According to MacWorld, Hitachi has announced at the CES show in Las Vegas they plan to at least double the current capacity of the 1" microdrive used in iPod minis within the year.
At present Hitachi's most capacious Microdrive can hold 4GB of data, but the new drives, due in the second half of this year, will be able to hold between 8GB and 10GB, said Bill Healy, senior vice president of product strategy and marketing at HGST.
In addition to offering more storage space, the drives will also occupy about 20 per cent less volume than current models, said Healy. One of the biggest space savings will come from replacing the Compact Flash interface with a ZIF (zero insertion force) connector of the type favoured by consumer electronics makers.
Hitachi will also employ similar space-saving techniques to its 1.8-inch drive family, said Healy.
New versions of 1.8-inch drives, also expected in the second half of this year, will feature ZIF connectors and weigh 49 grams. A drive with one platter will offer between 30GB and 40GB of capacity, and one with a double platter will have between 60GB and 80GB of capacity, said Healy. Additionally, the drives will offer better shock resistance.
iOS 26.4 was released today, and it includes a couple of new features for CarPlay: an Ambient Music widget and support for voice-based chatbot apps.
To update your iPhone 11 or newer to iOS 26.4, open the Settings app and tap on General → Software Update. CarPlay will automatically offer the new features so long as the iPhone connected to your vehicle is running iOS 26.4 or later....
Apple today announced Apple Business, a new all-in-one platform that unifies device management, productivity tools, and customer outreach features.
The service is designed to be a consolidated replacement for several of Apple's existing business-focused offerings, including Apple Business Essentials, Apple Business Manager, and Apple Business Connect. It provides organizations with a single...
Tuesday March 24, 2026 12:31 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today released new firmware for the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and the AirPods 4. The firmware has a version number of 8B39, up from 8B34 on the AirPods Pro 3, 8B28 on the AirPods Pro 2, and 8B21 on the AirPods 4.
There is no word on what's included in the firmware, but Apple has a support document with limited notes. Most updates are limited to bug fixes and performance...
