Macworld March 2018

The discovery that in iOS 11.3 Apple is renaming the iBooks app to Books seemed…not particularly revelatory. We’ve all read about how Apple’s been slowly stripping away the lowercase i prefix from older products. New products and services are a generic word preceded with the word Apple, as in Apple TV and Apple Watch. This is the conventional wisdom. But is it true? NO, KILL ‘i’ Apple’s made no pronouncements itself about it. Yes, it seems the i prefix introduced with the iMac 20 years ago has fallen out of favor. (I’m reminded of the time when Steve Jobs said that the power prefix of the PowerBook and Power Mac had gotten tired.) And yet that same prefix continues to appear in front of some of Apple’s most popular products and…

If there’s one philosophy that seems to exemplify the vast majority of decisions that Apple has made about its products, it’s this: “We know best.” Now, I get it. That’s kind of the upside of having a benevolent dictator: decisions get made for you, and you don’t have to worry yourself about making the right ones. Of course, the downside to a benevolent dictator is that they’re still, fundamentally, a dictator. Apple’s taken its fair share of backlash over these kind of high-level decisions throughout the years, and the latest firestorm is about the company’s decision to make the trade-off of battery life versus performance in older iPhones. Whether or not the company is right to have chosen for us, it’s now walking that decision back, with Tim Cook saying…

If the iPhone X is slumping, it’s sure not affecting Apple’s bottom line. In the quarter ending December 31, 2017, Apple reported a record revenue of $88.3 billion, a 13 percent increase over last year’s $78.4 billion (which was also a record). Additionally, Apple posted an all-time record quarterly earnings per diluted share of $3.89. And that’s with one less week of sales over last year’s first quarter. Leading the way was the iPhone, but not due to unit sales. Apple moved 77.3 million iPhones in the three-month holiday quarter, about a million less than last year, but revenue grew by more than $7 billion to $61.6 billion. While Apple didn’t break out the different iPhone models, it’s clear that the higher price of the iPhone X contributed to the gains.…

Pixelmator is an impressive image editor. In my review of version 3.5, I wrote, “Pixelmator represents that percentage of Photoshop’s features most people actually use on a regular basis.” But some developers just can’t leave well enough alone. That’s good news for photographers and designers looking for an inexpensive ($60) Photoshop alternative. Pixelmator Pro 1.0 Whirlwind (Mac App Store link) is an all-new application designed with more demanding needs in mind. Although there’s plenty of feature overlap between it and Pixelmator, Pixelmator Pro is a fresh start. FLOAT AWAY, PALETTES Pixelmator Pro presents an effectively clean and sparse experience, keeping your focus on the image. Editing tools appear in a single panel at the right side of the window. The entire left edge is devoted to layers, represented as thumbnails.…

My first typewriter was grandma’s old 1933 Royal Model 10-S, and those vintage keys spit out thousands of pages during my formative teenage years before the arrival of word processors. I still miss the firm, satisfying snap of metal keys, which I’ve never been able to replicate on Mac keyboards. Leave it to Azio, a company known for sturdy mechanical keyboards aimed at gamers and hardcore typists, to come up with the next best thing. The Retro Classic ($190, available on Amazon) combines modern technology with vintage good looks in a new line of luxury keyboards that offer the same type of circular keys I grew up with. VINTAGE STYLE The first thing you’ll notice is how solid this keyboard is, weighing in at a hefty 3.5 pounds thanks to…

8BITDO SN30 PRO 8bitdo’s SN30 Pro is a Bluetooth-based wireless controller designed for die-hard retro gaming fans, taking its design cues from the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. If you’re used to the SNES’s controller, you’ll need to adjust to the SN30 Pro. On the face of the controller is the usual D-pad, start, select, and face buttons, but they are shifted up to allow room for analog sticks and two extra buttons. Overall, the SN30 Pro feels solid, and gamers who appreciate retro nostalgia, want contemporary functionality for current games, or are looking for a great portable option, will like the SN30 Pro.—ADAM PATRICK MURRAY UA SPORT WIRELESS FLEX You might find smarter wireless headphones on the market, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more practical sports headphone than…