and privacy. The main window provides information on performance graphs, download and upload speeds, and quick settings for tools like Light Mode, Port Forwarding, and LAN connections. While you can use PIA for getting around geoblocked content on your streaming services, PIA is more privacy-focused than other VPNs, with features like the Advanced Kill Switch, Split Tunnelling, port forwarding, and Multi-Hop server obfuscation. PIA also offers customizable features like automation setup and DNS options. Private Internet Access can’t beat the speeds of NordVPN and Surfshark, and its stablemate CyberGhost VPN offers more impressive speeds, but at the cost of some power features. In our testing, we saw a reasonable drop of around 8% on Mac while using the PIA VPN. Upload speeds dropped considerably– by around 25%, which may be an issue if you do a lot of uploading. Its zero-log policy has been verified by Deloitte Audit Romania. Despite inconsistent speeds, Private Internet Access is a great VPN for all budgets with a wealth of features for privacy-inclined users. Read our full Private Internet Access review 5. Surfshark Pros Fast WireGuard speeds Unlimited devices and connections Easy to use Cons Kill switch can’t be customised Expensive to renew Price When Reviewed: Starter plan from $1.99 a month for two years + 4 free months. Usually $15.45 a month. Best Prices Today: Retailer Price Surfshark (Monthly) $1.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $1.99 at Surfshark (Monthly) 3,200 servers in 100 countries Unlimited simultaneous connections Surfshark is a great-value VPN that offers quite a lot features beyond the core VPN service for a low monthly price. SurfShark has more than 3,000 servers spread across 100 countries, making its network one of the widest and most varied of any VPN, Its apps are easy to use and it reliably unblocks streaming services such as Netflix and BBC iPlayer. It’s missing the specialty servers offered by rivals such as NordVPN, who shares the same parent company, though. Connection speeds are very impressive, and that’s thanks to the use of the WireGuard protocol. You really won’t notice any slowdown in your internet speed when Surfshark is running, so long as you have WireGuard selected and aren’t using servers the other side of the globe. The company has upgraded all its servers so they run entirely in RAM, just like NordVPN and ExpressVPN. Running servers on RAM is better for privacy as data isn’t written to a hard drive. It’s also a member of the VPN Trust Initiative, while two-factor authentication (2FA) is a feature few VPN services offer. Being run from the Netherlands also means this is a privacy-friendly option. The other reason to consider Surfshark is because it undercuts almost all of its rivals on price, yet doesn’t place any limit on the number of devices you can use simultaneously. Unfortunately, it can be pricy to renew once your initial contract runs out. You can install and use it across many devices including your Mac, PC, Android and iOS devices, as well as browsers. It also supports multiple protocols (although OpenVPN is a little slower than we’d like) and excellent encryption, as well as a privacy-minded no-logs policy that’s regularly audited There’s a kill switch and a Multi-Hop feature that routes your connection via two VPN servers for an extra layer of protection. However, there’s no GPS spoofing or split tunneling on the Mac (the latter being very uncommon on Macs anyway). SurfShark offers three tiers of features at varying price points. The most basic option, aptly named SurfShark Starter, offers VPN functionality as well as an ad blocker and the option to generate a proxy email address and personal details for sites you don’t feel comfortable about giving your information to. SurfShark One adds email and payment detail breach alerts, as well as personal data security reports, antivirus and other malware protection, while the One+ plan adds data removal from company databases and people search sites. In addition to the VPN there are Alert, Search or Antivirus packages, that are available for an extra cost. Just like most VPNs SurfShark offers discounted pricing if you sign up for two years, with the prices changing all the time. Just beware that at the end of the period the price will increase unless you cancel. Sign up to Surfshark here. Read our full Surfshark review 6. ClearVPN Pros Nice design. Great for getting around geo-blocks. Cons Lacks some features like split tunneling. Not the fastest. Price When Reviewed: Three day trial. Currently $49.99 a year, usually $119.88 a year ($9.99 a month). Best Prices Today: Retailer Price MacPaw (Monthly) $44.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $44.99 at MacPaw (Monthly) More than 50 servers Six device limit MacPaw’s ClearVPN service is a VPN that lacks many more advanced features offered by its rivals, but on the other hand, it’s one of the easiest to use. With a nice UI and easy-to-use features it’s thoughtfully designed for VPN newcomers. It really is as simple as hitting a button to connect. In the settings are options to block ads, keep ClearVPN in the dock, and a Kill Switch so that you can cut traffic from your device if the connection to the VPN is broken. It’s all pretty basic stuff, but it’s offered in such an easy-to-use way that it’s hard not to appreciate the simplicity. There are also handy keyboard shortcuts to move around the app. There are more than 50 servers, which sounds like a lot, but it’s dwarfed by many rivals to the tune of thousands of servers. That means your choices are limited, but at least ClearVPN lets you filter between Optimal Location or jumping straight to something like Disney Plus US or UK. One of the more common power user features for VPNs is split tunneling, which lets some traffic go through the VPN while some goes around it. That’s not supported here. Sadly, MacPaw’s VPN speeds also need some work. We saw considerable speed drops across multiple servers – even closer ones. We saw drops of around 20 to 30 percent in download speed, and around 50 percent for upload speed. It’s still fast enough to use Netflix, but it’s slower than the majority of alternatives out there. Most VPN companies use external auditors to verify that they’re not recording user or session data, but ClearVPN hasn’t undergone one at the time of writing. This shouldn’t mean anything untoward as the company is headquartered in Ukraine, which falls outside of various surveillance alliances, so it can’t be asked to share your data. ClearVPN is priced affordably, but prices and the deals on offer change all the time with VPNs. Look out for low monthly prices that don’t lock you in for too long. There’s a six-device limit. If you’re new to using a VPN service, ClearVPN makes a compelling case to be your first choice, and stress-free access to Netflix around the globe, it’s a great starter option. Still, the speed drop and lack of common features like split tunneling likely mean power users should look elsewhere. You can save money by paying for the first year up front, but you can also pay monthly. See full ClearVPN pricing here. Read our full ClearVPN review 7. PureVPN Pros Easy to use Works on multiple devices Additional power user features Cons Obtuse pricing model. Caused many websites to question whether we were “human” Price When Reviewed: From $3.99 a month for one year + 4 free months. Usually $12.45 a month. A 5 year deal is available from $2.16 a month. Best Prices Today: Retailer Price PureVPN (Monthly) $3.