iBooks StoryTime gives your family a different way to experience classic kids’ books and discover new favorites. With Read-Aloud narration and beautiful illustrations, every handpicked title in the app transforms Apple TV into an engaging place for young readers to enjoy the stories they love.
As the Read-Aloud narration completes a page, it automatically turns to the next one. The narration comes complete with different character voices, sound effects, and is made word-for-word so kids can follow along.
The narration can be disabled, allowing a parent or teacher to read the on-screen text and advance the pages via the Siri Remote. I can see this being in use not only in homes, but in schools as well.
While I like that this app will be able to read to my kids, I love that I’ll be able to turn that off and read to them with the big screen over my shoulder for them to follow along.
Are you ever concerned that a loved one may burst into flames in their sleep? You probably don’t have to worry about spontaneous human combustion. Probably.
Will Apple ever sell a Retina Mac for less than $1299? It seems inevitable, but for now the company seems content to follow a similar approach to the Mac as it does with its iOS devices: Offer the latest and greatest hardware at premium prices, and offer older models at the low end in order to create a range of prices.
This is a very unusual little knit piece of Apple history. This red iPod sock was a giveaway to members of the public who attended the opening of the Boylston Street Apple Store back in 2008.
While most Apple Store openings of the time were marked with t-shirt giveaways, I like this a lot more. It’s fun, and fits the locale.
My thanks to Thomas Brand for the item. Thankfully it doesn’t add much of a storage requirement to my collection.
Some applications use an external hardware device that connects to the USB port to authorize the use of the software on your Macintosh. This device is commonly referred to as a “dongle.”
If your application is having trouble locating a dongle that is plugged into a display or keyboard, try plugging it into one of the USB ports on the CPU. This should allow your application to more easily locate the dongle and authorize use of your software.
There’s been a lot of handwringing and worry over the state of a single computer in Apple’s lineup:
Children, if you aren’t sure what a Mac Pro is, go ask your parents. Maybe they have some old pictures somewhere.
No doubt the Mac Pro is in a bad spot. Apple skipped a generation of Xeons and is now waiting of Intel to get Skylake-E ready. As Apple is stuck waiting on Intel, the Mac Pro grows older by the day.
As Marco Arment pointed out, it’s a computer worth keeping around. It offers things that no other computer — including the loaded 27-inch iMac with 5K Retina display — can offer.
The Mac Pro is for sale today at the same prices it launched at, way back in 2013. In some parts of the world, the machine is more expensive than it was at launch.
More sadness can be found on the performance page for the product. It is full of references to OS X 10.9 and Aperture 3, a program Apple discontinued in October 2014.
If you go into an Apple Store, you’ll usually find a single, lonely Mac Pro out on the sales tables, plugged into the discontinued Thunderbolt Display.
To date, Apple’s been silent on the matter. The only thing I’ve seen changed on that Mac Pro page is that “Mac OS X” has been replaced with “macOS” in most of the copy.
Assuming this shiny little trash can isn’t destined for the less-shiny trash can of Apple history, what should Apple do between now and when Skylake-E is ready sometime next year?
I think it is time for Apple to break its silence. It would be unusual, but there is a precedent: the last time the company let the Mac Pro sit and rot on the shelves. In 2012, Tim Cook responded to a customer email about the Mac with this news:
Thanks for your email. Our Pro customers like you are really important to us. Although we didn’t have a chance to talk about a new Mac Pro at today’s event, don’t worry as we’re working on something really great for later next year.
What he was alluding to was teased at WWDC 2013 in what is now a well-known moment:
Out of respect, I think Apple should give their pro users an olive branch here. If the Mac Pro is going to stick around, then the company should have an answer to Marco’s complaints. If there is something in the pipeline, the company should tip its hand a little. I can’t imagine sales of the Mac Pro are good anymore, so I don’t this would be a big hit on the bottom line.
A word on a future product would be more than a nice gesture, though. It would bring professional nerds — the Mac’s biggest fans — back away from the ledge a little bit.
Knocking several hundred bucks off the price in the meantime wouldn’t hurt, either.
Apple announced Friday that it will significantly cut the prices of the USB-C adapters it sells in its stores, following backlash to the lack of full-size USB, SD card or HDMI ports in the new line of MacBook Pro laptops.
The price cuts include these items:
Apple USB-C to USB adapter: from $19 to $9
Apple Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter: from $49 to $29
Apple USB-C to Lightning cable, 1 meter: from $25 to $19
Apple USB-C to Lightning cable, 2 meters: from $35 to $29
Apple USB-C digital AV multiport adapter: from $69 to $49
Apple USB-C VGA multiport adapter: from $69 to $49
SanDisk Extreme Pro SD UHS-II Card USB-C reader: from $49 to $29
“We recognize that many users, especially pros, rely on legacy connectors to get work done today and they face a transition. We want to help them move to the latest technology and peripherals, as well as accelerate the growth of this new ecosystem. Through the end of the year, we are reducing prices on all USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 peripherals we sell, as well as the prices on Apple’s USB-C adapters and cables.”
It seems that company is realizing its push into the USB-C future was perhaps too hasty. The fact that Apple seems surprised by the backlash is … worrying.
I’d argue that the price cuts should be permanent, not just in effect for the rest of the year.
I also wonder how much of this could have been avoided by putting a USB-C to USB adaptor in the box.
Sigh.
Update: Apple is sending emails to people who have already purchased these accessories:
We are pleased to inform you that we will provide you with a credit for the difference between the price you paid and the new, lower price.
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Children, if you aren’t sure what a Mac Pro is, go ask your parents. Maybe they have some old pictures somewhere.