By news@appleinsider.com (Chip Loder) Apple first released the Apple TV set-top box in 2006. Here’s how to refurbish and restore one of the original units, to make the set-top box as good as new.Apple TV 1st generation.All through the 1990s, Apple had been toying with the idea of making a set-top TV box for home users. Like a cable TV box, Apple wanted to have a TV platform that was compact, inexpensive, and easy to use.Apple’s first stab at a TV device was in the early 1990s when it started a project called Apple Interactive Television Box. It was loosely based on a Mac of the time called the Quadra 605. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Mike Wuerthele and Wes Hilliard) The Unofficial Apple Weblog is back, but ad agency Web Orange has turned it into a nightmare plagiarism farm with AI-generated copy, and worse, stolen bylines from writers long since moved on.The Unofficial Apple WeblogAfter the dot-com bubble in 2000, there seemed to be a website for everything despite the internet being relatively small as compared to today’s corporate-driven market. Beyond enthusiasts hanging their shingle out on the Web, some websites emerged under larger finance groups, like Weblogs backed by Mark Cuban in 2003.The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) started under Weblogs Inc. in 2004 and was one of the more popular properties under that umbrella. Recently, the gutted corpse of TUAW has been purchased, minus archived content, by an ad agency called Web Orange. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Malcolm Owen) Keeping yourself safe online can be hard, with scams becoming more sophisticated over time. Here’s how you should protect yourself, and your Apple account.A scam caller or email could be a risk to your personal information. Cybercrime is a growing problem, with online denizens often at risk of account hacks, data breaches, and scams. With the continuing rise of data breaches, it’s now becoming very easy for a scammer to get snippets of information that they can use against you.The criminals are only going to escalate, so users need to learn how to protect themselves. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Malcolm Owen) Apple has moved on to its third round of current-gen developer betas, providing new builds of iOS 17.6, iPadOS 17.6, tvOS 17.6, watchOS 10.6, macOS Sonoma, and visionOS 1.3 for testing.iOS 17Developers who are participating in Apple’s beta program can get the new builds through the Apple Developer Centeror by updating their iPhone or iPad already running the betas using the Settings app. Public beta versions typically arrive shortly after the developer versions.The betas are for current-generation versions of Apple’s operating systems, including iOS 17.6, iPadOS 17.6, tvOS 17.6, watchOS 10.6, and macOS Sonoma 14.6. The Apple Vision Pro also gets a beta for visionOS 1.3. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (William Gallagher) Half a decade after it introduced the features on Android, Google now plans to add both a speedometer and speed limits detail to its Google Maps on iOS.Google Maps on iPhone will add a speedometerTaking an accurate measurement of a car’s speed is surprisingly hard, but the vehicle’s own speedometer is always going to be more accurate than a mapping app. Plus the iPhone already has speed limit warnings in Apple Maps.Nonetheless, Google is planning to roll out the feature to Google Maps globally. As spotted by TechCrunch, the company is currently testing the feature in India. Google has subsequently confirmed that the speedometer will be available to all users on iPhone, though it did not give a timescale. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Marko Zivkovic) The iPhone 15 Pro was rumored to feature haptic buttons with an all-new design, but Apple’s project never saw the light of day — until now. Here’s what those buttons looked like, and what Apple scrapped along the way to a finished product.The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max originally featured haptic buttons as part of Project BongoEarly development prototypes of the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max had haptic volume and power buttons, developed under the codename Project Bongo. While these mysterious haptic buttons were widely rumored to exist, they have previously never been seen on actual hardware.Speaking to a collector of Apple prototypes, AppleInsider has obtained exclusive imagery of a prototype iPhone 15 Pro Max, equipped with the elusive Project Bongo. We have also received numerous details about the buttons themselves, and the user experience relative to standard mechanical buttons. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (William Gallagher) Continuing rumors that Apple will launch a new home device have been further backed up by the discovery of a hidden touchscreen interface in tvOS 18 beta 3.An artist’s rendition of a HomePod with a displayApple is treating what it refers to as “Audio & Home” as a platform, much like iOS and macOS. It’s also repeatedly been rumored to be preparing a new device for the platform, perhaps a HomePod with a screen.Now in tvOS 18 developer beta 3, there is a hidden interface reportedly called PlasterBoard. It’s a system interface, like the iPhone’s SpringBoard, and significantly it is for a touchscreen. Rumor Score: 🤔 Possible Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (William Gallagher) New figures say that the global PC market — including the Mac — has continued to grow in Q2 2024, with Apple among those driving the growth.MacBook Pro 14-inch M3 Pro/span>Research by Canalys previously showed that sales of the Mac, including MacBook models, had grown in the US in Q1 2024. Now with its global Q2 figures, the company again shows Apple growing its market share.Overall, the global PC market grew by 3.4% year on year in Q2 2024, for a total of 62.8 million shipped. Of those, laptops represented 50 million, which by itself is a 4% rise YoY. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Christine McKee) Amazon’s early Prime Day 2024 deals continue to launch and today AirPods Pro with USB-C, AirPods Max, and AirPods 2 have dropped to record low prices. Deals start at just $69.Apple deals are plentiful leading up to Prime Day, and this morning we’re following a new price drop on AirPods Pro with USB-C, which are down to $169. AirPods Max have also dipped to $399 in all five color choices, the lowest price on record. Even AirPods 3rd Generation and AirPods 2 are heavily discounted.Buy from $69These early Prime Day Apple deals are the best available on AirPods, according to our AirPods Price Guide. Continue Reading on AppleInsider
By news@appleinsider.com (William Gallagher) Following its overhaul of the flashlight on iPhone in the first beta of iOS 18, Apple has now revisited and improved it.It’s faint, but there is now a curved line that’s single brightness and beam width control for the flashlightThe iPhone flashlight only exists because the camera needed a flash and so iOS might as well have a way of keeping that bright light on. If Apple ever thought any further about it before now, there was no sign.But now there is. Following a major redesign of the controls in iOS 18 beta 1, Apple has made subtle but noticeable changes for developer beta 3. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