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $3.99 at PureVPN (Monthly) 6,500 servers, 78 countries 10 simultaneous connections If you’re looking for a flexible VPN service that will get around geoblocking and is easy to use, PureVPN is well worth a look. The basic plan includes the VPN service and nothing more, but you can add a Password Manager and File Encryption tools in the Plus plan. The Max plan adds a Digital Privacy Manager that requests your records be scrubbed by data brokers, blocks web trackers, and recommends ways to maximize your privacy. Whichever plan you opt for you’ll be able to connect 10 devices at once. PureVPN will run on your iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV, and is easy to use on each to let you connect to over six thousand servers. As far as getting around geo-blocks, we found PureVPN to be as easy as any other service to use. Select a location, load your streaming service or app of choice, and you’re off. PureVPN is registered in the British Virgin Islands, which is more privacy-friendly than Hong Kong where it operated previously. PureVPN offers one of the more impressive no-logging policies, with an ongoing “always-on” audit process whereby an auditor can request confirmation of that policy at any time. PureVPN has been winding down its virtual servers, of which it has less control. There are still 23 such servers, but PureVPN is transparent about which servers are virtual and which are physical – you can see a small ‘v’ next to each virtual server on the PureVPN website. At the time of writing PureVPN is offering more than a whopping 80% off its plans if you sign up for 24 months. Two years is a long time in the world of VPNs, but at least means the full monthly pricing won’t kick in twelve months time. See PureVPN offers here. Read our full PureVPN review 8. CyberGhost Pros Simple to use Decent speeds Plenty of servers Cons Two-year plans are much cheaper Lacking some power user features Price When Reviewed: $2.19 a month for two years + 2 free months. Usually $12.99 a month. Best Prices Today: Retailer Price CyberGhost (Monthly) $2.19 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $2.19 at CyberGhost (Monthly) 11,000+ servers in 100 countries 7 simultaneous connections CyberGhost is a user-friendly app that connects to numerous servers worldwide, making it ideal for streaming Netflix from different countries and routing traffic away from untrustworthy open Wi-Fi networks. It offers core features like kill switch support, split tunnelling, and no bandwidth restrictions. CyberGhost’s no-logging audit history is thorough, and there is a 45-day free trial available. CyberGhost apps can be downloaded for various platforms, including Chrome extension and game consoles (we tested on Mac and iPhone). The app offers a simple “click and go” connection process, with a list of server nations and multiple locations. Encryption is standard across servers, and split tunnelling prioritizes traffic where needed. An automated kill switch can cut connections if the VPN drops out, while ‘Block content’ blocks DNS domains for ads, trackers, and malware. The app does not offer anything like Proton VPN’s Secure Core or additional features like a Password Manager, but subscription tiers are based on adding a dedicated IP address. The VPN has over 9,000 servers located in over 100 countries, with plans to expand in South America and Asia in late 2023. CyberGhost VPN has an impressive no-logs policy, meaning no one can access records of your activity while connected to the VPN. The app does not offer the Dark Web monitor offered by NordVPN, but it does have an automated kill switch to cut connections if the VPN drops out. The DNS blocking feature is easy to use but doesn’t allow you to choose what to block. CyberGhost offers a compelling package with just one main plan and a 45-day money-back guarantee. It’s an excellent VPN for newcomers, with impressive audits, an array of servers, decent speeds, and easy-to-use apps. Read our full CyberGhost review 9. Norton Ultra VPN Pros Antivirus protections Cloud Backup and Password Manager Email tracking quarantine Cons Slower than rival VPNs Inflexible payment options Price When Reviewed: First year is from $39.99 Norton Secure VPN; $49.99 Norton Ultra VPN; $59.99 Norton Ultra VPN Plus. Renews at a higher price of $79.99/$109.99/$129.99. Best Prices Today: Retailer Price Norton (first year) $49.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $49.99 at Norton (first year) Servers in 32 countries Norton has decades of experience protecting devices from cyber threats (read our review of Norton 360), but what or its VPN? Norton’s VPN plans are, outside of the basic tier, tied into its security software to help offer real-time protection from bad actors. It comes with a password manager, dark web monitor, and cloud storage, but the VPN side of things is a little lacking. Perhaps it’s from testing so many of the best VPN services that we’ve grown used to a certain set of non-negotiables. Chief among them is browser extension options to allow for quick switching, but at the time of writing, there’s no such offering from Norton. Still, if you’re looking for real-time protection it remains a good security-focused option, but with geoblocking being inconsistent in our testing, you might want to look elsewhere for your international Netflix fix. Norton’s VPN does include plenty of accoutrements that other VPNs either don’t have or charge extra for. You can install the app on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and all three platforms have apps that work well and run nicely in the background. Norton offers Browser Protection, which scans sites as you browse. Norton