Apple’s iPhone event is scheduled for September 9. Prepare thy wallet.
Category: Apple
Polishing Cloth Updated ⇢
Apple’s Polishing Cloth is now just $9. It is unclear if this cloth is in any way different from what debuted five years ago for $19.
According to Apple, it is compatible with these products:
iPhones:
- iPhone Air
- iPhone 17 Pro
- iPhone 17 Pro Max
- iPhone 17
- iPhone 17e
- iPhone 16 Pro
- iPhone 16 Pro Max
- iPhone 16
- iPhone 16 Plus
- iPhone 16e
- iPhone 15 Pro
- iPhone 15 Pro Max
- iPhone 15
- iPhone 15 Plus
- iPhone 14 Pro
- iPhone 14 Pro Max
- iPhone 14
- iPhone 14 Plus
- iPhone 13 Pro
- iPhone 13 Pro Max
- iPhone 13 mini
- iPhone 13
- iPhone SE (3rd generation)
- iPhone 12 Pro
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 12 mini
- iPhone 12
- iPhone 11 Pro
- iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone 11
- iPhone SE (2nd generation)
- iPhone XS
- iPhone XS Max
- iPhone XR
- iPhone X
- iPhone 8
- iPhone 8 Plus
- iPhone 7
- iPhone 7 Plus
- iPhone 6s
- iPhone 6s Plus
- iPhone 6
- iPhone 6 Plus
- iPhone SE (1st generation)
- iPhone 5s
- iPhone 5c
- iPhone 5
iPads:
Mac mini, Mac Studio Updated ⇢
There’s big news in the land of small desktops. Jason Snell at Six Colors:
In a bit of a late-August surprise while the world awaits word on the next generation of iPhones, on Tuesday Apple announced two new processors, the M5 Ultra and M6, which help power new iterations of its Mac Studio and Mac mini desktop computers.
Mac mini with M6 and M5 Pro
The M6 is built with a new 2-nanometer process and comes with 12 CPU cores, up from the 10 found in the base M4 and M5. It packs six efficiency cores, four performance cores, and two super cores. Snell explains:
Tap to Pay Coming to Wal-Mart ⇢
Golden Gate Beta 6 Turns Stoplights into Liquid Glass
Developer Beta 6 of the 27 OSes is out today, and the macOS build has something I didn’t really expect this late in the game: redesigned window controls!
Like before, hovering over the “stoplight” controls with the cursor reveals the close, minimize, and junk drawer that has become the former maximize button.
Tahoe is on the left; Golden Gate Beta 6 is on the right:
(Trying to line up screenshots between a MacBook Neo and a MacBook Pro using a Pro Display XDR was …fun. Click the image to enlarge it.)
Apple TV Adds ‘Classic’ Films ⇢
Apple has again added a collection of classic movies to Apple TV that subscribers can now stream at no extra cost.
The films are located in a new “Great Movies Available Now on Apple TV” carousel inside the Apple TV app. So far, free titles are showing up for subscribers in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, with the exact selection differing by country. In the U.S., 19 movies are available.
CarPlay’s on a Boat and It’s Going Fast and...
Today, MasterCraft has announced it is adding CarPlay to some of its upcoming pontoon boats.
For those keeping score:
✅ Most new cars, at all sorts of price points
✅ Boats
❌ Rivian
It’s Public Beta Time
macOS Golden Gate and iOS/iPadOS/watchOS 27 are out in Public Beta. Jason Snell and Dan Moren have more over on Six Colors. At MacStories, Jonathan Reed wrote up watchOS, and Devon Dundee took on visionOS.
macOS 28 Will Remove Support for Encrypted HFS+ Volumes ⇢
Apple, in a new support document:
In macOS 28 and later, the Mac OS Extended file system format will be supported only for volumes (disks and other storage devices) that aren’t encrypted. For future macOS compatibility, either decrypt or reformat any encrypted Mac OS Extended volumes.
macOS 28 and later will continue to support unencrypted volumes that use Mac OS Extended format. Mac OS Extended is also known as HFS Plus (or HFS+).
Golden Gate Bridge Wallpaper Added to macOS 27 Developer Beta 3
When the first Golden Gate beta shipped, the most obvious wallpaper was missing. With Developer Beta 3 today, Apple has made that right, with this beauty joining the earlier wallpaper:
Managing an Xserve Cluster ⇢
Jeff Geerling is living the dream:
Apple Has Increased Prices Across Mac and iPad Models ⇢
As foretold, Apple has increased the prices of many products today. Chance Miller has put together a list:
Macs
| Product: | Old Price: | New Price: | Increase: |
|---|---|---|---|
| MacBook Neo | $599 | $699 | 16.7% |
| 13-inch MacBook Air | $1,099 | $1,299 | 18.2% |
| 15-inch MacBook Air | $1,299 | $1,499 | 15.4% |
| M5 MacBook Pro | $1,699 | $1,999 | 17.7% |
| M5 Pro MacBook Pro | $2,199 | $2,499 | 13.6% |
| M5 Max MacBook Pro | $3,599 | $4,099 | 13.9% |
| iMac | $1,299 | $1,499 | 15.4% |
| M4 Max Mac Studio | $1,999 | $2,499 | 25% |
| M3 Ultra Mac Studio | $3,999 | $5,299 | 32.5% |
iPads
| Product: | Old Price: | New Price: | Increase: |
|---|---|---|---|
| iPad | $349 | $449 | 28.7% |
| 11-inch iPad Air | $599 | $749 | 25% |
| 13-inch iPad Air | $749 | $949 | 26.7% |
| 11-inch iPad Pro | $999 | $1,199 | 20% |
| 13-inch iPad Pro | $1,299 | $1,499 | 15.4% |
| iPad mini | $499 | $599 | 20% |
Other
| Product: | Old Price: | New Price: | Increase: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple TV 4K | $129 | $199 | 54.3% |
| HomePod | $299 | $349 | 16.7% |
| HomePod mini | $99 | $129 | 30.3% |
| Vision Pro | $3,499 | $3,699 | 5.7% |
Additionally, many upper-level SKUs saw increases. The Mac mini with M4 Pro got a $200 bump to $1,599, while the M5 Max MacBook Pro jumped from $3,599 to $4,099. As expected, increases really stack up when you start configuring higher-end options like larger SSDs and additional unified memory.