The Star Wars universe got a little smaller on Tuesday when Carrie Fisher, who portrayed Princess Leia in four Star Wars films, passed away following a heart attack late last week.
News
Apple May Add 5-inch Screen to the 2017 iPhone Lineup
Apple is adding a 5-inch model to its iPhone lineup in 2017, or so the latest supply chain report claims. Assuming the sources are right, that would give Apple four different smartphone screen sizes starting at 4-inches for the iPhone SE, and topping out at 5.5-inches for the iPhone 7 Plus.
Apple Opens Up to AI Community with Research White Paper
Apple’s artificial intelligence efforts are starting to come to light thanks to a just published white paper. The document describes a way to use artificial images to train computers to recognize real world objects, and is also a bit of a good faith gesture towards the open research philosophy in the AI community.
Happy Holidays from The Mac Observer to You!
Christmas, Hanukkah, Festivus, Solstice…It doesn’t matter what you celebrate this time of year—or if you celebrate at all. The Mac Observer hopes this weekend is a wonderful time for you, and that you get to take a day or two off to relax. We’re taking Monday off, but we’ll be back on Tuesday, December 27th, with our iPhone, iPad, and Mac coverage, along with a fresh TMO Daily Observations episode, too.
iOS Developers Get More Time To Use ATS
At its World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) this year, Apple announced that all apps on its platform must support App Transport Security (ATS). The company told developers on Friday, however, that it is extending that deadline.
Pokémon GO Finally Comes to Apple Watch
Niantic came through on its promise to release Pokémon GO for Apple Watch before the end of the year. The Apple Watch version is a companion app for the iPhone game that lets you log your walks and runs to hatch new characters, and alerts you to nearby Pokémon and PokéStops.
Russia And Turkey Ask Apple to Unlock Killer's iPhone 4s
Apple’s encryption debate isn’t over yet. Several days ago, a man assassinated the Russian ambassador to Turkey before turning the gun on himself. Now, Russian and Turkish authorities have asked Apple to unlock the shooter’s iPhone 4s.
AT&T Launches Spam Call Blocking with Call Protect for iPhone
AT&T launched a new spam call blocking service this week called Call Protect. The service blocks calls before they reach your iPhone, but it comes with some big limitations.
Super Mario Run Downloads Top 40M in 4 Days
Nintendo’s Super Mario Run for the iPhone and iPad is off to a great start topping 40 million downloads in only four days. This follows the US$5 million the game brought in during its first 24 hours.
Apple Extends USB-C Dongle Discounts to March 31 2017
Apple’s discount on USB-C adapters was set to end on December 31st, but the company extended that out to March 31st, 2017. The extension means new MacBook Pro owners have more time to but the dongles they need at a substantially lower price.
Apple Stopped Signing iOS 10.1 and 10.1.1 - What That Means
Now that iOS 10.2 is officially released to the public, Apple has stopped signing iOS 10.1 and iOS 10.1.1. Users won’t be able to downgrade if you run into issues with iOS 10.2. Andrew Orr explains what that means.
Apple Updates AirPort Firmware to Fix Disappearing Base Station Issue
Apple released AirPort Base Station Firmware Update 7.7.8 on Tuesday. The update fixes an issue that caused some AirPort Base Stations to disappear from AirPort Utility when Find My Mac is on. It’s specifically for AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule base stations with 802.11ac.
Tim Cook Says 'Great Desktops' are Coming
The iMac hasn’t been updated in over a year and the Mac Pro is more than three years old without any changes, leaving many wondering if Apple is stepping back from the desktop computer market. Apple CEO Tim Cook says that’s not so, and that there are “great desktops in our roadmap.”
iFixit: AirPods Aren't Repairable, Case May Have Caused Delay
Apple’s AirPods have been available for only a day, and with very limited availability, but iFixit managed to get ahold of a pair and subject them to their usual new product dissection. What they found inside were components that can’t be repaired, and a charging case that may be behind the extended delay in getting to store shelves.
Constrained Inventory Leaves AirPods Buyers Empty Handed
Hopeful shoppers lined up early Monday morning in a mostly fruitless effort to buy Apple’s AirPods today instead of waiting until January for online orders to ship. AirPods are backordered six weeks, but the company said the wireless earpods would be available in its retail stores on Monday, December 19th.
What You Get for Super Mario Run's $10 In-app Purchase
Super Mario Run for the iPhone and iPad is free to play, but that’s a little misleading. Without making the US$9.99 in-app purchase to unlock all of the game’s levels, there isn’t much you can do. Read on to see what your ten dollars gets you.
Apple Trying to Beef Up Battery Engineering Team
In the wake of ongoing complaints about battery performance and reporting on MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, Apple is looking to beef up its battery-engineering team. 9to5Mac noted the company just added two positions related to batteries, Battery Algorithm Analysis Engineer and System Power and Control Architect.
AirPods Available in Apple's Retail Stores on Dec 19
If you missed out on ordering your AirPods for a pre-Christmas delivery, there’s still a chance you might get ahold of a pair because they’ll be available in Apple’s retail stores on Monday, December 19th. Don’t, however, get your hopes up because this will likely mirror the Apple Pencil launch where “available in store” really means “good luck with that.”
Super Mario Run Already the Top Grossing App Store Title
Nintendo released Super Mario Run for the iPhone and iPad Thursday afternoon, and by early Friday morning it was already the top grossing and top free title on Apple’s App Store. The game is a free download with a US$9.99 in-app purchase to unlock extra levels, and considering Mario’s top spot on the App Store plenty of players are happy to pay up.
iPhone 7, Pokémon GO Top 2016 Google Searches
It looks like the things people wanted to know about the most in 2016 were Pokémon GO and the iPhone 7. The two topped Google’s this year’s searches, beating out Donald Trump and Prince.
Super Mario Run Available for iPhone and iPad
As promised, Super Mario Run for the iPhone and iPad launched on Apple’s App Store on Thursday. The game marks Mario’s first official appearance on Apple’s mobile devices and was first teased this fall, and if the hype is any indication productivity is going to take a serious hit for the rest of today.
1B User Accounts Compromised in Massive Yahoo! Data Breach
If you have a Yahoo! login, it’s time to go change your password again. The company says personal information for more than a billion users was stolen, including names and passwords. The security breach happened in August 2013, and is likely the largest ever.
Apple Pay Expands with Causemo And GoDaddy
On Wednesday, Apple added domain registrar GoDaddy and startup Causemo to Apple Pay. Apple has steadily expanded the list of retailers and other companies who accept Apple Pay online, increasing the service’s footprint.
![4 Apps for Seeing Your Mac’s Battery Time Remaining [Updated]](https://www.macobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/macos-battery-menu.webp)
4 Apps for Seeing Your Mac's Battery Time Remaining [Updated]
Apple took away the time remaining estimate from its Battery menu bar widget in macOS 10.12.2 presumably because it was inaccurate and confusing. That’s a problem because a lot of MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and MacBook users rely on the time estimate to get an idea of how long they can go before they have to find a power outlet. Even though Apple deemed the time remaining estimate unnecessary, other developers get that it’s an important feature. Read on to see some of TMO’s favorite battery monitoring apps.