During the WWDC Keynote presentation last week, Apple executive Craig Federighi showed off Mac OS X Mavericks. One of the new features is more substantial support for multiple monitors.

In Mountain Lion, there are issues with using full-screen apps on setups with multiple monitors. Putting an app into full-screen mode disables the rest of the monitors. In Mavericks, apps can be set to full screen on individual monitors and moved around as necessary.

However, as this video shows (via 9to5Mac), there are some changes in Mavericks that multiple monitor users may not like. For instance, application windows cannot be used across multiple monitors anymore — windows can only be used on one monitor at a time. Also, spaces are only switched individually, which could affect the workflow of some users.

It appears that, in OS X Mavericks, users can switch between both the Mountain Lion multiple monitor setup and the new multiple monitor support in Mavericks as needed. As always, it’s worth noting that this is a beta and things could change before the final version of OS X Mavericks is released in the Fall.

Apple has yet to release iOS 7 for the iPad and aside from a small picture on the iOS 7 site, there has been little indication of what the operating system will look like on the larger screen of the tablet.

German site Apfelpage.de [Google Translation] has posted some photos obtained via an iOS 7 iPad emulator in Xcode 5, which demonstrate how several stock apps will look on an iPad running the new OS.

Calendar and Game Center
Unsurprisingly, iOS 7 on the iPad looks much like it does on the iPhone. Maps has slightly more screen real estate to work with and the Control Center isn’t quite as obtrusive. Notably, the Control Center contains a flashlight toggle, which is likely a mistake as the current fifth generation iPad and first generation iPad mini have no flash.

Control Center and Maps
It is unclear when Apple plans to release the iPad version of iOS 7 for developers, but it will likely come within the next few weeks. The full version of the new operating system is expected to debut in the fall, and in the meantime, Apfelpage.de has several more examples of iOS 7 apps running on the iPad. Australian writer Sonny Dickson, who provided the screenshots, also has additional images that can be found on his Twitter stream.

After Apple debuted iOS 7 on Monday, the website for the new operating system displayed a set of icons that were different from the icons found in the current version of iOS 7.

Apple has since updated the website, but the Weather, Passport, and Reminders apps looked notably different, with the Passport and Reminders apps displaying different colors and the Weather app displaying a temperature rather than the current cloud and sun design.

“Old” iOS 7 icons
While it has been suggested that the icons represent future design changes that Apple is planning for iOS 7, it is more likely that the icons are previous iOS 7 design iterations. Because the icons were present on the website when it went public on Monday, it is reasonable to assume that the icons were the result of outdated and overlooked marketing material rather than an unintentional leak of new content.

The “old” weather icon, for example, forgoes the current sun and cloud icon of iOS 7 for a simple number, “73.” That is the same temperature icon that is used for the iOS 6 version of Weather, so it is probable that the text-only 73 was an older, simpler design iteration taken from the current iOS 6 icon. There is no indication that the icon represents a live temperature reading.

Current iOS 7 icons
Passbook, too, looked notably different in the older version, with a confusing color scheme that heavily featured blues and greens. Reminders was updated as well, swapping out gray for green and yellow for orange, both of which are bolder colors. Arguably, the newer versions of the apps feature crisper designs and more prominent, easy to distinguish colors.

Though it is unlikely that the icons represent upcoming designs, it is likely that iOS 7 will see several graphical updates before it is released to the public this fall. As noted yesterday by The Next Web, the current design is a “work in progress.”

Microsoft has posted a new television ad on YouTube for the Dell XPS 10 Tablet running Windows RT. The ad, which somewhat reminiscent of Apple’s Mac vs. PC spots, use Siri’s voice to compare the Windows Tablet to the iPad. A similar spot featuring the ASUS VivoTab Smart was posted last month.

Sorry, I don’t zoom like that. Ouch. Ouch.

You can’t put an SD card there. Or there. Or there.

You can do two things at once? That’s cool.

Oh. That’s not cool.

Microsoft has come under some criticism for a comparison page it posted back in May that inaccurately depicted a Windows Tablet as larger than the iPad.

