It was a huge week for Apple users, with the releases of OS X 10.9 Mavericks and iOS 7.0.3, an overhaul of the MacBook Pro, the unveiling of the Mac Pro, the iPad mini with Retina display, and the all-new iPad Air. Apple also redesigned its iWork and iLife apps for iOS and Mac and is now giving them away with device purchases. But that’s not all — Take Control is celebrating its tenth anniversary with the release of “Take Control of Upgrading to Mavericks.” Alas, not all went perfectly, so Joe Kissell details the significant failings of Apple Mail in Mavericks and Adam Engst explains the confusing new way of activating system control utilities. Changing gears, we’re giving away three bags of Tonx coffee in our latest DealBITS drawing, and in FunBITS, Michael Cohen looks at Scribd and Oyster, two services aiming to be the Netflix of ebooks. Notable software releases this week include Alfred 2.1, SpamSieve 2.9.10, ChronoSync 4.4.2 and ChronoAgent 1.4.3, DEVONthink and DEVONnote 2.7.1, Safari 6.1, Pixelmator 3.0, BusyCal 2.5.3, iMac SMC Firmware Update 1.1, iMac 10.8.5 Supplemental Update 1.0, Carbon Copy Cloner 3.5.3, Scrivener 2.5, Hazel 3.2, Voila 3.6, iTunes 11.1.2, and iBooks Author 2.1.
Tonx is a subscription coffee service that roasts the best beans in the world and ships them to your door, and now you can enter our DealBITS drawing to win a free bag of their freshly roasted coffee.
With iOS 7.0.3, Apple finally adds the touted iCloud Keychain feature and fixes many of the redesigned operating system’s most annoying problems.
At a special event, Apple released OS X 10.9 Mavericks, dropping the bombshell that the operating system upgrade would be free.
When our 14-year-old son Tristan announced that he wanted to install 10.9 Mavericks on his laptop, we tossed him a copy of Joe Kissell’s “Take Control of Upgrading to Mavericks” and told him to let us know if he had any questions. Tristan’s upgrade went well, and yours can too. But if you use Apple Mail with Gmail, you might want to hold off for a bit.
Say hello to near-universal Retina displays as Apple refreshes its powerful laptops with a thinner, lighter industrial design, new processors, and lower prices.
Just in time for the holiday season, and as expected, Apple has announced a thinner, lighter, faster iPad Air with a full-sized 9.7-inch Retina display, along with a similarly specced new iPad mini with Retina display.
Four years after its last significant update, the Mac Pro has at last been redesigned, and Apple has finally announced details about specs, price, and availability. Don’t get too excited — there’s still a wait.
Apple can be utterly mysterious. Jeff Carlson received a tube of Mac Pro posters with distinctive Apple touches, of course.
Apple has come out with new versions of its core iLife and iWork apps for both OS X and iOS, providing cross-device compatibility and collaboration in real time. And the price has been dropped — to $0 — for new Mac and iOS device purchasers.
With Mavericks, Apple changed how the accessibility options work, and although the company did so in a useful way, numerous mainstream Mac utilities must adjust how they request permission to perform their magic behind the scenes. Read on for Adam Engst’s explanation of what happened to “Enable access for assistive devices.”
For those who want to upgrade a Snow Leopard Mac to Lion or Mountain Lion, it’s still possible thanks to $19.99 redemption codes that Apple helpfully makes available via the Apple Online Store. How could this be the same company that won’t let iOS device owners downgrade from iOS 7 to iOS 6 if they can’t read the new interface?
Apple Mail in Mavericks takes a different approach to Gmail than any previous version did, and some users will find the implications frustrating. Joe Kissell explains what’s different and what you can (and can’t) do about it.
We’ve been publishing the Take Control series of electronic books for ten years this month. Adam Engst looks back at where we started and how far we’ve come in the decade, sharing behind-the-scenes stats and systems.
When Poor Richard was penning his Almanack, subscription libraries were all the rage. Now they’re back: sleek, shiny, and digital. Will you subscribe?
Notable software releases this week include Alfred 2.1, SpamSieve 2.9.10, ChronoSync 4.4.2 and ChronoAgent 1.4.3, DEVONthink and DEVONnote 2.7.1, Safari 6.1, Pixelmator 3.0, BusyCal 2.5.3, iMac SMC Firmware Update 1.1, MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013) Software Update 1.0, iMac 10.8.5 Supplemental Update 1.0, Carbon Copy Cloner 3.5.3, Scrivener 2.5, Hazel 3.2, Voila 3.6, iTunes 11.1.2, and iBooks Author 2.1.