Apple has stopped production of FineWoven accessories, according to reliable Apple leaker and prototype collector known as "Kosutami." From a report: In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Kosutami explained that Apple has stopped production of FineWoven accessories due to its poor durability. The company may move to another non-leather material for its premium accessories in the future. Apple introduced FineWoven, a soft fabric material, last year. The company claimed that the material is made of 68 percent post-consumer content and is overall more environmentally friendly compared to the company's previous line of leather accessories. As part of the introduction of FineWoven case, Apple also discontinued the use of leather for new Apple accessories. Reviewers didn't like FineWoven, calling it "bad. Like, really bad."

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Enlarge / The M2 Pro Mac mini. (credit: Andrew Cunningham)

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman thinks that Apple's M4 chips for Macs are coming sooner rather than later—possibly as early as "late this year," per a report from earlier this month. Now Gurman says Apple could completely skip the M3 generation for some Macs, most notably the Mac mini.

To be clear, Gurman doesn't have specific insider information confirming that Apple is planning to skip the M3 mini. But based on Apple's alleged late-2024-into-early-2025 timeline for the M4 mini, he believes that it's "...

Like the modern MacBook Pro laptops, Apple’s latest MacBook Air models support fast charging which can give up to 50% battery in as little as 30 minutes. However, by default, both sizes of the Air ship with a charger that doesn’t support the feature. Here are the requirements and details for how to fast charge MacBook Air.

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Ecosia Launches a Cross-Platform Browser on Earth Day

Ecosia, the search engine that uses a percentage of its search ad revenue to support tree-planting projects, has released a new cross-platform browser on Earth Day.  In an effort to provide users with a more environmentally friendly option than Google Chrome or Apple Safari, the company describes its browser as the “greenest browser on Earth.” […]

This post Ecosia Launches a Cross-Platform Browser on Earth Day appeared first on The Mac Observer

Monday’s best deals kick off with Apple’s latest Mac mini starting from $499. The perfect companion discounts are also live, dropping Satechi’s Stand and Hub for Mac mini which was just updated with an NVME SSD slot to $90 alongside Samsung’s 27-inch ViewFinity S9 5K Thunderbolt Monitor at $700 off. Hit the jump for all that and more in the latest 9to5Toys Lunch Break.

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Maintenance update for the Swiss Army knife of graphics programs. ($39.95 new, free update, 261 MB, macOS 10.13+)

Maintenance release for the Open/Save dialog utility. ($39.95 new, free update, 17.4 MB, macOS 10.13+)

If you organize events that require significant numbers of volunteers, you know how much work it is to track everything manually in a spreadsheet. A better option is a volunteer management system like Helper Helper, which Adam Engst has used for over a year.

Apple has reportedly acquired Datakalab, a Paris, France-based startup specializing in artificial intelligence compression and computer vision technology. According to French business magazine Challenges, the acquisition was finalized in December.

Datakalab described itself as “experts in low power, runtime efficient, and deep learning algorithms” that work on device.

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Macworld

Apple doesn’t participate in big industry-wide events such as CES or E3. The most valuable company in the world holds its own events, thank you very much. Several times a year, Apple invites the press and industry professionals to Apple Park to hear all about its latest products and services. Apple calls these ‘events,’ and streams them live online to millions of watchers.

In 2023 there were three such events: WWDC in June, the Wonderlust iPhone event in September and Apple’s second fall event on October 30 (or October 31 if you weren’t in the U.S.). Similarly, in 2022 Apple held three events: a spring event on March 8, WWDC on June 6, and the iPhone 14 launch on September 7. In other years Apple has held four events though. Will Apple hold four events in 2024?

Read on to find out what events and new Apple product launches the...

Macworld

Apple’s MacBooks are great, but—as with all laptops—using one isn’t that great for your back or neck.

Continual bowing of the head to see a screen can lead to a stiff neck and what doctors call spinal stenosis, which can compress blood vessels and displace nerves—cutting off blood supply to the brain. That’s not a good thing.

Your screen should be at a comfortable height that doesn’t make you bend your neck down to see it. Try to make sure your eyes are in line with the screen while sitting with a straight back. This also helps when making video calls, so the other people aren’t staring up your nostrils.

Using a laptop stand also makes using a separate keyboard and mouse much easier. See our roundups of the best Mac keyboards and...

Macworld

At a glanceExpert's Rating
Pros

• Universal use
• Large selection of colors
• Very good workmanship
• Recycled material
• Very light and can be folded flat
• Robust, dirt-resistant base

Cons

• Hook on the lid slips out easily
• No padding in the laptop compartment

Our Verdict

We really liked the High Coast Foldsack 24 as an everyday backpack. Fresh colors, slim, light, and flexible to use. The workmanship is excellent and the price is reasonable.