also scans files before they land on your device. This worked well in testing, with barely added any additional time to the length of downloads. There’s a password manager, but it’s tied to the middle subscription tier and above. One thing that was interesting was how it monitors trackers on emails. As a journalist, I receive a lot of press releases and pitches, and while I’ve always assumed many of them use some kind of tracking to see when they’re opened, Norton offered to quarantine so many that I was quite taken aback. VPNs naturally decrease your internet speeds as your signal is fired across the globe, and Norton has servers in 32 countries – a steep drop from the 111 in NordVPN’s portfolio – but it does offer four protocols to choose from. IKEv2, OpenVPN and WireGuard are pretty commonly found across the board of rivals, but Norton has its own Mimic protocol which is intended to be ideal for unblocking international streaming services. Sadly, testing on a 70 Mbps connection saw a consistent speed drop-off. As for Mimic, Norton’s own VPN protocol, I was disappointed to find some international streaming services simply weren’t able to be unblocked with it. Norton clarified that Mimic is specifically designed for customers with special use cases who are unable to use WireGuard. We did have more luck with the more standardized protocols. VPNs worth their salt should always focus on privacy as their primary concern, and Norton does a good job, having undergone an audit from VerSprite, a security firm. It’s not a bad VPN, and if you’re looking for an option that packs a whole host of cyber-security tools into one easy-to-use package, it’s a great option. It’s disappointing that there is only a pay yearly option, where other VPNs have the option to pay monthly. Added to that is a steep jump in price for the second year. See full Norton Ultra VPN pricing here Read our full Norton Ultra VPN review 10. FastestVPN Pros Affordable pricing Good speeds 10 simultaneous connections Cons Limited compared to the Windows app Limited VPN protocol options Price When Reviewed: Lifetime special deal: $40, usually $600 Best Prices Today: Retailer Price FastestVPN (Lifetime payment) $40 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $40 at FastestVPN (Lifetime payment) 800+ servers in 49+ countries 10 simultaneous connections This easy-to-use, attractive, and uncomplicated app is a great option for VPN newbs. In addition to its straightforward and uncluttered design, FastestVPN also offers good speeds and a sufficiently expansive network. It’s icing on the cake that its privacy policy is easy to understand and makes all the right promises. In our tests, FastestVPN maintained about 30 percent of the base speed across five locations on multiple test days, although there were some weak spots in Asia and Australia. Despite it’s name it’s not the fastest VPN, but FastestVPN does make the right privacy promises in a way that’s easy to understand. Read our full FastestVPN review 11. Hide.me Pros Fast WireGuard speeds Dedicated streaming servers Impressive free tier Only VPN that offers Split Tunnelling in Big Sur and beyond Cons Slightly clunky UI No recent independent audit Premium plans are expensive Price When Reviewed: From $3.84 a month for 2 years + 2 free months. Usually $9.95 a month. Best Prices Today: Retailer Price Hide.Me (Monthly) $3.84 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $3.84 at Hide.Me (Monthly) 2,600+ servers in 90 countries 10 simultaneous connections Hide.me is another VPN service that has improved considerably in recent years. As well as offering a completely free version (which none of its rivals here do), it has also added WireGuard, which is considerably faster than other encryption protocols. Other key features include a customizable kill switch and split tunneling. Hide.me is the only VPN to offer Split Tunnelling in macOS. They state on their website: “hide.me VPN for macOS supports split tunneling. You can configure it in the client’s settings.” Hide.me also offers Stealth Guard, which stops selected apps from running without the security of a VPN connection. It can unblock Netflix and allows you to access BBC iPlayer from outside the UK. There’s also solid device support, with up to 10 simultaneous connections permitted. Malaysia-based, in recent years it has expanded the number of servers and doubled the number of countries it covers. Unfortunately, the third-party audit hasn’t been updated since 2015 However, the user interface on Mac is a bit clunky, and we’re still waiting for an update to the 2015 no-logs policy certification. Read our full hide.me VPN review 12. VyprVPN Pros Fast WireGuard speeds Very easy to use Unblocks Netflix and BBC iPlayer Low starting price Cons Comparatively few servers Not clear which servers are virtual Patchy support experience Price When Reviewed: From $3 a month for two years. Usually $10 a month. Best Prices Today: Retailer Price VyprVPN (Monthly) $3 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $3 at VyprVPN (Monthly) 70 servers 5 simultaneous connection VyprVPN offers everything most people are looking for in a VPN, without needing to spend much money. You get fast WireGuard speeds, alongside separate protocols focused on reliability, anti-censorship and ease of use. It’s also excellent at unblocking geo-restricted content, whether that’s local versions of Netflix or BBC iPlayer & ITV Hub from outside the UK. Premium features such as split tunneling and a kill switch are here too, even if the latter can’t be customised. VyprVPN’s no-logs policy has been independently audited, and the service adheres to a strict Privacy Policy from parent company Golden Frog. More than 700 servers in over 70 countries should be plenty for most people, although there’s often only one per country. It’s also not clear which of these are physical and virtual. Nonetheless, it’s still speedy, reliable and affordable. See full VyprVPN pricing here Read our full VyprVPN review 13. Malwarebytes Privacy VPN (Mac) Pros Easy to use and understand Supports WireGuard protocol Clear privacy policy Cons Not a lot of features Other VPNs have more anonymity features Price When Reviewed: $3.33 a month for 1 device ($39.99 a year) Best Prices Today: Retailer Price Malwarebytes (Monthly) $3.33 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $3.33 at Malwarebytes (Monthly) More than 245 servers 32 countries Malwarebytes, probably best known for antivirus software and advice, also offers a standalone VPN service called Malwarebytes Privacy. It’s an easy to use app with the right kind of privacy promises – as