Latest news with #DanielHowley
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Apple's iPad is about to get a lot more useful
Apple's (AAPL) iPad is getting some major enhancements that should make it a far more useful laptop replacement. The improvements are part of the company's iPadOS 26, which Apple announced during its WWDC 2025 conference on Monday. They include upgraded multitasking capabilities that will allow people to use the iPad more like a Mac and less like an iPhone. It's an enormous departure from Apple's previous strategy, which saw the company hold off on adding too many multitasking features to its iPad line out of fear of cannibalizing its MacBook Air. The updates include the ability to use windowed versions of apps that you can move and resize just as you would on a Mac. Previously, apps could only be resized in certain instances, and apps snapped to specific areas of the iPad's screen. Now, you'll be able to layer apps on top of each other and have even more of them slightly offscreen to make room for other apps. Apple also added a new menu bar at the top of the iPad's screen where you can access options like app-specific commands, similar to the Mac. The company also updated its Files app, so you can navigate your saved documents, videos, and photos more easily. And Apple is finally bringing the Preview app to the iPad for when you need to quickly access a PDF file or photo. The sweeping changes are all part of Apple's iPadOS 26, which includes the company's new Liquid Glass design language and a number of Apple Intelligence features such as live translation in the Phone, FaceTime, and Messages apps. Apple's iPad segment is its smallest business, bringing in $26.6 billion of the company's $391 billion in total revenue in 2024, down 6% year over year. The iPhone brought in $201.1 billion, while the Mac generated $29.9 billion. The software update, however, could give consumers a bigger reason to choose an iPad over a MacBook Air, helping to goose sales. Still, the move isn't exactly a death knell for the Air. A full-size laptop still offers more performance and flexibility than a tablet. And customers looking for more powerful systems will continue to opt for the MacBook Pro. Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@ Follow him on X/Twitter at @DanielHowley. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Apple's iPad is about to get a lot more useful
Apple's (AAPL) iPad is getting some major enhancements that should make it a far more useful laptop replacement. Part of the company's iPadOS 26, which Apple announced during its WWDC 2025 conference on Monday, the improvements include upgraded multitasking capabilities that will allow you to use the iPad more like a Mac and less like an iPhone. It's an enormous departure from Apple's previous strategy, which saw the company hold off on adding too many multitasking features to its iPad line out of fear of cannibalizing its MacBook Air. The updates include the ability to use windowed versions of apps that you can move and resize just as you would on a Mac. Previously, apps could only be resized in certain instances and and apps snapped to specific areas of the iPad's screen. Now, you'll be able to layer apps on top of each other and have even more of them slightly offscreen to make room for other apps. Apple also added a new menu bar at the top of the iPad's screen where you can access options like app-specific commands, similar to the Mac. The company also updated its Files app, so you can navigate your saved documents, videos, and photos more easily. And Apple is finally bringing the Preview app to the iPad for when you need to quickly access a PDF file or photo. The sweeping changes are all a part of Apple's iPadOS 26, which includes the company's new Liquid Glass design language and a number of Apple Intelligence features such as live translation in the Phone, FaceTime, and Messages apps. Apple's iPad segment is its smallest business, bringing in $26.6 billion of the company's $391 billion in total revenue in 2024, down 6% year over year. The iPhone brought in $201.1 billion, while the Mac generated $29.9 billion. The software update, however, could give consumers a bigger reason to choose an iPad over a MacBook Air, helping to goose sales. Still, the move isn't exactly a death knell for the Air. A full-size laptop still offers more performance and flexibility than a tablet. And customers looking for more powerful systems will continue to opt for the MacBook Pro. Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@ Follow him on X/Twitter at @DanielHowley. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Yahoo
