Firehose – News, Alerts, Docs
- Thursday December 19
- 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]01:30 pmEU interoperability spat shows Apple and Meta will never agree about privacy
While Apple is accusing Meta of trying to use EU laws to abuse privacy, Meta is saying Apple is worse. This is just the latest chapter in a long-running fight between the tech giants.Left: Apple CEO Tim Cook. Right: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg — images credit: Apple and MetaThe latest spat between Apple and Meta, the owner of Facebook, is... pretty much the same as every exchange before. Apple accuses Meta about its privacy record and Meta doesn't exactly deny it, but has a good go at deflecting the attention back.This time, it's that Apple is questioning the EU's mandate about cooperating with rival firms, by pointing out that Meta has been really trying it on lately. Meta responds by commenting that Apple would say that, wouldn't they? Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums01:25 pmmacOS 15.2 Sequoia backup bug(s) affecting Time Machine, CCC, and more
One or more backup bugs in macOS 15.2 Sequoia is affecting Apple’s own Time Machine utility, as well as third-party apps SuperDuper and CarbonCopyCloner. Initially the problem appeared to affect bootable backups only, but it now appears that it is either more general than this, or there is more than one bug affecting Mac backups … more…01:05 pm🚨 Looking for a Tech Co-founder & AI-Focused Investors 🚨
Hey! I’m Dhruv Tayal, an Instagram Fitness Influencer & Coach (@YourFitnessHommie). I’m working on building a Fit AI App that will change the game in online fitness coaching. I need: 💻 Tech Co-founder: • Experience with AI tools • Skilled in UI/UX (keeping things simple and user-friendly) • Someone who can turn complex tech into […]01:00 pmApple's Indonesia iPhone 16 ban drama will probably end with $1 billion investment
Indonesia's president has agreed to a $1 billion deal with Apple that if approved, will build two factories that will ultimately produce 20% of the world's AirTag supply.iPhone 16 & iPhone 16 Plus — still banned in IndonesiaSources familiar with the matter claim that Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto gave his approval to the deal, after apparently getting a brief over the weekend. Also according to the sources, Prabowo is seeking more investments from Apple in the future.Apple has reportedly picked the island of Batam to build the AirTag factory. It is expected to initially employ 1000 workers, and the location will provide tax and import benefits to Apple. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums12:59 pmBest Mac data recovery software 2025
Macworld It’s a nightmare scenario: your Mac has been playing up for weeks and you’ve been ignoring it, or just haven’t been able to figure out how to fix it. Then it refuses to start up. Why didn’t you make that backup? Is there any way you can get back the lost data from your Mac? Luckily there are apps that can recover your lost photos and damaged files from your failed Mac’s hard drive. There are a few techniques you can try before you spend money on an app though, as you’ll see in our How to recover data from a damaged Mac article. Also, prevention is better than a cure and we recommend adopting a regular backup routine going forward, so you’ll avoid this kind of situation again. For more tips on this, take a look at The best backup software for Mac and How to use Time Machine to back up a Mac. If these tips prove to be of no avail, there are apps that can rescue your files from a deleted, corrupted or crashed drive. Data recovery apps, like the ones we have reviewed below, work in a similar way: if the directory indicating where files were originally stored is salvageable, recovering the files is relatively easy. If that isn’t the case, the software will scan the data for familiar patterns that would denote a file type. Once it finds a file type, there’s a good chance that there will be data in that file. PROMOTIONData recovery software for Mac – EaseUS Recover lost data in 3 simple steps: automated scan, preview, and one-click recovery. Cover any file format and deal with data loss issues. Undelete files from the Mac-based hard drive, fusion drive, SSD, USB drive, memory card, digital camera, and more. Macworld recommended, and a great choice for both Mac and Windows users.Now 25% OFF Exclusive Code: MACWORLD25Get It Now l Windows Get It Now | Mac But expect it to be a time-consuming process to piece the bits of files back together. With patience, most files that haven’t been overwritten should, in theory, be saveable. Some drives can take days to fully scan, and the higher capacity they are, the longer the process. But if it’s irreplaceable photos or important documents that are lost, you can afford to wait. Unfortunately, this sort of software is pretty much always going to have a high price associated with it before you can recover what you need–but if you’ve lost hundreds of treasured photos or the first 1,000 pages of your novel, then no price is too high, probably. Sometimes you can pay for the software for a month, do what you need to do and then cancel. Sometimes you must subscribe for a year. Other options allow you to buy it outright, but pay extra for future updates. Your own circumstances will influence which option is best for you. Additionally, many of these tools offer a trial so you can at least see what you should be able to recover before you spend your money. Whether you’re a casual user scrambling to recover your lost files, or a full-time tech shop doing everything it can to retrieve a client’s most critical documents from a dying hard drive, these are the data recovery apps that get our recommendation. Looking to recover data from a iPhone? Read: Best data recovery apps for iPhone. Updated December 2024 to add Wondershare’s Recoverit. Best data recovery software for Mac Here’s our pick of the best data recovery apps for Mac. Recoverit, Wondershare Pros Free trial (only 100MB) Cons Free trial is only 100MB Price When Reviewed: 1 month/2 Macs: $79.99 (usually $109.99); 1 year/2 Macs: $89.99 (usually $139.99); perpetual license/2 Macs: $139.99 (usually $169.99) Best Prices Today: Retailer Price Wondershare (annual) $89.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $89.99 at Wondershare (annual) Recoverit by Wondershare is centered around the usual modules that you might see in this kind of suite: Hard Drives and Locations and SD Card for file recovery, Enhanced Recovery and Corrupted Video Repair for video and photo restoration and System Crashed Computer and NAS and Linux for additional recovery features. There’s a friendly home screen and user interface and the modules work as expected. Data recovery for hard drives, locations, and SD cards is simple and reliable, with Recoverit executing both a quick scan and diving into a deep scan. The video and photo repair modules work well with damaged files. The SD Card module was able to sift through a damaged 8GB SD card, pull some video data thought lost, and deliver the data back cleanly to a recovery folder without issue. Remote-based utilities allow for network-based drives to be located or accessed manually to have data recovered from them. The program can also save recovered data to a NAS drive or Google Drive, which is a nice feature. We had some problems with the USB boot drive creation module, but this mitght be due to Apple’s complications. Wondershare Recoverit presents an excellent data recovery package at a not-unreasonable, price. The package is currently on offer for $79.99/£63.99 (usually $109.99/£93.97) a month for unlimited recovery for two Macs, or $89.99/£66.99 (usually $139.99/£113.97) for a one year license for unlimited recovery for two Macs. There’s also a $139.99/£118.97 (usually $169.99/£144.97) perpetual license for two Macs. The company also offers discounts for students and educators, and small and medium businesses. While no trial version exists, the free version allows for all of Recoverit’s features to be used, with data recovery capped at 100 megabytes. Read our full Wondershare Recoverit review Data Rescue, Prosoft Engineering Pros Excellent toolset and recovery system Helpful Scan Management system to manage and continue up to 15 scans Cons High subscription-based price In July 