you’d expect from a respected name in security based in the U.S. In our tests Malwarebytes was a mid-tier performer in terms of speeds, but it should be good enough for most casual users. Malwarebytes Privacy VPN does a good job. See full Maywarebytes pricing here Read our full Malwarebytes Privacy VPN (Mac) review Best Free VPNs for Mac There are also a number of free VPNs available, but beware that some severely restrict which servers (and therefore countries) you can connect to and the amount of data you can download through those servers. You may be able to save money if you take a look at our round-up of VPN deals. It’s also important to read the terms and conditions before using a free VPN, as in rare cases they sell your data to third parties to offset the cost of you using it without paying. It’s a bigger problem on iPhones and Android where unscrupulous companies try to cash in on the VPN ‘gold rush’ and offer up poorly put together apps. Stick with our recommendations and you’ll be safe from these, though. Do Macs need a VPN? There is a big question. Do Mac users even need a VPN? Since Apple introduced iOS 15 and macOS Monterey in 2021 the company has offered a handy private relay service. iCloud Private Relay acts a bit like a VPN because it encrypts your web-browsing traffic and sends it through a relay to hide your location, IP, and any information about what you were browsing. iCloud Private Relay solves part of the problem that Mac users have used VPNs for in the past–it means that companies cannot build a clear picture of you on the web, thereby protecting your privacy. iCloud Private Relay has some disadvantages: it only works when you are using Safari, you have to be a subscriber to iCloud, and you can’t use it to pretend to be surfing from another country in order to access content that is locked to a particular region. Read more here: iCloud+ Private Relay explained. If you are a subscriber to iCloud, and only use Safari, then iCloud Private Relay will provide you with some anonymity when you are surfing the web. You may therefore be thinking that this means you don’t need a VPN to hide your location and identity. However, iCloud Private Relay does not allow you to choose an IP address or a region, and you won’t be able to make it look like you’re coming from another location. So you can’t watch geographically locked Netflix content, for example. How we test VPNs For each VPN service we review, we conduct tests at three different times of the day: morning, afternoon, and evening, using Ookla Speedtest. We start by measuring the speed of our unprotected internet connection before testing the upload/download speeds of the VPN service. These tests are conducted to servers located in North America, the UK, Europe, Oceana, and Asia over an ethernet connection with a service provision of 100Mbps. To test upload and download speeds, we close down all background internet processes on the Mac, using TripMode. The only traffic on the system able to upload or download any data is Ookla. We use this setup to ensure that the numbers that Ookla produced were not stymied by anything else that the computer may have been doing at the time. The speeds Ookla captured were then averaged, providing us with a final numeric score. We then use those scores to calculate a percentage of difference in speeds, which is what you’ll see in our reviews. Since internet speeds change constantly based on server load, how fast your connection is, and a gazillion other factors, we feel this provides a better picture of what you can expect from a service, on the whole, than merely quoting the exact upload/download speeds we encountered during testing. Speed isn’t the only quantifiable metric that we look at. The number of countries that a VPN offers servers in, total number of servers worldwide, and how much it’ll cost you to connect to those servers on a monthly or annual basis are also taken into consideration when recommending a VPN service to you. Additionally, we conduct hours of research into the VPN providers to find out who owns them, where they’re based, what they do with subscriber information, and whether the provider has a track record of questionable business practices. What’s a VPN? VPN stands for virtual private network. If you’re not using a VPN, when your computer connects to the internet, it does so through the local gateway provided by your internet service provider (ISP). Doing this allows you to connect to all of the online services you use everyday. However, connecting this way also allows an ISP to know your physical location based on where you access the internet—be it at home, at work, in a cafe, or at a public Wi-Fi hotspot. This information is often sold to marketers and other parties interested in getting to know more about you and your browsing habits. Worse still, if you connect to the internet through an access point with weak security, such as at an airport, mall, or local library, hackers connected to the same network could intercept personal information like your social media passwords or banking credentials through what’s called a man-in-the-middle attack. A VPN service can help prevent all of that. A VPN creates an encrypted digital tunnel between your computer and the server of the VPN service you choose to use. Once this tunnel has been established, your web searches, the sites you access, and the information you submit online will be hidden from prying eyes. This means that your ISP can’t log or sell your information and hackers using the same network as you will find it difficult to initiate an attack on you. Almost no one will have any idea of what information you’re accessing. For our recommendations of Mac Antivirus Software that we have tested see: Best Antivirus for Mac 2024: Top Security Software Compared. VPN apps are very easy to install and use but for a step-by-step guide, read how to set up a VPN on a Mac. What a VPN can’t do A VPN can’t protect you from viruses, malware, or ransomware attacks if you choose to download an infected file, or a visit site designed to inject your computer with malignant code. It won’t keep spoofed sites from stealing your personal information, if you happen to visit one. So, you’ll want to bone up on online security best practices. You should know that while using a VPN will allow you to anonymously engage in peer-to-peer file-sharing/torrenting, some service providers may cancel your VPN subscription or turn over your information to the authorities if they catch you trading copyrighted material with others. Is it legal to use a VPN? While accessing locked content is a bit of a gray area, due