Best Prices Today: Fjällräven High Coast Foldsack 24

Retailer

Price

Fjällräven High Coast Foldsack 24

€109.99

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Macworld

Welcome to our weekly Apple Breakfast column, which includes all the Apple news you missed last week in a handy bite-sized roundup. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a morning cup of coffee or tea, but it’s cool if you want to give it a read during lunch or dinner hours too.

Air quality

Interesting developments in the iPad rumorsphere, where the theory emerged last week that the next iPad Air, already expected to get a massive 12.9-inch display, will also enjoy an upgrade from LED to mini-LED screen technology. That’s what you currently get from the iPad Pro, and should deliver excellent power efficiency and improved image quality. Good news, right?

Wrong.

It’s always been understood that the Pro models are where you go to get the very best hardware Apple can offer....

Macworld

Wireless headphones are essentially the standard now, with Bluetooth being convenient and the sound quality difference to wired not being that noticeable to typical people (we realize audiophiles ‘know’).

The market is huge, but here are the best wireless earbuds we’ve tested for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Macs. If you do want a wired connection some of these do offer it in addition to Bluetooth, but we also have a round-up of the best wired headphones and a comparison of over-ear headphones read our comparison of AirPods Max vs other over-ear headphones.

Updated April 2024 with Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 review.

Best headphones and earbuds for iPhone

1. Bose...

Google Chrome’s Quick Delete Feature Will Soon Be Available on iOS

Google Chrome seems to be working on expanding the “quick delete” feature for iOS users. The quick delete feature is already available on Android, allowing you to delete all browsing data from the last 15 minutes. A flag named “Quick Delete for iOS” is being added, which suggests the development of this feature for iPhones, […]

This post Google Chrome’s Quick Delete Feature Will Soon Be Available on iOS appeared first on The Mac Observer

If you have kids, pets, or simply want the luxury of immaculately clean floors without having to do the work yourself, then look no farther than Roborock’s next-gen S8 MaxV Ultra – the industry’s most technologically advanced robot mop and vacuum system. It’s no surprise Roborock has recently taken the number one spot for robotic vacuum sales worldwide of any brand. Designed to revolutionize the way you clean your home, it comes fully decked with enhanced suction power, advanced robotic intelligence, and an innovative self-maintenance feature with heated washing and drying and dirt detection. A true tech marvel in the home cleaning space.

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Apple To Skip M3 Mac mini to Launch M4 Version

The Mac mini is Apple’s entry-level computer. It’s a compact device, with a wide range of ports, discreet, quiet, and it’s well priced. It’s true that you have to connect it to a display, and it comes without a mouse and keyboard, but in the end it’s an entry-level device. It was among the first […]

This post Apple To Skip M3 Mac mini to Launch M4 Version appeared first on The Mac Observer

Apple launched its range of and Apple Watch bands last fall to much fanfare, as an environmentally-friendly alternative to the leather accessories. However, buyers quickly complained the material was prone to attracting dirt, scuffs and other durability issues. FineWoven also simply felt far less premium than the leather lineup it replaced, albeit Apple charging the same prices.

According to Twitter leaker Kosutami, Apple is giving up on the effort and the production lines for FineWoven are being shuttered. The company will probably try again with a different leather alternative option, .

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iPhone 16 Pro Camera: Three Improvements Coming This Year

If all goes according to schedule, Apple will launch the new iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro in September. It doesn’t look like these models will be groundbreaking. Rather, it seems that the important thing this year will be the software we’ll see at WWDC on June 10, and the iPhone will simply get a […]

This post iPhone 16 Pro Camera: Three Improvements Coming This Year appeared first on The Mac Observer

How To Use Delta Emulator and Play Nintendo Games on iOS

Gamers, your time is here: the Delta emulator app is now available for iOS, and with it arrives a wealth of emulation and features. This expansive app hosts an impressive selection of classic video game consoles, providing the ability to play thousands of retro games on your iPhone. Below, I’ll show you everything you need […]

This post How To Use Delta Emulator and Play Nintendo Games on iOS appeared first on The Mac Observer

Apple @ Work is exclusively brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Mosyle is the only solution that integrates in a single professional-grade platform all the solutions necessary to seamlessly and automatically deploy, manage & protect Apple devices at work. Over 45,000 organizations trust Mosyle to make millions of Apple devices work-ready with no effort and at an affordable cost. Request your EXTENDED TRIAL today and understand why Mosyle is everything you need to work with Apple.

