Apple may have had a jam-packed WWDC 2012 keynote, but the star of the show was undoubtedly the new MacBook Pro with Retina Display. Kept behind glass in its first public showing, that didn't stop us digging up a review unit of our own for some playtime. We've been waiting a long time for a significant reworking of the Pro range, and this new model is more than just a pixel-packed screen.
Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference 2012 has started off with a bang with no less than a brand new MacBook Pro 2012 line with Retina display, iOS 6, and several secret updates to hardware now live in the Apple Store online. This event has released a whole wave of updates in the Apple universe and to help you keep them all straight, we've got a guide which lies here below. This guide will show you what you'll be getting on your current-wave hardware for software upgrades and will also inform you on what it will mean to upgrade to the newest hardware this summer!
Today amongst the major amount of updates to both hardware and software in the Apple world during the first large keynote of WWDC 2012, it appears that a stealth update has occured to the Mac Pro. This tower has been updated for 2012, well overdue since the last version came out all the way back in 2010. This tower Mac will be upgraded with two six-core 3.06GHz Intel Xeon X5675 processors along with a few lesser bumps as well.
Deadly curious to know exactly when Mountain Lion will be available to download, and for how much? Apple has taken the wraps off the info, saying that it will be available in July for $19.99. Even with that cheap price, if you buy any new Mac starting from today, you’ll get the update absolutely free when it is made available next month.
Apple has just demoed a new AirPlay Mirroring feature that can be used to easily push 1080p content wirelessly to your TV from your Mac running the upcoming OS X Mountain Lion. This means no more fiddling with an HDMI cable to get the same result. Audio can also be mirrored this way to AirPlay-enabled stereo systems and speakers.
Apple has decided to bring Game Center across from the iPhone and iPad to Mountain Lion. The feature works much in the same way as it does on iOS devices, with users being able to sign in and keep a track of games currently being played, plus stats and scores being offered up via custom profiles.
A brand new bit of software has been introduced this week at Apple's WWDC 2012 called Power Nap, an application that allows your computer to continue working while you're asleep. This software takes applications like notes, iPhoto, Calendar, and Mail, and "keeps your Mac up to date while it sleeps." This software will keep your data backed up at all times, even while your computer is asleep - like magic!
Apple has added a ton of new features to Mountain Lion today here at WWDC, and one of them is Dictation. Users will be able to speak in almost every app across Mountain Lion and have their words transcribed to text automatically. Apple say that Dictation will work for Facebook, Mail, and Microsoft Word. It’s not quite the full-blown Siri support that some were expecting, but it’s the next best thing.
Apple has announced some of the new features to expect with OS X Mountain Lion, starting off with the iCloud being built-in. This means that when you sign in, all your apps are configured for you and your content is up-to-date across all your devices, be they running Mac OS X or iOS.
The fabled Black Banner is back this morning at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference 2012 as we ramp up to the main event with our own live feed and stream, it likely containing that one big reveal we've been waiting for! This event is sure to be the home of a brand new version of Apple's mobile operating system iOS 6, we've seen a banner showing off what appears to be a slightly new iteration of Apple's AirPlay, and of course there's the Black Banner (photographed by @SaschaSegan) which will almost certainly be revealed during or directly after the first keynote. We expect it'll be something fabulous like a brand new MacBook Pro 2012 model or a showing of the final features of OS X Mountain Lion - let's have a peek at what's possible!
This week we're getting prepped for one of the larger Apple events of the year, that being the Wordwide Developers Conference 2012. This conference is billed as "the weeek we've all been waiting for" by Apple and is sure to bring on more than just software - as we've seen in years past - but hardware as well. We'll be bringing you all of the action live from our WWDC livecast portal as well as here in the main news feed, but before we get there, have a look at our pre-event guide.
Not too long ago we heard details that Apple had included a “Do Not Disturb” feature in the latest Mountain Lion betas. When enabled, any alerts or banners would be hidden from the user to avoid distractions, but the Notification Center would still kick track of everything when you needed to come back to the important alerts. 9to5Mac has heard from trusted sources that iOS 6 will include similar functionality, plus additional features.