Revamped Mac Pro to Address Current Model’s Shortcomings in VR and High-End Cinema Production

In the midst of a flood of reveals and announcements surrounding the Mac Pro and iMac, Apple today gave a hint as to what the upcoming Mac Pro will be able to accomplish for high-end, professional users. Although little information was given about the revamped Mac Pro, Phil Schiller described it as the “highest-end” desktop system the company has created yet, and that it will be “designed for our demanding pro customers.”

TechCrunch asked Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, what the boost in the “pro” aspect of the Mac Pro will mean for the company’s power users. In response, Federighi mentioned software capabilities in the virtual reality space, as well as tasks centered on high-end cinema production.

I ask who, exactly, the pro customers are that needed the more powerful GPU in a Mac Pro most.

“There’s certain scientific loads that are very GPU intensive and they want to throw the largest GPU at it that they can,” says Federighi. “There are heavy 3D graphics [applications] or graphics and compute mixed loads. Those can be in VR, those can be in certain kinds of high end cinema production tasks where most of the software out there that’s been written to target those doesn’t know how to balance itself well across multiple GPUs but can scale across a single large GPU.”

Virtual reality is a noticeable shortcoming of Apple’s current Mac Pro line, as well as its iMac desktop computers. Although Federighi doesn’t go into any more detail about how VR support might function on the Apple ecosystem — including which headsets will be supported, and what software will take advantage of VR — it’s an interesting tidbit of information regarding the upcoming Mac Pro line launching sometime after this year.

In regards to virtual reality and augmented reality, in recent reports Apple has been more closely aligned with development on the latter technology, which doesn’t require a cumbersome headset and can be used with technology already on modern smartphones, as it was in Pokémon Go. Still, specific hardware has been rumored to be in the pipeline by Apple, most recently including an Apple-branded pair of AR glasses that would connect to iPhones and “show images and other information in the wearer’s field of vision,” but they’re predicted to be far from launch.

Apple has filed a collection of patents focused on virtual reality headsets that could in theory function with an all-new Mac Pro, but such filings have slowed down in recent years among Apple CEO Tim Cook’s well-known preference for AR over VR. Over the past few months, Cook has referred to AR as everything from a “profound” piece of technology that could “amplify” human contact to an idea that could result in a paradigm shift as “huge” as smartphones.

Rumors currently suggest that Apple’s AR glasses could launch in 2018, but any news regarding an Apple-branded VR headset have been quiet for over a year. As such, it’s likely that the upcoming Mac Pro will support third-party VR headsets from companies already in the market.

Related Roundups: Mac Pro, Apple VR Project
Buyer’s Guide: Mac Pro (Buy Now)
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Microsoft Launches New iOS Camera App ‘Sprinkles’ With Machine Learning Features

Microsoft recently debuted a new iOS app called “Sprinkles – Camera with Fun Ideas” [Direct Link], which launches alongside the recent explosion of camera-centric application updates that offer various filters, emojis, lenses, and captions for users to mess around with. The app officially launched on April 1, suggesting the company intended it as an April Fools’ prank, but it’s only recently begun to be noticed online, and as of writing remains on the App Store’s “New apps we love” section.

Sprinkles has a slight advantage above its competitors from Facebook and Snapchat thanks to Microsoft’s AI and machine learning abilities, which can “do things like detect faces, determine the photo subject’s age and emotion, figure out your celebrity look-a-like, suggest captions, and more” (via TechCrunch). The app can tell when a subject is frowning, for example, and automatically input a relevant caption, like “turn that frown upside down.”

Similar to Snapchat, Sprinkles will include filters and emojis related to the day of the week or the time of day that will surface on their own each time the user opens the app. Sprinkles acts in a similar vein to Apple’s recently announced app “Clips,” in that it isn’t a social network itself, but allows users to create images and videos and share them elsewhere on Facebook, Twitter, text, or email.

Sprinkles is a camera with fun ideas. Snap a pic and automatically get new ideas for witty captions or add your own quip. Captions are unique to what’s in the picture, so try different things such as coffee, food, pets, and selfies! Have fun with face-detecting Smart Stickers that fit your face perfectly. Choose from hundreds of Emojis and stickers and find even more with a quick web search. New captions and Smart Stickers are added frequently, because fresh fun is the best fun.