2024 the software’s last update was in 2023 Inadequate tech support No means of creating a macOS Sonoma recovery drive (as of July 2024) Price When Reviewed: Standard license: $79 for a 30-day; Professional license: $399 for one year Best Prices Today: Retailer Price Prosoft Engineering (30-day license) $79 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $79 at Prosoft Engineering (30-day license) Data Rescue, currently version 6.0.8, offers some excellent drive management and data recovery features, albeit at a steep price for occasional users. The software supports older versions of macOS and requires macOS 10.12 (Sierra) or later. Users can download the software and assign full drive access, with a trial offering up to 1GB of data recovery for free. The company charges $19 per individual for non-licensed data retrieval, $79 for a standard license, and $399/year for a professional license. The hefty fee covers only one Mac or PC. The auto-renew option needs to be turned off via the web-based Prosoft account. The software has a compelling toolset, including Quick Scan or Deep Scan, view hex tables, secure erase, set drive parameters, manage virtual RAID setup, and work with numbered sectors on drives and allocation blocks. It allows users to work with up to 15 scans, pausing and resuming as needed – handy if you’re several hours into a Deep Scan. The software runs well in the background. Data Rescue 6 can create clone and recovery drives, handling different data strategies such as Straight, Reverse, Bisect, and Segment. However, it does not offer an option to create a macOS Sonoma recovery drive as of July 2024. There are other limitations. If the drive is mechanically failing, it’ll be harder for data to be pulled and reconstructed. Technical tools in Data Rescue 6 offer plenty to work with, but can get you in trouble if you aren’t familiar with them. For example, setting the wrong drive parameters or boot point can require troubleshooting. Overall, Data Rescue 6 offers excellent tools, but Prosoft should address issues like lack of customer responsiveness, the lengthy time between updates, the high, subscription-based price tag, and a lack of a tutorial system. Read our full Data Rescue review Stellar Data Recovery for Mac Pros Quick, clean interface Good data recovery tools and modules Impressive net-based data recovery module Cons Repeated crashes for the Clean Up Junk Files module Strange macOS Recent Items and serial number activation bugs Keeps an upgrade to a higher-level account, even after a full account has been purchased Price When Reviewed: Standard edition: $79.99 (currently $69.99) a year, or $129.99 (currently $99.99) for a lifetime license. Professional version: $129.99 (currently $99.99) a year, or $199 (currently $149) for a lifetime license. Premium edition: $209.99 (currently $99.99) a year, or $319 (currently $199) for a lifetime license. Best Prices Today: Retailer Price Stellar Info (annual) $79.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $79.99 at Stellar Info (annual) Stellar Data Recovery for Mac focuses on recovering data via standard scans, deep scans, drive image creation, and other recovery tools. It is available as a free trial, with standard, professional, and premium editions available on yearly or lifetime contracts. The software supports both HFS+ and APFS volume formats and can be installed easily. Stellar Data Recovery’s main strength is its extensive data recovery engine, which supports hundreds of file formats and allows users to search and recover by file type, headers, and attributes. It also features a good scan management engine that allows users to save and work from previous scans, and an image creation feature that allows users to create a byte-for-byte image of a volume that can be restored later. One interesting feature is the Recover Non Booting Mac module, which allows users to log into their Mac’s recovery partition, load Terminal, and enter a command to open a remote version of Stellar Data Recovery (more details in our full review). Other modules such as Search Large Files and Search Duplicate Files perform well and provide a comprehensive look at your drive. The complete array of modules worked well with test drives, recovering data as needed, and snagging as much as possible. Unfortunately, we did experience some problems. Stellar’s Clean Up Junk Files crashed the application repeatedly and had to be force quit under macOS Sonoma 14.6.1. Other issues included activating the serial number, which took several days and multiple calls and emails to sort out. Additionally, Stellar Data Recovery refused to appear in the macOS Recent Items menu, preventing it from being quickly launched. Even after activating a Professional tier account, the software still presents an “Upgrade” button on its main menu, which seems to be asking for more money to be thrown in the company’s general direction. Despite these failings, Stellar Data Recovery for Mac is a good program able to dig deep to help reconstruct and recover deleted data. There’s also Stellar Data Recovery for iPhone. Read our full Stellar Data Recovery for Mac review Disk Drill Pro, CleverFiles Pros Friendly interface, access to helpful YouTube instructional videos Good data recovery performance Data Shredder utility Cons Occasional crashes macOS Installer utility failed to create a viable boot drive after multiple attempts Data recovers to multiple folders and can be confusing to locate Price When Reviewed: Basic: Free; Pro: $89; Enterprise: $499 (pay extra for lifetime upgrades) Best Prices Today: Retailer Price CleverFiles $89 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $89 at CleverFiles Disk Drill Pro from Cleverfiles is designed to recover data and rebuild deleted files on Macs and various other platforms and devices. It works with standard macOS file formats like HFS+, Mac OS Extended, and APFS. The basic version is available for free and can recover up to 500 megabytes of data. There’s a Pro version that supports one user and up to three simultaneous activations, paid for once with an additional expense for lifetime upgrades. The Enterprise edition has a similar extra expense for lifetime upgrades and supports 10 users and infinite activations with priority technical support and DFXML forensic data support. At the time of our review Cleverfiles was offering a 50% discount from past versions, 20% discount for education, non-profit, and government customers, and a 50% competitive upgrade. Disk Drill Pro requires macOS 10.15 Catalina or later and offers several new features, including a RAID utility, NAS & Linux via SSH utility, tools for recovering data from iPhones, iPads, and Time Machine volumes, a scan session manager, S.M.A.R.T. monitoring, a macOS boot drive creator, a backup utility, a Clean Up utility to map drive storage, a duplicate file remover, a data shredder, and a free space erasure tool. YouTube-based tutorial videos are available. Devices can be scanned over a Wi-Fi network, and the S.M.A.R.T. function provides data about drive temperatures, drive condition, and life percentage left. Disk Drill Pro runs the scan in the background and can bypass file permission errors on the data being erased. During our data recovery scans, more than 90% of deleted files were readily recovered. Disk Drill Pro has some issues, such as the macOS Installer utility failing to produce a bootable volume after multiple tests, the Recent Sessions scan manager only sporadically working, and Disk Drill Pro crashing into the spinning rainbow wheel if a process is interrupted. However, it offers reliable data recovery from a wide variety of devices. Read our full Disk Drill Pro review EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Pros Free version (up to 2GB) Great data recovery tools and file organization and categorization Video Repair tool Cons High price point compared to competitors Unbootable Mac module failed to locate and work with drives for recovery testing Unable to log into some cloud-based services for data recovery and file storage Price When Reviewed: $89.95 a month for one Mac, $119.95 a year for one Mac, $169.95 for a lifetime upgrade plan for one Mac Best Prices Today: Retailer Price EaseUS (monthly) $89.95 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $89.95 at EaseUS (monthly) EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac, at