Every year I discover new Apple products and accessories that become integral to my day-to-day lifestyle. It’s been an eventful year for Apple technology, with the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, new MacBook Pro models with Touch Bar, and the Apple Watch Series 2, and with the new products come a variety of new offerings from other companies.
Update: Apple says all service interruptions have been resolved.
Apple this evening appears to be suffering from widespread downtime with its iTunes Store and App Store. According to a variety of posts on Twitter and tips from 9to5Mac readers, users are having trouble accessing the services and have been for a couple of hours now.
The popular Pokémon GO mobile game is today adding new Pokémon characters and an upcoming limited edition, holiday-themed Pikachu that players can find in the game.
Apple has held talks to invest in a Softbank technology ‘vision’ fund worth a total of $100 billion, according to Dow Jones (via CNBC). President-elect Donald Trump announced last week that Softbank will use about half of that money, around $50 billion, to invest in American businesses.
Apple’s cash pile is currently estimated to be worth more than $200 billion, with the majority kept outside of the United States. Apple does not have a history of investing in venture capital funds, so this is an interesting new direction for its capital. Apple is reportedly looking to contribute up to $1bn of the $100 billion total, although the deal is not finalized.
Following their original announcement, Instagram has begun rolling out live video to all their US users. To commemorate the occasion Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, Instagram’s CEO and CTO respectively are live streaming the event over at the official Instagram account. Instagram’s live video feature is another way the company is hoping to promote sharing freely and in the moment.
Apple has released the tvOS 10.1 software update for the fourth generation Apple TV. The latest software update includes Apple’s new single sign-on feature which lets you authenticate with your cable provider to unlock all compatible paid video apps. tvOS 10.1 also includes Apple’s new TV app which works with various video services plus iTunes movies and TV shows.
Apple has released the watchOS 3.1.1 software for all Apple Watch models. watchOS 3.1.1 includes support for new Unicode 9.0 emoji as well as the ability to change skin tones when picking certain emoji characters.
Apple has released iOS 10.2 for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. iOS 10.2 includes several new features like Unicode 9.0 emoji, three new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus wallpapers, a new TV app, additional camera features, new Messages screen effects, and more.
If you’ve ever looked at those function keys on your MacBook and wished you could play Pac-Man there instead of controlling iTunes, today might be your lucky day. It’s super limited considering the tiny display height, but someone has created a somewhat functional version of the arcade game Pac-Man on the new MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar.
In a recent interview with Wenner Media’s Glixel, Mario-creator Shigeru Miyamoto opens up about the creative development process, working with Apple, and the upcoming Super Mario Run for iOS. Miyamoto describes approaching Apple on the idea for the game, and working with Cupertino leadership that was willing to listen.
Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.
[tweet https://twitter.com/9to5toys/status/808421543047036928 align=’center’]
It’s clear at this point that something totally unexpected has botched the launch of AirPods, Apple’s first truly wireless earphones. Apple pre-announced AirPods in September alongside the iPhone 7 (the first model without a headphone jack) and promised a launch in late October.
Then the end of October rolled around and Apple declared “we need a little more time before AirPods are ready for our customers” which to me suggested a mid to late November release. Now it seems totally possible that AirPods could be held back until January or later.
Even if AirPods were released right now, the delayed launch has already highlighted the risk of Apple pre-announcing new products. There are benefits to this move that play well when it works out, but for Apple, the risk is high and can often backfire as we’ve seen before…
The new MacBook Pro has caused countless controversies over the last few weeks, from its lack of legacy I/O ports to graphics issues and battery life concerns, and Microsoft says this is leading to more Mac users than ever switching to Surface PCs and laptops.
In a yearly review on the Windows blog, the company said that more people are switching from Mac to Surface than ever before with Mac customers disappointed by Apple’s new MacBook Pro and enticed by Surface innovations.
If you’re not quite at the stage of needing a hearing aid but sometimes find it difficult to follow conversations in noisy environments like bars, Bose seems to be soft-launching an iPhone-controlled device to help.
Hearphones look like a special version of the company’s QC30 wireless earphones equipped with directional microphones that allow you to listen selectively by focusing in on conversations and tuning out background noise …
Tim Cook with other senior Apple execs at the U.S. Senate tax hearing in 2013
An Irish finance committee member has said that there is ‘a strong likelihood’ that Apple CEO Tim Cook will appear before a European Union hearing to discuss the ruling that the company must pay $13B ($15B) in additional taxes in the country – just as he did with a U.S. Senate hearing into the company’s tax affairs.
The Irish Times reports that an EU meeting has been scheduled in January to examine the background to the ruling and to discuss its implications, and that Cook is likely to accept an invitation to attend …
I noted a few weeks ago that, given the ultra-low repairability of the new MacBook Pro, I was buying AppleCare for the first time. Pretty much anything going wrong with the machine – RAM, SSD, Touch Bar, even the power switch – is likely to require a whole new motherboard. And given that the screen is bonded into the lid of the case, we can also forget about repairing that.
So I bit the bullet and handed over the cash for an AppleCare policy. What we need when buying AppleCare is the 15-character registration code. What we actually get is a cardboard box containing not just one but two separate booklets totalling 92 pages …
Apple and its Beats subsidiary don’t seem to be having much luck with wireless in-ear headphone production. Following the continuing delay in bringing AirPods to market, an email from Apple authorized reseller B&H suggests that the BeatsX earphones will also be significantly delayed.