Honeywell’s new Lyric Round thermostat originally announced back at CES in January and until now up for preorder only is today officially on sale and in-stock for all.
With Apple’s much rumored upcoming iPhone 5se on the horizon— an upgraded version of the iPhone 5S that retains the 4-inch display size for diehard fans of the model— we want to find out if you plan on upgrading when the new device launches. That’s the question we ask in today’s poll, in addition to what device you’re upgrading from (or downgrading, depending on how you look at it).
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After initially launching same-day delivery in partnership with Postmates earlier this year in San Francisco, Apple today has revealed that the capability is expanding to more locations. Users today have started noticing that same-day delivery from Apple’s online store and Apple Store app is now supported in New York.
Insteon, Lutron, iHome, Elgato and Ecobee have all just announced that their HomeKit products are now officially available and/or shipping to customers.
The announcements come on the heels of our report that Apple partners planned this week to launch the first products using the company’s new Siri-controlled HomeKit home automation platform, first introduced alongside iOS 8 last year.
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The first home automation products using Apple’s new Siri-controlled HomeKit platform will arrive next week, according to sources briefed on Apple’s plans.
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Slice Intelligence, which earlier estimated first-day US Apple Watch pre-orders at just under a million, said that the number has now reached 1.7M, and that 376,000 of them have shipped – around 22% of pre-orders. KGI has estimated worldwide shipments of 631,000 in Q1, with Q2 shipments expected to hit 3.8M.
Slice gathers its data by scanning the email inboxes of more than two million participating online shoppers and extrapolating its numbers from there. Of those panel members who ordered an Apple Watch, 22% of them were given a shipping date of Friday to Sunday inclusive …
For those that pre-ordered Apple’s new iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3, Apple has now started shipping the devices with an expected delivery date of Oct. 22 or Oct. 23 quoted to several 9to5Mac readers who pre-ordered on day one. Others have been quoted a delivery date of between Oct. 22-27.
We can confirm via several different people who ordered the device—including some of the 9to5Mac staff—that Apple has begun shipping iPhone 6 Plus units to customers. As expected, looking up these shipments with their UPS tracking numbers (or, in this case, reference number) reveals expected delivery dates of September 19th, the very same day that the phone is expected to start appearing in stores across the US.
Earlier this year we reported that Apple had ordered a record number of iPhone 6 units for the upcoming launch of the next-gen device. According to TechCrunch, the number of devices being shipped from China is so high that Apple is actually causing shipping delays for other companies.
Just how bad are the delays? According to a source from one unnamed electronics manufacturer, some companies have been told they’ll miss their shipping deadlines because a certain high-priority customer has essentially taken over the shipping channels.
Slipping shipping times for iMacs on Apple’s site may support a timeline released last month by KGI Research analyst Ming-Chi Kuo indicating that new, lower-cost iMacs could be launched this quarter.
Apple usually quotes 24 hours for delivery of standard-configuration iMacs, but is currently showing 3-5 business days across the range. Increased shipping times are sometimes an indication of lower or sporadic stocks, which tend to precede the launch of new models. With WWDC just one week away, that would be a logical time to announce them …
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The first Mac Pro orders have started shipping, according to reports across Twitter. It seems that for now only off-the-shelf configurations are shipping, while built-to-order machines will ship early next month.
https://twitter.com/metamediact/status/415249229058035712
The Texas-built computer now lists shipping and delivery dates going into February on Apple’s web store, indicating that either the demand for these machines is higher than expected (an unlikely situation, given the price tag), or the supply is having a hard time keeping up with the limited demand.
This isn’t the first time this year Apple has suffered from supply issues, though the continuing pattern seems to indicate that perhaps the company should focus on increasing its supply capabilities in 2014.
During this year’s WWDC keynote address, Apple surprised pro users with a look at a completely redesigned version of the Mac Pro, a machine many thought had long been abandoned by the company. At the time, the only availability information that was available was an ambiguous “shipping by December,” though Apple recently gave a more specific release date: today.