to licensing agreements, we don’t blame anyone who is desperate to watch the latest season of their favorite program when it airs in the U.S. rather than waiting for it to come to their country. Paying to watch a streaming service that’s not available in your country has to be less morally wrong than actual piracy! For more information on the legalities and whether it is safe to use a VPN read: Is a VPN safe for Mac? What to look for in a VPN A clear privacy policy. A good VPN should offer an easy-to-understand privacy policy that outlines what, if any, information the company collects from its users. It’s important that this policy details what they do with this information. Some VPN providers, especially those that offer their services for free, sell their user information to advertisers and other interested parties, just like an ISP does. Choose a provider that offers a level of privacy that suits you. Know where the provider is based. Many countries have no laws demanding that VPN providers maintain logs of their users’ activity. This makes maintaining your privacy more assurable than it would be if you use a VPN located in a country that requires that user-activity records be maintained. Some companies, in an effort to make their network of servers look bigger or more varied than it actually is, spoof the locations of their servers. The more servers, the merrier. Choosing a VPN provider with a ton of servers around the world is important for a couple of reasons. First, having a multitude of servers to choose from means that you won’t be forced to connect to an overpopulated server where the data flows like mud. Second, having a wealth of servers to choose from both at home and internationally means more opportunities for spoofing your location, allowing you to hide where you are or access region-locked content with ease. Multiple payment options. It’s a vicious circle. Paying for a VPN with a credit card online before you have access to a VPN could allow your financial information to fall into the wrong hands. Look for providers that offer alternative payment options such as PayPal, Bitcoin, AliPay, or via the Mac App Store. An easy-to-use interface. It takes a lot of digital wizardry to connect to a VPN. Some people want to see how their VPN operates, behind the scenes. Using an open source VPN client like Tunnelblick is great for this. Most folks, however, just want their VPN to work with minimal frustration. Look for a VPN service that offers a Mac client with an easy-to-use interface. Protection for all of your devices. A good VPN service will offer licenses for multiple devices to protect your loved ones’ computers as well as your personal smartphone and tablet. To this end, before investing in a VPN subscription, make sure that it provides software clients for all of the devices you own.02:17 pmAlmost half of developer revenue now comes from subscriptions
Analytics data suggests that we’re downloading fewer iPhone apps this year than last, but spending significantly more money on them. That’s because almost half of developer revenue now comes from subscriptions. App Store downloads declined slightly in the past 12 months, but the total spend increased dramatically from $73.7B last year to $91.6B this year … more…02:17 pmLooking for Contributors
I’m attempting to form an app centred around fitness and health. The predominant aim is to build this app as a hub for progress in fitness. This would incorporate: activity, diet, wellness, meditation and then tracking progress. For the activity it would need to be the same style as something such as Strava or Nike […]02:02 pmApple in talks with Tencent, ByteDance to roll out Apple Intelligence in China
Apple, the world's most valuable company, is in talks with Tencent and TikTok owner ByteDance about integrating their artificial… The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.01:52 pmApple Intelligence Chinese launch remains problematic as talks continue
An Apple Intelligence Chinese launch isn’t looking much closer, as the company continues forced talks with local companies about partnerships. Apple reportedly wanted to use its own generative AI models in China, but that would require government approval which – it has been strongly implied – would not be forthcoming … more…01:47 pmBest PDF Editor for Mac 2024-2025
Macworld Many workplaces and educational institutions have completely switched from paper documents to digital ones. Consequently, Mac users are increasingly dealing with PDFs and other e-document file formats. We’re here to help you find the best PDF editor for your Mac from the multitude of options. There are various PDF editing apps that cater to various budgets and workflows and among them are a few that stand out in terms of features, performance, and design. When selecting a PDF editor, consider one that can create, convert, and export PDFs from various file types, while preserving the original formatting and making the text searchable and editable through OCR technology. The editor should also allow for content editing, including modifying text, inserting, resizing, and moving images, and reorganizing pages. Additionally, it should enable users to add comments and annotations to PDF files during review, with tools for marking up both text documents and graphic-heavy files. Security features, such as password protection, permissions setting, and content redaction, are also important for access control. Lastly, consider a PDF editor with mobile support, either through a dedicated mobile app or cloud access. If you’re looking for basic annotation and page organization, the free Preview app that is available as part of macOS may be sufficient. If you need more in the way of editing tools, then one of these apps could better support your needs. We have reviewed all the PDF editors below, so read on to find out exactly what we thought. Updated December 2024 to add Cisdem PDFMaster for Mac (aka EaseUS PDF Editor). 