Apple Archive

Apple Loved You Pro Users; Loves Your Money More, Now

Guest post by Universal Mind 2010-08-06 Apple 94 Comments

The "Macs are too expensive" argument is one of the most tiresome and long-lived flamewars in internet history. Obviously, Apple makes a premium product and charges premium prices, and you can always find a computer from another vendor that seems to match or exceed specs that costs less. But if you look at Apple's Mac Pro line, and compare it not so much to other vendors, but to the past lineup of Mac Pros, you discover some very unpleasant truths that help explain why Apple is enjoying record earnings for their Mac line, but doing so to the detriment of some its most loyal and valuable customers.

JailbreakMe Returns: Easy iPhone 4 Jailbreak

Submitted by Matthew Humphries 2010-08-02 Apple 21 Comments

A few years ago, there was a website called Jailbreakme.com that enabled you to jailbreak your iPhone without iTunes, by just visiting a web site. But it stopped working with one of the OS updates, so people forgot about it. Well, it's back. I've actually been waiting to jailbreak my new iPhone 4 and for an iOS 4 jailbreak for my old iPhone 3GS, but after fiddling around with downloading big ipsw files from sketchy websites only to find they didn't work, I decided to wait for an easier option.

Free Bumpers for iPhone Buyers

David Adams 2010-07-16 Apple 60 Comments

In a move that should surprise nobody, Apple has sort-of admitted to iPhone antenna problems in their press conference this morning, claiming it affects a small number of users, but they claim to be working hard to fix the problems that they have confirmed. They've offered free bumpers (that have until now been a $30 accessory) to all iPhone buyers, and are offering to waive any restocking fees for anyone who wants to return their iPhone 4. Whether or not there's going to be a hardware fix for future iPhones, Steve Jobs says he doesn't know yet whether that will happen.

Submitted by strestout1 2010-07-15 Apple 4 Comments

Apple has just released the first beta of iOS 4.1. While no official changelog has been posted by Apple, we can expect to see improvements in the way the iPhone calculates signal reception, a flaw which was found by Apple recently during testing. You must be a registered developer in order to access the download, but if you have an account, you can get it here.

Why Geeks Hate the iPad

David Adams 2010-07-07 Apple 168 Comments

A Forbes article notices that while the iPad's reception from the public and the mainstream press has been overwhelmingly positive, the prevailing sentiment among some alpha geeks has been negative to the extreme. The conclusion, of course, is that these people aren't reacting to what the iPad is, but rather what it represents: a violation of the ethos of the personal computer. The author of the Forbes article concludes that much of the anti-iPad vitriol is hyperbole, and doesn't help advance the cause. It's a thought-provoking question.

Recent Jobs Emails Fake; Futurama Takes on Apple, Google

Thom Holwerda 2010-07-02 Apple 21 Comments

While it wasn't a very important link in the story about the iPhone 4's antenna issue, we did link to an article over at Boy Genius Report which supposedly contained emails coming from Steve Jobs. Apple has told Fortune and Engadget that these emails are, in fact, not from Steve Jobs. Apple claims they're fake. Also, on a funnier note, I'm assuming all of you have already seen last night's brand new Futurama episode in which they make some serious fun of Apple, Google, the iPhone, and its fans?

Finally, Someone Does Proper iPhone 4 Antenna Testing

Thom Holwerda 2010-07-01 Apple 38 Comments

So, the iPhone 4 has been out for a while, and is getting mostly pretty good reviews - there's one major sore spot, though. Apple made this hoopla about their fancy antenna thingie, but as it turns out, this thingie is kind of a design flaw, causing signal loss (and dropped calls) for some people. Despite downplaying by Steve Jobs himself, AnandTech has done a thorough investigation, and they've found out that the problem - which affects every mobile phone - is a whole lot worse on the iPhone 4 due to the new antenna. At the same time, however, the iPhone has much better reception in low signal situations. What?

iPhone 4 Review

David Adams 2010-06-28 Apple 16 Comments

Ars Technica reviews the iPhone: Despite regular modifications to the OS and yearly hardware upgrades, the iPhone 4 is very much a more modern, more capable version of that original device that made such a splash in the industry back in 2007.

Apple Releases iOS 4

Thom Holwerda 2010-06-21 Apple 32 Comments

So, I might not be able to do much work on OSNews due to my internship (I always wondered what tumble weeds looked and sounded like on a website - now I know), but I did know one thing: Monday, June 21, is iTunes day. This means launching that horrid mess to go through the painstakingly archaic backup/update iTunes/update iOS routine (and yes, they still try to cheat you into installing Safari) - because Apple released iOS 4.0 today, adding a number of welcome features to bring the iOS up to par with the competition.

Apple Updates Mac Mini. Aluminium, HDMI, SD Card Slot

Kroc 2010-06-15 Apple 133 Comments

Apple have updated the Mac Mini. It now sports an aluminium (no, I am not going to spell it "aluminum") enclosure, an HDMI port, an internal PSU (no power-brick!) and oddly, an SD card slot in the back. There's also an access hole on the bottom to change the RAM easily.

