Apple Discontinuing iBooks Author on July 1, Encourages Writers to Transition to Pages

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Apple today sent out an email to iBooks Author users, letting them know that the Mac app is being discontinued on July 1 and removed from the App Store.


In the email, Apple says that following the inclusion of book creation tools in Pages, the company's new focus will be on developing features for the Pages app.

Thank you for being a member of the iBooks Author community. We have some news to share with you about the future of book creation.

Two years ago we brought book creation into Pages. With key features such as the ability to work on iPad, collaborate with others on a shared book, draw with Apple Pencil, and more, Pages is a great platform for making books.

As we focus our efforts on Pages, ‌iBooks‌ Author will no longer be updated and will soon be removed from the Mac App Store. You can continue to use ‌iBooks‌ Author on macOS 10.15 and earlier, and books previously published to Apple Books will remain available. If you have ‌iBooks‌ Author books you'd like to import into Pages for further editing, we have a book import feature coming to Pages soon.

Apple says that ‌iBooks‌ Author will continue to be available on macOS 10.15 and earlier for those who have already installed the apps, and books that were published to Apple Books will remain available.

In the future, Apple plans to add an import feature to Pages to allow books to be imported into the app, and a support document covers details on how users can transition from the ‌iBooks‌ Author app to the Pages app.

Apple first debuted iBooks Author for to allow Mac users to create ebooks in 2012, providing tools for creating textbooks, cookbooks, picture books, and more for the ‌iPad‌. Apple offered templates and page layout options, along with drag and drop editing tools, but most of those features are now available in Pages.

Tag: iBooks

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Apple Seeds Second Beta of watchOS 6.2.8 to Developers

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Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming watchOS 6.2.8 update to developers, one week after releasing the first beta and three weeks after releasing the watchOS 6.2.5 update with new Pride Apple Watch faces.


watchOS 6.2.8 can be downloaded for free through the dedicated ‌‌‌‌Apple Watch‌‌‌‌ app on the iPhone by going to General > Software Update.

To install the new software, the ‌‌‌‌Apple Watch‌‌‌‌ needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it needs to be placed on a charger, and it needs to be in range of the ‌‌‌‌iPhone‌‌‌‌.

It's not clear what's included in watchOS 6.2.8, but it likely focuses on under-the-hood performance improvements and bug fixes for issues that weren't able to be addressed in the prior update.

No new features were found in the first beta of watchOS 6.2.8, but we'll update this article should anything new be found in the second beta.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 6

Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Caution)

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27-Inch iMac Continues to See Extended Shipping Estimates Ahead of Rumored WWDC Update

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With WWDC less than two weeks away, a number of MacRumors readers have noticed that shipping estimates for Apple's stock 27-inch iMac configurations are now listed as after the June 22 WWDC kickoff, leading some to believe that this is evidence of an ‌iMac‌ update coming at the keynote.

MacRumors mockup of iPad Pro-style ‌‌iMac‌‌
While there are indeed rumors of an imminent significant update for the ‌iMac‌, perhaps at WWDC, the shipping estimates are not a reliable indicator of this. Apple has been quoting extended shipping estimates on both stock and build-to-order configurations of the 27-inch ‌iMac‌ for over a month, so current quotes are nothing new and they slip back roughly day-by-day as time passes.

It's not entirely clear why shipping estimates initially slipped, as it happened while the global health crisis was affecting supply and manufacturing chains around the world. Certain component shortages could easily have slowed Apple's ability to produce machines, but the company may also be intentionally reducing inventories ahead of new models and only building what's necessary to fulfill orders.

Notably, the 21.5-inch ‌iMac‌ is not seeing extended shipping estimates at the present time as its availability has generally held up better than for its larger sibling.

As noted in our Buyer's Guide, the ‌iMac‌ is definitely due for an update, and we've been hearing significant rumors about an imminent update. Previously reliable leaker CoinX said in March that an ‌iMac‌ update was coming "soon," while an April rumor claimed a new low-cost 23-inch iMac is coming in the second half of the year.

Mark Gurman said in late April that a "substantial" iMac update with a possible redesign would be coming later in the year, and just yesterday, Sonny Dickson claimed that a redesigned iMac with "iPad Pro design language" will be coming at WWDC.

Related Roundup: iMac

Buyer's Guide: iMac (Don't Buy)

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Apple Becomes First U.S. Company to Hit $1.5 Trillion in Market Value

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After a strong performance yesterday that pushed Apple's stock price to another record high, shares are up over two percent again today. With today's boost, Apple's market capitalization has surpassed $1.5 trillion, making it the first U.S. company to reach that mark.


Market capitalization is simply the share price multiplied by the number of outstanding shares of the company's stock, yielding the company's overall stock market value. At a current price of around $352 per share and with roughly 4.3 billion shares outstanding, Apple's market capitalization is now at around $1.53 trillion.

Apple's total share count has been declining in recent years as the company has been aggressively buying back stock, which helps to increase the value of the remaining shares on the market. That decrease in share count is, however, accounted for in market capitalization calculations.

After hitting an all-time high share price in late January, Apple's stock slid along with the rest of the market amid the global health crisis, with Apple's share price falling 35 percent from its peak by late March. A strong and steady recovery brought back Apple up to a fresh all-time high last Friday, and it has continued to gain in recent days.

Tag: AAPL

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As new Pixelbook 2 release rumors swirl, let’s take a look at some actual facts

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Twelve South Launches BookArc Inserts for 16-Inch MacBook Pro and New MacBook Air

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Twelve South today announced that you can now purchase BookArc inserts for Apple's 16-inch MacBook Pro, new 13-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌, and new MacBook Air. The BookArc is one of Twelve South's organizational accessories that stores the MacBook vertically in order to reduce desktop clutter.


Up until today, the BookArc didn't support Apple's latest family of ‌MacBook Pro‌ and ‌MacBook Air‌ notebooks, but now owners of these devices can purchase inserts for the BookArc. Other than the updated inserts, the overall design of the BookArc hasn't changed, and it's available in colors that match either Silver or Space Gray Mac notebooks.

The BookArc costs $59.99 on Twelve South's website. If you already own the accessory, you can purchase standalone inserts for the 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌, new 13-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌, or new ‌MacBook Air‌ separately on the company's online storefront. These products run for $14.99, and legacy options are also available, for MacBook models dating back to 2010.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Twelve South. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

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Deals: Get $300 Off Apple's 16-Inch MacBook Pro at Amazon and B&H Photo

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Amazon has marked down the 512GB 16-inch MacBook Pro to $2,099.00, down from $2,399.00 this week. The sale is available in both Space Gray and Silver, although the latter color option is seeing slightly delayed shipping estimates.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Likewise, the 1TB 16-inch MacBook Pro remains on sale at $2,499.00 at Amazon, down from an original price of $2,799.00. Both of these $300 discounts are the lowest prices we've ever tracked for new models of the 16-inch MacBook Pro, and you'll find matching prices at B&H Photo.

$300 OFF

16-Inch MacBook Pro for $2,099.00

Apple introduced the 16-inch MacBook Pro last November, featuring a larger 16-inch Retina display, slimmer bezels, an updated keyboard with a scissor mechanism instead of a butterfly mechanism, up to 64GB RAM, up to 8TB of storage, and AMD Radeon Pro 5000M Series graphics cards.

You can find even more discounts on other MacBooks by visiting our Best Deals guide for MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. In this guide we track the steepest discounts for the newest MacBook models every week, so be sure to bookmark it and check back often if you're shopping for a new Apple notebook.

Related Roundup: Apple Deals

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