1. Preview Pros Pre-installed and free Clear user interface Lots of handy tools Cons No iOS or iPadOS apps Doesn’t allow you to edit existing text Price When Reviewed: Free Best Prices Today: Retailer Price Free View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Free at Apple Apple Preview is the default document and image viewer on macOS, offering a range of useful features beyond just viewing photos and PDFs. Click on any PDF (or any image format) to open it and it will launch in Preview. Alternatively, open Preview and it will open the Finder, allowing users to browse through folders to locate the file they want to view. The app features a toolbar at the top of the screen, which allows users to view file details, zoom in or out, share the file, fill in a form, or mark up the file. The Markup button reveals tools for selection, doodling, inserting shapes or sticky notes, signing, and typing text. These tools are easily customizable, allowing users to control the color and size of a shape or text box, as well as pick between multiple fonts when typing. There is also an autofill helper. Apple Preview is not designed to replace image or PDF editors, but it still offers some power-user features. The menu bar’s Tools button allows users to reveal more advanced image controls, such as granular resizing, color adjustments, and automatic background removal. The File menu includes a Export button that allows users to choose the output’s quality and file format, allowing them to convert images to various formats. When viewing a PDF file in Apple Preview, users can easily re-order or delete its pages using the sidebar, allowing them to limit the file to the important bits they need. If exporting the PDF using Preview, users can optionally add a password, quartz filter, or file restrictions. If you’d prefer not to pay for Adobe Acrobat or another solution, Apple Preview may be more suitable for you. Apple Preview offers free tools that Adobe has paywalled, including PDF page organization/deletion, password protection for PDF files, and document scanning. Just need to turn something into a PDF? Read: How to make a PDF on Mac Read our full Preview review 2. Readdle PDF Expert Pros Wide range of handy tools Intuitive user interface Flexible pricing Cons Lifetime license only for Mac Not for Android and Windows Price When Reviewed: Free 7-day trial; $6.67/month; $79.99 a year; $139.99 perpetual plan Best Prices Today: Retailer Price Seven day trial Free View Deal Readdle (monthly) $6.67 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Free at Seven day trial$6.67 at Readdle (monthly) PDF Expert has a wide range of reliable tools and an intuitive user interface. It’s a great option if you are looking for more than Preview offers for free. Upon launching PDF Expert, users are greeted by a Tools tab with shortcuts to various features, such as organizing, optimizing, protecting, reviewing, or converting documents. The app runs smoothly and gives you everything you need to fully control a PDF file, including edit text and images, sign, fill checkboxes, add links, redact content in multiple ways, insert shapes, highlight text, doodle, and even measure the distance between two points or calculate specific areas. The PDF Expert toolbar features layout settings, an advanced search bar, and an AI Chat button. The AI Chat button allows users to interact with the integrated chatbot, summarize PDFs, list key points, generate hashtags, and more. The toolbar’s center includes commonly used PDF editing functionalities, such as annotation, editing, file conversion and exporting, signing, and optical character recognition (OCR). For most users, PDF Expert’s features are sufficient, as it allows users to manipulate a document’s content, add or remove elements, protect the file with a password, and shrink its size. While Adobe Acrobat offers more advanced tools, PDF Expert’s core functionalities are sufficient for most users. There are two payment options on macOS: a lifetime license, or an annual license that includes future updates and mobile support. Students can get 50% off and there is a free 7-day trial. It is available for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, but is not available on Android or Windows devices. Read our full Readdle PDF Expert review 3. Wondershare PDFelement Pros Cross-platform solution Flexible pricing Simple user interface Cons Some unlabeled sidebar buttons are hard to identify Not always intuitive Price When Reviewed: Free 7 day trial, from $79.99 one year plan, $109.99 two year plan, or $103.99 lifetime license Best Prices Today: Retailer Price Seven day trial Free View Deal Wondershare (annually) $79.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Free at Seven day trial$79.99 at Wondershare (annually) Wondershare’s PDFelement is a document manipulation tool that offers essential features on all platforms at a reasonable price. The app features a minimalistic user interface and offers single- and cross-platform licenses, with the main difference being app updates. If you plan to use the PDF editor on your Mac exclusively, you can opt for a one-year, two-year, or lifetime license. PDFelement also supports iOS, iPadOS, Windows, Android, and the web, offering an all-encompassing bundle that supports all of these platforms. The single-platform licenses include 20GB of cloud storage, while the highlighted bundles offer 100GB. Once you run out of the 20,000 AI tokens included with your purchase, you can buy more. PDFelement features a clean home page showcasing standard PDF editing tools, such as PDF conversion, optical character recognition (OCR), template selection, file compression, and more. It also has a sidebar that grants access to handy destinations like recent files, cloud documents, tagged PDFs, and agreements you’ve sent others to sign. PDFelement supports most commonly needed PDF editing functionalities, including text manipulation, image and URL insertion, adding, deleting, and editing the document’s pages. It’s not the most advanced selection out there, but it gets the job done in casual workflows. PDFelement is better suited for annotation and artificial intelligence needs, allowing users to insert text, shapes, comments, stamps, forms, checkboxes, text callouts, and more. It can also automatically bookmarks reflecting the document’s chapters. Beyond text manipulation, PDFelement can redact text, add a password to the file, convert the PDF to a Microsoft Office format, change the pages’ background, compress the size, and insert a watermark. While not the most feature-rich PDF editor, it caters to casual users seeking a lightweight solution. Despite its minimalism, getting used to PDFelement may take some time. The unlabeled buttons in the editor’s sidebar can be confusing and challenging to identify, and some features, like text editing, can sometimes be unpredictable. PDFelement is an excellent PDF editor for those with casual needs, but its tools aren’t as advanced as those offered by many rival apps. Read our full Wondershare PDFelement review 4. Foxit PDF Editor Pros Extensive set of PDF editing tools Native macOS, iOS, and iPadOS apps Cons Only annual subscription plans Mobile app access excluded from base plan Overwhelming user interface Price When Reviewed: PDF Reader: Free; PDF Editor: $10.99 a month; $129.99 a year; PDF Editor+: $159.99 a year Best Prices Today: Retailer Price Foxit PDF Reader Free View Deal Foxit (monthly) $10.