Flash-based solid state drives (SSDs) are considered to be the future of performance hard drives and everyone seems to be jumping on the bandwagon. SLC flash SSDs easily outperform conventional hard drives today (SLC = single level cell). However, the power savings aren’t there: in fact, battery runtimes actually decrease if you use a flash SSD.
It's not from Apple, but it gives a pretty good idea of what to expect from them, specially knowing that only one guy—Christian Moore—got this system running at full speed on a simple Intel-based MacBook. His Lux free open framework enables true multitouch interaction in Mac OS X.
A teenager is making a multi-touch table running Mac OS X, similar to Microsoft's Surface, for a science fair. The table uses infrared light emitting diodes, where an IR camera transmits input via fingertip motions to the computer running Mac OS X.
A company called Psystar claims that it’s selling a “generic Mac” for $549 (or $399 without OS X). While such a move seems to violate Apple’s end-user license agreement, it indicates just how the age-old topic of running the Mac OS on non-Apple hardware has mutated in this modern, Intel-Mac age.
Hideo Takano has posted some pictures and information about his Mac Mini Pro mod. Actually, Hideo has been working on a series of Mac mini mods, but this one looks to be his masterpiece.
If you're interested in an in-depth review of the new MacBook Pro from the standpoint of a real user and not a journalist, head over to Shawn Blanc's blog.
When something is thin enough to fit into an envelope, light enough to sit on your lap for a couple of hours without discomfort and so compact that it doesn't even bulge in an airline seat-back pocket, wouldn't it make sense that one could lose track of such a thing? Even if it is a computer? Yes, it would make sense. Steven Levy can't find his MacBook Air.
Apple today updated its popular MacBook and MacBook Pro notebook lines with the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors, larger hard drives and 2GB of memory standard in most models. In addition, MacBook Pro includes the latest NVIDIA graphics processors, now with up to 512MB of video memory, and Apple’s innovative Multi-Touch trackpad, first introduced in MacBook Air.
All Mac notebooks include a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing on-the-go, Apple’s MagSafe Power Adapter that safely disconnects when under strain and built-in 802.11n wireless networking for up to five times the performance and twice the range of 802.11g.
Continue reading "Apple Introduces new MacBook and MacBook Pro models" »
"Apple wants to use [Blu-ray] as a creative tool," notes Yankee Group's Carl Howe, not simply add it to a MacBook Pro's feature list. Put another way, Apple is waiting for some decent Blu-ray software.
As Howe notes, Apple usually doesn't throw new technologies into its computers unless it also has decent software support. This was true when Apple started shipping SuperDrives in its systems in 2001, and it will also be true when Apple finally begins to include Blu-ray drives, according to Howe.
We decided to take a look at this thing to see whether Apple had come up with the next iPod for the computer world, or whether it had cut too many corners in its attempt to make the slimmest, sexiest notebook ever. And for that, we have to start at the beginning...
Obviously, the Air is not about speed, and from the chips, we can tell its among the slowest macs you can buy right now. But we ran some real world benchmarks on the MacBook Air against an aging MacBook and MacBook Pro to see how it held up comparatively. Predictably, the MacBook Pro outperformed its counterparts in the majority of our tests. But the MacBook Air (1.6 GHz Intel, 2 GB RAM) went toe-to-toe with the MacBook (2 GHz Intel, 1 GB RAM) in many of our tests, falling just short in most.
The CPU in the MacBook Air is a 65nm Merom based Core 2 Duo, with a 4MB L2 cache, 800MHz FSB and runs at either 1.6GHz or 1.8GHz. The packaging technology used for this CPU is what makes it unique; the CPU comes in a package that was originally reserved for mobile Penryn due out in the second half of 2008 with the Montevina SFF Centrino platform. Intel accelerated the introduction of the packaging technology specifically for Apple it seems.
Apple today unveiled MacBook Air, the world’s thinnest notebook. MacBook Air measures an unprecedented 0.16-inches at its thinnest point, while its maximum height of 0.76-inches is less than the thinnest point on competing notebooks. MacBook Air has a stunning 13.3-inch LED-backlit widescreen display, a full-size and backlit keyboard, a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing, and a spacious trackpad with multi-touch gesture support so users can pinch, rotate and swipe. MacBook Air is powered by a 1.6 GHz or 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4MB L2 cache, and includes as standard features 2GB of memory, an 80GB 1.8-inch hard drive, and the latest 802.11n Wi-Fi technology and Bluetooth 2.1.
Continue reading "MacBook Air: the world’s thinnest notebook" »
Apple today introduced Time Capsule, a backup appliance that automatically and wirelessly backs up everything on one or more Macs running Leopard including the amazing Time Machine automatic backup software.