Security concerns keep every IT professional up at night. Even for Apple admins, you’re just one zero-day exploit away from a nightmare. Equally concerning is having your fleet out of compliance with their organization’s IT policies for macOS...

Macworld

Good project management is an art, and one that can be enhanced with productivity-enhancing tools. For effective project management for managers and team members alike, consider investing in Microsoft Project Professional 2021.

Project is Microsoft’s popular project management software (4.4-star rated by Capterra and GetApp!), offering aid for managers to predict project outcomes, synchronization with other Microsoft platforms, and more. Now, lifetime access to Project Professional 2021 is only $19.97 (reg. $249...

Our latest roundup of the best iPhone 15 cases is now ready to move into 2024 with all of the newest releases. While the certainly weren’t as popular as Apple would have hoped, there are plenty of notable options from other brands stepping up to offer everything from thin minimalism to luxurious genuine leather and everything in between. We have now updated this roundup with some new brands as well as additional releases that have cropped up over the last month or so. Head below for a closer look at the best iPhone 15 cases for 2024. 

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Macworld

Data is important and valuable to your life in more ways than you might know. Whether it be old pictures or important work documents that could prove valuable in the future, ensuring your files and other media are safe with a verified solution is reasonably common modern-day practice. To save on one of the best, hop on this deal. 

Through April 21, you can get a lifetime subscription to AOMEI Backupper for less than $25. Designed to be a complete and easy-to-use backup software for Windows PCs, it can...

Incident began at 2024-04-19 14:12 (times are in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)).

Our Engineering team has identified the root cause of the issue and rolled back a recent change.

Our engineers are taking additional repair actions for the rollback to take effect for the impacted customers.

We do not have an ETA for mitigation at this point.

We will provide more information by Friday, 2024-04-19 14:00 US/Pacific.

Affected products: Google Calendar

Apple surprised everyone earlier this month with a change to the App Store guidelines that now allows retro game console emulator apps for its platforms, including iOS and tvOS. Following the success of Delta, the developers behind Provenance have now confirmed that they will soon release it on the App Store, bringing PlayStation emulation to iPhone and iPad users.

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Tap-To-Pay Coming Soon to Europe: Regulators To Approve Apple’s Plan Next Month

One of the steps Apple took in Europe to avoid further antitrust investigations was to make its NFC chips open to third parties. Apple did this with the release of iOS 17.4. This is something that isn’t available in any other country in the world. Now regulators could approve Apple’s plan and authorize this feature […]

This post Tap-To-Pay Coming Soon to Europe: Regulators To Approve Apple’s Plan Next Month appeared first on The Mac Observer

Air purifiers are fantastic products to have in your home to ensure that your air is clean, and having them in HomeKit makes them even better. There are several on the market today, but WELOVE (part of the AiDot family) has just released the first Matter enabled Air Purifier so you can add it to the smart home platform of your choice.

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Emulator for PlayStation, Wii, SEGA Genesis, and More Coming to the App Store Soon

A few days ago Apple announced a change in the App Store policies to allow developers to submit emulators. Something that used to be unthinkable is now a reality. And the best thing is that many studios and developers are already working on it. That’s the case of Provenance or Delta. The lead developer of […]

This post Emulator for PlayStation, Wii, SEGA Genesis, and More Coming to the App Store Soon appeared first on The Mac Observer

The EU commission is set to approve Apple’s previously-announced policy changes regarding access to the NFC chip on the iPhone, with the view of increasing competition in the contactless payments market. The commission’s decision will be officially announced in the coming weeks, via Reuters.

With these changes, apps will be allowed to become the default wallet app that appears when users double-click the side button or hold their phone near a payment terminal. However, the relaxation of policy only applies to apps available inside the European Union, not worldwide.

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Macworld

If your Mac is starting to run slow the first thing to check is if you are running low on space. It’s generally advised that you should have 10% of your total space free on your Mac for the most optimum working. If you are down to your last few gigabytes then it’s time to do some housework and grab yourself some space back. 

Over time, a Mac is likely to accumulate a large collection of duplicate files that take up this valuable space so that’s a good place to start. However, finding and deleting them can be time-consuming if you do it one by one, so in this article, we show you quicker ways to cleanse your system of these delinquent doppelgängers.

Why do I have duplicate files?

In most cases these will be mistaken downloads (caused by clicking on a link twice), Mail and Messages attachments, a convoluted filing system, a bad habit of dragging things to your desktop, or a number of other possibilities....

