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#1518: iCloud backups deleted after 180 days, the case for ARM Macs, Apple drops iBooks Author, menu bar scripts with BitBar tutorial

If you rely on iCloud Backup for your iPhones and iPads, be aware that Apple automatically deletes inactive backups after 180 days. In other sour news, Apple is ending support for iBooks Author, a once-groundbreaking ebook creation tool whose functionality has largely been subsumed by Apple’s Pages word processor. Rumors are once again hot and heavy about Apple switching the Mac from Intel processors to its own ARM-based chipsets. Apple veteran David Shayer joins us again this week to explain why Apple might make the switch. Wrapping up the issue, Josh Centers shows how you can use shell scripts with BitBar to put just about anything in your Mac’s menu bar. Notable Mac app releases this week include Art Text 4.0, EagleFiler 1.8.14, Typinator 8.4.1, Default Folder X 5.4.6, and Logic Pro X 10.5.1.

Adam Engst 36 comments

Beware! iCloud Backups Deleted after 180 Days

Did you know that Apple automatically deletes iCloud backups of your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch 6 months after the last backup was made? Even when you continue to pay for iCloud storage space? Neither did we, and while it’s not a common problem, plenty of people have suffered from it.

Michael E. Cohen 11 comments

Apple to End Support for iBooks Author

Apple’s education-oriented ebook creation software will receive no further updates and will be pulled from the Mac App Store. The company is encouraging users to switch to Pages, promising that a future update to Pages will be able to import iBooks Author files.

David Shayer 40 comments

The Case for ARM-Based Macs

Rumors of ARM-based Macs continue to appear. Lower power and longer battery life are always cited. But even more important are the business advantages Apple would reap from switching from Intel to ARM. Former Apple engineer David Shayer explains what would be behind such a processor transition.

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Typinator 8.4.1 Agen Schmitz No comments

Typinator 8.4.1

Maintenance release with improvements, bug fixes, and general revelry in recognition of the text expansion tool's 15th anniversary. (€24.99 new, free update, 7.1 MB)

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