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- Monday November 04
- 07:18 pmMagSafe Monday: ESR 3-in-1 MagSafe charging station review:
I recently had the chance to test out the with CryoBoost, and after using it for several weeks, I can confidently say it’s one of the better MagSafe charging stations I’ve tried—especially for those fully invested in the Apple world. more…07:00 pmvisionOS 2.2 adds new Wide and Ultrawide settings for Mac Virtual Display, more
Apple released the first beta of visionOS 2.2 for developers today. The update comes with an exciting change for Apple Vision Pro users: new “Wide” and “Ultrawide” settings when using Mac Virtual Display. more…06:51 pmiOS 18.2 beta adds ‘Upgrade to ChatGPT Plus’ option to the Settings app
Apple has just released beta 2 for iOS 18.2, and one of the changes has to do with ChatGPT. The update brings powerful ChatGPT integration to Siri and AI writing tools. And new in today’s beta is the option inside Settings to upgrade to a ChatGPT Plus account. more…06:32 pmApple Intelligence feature testing continues in a fresh beta round
Apple is now on its second round of developer betas for iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2, alongside the first rounds of tvOS 18.2, watchOS 11.2, and visionOS 2.2.Examples of Apple Intelligence at work. The new round of developer betas follows after the first, which for iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2, landed on October 23. This is the first beta release for this generation for tvOS 18.2, watchOS 11.2, and visionOS 2.2.The second builds of iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2 share build number 22C5125e, replacing 22C5109p. The second macOS Sequoia 15.2 build is 24C5073e, up from 24C5057p. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums06:27 pmApple stock shrugs off Warren Buffett’s latest sale of Apple shares
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has continued to reduce its stake in Apple, leading to a slight dip in Apple's stock price in trading… The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.06:24 pm9to5Mac Overtime 032: Hey, you still have an SD card slot
Fernando and Jeff discuss the new Mac mini in depth, along with the iMac, and MacBook Pro. The pair also talks about the new worst buy in the Apple lineup as they compare the M4 Pro Mac mini to the Mac Studio and Mac Pro. 9to5Mac Overtime is a weekly video-first podcast exploring fun and interesting observations in the Apple ecosystem, featuring 9to5Mac’s Fernando Silva & Jeff Benjamin. Subscribe to Overtime via Apple Podcasts. You can also watch this episode on YouTube and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more. more…06:18 pmiOS 18.2 beta 2 now available for all iPhones of December launch
iOS 18.2 is set to be released to everyone in early December. Ahead of that, beta testing continues today with the release of iOS 18.2 beta 2 for developers. As a refresher, iOS 18.2 comes with new Apple Intelligence features like Image Playground, Genmoji, and ChatGPT integration. Notably, iOS 18.2 beta 1 was only available to iPhone models with support for Apple Intelligence. iOS 18.2 beta 2, however, is available to all iPhone models capable of running iOS 18. Apple Intelligence features, of course, are still limited to iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and all iPhone 16 models. more…06:16 pmvisionOS 2.2, tvOS 18.2, watchOS 11.2 beta 1 now available, here’s what to expect
Apple has released a trio of new betas today. Developer beta 1 is here for visionOS 2.2, tvOS 18.2, and watchOS 11.2. Here’s what to expect. more…06:16 pmmacOS Sequoia 15.2 beta 2 rolling out with latest in Apple Intelligence
Apple has released macOS Sequoia 15.2 beta 2 for developers. The new update includes forthcoming Apple Intelligence features that are set for a December public release. It also, notably, is available for all Macs that can run macOS Sequoia—beta 1 was only for M-series devices. more…05:54 pmBag up to 56% off Logitech keyboards, mice and more
If you need to upgrade your keyboard, mouse, iPad folio or gaming gear, check out these great Logitech deals at Woot! (via Cult of Mac - Apple news, rumors, reviews and how-tos)05:47 pmApple execs talk M4, new AirPods Pro features, more in new interviews
Today several videos have dropped where Apple’s executives sat for new interviews covering the variety of new features and hardware that launched last week. Topics include the M4 chip, Apple Intelligence, new AirPods Pro 2 features, and more. more…05:38 pmHow to use a VPN to get the best travel deals