Apple Specifically Blocks Google’s AdMob from iOS

Thom Holwerda 2010-06-08 Apple 120 Comments

When Apple announced its iAd mobile advertising initiative, many of us wondered how this would effect other mobile advertising agencies on the iPhone, and more specifically, Google's AdMob. Well, now we know: Apple has revised its iOS developer agreement to specifically lock out Google's AdMod. And then people wonder why Apple is no longer the darling of the geek world.

Safari 5 Released

Thom Holwerda 2010-06-08 Apple 37 Comments

We're a little late with this one, but hey, I have to sleep too. In the middle of last night, Apple released version 5 of its Safari web browser for both Mac OS X and Windows, and it contains some very interesting improvements, including an extensions framework.

John Sculley on Why He Fired Jobs

Thom Holwerda 2010-06-07 Apple 28 Comments

"As Apple's CEO introduces his new iPhone today, and its market cap passes Microsoft's, the man who infamously fired him, John Sculley, tells The Daily Beast's Thomas E. Weber about his regrets, their rift - and how their partnership could have worked: Jobs should have been CEO, and Sculley's boss, rather than the other way around. Plus, other 1985 board members on Jobs then and now, and where they are today."

Apple Launches iPhone 4

Thom Holwerda 2010-06-07 Apple 126 Comments

As everybody already expected, Apple "unveiled" the new iPhone tonight. It's called the iPhone 4, and brings the iPhone up to par with what's already available on other smartphone platforms, hardware wise, while raising the bar on a few specific points (the display, mostly). The company also announced a name change for its mobile operating system - it's now called iOS. What we didn't get during this year's WWDC keynote? News about the Mac, Mac OS X, or the Apple TV. Make no mistake: the iPhone and iPad is where it's at.

Will Apple Embrace the Web? No.

Kroc 2010-05-29 Apple 103 Comments

I've been meaning to write this for some time, and for all the time I delayed the more poignant the point I wanted to make started to become as new news came out further solidifying my angle. When I begun writing this article the iPad had not yet been revealed, iPhone OS 4 was not on the map and Apple had not yet purchased Lala. You've probably just noticed that all of these events in fact point toward Apple embracing the web more and in this article I will point out why this is not the case because I believe Apple's agenda here is similar to something we've already seen in recent history.

Writing iPhone Apps with Visual Studio?

Thom Holwerda 2010-05-27 Apple 74 Comments

It's rumour time! Analyst Trip Chowdhry, with Global Equities Research, is claiming that Microsoft has been allotted seven minutes during Steve Jobs' WWDC keynote speech. Supposedly, the Redmond giant will unveil that developers will be able to write native iPhone, iPad, and Mac applications using Visual Studio 2010 on Windows. As crazy as this sounds, this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who can move beyond the outdated Apple vs. Microsoft attitude.

Howto: MacOS 9 on Ubuntu Using SheepShaver

Thom Holwerda 2010-05-19 Apple 32 Comments

Remember MacOS 9, or Classic as Apple named it once Mac OS X was released? On PowerPC Macintosh machines, you can install a Classic environment which launches a virtualised instance of MacOS 9 whenever you launch a Classic application. This environment has been dropped from Intel releases of Mac OS X, but thanks to SheepShaver, you can still set it up yourself on Mac OS X, Linux, Windows, and even BeOS if you want to. I decided to try SheepShaver on my Ubuntu machine, and discovered just how easy it really is.

Apple Quietly Boosts MacBook Speed, Battery Life

Thom Holwerda 2010-05-18 Apple 18 Comments

"Apple today quietly refreshed its entry-level MacBook laptop, boosting the processor speed and inserting a longer-life battery. The MacBook remains priced at $999. Apple bumped the MacBook's Intel Core 2 Duo processor speed to 2.4GHz, up from 2.2GHz, and replaced the battery with a 10-hr. battery to match the estimate that it uses in the higher-priced MacBook Pro line. Like the batteries used in those more expensive cousins, the MacBook's is within the case, and cannot be swapped out by the user. The MacBook now sports Nvidia's GeForce 320M integrated graphics, the specially-made-for-Apple successor to the GeForce 9400M, the MacBook's former chipset. The GeForce 320M also powers the two lowest-priced 13-in. MacBook Pro laptops, priced at $1199 and $1499."

revMobile Rejected from App Store, Unity Team Not Worried

Submitted by RJay75 2010-05-18 Apple 25 Comments

While I was too young to experience its heyday, I have heard a lot of people wax lyrically about Apple's HyperCard. Even Steve Jobs himself said, earlier this year, that he'd love for a HyperCard-like environment to come to the iPhone, but that someone would have to build it. Well, someone did indeed build it, called it revMobile, but Apple has rejected 'it' from the App Store (i.e., applications developed using revMobile) because it violates section 3.3.1 of the iPhone SDK agreement. The team behind Unity, however, are luckier: Unity games are still being accepted into the App Store, and as such, they're not worried.

Jobs: iPad Provides Freedom from Porn

Thom Holwerda 2010-05-16 Apple 12 Comments

"I didn't plan to pick a fight with Steve Jobs last night. It just sort of happened: An iPad advertisement ticked me off; I sent the Apple CEO an angry email; he told me about 'freedom from porn'. The electronic debate proceeded from there." Says the man who used to use LSD. This man knows how to sell iPads to America: think of the children!