Michael is a Creative Editor who covered Apple Retail and design on 9to5Mac. His stories highlighted the work of talented artists, designers, and customers through a unique lens of architecture, creativity, and community.
Contact Michael on Twitter to share Apple Retail, design, and history stories: @MichaelSteeber
Although the dark mode for OS X Yosemite that Apple previewed onstage at WWDC two weeks ago hasn’t officially made it into any build of Yosemite as of today, developer Hamza Sood has figured out a Terminal command which will let you get a taste of OS X’s dark mode now:
Photo via Foursquare
According to employee tweets and photos, Apple opened a stunning new Caffè Macs employee cafeteria at the corner of Bandley and Alves Dr. in Cupertino this past Tuesday. Located close to the company’s first campus building, Apple received approval to build at this location in early 2012, and after 2 years of work, the new cafeteria is complete.
The first walls around Apple’s Campus 2 have begun to take shape, as noted by KCBS reporter Ron Cervi, in a tweet today. Previously, more photos from KCBS showed the site’s considerable excavation under way, and earlier photos from March detailed the demolition work of the former HP campus on the site, which was almost complete at that time.
Apple has issued SMC update 2.0 for all mid-2013 MacBook Airs, citing a fix for battery problems while the computer’s screen is closed.
This update addresses an issue which may cause the battery to drain faster than expected when the lid is closed.
You can download the update here or in the Mac App Store.
Two of the great updated features in OS X Yosemite are improved versions of both Notification Center and Spotlight, both of which have become staples on OS X. Both of these features have received substantial updates, dropping their old user interfaces entirely, and gaining quite a few new features.
In this video, we’ll take you on a little tour of the new interfaces and their features.
Today at their annual WWDC Keynote, Apple announced iOS 8, the next major version of iOS, which includes features like an all new Photos app, a much improved Messages app, custom keyboard support, Family Sharing, and more.
Alongside the brand new iOS 8, Apple today unveiled OS X 10.10 Yosemite today at WWDC 2014. OS X Yosemite is by far the biggest change to OS X since its introduction itself, well over a decade ago. Of course, the biggest news here is the all new, iOS 7-inspired UI.
Following today’s WWDC 2014 keynote, Apple has just refreshed their website with tons of new information on iOS 8, OS X Yosemite, and all of the new developer announcements unveiled at the keynote. (Now let’s just hope they update that navigation bar soon!)
Apple has also refreshed the Dev Center with new betas for registered developers.
Stay tuned to 9to5Mac for more news coverage from WWDC 2014.
As part of OS X Yosemite, Apple announced an all new Photos app for Mac today at WWDC. The new app, which integrates iCloud sharing and many editing features, shares many of the same benefits of the Photos app built into iOS 8.
While Apple hasn’t announced a specific release date for Photos yet, they mentioned it will be coming “early next year.”
(Photos via Austin Business Journal)
Apple’s Campus 2 project in Cupertino isn’t the only construction project to keep your eyes on. The company’s massive new Austin campus is now operational, and new photos of the location that have been posted to Twitter and Instagram by employees at the complex show that the campus is a building worthy of the Apple name.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODmfmUWqlSA]
Update: Apple has now posted an accompanying microsite for the ad, featuring the ads shown in the video.
Apple has begun airing a new iPhone 5s ad this evening, first premiering on ABC during Agents Of SHIELD. This ad, featuring the interesting song ‘Gigantic‘ by the Pixies, takes a very different tone than the “Metal Mastered” ad released in October, which showed that gold really is best.
The ad shows common and uncommon tasks people can accomplish with their iPhone, such as creating music, tracking their health, shooting videos and photos, and playing games. The ad ends with the tagline “You’re more powerful than you think”. A new page on Apple’s website shows off the ad along with the featured software.
Amidst a flurry of reports and speculation regarding Apple’s iTunes Music Store and Radio strategy in the past few weeks, Apple has begun posting job listings indicating they are gearing up for major improvements to iTunes.
Four listings on Apple’s Jobs page show they are interested in hiring iTunes Software Engineers, a Senior Software Engineer for iTunes Radio, and an iTunes Recommendations Platform Software Engineer. From the descriptions:
Although most users have likely installed OS X 10.9.2 by now, after its release late last month, Apple is providing a reminder to those who haven’t.
Laggards like myself who are still running OS X 10.9.1 have begun to see notifications like the one below over the past day, pushing the critical update which included a fix for the well-publicized SSL bug found in both iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks.
Sonico Mobile, of iTranslate fame, released today version 2 of iTranslate Voice, bringing an entirely new design and a few new features as well. Let’s take a look at what’s new.