version 17.2.0 at the time of our review, is a Mac port of the Windows recovery software. There is a free version with a 2GB recovered data cap as well as a paid version, which offers additional features such as 1-on-1 remote assistance, is available as a free trial, and requires Mac OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) or later to run. The paid version offers one license for one Mac paid monthly, yearly or as a lifetime upgrade plan that covers one Mac. The monthly and annual license payments auto-renew. The software supports over 1,000 file types and offers specific modules for SD cards, cloud-based recovery, and storage. It supports APFS, HFS+, HFS, XFAT, FAT16, FAT32, exFAT, and NTFS, making it useful for working with drives from Windows and Linux machines. The core functionalities of data recovery, reconstruction, and organization are its strongest points. A friendly interface guides users in choosing the volume to recover from and designating the target restoration drive or folder. The program organizes recovered and restored data logically into categories such as All Types, Pictures, Documents, Audio, Videos, Emails, Archives, and Others. The SD Card function is useful, and the iCloud module makes it easy to log into iCloud (requiring Two Factor Authentication). The Video Repair module is enjoyable for exporting cleaner copies of old videos. However, some issues need attention, including the Unbootable Mac module, which has the user shut down their Mac, boot into Recovery Mode, then boot off an external server run by EaseUS. While this is a good idea in theory, the tool went into a continuous loop of being unable to mount my M2 Mac internal and external drives. I allowed this process to run overnight, and when I woke up in the morning, the drives had still not mounted and the tool could not be worked with. The cloud tool was unable to successfully log into Dropbox for recovery, and the application required an administrator password every time the user launched it. Additionally, the software presented a customer feedback survey every time the user exited the program, which was infuriating. In conclusion, Data Recovery Wizard for Mac excels at its core functions and presents an attractive means of recovering data from Mac, Windows, and Linux volumes with a nice array of platform and file format support. However, the high price point, Unbootable Mac module failures, constant need for an administrator password, and repeating customer feedback survey window let it down. Read our full EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac review DiskWarrior Pros Good user interface, speed, and performance Great at locating and sorting out file and directory errors on supported formats and volumes Nice customization and configuration options Cons Lack of APFS support puts the future of DiskWarrior in doubt High price Time Machine volumes can’t be repaired without booting off the included USB flash drive Price When Reviewed: $119.95 (plus $8.95 for shipping flash drive) Best Prices Today: Retailer Price Alsoft $119.95 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket $119.95 at Alsoft Alsoft has been producing high-quality utility software for over 20 years. DiskWarrior, a popular application for recovering damaged hard drives, has been in use since 1998. However, the latest version of DiskWarrior 5.3.1, released in 2024, seems to be falling behind in software and file system support. The software still supports the HFS+ format, FireVault 1 and 2, Core Storage for Fusion dries, RAID configurations, and disk images and sparse bundles, but it has not been upgraded to support the APFS format, which is increasingly prevalent on new Macs and Apple’s push towards this file system standard. DiskWarrior is available as a bootable USB flash drive that can boot Macs running HFS+ format volumes. Its ease of use remains unchanged, making it easy to mount and unmount drives and volumes, perform quick tests, access technical specifications, set up automated diagnostics, and receive notifications through alerts, emails, AppleScript programs, or text messages. However, there’s bad news: DiskWarrior 5.3.1 still lacks support for the APFS standard. As more drives are moving towards this file system, the company’s silence on this matter is concerning. A representative within the company confirmed that Alsoft is working on version 6.0, which will offer full APFS support. However, changes from Apple’s side, such as not allowing third-party kernel extensions and other technical changes, have made the development process more difficult and created more roadblocks than previous versions of DiskWarrior. The lack of a free trial version of DiskWarrior 5.3.1 raises concerns about the steep new user price and upgrade price, especially when the software lacks APFS support and can only work with certain volumes. Sometimes a great utility gets stuck in development. There’s still a great application to be had here, but Alsoft needs to put itself in a position where it can readily announce that an updated version will be out at a given date and that it will offer APFS support. Read our full DiskWarrior review For more advice about accessories and software for your Mac, iPad or iPhone see all our Best Picks.12:41 pmApple Stops Signing iOS 18.1.1, Downgrading No Longer an Option
Apple has stopped signing iOS 18.1.1, preventing iPhone users who have upgraded to iOS 18.2 from downgrading to that version of iOS. Apple released iOS 18.2 a week ago on December 11. Apple often stops signing an older version of iOS, usually within a week or two after a new version is released. When an update is no longer signed, it can't be installed on an iPhone due to a server-side software verification check. This policy encourages users to keep their operating systems up to date, ensuring they have the latest security enhancements. Apple also stopped signing iOS 17.7.2 on Wednesday. The iOS 18.1.1 update provided important security fixes, but no other notable changes. In contrast, the iOS 18.2 update brought several new Apple Intelligence features to compatible iPhones. You can find all the details in our comprehensive guide.This article, "" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums12:39 pmCall to ban Apple Intelligence summary feature after Luigi Mangione error
The Apple Intelligence summary feature should be banned after it falsely claimed that Luigi Mangione had shot himself, says Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF). The non-profit body advises the United Nations, Council of Europe, and other governmental agencies on issues relating to journalism and freedom of information … more…12:33 pmThese are the Macs we’re looking forward to in 2025
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. 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. 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. 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.12:10 pmOne in five AirTags to be made in Indonesia to resolve iPhone 16 sales ban
AirTags will be made in Indonesia for the first time, and production will ramp up to 20% of global production over time, according to a new report. The plan is Apple’s way to meet a government requirement for a billion dollar investment in the economy in order to reverse a ban on the sale of iPhones in the country … more…11:39 amApple Faces Criticism Over AI-Generated News Headline Summaries
