OS X

Apple today released OS X 10.11 Public Beta 3 to non-developer testers trying El Capitan ahead of its public release later this fall. The latest public beta version follows the off-cycle release of OS X 10.11 developer beta 5 seeded out on Monday.
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According to a leaked product page on the Australian Parallels page, the popular virtual machine software will support Microsoft’s Cortana virtual assistant throughout OS X. The product page explains that as long as Windows 10 is running somewhere in the background, users will always be able to say “Hey Cortana” and receive a response (via Neowin).

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Apple can’t advertise Macs as having ten-year lifespans for legal reasons, and reviewers rarely write about their old computers ten years later — they’re typically focused on each year’s latest and greatest machine. But the average person buys a computer and keeps using it until it stops working, something I note every time a friend or family member “finally” upgrades from an old Mac to a new one.

This morning, Christopher Phin’s article “Saying goodbye to a beloved 2008 MacBook Pro” recalled the many end-of-life Mac discussions I’ve had with people over the years — specifically that their still-working-but-old Macs are so antiquated that virtually every internal component has been replaced in current models. Yet no one ever says they’re switching from an old Mac to a new PC; instead, the conversation is always about figuring out which new Mac to buy, or whether to squeeze a little more life from the old machine with a hard drive to SSD swap or additional RAM.

The superb longevity of Macs isn’t discussed very often, but it’s due as much to the durability of the hardware as the engineering of the software. Let’s take a quick look at what keeps Macs going so long…

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Following this week’s fourth developer preview of OS X 10.11, Apple has released the second El Capitan public beta to testers. The OS X public beta allows Mac users to test the new features included in the operating system update and submit feedback ahead of its public release later this fall. Participation in Apple’s public beta program does not require a paid developer member account. OS X 10.11 public beta 2 includes the same changes as yesterday’s OS X 10.11 beta 4 release.
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Apple today has released the fourth developer preview of OS X 10.11 El Capitan. The operating system carries the build number 15A226f. Two weeks ago, the company pushed the third beta build to developers after initially introducing the operating system at WWDC last month. Beta 3 brought about a variety of minor changes, including changes to Mission Control, the Photos app, and the Calendar app.

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Apple has just published two new software betas for developers on its Developer Center. The new betas cover both OS X Yosemite and iOS 8, with what appear to be bug fix releases on each platform. You can find the change logs below. We’ll also include a running list of changes.

Apple recently distributed iOS 9 beta 3 to developers and beta testers, and OS X 10.10.4 to the general public. iOS 8.4 was released around the same time to introduce Apple Music support on mobile devices.

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Pixelmator for iPhone and iPad has today been updated to version 2.0.2 bringing even more features to the popular image editor for iOS and Mac. This update adds a new kind of brush stroke called Dynamic Touch, which simulates pressure sensitivity by examining the size of the finger input that touches the screen. Larger surface area produces thicker strokes on the canvas. Similarly, using just the tip of a finger results in fine lines in the app.

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Apple has released a maintenance update to iTunes 12.2 that addresses issues related to Apple Music, iTunes Match, and Beats 1. The release specifically mentions resolving an issue where songs from iTunes Match would become classified as songs from Apple Music, which would result in unnecessary DRM being added.
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Apple earlier today began rolling out the third betas of iOS 9, watchOS 2, and OS X 10.11 El Capitan and we’ve been digging into each of them, trying to figure out what is new, changed, and improved. Most of the changes come on the iOS 9 and watchOS 2 side of things, with the new OS X 10.11 beta focusing mainly on under-the-hood changes. Read on for all of the changes…

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BlueStacks, a free desktop Android emulator that lets users play any mobile game or app on the big screen with a mouse and keyboard, has mostly been limited to PC users until today. But Mac users are about to get access to the software that the company says already has around 90 million users on Windows.
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Adobe has issued a security update for its Flash Player on OS X, Windows, and Linux. The company says in a security bulletin on its website that this update addresses a critical security vulnerability that could allow an attacker to gain control and take over an affected system.

