Benjamin Mayo

In an interview with The Independent, Apple marketing exec Phil Schiller discusses the development and public response to the new MacBook Pros. He says that “many things” have impressed people and “some” have caused some controversy, referring to the ongoing debates about Apple’s design goals versus the needs of pro users. Rebutting critics, Schiller announces that orders for the new MacBook Pro have set a new online sales record, beating previous sales for ‘pro Apple notebooks’.

The interview also focuses in on a few specific complaints, such as the decision to remove the SD card slot but keep the 3.5mm headphone jack which it classed obsolete for the iPhone 7. Schiller has interesting answers for these questions …

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Apple initially unveiled the AirPods, Apple’s truly-wireless earbuds, alongside the iPhone 7 in September with the intention to ship in late October. However, the company delayed the launch at the last minute citing it needing extra time to finish up the product.

A new availability date was not given as part of Apple’s official statement, however a report from Economic Daily News (via Digitimes) is suggesting it will be a while, with suppliers not expecting AirPods to begin shipping until next year, in January 2017.

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iFixit is back again with another Apple product teardown, this time of the new 13-inch MacBook Pro that features physical function keys but lacks the new Touch Bar. The 13-inch sports 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports and is positioned as the cheaper option in Apple’s lineup, priced at $1499.

iFixit has disassembled the laptop revealing some significant internal changes over the previous iteration, including a 25% smaller battery, a custom SSD controller (although the drive itself is theoretically removable) and much more — more photos after the jump …

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Apple has released iOS 10.1.1 for iPhones and iPad, less than a week since the iOS 10.1 update which included iPhone 7 Portrait Mode. The bug fixes a specific issue with the Health app, where data was not showing for some users. There may also be improvements to other niggling issues, which are alluded to (“bugs”, plural) but only the Health fix is explicitly referenced in the release notes.

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Update: There is apparently a way to make your 2016 MacBook chime again at boot, using an NVRAM tweak — full details here on how to do it. To enable chimes, open Terminal and type sudo nvram BootAudio=%01 This is not documented or officially supported in any way, so mileage may vary. There’s also a flag to disable the auto-boot behavior.

It has been discovered that along with physical function keys, glowing Apple logo and ‘old style’ USB ports, the new MacBook Pros lack the iconic Mac chime when booting up. This is the distinctive noise heard at startup when the Mac passes the initial POST checks; Apple has used the same F-sharp chord sound in its computers since 1998.

The new MacBooks end this tradition as the chime has been removed completely and the machines will make no noise at all on boot, unless there is a fault. However, there seems to be a good reason for this change …

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The flagship feature of the new MacBook Pro is the Touch Bar, an OLED display strip that replaces the physical row of function keys. This adds a dynamic zone to top of the keyboard where apps can display custom buttons, sliders, switches and scrubbers to enhance the MacBook experience while adding a new way to interact with Mac applications beyond text input and mouse pointers.

How does the Touch Bar interface work? What is the resolution of the Touch Bar? What is the Control Strip? What can third-party developers do with the Touch Bar? Read on for all the answers and more …

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Excitement over Apple’s new MacBook Pro announcements has been weakened a bit in the UK customers due to sticker shock when looking at the prices. Prices for new MacBook Pro’s have risen in the US a bit already, in the UK this has been amplified by the weak GBP currency following the Brexit vote.

Apple has adjusted UK prices for its entire line of Macs, including those it didn’t update, with prices increases of hundreds of pounds. For example, the outdated 2013 base model Mac Pro now starts at £3000, an increase of £500 overnight. Similarly, the entry level new MacBook Pro with a Touch Bar sets buyers back £1500.

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Apple announced its new MacBook Pro last night, featuring the all-new Touch Bar screen that replaces the function row with an OLED dynamic display. The touch bar can show shortcuts, controls and quick actions depending on what app you are in and what app you are doing. Apple showed off expansive support for Touch Bar in their stock apps at the event yesterday — and now third-party developers are showing what they can contribute to the new interface.

Microsoft has announced comprehensive updates to Office for Mac 2016 to take advantage of the Touch Bar in Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook. Here’s how it looks …

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In the wake of everything new announced today in the Mac lineup, Apple has stopped selling the legacy MacBook Pro with non-Retina screen, 5400 RPM hard-disk and SuperDrive optical disc slot. This Mac has existed in the lineup for many years and has finally been discontinued.

The old MacBook Pro was often bought by businesses or education markets, who are price-sensitive or required integrated ports like Ethernet, which none of the new MacBooks feature. This product is available refurbished at third party retailers like Amazon, if you want to buy one for some reason.

Apple has also stopped selling the 11-inch MacBook Air, which used to be the cheapest Mac portable in the lineup. This position has been supplanted by the $999 13 inch MacBook Air, which has not been changed at all.

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As part of its event, Apple has announced a new 13-inch MacBook Pro as a premium successor to the MacBook Air. It’s twelve percent thinner with 12% less volume. Unlike the more expensive models, it lacks a Touch Bar display above the keyboard. It still features the standard function key row. Just to be confusing, the lower-end MacBook Pro shares its name with the ‘new’ Touch Bar MacBook Pro.

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Apple has announced a new “TV” app for Apple TV that aggregates TV shows from video content apps. Building on universal search, the TV app unifies the TV experience into a single interface from all installed video apps.