Samsung beats Apple to punch, launches ultrathin Galaxy S25 Edge months before the 'iPhone Air'
Samsung on Monday unveiled its ultrathin Galaxy S25 Edge smartphone, just months before Apple (AAPL) is expected to launch its own superthin phone. The S25 Edge, available for preorder for $1,099 and going on sale May 30, features a 6.7-inch AMOLED 2X display and two rear cameras in a body that is both thinner and lighter than Samsung's and Apple's existing phones. According to Samsung, the S25 Edge is 5.8 millimeters (0.22 inches) thick. Apple's iPhone Pro and Pro Max each measure 0.32 inches thick, and Samsung's S25+ and S25 Ultra are 0.28 and 0.32 inches thick, respectively. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the so-called iPhone Air will take about 2 millimeters off the iPhone's frame, which would bring it down to 6.2 millimeters, or 0.24 inches — a bit thicker than the S25 Edge. A few millimeters might not sound like much on paper, but it makes a big difference in real life. I got my hands on the S25 Edge ahead of launch and was surprised at how truly thin it felt compared to my everyday iPhone 16 Pro. And thanks to its lightweight design — the S25 Edge weighs just 5.7 ounces compared to the iPhone 16 Pro's 7 ounces and Pro Max's 7.9 ounces — you'll almost forget you're carrying the phone with you, whether you're hustling around the office or hanging out at home. Heck, you'll feel as if you can toss the S25 Edge like a Frisbee, though I'd suggest against it. Inside, the S25 Edge gets the same Qualcomm (QCOM) Snapdragon 8 Elite processor as the rest of the Galaxy S25 lineup. You also get 12GB of RAM and your choice of 256GB or 512GB of storage. Unfortunately, the S25 Edge has only two rear cameras: a 12MP ultra-wide-angle camera and a 200MP main camera. The company's S25+ and S25 Ultra, which start at $999 and $1,299, respectively, both get three cameras, including a telephoto camera. Samsung, however, says the S25 Edge uses AI technologies to give you an "optical-like" 2x zoom on its 200MP main camera and the ability to jump to 10x zoom. The ultrawide camera also now comes with autofocus, so you can take macrophotography pictures, like detailed close-ups of flowers. Despite the S25 Edge's thin design, Samsung claims you'll still get all-day battery life thanks to some cooling and power delivery solutions. The S25 Edge also comes with Samsung's Galaxy AI platform, including AI agents and Samsung's Now Brief and Now Bar, which provide AI-curated reminders, news updates, and commuting information. Since the S25 Edge runs on Google's (GOOG, GOOGL) Android 15 software, it gets the company's Gemini services, including Gemini Live, which can provide information about what you're viewing on your screen or looking at through your phone's camera. Hardware changes like thinner phones, upgraded displays, or new cameras are generally good ways to convince customers to upgrade their devices. Now, we'll just have to see if that pays off for Samsung. Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@ Follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Apple updates bestselling MacBook Air with M4 chip, enhanced webcam
Apple (AAPL) is updating its top-selling laptop, the MacBook Air, with its latest M4 processor a day after showing off an upgraded iPad and iPad Air. The chip is expected to provide two times the performance of the M1-equipped MacBook Air and 32 times that of Intel-based Airs while using certain apps. Available in 13-inch and 15-inch models, the M4 Airs are also $100 cheaper than their predecessors with the 13-inch versions starting at $999 rather than $1,099 and the 15-inch starting at $1,199, down from $1,299. Apple's Mac line has outperformed its iPhone, iPad, and Wearables businesses in terms of year-over-year sales, with revenue climbing 2% in 2024. The company's iPhone segment was flat year over year, while iPad and Wearables sales fell 6% and 7%, respectively. Mac revenue also jumped more than $1 billion in Q1, while iPhone revenue declined by roughly $564 million. The refreshed MacBook Air lineup should continue the positive trend for the segment as consumers and businesses look to upgrade to the company's latest offering. The revamped Airs' M4 chips now feature 10-core CPUs and 10-core GPUs and support for up to 32GB of memory. That's up from the M3's 8-core CPU and 24GB of