Apple's GarageBand app celebrates 15 years of music creation for the rest of us

John Mayer and Steve Jobs demo an earlier version of GarageBand

Apple is celebrating 15 years of Garageband, the app included in macOS which enables anyone to put together various loops and samples as well as integrate live voice or musical instrumentation. Garageband was an ambitious and successful application that was part of iLife, the suite of apps included with every Mac sold.

GarageBand brought drag and drop simplicity to music creation and added myriad options for instruments, loops, and beats which were mostly royalty free. For budding musicians or composers, it gave them the ability to put together music even without having to read notes or having access to various instruments.

The app, originally introduced onstage at Macworld '04 by Steve Jobs and John Mayer, has grown to be the most widely used music app in the world — and is now on over 1 billion iPhones, iPads and Macs globally. 

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Apple announces blockbuster holiday week with $1.22 billion in sales

Apple announced a record-breaking holiday sales week and New Year's Day with a huge $1.22 billion in sales spent in apps and games. 

"The holiday week was our biggest week ever with more than $1.22 billion spent on apps and games, and New Year’s Day set a new single-day record at more than $322 million,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Thanks to the inspiring work of our talented developers and the support of our incredible customers around the world."

Apple says services set new all-time records in multiple categories, including the App Store, Apple Music, Cloud Services, Apple Pay and the App Store’s search ad business. Huge earners in the app department includemultiplayer games like Fortnite and PUBG as well as productivity, health and fitness apps. "1Password, Sweat and Luminosity charting in their respective categories," Apple reported.

Drake tops Apple's 'Best of 2018' charts. Who else made the list?

Apple just released the 'Best of 2018' -- a global collection of top charts of all the amazing things we should see, play, and listen to. From podcasts to audiobooks and from music to apps and more we're definitely curious as to who made the lists and what will make great conversations at the holiday dinner party. Apps that topped the 'paid for' list shocked us included FaceTune, a retouching app to allows users to have flawless skin. Hey, guess it's cheaper than botox. Anyway, here's are the lists...

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Hot Docs to screen RAMS, a portrait of designer Dieter Rams

For over 50 years, Dieter Rams has left an indelible mark on the field of product design and the world at large with his iconic work at Braun and Vitsoe. In this enlightening film Gary Hustwit, director of design docs Helvetica and Design Canada, turns his camera to the notoriously private German artist, profiling his life, career and back-to-basics philosophy that went on to inspire the Apple brand and more. For Rams, design is more tham just an idea -- it's a way of life.

Featuring original music from musician and record producer Brian Eno, Rams is not just a fascinating portrait of an influential genius, but an expansive look at consumerism, sustainability, and how technology is changing human behaviour. 

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