The campaign is a bit of a reversal for Microsoft and other of Apple’s competitors — in general, advertising from the competition has tended to avoid mentioning Apple’s iconic products in their ads.

Apple’s latest advertising campaign has focused on the people using its products rather than the products themselves, a significant change from its more recent campaigns.

Before Phil Schiller gave the world a sneak peek of the new Mac Pro at WWDC this week, Apple allowed select developers to come to its Cupertino headquarters to test out their software on preproduction hardware.

AppleInsider spoke with employees of The Foundry, a firm that develops high end rendering software used on Hollywood productions.

The Foundry shared with AppleInsider the story of how its team worked with the new Mac Pro in a room at Apple HQ known as the “Evil Lab” ahead of the desktop’s unveiling. During the tests, the Mac Pro was entirely concealed in a giant steel cabinet, keeping its new design a mystery to The Foundry and Pixar.

“We were essentially doing a blind tasting of the machine,” said Jack Greasley, MARI product manager at The Foundry. “All we could see was the monitor, and the Mac Pro was encased in a giant metal filing cabinet on wheels. Experiencing the machine in this way was actually really cool, because I can tell you that the speed and power of this machine really stands up. Mari running on this machine out of the box is the fastest I have ever seen it run.”

Greasley said “some real innovation and thought has gone into what users want and need” with the new Mac Pro, and he doesn’t “think pro users should be concerned” about the new machine.

Representatives from The Foundry and Pixar participated in a lunchtime session at WWDC this week, demonstrating the company’s MARI software running on the new Mac Pro. The company managed to get a working copy of MARI ported to the Mac in just under a week and convinced Apple executives to give a significant block of time at WWDC to demo the software and the new machine.

The Mac Pro is expected to be released later this year.

Testifying in court yesterday as part of the ongoing e-books price fixing trial, Apple senior vice president for Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue offered some perspective on the history of iBooks and the iBookstore, noting that Steve Jobs was initially opposed to such a project. As shared by AllThingsD, Cue noted that it wasn’t until just prior to the launch of the iPad that he was able to convince Jobs of the potential of e-books.

“… When I got my first chance to touch the iPad, I became completely convinced that this was a huge opportunity for us to build the best e-reader that the market had ever seen,” Cue said. “And so I went to Steve and told him why I thought [the iPad] was going to be a great device for ebooks. … and after some discussions he came back and said, you know, I think you’re right. I think this is great, and then he started coming up with ideas himself about what he wanted to do with it and how it would be even better as a reader and store.”

Cue had initially suggested an e-book effort earlier in the fall of 2009, but Jobs felt that the iPhone’s screen was too small to allow for a good user experience and that the Mac didn’t feel like a reading device. By the time Jobs was on board, it was November, and the iPad was scheduled for a January introduction, giving Cue just weeks to line up the deals needed to build the iBookstore.


In relating the story, Cue noted that getting the iBookstore deals done took on special significance for him, as it was obvious that Jobs was in declining health at the time. Jobs had taken a strong interest in iBooks for iPad, and was committed to showing it off at the iPad media event, giving Cue extra incentive to make sure everything was in place.

Microsoft today announced the launch of Office Mobile for Office 365 subscribers, a new iPhone-only app that allows users to view and edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files. The free app requires a subscription to Microsoft’s Office 365 service in order to function.

Similar to our free Office Mobile for Windows Phone that ships with every handset, the iPhone app enables great Office content viewing and on-the-go content editing capabilities.

After signing in to an Office 365 account, you can access, view and edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents from anywhere. And, you can count on Office Mobile to keep all your content and formatting intact so the document still looks great when you’re back on your PC or Mac.

Office Mobile integrates with Microsoft’s SkyDrive cloud storage service, allowing users to edit their documents on the go and have changes automatically synced for access from other machines. Office Mobile also supports several sharing options, allowing users to view and add comments on a document and then share via either SkyDrive or email.

Additional details, a first-run walkthrough, and an FAQ are included in a separate blog post from Microsoft.


Office Mobile for Office 365 subscribers is a free download from the App Store. [Direct Link] The app requires a subscription to Office 365, which can be purchased through the app itself. Microsoft also offers a 30-day trial of Office 365 to allow users to test out the service.