The first thing you’ll notice in iTranslate Voice 2 is the completely new design. Sonico Mobile has always done a great job making their apps fit very well with the design aesthetic of iOS, and today’s update is no departure. iTranslate Voice closely adopts the look of Apple’s Messages app, creating a natural, conversation-like feel. There’s also lots of great design details you’ll notice while using the app, like live voice recognition waveforms, and a clever pull-to-clear animation. Clearly, there was a lot of time put into this app.
Following last week’s build, Apple has seeded a new build of OS X Mavericks 10.9.2 to developers. These builds are relatively minor at this point, and point to a near-shipping build of 10.9.2 for the general public. Apple will be bringing FaceTime Audio and iMessage/FaceTime blocking in 10.9.2.
Update: These appear to be fake…
Sonny Dickson has posted images today which claim to show the casing for the next generation iPhone. The metal shell, which closely resembled both the industrial design of the current iPod touch and iPad Air, appears to be of unibody construction. While it’s impossible to verify the legitimacy of these images at this time, they provide an interesting look at what Apple might be planning.
We’ve been hearing reports that the next iPhone will feature a larger, sapphire crystal display, and these images support those rumors, sporting what looks like much larger casing. The report also hints that the current iPhone 5s may stick around, but be manufactured out of cheaper materials, alongside both 4.7 and 5.5″ iPhone models. But what does that mean for this shell?
We’ve got lots more images in the full gallery below:
Mactracker, the definitive app for tracking Apple product information, received a substantial update today, on the Mac’s 30th birthday. Both the OS X and iOS versions have, for the first time, added Apple’s non-Macintosh computers to the database, including the entire Apple II line, and many early Apple monitors and accessories.
Coinciding with today’s update to Keynote for Mac and iOS, Apple has silently removed the old Keynote Remote application from the App Store. Although a direct link to the application still works, some readers are reporting that they are no longer able to download the app, and it no longer appears in search results.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ShyrAhp8JQ
Last week, Apple released its popular “Your Verse” ad, featuring beautiful imagery of the iPad Air used in a wide variety of different scenarios, accompanied by a voiceover from the film Dead Poet’s Society. Today, just in time for the Super Bowl, Apple uploaded two variations of that ad, “Light Verse” and “Sound Verse”, both shortened versions of the original.
For the first time, eight of Black Sabbath’s early studio albums, and three compilations will be available exclusively on iTunes. According to the New York Times, the window of exclusivity will be short, however, with the band’s music arriving on streaming services very soon.
It’s worth noting that some of Black Sabbath’s later music was already available on iTunes, but many of their early tracks are first making their digital debut today. The list of holdouts from iTunes continues to shrink, with AC/DC arriving in 2012, and The Beatles in 2010.
In a press release published today by Apple, the technology company announced that it has finally reached an agreement with China Mobile, and will begin selling the iPhone on this upcoming January 17th. The agreement covers both the iPhone 5s and 5c, and marks the first time the iPhone will be sold in China Mobile’s network of retail locations, along with the Apple Store. China Mobile has been aggressively showcasing Apple products up to this agreement. Pre-registration for the iPhone on China Mobile begins this Wednesday.
Every year since the introduction of the iPhone 3GS, Apple has worked to improve the camera and video capture experience of the iPhone. The iPhone 5s marks the first truly capable device for recording professional looking movies in a wide variety of situations. As Apple has shown, you can even film a television commercial with it. Chances are, you know someone, who, like myself, loves taking photos and video on their iPhone. With the holidays just around the corner, I’ve gathered up some of the best accessories for iPhone filmmaking.
The Glif Plus
Stabilization is the best (and easiest) way to make your videos look more professional and polished. The Glif Plus is a small tripod adapter that you can slide your iPhone into. From there, you’ll be able to attach your phone to any standard tripod, for ultra smooth and stable video footage. The Glif Plus also includes an extra little stand built in which you can use as a simple prop for your device, great for watching movies. You can even attach the Glif to a keychain.
[$30]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImlmVqH_5HM]
As is tradition, Apple is airing a new holiday commercial this evening, this time highlighting the iPhone 5s, its movie making capabilities, and AirPlay with the Apple TV. The ad is set to the tune of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”. As you may recall, last year Apple highlighted the iPad and FaceTime, with an ad set to “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”. In 2011, Apple featured Siri and the then-new iPhone 4S.
What you see above is the culmination of too many late weekends spent online, dozens of hours studying Google Maps street view, and perhaps a little too much free time. About two years ago I decided to re-create Apple’s Headquarters in Minecraft. The project seemed difficult, but I figured at a modest scale i could accomplish it relatively quickly.