iOS 7 shipped on September 18. Free and available for iPhone 4 or later, iPad 2 or later, iPad mini, and iPod Touch (5th Gen). Note that for speed/performance reasons we do not recommend iOS 7 for iPhone 4 or for iPad 2 even though it is possible to run iOS 7 on these devices. Ty will be giving a presentation on iOS 7 at the October general meeting of the Salem Macintosh Users Group (SMUG). See the SMUG web site, www.realsmug.org, for details. 

For iOS, iWork (Pages, Numbers, Keynote), iPhoto, and iMovie are now free with the purchase of any new iOS device. Sweet!

Two new iPhones. First, the iPhone 5C. Same as iPhone 5 but more colorful. Available in green, white, blue, pink, or yellow. Slightly bigger battery than the 5 with a better front facing video camera. $99 for 16 GB model or $199 for 32 GB model with two-year contract. Stylish cases are $29. In essence, what we have here is a very slightly improved iPhone 5 that costs $100 less and comes in colors. 

Second, the iPhone 5S. Available in gold, slate, or silver (aka "space grey"). Brand new, 64-bit A7 chip inside. Only 64-bit smartphone in the world, and all of Apple's apps and iOS 7 itself has been rewritten in 64-bit. (Older 32-bit apps work too, of course.) What does that mean? 40x faster than the original iPhone, 56x faster in graphics. One developer claims the 5S performance is about 5x faster than the iPhone 5. Also, better battery than the iPhone 5. (250 hours of standby.) New camera sensor with 15% greater active area and F2.2 aperture. New camera actually takes 15 pictures and picks the best one when you snap a pic. New flash has two LEDs, one cool and white and the other warmer and amber. The camera can combine the two flashes to get the right color balance from the flash. Also auto stabilization, 10 shot per second burst mode, and 120 frames per second slo-mo video at 720p HD. New fingerprint sensor (Touch ID) in the home button. Unlock your iPhone by touching the home button. Also authenticate for buying via iTunes. No more typing in your AppleID to buy apps or music! 16 GB model = $199, 32 GB = $299, 64 GB = $399 with two-year contract. 

iPhone 4S (8GB) available for free on two-year contract. 

Pre-order for the iPhone 5C started on September 13; both models formally go on sale September 20th. If you're buying in person, expect long lines and product shortages. Historically, even with factories running 24/7, Apple can't make enough iPhones to meet demand at launch. 

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The dreaded MacKeeper, a so-called utility for Mac OS X, continues to rear its hideous head. Most every official Apple consultant will tell you to run not walk as far away from MacKeeper as possible. We've had several clients in recent months experience problems ranging from apps not working to "slow-downs" when attempting to do something. Interestingly, uninstalling Mac Keeper solves a lot of those problems. Particularly vexing is when MacKeeper reports a virus or malware problem on your Mac then offers to "clean it" for $19.95. We cannot say enough bad things about this horrible program and the company that makes and markets it.