Microsoft is known to create apps specifically tailored for iOS devices, last year having launched “Microsoft Pix” on the App Store as a way for users to automatically adjust their photos using smart AI. In November, the company even debuted its classic Solitaire game for PCs as a standalone iOS and Android app that included Klondike, Spider, FreeCell, Pyramid, and Tripeaks.

Tag: Microsoft
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Apple Apologizes About Mac Pro’s Lack of Upgradability, Ensures It’s Still Committed to Pros

Apple recently invited a small group of reporters to Cupertino for a roundtable discussion about the future of the Mac.

Apple revealed to them a relatively minor spec bump to its current Mac Pro lineup, but the bigger news was that it’s working on a “completely rethought” Mac Pro that will feature a modular design. The all-new Mac Pro, which won’t launch until at least next year, will be Apple’s highest-end, highest-throughput system.

Apple said the new Mac Pro will be accompanied by an Apple-branded external display geared towards pro users. Apple appears to be reversing course after discontinuing the Thunderbolt Display, and reportedly exiting the display business. It most recently partnered with LG on the UltraFine 4K and 5K displays.

Apple also said that it’s working on new iMac models that will be unveiled later this year, but it remained tight-lipped about what to expect. Meanwhile, Apple said the Mac mini remains an “important” product in its lineup, and one that it will continue to sell, but it did not reveal any plans for future updates.

It isn’t often that Apple pre-announces new products in its pipeline, but there were growing concerns that Apple no longer cared about professional users, and this is Apple’s way of proving otherwise. Apple stressed that it remains committed to the Mac and pro users throughout its entire media briefing.

Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller apologized about the “pause in upgrades and updates” to the Mac Pro, and promised that Apple will have “something great” to replace it, according to TechCrunch. The Mac Pro went 1,202 days without an update prior to today’s spec bump, per the MacRumors Buyer’s Guide.

“If we’ve had a pause in upgrades and updates, we’re sorry for that — what happened with the Mac Pro — and we’re going to come out with something great to replace it.”

Schiller also apologized about the current Mac Pro’s lack of upgradability and expandability, per Daring Fireball:

We’re not going to get into exactly what stage we’re in, just that we told the team to take the time to do something really great. To do something that can be supported for a long time with customers with updates and upgrades throughout the years. We’ll take the time it takes to do that. The current Mac Pro, as we’ve said a few times, was constrained thermally and it restricted our ability to upgrade it. And for that, we’re sorry to disappoint customers who wanted that, and we’ve asked the team to go and re-architect and design something great for the future that those Mac Pro customers who want more expandability, more upgradability in the future. It’ll meet more of those needs.

Schiller said Apple chose to be more transparent with today’s news because it “cares deeply” about pro users that “invest so much” in the Mac:

“We’ll talk about what’s going on and frankly be a little more transparent with some of the things we’re doing, some of the places we’re going, because our pro users desire that and we care deeply about them and we’re dedicated to communicating well with them and helping them understand what we’re doing and what we’re up to. We want to be as transparent as we can, for our pro users, and help them as they make their buying decisions. They invest so much in the Mac, we want to support them, and we care deeply about them. So that’s why we’re here.”

The overall tone was that Apple is committed to the Mac, even if the iPhone accounts for some two-thirds of Apple’s revenue.

We’re committed to the Mac, we’ve got great talent on the Mac, both hardware and software, we’ve got great products planned for the future, and as far as our horizon line can see, the Mac is a core component of the things Apple delivers, including to our pro customers.

In the end, the comparatively small but vocal community of pro users was loud enough that Apple likely felt it needed to respond now, rather than keep its plans for new products under wraps until later. It’s exciting news for Apple’s pro customers, even if some patience is still required until Apple’s roadmap materializes.
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New Mac Pros Added to Apple Store, But 8-Core Model Currently Unavailable Online

Following a surprise Mac Pro update today, Apple has now listed the repriced configurations on its online store. Essentially, this is just a pricing adjustment: the former $3,999 model is now the $2,999 base model, while the previously built-to-order 8-core model with dual D700 GPUs is now the high-end stock configuration.