Apple is facing calls to remove its AI-powered notification summaries feature after it generated false headlines about a high-profile murder case, drawing criticism from a major journalism organization. Updated to iOS 18.2? Then you may have received this notification (image credit: BBC News) Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has urged Apple to disable the Apple Intelligence notification feature, which rolled out globally last week as part of its iOS 18.2 software update. The request comes after the feature created a misleading headline suggesting that murder suspect Luigi Mangione had shot himself, incorrectly attributing the false information to BBC News. Mangione in fact remains under maximum security at Huntingdon State Correctional Institution in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, after having been charged with first-degree murder in the killing of healthcare insurance CEO Brian Thompson in New York. The BBC has confirmed that it filed a complaint with Apple regarding the headline incident. The RSF has since argued that summaries of the type prove that "generative AI services are still too immature to produce reliable information for the public." Vincent Berthier, head of RSF's technology and journalism desk, said that "AIs are probability machines, and facts can't be decided by a roll of the dice." He called the automated production of false information "a danger to the public's right to reliable information." This isn't an isolated incident, either. The New York Times reportedly experienced a similar issue when Apple Intelligence incorrectly summarized an article about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, creating a notification claiming he had been arrested when the original article discussed an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court. Apple's AI feature aims to reduce notification overload by condensing alerts into brief summaries, and is currently available on iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 16 models, and select iPads and Macs running the latest operating system versions. The summarization feature is enabled by default, but users can manually disable it through their device settings. iOS Notification Summaries Lost in Translation? How to Turn Them Off Apple has not yet commented on the controversy or indicated whether it plans to modify or remove the feature. (Via BBC News.)Tag: Apple IntelligenceThis article, "" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums11:15 amIn 2025, even Pro users will want Apple’s cheapest devices
Macworld The musician Stephin Merritt once joked that he would be happy to sell only a single copy of each album he makes, provided that single copy costs $100,000. Which coincidentally is pretty close to Apple’s marketing strategy for Vision Pro. I jest, of course: you can’t run a multi-trillion-dollar corporation that way. Apple loves its margins, but it needs volume too if it wants to keep paying out those juicy shareholder dividends. And as much as Tim Cook would like every product sold to be marked with the surnames Pro, Max, or Pro Max—and as hard as the company works to upsell at every possible opportunity—the cheaper devices further down the range are just as important to Apple’s overall success. The Apple Watch SE hasn’t gotten much of an update since 2020.Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry It’s odd, then, that this year has been such a disappointment for so many of Apple’s budget products. The current versions of the iPhone SE, Apple Watch SE, and baseline iPad all came out in 2022, but they received no more love in 2024 than they did in 2023. The 10th-gen iPad remains oddly appealing, thanks to a timely price cut and the generally lower importance of state-of-the-art specs in the tablet space. But the two SE devices are looking their age. They need an update, and soon. On which front, there’s good news and bad news. Here in Europe, the 3rd-gen iPhone SE is set to vanish from sale at the start of 2025… not because it isn’t good enough, but because Apple neglected to launch a version with USB-C despite having two years to prepare for incoming regulations. The iPhone 14 and 14 Plus are getting the chop too, which will leave Apple without any kind of remotely budget-focused smartphone in a major market. Presumably this will help motivate the company to launch the 4th-gen iPhone SE in a timely fashion, probably in March or April 2025. An overdue upgrade for Apple’s SE products We’ve had to wait a long time for it to arrive, but the next iPhone SE does sound like an intriguing proposition. It’s all change on the design front, for example. At long last the SE is going to ditch the Home button (angry emails to the usual address) and catch up with the design trends of… well, 2017. But that’s still an improvement. In terms of componentry we can look forward to a powerful 48MP camera and Apple’s in-house 5G modem, which should mean improved battery life. And there will reportedly be an A18 processor inside that modern chassis, same as in the iPhone 16, plus 8GB of RAM. These upgrades are necessary to make the SE compatible with Apple Intelligence, with vastly improved all-round performance a happy side effect. And it all adds up to an iPhone SE that’s actually special. The iPhone SE is reportedly getting an iPhone 15 glow-up next spring.Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry The Apple Watch SE is less likely to get a major revamp in 2025, but it will surely get an upgrade of some sort. This may well involve a new material; Apple is understood to be working on a switch from aluminum to brightly colored plastic in order to lower costs and appeal to younger customers. It will also get a processor upgrade; not something that one would normally view as a priority for a budget smartwatch, but worthwhile when the silicon in question is functionally identical to the S6 chip from 2020. A performance bump is overdue. And as for the standard iPad, 2025 should see the long-awaited launch of the 11th-gen model. As explained above this is less urgent than the sorely needed refreshes to the two SE devices, but could we dream of finally getting a laminated screen on the entry-level iPad? Obviously Cupertino will be keen to add support for Apple Intelligence, too, which means substantial spec upgrades. And a bump back up to $449? Let’s hope not, but you know, swings and roundabouts. What about the cheaper Macs? On the other side of Apple’s portfolio, 2024 was a more productive year for the baseline models. The MacBook Air (which can be taken seriously as a budget product only if you keep an eye firmly trained on the MacBook Pro’s eyewatering price list) saw a handy upgrade to the M3 chipset that we felt improved on greatness; while the Mac mini received a fabulous redesign that meant it finally lived up to its name. Both are worthy of a hearty recommendation. But there’s more to come next year. The Air will be updated again in the first half of next year (probably some time between January and March) to get the M4 chip and a new Center Stage camera. The latter should solve one of the machine’s few weaknesses: that 1080p FaceTime camera. The Mac mini will join the M4 gang too, although later in the year. An October announcement sounds about right. The trend towards cheap We spent a couple of years complaining about Apple’s upsell strategy, whereby it would deliberately leave features out of entry-level products, sometimes going so far as to equip them with the previous year’s processors, in order to push customers towards the Pro models. This was annoying, we felt, not to mention ill-suited strategically to a time of stagnant wages and a high cost of living. But now we’re starting to notice a change: the company’s cheaper products have started to look like excellent choices once again. If this trend started in 2024, it will spread its wings in 2025. The two SE updates are long overdue and should bring good-quality phones and watches within the reach of customers on a budget. And I’m looking forward to seeing what Apple does with the 11th-gen iPad; if the price is too high then we can still buy the 10th-gen model, which might even get another price cut to celebrate. As for the M4 Mac mini… who needs a Mac Studio when the budget model is that powerful? As I explained when discussing the new iPad mini—perhaps not quite a budget product, but good value for what it offers—the tech industry and tech buyers in turn, are sometimes guilty of neglecting products that compromise. But compromise is important. That doesn’t mean accepting devices that don’t do what you need. But it means refusing to pay for anything more. It’s taken Apple a while to remember that there are people out there who don’t have a small fortune to throw at consumer tech, but I’m glad we’ve got there in the end. And I’m pleased to report that 2025 already looks like a bumper year for Apple’s budget lines.11:02 amEnd of 2024 what can UIkit still do that SwiftUI simply can’t
Im not talking about things UIkit does easier or better but rather strictly something that is impossible in SwiftUI as we finish out 2024. submitted by /u/Dear-Potential-3477 [link] [comments]11:02 amSharing a tool for XCStrings i18n translation for everyone to use!