Friday’s best deals come headlined by Apple’s new 24-inch M3 iMac, which starts from $1,199. It comes joined by the 9to5-favorite Anker MagGo Cube 15W MagSafe Charger at $112 and Satechi’s new USB-C Dual Dock Stand for MacBooks at $120. Hit the jump for all that and more in the latest 9to5Toys Lunch Break.

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Apple delivered a solid update to its best wireless earbuds with the launch of . Apple has since turned it up to 11 with five more features added to gen-two AirPods Pro.

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China ordered Apple to remove some of the world's most popular chat messaging apps from its app store in the country, the latest example of censorship demands on the iPhone seller in the company's second-biggest market. WSJ: Meta's WhatsApp and Threads as well as messaging platforms Signal, Telegram and Line were taken off the Chinese App Store Friday [non-paywalled link]. Apple said it was told to remove certain apps because of national security concerns, without specifying which. "We are obligated to follow the laws in the countries where we operate, even when we disagree," an Apple spokesperson said in a statement.

These messaging apps, which allow users to exchange messages and share files individually and in big groups, combined have more than three billion users globally. They can only be accessed in China through virtual private networks that take users outside China's Great Firewall, but are still commonly used. Beijing has often viewed such platforms with caution,...

Macworld

Since the first iPhone launched with a 3.5-inch screen back in 2007, Apple has followed a path of slow but steady increase, from the 4-inch iPhone 5 in 2012 to the 6.7-inch 15 Pro Max last year. But one reliable analyst has predicted that next year, one iPhone’s screen will get smaller.

Ross Young, an analyst who specializes in the displays supply chain and has an enviable track record, this week released a report (via 9to5Mac) in which he makes the startling claim that the iPhone 17 Plus will...

Police officers were allowed to force a suspect to use his thumbprint to unlock his phone, according to a federal court ruling.

However, it said the issue was a finely-judged one, and its ruling should not be interpreted to mean that this is lawful in all circumstances …

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A new Best Buy Vision Pro app uses augmented reality to let you see how things like big-screen TVs, furniture, kitchen appliances, and more would look in your home.

Once you find something you like, you can also buy it from within Vision Pro by opening the product page in Safari and completing the purchase there …

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Senator Elizabeth Warren has tweeted a somewhat bizarre one-minute video in which she says that green texts are “ruining relationships” and that this is “just one of the dirty tactics that Apple uses to keep a stranglehold on the smartphone market.”

Warren uses the to-camera piece to voice her support for the DOJ’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple, but has chosen a rather peculiar argument to do so …

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If you’re looking for hotels with AirPlay-compatible TVs in the room, IHG is starting to cover the bases on this. IHG Hotels and Resorts announced on Thursday that more than 60 of its properties in North America will allow guests to connect their iPhone or iPad to the in-room TV. This will allow guests to […]

Source

Apple’s Alternative App Store Implementation Sparks Developer Backlash

The arrival of AltStore, the first officially sanctioned third-party app store in the European Union, has been met with a wave of criticism directed not at AltStore itself, but at Apple’s implementation of the system. Developers are expressing frustration with the user experience, citing excessive complexity and a slew of technical issues. According to a […]

This post Apple’s Alternative App Store Implementation Sparks Developer Backlash appeared first on The Mac Observer

Apple’s rumored 12.9-inch iPad Air is rumored to be equipped with a mini-LED display that could be similar or identical to that of the current 12.9-inch iPad Pro, according to Ross Young, CEO of Display Supply Chain Consultants. Per Young, the move to mini-LED technology for the 12.9-inch model would provide increased brightness for HDR […]

Source

Best Buy Envision App for Apple Vision Pro Lets You Shop Using Augmented Reality

Online shopping has been available for nearly half a century, but it saw a major spike during the pandemic across the world. Of course, it’s sometimes tough to rely on e-commerce because you can’t see the products in person, but with augmented reality, things might get a little easier for everyone. Personally, I have relied […]

This post Best Buy Envision App for Apple Vision Pro Lets You Shop Using Augmented Reality appeared first on The Mac Observer

HomePods Could Get a Touch Display According to New Leak

Rumors suggest that Apple is revamping its HomePod speaker with a proper touchscreen LCD display. A leaked image on X from Apple product collector Kosutami shows a component that appears to be the top part of the new HomePod, featuring a large curved glass panel. This leak coincides with previous rumors suggesting Apple has been […]

This post HomePods Could Get a Touch Display According to New Leak appeared first on The Mac Observer

Adobe on Thursday officially launched its new Adobe Express app with Firefly AI for iOS and Android. This version of the app has been available to beta testers for some time, and can now be downloaded by anyone. Read on as we detail everything that’s new with the Adobe Express update.

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