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Parker Ortolani

parkerortolani

Parker Ortolani is a marketing strategist and product designer based in New York. In addition to contributing to 9to5mac, he is the Associate Director of Product Development at Penske Media. Previously, Parker worked on The Verge and Polygon at Vox Media and spent many years cultivating a consumer products program at BuzzFeed. A longtime reader, Parker is excited to share his product concepts and thoughts with the 9to5mac audience.

Follow him on X @parkerortolani or on Bluesky @parkerortolani.com

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Apple releases all-new watch band collection in a wide variety of colors for Series 7

Alongside the new Apple Watch Series 7, the company has introduced a fresh collection of watch bands. There are new colors and designs all across the board, including new striped sport loop bands. The new bands continue to work with previous Apple Watch generations and old bands will work with the Series 7.

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Apple refreshes MagSafe case & wallet collection with new colors and designs for iPhone 13

To complement the iPhone 13 family, Apple has introduced all-new MagSafe cases in fresh Fall colors. The new versions of the silicone and leather cases predictably have updated camera cutouts as well. This means that there are now separate cases for the iPhone 13 and the iPhone 13 Pro, rather than a single interchangeable one.

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Prototype shows cellular, red crown, & gold steel initially planned for Apple Watch Series 2

Twitter account DongleBookPro has shared a newly revealed Apple Watch Series 2 prototype that shows that cellular compatibility was initially planned to be launched a year earlier. The prototype shown off by DongleBookPro also has a red Digital Crown, just like the Series 3 watch, which was the first shipping model with cellular.

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Chill out with these iPhone wallpapers inspired by the new Mindfulness app in watchOS 8

Next week Apple will likely release watchOS 8 to the public after its September event. One of the update’s core new features is the gorgeous Mindfulness app. The Mindfulness app in watchOS 8 has a psychedelic animation that’s intended to help you cool down when stressed. We’ve put together some wallpapers for your iPhone inspired by the animations in the Mindfulness app, and you can download them here.

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Milanese Loop, other bands unavailable as Apple Watch Series 7 redesign looms

We fully expect Apple to introduce the Apple Watch Series 7 at its event next week, and right on schedule, several Apple Watch bands are now unavailable online or in Apple stores. Seasonal watch band colors are beginning to sell out, but classic bands like the Milanese Loop, which haven’t actually changed, are also now unavailable.

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Sketchy video of MagSafe case boxes may confirm ‘iPhone 13’ naming (Update: video deleted)

A leaker that goes by the name “PinkDon” has shared a new video of what appears to be iPhone 13 Pro Max MagSafe cases being packaged for distribution. It was previously unconfirmed whether or not this year’s iPhones would adopt a “12S” or “13” naming scheme. Keep in mind that these cases very well might be fake.

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Apple employees share 2021 “Close Your Rings” challenge gift, AirTag designers receive custom display

Apple appears to have given a unique custom AirTag display to members of the team that created the Find My trackers. The display includes six custom AirTags with the signatures of the team members staged in a sleek glass frame. The company has also begun to distribute their annual gift for completing the “Close Your Rings” Apple Watch fitness challenge.

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Take a closer look at the new Apple Watch display sizes and faces with these mock-ups

Earlier today Bloomberg reported new details about the upcoming Apple Watch Series 7, including the size of the larger displays. Little was previously known about the next generation Apple Watch aside from it apparently gaining a new flat design reminiscent of the iPhone 12 and iPad Pro. Today we learned about new exclusive watch faces, significantly larger displays, and more.

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What Apple’s new App Store policy could mean for your favorite apps

Late last night, Apple announced that it’s finally going to let developers redirect users off their apps to sign up for services outside of the App Store. It’s a major shift for “reader” apps that has been long requested by companies like Spotify and Netflix. Reader apps include things like music services, video streaming, digital magazines, newspaper subscriptions, eBook readers, even podcast players. Starting next year, some of your favorite apps will have new ways to manage your account and subscriptions as a result of this new policy.

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Hands-on: An Apple Watch diehard’s impressions of Samsung and Google’s new collaboration

An Apple Watch has been on my wrist nearly every day since I took the first generation out of its box on launch day in April 2015. It quickly became an indispensable gadget, and I feel naked whenever it’s on its charger. watchOS went through a ton of changes during the first few releases, most notably with watchOS 3. Since then, it’s received a number of new apps and features but the user interface itself hasn’t quite been perfected. I’ve always attributed this to the lack of a real competitor. No one has been able to show off a better way to do things on a smartwatch. Now, nearly seven years after the Apple Watch was born, Google and Samsung have teamed up to build the first real competitive platform. Here’s what I think about it.

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Remembering Steve: 10 years ago today, the legendary cofounder of Apple resigned his post as CEO

Around 6:30 p.m. EST on August 24, 2011, Steve Jobs stepped down as the CEO of Apple. I remember sitting in my friend’s living room as the television switched to the breaking news. I was only in middle school at the time, but Steve’s influence had already weighed heavily on me. It was a difficult moment. As a kid I’d put together faux keynotes on our family iMac and presented my product ideas to an imaginary audience. I remember making movies about him at Apple Camp at my local Apple Store. His portraits even adorned my wall. He was my hero and I knew the moment that he resigned was the beginning of the end.

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Concept: How macOS Mammoth could improve productivity, entertainment, and safety with new apps (part 2)

In the first part of our macOS Mammoth concept, we shared a look at ideas for improving the system and redesigning core elements of the desktop. Now, we want to share some ideas for new apps that we’d love to see Apple add in the next version of macOS. There were plenty of different things that we tried out during the design phase, but ultimately we landed on four distinct apps. Let’s take a look.

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YouTuber goes hands-on with ‘insanely rare’ Bondi blue iMac G3 prototype

YouTuber “Krazy Ken” has posted a video on his Computer Clan channel where he goes hands-on with a rare prototype of the original Bondi blue iMac G3. This particular prototype is quite different from the shipping version, despite bearing a similar resemblance. Unfortunately, the unit doesn’t power on at the moment, but Ken says that he’s working with other tech YouTubers to repair it and make it functional.

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Concept: macOS ‘Mammoth’ should redefine the Mac experience with major changes to the desktop, menu bar, widgets, search, and the dock

Earlier this year we correctly predicted that macOS 12 would be called “Monterey” and later discovered renewed Apple trademarks for places in California. The two renewed names were in fact “Monterey” and “Mammoth.” It’s only natural to assume that next year’s release of macOS will be called Mammoth with Monterey being chosen this year. So what might we see in macOS 13 in 2022? Well, we don’t know yet. But we do know what we want to see.

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How-to: Bring an old Mac back to life by installing Chrome OS on it for free

Is there an old out-of-date Mac that you desperately miss using? Well, you’re in luck because it’s incredibly easy to install a modern version of Chrome OS on old Intel Macs for free. CloudReady isn’t a new product by any stretch, but I had always been itching to try it out. Just last year, Google acquired Neverware, the company behind CloudReady. This means that Google offers an officially sanctioned way of reviving old computers with Chrome OS. Here’s how to get CloudReady up and running on an old Mac.

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Collector goes hands-on with functioning AirPower charging mat prototype

Apple device collector Giulio Zompetti has acquired a functioning AirPower mat prototype. As you likely know, AirPower was a multi-device wireless charging mat that Apple announced in 2017 and later canceled after failing to “meet its own standards of quality.” For any doubters that may think this is one of those many knock-offs, Giulio has assured followers that this is a genuine AirPower prototype that somehow made its way outside of Apple.

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