The base model Mac Pro with a 3.5GHz 6-core Intel Xeon E5 processor, dual AMD FirePro D500 GPUs, and 16GB of RAM is available to purchase now for $2,999 online and at select Apple Stores in the United States, Canada, and select other countries. Online orders ship in as little as one business day.

The higher-end model with a 3.0GHz 8-core Intel Xeon E5 processor, dual AMD FirePro D700 GPUs, and 16GB of RAM is listed as “currently unavailable” online, with no purchase button yet. Just moments ago, the model was listed as available in “30 business days,” but Apple has removed that timeframe.

Today’s spec bumps have raised the entry-level Mac Pro to a 6-core processor with 16GB of RAM for $2,999, compared to the former base model with a quad-core processor and 12GB of RAM. Likewise, Apple used to sell a high-end 6-core Mac Pro for $3,999, but has today bumped that model to 8-cores for the same price.

There are no other hardware changes to either model, but upgrade pricing for built-to-order configurations is now cheaper. Upgrading from 6-core to 8-core or 12-core, for example, used to be $1500 or $3000 respectively, but it is now $800 or $2000 respectively. AMD FirePro graphics upgrades are likewise cheaper.

The news came today in a collection of announcements that Apple unveiled to journalists near its headquarters in Cupertino, including a confirmation of new pro-level iMac models coming later in 2017 and a promise that the Mac Mini is still “important.”

Apple also announced that it is working on a “completely rethought” version of the Mac Pro, as well as a pro display that works with the system, but Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller admitted that “you won’t see any of those products this year.”

Related Roundup: Mac Pro
Buyer’s Guide: Mac Pro (Buy Now)
Discuss this article in our forums

Intel Kaby-Lake G processors could incorporate HBM2 memory

Why it matters to you

Although just a rumor for now, this expanded seventh generation of processors could see the first integration of Intel and AMD hardware.

Intel may have a new seventh-generation line of Kaby Lake processors in the works, purportedly called Kaby Lake-G. The new processors are said to use a blend of 14nm and 10nm hardware, alongside HBM2 memory and a discrete graphics chip on a separate die.

Although unconfirmed by Intel at this time, the hardware giant has in the past said it was looking toward more “heterogeneous” designs which blend various processor technologies on a single chip. With that in mind, Benchlife (via WCCFTecH) claims to have seen Intel slides which suggest a new expansion of the seventh-generation processor lineup aimed at laptops and embedded solutions.

Purportedly two designs are planned so far: a 65w chip and a 100w alternative. Each features four cores and will feature a GT2 graphics chip connected to the main processor through a PCIExpress x8 bridge, with High Bandwidth Memory 2 (HBM2) on the CPU chip used as the graphics processor’s (GPU) VRAM.

More: Intel pledges that Cannon Lake chips will be a ‘full generation ahead’ of rivals

Most curiously, the design is said to have no on-board cache, which is a real departure from processor designs of recent years. It is said to utilize a separate platform controller hub (PCH) which incorporates extras like networking, Wi-Fi, SATA drivers, USB control, touchscreen compatibility, and BIOS functions.

One question raised by this rumored design leak is whether AMD has any involvement with it. At the end of 2016, we heard tell that Intel had begun licensing AMD graphics technology. AMD is the only graphics card maker so far that has shown itself capable of integrating graphical hardware with HBM memory, which it did in its Fury line of graphics cards. While HBM2 is a new generation of that, Intel’s surprise adoption of it does hint at possible AMD collaboration.

Regardless, if the rumors are true, this will be one of the largest chips that Intel has produced in some time, measuring in at 58.5 x 31 mm — far bigger than current desktop designs, which are 37.5 x 37.5mm.

Best app deals of the day! 6 paid iPhone apps for free for a limited time

Everyone likes apps, but sometimes the best ones are a bit expensive. Now and then, developers make paid apps free for a limited time, but you have to snatch them up while you have the chance. Here are the latest and greatest apps on sale in the iOS App Store.

These apps normally cost money, and this sale lasts for a limited time only. If you go to the App Store and it says the app costs money, that means the deal has expired and you will be charged. 

More: 200 Awesome iPhone Apps | The best Android apps for almost any occasion

Fake a Text Conversation

This app will let you simulate a fake text message conversation that can get you out of potentially awkward situations. You can add photos to it, and then a screenshot of the conversation is saved to your camera roll.

