Once daily, we poll our audience of passionate Apple customers and technology enthusiasts, collecting valuable data from iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac users.
Our polls offer insights into purchase intent, reactions to the latest news stories, top requested features, and much more.
Head below for the latest 9to5Mac polls and results:
I was genuinely excited when my colleague Mark Gurman revealed iOS 9’s Proactive — Apple’s competitor to the Android assistant Google Now — because it sounded like something that would radically improve my daily iPhone use. “Like Google Now,” Mark said, “Proactive will automatically provide timely information based on the user’s data and device usage patterns,” details Apple confirmed when it officially announced Proactive at WWDC. Google Now’s success made an Apple response inevitable: who wouldn’t want an iPhone that correctly anticipated your needs, reducing your time spent manually hunting for information?
But unlike Google, which Apple CEO Tim Cook has portrayed as a miner of personal data for “God-knows-what advertising purpose,” Apple has positioned itself as a champion of user privacy. As such, Proactive apparently doesn’t use cloud servers to process your personal data, which Google has done to great effect. Instead, iOS processes data directly on your device, so its scope — whatever your device is holding — and utility are a lot more limited. Consequently, the iOS 9 beta version of Proactive doesn’t do much; its features could have appeared on the annual WWDC slide that flashes 50 new iOS additions on screen for less than a minute before disappearing.
Readers, I’d like to ask you a question. We’ve seen what Google and third-party developers are currently doing with Google Now cards, and it’s pretty awesome — everything from helping you manage commutes (like Proactive) and trips (way beyond Proactive) to finding TV shows, scheduling return taxi rides, and sending birthday greetings. My question: would you rather see Apple slowly iterate on Proactive as it sorts through each new feature’s privacy implications, or tackle Google Now with a bolder and more powerful Proactive, privacy be (mostly) damned? A poll is below…
Apple Music has been available to the public for almost three weeks and while subscriber data hasn’t been revealed by Apple, early reviews were generally positive. The service is not without its flaws, however, and users have been quick to point them out. With the service having been available for a couple of weeks, though, we’re curious: Are you using Apple Music? If so, did you switch from another streaming service to Apple’s or is this your first venture into streaming music?
Earlier today, Apple released a refreshed iPod touch with a faster processor, improved cameras, and new color and storage options. The iPod shuffle and nano also saw minor refreshes with the two devices now being available in dark blue, pink, and gold variations. Apple’s overdue iPod refresh, however, has prompted many users to wonder if it’s even worth it for Apple to continue investing energy and time into the iPod line of products.
If you are like us, probably the toughest decision you are facing this year is figuring out which new Retina MacBook color you will be getting. The buying process otherwise is more like buying an iPad than a Mac with only 2 speed/storage models.
Will you match your Space Gray iPad and iPhone and now Apple Watch? Or, will you sport the same silver of the Macs that actually do some real work? Will you go off the grid and show your lawyer/banker colleagues who is boss with the gold model?
It is a tough and important call because you WILL be judged – you can’t just embarrassingly hide a MacBook in a wallet case like my Gold iPhone. You’ve had a few days to mull it over. So what’s it going to be?
Apple supply chain buyers, this ^^^ data is on us. Feel free to send any leftover MacBooks as compensation.
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Apple today gave us the full rundown on the Apple Watch, revealing new details including all of the available variants and their prices. The Apple Watch Sport is going to start at $349 (as we already knew), but the mid-tier Apple Watch is going to start at $549, while the top-end Apple Watch Edition will be starting at $10,000 (and go all the way up to $17,000).
There are a total of 38 models listed in the Apple online store, and this is a pretty wide range of options to choose from considering they’re all functionally identical. But the question, knowing the prices and models available, is this: Are you going to get one? And if so, which of the 38 models are you leaning towards?
A recent poll of over 3,100 9to5Mac readers indicates that most are not satisfied with current-generation iPhone battery life. Over 90% of respondents said that they want to see Apple improve iPhone battery life, versus less than 7% saying that “iPhone battery life and battery cases are good enough as-is.”
The split in responses interestingly suggests that Apple can safely stop prioritizing thinness over superior battery performance. A solid majority of over 60% of respondents said that Apple should thicken the next iPhone to improve its battery life, which is especially noteworthy given that there were other poll options. Over 31% said that Apple should achieve whatever battery improvements it can by improving the iPhone’s chips, while just under 2% said that Apple should instead focus on improving battery cases.
In a poll of 9to5Mac readers, nearly 80% of people think Apple’s 18-karat gold Apple Watch Edition will cost under $4500. Only 16% expect the gold Apple Watch Edition to cost between $5000-$10,000, and 3.8% expect a price tag over $10,000. The biggest group at 29.68% expect the gold model to cost between $1500-$2500. But how much will the gold Apple Watch really cost?
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AirDrop can be a be a quick, simple way to transfer files between iOS devices. It can be especially handy because it is truly a device-to-device transfer that works even when neither device has internet access, although Wi-Fi and Bluetooth have to be turned on for it to function. In this article I will discuss how to turn on AirDrop and use it to share files between devices.
In Apple apps, any files that can be transferred using the share icon can be sent via AirDrop. This includes photos, videos, iWork documents, notes, contacts, links, directions, and location data. Some third-party apps can also share data using AirDrop. AirDrop for mobile devices is a feature of iOS 7, and can only be used to share files between mobile devices, not between computers and mobile devices.
Yesterday, Apple issued the third beta of iOS 7.1 to developers for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. Like the original beta track for iOS 7.0, these iOS 7.1 betas have slowly been introducing some user-interface tweaks to the iOS Device experience. While not significant, changes to the Phone application, system sliders, some icons, and the keyboard slightly alter the way Apple’s products are used. Many of you sounded off in the comments about the changes, but we’ve compiled a poll (below) for you to vote if you like each new change over the iterations in the current release of iOS 7:
Rumor has it Apple is about to introduce an iPhone 5S alongside a new lower-cost iPhone 5C at an event early next month. On top of a fingerprint sensor and iOS 7, it’s also expected to introduce new color options for the device for the first time. We’ve already reported that Apple has plans to introduce a new gold color option for its next generation iPhone and, if leaks are to be believed, the lineup will also include a selection of iPod-like colors for the lower-cost iPhone 5C. A report this morning claimed that Apple could even introduce a fourth grey or ‘graphite’ color iPhone 5S pictured above, but we’re skeptical to say the least.
Will Apple’s new iPhone colors be a hit with consumers? Or will you be sticking with the classic white or black iPhone when it comes time to upgrade? Let us know in the polls below:
Remember what the iPhone 5 looked like in all the pre-announcement leaks?
Let me remind you; http://t.co/vWv9ZAUUx2 http://t.co/AxR3F51DHn
— 𝑵𝒆𝒘𝒂𝒓 (@sentry) August 26, 2013
An online poll conducted by Polar compares key user-interface elements from iOS 7 to the iOS 6 counterparts. Despite the outpour of criticism from some of iOS 7, these results show that an overwhelming amount of poll responders prefer the design of iOS 7 to iOS 6 and other previous iOS versions…
Internet software firm Avast conducted a USAToday survey of Windows users to determine the number of people willing to upgrade to the latest Microsoft operating system, and the findings churned out some surprising responses.
According to USAToday, which noted the survey polled users of Avast’s anti-virus PC software on Oct. 25, the day before Windows 8 launched, nearly half of Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP users intend to switch to an Apple product rather than upgrade to Windows 8.
“Many households already have multiple PCs, and people are keeping their computers longer,” explained Avast’s Director of Strategy Jonathan Penn. “More people are going to the iPad as their second or third computing device.”