Macworld At a glanceExpert's Rating ProsWide range of functionsFamiliar operationCheaper than PhotoshopConsNot quite as comprehensive as PhotoshopNo AI-supported functionsOur VerdictFor beginners, hobby graphic artists and photographers Affinity Photo is an incredibly attractive alternative to Adobe Photoshop, which hardly differs from the class leader in terms of essential functions.Affinity Photo is now so similar to Adobe‘s software that a move to the former should be smooth, although beginners will need to spend some time getting to know the interface before they can fully exploit all the possibilities of Affinity Photo.With all that Affinity Photo offers, the software is a real bargain at $69.99/£67.99. Adobe Photoshop is for image editing like Microsoft Office for the office: absolutely dominant and in a professional…

Macworld I have spent the last couple of decades writing about new features in Apple’s operating systems. Tens of thousands of words about new items, large and small, that enhance the experience of using a Mac, iPhone, iPad, and other Apple devices. And yet this past weekend, I was reminded that most users simply don’t notice new features, even when they’ve been available for years. If you’re reading this column right now, you’re one of the most well-educated people on the planet about Apple stuff. But your friends, family, co-workers, and acquaintances? They might never know about flashy new operating-system features unless you personally show them off. It’s one of Apple’s most vexing problems: keeping devices relatively simple while also…

Warren Buffett loves to concentrate his Berkshire Hathaway’s invested capital in a small number of top ideas and, after buying back Berkshire Hathaway stock, his top idea is the world’s most valuable company, Apple, which accounts for close to 48% of Berkshire’s invested assets. Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting of shareholders on May 8, 2023 Sean Williams for The Motley Fool: As of the closing bell on June 16, 2023, the 915,560,382 shares of Apple stock held by Berkshire Hathaway equates to a market value of $169.3 billion. This works out to 47.8% of the invested assets of Berkshire’s investment portfolio and is nearly 40 percentage points higher than the second-largest holding by portfolio weighting, Bank of America…

Macworld The iPhone 15 Pro this year is going to be powered by the new A17 system-on-chip, which should be the first large-scale consumer chip in the world to be made on a 3nm N3B manufacturing process. That means a lot more logic and cache in the same size chip, and better power efficiency at the same performance level as current 5nm iPhone chips. We expect big things from the A17. A new rumor from a Weibo user proclaiming to be an experienced integrated circuits developer suggests that Apple is going to switch production of the A17 at some time next year from TSMC’s N3B process to the upcoming N3E process. The N5E process is estimated to have better costs…

Macworld I have spent the last couple of decades writing about new features in Apple’s operating systems. Tens of thousands of words about new items, large and small, that enhance the experience of using a Mac, iPhone, iPad, and other Apple devices. And yet this past weekend, I was reminded that most users simply don’t notice new features, even when they’ve been available for years. If you’re reading this column right now, you’re one of the most well-educated people on the planet about Apple stuff. But your friends, family, co-workers, and acquaintances? They might never know about flashy new operating-system features unless you personally show them off. It’s one of Apple’s most vexing problems: keeping devices relatively simple while also…

Behold! A device with an actual headphone jack. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge Amazon Prime Day officially kicks off on July 11th, and while we’re expecting to see steep discounts on Amazon’s line of inexpensive Fire tablets, it’s safe to say that Amazon’s latest slates still can’t match an iPad when it comes to design and performance. Fortunately, the 2021 iPad is currently on sale at Amazon in the 64GB / Wi-Fi configuration for $249.99 ($79 off) at checkout — a price we haven’t seen since March of last year. On the whole, Apple’s ninth-gen slate remains the best budget iPad you can buy, even with the introduction of the 10th-gen model last year. The entry-level tablet…