If you're looking for the best deals for travel, you can unlock them with the best VPN for iPhone apps.Searching flights with a VPN can get your better deals.Many travel shoppers are unaware that booking sites like Expedia, airlines, hotels, and car rental agencies often use dynamic pricing. Dynamic pricing on these sites means that prices vary depending on your location, browsing history, and internet provider, but with your iPhone and a VPN you can appear to be located somewhere else.Using a VPN can unlock deals and perks that are unavailable otherwise. Here's how to get the best prices on travel purchases with a VPN. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums05:34 pmGoogle, Apple Drive 'Black Box' IP Policing with App Store Rules
App developers Musi and Sarafan Mobile have sued Apple and Google in California federal court over app removals they claim were unjustified, highlighting tensions over the tech giants' intellectual property enforcement policies. Musi's music-streaming app was removed after YouTube complained about interface infringement, while Sarafan's "Reely" app was taken down following Instagram's claims about logo similarity. Both developers say the platforms breached their agreements by removing apps without sufficient evidence. The lawsuits underscore broader concerns about Apple and Google's dominance in app distribution. Their private IP dispute systems operate outside traditional legal frameworks, with platforms making unilateral decisions that can effectively shut down businesses, according to University of New Hampshire law professor Peter Karol. [...] "In a court proceeding, you can see here's a complaint with the allegations, and then we have the defendant respond, and then we have a judge come out with an opinion saying, 'Is the mark valid? Is the mark infringed?'" said Lisa Ramsey, law professor at University of San Diego. Google and Apple's systems, meanwhile, are "a black box." Read more of this story at Slashdot.05:28 pmApple's 2024 M4 14-inch MacBook Pro is on sale for just $1,499
Apple's brand-new M4 MacBook Pro 14-inch is already on sale, with preorder discounts knocking triple digits off the new release in addition to savings on three years of AppleCare.Snap up Apple's new M4 MacBook Pro for just $1,499 - Image credit: AppleIn addition to getting the new M4 chip, buyers of the 2024 14-inch MacBook Pro get 16GB of unified memory with the standard configuration, double that of the 8GB found in the base M3 spec. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums05:23 pmApple will soon let you set Google Maps as default app in the EU
Apple continues to go back and forth with the EU about its regulatory compliance. And in a new document recently released by the company, it announced plans to enable setting default apps for navigation and translation soon. That means users will be able to finally make Google Maps default. more…05:15 pmApple’s upcoming M4 Ultra chip will be an absolute beast
Apple last week debuted its new M4 Pro and M4 Max chips in the MacBook Pro and Mac mini. Next year, the highest-end M4 Ultra chip… The post appeared first on MacDailyNews.05:14 pmThe M4 Ultra will reportedly get a massive core upgrade for Apple’s highest-end Macs
Macworld With the recent MacBook Pro release, Apple introduced the M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips, but there’s still one more chip in the series left: the M4 Ultra. A recent report gives us a little glimpse of what to expect from the top-of-the-line Mac chip. In his recent Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman makes a one-sentence mention that the Mac Pro will “probably” get a chip with a 32-core CPU and an 80-core GPU. Though he doesn’t specifically call it an M4 Ultra, the M4 series was just introduced, and past Ultra chips have double the CPU and GPU cores of the Max chip. The M4 Max in the MacBook Pro can be configured with a 16-core CPU and a 40-core GPU–double those specs, and you get numbers that match Gurman’s stated specs. Since we know the M4 Max specs, we can take this M4 Ultra extrapolation one step further beyond what Gurman has reported. The M4 Max starts at 48GB of RAM, so if an Ultra chip is basically two Max chips, the M4 Ultra could start at 96GB of RAM. For reference, the current Mac Pro has an M2 Ultra chip with 24 CPU cores and 60 GPU cores and starts with 64GB of RAM. Gurman also mentions that will bring “ray tracing to the Mac Pro,” and when you consider the optimizations and improvements Apple has made since the M2 Pro release, the M4 Ultra Mac Pro will be, as Gurman puts it, “one of the most powerful mainstream computer systems the market has ever seen.” Gurman has previously reported that the Mac Pro will not arrive until late 2025 or at the earliest, WWDC 2025 in June. There’s a chance we could see the M4 Ultra before that, though, since the high-end Mac Studio uses an Ultra chip, and Gurman has previously reported that the Mac Studio could ship in the spring of 2025 or at WWDC. Learn more about the upcoming M4 Mac Pro and M4 Mac Studio.04:51 pmIDrive review: an excellent app handling local and internet backups