The TV shows and movies listed only show content that you can access, by looking at the apps you have installed in Apple TV. The TV app is available on iPhone, iPad and the TV for living room viewing. The app will launch in the United States by the end of the year.

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Apple is holding its media event later today at 10 AM PT, where it is widely expected to announce a series of new Mac hardware including a new MacBook Pro. The rumor mill has not been clear about availability details for the new products … but Apple Stores appear to be readying for something new as soon as today.

A Reddit user has posted pictures of the San Francisco Apple Store where employees are setting up line dividers and measuring floor space as if they are preparing for a new in-store display of some kind. This seems to suggest that the new Mac laptops (or something else?) may actually go on sale today, once the event is over …

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As is the way with Apple event days, the Apple Online Store is down ahead of the event starting at 10 AM PT. The store goes down for hype more than technical limitations but it still indicates that whatever Apple is announcing later, such as a new MacBook Pro, will be available to order imminently.

Apple’s ‘hello again’ event rumors suggest that the event will focus on a much-needed update to the Retina MacBook Pro, featuring Touch ID, Apple Pay and a new OLED function bar above the keyboard, and some kind of new 13 inch MacBook (apparently similar in style to the 12 inch one-port MacBook). However, Apple has at least an hour of stage time to fill so they are likely other announcements too …

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Apple is reportedly set to launch a smart TV guide for Apple TV tomorrow, as parts of its ‘hello again’ event. The TV guide will aggregate different sources of TV shows and movies into a single view, so users do not have constantly switch between app to find something to watch, according to Recode.

The interface will summarize what’s available to watch and then direct users to the respective apps with deep linking for the selected content. Apple has partnered with video providers to bring this feature to market but apparently Netflix content will not be available. The feature will also be available on iOS devices, not just tvOS.

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Although the Apple event scheduled for tomorrow has been colloquially labelled as a ‘new Mac’ unveiling, it appears Apple will be talking about some other things as well.

USA Today is reporting that Apple is preparing to unveil a new app for Apple TV, which will give users personalised TV shows recommendations. The app will contextually suggest TV shows to watch based on their existing viewing habits and content subscriptions.

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Update: The Eve Motion is also available now for $49. It’s a Bluetooth HomeKit motion sensor that can work in combination with the Eve Light Switch to create motion-controlled lighting. It will integrate with the Apple Home app and does not require a bridge or additional accessories, so the motion sensor can slot into to an existing smart home setup.

Elgato is expanding its range of Bluetooth HomeKit devices with a new standalone smart light switch, available from today for $49.95. The Eve Light Switch replaces the wall switches you already have in your house, to make the lighting in the room accessible to HomeKit without changing bulbs or buying bridges and other accessories.

The lights are then exposed to HomeKit via Siri or the iOS 10 Home app; simply use your voice to turn them and off. The lights are also controllable away from home if you have a third-generation or fourth-generation Apple TV to act as a hub for Remote Access.

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Apple’s head of Apple Pay, Jennifer Bailey, is set to appear alongside other industry titans at Recode’s Code Commerce conference this December. The Apple exec ran the company’s online stores for many years and now leads Apple Pay, Apple’s contactless mobile payments solution.

The Code Commerce meeting takes place multiple times a year; Bailey will be appearing at the last one in 2016 on December 6. No doubt the new MacBook Pro with integrated Apple Pay will form part of the discussions.

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Update: Powerbeats 3 available to buy at Amazon now, $199 in four colors with free shipping.

Following the launch of the W1-equipped Beats Solo3 on-ear headphones, Beats has now launched the latest iteration of its Powerbeats wireless earphones, the Powerbeats 3, making it the second audio peripheral to ship with the Apple W1 chip, which enables easy instantaneous pairing between Apple devices.

The Powerbeats 3 feature up to 12 hour battery life on a single charge, with a ‘Fast Fuel’ 5 minute top up charge providing an hour of playtime in a hurry. You can order the Powerbeats 3 from Apple today, priced at $199.95.

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Apple has today released watchOS 3.1 to the public, the newest operating system release for Apple Watch. watchOS 3.0 introduced many new features for the wearable, but sadly watchOS 3.1 is a much more subdued affair. watchOS 3.1 includes some small changes for Messages — you can now replay bubble and screen effects — as well as several issues related to Timer, Activity and Force Touch. The full release notes are included below. Anecdotally, watchOS 3.1 includes some noticeable improvements to battery life as well as the usual slew of bug fixes.

The release includes a critical fix for Apple Watch Series 2 owners that may have prevented the watch from charging. The update is available for all Apple Watch Series 2, Apple Watch Series 1 and first-generation Apple Watch models.

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In case there needed to be any more smoke to the fire, Russian trademark filings reveal that Apple is readying the release of three new Macs running macOS Sierra. The products have apparently passed the Russian registration, labelled as ‘portable personal computer models’ with model identifiers A1706, A1707 and A1708.

This all but confirms Apple plans to launch three new Mac laptops at its media event on Thursday, corroborating a KGI report from over the weekend. These product identifiers likely correspond to two new MacBook Pros and a new ultrathin 13-inch MacBook as a sibling to the 12-inch MacBook …

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