We all know the features of OS X El Capitan pretty well by now: Split View multitasking, new San Francisco system font, overhauled Notes app, and smaller changes throughout. Before anyone upgrades to El Cap, however, we’re all faced with the usual scrolling wall of text that we’re asked to read and agree to before ever using OS X: the licensing agreement.
I’m guessing virtually no one reads beyond the first paragraph if even that, but Robb Schecter, a self-described programmer/lawyer, took for one the team this year and translated El Cap’s license into plain English. These 7 points tell me more than I admittedly knew before: Expand Expanding Close
As expected, Apple’s release of OS X El Capitan for Macs was less about adding major new features than “refining the experience and improving performance” from Yosemite — in other words, under-the-hood optimizations to make any Mac run more reliably than before. Thanks to El Capitan, my older (mid-2011) 27″ iMac is running better than it has in years: fast, quiet, and cool enough that it might as well be fanless. Rarely does the volume level in my office climb above a whisper, an experience I’ve come to love so much that I’d never want to return to a loud computer.
“WAIT!,” you might be saying. “My Mac’s fan is on all the time. Apple didn’t start selling iMacs with silent solid state drives (SSDs) or hybrid Fusion Drives until late 2012. How could your older Mac be that quiet?”
Below, I’ll walk you through seven steps that will help you bring your older Mac to a hushed, zen-like state. The first four involve mostly free software, and the last three are small hardware upgrades…
A little later than some expected, Apple has released new versions of the iWork suite of apps for iPhone and iPad with iOS 9 and iPhone 6s features. Pages, Keynote, and Numbers now all support iPad multitasking features including Split View on iPad Air 2, iPad mini 4, and iPad Pro, as well as 3D Touch on iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. The iWork apps also gained new versions on the Mac with OS X El Capitan features and much more. Details below: Expand Expanding Close
Following the corresponding update to Pixelmator for iOS 9, the company has released the latest version of Pixelmator for the Mac ($29.99) with full support for El Capitan. This includes compatibility with changes to the OS as well as an overhaul in the Pixelmator user interface to feature San Fransisco, Apple’s new system font. The update, version 3.4, also includes official full-screen Split View support on El Capitan, so users can dock Pixelmator next to any other app on the system filling the display.
Perhaps most interestingly, the app now includes a Photos.app editing extension …
Apple today released a new OS X 10.11.1 beta build to developers and public testers, making it the fourth pre-release version of the upcoming software. The 10.11.1 update will bring bug fixes to the desktop operating system, along with a set of new emoji icons.
With the iPhone 6s/Plus offering the ability to shoot 4K video, and the new 4K 21.5-inch iMac out today, Apple is bringing iMovie for Mac up-to-date with support for 4K footage.
With the latest update to iMovie, support for 4K editing lets you make and share movies that are sharper and more beautiful than ever. iMovie also supports 1080p HD video at 60 frames per second for smoother, more true-to-life action. And now you can begin editing on your iPhone or iPad, then finish editing on your Mac to take advantage of powerful features including color correction, green-screen effects, and animated maps …
Apple looks to be preparing updated versions of its keyboard, trackpad, and mouse accessories for near-term release. Code freshly discovered in the latest OS X 10.11.1 beta references next-generation versions of the products, as first spotted by Consomac. We’ve confirmed the references to new Apple peripherals are not present on the current OS X release, version 10.11.0, and first appear in OS X 10.11.1, currently in beta. Expand Expanding Close
Apple has followed this week’s release of OS X El Capitan 10.11.1 beta 2 to developers with a public version of the pre-release software. The second seed doesn’t include any notable changes, though it does come with the new emoji icons that were added in the first build.
A security researcher has found an extremely simple way to bypass Gatekeeper to allow Macs to open any malicious app, even when it is set to open only apps downloaded from the Mac App Store.
Patrick Wardle, director of research at security firm Synack, told arsTechnica that once Gatekeeper okays an approved app, it pays no more attention to what that app does. The approved app can then open malicious apps – which Gatekeeper doesn’t check.
Wardle has found a widely available binary that’s already signed by Apple. Once executed, the file runs a separate app located in the same folder as the first one […] His exploit works by renaming Binary A but otherwise making no other changes to it. [He then] swaps out the legitimate Binary B with a malicious one and bundles it in the same disk image under the same file name. Binary B needs no digital certificate to run, so it can install anything the attacker wants …
With the launch of YouTube Gaming earlier this year, Google’s Twitch competitor that lets users live stream and watch gameplay videos on YouTube, users can now live stream and browse gameplay videos on YouTube from dedicated apps. Google first enabled live streaming the desktop, and today announced plans for Android, but an update to the popular AirServer app is taking advantage of the lack of iOS streaming support by enabling users to live stream directly to YouTube from their iOS devices.
Google does have a YouTube Gaming app or iOS, but it currently only acts as a community-style app for letting users access live streams and recorded gameplay videos from their iPhone or iPad.AirServer, however, tells us it collaborated with YouTube to enable streaming from iOS apps using its mirroring technology: Expand Expanding Close
The simplistic view of tablets versus laptops has always been that the former are for consumption and the latter are for creation. Traditionally, laptops are more powerful, they offer greater storage, they have better keyboards, they run more capable software, they are better suited to multi-tasking … there have been plenty of reasons to choose one over a tablet. In the Apple world, to choose some kind of MacBook over an iPad.