I recently built a web app – XCString Translator, which allows AI to help you bulk-translate to different languages. This has greatly simplified my localization workload. It’s currently available for free, with no API key required, no ads, and no mandatory charges. The only request is that if you find it useful, please give my […]10:59 amSignDict: ASL & JSL Dictionary
🎉 SignDict is here! 🎉 🖐️ SignDict – The First Japanese (JSL) and American Sign Language Dictionary App! 📚 Learn JSL & ASL – anywhere with 20,000+ signs languages! ✨ Offline Supports – Learn anywhere, no internet needed 🔒 Privacy-first (no account or data collection). 🌏 Perfect for Trips – Study or practice sign language […]10:39 amReport: Apple in Talks with Tencent, ByteDance for Chinese iPhone AI
Apple is reportedly negotiating with China's ByteDance and Tencent to bring their artificial intelligence models to iPhones sold in China, as the company adapts its AI strategy for the Chinese market. Apple began integrating OpenAI's ChatGPT into its devices globally earlier this month with the release of iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2, but ChatGPT is not accessible in China due to regulatory restrictions. Chinese law requires government approval before companies can release generative AI services to the public. Both ByteDance and Tencent have developed their own AI models - Doubao and Hunyuan respectively - which could potentially be integrated into Chinese iPhones if the talks prove successful. However, negotiations are said to be still in early stages, according to sources cited by Reuters. Apple is reported to have previously held talks with Baidu about similar AI integration. Any partnership could be particularly significant as Apple faces increasing competition in China's smartphone market. The company briefly dropped out of China's top five smartphone vendors in the second quarter of 2023 before recovering in the third quarter, though its sales still declined 0.3% year-over-year. iOS 18.2: Everything You Can Do With ChatGPT Integration Meanwhile, Huawei has gained momentum in the Chinese market, with sales surging 42% in the third quarter. The company's recent Mate 70 series features AI capabilities powered by its own home-grown large language model.Tag: ChinaThis article, "" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums10:23 amThe Apple Watch Ultra 2 is $64 Off
Amazon has the Apple Watch Ultra 2 on sale at 8% off. It’s a versatile watch for athletes of any sport. Runners can do custom workouts and gain access to advanced metrics as well as track detection. Swimmers can utilize stroke detection, lap counts, and check the water temperature. Since it’s water resistant, the smartwatch […] The post appeared first on iLounge.10:22 amNew feature for Find My app released with iOS 18.2
Apple has released the iPadOS 18.2, macOS Sequoia 15.2, and iOS 18. A new Find My app feature has been added, which lets users disclose a lost item’s whereabouts to a trusted person. The feature was made to help you locate your belongings with the help of a third party, like customer service employees from […] The post appeared first on iLounge.10:21 amSubscribers notified of YouTube TV price increase
Emails were distributed to subscribers of YouTube TV about an increase in the price of their subscription, which will be put into effect next year. The base plan will go up from $72.99 to $82.99 monthly to keep up with the increasing costs of their content along with investments in terms of the quality of […] The post appeared first on iLounge.10:20 amApple's $1 Billion Investment May Soon End Indonesian iPhone Ban
Apple is close to reaching an agreement with Indonesia to lift the ban on iPhone 16 sales in the country after securing preliminary approval for a $1 billion investment proposal, according to Bloomberg. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto is said to have given his support for the government to accept Apple's investment plan following a weekend briefing. The proposal includes establishing manufacturing facilities in the country, with one of Apple's suppliers set to build an AirTag production plant on Batam island. The Batam facility is expected to initially employ 1,000 workers and will eventually account for 20% of global AirTag production. The location was chosen for its free-trade zone status, which provides tax exemptions and import duty benefits. Additional investments will fund a separate manufacturing facility in Bandung for producing other accessories, as well as expanding Apple's existing developer academies in Indonesia. President Prabowo has directed his Economic Affairs Ministry to finalize the agreement, but no specific timeline has been provided for lifting the iPhone 16 sales ban. The ban was implemented in October after Indonesian authorities determined Apple had failed to meet the country's requirement for 40% domestic content in smartphones. Apple's latest proposal represents a significant increase from its previous offers of $10 million and $100 million, which were rejected by the government. If approved, the deal would mark a success for President Prabowo's efforts to attract foreign investment while demonstrating the effectiveness of Indonesia's strategy to pressure international companies into developing products locally. The country remains a significant market for Apple, with over half of its 278 million residents under the age of 44.Tag: IndonesiaThis article, "" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums10:18 amHomePod mini and Apple TV releasing next year
The HomePod mini and Apple TV may be launching next year, being part of Apple’s big push into reinvigorating their offers for smart home products. The new Apple TV and HomePod mini are reported to have a new Apple-made Wi-Fi supporting Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth chip with no exact date yet for the release. This […] The post appeared first on iLounge.10:15 amThree U.S. agencies begin investigations into TP-Link, cite security concerns
One of the most popular home internet router brands in the U.S. could be banned from sale in the country following fears that the routers could present a threat to national security. According to the Wall Street Journal, three separate U.S. agencies have opened investigations into TP-Link routers. The routers, which account for 65 percent […] Source10:00 amApple abandons plan to implement iPhone hardware subscription service
Apple has apparently backed away from a plan to launch a hardware subscription service that would allow customers to “subscribe” to receive a new iPhone handset every year. Per Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, rumors as to a hardware subscription service began back in 2022. Gurman stated that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would […] Source09:29 amApple Warns of Privacy Risks in EU's DMA Interoperability Requirements
Apple has released a report highlighting its concerns about how some companies could "weaponize" the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) interoperability requirements to access sensitive user data. The report came on the same day that the European Commission began consulting on the proposed measures for requesting interoperability with Apple's iOS and iPadOS operating systems. The DMA, which came into force this year, requires major platform holders like Apple to provide third-party developers equal access to iOS and iPadOS system tools and features. One of the Commission's proceedings focuses on the process Apple has set up to address interoperability requests submitted by developers and third parties for iOS and iPadOS. While Apple says it is fully committed to complying with the interoperability regulations, which aim to create fair competition, it is worried about unintended consequences resulting from the law's interpretation that could have a negative impact on user privacy. Apple's report specifically calls out Meta, which has made 15 separate requests "and counting" for access to Apple's technology stack. According to Apple, Meta's requests have included access to features like messaging capabilities, AirPlay, CarPlay, and the App Intents framework. If granted as requested, Apple warns that these permissions would potentially allow Meta's apps to access a range of user data spanning messages, phone calls, photos, app usage, and passwords on their devices. "In many cases, Meta is seeking to alter functionality in a way [...] that appears to be completely unrelated to the actual use of Meta external devices, such as Meta smart glasses and Meta Quests," says Apple. The report continues: "If Apple were to have to grant all of these requests, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp could enable Meta to read on a user's device all of their messages and emails, see every phone call they make or receive, track every app that they use, scan all of their photos, look at their files and calendar events, log all of their passwords, and more. This is data that Apple itself has chosen not to access in order to provide the strongest possible protection to users."Apple in the report is keen to emphasize its longtime support for developer access to device features through more than 250,000 APIs, but always with built-in privacy protections. The company points to historical examples like TouchID implementation and microphone access, where developers can take advantage of these features while maintaining privacy and control safeguards. The report expresses particular concern about companies with previous privacy violations potentially circumventing GDPR protections through DMA requirements. Apple notes that while it processes data on-device whenever possible, other companies might use that information for their own gain. "Third parties may not have the same commitment to keeping the user in control on their device as Apple, and may prefer to move user information to their servers—where they can combine, profile, and monetize an individual's private data," Apple warns. Apple's publication underlines its commitment to reviewing and implementing interoperability requests as per the DMA when feasible, but the company argues that solutions must preserve platform integrity and protect sensitive user data. As a way to achieve this, Apple outlines its four-step process for handling interoperability requests that includes initial assessment, project planning, development, and release phases. "We will never abandon our bedrock commitment to our users' privacy and security," adds Apple. "We trust that the EC will seek to implement the interoperability requirements in a manner that respects the GDPR." Meta yesterday responded to Apple's criticisms, claiming that "Every time Apple is called out for its anti-competitive behavior, they defend themselves on privacy grounds that have no basis in reality." However, Meta itself has previously come under criticism for privacy violations several times. Just this week, the UK's Ofcom said it was opening an investigation into Meta's Instagram for "turning a blind eye to ads for child sex abuse," while a new report by MLex said that more than half of UK scams involve Meta platforms. Meta has also been fined €251 million ($265 million) by Ireland's Data Protection Commission for a 2018 Facebook breach affecting three million accounts in Europe, exposing names, contact details, locations, and children's data. Meta is expected to appeal the decision. The Commission's interoperability proceedings began in September 2024 and are set to conclude within six months of opening.Tags: European Commission, European Union, MetaThis article, "" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums09:18 am¿Can you make IPAs easilly?
