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TidBITS#1262/09-Mar-2015

Everyone was anticipating more details about the Apple Watch at Apple’s “Spring Forward” event today, which ratcheted up the surprise value of the announcement of the new 12-inch MacBook, a fanless, one-port notebook that is Apple’s lightest yet. Of course, we share the details about when the Apple Watch will ship and how much the different models will cost, but get ready for sticker shock — the most expensive version tops out at $17,000. To accompany the Apple Watch, Apple released iOS 8.2, which includes two new apps just for the Apple Watch along with a variety of bug fixes. On top of everything else, Apple slashed the price of the Apple TV and entered an exclusive deal with HBO. Outside of Cupertino, Microsoft released a free preview of Office 2016 for Mac, with new features and a redesigned interface. Finally, Adam Engst explains how to create site-specific browsers in the Mac version of Google Chrome, FunBITS returns with a look at the Saturday Night Live app for the iPhone, and we bring you both a new chapter from Joe Kissell’s “Take Control of Security for Mac Users” and an early release version of Jeff Carlson’s new “Apple Watch: A Take Control Crash Course.”

Adam Engst 21 comments

New 12-inch MacBook Joins Updated MacBook Air and MacBook Pro

With the release of the new 12-inch MacBook, Apple has made the lightest, thinnest notebook Mac ever. The new notebook also features a completely redesigned trackpad and keyboard, Retina display, and a single USB-C port for all your charging and connectivity needs. But it’s more expensive than the MacBook Air and offers significantly less performance than the equivalently priced 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display.

TidBITS Staff No comments

ExtraBITS for 9 March 2015

In this week’s collection of links, Apple replaces AT&T in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Oracle’s Java now comes with a nasty surprise in the installer, and it turns out you can proof EPUBs with the iBooks Web Inspector.