After about an hour of downtime, the Apple Online Store has come back up with the option to order the latest-generation Mac Pro. The quad-core model starts at $2,999, with a 6-core model available starting at $3,999.
Last month creators of the popular Paper by FiftyThree iPad app announced that it would soon be shipping a $60 Bluetooth stylus for the drawing app called “Pencil”. With the first preorders for the device expected to start shipping this week according to the company’s Twitter account, today it has also updated the official Paper by FiftyThree app with features specifically for Pencil.
The app now supports new palm rejection, erase, and blend features for Pencil:
Palm Rejection— Pencil and Paper work together to produce the most sophisticated and effective palm rejection in any app available today. No setup, no calibration, just natural feeling writing and drawing.
Erase— Pencil’s unique built-in eraser lets you get down to what’s essential.
Blend— Pencil takes care of the lines so you can use your fingers to blend colors on the page and smooth rough edges without ever picking up a tool.
FiftyThree has been taking preorders of Pencil as an in-app purchase directly in the Paper iPad app as well as through its website. It’s selling a graphite model for $50 and a walnut model for $60. While the first preorders will begin shipping this week, an update on its Twitter account today notes new orders will take around in 3-4 weeks.
Update: Some 9to5 readers in the UK report an estimated delivery date of Nov. 15th.
Many online orders for the Retina iPad mini have yet to ship, but today a large number of users have now received delivery estimates from Apple and UPS. At least in the US, 9to5 readers report their Retina iPad mini orders will be arriving as early as Monday, Nov. 18. That’s the earliest estimate from UPS, but Apple is also quoting a Nov. 21st delivery date for many day-one iPad mini orders. Shipping times from Apple remain at 1-3 or 5-10 business days for all models of the device in all launch countries, but word has it supplies could be tight leading into the holidays.
My iPad Mini Retina that I ordered yesterday, shipped yesterday. Expected to arrive on Monday!
— David Heyman (@dcborn61) November 13, 2013
My iPad Mini Retina has shipped already!!!
— RST_ (@thatchman1) November 13, 2013
My iPad mini shipped!
— Evan Coleman (@evandcoleman) November 13, 2013
My iPad mini with Retina display has shipped. FedEx says it’ll come faster than Apple thinks. Either way, should JUST beat my France trip.
— Lex Friedman is @lexfri@hachyderm.io (@lexfri) November 13, 2013
https://twitter.com/gannonnordberg/status/400595913544335360
After first unveiling the completely redesigned Mac Pro at WWDC earlier this year, Apple today gave the new machine a bit of stage time at its iPad event to announce pricing and availability details. The base model of the new Mac Pro (pictured above) will start at $2999 and ship by the end of the year.
While Apple will presumably have several configurations and built to order options available for the next-gen Mac Pro– including Quad 6, 8, or 12-core designs– it only announced base pricing for the configuration above. That model includes a 3.7GHz quad-core Xeon processor, 12GB of DRAM, Dual FirePro D300 graphics, 2GB VRAM each, and a 256GB 22D.
Apple is also listing a $3999 configuration on its online store that comes with a 6-core 3.5GHz Intel Xeon E5 processor, 16GB DDR3 ECC memory (configurable up to 32GB), and Dual AMD FirePro D500 with 3GB GDDR5 VRAM each.
Apple also mentioned on stage that it has new versions of Final Cut Pro and Aperture that support 4k and other features of the new Mac Pro while presenting first impressions from professionals that have been using the new machine.
The new Mac Pro features an all-new cylinder design that is 1/8th the volume of previous generation Mac Pros and also packs in some impressive specs that Apple’s Phil Schiller walked through today on stage (gallery below). The new machine includes the latest Xeon processors in Quad 6, 8, or 12-core configurations, dual station FirePro GPUs with up to 12GB of GDDR5 VRAM, 4K video support, PCIe-based flash, ECC memory, and six Thunderbolt 2 ports.
