Apple Shares Best of 2016 Video For Content

A few weeks ago, Apple released its annual ‘Best Of’ lists to showcase the most popular content for the year. Today the company shared a quick video to show top content across all of its categories. We’ll share the video and break down each category.

The OWC DEC Promises to Make Your MacBook "Pro" Again

Do you find the 2016 MacBook Pro’s lack of ports a bit limiting? OWC may have the solution for you with the DEC, an upcoming accessory that attaches flush to the bottom of your MacBook Pro and adds external storage and a full array of ports including USB Type A, SD Card, and Ethernet.

Rotting Apples: macOS Sierra PDF Bugs Get Worse in 10.12.2

PDF-related bugs have plagued macOS Sierra since its release last year, causing headaches for both users and developers. But while major bugs are nothing new for Apple’s operating system, developers are sounding a troubling alarm: things are getting even worse with the latest 10.12.2 update.

Happy 2017 from The Mac Observer!

With 2016 behind us and CES is only a couple days away, The Mac Observer is taking off Monday while we catch our breath before jumping neck deep into 2017. We’ll be back with our regular daily new coverage, analysis, and podcasts on Tuesday, January 3rd. We’ll also be on location at CES 2017 to bring you the latest on this year’s tech. Rest up, and get ready for another exciting year!

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Brick Update Starts Rolling Out

The last few Samsung Galaxy Note 7 owners won’t be able to use their fire-phones much longer because carriers are starting to push out an update that bricks the devices. T-Mobile is already remotely updating Note 7 phones, AT&T and Sprint are planning to start in the next few days, and even Verizon has reversed course and is going to push out the update, too.

Police Turn to Amazon Echo in Homicide Showing How Smarthome Devices Can Spy on Us

Police in Bentonville, Arkansas, obtained a search warrant for the audio captured by an Amazon Echo as part of a homicide investigation, raising concerns over just how much smarthome devices know about us. In the case of the Echo, Amazon says little is being recorded and stored, but that’s not much of a consolation for IoT device owners who’re worried their tech might be used against them by the government.

Apple May Add 5-inch Screen to the 2017 iPhone Lineup

Apple is adding a 5-inch model to its iPhone lineup in 2017, or so the latest supply chain report claims. Assuming the sources are right, that would give Apple four different smartphone screen sizes starting at 4-inches for the iPhone SE, and topping out at 5.5-inches for the iPhone 7 Plus.

Apple Opens Up to AI Community with Research White Paper

Apple’s artificial intelligence efforts are starting to come to light thanks to a just published white paper. The document describes a way to use artificial images to train computers to recognize real world objects, and is also a bit of a good faith gesture towards the open research philosophy in the AI community.

Happy Holidays from The Mac Observer to You!

Christmas, Hanukkah, Festivus, Solstice…It doesn’t matter what you celebrate this time of year—or if you celebrate at all. The Mac Observer hopes this weekend is a wonderful time for you, and that you get to take a day or two off to relax. We’re taking Monday off, but we’ll be back on Tuesday, December 27th, with our iPhone, iPad, and Mac coverage, along with a fresh TMO Daily Observations episode, too.