macOS

The big news this week is that this fall may finally be the beginning of the end for iTunes. 9to5Mac’s Gui Rambo independently confirmed that the next major version of macOS will introduce standalone Music and Podcasts apps on the Mac. iTunes is expected to stick around for now, which suggests Apple’s new apps won’t include every legacy feature, but iPad-based versions of Music and Podcasts would actually introduce features to the Mac that aren’t available yet.

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A German video editor has created a concept video (below) showing what he describes as ‘a simple and efficient macOS.’ What is depicted is a macOS/iOS hybrid, in which traditional app windows are largely replaced by iPad-style split-screen views.

Thomas Weinreich argues that the old desktop metaphor is no longer relevant today …

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During the “It’s show time” event in late March, Apple announced that the TV app would be coming to the Mac soon. This naturally sparked discussions about whether Apple would be bringing its other media apps to the Mac, finally splitting up iTunes into distinct applications.

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Apple this afternoon has seeded the first beta of macOS 10.14.5 to developers. The update is available to developers through the System Preferences app on macOS.

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Apple yesterday released macOS 10.14.4 to the public with features such as automatic Dark Mode in Safari, Apple News+, and more. On the other hand, the update also seems to include one frustrating bug related to authenticating Gmail accounts through Apple Mail.

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During its “It’s Show Time” event at the Steve Jobs Theater today, Apple announced that the latest versions of its operating systems will be released later today. The updates will include support for the new services announced during the event, including News+, with the magazines and exclusive content offerings.

Update: iOS 12.2 is now available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

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Apple today has made small change to its eGPU support document. The company has updated the page to reflect official support for the Sonnet Radeon RX 560 eGFX Breakaway, the first RX 560 eGPU to be officially supported.

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Apple is planning a multi-year roadmap for its cross-platform app project. First previewed at last year’s WWDC with the launch of the News, Stocks, Home and Voice Memos app, Marzipan makes it near-automatic for developers to port iPad apps to macOS.

A third-party SDK for Marzipan will launch at this year’s WWDC for iPad and Mac universal apps. According to Bloomberg, Apple plans to add Marzipan-esque conversion of iPhone to Mac apps in 2020. The publication also says that Apple has ‘weighed previewing’ a new version of the Mac Pro at the conference.

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Apple yesterday released macOS 10.14.4 beta 1 to developers. We’ve already run through all of the changes in iOS 12.2 beta 1, and now it’s been discovered that macOS 10.14.4 includes support for Safari AutoFill with Touch ID.

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There has long been debate over the extent to which macOS and iOS will converge. Some think we’ve already gone too far down that route, with Launchpad coming in for particular criticism as an unnecessary child-like interface (though it can be made more useful). At the other extreme, some think Apple should go as far as touchscreen Macs and enable people to run either OS on both Macs and iPads.

Apple itself has consistently said that it considers Macs and iPads to be different categories of device, a message somewhat diluted by ads referring to the iPad as a computer.

But I was struck by a suggestion of two iOS features that might work on Mac …

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Thurott reports Microsoft has updated its 365 product roadmap with mention of Files On-Demand finally rolling out to macOS users. Initially offered as a preview in September of last year to Mac users, no formal word was made by the company as to when users should expect a widespread release.

While the site reports not all users are seeing the macOS version available, the rollout (which began yesterday), should hit most users in the coming weeks.

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A new open source, modern media player has launched today called IINA that’s made just for macOS. It includes solid features like a dark mode, picture in picture, customizable interface, and more and looks to be a nice alternative to VLC.

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Luminar 3 will launch for macOS and PC December 18, as the popular Adobe Lightroom competitor adds new feature based upon artificial intelligence.

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