By news@appleinsider.com (Wesley Hilliard) The 2008 MacBook Air didn’t have an optical drive, so Apple sold a separate SuperDrive accessory, which has finally seemingly been discontinued from sale.RIP Apple USB SuperDriveVisit Apple’s website, and you’ll see the SuperDrive is sold out. That may signify that the ancient device has finally been pulled from sale.Apple has never been shy when ditching ports, peripherals, or drives in favor of more modern standards or thinner devices. The MacBook Air is one of the more significant examples, being among the first consumer laptops sold without a disk drive. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Malcolm Owen) Google violated antitrust law in the United States, a federal judge has ruled, with Google ruled by the court to have monopolized advertising and search.Google pays Apple billions to be the default search in SafariThe U.S. Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit against Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has hit an important development. According to Judge Amit Metha and after a ten-week trial, Google has been ruled to be in breach of Section 2 of the Sherman Act.”Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” the ruling states. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Malcolm Owen) Apple’s fifth developer beta of iOS 18 has made some changes to the Photos app, including one that removes the Carousel view from the app.Carousel’s gone in Photos in iOS 18The revamp of the Photos app was a key feature of iOS 18, all to make image searches easier. However, in the latest iOS 18 developer beta, Apple’s made some changes to what was a previously solid set of changes.In the fifth developer beta, Apple has eliminated the Carousel view from the interface. Carousel allowed users to swipe from the main grid to see content selected by onboard algorithms, but that isn’t available for the moment. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Christine McKee) This fan-favorite 14-inch MacBook Pro features a bump up to 1TB storage and an exclusive price drop of $270 off retail.Grab this 1TB MacBook Pro 14-inch at $270 off.Equipped with Apple’s M3 Pro chip featuring an 11-core CPU and 14-core GPU, the current 14-inch MacBook Pro blends performance with efficiency — all in a highly portable chassis. And when you shop through this exclusive pricing link at B&H Photo from a laptop or desktop*, you can pick up the 1TB configuration for $1,929, reflecting the lowest price available thanks to the $270 discount off retail.Buy for $1,929 Continue Reading on AppleInsider
By news@appleinsider.com (Malcolm Owen) Apple has brought out a new test feature for Safari in iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia, with Distraction Control able to hide parts of a webpage.Safari icon in macOS SequoiaArriving as part of the iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia developer betas, Safari is getting a new feature. Distraction Control allows users to get rid of distracting elements from a webpage.The feature operates fairly simply, with users needing to navigate to the Page Menu in the Smart Search field to select it. After that, they can click on an element of the webpage, and it will be removed from view. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Malcolm Owen) Apple has moved to its fifth generation of fall betas, bringing out new builds of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, tvOS 18, macOS Sequoia, watchOS 11, and visionOS 2 for testing.Apple releases fifth developers betas for iOS 18 and the restThe fifth round appears after the fourth round, which was issued on July 23, though Apple did roll out a minor update to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 builds on July 26. A similar thing happened for the third round, as after an initial July 8 introduction for most updates, July 10 for macOS Sequoia, Apple then reissued the betas for iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia on July 15.The betas are for iOS 18, iPadOS 18, watchOS 11, tvOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, as well as visionOS 2. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (William Gallagher) Following both news of Berkshire Hathaway’s selling over half its holdings in the company, and a wider fear of recession taking a steep toll on international stock markets, Apple shares took a steep dive as trading began on Monday.Warren Buffett [Berkshire Hathaway]Warren Buffett is a long-time proponent of Apple, but it has now been revealed that his firm Berkshire Hathaway has now cut its investment by more than half. Chiefly as a result of this, shares in Apple initially declined by 11%, though they have since been recovering.Buffett’s firm sold off its stock across the second quarter, now leaving it owning 2.8% of Apple. Despite the large sell-off, Berkshire Hathaway’s stake is worth around $88 billion. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Christine McKee) Today’s Apple discounts at Amazon mark the return of Prime Day pricing (and some better-than-Prime Day deals) on MacBooks, AirPods, Apple Watch, iPads and more.New limited-time deals are in effect this Monday as Amazon ramps up its back-to-school sales that are open to the general public. Save on MacBooks, AirTags, Apple Watch styles and more.Shop the dealsMany of the discounts mark the return of Prime Day pricing, with a few deals reaching even better-than-Prime Day prices. You can find hundreds of additional offers and coupon savings in our Apple Price Guide. Continue Reading on AppleInsider
By news@appleinsider.com (Andrew O’Hara) On this episode of the HomeKit Insider Podcast, Brian Tong swings by to talk about the latest news for the week including Apple Intelligence, Logitech’s walk-back, and a new affordable presence sensor.HomeKit Insider PodcastBrian Tong is a frequent face on the Apple scene after hosting The Apple Byte at CNET. He’s recently secured several exclusive looks, including a ride around Apple Park with Greg Jozwiak.And, on this week’s HomeKit Insider podcast episode, he joins us to talk about the news of the week, starting with UAG’s release of a new MagSafe-compatible wireless charger this past week that features a compact design and accompanying travel pouch. It unfolds to provide a stand, Qi charger, and Apple Watch charger. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Malcolm Owen) California is gearing up to offer a digital driver’s license, allowing drivers to carry a version of the government ID in the Apple Wallet.Adding a driving license to Apple WalletThe rollout of the ability to store digital driving licenses and state IDs in the Apple Wallet is extremely slow, with Ohio becoming only the fifth state to do so in July. While it is unclear which state will be next, it seems California is getting closer to joining the group.A pair of internal websites shared by an AppleInsider reader shows the DMV in California is operating a pilot of digital driving licenses. It is an internal beta test, and will only be used by DMV employees, rather than outsiders. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