Available on:

iOS

Simpler Pro

Simpler Pro is a completely redesigned contacts app that makes your address book light, smart, and user friendly.

Available on:

iOS

Lock Notes Pro

Keep your most valuable, private, and secret notes away from prying eyes. Keep them all totally secret and safe. Store passwords, secrets, contacts, and more.

Available on:

iOS

Direction Compass

This is the “must have” tool to locate yourself easily whether it be in a town or city, while out hiking, on a boat, or somewhere else entirely. The map itself is a compass and orients itself automatically.

Available on:

iOS

ScanBee

ScanBee turns your iPhone into a portable scanner. It allows you to scan any document into a high-quality PDF file.

Available on:

iOS

Change

Change is a beautifully well-designed and simple app that helps you convert currencies easily. All you need to do is choose your currency and slide right or left to compare other currencies.

Available on:

iOS

Clever web app obscures your browsing activity by visiting random pages

Why it matters to you

Internet Noise is a web app designed to protect your privacy by obscuring your meaningful search history.

You know those spy movies where a character is being tailed in their car, and decides to make a bunch of seemingly illogical detours down back alleys and the wrong way up one-direction roads in order to throw off their pursuers? That’s kind of what a new internet privacy web app called Internet Noise aims to do.

In the aftermath of the United States House of Representatives’ decision to gut internet privacy rules, and allow companies to sell their customers’ personal information, programmer and activist Dan Schultz decided to do something about it — and set about coding.

His web app Internet Noise’s big unique selling point are its “noisemaker” buttons, which obscure your meaningful search history by diluting the useful (from an eavesdropper point of view) signal from the meaningless noise that surrounds it.

More: Personal Privacy Assistant uses AI to learn users’ app preferences

“The buttons search Google with random two-word phrases, and pull up the occasional random website via google’s ‘I’m Feeling Lucky’ feature,” Schultz told Digital Trends.

Between the five tabs it opens and their 10 second refresh rate (each time with a different nonsense search), it won’t be long before your search history is virtually unrecognizable.

Schultz noted that there is only so much the buttons can do, however, which is why he describes Internet Noise as a “protest page” as much as a serious app. The website doesn’t stop there, though. It also features other information on how internet users can protect themselves.

“The most important thing to understand about this project is that although noise is a fine way to protest, these buttons will not do much to keep you safe from snooping,” Schultz continued. “In the same way that a person can still make out the melody of a song in a crowded bar, sophisticated advertisers and ISPs will be able to figure out your unencrypted browsing habits even if you try to throw them off. However, if you take the recommended steps listed out on the Internet Noise page — [such as] install HTTPS everywhere, Privacy Badger, explore Tor and VPNs, and check out the Electronic Frontier Foundation — you will be in incredibly good shape and your data will be essentially hidden from sight.”

Clever web app obscures your browsing activity by visiting random pages

Why it matters to you

Internet Noise is a web app designed to protect your privacy by obscuring your meaningful search history.

You know those spy movies where a character is being tailed in their car, and decides to make a bunch of seemingly illogical detours down back alleys and the wrong way up one-direction roads in order to throw off their pursuers? That’s kind of what a new internet privacy web app called Internet Noise aims to do.

In the aftermath of the United States House of Representatives’ decision to gut internet privacy rules, and allow companies to sell their customers’ personal information, programmer and activist Dan Schultz decided to do something about it — and set about coding.

His web app Internet Noise’s big unique selling point are its “noisemaker” buttons, which obscure your meaningful search history by diluting the useful (from an eavesdropper point of view) signal from the meaningless noise that surrounds it.

More: Personal Privacy Assistant uses AI to learn users’ app preferences

“The buttons search Google with random two-word phrases, and pull up the occasional random website via google’s ‘I’m Feeling Lucky’ feature,” Schultz told Digital Trends.

Between the five tabs it opens and their 10 second refresh rate (each time with a different nonsense search), it won’t be long before your search history is virtually unrecognizable.

Schultz noted that there is only so much the buttons can do, however, which is why he describes Internet Noise as a “protest page” as much as a serious app. The website doesn’t stop there, though. It also features other information on how internet users can protect themselves.

