The new MacBook Pro models have been coming under a fair amount of criticism on the Internet. Many are saying that the new machines just aren’t wowing them, especially just after Microsoft demonstrated that it is still possible to do so even in the boring old desktop PC market with the new Surface Studio.

That criticism is absolutely fair enough, and echoes my own views when I said that I was buying it despite not being excited by it.

But some criticisms being directed at the machines seem to me to be misplaced …

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Apple has released iOS 10.1.1 for iPhones and iPad, less than a week since the iOS 10.1 update which include iPhone 7 Portrait Mode. The bug fixes a specific issue with the Health app, where data was not showing for some users.Filed under: Apple

In IDC’s latest report covering worldwide tablet sales, Apple continues and increases its lead as the overall market continues to decline 14.7% year-over-year.

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Two new drone videos are up, showing the latest progress on the Apple Campus 2 construction. The outer facade of the main building is now almost complete, along with around half the solar panels on the roof, with far fewer cranes now operating. The team has also been busy on the landscaping front, with lots of new trees throughout the site.

The maintenance facility is growing, construction of a new security building is underway on the Tantau Avenue side of the campus and the main parking garages look pretty much complete – with 300 charging stations for all those Teslas Apple employees favor …

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Immediately prior to the unveiling of the new MacBook Pro models, some 64% of you were planning to buy them. Interestingly, that number didn’t seem to change at all when we ran a new poll afterwards.

What did change was that that almost all the ‘not sure’ group turned into definite ‘no’ votes – so we thought it would be interesting to find out the reasons for that …

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BusinessKorea reports that Samsung and LG are engaged in a ‘do or die’ fight to win orders from Apple for OLED displays for future iPhones. The companies are said to be investing a combined record sum of around $11.6M this year alone in the type of flexible displays likely to be used in next year’s iPhones.

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In an interview with CNET, Jony Ive said that his team had rejected a touchscreen Mac ‘many, many years ago.’ He did, though, suggest that Apple is working on other concepts in this general area, beyond the Touch Bar.

Asked why a touchscreen Mac would be inappropriate, Ive said:

For a bunch of practical reasons. It’s difficult to talk [laughs] without going into a lot of details that puts me starting to talk about things that we are working on. I don’t really want to talk much more about it.

We of course think we know one of those things already …

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An Arizona teenager caused havoc in multiple 911 cell centers last week after creating a proof of concept of an iOS exploit that caused iPhones to dial 911. The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office said that one police department was ‘in immediate danger of losing service’ to its 911 center, and two other call centers were also at risk …

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It has been discovered that along with physical function keys, glowing Apple logo and ‘old style’ USB ports, the new MacBook Pros lack the iconic Mac chime when booting up. This is the distinctive noise heard at startup when the Mac passes the initial POST checks; Apple has used the same F-chord sound in its computers since 1998.

The new MacBooks end this tradition as the chime has been removed completely and the machines will make no noise at all on boot, unless there is a fault. However, there seems to be a good reason for this change …

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In this week’s top stories: Apple’s new MacBook Pro unveiling, the new Apple “TV” app, watchOS 3.1 and Apple Watch Nike+, iOS 10.1 with Portrait Mode gets a public release, and much more.  more…

Filed under: Apple