In March of this year, Microsoft released a free preview of its Office 2016 suite for Mac computers, aiming to collect feedback from users as to how to improve upon its efforts. Now, the company has announced that the final build of the package is ready to launch, starting today for subscribers to its Office 365 service.
Microsoft hasn’t released a completely new iteration of Office for Macs since 2011, so the 2016 version might prove to be something of an overhaul for Apple-centric users. This marks the first version of the software to be released on OS X that makes use of the Ribbon UI, which has been standard in the Windows variant since 2010.
Office 2016 provides updates and upgrades to a host of functionality across the five applications it’s comprised of; Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote. Of particular note is the cloud functionality that’s been included this time around, which seems to be part of Microsoft’s broader attempt to combat the rise of Google Drive and other web-based services.
Related: Preview: Office 2016 isn’t revolutionary, and that’s ok
OneDrive is used to add some cross-platform integration into the new Office suite, with documents from all devices saved to OneDrive being accessible from the package. A OneDrive subscription is included with Office 365 for Mac users who don’t have access to the service via a standard Windows account.
However, Office 2016 doesn’t just bring Windows features to the Mac; there’s some OS X specific functionality on offer too. The suite is compatible with full screen mode on Mac computers, according to a report from 9to5Mac.
Microsoft Office 2016 for Mac is available now via an Office 365 subscription, which costs $9.99/month or $99.99/year. However, there are plans for a one-time purchase option to be released in September, although pricing information for that route hasn’t been made available at this time.
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.