Other specs include HDMI, Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11ac WiFi, up to 1TB of flash storage, and a motion sensor that lights up I/O when picking up the Mac Pro.
Apple also noted today that it aimed to have the new Mac Pro as quite as the current Mac Mini and was able to achieve that goal.
The new Mac Pro will be assembled in the USA as part of Apple’s plan to bring manufacturing of some of its Macs back to the U.S. this year. (Full press release below)
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Similar in style to the previous purported iPhone 5C hands-on video, website CTech has uploaded a new video claiming to show the light blue/cyan iPhone 5C in action.
It’s unclear if the video is legitimate, but it certainly looks plausible. The video shows no new information, but the leak of the device is notable as it likely means that the product will be shipping sooner than later. The user interface on the low-cost device running iOS 7 appears smooth in the video.
The video shows the Lock screen, Home screen, and a bit of tab organization in the Safari app. The iPhone 5C will be announced at the Apple event tomorrow, and it will launch alongside the higher-end iPhone 5S, which will sport a faster processor, fingerprint scanner, and come in a gold color option.
After multiple years without the ability to ship to Puerto Rico, Apple’s Online Store has been updated with the ability to ship to the United States territory. The option became active this week, and is noted on Apple’s shipping and delivery webpage.
Apple notes on its website that average transit time is 2-5 days, and carrier deliveries occur twice a week in Culebra and Vieques (major islands off of mainland Puerto Rico). Overnight shipping is also an option for certain regions in Puerto Rico for an extra cost.
After improving to “3-5 days” shipping time in most major markets late last month, the iPad mini is today listed as in stock for all models in at least the United States, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, and Canada. Some other stores, such as the United Kingdom’s online store, is still quoting an estimated shipping time of “1-3 business days”, but Apple’s listing of the device as in stock in the U.S. likely means the company is starting to catch up with demand. At Apple’s earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook noted that the iPad mini remains constrained and high in demand. He also noted that Apple would significantly increase the supply but wasn’t sure if it would reach a supply/demand balance on iPad mini during the current quarter.
“we sold 23 million iPads, we obviously could have sold more than this because we could not build enough iPad minis to come into a demand balance… Im sure there was some cannibalization of Macs there.”
We told you last month that shipping times for Apple’s new 21.5-inch iMacs slipped from an estimated delivery of 7 to 10 business days to 2 to 3 weeks. Today, iMacs are continuing to experience supply shortages with shipping times on many international Apple Stores once again pushed back. As noted by French language blog macg.co, Apple’s online store is now listing the 21.5-inch iMac as shipping in 3 to 4 weeks and the 27-inch model as available in 4 to 6 weeks in at least France. While Apple has yet to update its U.S. website with the new shipping times, Apple stores in Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland, the Netherlands, and many other European Union countries are now listing the longer wait times for new iMacs.
We heard that Apple expects to reach a supply and demand balance for the new iMacs (and iPad mini) within the next couple of months, but CEO Tim Cook recently noted that supply constraints will most likely continue into Q1. The same thing goes for Apple’s new iPad mini that, as of this week, is now shipping with an improved delivery time of 1 to 3 business days in at least the U.S. and Canada:
Shipping times for the new 21.5-inch iMacs, at least in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, had sat at “7-10 business days” since the beginning of December. Following changes to shipping times for the device around the globe last night, Apple has today updated its U.S. site to reflect the new “2-3 week” shipping estimates being quoted. CEO Tim Cook warned in October that the company would experience significant iMac shortages for the full quarter. This pushes delivery for new orders of iMacs (27-inch included) well into February.