Okay, I'm not a very inteligent Man i can learn lua if you want i just wanted to make iOS apps Is there any tool to help me make like an app or a game for iOS easily? submitted by /u/Medium_Still_6906 [link] [comments]09:00 amApple Released the Original AirPods Eight Years Ago Today
Today marks eight years since Apple launched the original AirPods. Unveiled in September 2016 alongside the iPhone 7, the wireless headphones became available on December 19, 2016, following a slight delay. At the time, wireless headphones were already on the market but had not yet reached true mass popularity. AirPods helped redefine the category through their convenience and seamless integration with Apple devices. Apple's Phil Schiller at the time:AirPods are the first headphones to deliver a breakthrough wireless audio experience, and with the new Apple W1 chip they deliver innovative features including high quality sound, great battery life and automatic setup. AirPods are simple and magical to use, with no switches or buttons, automatically connecting to all your Apple devices simply and seamlessly, and letting you access Siri with just a double tap. We can't wait for users to try them with iPhone 7 and Apple Watch Series 2. Priced at $159, the first-generation AirPods introduced key features such as one-tap pairing with Apple devices and in-ear detection for automatic play-pause functionality. Powered by Apple's custom W1 chip, they delivered enhanced audio quality compared to wired EarPods and set a new standard for battery life in a compact, completely wireless design. Since their debut, AirPods have evolved with the release of second-, third-, and fourth-generation models in March 2019, October 2021, and September 2024. These updates brought improvements such as better audio quality, longer battery life, hands-free "Hey Siri" functionality, a wireless charging case, and, most recently, active noise cancellation. The product line has also expanded with the premium AirPods Pro, featuring an in-ear design and active noise cancellation, in October 2019, and the over-ear AirPods Max in December 2020.Related Roundup: AirPods 4Buyer's Guide: AirPods (Buy Now)Related Forum: AirPodsThis article, "" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums08:00 amThe last-minute gift that lets someone on your shopping list own their Microsoft apps for life | MacworldThe last-minute gift that lets someone on your shopping list own their Microsoft apps for life
Macworld Unfortunately, we rent many facets of our daily lives. That includes homes or apartments, Netflix, DoorDash, and the same goes for your productivity apps. Something you can do to ease the subscription load—or someone else’s—is to own your daily tools outright, which is usually more affordable in the long run. ‘Tis the season to own the entire suite of Microsoft Office apps for less than $40. And no, we’re not pulling your leg. Lifetime access to Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac is price-dropped to $39.99 (reg. $229), which is over $30 less than a yearly subscription to Microsoft 365. It could be the perfect last-minute gift for a student or coworker. While this isn’t the latest version of Microsoft Office, the 2019 version might be more compatible with an older or refurbished Mac. Users will gain lifelong access to the following apps: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, and Teams Classic. Create stunning slide decks with PowerPoint to impress an incoming client for your marketing firm, or jump into Excel to crunch numbers for your project manager. If you’re working remotely, use Teams to organize workloads with your colleagues more seamlessly. No one likes running into obstacles, so make sure you or your giftee’s Mac has had its OS updated to at least Monterey Version 12 or newer. All updates are also included with this license. December 2022 at 11:59 PM Pacific is the deadline to grab this practical last-minute present. Act now to get this lifetime license for Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac for just $39.99. Microsoft Office Home & Business 2019 for Mac Only $39.99 at Macworld StackSocial prices subject to change.08:00 amMacworld Podcast: What’s in store for Apple in 2025
Macworld With 2024 closing, it’s time to look forward to 2025. What could we see from Apple in the new year? That’s coming up in this episode of the Macworld Podcast! This is episode 914 with Jason Cross, Michael Simon, and Roman Loyola. Watch episode 914 on YouTube Listen to episode 914 on Apple Podcasts07:25 amIssues creating/modifying Worker Routes on Dashboard
Dec 19, 07:24 UTCInvestigating - Cloudflare is investigating an issue where users may experience issues creating new Worker Routes or modifying Worker Routes from the Dashboard.We are working to analyse and mitigate this problem. More updates to follow shortly.06:28 amService Issue – Block Storage – US-ORD (Chicago)
Dec 19, 06:28 UTCResolved - Between 06:28 UTC on December 19, 2024, and 12:45 UTC on December 20, 2024, customers in the ORD-2 region may have experienced Block Storage volume attachment failures, with existing volumes on the faulty cluster causing affected Linodes to fail when booted. The issues affecting the Block Storage service have since been resolved, and we are actively monitoring to ensure continued stability. If you continue to experience any problems, please open a Support ticket for assistance.05:51 amI built “Apple Fitness Wrapped” – A yearly recap app for your workouts!
Screenshots of the Apple Fitness Wrapped app As someone who’s been prioritizing my physical wellbeing this past year, I’ve always loved how music apps like Spotify Wrapped give us an overview of our listening habits. It got me thinking: what if Apple Fitness had its own “Wrapped” for workouts? So, I spent the last two […]05:29 amHow to apply Quartz filters in macOS when saving images in Preview
Core Graphics provides default image filters for quick special effects. Here's how to save image files in Preview for macOS with effects.Use Quartz image filters in macOS's Preview app to apply special effects to images.Apple's Core Graphics (Quartz) 2D imaging subsystem provides a high-performance, consistent API for creating, saving, and manipulating graphics. It's also responsible for drawing most text on Apple platforms (Core Text).Text can be drawn by Quartz using subpixel precision, and anti-aliasing (smoothing) even if a particular display can't show the text at full computed resolution. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums05:26 amHow to improve the features of my app design?
App I am designing is to connect people needings home tasks completed with skilled workers/tradies. It's inspired by apps like AirTasker but with features I reckon will be an improvement. Some Features: Urgent 1-hour tasks to be completed quicker Proof of task completion by tasker A Tiered commission rate, for fair opportunities to taskers https://preview.redd.it/rdoxyysiqq7e1.png?width=377&format=png&auto=webp&s=40fb64721b8085a7baf0e4007c3658b2aff45585 […]05:08 amShould I submit my app for approval now or wait?
