Report: Apple to stop selling boxed software in stores

By Aemon Malone Published February 8, 2011

Apple may be ready to shed physical boxes and embrace all digital software distribution, according to a report by MacRumors. As part of the initiative, Apple will begin offering new Mac customers instructions on how to you use the recently launched Mac App Store to download software.

MacRumors suggests that Apple will likely use the extra space to stock more “higher profit” items like accessories for the iPad and iPhone. Some software, such as Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft Office, may continue to be sold as boxed packages, at least until they are offered through the Mac App Store.

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Most of Apple’s most popular programs — iLife, iWork and Aperture 2, for example — are already available through the Mac App Store. It’s been rumored that Microsoft is giving serious consideration to offering its Mac Office Suite through the App Store.

Apple launched the Mac App Store in January for OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. It’s expected that the Mac App Store will play a significant role in OSX 10.7 Lion, which is due out this summer.

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Two of the best Apple Intelligence features on Mac still need work

Apple Intelligence in macOS Sequoia being used to summarize a selection of text.

Recently, Apple launched the macOS Sequoia 15.1 beta, and with it came a bunch of new Apple Intelligence features. Not everything, mind you – many of the flagship tools, like the Image Playground and Siri’s more powerful capabilities, might not debut until next year. But there’s enough Apple Intelligence here to get a feel for the new system.

Ever since the beta came out, there have been two areas of Apple Intelligence I’ve wanted to focus my attention on: Mail summaries and Apple’s suite of Writing Tools. These are some of the most fleshed-out Apple Intelligence elements that exist in macOS Sequoia right now, and also potentially two of the most useful, so it made sense to channel my efforts toward them.

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Apple Intelligence: Here’s everything we know so far

Apple Intelligence features.

Apple Intelligence is Apple's take on AI, and it looks to fundamentally change the way we interact with technology, blending advanced machine learning and AI capabilities into everyday devices.
Promising more conversational prose from Siri, automated proofreading and text summarization across apps, and lightning-fast image generation, Apple's AI ecosystem is designed to enhance user experiences and streamline operations across its product lineup. Here's everything you need to know about Apple's transformational new AI.

Apple Intelligence release date and compatibility
Apple Intelligence was originally slated for formal release in September, coinciding with the roll out of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. However, as Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported, Apple subsequently decided to slightly delay the release of Intelligence. It is currently available to developers as part of the iOS 18.1 beta release on September 19, though it's looking unlikely that Apple Intelligence will be released publicly before the official 18.1 roll out scheduled for October, per Gurman.
https://twitter.com/markgurman/status/1817632719175901531
The company has specified that, at least initially, the AI features will be available on the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, as well as iPads and Macs with M1 or newer chips (and presumably the iPhone 16 handsets as well, since they'll all be running iOS 18). What's more, the features are only available at launch when the user language is set to English.
Why the cutoff? Well, Apple has insisted that the processes are too intensive for older hardware, as they utilize the more advanced neural engines, GPUs, and CPUs of these newer chips.
Users who run an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max part of Apple's Developer program gained access to an early version of Intelligence in July with the release of iOS 18.1 beta.

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Apple may have stealthily confirmed the new Mac mini

The Mac mini on a wooden table.

With the Apple iPhone event now behind us, we are still waiting for official news about new Macs. We recently reported on the slew of Macs that are most likely on the way, but Apple's been silent on the matter -- until now. A stealthy line of code in the new macOS Sequoia update reveals that a new Mac mini might be in the works, and the confirmation fits right in with previous reports.

Let's start with some context. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple is readying a new Mac mini with the M4 and the M4 Pro chip. Aside from the chip upgrade, the 2024 Mac mini is said to be redesigned to be smaller than ever before, marking the first major change in the design of the mini PC in many years. It's said to be around the same size as an Apple TV set-top box. To that end, we've heard that Apple might remove all of the USB-A ports on the Mac mini in an effort to make the PC even thinner.