Macworld At a glanceExpert's Rating Pros Fast online uploads and stable performance. Excellent for the price, especially where online storage is concerned. No device limit. Cons User interface could use additional elements to show how much time has passed and how much time is remaining for a given task. Strange permissions bug. Web app not as sleek as could be. Our Verdict An excellent suite of tools for local and internet backups, with a ton of online backup space for a good price. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Price When ReviewedBasic: Free; IDrive Mini: $2.95 (100GB) | $9.95 (500GB) a year; IDrive Personal: $69.65 (5TB) a year Best Prices Today: Retailer Price iDrive (Annually) $2.95 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket There’s something to be said for a good backup utility that handles both local and web/cloud-based backups. We’ve been running through the best cloud-based storage services for your Mac, and while many of them are ideal for sharing files or documents, some offer full backup solutions for Mac. IDrive stands on that line, offering not only the ability to recall a specific file, but also tools to continually backup your entire drive to the cloud while also letting you drag and drop files a la Google Drive. It’s a potent mix that makes for a great app, and while the web side of things could be slicker (see also, iCloud Drive), a staggering number of payment options for varying team sizes and the option of backing up Office 365 and Google Workspace data as well might just make this a perfect option for enterprises. The software offers a wide degree of support, and requires Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan or later to install and run. Price The subscription-based tier system offers a free Basic account with 10GB of online disk space for free with no credit or debit card required. That 10GB free tier allows for local backups and is pretty generous, but the real steal is the $2.95 per year IDrive Mini plan. That’s not a typo, either; for less than 3 bucks a year you can get access to 100GB of storage. That can be expanded to 500GB for $9.95 per year. That drastically undercuts even Google’s solid pricing options for Drive. The IDrive Personal account supports one user, multiple computers, and offers 5TB of online storage at $69.95 for the first year, and full details as to account offerings and pricing can be found on IDrive’s website. If you opt for the Personal plan you can use IDrive for multiple devices – there’s no limit per account. All of that combines for a very affordable service for backing up just about anything, and all of it is encrypted, too. First impressions You can open a specific Cloud drive from your Finder windows as with many rivals.Foundry Once you’ve downloaded and installed IDrive, created an account, and assigned permissions to your Mac’s hard drive and file locations, you’re set. The app immediately began backing up key files on my Mac, including my Documents and Pictures folders, and did so without needing any guidance – although you can get as granular as you need to. The option to create a local backup could be really handy if you’re not keen on Time Machine, and IDrive will let you restore files from your account, a local spot on your disk, or by ordering a drive from the company with your data on it – ideal as a last resort. Features It’s easy to set a backup schedule, so long as you have the Cloud space.Foundry Whether you’re using the free plan or paying for IDrive, there’s no getting around the fact that it’s an ideal Mac citizen. It sits nicely in the background, quietly going about its business, and offers a whole bunch of options within the menus which are easy to use. Users can drag and drop to a Finder window to share files with ease, and there’s an optimization option to slow things down if you’re asking more of your Mac. Backups can be scheduled, files can be excluded from them, and an Archive Cleanup tool maximizes your cloud storage by matching items 1:1 to delete that you don’t have on your Mac anymore, ensuring you’re not cluttering it up with old files. All in all, there’s just about every option available and it’s all easy to parse, with a single button to click to open a log of data. Where IDrive shines is in its reliability and scope of platform support. It’s simple to work with HFS+, APFS, FAT, NTFS, exFAT, and other file formats, and create cross-platform backups. As expected, it’s also easy to customize inclusion and exclusion lists and specify which files are backed up and which ones are left alone. The software is reliable, and even if its natural instinct is to grab all available bandwidth it can find from your internet connection and use this, it was able to get over 755 gigabytes up to a cloud server in about 14 hours during my initial test (the bandwidth can be readily customized as needed so you don’t cripple device connections around your home or office). Quick access to support videos can be found at www.idrive.com/videos, which can come in handy for new users. As is IDrive’s tradition, the company still offers its IDrive Express program, in which IDrive will send along a hard drive for you to borrow, whereupon you can back up the data, ship it back to the company via a prepaid box, and IDrive will place the data on their servers for you. This becomes that much more useful if dozens or hundreds of terabytes of data need to be backed up and there’s only so much available time or bandwidth to work with. Technical questions were answered quickly by IDrive’s staff, and features like the scheduler and local and online backups and the file restore functions went off without a hitch during testing. Problems There are a ton of options within IDrive to tailor it to your needs.Foundry It seems churlish to nitpick with such excellent value on offer, but I found the web app side of IDrive to be much slower than more dedicated file-sharing options like Google Drive, OneDrive, or iCloud Drive. A couple of times I had to refresh the page as it slowed to a crawl, and the design looks a little dated for my tastes – although that could be a more personal thing.I will admit, though, that the variety of sharing options (download limits, time limits, and optional password protection) are very welcome. While IDrive does a good job of conveying a task’s progress via a classic progress bar and counter for the number of items successfully copied, an elapsed time counter and/or estimated time remaining counter might help give the user a better idea of how long a task has taken and how much longer it might be in progress so they can better plan their next copy. Granted, this comes down to the company’s design aesthetic, and they might not want to overwhelm the user with information. Arguably more important top address is a strange bug I found during testing in which IDrive requests permission to access the full contents of your hard drive. This is to be expected on the macOS, and while it has you drag an application icon to the Privacy settings, this doesn’t seem to be immediately effective and the action had to be performed more than once. During my tests, this action eventually granted permission to my Documents and Desktop folders while initially denying this. The bug eventually sorted itself out, but this struck me as odd. Should you buy IDrive? Permissions bug aside, there’s an excellent suite of tools to be had with IDrive. The app handles both local and internet backups well, the IDrive Express program is a nice feature, and the simple fact is that IDrive provides a ton of online backup space for a good price. The customization is good, it’s easy to specify files to copy and those to ignore, and it’s hard to argue with the final result. That being said, IDrive is definitely worth your attention, and here’s hoping they keep this up in the years to come. IDrive stands shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Backblaze in the cloud backup space. While it’s perhaps not as conducive to quick file-sharing as Google Drive, it goes above and beyond with a multitude of options and subscription plans for ensuring your data stays where you can reach it.04:50 pmDeals: 16GB M3 MacBook Air now extra $100 off, black Ultra 2 hits Amazon low, M3 MacBook Pro $500 off, more | 9 to 5 MacDeals: 16GB M3 MacBook Air now extra $100 off, black Ultra 2 hits Amazon low, M3 MacBook Pro $500 off, more
Your Monday morning edition of the best deals join ongoing offers on the M4 MacBook Pro lineup, M4 iMac, and the new M4 Mac mini. Today we are highlighting the first price drop after Apple nixed the 8GB MacBook Air tier with the 16GB 15-inch M3 MacBook Air now seeing an additional $100 in savings (or $300 off the original price tag). That offer sits alongside an even lower price on the Apple Pencil Pro at $92 shipped as well as a new Amazon all-time low that is now waiting on the black Apple Watch Ultra 2 with the new black Trail Loop. All of that and more awaits below. more…04:50 pmApple Approved Another Illegal Streaming App
An anonymous reader shares a report: Another illegal streaming app has made its way to the App Store -- but it only surfaces pirated films for people in certain regions outside the US, including France, Canada, and the Netherlands. As shown in a post on Threads, the App Store listing for "Univer Note" presents itself as a productivity platform that can "easily help you record every day's events and plan your time." However, if you're a user in certain countries, like France or Canada, opening the app shows a collection of pirated movies, such as Venom: The Last Dance, Joker: Folie a Deux, and Terrifier 3. Read more of this story at Slashdot.