Adobe Photoshop is finally Touch Bar-ready

As you probably know, Apple’s new MacBook Pro does away with physical function keys to make space for the swipe-friendly Touch Bar. Apple claims this will make it easier to do things such as making edits with apps like Adobe Photoshop and Final Cut Pro. These apps weren’t ready yet when the new laptops came out but now Adobe’s photo-editing app has finally brought new Touch Bar-ready features to its space.

Photoshop now gives you quick access to tools from the Touch Bar and eve provide a contextual next step depending on the task you just completed. The features introduced with the Touch Bar are divided into three parts: Layer Properties, Brushes, and Favorites. You have access to blend modes, scrubbing through a file’s history, clipping layers, etc. with the Layer Properties section. For Brushes, you get a slider that lets you adjust things such as color, size, and opacity, among others. And Favorites, as the name suggests, brings you the most used Touch Bar features so you can access these quickly. This isn’t the final iteration, though, as Adobe says it intends to “continue to evolve” Touch Bar support, meaning we could be seeing more features in the future.

Source: Engadget

The Apple Beat: Apple Pay now an option for donating to causes and non-profits, MacBook Pros in the wild

 

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Apple Pay has been touted as the next generation mobile payments platform and Apple’s done a great job of securing global banks and partners, making ApplePay an option in major retailers and restaurants and even tuning their hardware so Apple Pay is one fingerprint or password away from enabling a quick and secure sale, even the new MacBook Pros feature a Touch ID button to make this easy.

According to their newsroom, Apple Pay now ‘makes it easier and more security to donate to nonprofit organizations.’ This is a great and safe option not just for responding to emergencies such as earthquakes, floods and other catastrophes but also for sending funds to causes, nonprofits and other charities. The list of nonprofits and charities is up on Apple’s website, it’s mostly from International and American organizations, I hope Canadian nonprofits can be included soon, specially as we’re headed into the season of giving.

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OWC's ThunderBolt 3 Dock brings much needed expansion to new MacBook Pros

The new MacBook Pros are the most divisive products coming out of Apple in a long time. While many are delighted by the innovative new Touchbar, thinner and lighter form factor, faster processors, and redesigned trackpad and display; a large majority of pro users are bemoaning the deletion of ports in favour of Thunderbolt 3 ports and a stack of dongles. A solution that's sure to add even more cost to these new notebooks already hig price.

Other World Computing's ThunderBolt 3 Dock is one way to solve the lack of ports. This US $279 accessory brings an SD Card reader,  an audio In/Out port, 5 USB 3 Gen 1 ports, a pro grade digital audio port, FireWire 800, Gigabit Ethernet, two Thunderbolt 3.0 ports (with 40 GB/s throughput) and a mini DisplayPort for good measure.

Understanding that professional users often have to work with legacy devices and specific peripherals and accessories, OWC's ThunderBolt 3 Dock, which has a two year warranty, is one of the best solutions to cover port anxiety and put the 'Pro' back into the MacBook.

Here's everything Apple announced today

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

We finally have new MacBook Pros. Although this leaked and anticipated update to Apple's line of pro notebooks has been percolating for months, there are now three new slimmer MacBook Pros outfitted with newer processors, faster I/O and, on the two more expensive models, a new OLED Touchbar that's designed to change as users move through apps.

The adaptive TouchBar is the big innovation for this cycle and makes the MacBook Pros that feature it far more versatile to use. Final Cut Pro users, for example, will be able to scrub through their timelines, apply edits and precise changes plus navigate the app's shortcuts using the TouchBar. Hit jump for a wuick overview.

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