Latest news with #AppleHQ
Tom's Guide
12-06-2025
- Tom's Guide
I review MacBooks for a living: 3 macOS Tahoe 26 features I'm most excited about
I just got back from covering WWDC 2025 in Cupertino, and after cooking in the sun for a few hours to catch the keynote I have to say: I'm impressed by what the company is doing with macOS. That's not a sentence I type often, but the colorful visionOS-inspired makeover Apple is delivering with Tahoe has me charmed. On top of that, there are a few new features that promise to make even the best MacBooks a bit more capable. Of course, I review Macs for a living here at Tom's Guide so I might be a little biased when it comes to getting excited about operating systems. But I also reviewed the last few iterations of macOS, and I have to tell you: Tahoe is (for my money) the most promising update Apple's debuted in years. Let me show you what I mean by highlighting a few of the most interesting new features I've seen here at Apple HQ. Apple Intelligence made its Mac debut in macOS Sequoia, and it's fine. Some people find the AI-powered Writing Tools useful, and playing around with Image Playground is fun a few times. But like most of Sequoia's AI-powered features, it's easy to forget about. With macOS Tahoe 26, Apple promises to make a slew of updates to Apple Intelligence features throughout your Mac. So not only should the image and text generation tools get better, but your Reminders will get more intelligent—or at least, more dynamic in what and how they remind you. But most exciting to me is the Apple Intelligence-fueled overhaul coming to Spotlight Search. The contextual search tool will gain support for a host of new actions and services, plus it will allow for more natural language in queries. So you can type something like "Send", for example, and you will see a list of search results drop down with uses of the word across your email, Notes and more—and the top option will be a shortcut to send a text via the Shortcuts app, so you can just hit Return and start typing the message right in Spotlight Search. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. If this works as advertised I expect Spotlight Search is going to become sort of like the Start button in Windows 11: the first stop and one-stop shop for power users looking to get things done. I just think it's so cool that Macs are going to get real-time translation with macOS Tahoe. I know I probably won't have much cause to make use of translated Messages or real-time translated captions in FaceTime calls, but the fact that it'll soon be so easy to chat with folks around the world on your MacBook without having to speak the same language feels mind-blowing. Plus, since Apple is opening up a large swathe of its Apple Intelligence tech to third-party developers, I expect we'll also see a slew of Mac apps getting real-time translation features in the next few years. I'm not always psyched about new AI features in tech, but real-time translation seems like an unalloyed good — and one of the best new features of macOS Tahoe 26. Look, it's never going to replace Steam, but I do think it's exciting that Apple is finally shipping a dedicated Games app for macOS Tahoe. By all accounts this new app aims to be your one-stop shop for gaming on your Mac, and it will feature a special in-game overlay you can summon during gameplay to do things like message friends. Windows 11 has a very similar overlay, and I don't love how it gets in the way when PC gaming in Steam's Big Picture mode. Hopefully Apple's version doesn't create similar headaches, but we'll have to wait until macOS Tahoe 26 ships in September to find out. Even if the new Games app isn't amazing at launch, I hope it's evidence that Apple is investing more effort and money in supporting Mac game devs and nurturing the Mac gaming landscape.
Irish Times
21-05-2025
- Automotive
- Irish Times
Apple HQ in Cork secures additional parking for 1,300 new employees
Cork City Council has given the green light to Apple for an additional 285 car parking spaces at its European HQ to help facilitate an extra 1,300 new employees this year. Apple Operations International Ltd (AOIL) had sought the additional capacity with 159 spaces in one car-park and 126 in another – on landbanks it owns to the north of the David McCarthy road on the northside of Cork City. The council has attached 22 conditions to the planning. DBFL Consulting Engineers submitted that the number of employees is expected to reach 5,350 across the entire Apple campus at Hollyhill by mid-2025. There is also a longer-term projection of 6,000 employees by 2030 'subject to market conditions', it said. READ MORE The 285 approved spaces is in addition to 2,572 that are already either on-site or under construction at the campus. In a planning report lodged with the application, consultants HW Planning said the proposal was appropriate in order to facilitate the continued successful operation of Apple operations in Cork 'in the absence of frequent public transport provision'. Additional car parking was required, they said, despite initiatives being implemented on-campus to promote sustainable travel. Outlining the background to the application DBFL also said the move would provide short to medium term resilience and mitigate anticipated delays to planned public transport and road network improvements. 'In the longer term, there may be scope to repurpose these spaces to higher-value uses that support the expansion of the Apple Campus – once the planned key upgrades to Cork's transport network are delivered.' The report added that delays in the roll-out of Bus Connects had resulted in additional Apple Shuttle services being required. It noted that six park and ride facilities are planned – including at Dunkettle and Blarney/Stoneview – connected by high-quality public transport services to key destinations. 'To date, none of these P+R proposals have been delivered despite the establishment of a dedicated park and ride office in the National Transport Authority'.