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Free at Foxit PDF Reader$10.99 at Foxit (monthly) Foxit offers a range of PDF-centric solutions for Mac users, including PDF Reader and PDF Editor. PDF Reader is available on macOS for free, allowing users to view, annotate, sign, and have AI analyze their documents. The paid-for PDF Editor unlocks the complete editing toolbox for an annual fee, with a base plan and a plus (+) plan that includes more features. There are options to pay monthly, but it is still an annual contract: there’s no option to cancel after a month. The free PDF Reader allows users to control the size, color, and style of inserted text or shapes, as well as customize features like changing the document’s background shade, reversing and rotating pages, signing forms, and more. It can read text aloud, measure distances, calculate areas, magnify selected spots, and have AI analyze your document. The paid-for PDF Editor supports all of PDF Reader’s features but adds editing functionalities, such as file conversion, optical character recognition (OCR), and full manipulation of a document’s text and images through addition, deletion, or tweaking. It caters to power users with advanced features like document sanitization, redaction styles, security layers, JavaScript, and accessibility checks. Foxit’s PDF Editor stands out for its ChatGPT integration, which can analyze and summarize documents and perform actions on your behalf. The base plan should suffice for most users, while the Plus plan offers exclusives like mobile app access, tracking other parties’ signatures, smart redaction, 130GB of cloud storage, and template support. While the app is generally swift, the user interface may seem too packed to some users, especially those who don’t need all the offered tools. Foxit PDF Editor is designed for serious users rather than casual users, and if the UI overwhelms you, it may be an overkill for you. Read our full Foxit PDF Editor review 5. ABBYY FineReader Pro Pros Reasonably accurate and reliable OCR functionality Supports scanning and importing from iPhone Can convert PDF to wide range of formats Cons Similarly priced apps include superior PDF editing tools Price When Reviewed: $11.99 a month, $69 a year Best Prices Today: Retailer Price 30-day trial Free View Deal Mac App Store (monthly) $11.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Free at 30-day trial$11.99 at Mac App Store (monthly) Other PDF editing apps offer optical character recognition (OCR) as an added perk, Abbyy FineReader PDF leads on its optical character recognition software and file converter, and, while it offers reliable OCR and file conversion functionalities, it falls short when it comes to PDF editing. FineReader PDF is a simple user interface with three main tabs: viewing PDF documents, quick and advanced file conversion tools, and importing documents. It has been optimized for macOS and offers a modern design. FineReader PDF supports viewing and highlighting PDF files, with preset highlight colors and comments. The quick conversion feature processes inputted files to detect content and then selects the output’s format. Supported file formats include PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, EPUB, FB2, TXT, HTML, RTF, ODT, and CSV. It doesn’t support Apple’s HEIC image format, so users may need to convert HEIC iPhone shots to JPG first. Each format offers its own customizations, such as ebook title, author, layout, and page size. FineReader PDF exports the document, making it more editable. However, it doesn’t support proper PDF editing, so it may not be the ideal PDF solution for manipulating files. It doesn’t offer a one-time purchase option and has relatively high recurring fees. There’s a yearly subscription plan on the Abbyy website, and a monthly subscription on the Mac App Store (which is a good option because you can cancel at any time). There’s a full-featured 7-day free trial. Read our full ABBYY FineReader Pro review 6. Adobe Acrobat Pros Cross platform Advanced PDF manipulation tools Supports signature collection Cons Mac app is bloated Free version is limited compared to Preview Expensive subscriptions Price When Reviewed: Acrobat Reader: free; Acrobat Standard: from $12.99 a month; Acrobat Pro: from $19.99 a month Best Prices Today: Retailer Price Adobe Reader Free View Deal Adobe (Monthly) $12.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Free at Adobe Reader $12.99 at Adobe (Monthly) Adobe Acrobat is a popular PDF viewer and editor on Mac, offering basic annotation tools. However, the free Acrobat Reader tier offers the same basic annotation tools that are present in Apple’s built-in Preview app, which is far superior in most cases. One point in its favor is that Acrobat is available across macOS, iOS, iPadOS, Windows, Android, and even the web, making it accessible from most modern computing devices, while Preview is limited to macOS. Subscribing to Adobe Acrobat Standard provides access to all PDF editing functionality, including more control over the PDF’s content, reorganization of the entire document’s layout, and more advanced tools like object measurements, accessibility preparation, JavaScript support, and search index insertion. For the advanced Adobe Acrobat Pro features you pay more each month to get permanent redaction, web form creation, PDF comparisons, accessibility checks, audio/video insertion, and much more. Acrobat Pro is necessary for tasks like converting scanned documents into searchable and editable PDFs. Adobe Acrobat’s paid subscriptions are expensive and do not offer one-time purchase options. The slightly higher monthly ‘cancel anytime’ price is a good option if you only need the features temporarily. Read our full Adobe Acrobat review 7. Cisdem PDFMaster (aka EaseUS PDF editor) Pros Simple user interface Fluid performance One-time payment options Cons Confusing branding Not always reliable No version for iOS and iPadOS Price When Reviewed: $59.95 a year or $89.95 with lifetime uppgrades from EaseUS, or $49.99 a year of $99.99 lifetime plan from Cisdem Best Prices Today: Retailer Price Cisdem $49.99 View Deal EaseUS $59.95 View Deal App Store $69.