Following today's release of macOS Big Sur, Apple has updated a number of its apps to support the new operating system version and upcoming Apple Silicon Macs.
Apple's suite of iWork apps is among the updates, with Pages, Numbers, and Keynotes all sporting refreshed icons and a "refined new design on macOS Big Sur." Stability and performance improvements are also included. Alongside the updates on the Mac side, the iWork apps for iOS have seen minor updates for stability and performance improvements.
GarageBand for Mac has also been updated with a new icon and refreshed macOS Big Sur design, among other improvements and additions.
- Refined new design on macOS Big Sur - Improved performance and efficiency on Mac computers with Apple silicon - Allows customisation of region colours in your tracks - Adds 1,800 Apple Loops in a variety of genres including Hip-Hop, Chill Rap, Future Bass, New Disco, Bass House and more - Adds over 190 instrument patches and 50 vintage and modern drum kits
Alongside GarageBand and the iWork apps, Apple updated its iMovie app for Mac with Apple Silicon support. No other new features are included.
Thursday October 22, 2026 10:31 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today updated its TestFlight and GarageBand apps with support for the iPhone Duo's inner and outer displays.
Both apps have the vertical toolbar and will now display properly on the iPhone Duo in any orientation.
TestFlight functionality is largely the same with little benefit from the Duo display, but GarageBand gets a wide layout that takes full advantage of the inner screen. It...
Thursday October 22, 2026 1:02 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today added an "Intelligent Assistant" to Keynote, Numbers, and Pages. The feature is available in beta for Apple Creator Studio subscribers. The update is available again following the temporary removal of the apps from the App Store.
In Numbers, Intelligent Assistant can build formulas, visualize data, help generate formulas with natural language, and generate tables.
The Pages...
Thursday November 5, 2026 12:59 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is launching five new products on Friday, November 6, following pre-orders that opened last week, including its first touchscreen MacBook Pro models.
The following new products will be available from today:
iPad mini with OLED display and A20 Pro chip
iMac with M6 chip
14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 chip
14-inch MacBook Pro with OLED touchscreen
16-inch MacBook Pro with OLED...
There is nothing wrong with the icons. In fact, they are the same icons, just morphed into looking like iOS icons. That’s the part I don’t like, the uniqueness of macOS has been reduced and consumed into the universe of its mobile offspring. I missed the stand out uniqueness of photo realistic icons. It’s really what made OS X attractive. Seeing a representation of true life on screen.
Apple now considers that redundant and I believe it was Jony Ive who promoted this when explaining the abstract look of icons iOS 7 such as Game Center. Icons should hint what they do and at least with these three, you have an idea,
- the charts and cells in the background suggest this has something to do with numbers.
- the pen, quotation symbol and lines suggest this is a tool for writing.
- the podium and what looks like screens it slides is a program for preparing presentations.
I still do miss the unique icons from the old days though. The Adobe Photoshop 7 eye, the Quark Xpress lotus flower, the picture of the child at the beach in preview.
Apple do this in sake of Big Sur and all iOS interface unification. Previously I can easily recognize software icon because of distinctive shape, but with all boxy icon it takes more times for my eyes scanning what picture inside that box.
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