Major zero-day exploit found in iOS & OS X

The security flaw itself sounds scary, but the following bit from the article is far more scarier

The Register says the team reported the flaws to Apple in October of last year. At that time, Apple said that it understood the seriousness of the flaws and asked the researchers to give it six months to address them before the exploit was made public. In February, Apple requested an advance copy of the paper, yet the flaws remain present in the latest versions of both operating systems

June 17, 2015 ✚ Permalink

Apple Announces New 15″ MacBook Pro with Force Touch and Cheaper 27″ iMac with Retina 5K Display

Apple today announced the availability of a new 15-inch MacBook Pro with Force Touch and a cheaper base model of the 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display.

The 15-inch MacBook Pro now features the same Force Touch trackpad that the company introduced in the new MacBook and also added to the 13″ MacBook Pro. Also new in the hardware is 2.5 times faster flash storage, faster discrete graphics and slightly better battery life. In India, this updated 15-inch MacBook Pro is available with a 2.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.4GHz), 16GB RAM, 256GB of flash storage, Iris Pro graphics and is available at Apple Authorized Resellers at INR 1,59,900. A second model with a faster 2.5GHz processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.7GHz), 512GB of flash storage and dedicated AMD Radeon R9 M370X graphics is available at INR 1,99,900.

Apple also introduced a cheaper and lower-spec’d 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display. The new model with a 3.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor and 1TB 7200rpm hard drive is priced at INR 1,59,900 in India ($1999 in the U.S.) while the top-end model with 3.5GHz processor and 1TB Fusion Drive is priced at INR 1,79,900 in India. This model has undergone a price cut in the U.S, now available at $2299 instead of $2499. I have been eyeing the Retina 5K iMac for myself to upgrade my old 2011 iMac and was actually hoping Apple would release better hardware at the same price.

The company has also (surprisingly) released a iPhone Lightning Dock today, available for $39 in the U.S or INR 3,200 in India.

The Force Touch trackpad is now available in the new MacBook, 13″ MacBook Pro and the 15″ MacBook Pro. I am hoping Apple will also release a Magic Trackpad with Force Touch sometime soon.

May 19, 2015 ✚ Permalink

Apple’s Second Quarter Results for 2015

Apple has announced its quarterly results for Q2 2015 and as is expected of them, they’ve had an outstanding quarter. In the second three months of 2015, Apple announced that it has sold 61.2 Million iPhones, 12.6 Million iPads and 4.6 Million Macs towards a total revenue of US$58 Billion.

The company made US$13.6 Billion in quarterly net profit and now has a cash balance of $194 Billion. In the year-ago quarter, Apple posted a revenue of $45.6 Billion and a net quarterly profit of $10.2 Billion.

It’s interesting to note that Apple’s biggest market segment outside of the Americas was China, which overtook Europe this quarter. Apple generated $21.3 Billion in the Americas, $16.8 Billion in China alone and $12.2 Billion in Europe, followed by $3.4 Billion in Japan and $4.2 Billion in the Rest of Asia Pacific.

April 28, 2015 ✚ Permalink

Cleatrip Adds Support for the Apple Watch

Cleartrip today released an update to its iOS app that adds support for the Apple Watch, which will be making its way to users starting April 24th. If you’re a Cleartrip user and end up getting an Apple Watch, you’ll be able to enjoy some pretty nifty features like:

  • View a list of upcoming trips in the watch app
  • View details of your next flight, along with departure time and flight status through a Glance
  • Receive notifications for flight delays, reschedules or cancellations directly on the watch.

I have always loved what Cleartrip has been doing with the design of their website and their iOS app. You can download Cleatrip for iOS Free on the App Store.

April 20, 2015 ✚ Permalink

Apple’s Hiring a Volume Recruiter, based in Delhi

Apple India is hiring a “Volume Recruiter” for its offices in New Delhi.

This role will be responsible for recruiting high volume positions across Apple’s Field Sales organisation across India.

There’s also an interesting open position for a QA Engineer for iOS based in Mumbai.

February 6, 2015 ✚ Permalink

New 2014 Mac Mini Has Soldered RAM, Not User Replaceable

Juli Clover writing on Mac Rumors:

Many have speculated that the Mac mini also includes soldered RAM, which has now been confirmed by Macminicolo’s Brian Stucki. According to Stucki, the RAM in the Mac mini is “not user accessible,” which means those who purchase Mac minis are limited to 16GB of RAM that must be upgraded when purchasing the machine from Apple.

All three Mac mini models can be upgraded to a maximum of 16GB of RAM, with the upgrade priced at $300 for the base model and $200 for the mid and high-end models.

The Mac mini was not only an excellent choice as an entry-level desktop Mac, but it also worked as a great upgrade-later machine. I’ve recommended the Mac mini to many of my friends who bought it as their first Mac and went on to upgrade the RAM & HDD after purchase.

Now, not only can you not do any upgrades after purchase, but you can’t even order configurable options in India, so you’re stuck with the three standard models as your choices.

October 18, 2014 ✚ Permalink

Official Pricing of 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K Display in India

Apple today introduced a stellar new 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K Display that offers a resolution of 5120×2880 pixels, making it the highest resolution display ever with 14.7 Million pixels. On the inside, this iMac features a 3.5GHz Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.9GHz, AMD Radeon R9 M290X graphics, 8GB Ram and 1TB Fusion Drive along with 2 Thunderbolt posts and ships with OS X Yosemite.

The iMac with Retina 5K Display has been priced at Rs. 1,79,900 in India.

October 17, 2014 ✚ Permalink

Official iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 Pricing in India

At its annual October event, Apple today introduced the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 — the latest generation of its iPad lineup. The new iPad Air 2 features a completely overhauled industrial design that makes it the thinnest iPad ever at just 6.1mm thin. It features an improved Retina display with more vibrant colors, an improved camera which takes breathtaking photos and Touch ID. On the inside, it boasts a new A8X chip that offers 40% better CPU performance at 2.5 times the GPU performance compared to previous generation iPad as well as a faster 802.11ac Wi-Fi module with data rates up to 866Mbps.

Both the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 will be available in Gold, Silver & Space Grey variants.

The following is the official pricing of the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 in India:

iPad Air 2 Pricing in India

iPad Model16GB64GB128GB
iPad Air 2 - Wi-fi Rs. 35,900Rs. 42,900Rs. 49,900
iPad Air 2 - Wifi + CellularRs. 45,900Rs. 52,900Rs. 59,900
iPad mini 3 - WifiRs. 28,900Rs. 35,900Rs. 42,900
iPad mini 3 - Wifi + CellularRs. 38,900Rs. 45,900Rs. 52,900
iPad AirRs. 28,900
iPad mini 2 (Retina display)Rs. 21,900
iPad miniRs. 17,900

October 17, 2014 ✚ Permalink