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $49.99 at Cisdem$59.95 at EaseUS$69.99 at App Store One of the options you may come across during your hunt for a PDF editor is that from EaseUS. While the company’s own PDF editor is exclusive to Windows, its website offers PDFMaster for macOS—which is actually developed by its partner Cisdem. EaseUS packages Cisdem PDFMaster as EaseUS PDF Editor for Mac, but it’s essentially the same app. Confused? We were. Just to baffle you further, you can buy the app from EaseUS or Cisdem, and at the Mac App Store, all at different prices and there are a few differences. We reviewed EaseUS’s version. The app features a minimalistic user interface with modern-looking buttons and labels. While PDFMaster’s feature set is somewhat limited compared to more professional apps, it generally gets the job done for those with casual PDF editing needs. You can edit the text in the document, including add or remove words, change the font, insert links and so on. You can also add shapes, highlighting, underlining, strikethroughs, and leave comments. Images, stamps, and digital signatures can also be added. Watermarking, document cropping, conversion to multiple file formats, size shrinking, optical character recognition (OCR), redaction, page reorganization, PDF comparisons, area calculations are also available. We did have a few issues during testing. For example, exporting a PDF after password-protecting it didn’t actually secure it. Once its 14-day trial expires, you will have to pay $89.95 once or $59.95 per year to continue using the software. The macOS version doesn’t provide a monthly subscription plan. There is no mobile version for iOS and iPadOS users. Read our full Cisdem PDFMaster for Mac (aka EaseUS PDF Editor) review FAQ 1. Do Macs have built in PDF? Macs have a built-in PDF editor called Apple Preview, which offers a comprehensive set of PDF markup tools, including form filling and password protection. This editor is superior to Adobe Acrobat’s free tier in terms of PDF editing capabilities. The PDF editing tools in macOS can be accessed through Quick Look or the Preview app, and they allow users to add text, highlight, underline, and strikethrough text, rotate pages, add and remove pages, add arrows and other shapes, and add comments to PDFs. Additionally, Apple Preview allows users to add their signature to a PDF. However, it’s worth noting that Apple Preview has limited native sharing options and is only available to Mac users. 2. How to make a PDF on a Mac To create a PDF on a Mac, you can use the built-in Preview app. Simply create a document on your Mac, then choose Print > PDF and edit in Preview. The Preview app also allows you to export PDFs with options for quality and file format, and add password, quartz filter, or file restrictions. Alternatively, you can use tools like Adobe Acrobat Pro or Standard, one one of the other options in the list above, but these require a subscription. 3. How to fill in a PDF on a Mac Filling in a PDF with Apple Preview is easy. The Mac app, included on every Mac, includes a form-filling feature that automatically detects fields and allows easy filling. In addition, AutoFill, a feature introduced in macOS 14.2, uses Contacts to select the necessary information and makes filling out PDFs faster and more secure. If you need more advance features then one of the options above will give you additional viewing, editing, converting, and PDF signing abilities. Read: How to edit a PDF on a Mac 4. Can I edit a PDF for free on a Mac? Yes, you can edit a PDF for free on a Mac using Apple’s built-in Preview app, which offers a full set of PDF markup tools, including encryption, password protection, and permissions for files . Adobe also offers a free Acrobat Reader for reading and filling in PDFs, but it lacks some features that Apple’s built-in Preview app offers. Read: Best free PDF editors for Mac 5. What’s the difference between Preview and Acrobat? Adobe Acrobat and Apple Preview both offer basic annotation tools. While both have a form-filling feature, Preview automatically detects fields for easy filling, unlike Acrobat which requires manual alignment. Preview also offers free tools that Acrobat charges for, including PDF page organization/deletion, password protection, and document scanning . Furthermore, Preview is preloaded on Macs, providing faster performance and a sleeker design. However, Preview’s editing functionality is limited and it is not designed for advanced editing, unlike Acrobat which offers more functionality – it you pay for it. Read: Apple Preview vs Adobe Acrobat Some other articles that might be helpful: How to make a PDF on an iPhone How to scan documents on iPhone How to edit a PDF on iPhone How to redact text in a PDF How to save a page from a PDF as a separate file01:37 pmTencent & ByteDance may be Apple Intelligence launch partners in China
Apple is reportedly in talks with ByteDance and Tencent to integrate their AI models with Apple Intelligence in China, so it can expand the feature set to the lucrative market.Apple Intelligence has a long way to go before launching in ChinaApple is slowly rolling out Apple Intelligence to iPhone, iPad, and Mac, by gradually introducing it into new markets. However, to do so in China, it's seeking assistance from other companies.Apple is said to be in discussions with Tencent and ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, about Apple Intelligence. Reuters reports on Thursday that Apple wants to use AI models from the two companies to flesh out the version of Apple Intelligence offered to users in China. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums01:30 pmWhat types of offline apps would you pay for?
I'm learning how to develop iOS apps using cursor recently, so I want to ask other people what offline apps they use, free or paid. You can also talk about what kind of apps you would like to have. submitted by /u/_Cuthbert [link] [comments]Firehose II – Jobs, Deals, Apps
- Thursday December 26
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Seasonal Operations Associate - Apple Blossom Mall Location:Winchester, VA, United States (https://jobs.jcp.com/jobs/location/191170/winchester-va-united-states) -03:24 am*Apple* Certified – Repair Technician – Aerotek (United States)
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Position Overview: Apple Roofing is seeking a dynamic and experienced Brand Manager to oversee and drive the company's marketing tactics and strategy. This03:07 amPharmacy Technician (Retail) – *Apple* Hill Pharmacy – FT- Day/Eve – WellSpan Health (United States) | Job Search EnginePharmacy Technician (Retail) – *Apple* Hill Pharmacy – FT- Day/Eve – WellSpan Health (United States)
Pharmacy Technician (Retail) - Apple Hill Pharmacy - FT- Day/Eve Location: WellSpan Health, York, PA Schedule: Full Time Schedule: Full Time 40-hours per week03:07 am