But those reasons, like the Apple tech in question, grow slimmer each year. Sure, MacBooks are more powerful, but today’s iPads are no slouches – I’ve even done a little video editing on my iPad Air 2 – and the iPad Pro is almost twice as powerful. MacBooks do still offer more storage, but that’s less important in a world of cloud-based document storage and streaming media. The best add-on keyboards for iPads may not be quite up there with MacBook ones, but they are close – and most of the difference that does remain is due to size. OS X does offer more capable software than iOS, but there’s some pretty serious software on iOS these days. iOS 9 makes side-by-side multitasking something we can now do on an iPad as well as a MacBook. And with each release, Apple gets closer to parity between mobile and desktop as it integrates technologies from both operating systems across platforms.
So the gap between the two is far smaller than it used to be – and the iPad Pro is about the narrow the gap even more. Will the iPad Pro be the point at which an iPad becomes a viable alternative to a MacBook … ? Expand Expanding Close
Apple hasn’t formally announced OS X El Capitan’s release date yet, but an email appearing in the iPhone 3D Touch demo has given away that the operating system will be released later this month. In the message, marketing SVP Phil Schiller notes that the software will launch on September 30th.
The iPhone and iPad have made a cute little chime noise when plugged it into charge since their inception, but the Mac has no such noise as it uses the MagSafe light indicators to show charging status. This changed with the new 12-inch Retina MacBook which doesn’t have MagSafe so it uses the iOS chime sound to indicate charging. By default, this noise is simply disabled for other Macs …
Apple is indeed planning to release a new version of its 21.5-inch iMac with a 4K display this fall, according to reliable sources. The current plan is to announce the refreshed version of the smaller iMac by the end of October alongside OS X El Capitan and begin shipping the product by the beginning of November. As indicated by references inside of El Capitan, the new 21.5 inch iMac’s 4K display will come with a resolution of 4096 x 2304, which is up from the current model’s screen resolution of 1920 x 1080. Faster processors and improved color saturation can also be expected. The higher-resolution screen will likely raise the price of the new iMac, much like the 5K display raised the price of the 27-inch iMac last fall. Apple may keep around the current 1080P models, much like the lower-resolution 27-inch iMac is still available for sale.
Apple has published the eighth beta version of OS X El Capitan to its registered developers. The operating system is expected to be released later this year, with an announcement coming at Apple’s September 9th event.
Apple today released the sixth beta of the upcoming Xcode 7 to developers. The new version is available in Software Update from the Mac App Store, as with all past betas this time around. Xcode 7 is the new SDK version to correspond with the upcoming releases of iOS 9, OS X El Capitan, and WatchOS 2, the first version of the Apple Watch operating system that supports native applications. Apple has not released new iOS 9 and WatchOS 2 betas since early August, while the latest El Capitan seed was provided just last week. Thanks, Joseph.
Apple has published an update to the OS X Recovery software for users on the beta version of OS X El Capitan. The update appears to have been published late yesterday without much fanfare. The boilerplate change log notes that it includes “improvements” to the Recovery software indicating that it’s likely just a bug fix release.
Following yesterday’s misfire on the public beta channel, Apple has released OS X El Capitan Beta 7 (build 15A263e) to developers. The fifth public beta has also returned after being pulled yesterday afternoon. That version comes with a build number of 15A262e, which puts it a few builds ahead of yesterday’s.
Update: Public beta testers may not see the update currently as it appears to have been pulled for now.
Apple has pushed out the fifth public beta version of OS X 10.11 “El Capitan.” The update brings bug fixes and tweaks the pre-release operating system in preparation for its launch later this year.
Apple has released the OS X 10.10.5 software update to OS X Yosemite for all users. The update mentions improvements to “stability, compatibility, and security” while also highlighting specific fixes for Mail, Photos, and QuickTime Player apps. Previously, Apple tested the software release with developers and public beta testers. The update is available for all users through the Updates tab of the Mac App Store. Expand Expanding Close
Apple has announced in a support document that Boot Camp now supports 64-bit versions of Windows 10 on a wide range of Macs dating back to 2012. The updated version of Boot Camp is currently rolling out to Yosemite users – if you haven’t yet received it, it should show up when you use the Mac App Store to check for updates.
Apple gives instructions for performing both a new install and an upgrade from earlier versions of Windows.
Supported Macs are:
MacBook Air from Mid 2012
MacBook Pro from Mid 2012
MacBook Pro with Retina display from Mid 2012
iMac from Late 2012
Mac mini from Late 2012
Mac Pro Late 2013
12-inch MacBook
USB-C is supported on the 12-inch MacBook, in addition to the standard ports which are supported on all compatible models.
Back in March, Apple discontinued Boot Camp support for Windows 7 on the latest MacBook models, requiring Windows 8 and up.
Apple has published a new beta build of the upcoming OS X 10.10.5 to developers. The third seed, which has a build number of 14F25a, comes just under a week after the previous build. The 10.10.5 update seems to be a simple stability and security fix, so there aren’t many new features to speak of.
Following the release of the sixth developer seed yesterday, Apple has pushed out an update for users who are part of the OS X beta testing program. This fourth beta introduces the same changes that were added to the developer branch yesterday.