I’m a first time developer and my app is almost ready to be launched (probably about 2-3wk from being completely done, potentially sooner) I have 2 hopefully fairly simple questions: 1) How long can I expect it to take between the time I submit my app for review and when it’s fully ready to be […]04:23 amHelp with picking API
I am building an app to track stock and mutual fund investments. While I am extremely comfortable writing code for self contained apps I do not have experience calling APIs etc. I looked at multiple available options in RapidAPI but I am unable to determine which of the APIs will be stable and available for […]03:08 amSMS Delivery Delay To Tat Telecom & Mir Telecom Network In Russia
Dec 18, 19:08 PSTInvestigating - We are experiencing SMS delivery delays when sending messages to Tat Telecom & Mir Telecom Network in Russia. 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.02:51 amWhat is this (red) called in Swift? Something widget? Apple watch
submitted by /u/post_hazanko [link] [comments]12:44 amApple says EU interoperability laws pose severe privacy risks
Apple has published a white paper that backs the European Union's policy of interoperability between rival technology firms, but says the law is open to risky interpretation.EU asks Apple to open up iPhone to competitorsIn a similar move to its March 2024 raising of security concerns about the Digital Markets Act, Apple has published a white paper about the EU's interoperability laws. Interoperability is the requirement that Apple share its technology with rivals, so that they can provide users with features such as recording audio through an iPhone's microphone.It follows the EU's publication of a document asking Apple to change its proprietary technology to be accessible by competitors. Apple's white paper, called "It's getting personal", argues that "abuse of the DMA's interoperability mandate could expose your private information." Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums12:22 amUnited States SMS Carrier Partner Maintenance
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Dec 18, 21:00 PST - Dec 19, 02:00 PSTDec 18, 16:21 PSTScheduled - Our SMS carrier partner in the United States is conducting an emergency maintenance from 18 December 2024 at 21:00 PST until 19 December 2024 at 02:00 PST. During the maintenance window, there could be intermittent delays delivering SMS to and from United States handsets.We are aware of the short notice and are working with our Carrier Partners to provide earlier notification where possible.12:13 amMeta seeking unfettered access to iPhone user data via EU DMA interoperability requests | AppleInsiderMeta seeking unfettered access to iPhone user data via EU DMA interoperability requests
On its face, the EU DMA is meant to stop monopolies from abusing their market position, but Meta appears to be abusing this legislation in an attempt to gather unprecedented access to iPhone user data.Meta trying to use the EU DMA to gain access to iPhone user dataMeta, Facebook's parent company, has reportedly filed 15 interoperability requests through the European Union's Digital Market Act (DMA). These requests are meant to provide competitors access to technologies to give them an equal footing, but it seems Meta is going a step further.According to a report from Reuters, Apple has shared a statement suggesting Meta is abusing the DMA's interoperability request system. Meta has filed more requests than any other company, seeking deep access to Apple's proprietary systems. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums12:06 amEU wants Apple to ensure ‘effective interoperability’ of iOS with other platforms
Apple this year was forced to drastically change how iOS works in the EU due to the Digital Markets Act (DMA) antitrust law, which establishes a series of rules to prevent big techs from engaging in anti-competitive practices. However, it seems that the EU wants even more from Apple, as the European Commission is now demanding that the company ensure the “effective interoperability” of iOS with other platforms. more…12:00 amHow we think about Threads’ iOS performance
submitted by /u/dayanruben [link] [comments]Wednesday December 1811:57 pmApple Says Meta is Making Unreasonable Interoperability Requests Under Europe's DMA Requirements | MacRumorsApple Says Meta is Making Unreasonable Interoperability Requests Under Europe's DMA Requirements
Apple today said that Meta has made 15 interoperability requests under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in the European Union, which is more than any other country. In a statement provided to Reuters, Apple said that Meta is asking for changes that could compromise user security and privacy. In many cases, Meta is seeking to alter functionality in a way that raises concerns about the privacy and security of users, and that appears to be completely unrelated to the actual use of Meta external devices, such as Meta smart glasses and Meta Quest. If Apple were to have to grant all of these requests, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp could enable Meta to read on a user's device all of their messages and emails, see every phone call they make or receive, track every app that they use, scan all of their photos, look at their files and calendar events, log all of their passwords, and more. Under the terms of the DMA, which affects iOS and iPadOS, Apple is required to allow app developers to submit interoperability requests for hardware and software. Apple assesses all requests to determine whether they fall into the appropriate article of the DMA, and if so, Apple will design a solution for effective interoperability. Apple warns that the integrity of iOS and iPadOS are "important considerations" and that it may not be feasible for the company to design an effective interoperability solution. Apple's complaint about Meta comes as the European Union has shared preliminary findings on proposed measures that Apple should implement for improved interoperability. The European Commission says that Apple needs to give developers a better overview of the iOS components that provide functionalities reserved to Apple, plus Apple is required to design a better process that makes it easier to submit interoperability requests. Apple must also adhere to stricter timelines and avoid delays providing feedback on requested features. The European Commission is now consulting interested third parties on whether its preliminary findings are sufficient to make Apple's request-based process effective. The EC says that the measures could be adjusted based on feedback from Apple and from third parties. This article, "" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums11:52 pmUnited States Account Security Carrier Partner Maintenance – Verizon Wireless
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Dec 18, 18:00 - 22:00 PSTDec 18, 15:43 PSTScheduled - Our carrier partner Verizon Wireless United States is conducting a planned maintenance from 18 December 2024 at 18:00 PST until 18 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.11:48 pmXCode 15 on OpenCore Intel Macs
Do we have any data points on how well this works? I want to make some native apps outside of work but I've only ever had a work Mac because I hate the price point, irreparability, Apple's toddler business practices, and the OS itself. Instead of blowing a bunch of money on a computer I […]11:45 pmProxy API Causing 5XX Errors Across Various Programmable Voice Resources
Dec 18, 15:45 PSTResolved - Twilio Proxy API was degraded for 30 minutes between 10:51 pm – 11:21 pm Pacific Time on 12/13/2024. During this period of time customers may have experienced 5XX Response Codes across various Programmable Voice resources. The issue has now been resolved.11:45 pmLaunch with incomplete app, and thinking of resetting app ratings in App Store, what are best practices? | Reddit on iOS ProgrammingLaunch with incomplete app, and thinking of resetting app ratings in App Store, what are best practices?
I have been working on rather robust nutrition app with detailed functionalities, but I think the UIUX is somewhat complicated. So I am expecting some bad ratings initially, when things are being ironed out. I NEED TO LAUNCH to make some cash for myself badly, and I am planning to launch with 0.9.5 so that […]11:42 pmYou can now call ChatGPT using your phone line when cellular data is not available
OpenAI has been announcing a lot of new features and enhancements for ChatGPT in recent days, and the company still has a few more cards up its sleeve. Now OpenAI is introducing an intriguing feature: the ability to call ChatGPT using your phone line without the need for cellular data. more…11:19 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…11:08 pmMy TestFlight in-app purchases aren’t localised, is this normal?