Time Capsule combines an 802.11n base station with a server grade hard disk in one small package. Simply plug it in, then easily set up automatic wireless backup for every Mac in your house to a single Time Capsule with just a few clicks. Time Capsule offers the benefits of a full-featured 802.11n Wi-Fi base station, and comes in two models: a 500 gigabyte model for just $299 and a 1 terabyte model for just $499.
Continue reading "Apple Time Capsule - wireless backup for all your Macs" »
Earlier this week Apple released updated Mac Pros that use Intel’s new Penryn processors. Also new is the fact that the standard Mac Pro configuration now comes with eight (instead of four) cores. How does it perform in comparison to the old Mac Pro? Read this article to find out.
One "feature" of the new Apple Wireless Keyboard that people noticed quickly is the lack of the familiar numeric keypad and associated Num Lock key. A lot of users liked the change, but of course some weren't so happy, mourning the loss of the spare set of numbers. But like it or not, the numeric keypad isn't coming back. In fact, the Num Lock key and its ilk may be disappearing from even more Apple products, according to a recent piece by the New York Times' David Pogue.
Apple introduced the new Mac Pro with eight processor cores and a new system architecture that delivers up to twice the performance of its predecessor. The new Mac Pro combines two of Intel’s new 45 nanometer Quad-Core Xeon processors running up to 3.2 GHz, powerful new graphics and up to 4TB of internal storage to offer the ideal system for creative professionals, 3D digital content creators and scientists. The standard 8-core configuration starts at $2,799.
A Mac sub-notebook is indeed expected to be coming at Macworld and, as rumored, will not coming with an internal optical drive. This omission is presumably due to Apple's ongoing efforts to reduce the size of their laptops. Instead, Apple is said to be offering an external optical drive with the sub-notebook. This detachable external drive would allow customers to read/write from CDs or DVDs as usual, but would allow users to leave this extra bulk at home when on the road.
There's never been a better time to void the warranty on your MacBook Pro and upgrade to one of those sweet 2.5" WD Scorpio 320GB drives. That was what made me throw caution to the wind and attempt a Time Machine-assisted swap. The good news is, it works as billed. You get a bit-for-bit transfer to the virgin drive with minimal fuss.
It's like explaining the difference between a Buick and a BMW. Both get you from here to there, only the ride is generally smoother and more fun. Put another way, Windows users tolerate their computers to get stuff done. The Mac crowd enjoys its machines, whether managing music in iTunes or pictures in iPhoto.
Shopping for Mac users and Apple fans can sometimes be a challenge -- especially if you want to get something other than the obvious choices, or if you're not as big an Apple fan as the person you're shopping for. With that in mind, here are 10 great gift ideas for the Mac user on your list.
Nokia has unveiled plans to release an iPhone-style touchscreen phone next year as part of a strategy for tackling what it described as "tough competition" from new players in the handset market, including Apple.
It's actually very sad to see a leader like Nokia being completely stunned by the iPhone that illustrated just how much they are behind when it comes to innovation. I just hope the device they plan on releasing is not a complete copy of the iPhone.
If the high price tag for Apple hardware has kept you from buying a Mac but you're willing to roll up your sleeves and get adventurous, you can build your own "Hackintosh" - a PC that runs a patched version of OS X Leopard.
Rumors of the death of hard drives in Apple's iPod are greatly exaggerated - so says, wait for it - the hard drive industry. On Tuesday, the industry intelligence company iSuppli predicted the end times for spinning disc drives in iPods, characterizing the latest iPod Classic as "likely the last (iPod) from Apple to employ the venerable HDD technology for storage." Many observers took this news as validation that mini disc drives are going the way of the dodo.
iPhone fans are finding there's a price to pay for refined design and an innovative user interface. Attempts to force open the iPhone to third-party development - not to mention carriers other than AT&T - have resulted in a tough battle for the hack-minded. But a slew of free, open-source and hacker-friendly alternatives are coming to the market or already available, including a few big boys. Here are nine of the best that let you do things the iPhone won't.
You already know you can upgrade your Mac's RAM yourself and save big money, but how much extra memory do you want? When you top out a MacBook Pro with 3GB or RAM things are a lot faster using hungry programs like Parallels and Photoshop. Take a look at some unscientific 1GB, 2GB and 3GB MacBook RAM performance tests.
The Wi-Fire is a compact, range-extending USB device that enables you to access a wireless Internet connection from up to 1,000 feet away--three times the range of your internal wireless adapter.
Macenstein has a very positive and informative review so if extending the range of your wireless network is something you need this is the product to check out.
Here are all the details with lots of screenshots.