memory. In practice, that means the Airs pack more performance while still keeping their fanless design. During a demonstration, a 15-inch Air ran a webAI's 22 billion parameter Companion large language model, rendered a 4K image using the Blender app, opened several productivity apps, and ran the game Wuthering Waves without any kind of slowdown. The laptops also now include Apple's Center Stage camera, which keeps you in frame even if you move around while on video calls, and can run two external displays in addition to their main display, thanks to the inclusion of Thunderbolt 4 ports. Battery life is expected to top out at 18 hours for both the 13-inch and 15-inch models. Naturally, the Airs come with Apple's macOS Sequoia 15.4 operating system and the company's Apple Intelligence generative AI platform. That includes Apple Intelligence's writing tools that help you summarize and rephrase content, its photo editing tools, and more. Apple Intelligence is meant to help drive sales of Apple's products, but so far it's been slow going as the company continues to work to roll out the service's various features. Apple's PC rivals have hit a similar snag with Microsoft's (MSFT) AI-capable Copilot+ PCs. Despite expectations that the new category of computers would boost PC sales in the fourth quarter, market research firm Gartner said PC sales rose just 1.4% during the period and 1.3% throughout 2024. Both the MacBook Air 13-inch and MacBook Air 15-inch hit stores March 12. Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@ Follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Yahoo
Apple unveils most powerful Mac ever: The $3,999 Mac Studio
Apple (AAPL) is giving its powerful and compact Mac Studio desktop even more horsepower via its M4 Max and M3 Ultra processors. The enhanced Mac Studios are exceptionally capable systems and include more unified memory and support Thunderbolt 5 connectivity for faster data transfer speeds. The Mac Studio is designed for 3D artists, AI developers and researchers, and musicians, meaning it's not going to sell at the kind of volume you'd see from Apple's MacBook Air or its MacBook Pro, but then these are meant for professionals rather than your average consumer. Available March 12, the Mac Studio with Apple's M4 Max starts at $1,999, while the M3 Ultra powered Studio starts at $3,999. It might sound confusing, but the M3 Ultra is the more powerful of the two chips, combining two M3 Max chips into a single package with 184 billion transistors. The processor gets a staggering 32-core CPU and up to an 80-core GPU. It also includes a 32-core Neural Engine to power onboard AI apps. What's more, the M3 Ultra comes with 96GB of memory, with the option to upgrade to a wild 512GB. You can also get up to 16TB of storage. To put that into perspective, 1TB is 1,000GB. During a demonstration, an M3 Ultra-equipped Studio ran a 3D development tool on top of a 470 billion parameter LLM, which wrote code to insert 1,000 assets into the 3D scene. On top of that, the resource-intensive game 'Cyberpunk 2077' was running in the background. At no point did it appear as though there was any slowdown, and the system's fans barely registered a sound. Overall, the M3 Ultra is some 2 times faster than the M4 Max. That's not to say the M4 Max is a slouch. On the contrary, the chip gets a 16-core CPU, 40-core GPU, and 36GB of memory, which you can upgrade to 128GB. That makes the Mac Studio with the M4 Max 3.5 times faster than the Mac Studio with an M1 Max. During a demonstration of the chip's power, the M4 Max-equipped Mac Studio rendered video effects easily and without delay. Like Apple's new MacBook Air, which the company also debuted Wednesday, the Mac Studio comes with Apple Intelligence, the iPhone maker's generative AI platform. That includes text editing and summarization tools, as well as photo-editing capabilities. It's important to note that because the Mac Studio is a desktop rather than an all-in-one like Apple's iMac, you'll need to pick up a separate monitor. The Mac Studio, while powerful, is unlikely to drive major revenue growth for Apple's Mac segment. Most consumers want lightweight laptops rather than desktops. Still, it will almost certainly benefit the Mac business, which outperformed the company's iPhone, iPad, and Wearables segments in terms of year-over-year growth in 2024. Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@ Follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley. Sign in to access your portfolio