We expect Cook to provide updates on shortages later this week during the company’s earnings call.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU8WnvCzST4]
Autodesk Inc. announced today that it is now shipping the latest version of its professional video-editing suite for Mac, Autodesk Smoke 2013, starting at $3,495 SRP per license*. The latest version of Smoke provides a new user interface that combines Autodesk’s creative tools and effects with its track-based editing: ConnectFX for high-end effects, and Creative Tools—featuring “a robust toolset with proven high-end finishing tools.”
While noting a successful run for the trial download of the software, Autodesk said it implemented even more features and enhancements based on user recommendations. The new features include the ability to drag and drop a clip from the source player into the timeline, ability to expand/collapse the timeline FX pipeline area, and a redesign and streamlining of the UI and interface elements to speed up workflows.
“The anticipation for Smoke, since its thrilling announcement at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Vegas in April, has continued to build throughout the community of creative professionals. As a leader in high-end effects and 3D, Autodesk is committed to making that technology increasingly available to a new generation, and the new Smoke is case in point. The Smoke team has fielded thousands of inquiries and product recommendations in the process of developing Smoke 2013. I’m so excited to announce it’s here,” said Mark Strassman, Autodesk Media & Entertainment vice president strategy and marketing.
To accompany the launch today, Autodesk posted over a dozen videos showing off some of the features of Smoke 2013 to its YouTube page. We posted a few of the videos below that walk through the new user interface, ConnectFX, editing, and powerful 3D visual effects.
*You can buy Smoke directly from Autodesk (save $700 until Jan. 25) or at Amazon. EDU discounts are also available.
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Earlier today, a number of customers who ordered the new 27-inch iMac when it went on sale on Nov. 30 started receiving notifications from Apple that their orders have now shipped. Apple quoted estimated delivery dates for these customers ranging from Dec. 18 to the end of the month. However, it appears some might even receive their new iMacs earlier with one 9to5Mac reader receiving an estimated arrival date of Dec. 13.
Apple changed the availability estimates for new 27-inch iMac orders on its website last week from “3-4 weeks” to “January”, indicating some new orders might not be available to ship until the end of next month. Unlike some of the new 21.5-inch iMacs originating from Fremont in the United States, many report orders of the 27-inch models as shipping from Shanghai, China.
Apple updated the iPhone 5 section of its online store to show shipping estimates for the handset have improved from “3 -4 weeks” to “2 -3 weeks”. The iPhone 5 has seen shipping delays since it first went on sale in late September due to high demand and problems in production. Today’s improvements follow official word from Foxconn in October that production for the iPhone 5 has improved. Foxconn said the iPhone 5 is “the most difficult device that Foxconn has ever assembled,” and it added production is getting better day-by-day. During Apple’s Q4 earnings call, CFO Peter Oppenheimer said, “We’re working very hard to get more into customer hands as quickly as possible.” CEO Tim Cook added, “The demand for iPhone 5 is extremely robust. We are in a significant state of backlog.”
Thanks, Luis!
Late last week, Apple started notifying customers that orders of LTE iPad minis would begin shipping within 5 business days. Those same customers were also reporting updated shipping times ranging from Nov. 21 to Nov. 23. As for the new iPad 4 with Retina display, Apple recently updated its website with an estimated shipping time of “7 business days,” but today we get word from several readers that existing orders of the device are set to arrive as early as Nov. 16.
The actual arrival time of the iPad 4 with LTE is a moving target, with earlier reports pointing to next week. However, with the release of the LTE iPad firmware on Apple’s servers on Nov. 8, it is likely that the review units are already in reviewers’ hands. So, a release this week isn’t out of the question.
The Nov. 16 date would line up nicely with Apple’s original promise to ship the LTE models of its new iPads within roughly 2 weeks of the Nov. 2 Wi-Fi-only launches. It looks like Apple might not be able to get out new orders of LTE iPad minis as quickly as the iPad 4, however, as its website currently lists the LTE capable minis as shipping in “2 weeks”.
Other rumors have also pointed to a Nov. 16 launch of in-store sales of the new LTE iPads at AT&T.
We’re sure to hear more. Another image below:
