You can now get the alternative web browser Firefox for iPhone and iPad in the App Store. Except its not really Firefox as you know it on the desktop, because the underlying engine is all WebKit, not Mozilla’s Gecko renderer like it is on the Mac. This is the same as the iOS Google Chrome app — the App Store rules require browsers to use the Safari WebKit engine. This isn’t really a bad thing, the WebKit rendering core is the industry leading mobile (and desktop) engine.

You might want to use Firefox for iPhone and iPad if you use Firefox on the Mac, due to UI similarities for the browser chrome or just for syncing convenience. The Firefox app will sync bookmarks, open tabs across all your devices by logging into your Firefox account. These are the main differences between Firefox and the native Safari app.

The Firefox app works on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. One interesting thing you can do when you have multiple browser apps installed on an iPad is do side-by-side multitasking of two web browser pages, such as on your brand new iPad Pro. iOS 9 doesn’t let you put the same app in two panes (at least, not yet) so having two browsers installed and running is the only way to achieve this.

As far as replacing Safari with Firefox, there are significant problems. The cost of switching browsers on iPhone is high, however. A big problem with using third-party web browser apps on iOS is the lack of a ‘default apps’s setting.

This means that any time you click a link across the system, the iOS device will always prefer Safari. You can access other browsers through the share sheet but thats another layer of indirection. iOS 8 and 9 implemented a lot of power-user features but the concept of default apps on iOS remains illusive.

You can get Firefox from the App Store for free. Firefox works on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

Filed under: AAPL Company, Apps, iOS, iOS Devices Tagged: Firefox, iOS, iPad, iPhone

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A day after releasing the third public beta of OS X 10.11.2 to developers, Apple this evening has released the third public beta of the operating system to public beat testers. Beta 3 of OS X 10.11.2 comes just a week after Apple released beta 2 to testers.

Public beta users can download the update now from the Mac App Store’s Updates tab on their computer. Users who are interested in testing public betas can apply for the program at Apple’s beta website.

Filed under: AAPL Company

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Today we’re taking a look at the iPad Pro. On the surface, it may look like a giant Netflix machine, but well… it kind of is. This is the biggest iPad ever without a doubt, that packs a 12.9-inch display and obviously has a much larger footprint when compared to the iPad Air 2, this is larger by 78 percent actually. But enough with the small talk, let’s take a look inside of the box..,

As far as specifications go, Apple’s iPad Pro is packing the A9X processor inside, with 4GB of RAM, and either 32GB or in my case 128GB of internal storage. As I mentioned, there’s a 12.9-inch display with a resolution of 2732 x 2048 which is good for 265ppi.

Check out our iPad Pro unboxing and impressions video below:

The display is pretty clean as well. It’s obviously not as pixel dense as some of the smartphones we look at, but it’s on point with a Retina MacBook Pro. The technology for the display makes it extremely power efficient as well, at least according to Apple. The display features a variable refresh rate that can detect when the content on it is static. From there is drops the refresh rate from 60 to 30 in order to save power.

Taking a look at design, this thing is massive. Like really big. Luckily, it’s not as thick as it is big. It comes in at just 6.9mm and weighs 1.57 pounds, which isn’t too bad at all. Along the bottom end, you’ll find a Lightning port for charging, and surprisingly here, Apple has implemented four side-firing speakers inside of the iPad Pro (2 on each end) for a rich multimedia experience.

On one side you’ll find the volume buttons and a couple of microphones, while the other is home to Apple’s new Smart Connector, which can be used for accessories like the new Smart Keyboard, which is actually not available to ship immediately at launch, but third-party manufacturers like Logitech have swooped in to save the day. And if you really want to be that guy, there’s an 8-megapixel camera on the backside, capable of up to 1080p video recording. Trust me though, you don’t want to be that guy. Also, around the front, there’s a 1.2-megapixel camera, making it great option for Skype and FaceTime calls.

So basically, when the iPad Pro’s Smart Connector makes contact with a supported accessory like Logitech’s CREATE keyboard case, it powers and charges the keyboard so you’ll never have to worry about that. Pretty neat feature in my opinion and also one of the things that makes the iPad Pro a bit different than the other models. And obviously because the iPad Pro is so large, a keyboard case like this will actually have full-size keys, which is miles better than typing on something cramped in a smaller form factor.

Apple also makes the iPad Pro useful for a wide variety of other people with Apple Pencil, and I’d love to share my experience about this with you, but unfortunately this too was not available to ship instantly at launch.

I think the iPad Pro is a nice idea overall, but the main issue here is that it runs iOS instead of something that may be a bit more useful to “professionals” like you know.. maybe OS X? The truth is, that even Microsoft’s Surface may appeal to anyone looking to get more out of productivity than iOS has to offer, but that doesn’t make this a bad product. Having laptop-like screen real estate in a tablet form-factor is a nice thing. Especially when paired with a full size keyboard. Drop in the rich multitasking found in iOS 9 and you’ve got something that can definitely appeal to a lot of people. And you know what? Sometimes folks just don’t want to deal with a desktop operating system.

For me, the iPad Pro feels pretty well-built and obviously the quality is on point with what you’d expect from Apple. That being said, it’ll take me some time to figure out whether or not this huge tablet is something I need in my life, but I’ll definitely give it a shot. What do you think about the iPad Pro? Did you pick one up?

Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: Apple, Apple Pencil, iPad, iPad Pro, Smart Keyboard, unboxing

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New for the holiday season, Apple is offering some bundles for the photographer and videographer. The iPhones have a great camera, as demonstrated by the Shot on iPhone 6 campaign and Apple is certainly looking to capitalize on these capabilities. With these bundles, they are making it easier for a hobbyist or a professional to get started with accessories.

The Photography Kit consists of five different accessories:

• Olloclip Active Lens – comes with ultra-wide and telephoto lens and it is $99.99
• Manfrotto PIXI Tripod – an extremely lightweight and portable tripod and it is $24.88
• MeFOTO Sidekick 360 Plus Tripod Mounting Adapter – allows you to turn the phone 360° to easily reposition vertical and horizontal pictures and it is normally $52.00 and is on sale for $39.00
• HISY Bluetooth Camera Remote – a bluetooth remote allowing you to take pictures away from your phone and it is $24.00
• Incase Photography Kit – designed specifically for these accessories and it is made out of compact shell with 1680D nylon molded and similar bags range from $39.95 to $59.95

Bought separately, these photography accessories are worth $260.82 and Apple sells them together for $199.95.

If photos aren’t your passion, have no fear because Apple also has a Videography Kit as well. It consists of five different accessories:

• Olloclip Active Lens – comes with ultra-wide and telephoto lens and it is $99.99
• Manfrotto Compact Action Tripod – features an ergonomic joystick head with a scroll wheel lock mechanism that allows for capturing smooth videos and it is $69.88
• MeFOTO Sidekick 360 Plus Tripod Mounting Adapter – allows you to turn the phone 360° to easily reposition vertical and horizontal pictures and it is normally $52.00 and is on sale for $39.00
• Shure MV88 Digital Stereo Mic – connects to your phone via the Lightning port, rotates 90° and can make real-time adjustments to stereo width and switch built-in DSP presets and it is normally $186.00 on sale for $149.00
• Incase Tripod Sling – designed specially for these accessories and it is made out of durable 1680D ballistic nylon. The main compartment securely rolls down and has plenty of room for tripods and small pockets for organization of smaller items and similar bags range from $99.95 to $199.95.

Bought separately these videography accessories are worth $607.82 and Apple sells them together for $299.95. For this holiday season, if you need gifts for the photographer or the videographer, these are extremely reasonably packaged and priced.

Filed under: Buying Guides, iOS Devices Tagged: Camera, iPhone 6, iphone 6 plus, iPhone 6s, iphone 6s plus, photography, video, videography

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It’s no surprise that the people over at repair guide portal iFixit have already started their ritual teardown of Apple’s new iPad Pro. The new device features a larger 12.9-inch display, the 3rd generation 64-bit A9X chip, and other upgraded internals, but are there any other new surprises inside the iPad Pro?

Immediately the team noticed a different layout for the logic board making things a little different when cracking open the new iPad Pro compared to previous generations:

This isn’t quite what we’re used to! With the logic board situated in the center of the iPad, the display cables connect in the very middle, we can’t even lay the display down while we work… Instead we have to support the weight of the display while taking out a few screws securing the display cable bracket…. Here’s a first in iPad history. We have to remove the logic board EMI shielding to remove the logic board itself.

And here is a list of components iFixit found inside that aren’t publicly detailed by Apple:

• 2 × Broadcom BCM15900B0
• NXP Semiconductors 8416A1 Touch ID Sensor
• Parade Technologies DP695 Timing Controller
  • This is likely an iteration of the DP665 LCD timing controller found in the iMac Retina 5K, modified to support the display’s variable refresh rate.
• Texas Instruments TPS65144 (Likely an iteration of the TPS65143A LCD Bias found in the Air 2)

One thing iFixit notes in its teardown is that the speaker boxes for the device take about half the space as the battery cells. “Premium audio means reduced battery life,” the team notes.

One of the iPad Pro’s speakers

We’ll be updating this post as iFixit makes more discoveries of what’s inside Apple’s latest tablet..

Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: A9x, iFixit, internals, iPad Pro, repair, teardown

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From 9to5Toys.com:

Just a few weeks after launching a new slim iPhone 6/s battery case and power bank, Mophie is back again today with five new external batteries. We’ve seen a lot of power banks in our day – and regularly have deals too – but the new Mophie powerstations use an aluminum shell that, from pictures alone, standout from the pack.

Available in five different capacities, each model provides a different feature set focused on a variety of needs. The smaller 1X provides a 2,000mAh battery with speeds up to 1.8A. Going up to the larger 2X and 3X models provides 4,000 and 6,000mAh capacities along with 2.4A charging speeds, the latter of which adds a second USB port to the mix.

Mophie has added a couple of standout features to the largest powerstations, the 5x and 8x, including Bluetooth monitoring via the free Power iOS and Android app. The smaller model packs 10,000mAh of power, while its bigger brother has 15,000mAh. Each model has dual-USB charging ports and LED indicators.

Most of the new power banks are available for purchase today via Verizon Wireless, and will be coming to Apple Store locations as well. Pricing is as follows:

• 1X: $40
• 2X: $60
• 3X: $80
• 5X: $130
• 8X: $150

Filed under: General Tagged: external battery, Mophie, Power Banks, powerstation

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Apple CEO Tim Cook visiting app developers in London this week

Tim Cook reportedly met with U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne this week to discuss Apple Pay and regulations in the country as the Apple CEO continues a tour to meet government officials, app developers, and students abroad.

Bloomberg reports that Osborne offered details of the discussion at a recent talk noting that the two “spoke extensively about Apple Pay” and that the UK Chancellor is “committed to ensuring that regulators don’t stifle innovation”:

“I was thinking how extraordinary it was that you had a finance minister and the head of a tech company talking about the future of banking,” Osborne told a conference organized by the Bank of England on Wednesday. “I want the U.K. to be the global center of fintech. We will go out of our way to make that happen.”

Tim Cook appears to be on a bit of a world tour alongside the iPad Pro launch this week, making stops in various locations in the UK, Ireland, and Italy, among other places. The Apple CEO posted images on his official Twitter account from trips to visit app developers and students in Italy this week, as well as photos from a trip to Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.

Earlier today we reported that the Irish government and Apple had announced that an additional 1,000 jobs would be added at Apple’s EU headquarters in Cork, Ireland by mid-2017.

Filed under: AAPL Company Tagged: Apple, George Osborne, Tim Cook, UK

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According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Apple is actively in talks to launch a new person-to-person mobile payments service, like Apple Pay but for sending money between friends and family. Apple is in discussions with US banks to negotiate terms for the new service, which could launch next year. The publication says it is unclear if any deals have been struck to date and technical implementation details remain in flux.

Essentially, imagine AirDrop for mobile payments between people. This would essentially pit Apple Pay against other friend-to-friend payment solutions like PayPal’s Venmo, Facebook Messenger payments and similar services.

From the Wall Street Journal’s report, Apple has discussed the project with several US banks including Wells Fargo, Chase, Capital One and JP Morgan.

The service under consideration would allow consumers to zap payments from their checking accounts to recipients through their Apple devices. The service would likely be linked to the company’s Apple Pay system, which allows customers to make credit-card and debit-card payments with their mobile phones.

Apple got a patent for person-to-person Apple Pay payments earlier in the year, so it’s definitely been on the table for while and is the obvious next step to expand Apple’s mobile payment offerings aside from supporting more countries.

Apple Pay is currently available as a customer-to-merchant transaction in the United States and the UK with a variety of supporting banks. Apple Pay is coming to Australia and Canada via American Express by the end of 2015 as well as several more countries next year.

Filed under: AAPL Company, Apple Pay, iOS, iOS Devices Tagged: Apple pay, mobile payments

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Apple’s iPad Pro is now available for sale and we’re got the details on everything you need to know. From the best iPad Pro cases to other retailers that will have stock. Along with that, we get into some new Apple TV details that you might want to know about and Apple Music hits … Android.

New episodes of Happy Hour are available every Wednesday. As mentioned, you can download this podcast via iTunes or plug in our RSS feed link into your favorite podcasting app. Send an email to listenermail@9to5mac.com (or click here) and your question/comment may be featured in an upcoming episode of Happy Hour.

Note: iTunes (web interface and app) may still be propagating the new episode which could take up to 24 hours. Subscribing to the podcast feed will guarantee the latest episode is downloaded.

Hosts:

• Zac Hall
• Benjamin Mayo

Here’s what we discussed in this episode:

• Apple plans to start selling the iPad Pro on November 11th
• Apple’s 12.9 inch iPad Pro goes on sale Wednesday in 40 countries, available at retail stores later in the week
• Where to buy Apple’s new, larger iPad Pro this week
• Apple debuts new iPad Pro ad ‘A Great Big Universe’ ahead of Wednesday’s launch
• Apple Music for Android now available in the Google Play Store
• Hands-on: SteelSeries’ Nimbus is the first Made For Apple TV game controller, but should you care?
• Roundup: The best apps and games for the new Apple TV
• Opinion: With Apple TV 4’s open app platform, some classic channels offer worse user experiences
• Apple announces Apple TV-focused Tech Talks for developers across 10 cities around the world

If you missed our 39th episode last week, you can subscribe and find every episode or start off from the previous episode here.

Remember: Subscribe on iTunes to catch all of the episodes as they go live and send in your questions/comments to listenermail@9to5mac.com.

Filed under: Happy Hour Tagged: Apple TV, Happy Hour, iPad, iPad Pro, Podcast

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Just as predicted by my colleague Mark Gurman, the iPad Pro became available to purchase today, making a rare simultaneous appearance in Apple’s online and physical stores without any preorder period. Consequently, it’s actually possible to walk into an Apple Store today to buy one — and if my experience today is any indication, there probably won’t even be much of a line.

If you’re still unsure as to whether you want an iPad Pro, I’ve put together this quick guide to some of the real-world things people will want to know about the new 12.9″ iPad before making a purchase — including some comparison photos and other hands-on details. Enjoy the details and galleries below…

1. How Big Is Big? How much space are you really going to save carrying an iPad Pro instead of a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro? Not a lot, particularly if you’re also toting a keyboard around. Inside a keyboard case, the iPad Pro has a nearly identical footprint to the 13″ Retina MacBook Pro (above), and is noticeably bigger than the 11.6″ MacBook Air. (Check out the gallery below to see a shot of the iPad Pro in a keyboard case dwarfing the smaller Air.)

2. This Is How Big It Looks Next To the iPad Air 2 and the iPhone 6s Plus. iPhone 6/6s Plus users typically stop using their iPad minis once their iPhones become nearly as big — some even stopped using full-sized iPads/iPad Airs. The iPad Pro creates another meaningful differentiation between devices; compared with the iPhone 6/6s Plus, it feels a lot bigger than an iPad Air. And even if you know what a 13″ laptop screen is like, the iPad Pro feels a lot different — more intimate, as Steve Jobs would have said — when it’s resting in your lap, or held in your hand. My strong advice: under no circumstances should you try placing it on an iPad dock.

3. The Extra Speakers Actually Do Make A Difference. The iPad Pro has four speakers — two on “top,” two on “bottom” — and they’re much better than on any prior iPad. Believe it or not, the iPad Pro makes the 13″ Retina MacBook Pro’s speakers sound weak; they’re remarkably a step louder, noticeably clearer, and decidedly wider in frequency, better in both treble and bass. Apple’s promised stereo separation feature works seamlessly, too, properly switching the “left” and “right” channels over to the correct speakers as you rotate the iPad Pro around.