“The most important thing to understand about this project is that although noise is a fine way to protest, these buttons will not do much to keep you safe from snooping,” Schultz continued. “In the same way that a person can still make out the melody of a song in a crowded bar, sophisticated advertisers and ISPs will be able to figure out your unencrypted browsing habits even if you try to throw them off. However, if you take the recommended steps listed out on the Internet Noise page — [such as] install HTTPS everywhere, Privacy Badger, explore Tor and VPNs, and check out the Electronic Frontier Foundation — you will be in incredibly good shape and your data will be essentially hidden from sight.”

Jetty spruces up online insurance shopping for the ‘urban consumer’

Why it matters to you

Insurance isn’t the most attractive sell, but it’s a key way to make sure your valuables and apartment are covered. Now Jetty wants to streamline the experience.

Signing up for insurance is far from exciting, but a new startup called Jetty wants to spruce up the experience to meet the needs of “modern, urban consumers.”

There’s no app yet, but the company is launching its mobile-optimized website that lets you sign up for a wide range of insurance types. This can include property coverage, liability, loss of use, and medical payments.

More: Apartment hunting made easy: This app only shows you pads you’re guaranteed to get

There are also “Power-Ups,” which can be additions to the standard insurance plan to help protect specific items. Some of these Power-Ups provide coverage for jewelry, handbags, shoes, personal electronics, wine collections, bicycles, and more. If you rent your apartment out with Airbnb, there’s even insurance to protect your home. What’s neat is that bed bug insurance is embedded into the service for everyone who signs up with Jetty. The company said it’s partnering with Munich Re, a reinsurance company, to power its services.

The key selling point about using Jetty for insurance is that it’s dead simple to sign up — it’s all online, and once you decide what insurance you want, you start paying a monthly fee.

It’s not just about insurance, though, as there’s also a service called Jetty Passport. If you’re looking for a new apartment, and can’t afford a security deposit or don’t have a rich relative to ask to sign as a guarantor, Jetty Passport can act as a replacement. Passport Deposit acts as the security deposit, except you would pay Jetty 18 percent of the deposit amount.

Passport Lease is for when you can’t find a guarantor — you can use Jetty, but you’ll have to pay about 5 to 10 percent extra per year. These services aren’t exactly new, as there are companies that provide guarantor and security deposit replacement services, such as Insurent.

Both Passport Lease and Passport Deposit are three-way agreements between Jetty, the landlord, and the tenant, and this requires the “buy-in” of landlords.

More: How to build a smart apartment: Digital Trends is picking the best IoT devices

“We have put together a number of deals to date, however, when you apply for one of the Passport products, one of the questions we ask for is the building which you’re renting,” Luke Cohler, co-founder, president and chairman at Jetty, told Digital Trends. “We have a team of people that are ready to go out and help broker that on your behalf, so that we can actually get you in to the unit as quickly as possible.”

To entice you to stick with your insurance and use Jetty Passport, the company offers membership benefits with discounts and promotions on various services from other popular startups. Launch partners include Thrive Market, Laurel & Wolf, Winc, and more.

Jetty’s insurance plans are currently available in Illinois, Georgia, and Pennsylvania, and Jetty Passport is live in the same states as well as New Jersey and Florida. The company is looking to expand throughout the year.

Switching to the ‘Un-carrier?’ Here are the best T-Mobile plans

T-Mobile is the most rebellious of the four big carriers in the United States, with its “Un-carrier” moves being the ones that truly shake up the industry. Over the past few years, T-Mobile has killed two-year contracts, ended data overages, and opened up a lot of cool features to its customers. Its service is still a bit spotty in many parts of rural America, but its urban coverage can’t be beat. If you live in an area that gets T-Mobile service, you’ll definitely want to check out the Un-carrier’s plans.

More: The best family plan, individual plan, unlimited plan, and more

That said, we’ve broken down each of T-Mobile’s plans to help you better understand the good and the bad hidden within. Here are a few main points to get you started.