Earlier this week, many observers were surprised that Apple did not announce updated MacBook Pro models at its Worldwide Developers Conference keynote. Sources such as KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo had indicated that updated Retina MacBook Pro models based on Intel’s new Haswell processors were likely to appear at WWDC, but questions arose when model number leaks ahead of the event suggested that either the MacBook Air or MacBook Pro, but not both, would be receiving updates.

So the question for many now is: Where are the new MacBook Pros? Kuo’s note prior to WWDC indicated that Apple was likely to leave the non-Retina models without an update as part of an effort to continue pushing consumers toward the Retina line, so the primary focus is really on new Retina MacBook Pro models.


One potential explanation comes from a late April note from Kuo in which he suggested that updated Retina MacBook Pro models may not ship for some time after WWDC due to production bottlenecks on the displays used in the machines. Depending on when those updated models might be ready, Apple may simply have felt that the gap between WWDC and their availability would be too large to make an announcement at WWDC.

If that is the case, Apple could simply introduce new Retina MacBook Pro models in the coming weeks while having avoided putting an additional damper on sales of current models by pre-announcing the launch at WWDC.

Despite the lack of new Retina MacBook Pro models at WWDC, many of the circulating rumors still stand, and some of the developments seen in the new MacBook Air will likely also apply to the MacBook Pro, offering a better picture of what we can expect from Haswell-based MacBook Pro models. Among the expectations:

– Better battery life: With the new MacBook Air based on Intel’s energy-efficient Haswell processors, Apple was able to boost battery life by up to 80%, with the 11-inch model’s runtime increasing from 5 hours to 9 hours and the 13-inch model’s moving from 7 hours to 12 hours.


While the Retina MacBook Pro may not see quite as dramatic improvements in battery life given the more power-hungry Retina displays and the 15-inch models’ dedicated graphics chips, the Haswell platform should still offer some battery life benefits for the Retina MacBook Pro line. The current models are rated for 7 hours of battery life at both 13-inch and 15-inch sizes.

– Haswell processors: Intel has a well-stocked lineup of mobile Haswell processors in both dual-core and quad-core varieties now available, so Apple will have no problem incorporating the latest chips into its MacBook Pro models. Intel’s advanced “Iris” integrated graphics should bring significant performance improvements to the line, although it remains to be seen just how Apple will balance performance and power draw.

– 802.11ac Wi-Fi: With the new faster 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard making its way into the updated MacBook Air and Apple releasing updated AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule base stations, it is clear that Apple will be rolling out 802.11ac support across its lineups as they are updated.

- Faster PCIe-based flash storage: The new MacBook Air takes advantage of PCIe-based flash storage, pushing peak read/write throughput to nearly 800 MB/s. Apple announced that the same technology is coming to the Mac Pro later this year, and it will presumably also be coming to the MacBook Pro and other Macs.

– Slimmer 13-inch model?: Ming-Chi Kuo has claimed several times that Apple is planning to slim down the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro, despite the fact that the machine was just introduced last October. It is unclear how much thinner Apple is planning to make the machine, but the current design is slightly thicker than that of the 15-inch model: 0.75 inches vs. 0.71 inches.

– Full HD FaceTime camera: Kuo has also claimed that the next-generation Retina MacBook Pro models will see upgrades to 2.0-megapixel 1080p FaceTime cameras for improved video quality on the machines’ high-resolution displays. The Retina MacBook Pro models currently use a 720p camera.

– Timing: With the predicted WWDC keynote timing having come and gone, there is now considerable uncertainty about just when a Retina MacBook Pro update might occur. It seems unlikely that a launch would come within the next week or two given the proximity to WWDC, but any time after that would seem to be reasonable.

It also makes sense for Apple to target a launch before September, as the company is reportedly aiming to launch new iPhone and iPad models beginning around that time, with the new Mac Pro also presumed to be coming relatively late in the year. While Apple did stack up a number of hardware releases in the fall of 2012, ideally the company will be able to spread them out a bit more in 2013 to maintain public interest and smooth out sales spikes.