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It would be silly to say that Apple’s latest iteration of the 15-inch 2015 MacBook Pro with Retina Display is the best MacBook yet, because that’s mostly the truth with every new model. Unfortunately, you won’t find a shiny new processor setup this time around, as Apple stuck with the trusty old Haswell configuration, but there are some nice improvements here.

The good news is, there’s a bump in clock speed across the board if that matters to you and we have a new GPU setup thanks to AMD in the high-end model. Even with these modest upgrades, the MacBook Pro I purchased is a beast for content creation…

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It’s been two full work weeks since Apple released the first betas of iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan, and I’ve been using the software since day one. With a ton of new features from a revamped Notes app to a completely new Search system and new multitasking tools, both operating systems promise to make your life much, much easier.

But how much of an impact on your daily life can these new features have? I’ve compiled some thoughts after using them to help you get an idea.

Before we jump into anything, I want to point out that the purpose of this article isn’t to focus on the bugs or problems that (obviously) plague beta software, but rather to examine the usefulness of the features added in the most recent updates. For that reason, there won’t be much discussion of stability or other potential issues unless they directly relate to how the features work, and the impact they’ve had on my day-to-day usage.

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Researchers from Indiana University and the Georgia Institute of Technology said that security holes in both iOS and OS X allow a malicious app to steal passwords from Apple’s Keychain, as well as both Apple and third-party apps. The claims appear to have been confirmed by Apple, Google and others.

We completely cracked the keychain service – used to store passwords and other credentials for different Apple apps – and sandbox containers on OS X, and also identified new weaknesses within the inter-app communication mechanisms on OS X and iOS which can be used to steal confidential data from Evernote, Facebook and other high-profile apps

The Register says the team reported the flaws to Apple in October of last year. At that time, Apple said that it understood the seriousness of the flaws and asked the researchers to give it six months to address them before the exploit was made public. In February, Apple requested an advance copy of the paper, yet the flaws remain present in the latest versions of both operating systems … 
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At Apple’s WWDC 2015 keynote, we got our first glimpse at OS X 10.11 El Capitan. Say what you will about the name (I’m not a huge fan), but it does come along with some nice under-the-hood improvements and new features. Today we’re taking a look at the top five features available with OS X El Capitan…

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Up until recently, unfinished “beta” versions of iOS and OS X were only officially available to registered Apple developers, enabling companies to make their apps compatible before the operating systems were publicly released. But to increase openness and expand its pool of beta testers, Apple decided to offer “public betas” of both iOS and OS X to interested users, starting with iOS 8.4 and OS X Yosemite. Very soon, both iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan will become available as public betas under the Apple Beta Software Program, which you can sign up for here.

Should you install these new and unstable betas on your iPad, iPhone, or Mac? What can you really expect after doing so? Below, I’ll provide you with some guidance so you can make an informed decision to participate in the public betas, or hold off…

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As first predicted by 9to5Mac, Apple today announced a revamped version of ts Spotlight search software that will be included in OS X 10.11, called “El Capitan.” The new search system allows users to resize and move the Spotlight window, which presents new types of content.

Sports scores and other Siri data will be suppoted, and natural language search allows users to track down mail messages and documents easily. The search upgrades are also available in apps like Mail and Finder.

Keep reading for a full feature list of the new Spotlight

Keeping with its recent annual update cycle, Apple showed off the next version of the Mac desktop operating system at WWDC today. OS X 10.11, the latest system version, carries the name El Capitan following Apple’s pattern of using names of prominent locations across California including Yosemite and Mavericks in years prior. Full details below:
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It’s Monday, June 8th and nearly time for Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference. We’ve already run down what we’re expecting from the conference, ranging from a significant iOS 9 update for iPads, iPhones, and iPod touches with a focus on quality, an upgraded version of OS X with the same core focus, the new Apple Music streaming service along with the new iTunes Radio, and the native software development kit (SDK) for the Apple Watch. We’ll be following the news closely from before the keynote, during the event, and after the event, and we’ll be live updating this post with the latest information out of the WWDC Keynote.

You can find our live updates and analysis below, as we get closer to show time.

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