• T-Mobile really has only one plan, whether you’re looking for a single-line or a family option. The only differences apply to it’s Plus and Plus International add-ons.
• It’s standard plan only offers standard definition when it comes to video streaming, though, lately, it has been running promotions to include HD streaming at no additional cost.
• The T-Mobile ONE Plus International plan is the best plan out there for overseas travelers, by far.
• Plans are “all-in,” meaning taxes and fees are baked into the cost of the plan.
• T-Mobile Tuesdays is a nice — albeit, slightly gimmicky — perk, given you get free or discounted stuff on a weekly basis, like $15 Lyft credits.

T-Mobile One Unlimited Plan

 People
 Line cost
 Data
 Total
1
 $70
 Unlimited
 $70
2
 $70 + $50
 Unlimited
 $120
3
 $70 + $50 +$40
 Unlimited
 $140
4
 $70 + $50 + $40 +$20
 Unlimited
 $160
5
 $70 + $50 + $40 + $20 +$20
 Unlimited
 $180

Editor’s note: This is non-promotional pricing — your mileage may vary. For instance as of this writing, a two-line plan was $100 per month.

The unlimited plan is best for families of four or more. It’s also great for individuals who are data hogs. If you don’t have internet at home and rely on your phone plan for internet access, the unlimited plan is also a great choice. However, it is expensive for individuals and small families. T-Mobile does offer a lot of perks to make this plan worth your while, though.

Recommendations:

• The T-Mobile One plan is best for families of three or more people because you get unlimited data for a good price.
• Most people really don’t need to pay for the high-resolution video or tethering add-ons on a data connection, so don’t do it.
• T-Mobile One is also great for people who travel because you get unlimited text and 3G data in more than 100 countries.

The perks of T-Mobile One

• Unlimited texting and 3G/2G data in more than 100 countries worldwide. Calls are 20 cents a minute.
• Unlimited talk, text, and data in Mexico and Canada.
• Unlimited text and an hour of Gogo internet access on select flights.
• The T-Mobile Tuesdays app, which gives you free things and discounts on stuff every Tuesday.

The downsides of T-Mobile One

• Videos stream at a lower, 480p resolution when on a data connection. If you want HD video, you’ll have to pay an extra $5 a month per line for the One Plus plan, but watch for occasional promotions.
• The tethering between your phone and other devices is limited to 2G speeds. You’ll have to pay at least an extra $5 per month (per line) for 4G LTE tethering with the One+ plan.
• If you surpass 26GB of 4G LTE data, your speeds will be throttled to 2G.
• You must sign up for Auto Pay on your bills, or T-Mobile will charge an extra $5 per line each month.

The One Plus plan includes unlimited tethering with the first 10GB of data used at full 4G LTE speeds, unlimited high-speed data in more than 140 countries, unlimited HD streaming, and unlimited Gogo in-flight Wi-fi. It adds $5 per line to the cost of your plan, however. Here’s what it’d look like if you added it to every line.

 People
 Line cost
 Data
One+
 Total
1
 $70
 Unlimited
$5
 $75
2
 $70 + $50
 Unlimited
$5 x 2
 $130
3
 $70 + $50 +$20
 Unlimited
$5 x 3
 $155
4
 $70 + $50 + $20 +$20
 Unlimited
$5 x 4
 $180
5
 $70 + $50 + $20 + $20 +$20
 Unlimited
$5 x 5
 $205

Like we said, the T-Mobile One Plus International plan is the best international plan we’ve seen for overseas travelers. You gain unlimited calling to landline numbers in 70+ countries, and mobile lines in more than 30, and there are no limits on 4G LTE tethering. There’s one downside, though: It’s $25 per month. Our recommendation is that you add this only to the lines that absolutely need it. Otherwise, your five-line plan will balloon to more than $300 per month.

Let’s recap:

The perks that come with all T-Mobile plans:

• Mobile without Borders: T-Mobile users get unlimited talk, text, and data in Canada and Mexico, as well as the United States. Unlimited text and data at lower speeds is also available in nearly 150 countries worldwide, though, calls cost 20 cents per minute unless you’re on the T-Mobile ONE Plus International plan.
• T-Mobile Tuesdays: Download this iOS and Android app to get free deals every Tuesday, like $15 in Lyft credit or a Frosty from Wendy’s.
• No overages on data.

The downsides of all T-Mobile plans:

• Spotty coverage in rural areas, however, there has been significant improvement in the last year.
• Once you surpass 26GB of data, you may be throttled.