4. Multitasking With The Virtual Keyboard Is Less Weird But Still Weird. Typing has become wonky on all iPads since the introduction of split-screen multitasking, and rather than going away, the weirdness just changes with the iPad Pro. On a positive note, you get a little more screen space for your apps above the virtual keyboard, which managed to grow in height and width by replicating more keys from a regular keyboard. Now you get half-height number keys alongside a weird half-height delete key, while losing the ability to split the keyboard in half for edge-of-screen typing. But you still have the ability to undock the keyboard from the bottom of the screen, sliding it up and down to your preferred position. I’ve never seen a use for this, but maybe you have one.

5. Most Of The Time, It Doesn’t Feel Materially Faster Than An iPad Air 2. Most apps, including Apple’s, feel like they’re running at the same speeds once you get them open, though the iPad Pro can and will load apps a little faster. As between the iPad Air 2 and iPad Pro, you’re more likely to notice Internet/wireless retrieval delays than CPU or GPU performance issues at this point. Oddly, Geekbench’s benchmarking tool shows a lot of variation between results. It consistently reported a gigantic jump in single-core scores from the iPad Air 2 (as wide as 1836 to 3146), but versus the iPad Air 2’s 4605 multi-core score, the Pro’s scores ranged from a barely better 4859 to a higher score of 5324. I’m guessing Geekbench needs an update, but there might be under-the-hood power management reasons for the benchmark differences.

6. Display Zoom + AirPlay Mirroring. Hey, did you know the iPad Pro has a Display Zoom feature, like the iPhone 6/6s Plus? When activated, it effectively transforms the Pro’s 12.9″ screen into the UI equivalent of the iPad Air, with much larger icons and text at a 2048 x 1536 resolution. The zoomed display could be a boon for users with limited vision seeking a larger canvas for the existing iPad experience. Additionally, though the iPad Pro’s screen is normally 2732 x 2048, it continues to look way lower-res — basically 1024×768-equivalent, the same as other iPads — when AirPlay Mirrored to an HDTV.

7. Expect A Lot Of Upscaling and Weird Proportions. Most of the iPad Pro experience right now is… a work in progress. Click on most apps and they’ll look like iPad Air apps upscaled to a larger screen, and in some apps, you may (gasp) notice visible pixels for the first time since Apple switched to Retina displays. Also, apps that have been upscaled (including Apple’s integrated iOS apps) don’t necessarily look optimally balanced for the new screen size. It’s really time for Apple to re-evaluate whether iPad apps like Clock really need to occupy the entire screen with white space for most of their tabs — now that multitasking is here, some apps might be best off running in less-than-full-screen windows.

8. Also, You Probably Should Stop Running Those Last Few Upscaled iPhone Apps Now. Sorry, Instagram users. iPhone app upscaling to the iPad was always a little iffy, but on the iPad Pro, it’s downright silly. 1X mode is tiny, and 2X mode no longer fills the screen, remaining closer to the size of an iPad Air screen with tons of black space on the Pro’s display.

9. Old Power Is All Good. The iPad Pro comes with and prefers Apple’s previously-released 12w iPad Power Adapter, but it doesn’t complain if it’s connected to older 10W iPad adapters or even 5W iPhone adapters. Those fearing a “Not Charging” notice will find the Pro works like other iPads when it comes to compatibility with Made For iPad power accessories.

10. Apple’s Smart Connector May Become A Game-Changer. For the first time in iPad history, the iPad Pro can actually connect to two wired accessories at once — one with Lightning, one with the Smart Connector. If this wasn’t obvious before due to the volume buttons’ placement, the Smart Connector now defines the “correct” way to use the iPad Pro in landscape mode: with the Home Button on the right side of the screen. It’s going to be really interesting to see how and whether most cases handle the new Connector, as no one knows yet whether it will be useful for things beyond (certain) keyboard docks. Since it was the first thing to show dirt on my Pro after it was unpacked, protection of some sort doesn’t seem like a bad idea, but accessing the port may wind up being challenging if it’s covered…

Here’s a quick gallery of additional iPad Pro images:

More From This Author

Check out more of my editorials, How-To guides, and reviews for 9to5Mac here! I’ve covered a lot of different topics of interest to Mac, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Apple TV, and Apple Watch users. If you’re looking to trade in your old iPad for a new iPad Pro, use promo code IPADPRO here to get a 10% bonus on your NextWorth trade in.

Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: iPad, iPad Pro

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