A user reported to me that they’re seeing $9.99 for the in-app purchase price even when their region is in the UK… is this normal? I haven’t launched the app yet, but I did set up pricing per country already Can’t see anything online about this :/ surely there’s nothing I can do in Xcode […]11:03 pmYou Can Now Call 1-800-ChatGPT Using a Phone Line to Get AI Answers
OpenAI today announced support for a new phone-based ChatGPT experience, which can be accessed by calling or texting 1-800-ChatGPT (1-800-242-8478). The feature was introduced as part of OpenAI's ongoing 12 days of OpenAI event. The 1-800-ChatGPT phone number is designed for situations where a data connection is unavailable, but a cellular connection works. With the feature, ChatGPT can provide answers to questions over the phone with voice-based responses, and even landlines are supported. Texting ChatGPT can be done through WhatsApp using the same number. Any U.S. phone number can contact ChatGPT and get 15 minutes of response time for free without an OpenAI account, but downloading the app and creating an account allows for additional call time. OpenAI says that the dedicated phone number is an experimental way to talk to ChatGPT, so availability and limits could change in the future.Tags: ChatGPT, OpenAIThis article, "" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums11:02 pmEmergency Network Maintenance – US-IAD (Washington)
THIS IS A SCHEDULED EVENT Dec 20, 08:00 - 10:00 UTCDec 18, 22:57 UTCScheduled - We will be performing an emergency network maintenance in our Washington, DC data center between Friday, December 20th 8:00 UTC and 10:00 UTC. During this time there will be intermittent network connectivity disruptions.11:00 pmApple Reportedly Won't Launch an iPhone Subscription Service
According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple is no longer developing a hardware subscription service for iPhones that would let subscribers upgrade devices every year. Gurman first reported Apple's work on the service in 2022, noting it was delayed due to "software bugs and regulatory concerns." The Verge reports: While the hardware subscription service apparently won't see the light of day, Apple offers installment plans you can use to pay for an iPhone over time. The iPhone Upgrade Program spreads the payments of a loan for a new iPhone (and AppleCare Plus) over 24 months, and you can upgrade to a new phone after you pay the equivalent of 12 months. If you have an Apple Card, you can also pay for a new iPhone (and other Apple products) using Apple Card Monthly Installments. Read more of this story at Slashdot.Firehose II – Jobs, Deals, Apps
- Thursday December 26
- 03:53 pmOperations Associate – *Apple* Blossom Mall – JCPenney (United States)
Operations Associate - Apple Blossom Mall Location:Winchester, VA, United States (https://jobs.jcp.com/jobs/location/191170/winchester-va-united-states) - Apple03:53 pmBrand Manager – *Apple* Roofing – Apple Roofing (United States)
Position Overview: Apple Roofing is seeking a dynamic and experienced Brand Manager to oversee and drive the company's marketing tactics and strategy. This03:29 pmPharmacy 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 week03:29 pmCommercial Account Manager – Apple Roofing (United States)
…in the greater Kansas City, MO area to service designated territory and clients. Apple Roofing is a leading name in the roofing industry, recognized for providing03:28 pmBi-lingual (Spanish) Level 1 *Apple* Support Specialist – CompuCom (United States) | Job Search EngineBi-lingual (Spanish) Level 1 *Apple* Support Specialist – CompuCom (United States)
…right people. Our client is currently seeking a qualified Bi-lingual (Spanish) Level 1 Apple Support Specialist to join their team. This role can be hybrid / remote03:28 pmPharmacist (Retail) – *Apple* Hill – Part Time – Day/Evening – WellSpan Health (United States) | Job Search EnginePharmacist (Retail) – *Apple* Hill – Part Time – Day/Evening – WellSpan Health (United States)
Pharmacist (Retail) - Apple Hill - Part Time - Day/Evening Location: WellSpan Health, York, PA Schedule: Part Time Schedule: Part-time 20-hours per week Day/Evening03:28 pm*Apple* Tier 2 Operations Support Specialist – AIG (United States)
Apple Tier 2 Operations Support Specialist Status: Full-Time Location Jeffersonville, In Who we are American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is a leading global03:28 pmField Services Desktop Support Technician (Microsoft and *Apple* ) – CTG (United States) | Job Search EngineField Services Desktop Support Technician (Microsoft and *Apple* ) – CTG (United States)
…to provide onsite technical assistance and support for our Microsoft OS and Apple iOS environments. The ideal candidate will have hands-on experience with mobile03:28 pmHousekeeper, *Apple* Valley Village – Cassia (United States)
Apple Valley Village Health Care Center, a senior care campus, is hiring a Full-Time Housekeeper to join our team! We will train you for this position! In this role,03:27 pmChannel Sales Manager – *Apple* Retail – DISH Network (United States)
…large. **Job Duties and Responsibilities** Boost Mobile recently launched sales capabilities through Apple Stores and on apple .com. We are seeking a highly03:27 pmSeasonal Cashier – *Apple* Blossom Mall – JCPenney (United States)
Seasonal Cashier - Apple Blossom Mall Location:Winchester, VA, United States (https://jobs.jcp.com/jobs/location/191170/winchester-va-united-states) - Apple03:27 pmSeasonal Fine Jewelry Commission Associate – *Apple* Blossom Mall – JCPenney (United States) | Job Search EngineSeasonal Fine Jewelry Commission Associate – *Apple* Blossom Mall – JCPenney (United States)
…Fine Jewelry Commission Associate - Apple Blossom Mall Location:Winchester, VA, United States (https://jobs.jcp.com/jobs/location/191170/winchester-va-united-states)03:27 pm*Apple* Systems Engineer – Chenega Corporation (United States)
…LLC,** a **Chenega Professional Services** ' company, is looking for a ** Apple Systems Engineer** to support the Information Technology Operations and Maintenance03:27 pmOmnichannel Associate – *Apple* Blossom Mall – JCPenney (United States)
Omnichannel Associate - Apple Blossom Mall Location:Winchester, VA, United States (https://jobs.jcp.com/jobs/location/191170/winchester-va-united-states) - Apple03:27 pmBeauty Consultant – *Apple* Blossom Mall – JCPenney (United States)
Beauty Consultant - Apple Blossom Mall Location:Winchester, VA, United States (https://jobs.jcp.com/jobs/location/191170/winchester-va-united-states) - Apple03:26 pmHair Stylist – *Apple* Blossom Mall – JCPenney (United States)
Hair Stylist - Apple Blossom Mall Location:Winchester, VA, United States (https://jobs.jcp.com/jobs/location/191170/winchester-va-united-states) - Apple Blossom03:26 pmCashier – *Apple* Blossom Mall – JCPenney (United States)
Cashier - Apple Blossom Mall Location:Winchester, VA, United States (https://jobs.jcp.com/jobs/location/191170/winchester-va-united-states) - Apple Blossom Mall03:26 pmSeasonal Operations Associate – *Apple* Blossom Mall – JCPenney (United States)
Seasonal Operations Associate - Apple Blossom Mall Location:Winchester, VA, United States (https://jobs.jcp.com/jobs/location/191170/winchester-va-united-states) -03:26 pm*Apple* Certified – Repair Technician – Aerotek (United States)
**Job Title: Apple Certified - Repair Technician** **Pay:** **$25.00-$28.00** /hr **Shift:** First shift, Monday-Friday, 8am-4:30pm **Description** We are looking03:26 pm*Apple* Products Technician – Aerotek (United States)
…**Shift:** 8:00am - 4:30pm (M-F) **Job Description** We are seeking an Apple /MAC/OS Certified Repair Technician to join our team. This role involves imaging03:25 pmOperations Associate – *Apple* Blossom Mall – JCPenney (United States)
Operations Associate - Apple Blossom Mall Location:Winchester, VA, United States (https://jobs.jcp.com/jobs/location/191170/winchester-va-united-states) - Apple03:25 pm