Intel's latest Haswell processors may not have increased performance a grand jot over last year's Ivy Bridge, but in terms of efficiency, the improvements are clear for all to see. With Apple's MacBook Air 2013 range already reaping the benefits with vastly increased battery life, the MacBook Pro notebook would seem next in line, and according to a report, Haswell-powered MacBook Pros will begin shipping next month.
Since the focus of mainstream attention has remained almost squarely upon the progress of Apple's iOS 7 betas, it's rather easy to forget about OS X Mavericks 10.9, which is also currently being readied for prime time. While the name may have raised one or two eyebrows after a series of big cat releases, the changes made to the Mac operating system are very much business as usual, and the sixth developer preview doesn't appear to offer anything radically different from the previous offering.
All new Apple products go through a process of extensive, meticulous testing before hitting the market, a move that ensures that each device is safe to use and free of any mechanical error. But despite this, it is often the case that unforeseen issues do arise, and a problem with the graphics card for some mid-2011 iMac computers has meant that the fruit company will be taking remedial steps by means of a replacement program.
With Apple currently in the process of developing a bunch of new software products ready for release later on this year, the technology industry has been looking on with great intrigue. iOS 7 has, quite naturally, dominated the headlines, but OS X Mavericks 10.9 is also clocking up its fair share of preview releases ahead of its own debut, which should come significantly earlier than its mobile-tailored counterpart. In recent times, we've seen Apple bring quite a few of iOS's features over to its desktop OS in what has been dubbed an "iOS-ification," and whilst the changes to Mavericks don't seem to bear as many iOS hallmarks as Mountain Lion, designer Stu Crew has tried to paint a picture of what OS X Mavericks could look like if given the same design makeover as iOS 7.
In its efforts to remain relevant in light of Google Chrome's emergence over the past couple of years, Mozilla has continued to pump out the updates to its famed Firefox browser. Today brings another fleet of new features and improvements to the major desktop platforms as well as Android, capped off with an ever-so-slight alteration to the logo. Details after the break.
Good news is amongst us all you game-loving, Mac owning folks. It may be well overdue and a long time coming, but EA has today officially announced that SimCity will be coming to the Mac platform on August 29th, as opposed to the previous SimCity release date. The open-ended, city building game has been an extremely popular addition to a gamer’s arsenal since its original launch, and although the latest version of the series was launched for Windows back in March, it has yet to make an appearance on the Mac App Store. With August 29th only just over three weeks away the time has nearly come.
iMessage, Apple's cross device messaging service for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Mac, has been a relative success since first appearing with iOS 5 and subsequently, OS X Lion. Yet like most fledgling services, it has had its fair share of teething issues, with a notable lack of proper blocking / reporting feature in place for spam messages. iOS 7 will allow users to block Apple IDs causing offence as we already know, but now, the Cupertino has also rolled out a nifty spam reporting feature enabling users to take action against any kind of intrusive or otherwise unwanted behavior.
Apple seems to be busily getting its developer releases out there today after the security breach which resulted in the entire system being dragged offline. Along with the news that iOS 7 beta 4 is finally making its appearance today, iTunes 11.1 has also been released to those registered to Apple's Developer Program. The updated iTunes 11.1 beta 1 is quite limited at this point, given that it only works on the fruit company’s very on OS X, but does include iTunes Radio integration for those living in the United States. More details can be found right after the jump.
Apple has posted its earnings call for the third fiscal quarter leading up to June 29th, 2013, and although the numbers do not generally make for as impressive a reading as this time last year, the company's flagship iPhone smartphone continues to go from strength to strength. The company posted quarterly revenue of $35.3 billion (compared with $35 billion year-on-year), translating to a quarterly net profit of $6.9 billion ($8.8 billion), or $7.47 ($9.32) per diluted share.
Intel's astonishingly efficient Haswell processors have already worked wonders for the 2013 MacBook Air range, and KGI Securities' Ming-Chi Kuo - one of the more reliable Apple analysts out there - seems to believe the iMac could be the recipient of the new chip in a refresh set to roll out as early as next month. Furthermore, Kuo also believes Apple plans to roll out new MacBook Pros in September, which are also expected to be powered by Haswell.