A design issue exists in the IPv6 protocol's handling of type 0 routing headers. Depending on network topology and capacity, the reception of specially crafted IPv6 packets may lead to a reduction in network bandwidth. Apple's security update addresses the issue by disabling the support for type 0 routing headers.
This review is based on (almost) baseline specifications of the shipping Mac Pro, with an additional 2GB of RAM and an extra 500GB data hard drive.
The burning question about whether a non-gigabit Apple AirPort Extreme (AAE) could be upgrade via a $1.99 Enabler or some other firmware update was bugging the author of this hardware exploration. So he set out to dissect both the gigabit and non-gigabit version of the AAE.
Ars Technica is at it again as they have an in-depth review of the new iMac. The low quality and over compression of the photos in the review don't make the iMac look like much. However, as usual, the text is very informative so I suggest you take a look.
Apple today unveiled an all new all-in-one iMac line featuring gorgeous 20- and 24-inch widescreen displays encased in elegant and professional aluminum and glass enclosures. The entire new iMac line features the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors and a new, ultra-thin aluminum Apple Keyboard, built-in iSight and iLife ’08. The 20-inch iMac now starts at just $1,199, $300 less than the previous 20-inch model, and the 24-inch iMac starts at just $1,799, $200 less than the previous 24-inch model.
You may not know this, but if you have more than one Mac and you’d like to share your Internet connection between them, there’s no need to buy an AirPort base station. Mac OS X comes with the software you need to turn almost any Mac into a base station all by itself.
The Chaos blog has a very interesting article that will certainly inspire many mac geeks that enjoy working with hardware. They transform an old 500mhz G3 iBook with a faulty screen into a server. But this is no ordinary server, it fits onto your bookshelf, it looks very cool and all the details to make one are enclosed in the the howto.
The "thin" talk has started to solidify a bit, and a new rumor suggests that the new, thinner MacBooks will have an extra feature when they launch in October: multi-touch. According to the rumor, the new multi-touch interface would take the place of the trackpad, and would be similar to the multi-touch interface on the iPhone. Supported gestures would supposedly include CoverFlow navigation, zooming, as well as other features.
Is your Powerbook/MacBook/iBook screen broken? Did Apple quote you the costs of a new laptop to replace it? It’s not as hard as you may think to do it on your own and get by a lot cheaper. However, it definitely takes some confidence in working with computer hardware.
Apple engineers have apparently been toiling long-hour days on a pair of radically redesigned 20- and 24-inch iMacs that will be both slimmer and sleeker than today's offerings. When the project manifests later this summer, it will represent the first major industrial design overhaul to hit the flagship all-in-one consumer Apple desktops in nearly three years.
Installing this drive is of course not an issue, and once formatted the true storage capacity is 931GB. The Hitachi 1TB performs well with up to 81MB/s in reading mode and 70MB/s in writing mode for large files.
The reviewer concludes: "The latest MacBook Pros are a solid upgrade from their predecessor, thanks to the new Santa Rosa platform. If you already have a 17" MacBook Pro and aren't dying for the higher-resolution display, don't bother upgrading. If, however, you have been sitting on the fence with an old G4 or Core Duo laptop, this is a worthy upgrade. If you like your laptops large and in charge, I strongly recommend the 17" MacBook Pro." Read the in-depth review at Ars Technica.
People have been arguing online about how much more expensive Macs are than PCs - or not - for more than a decade. These discussions usually involve some hard facts but also some persistent myths. As a longtime Windows guy who has recently migrated to the Mac, I think I'm in a pretty good position to try and sort out reality from fiction. Let's take a look at what you can really get for your money these days.
Apple released version 7.1.1 of the firmware for the "AirPort Extreme Base Station with 802.11n*." There is a list of seven fixes and improvements on the update page on Apple's support web site, but careful readers will note that these are the fixes and improvements in the 7.1 update, which are repeated here for good measure.
Apple today updated its MacBook Pro line of notebooks with the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors, memory up to 4GB, and high-speed graphics in a stunning, lightweight, aluminum enclosure that is just one-inch thin.
The new MacBook Pro is available in 15-inch models with a new mercury-free, power-efficient LED-backlit display and a 17-inch model with an optional high-resolution display.
Apple is set to unleash a new iMac design that will utilize the company's trademark "Brushed Metal" look. One inside source claimed that the new iMacs would utilize the Santa Rosa Chipset and could top out at a larger size than the current 24 inch display. Additionally, the design will resemble the current Cinema Display more than the current iMacs with the extra hang below the screen minimized.
Apple today updated its MacBook consumer notebooks with faster Intel Core 2 Duo processors, 1GB of memory and larger hard drives in every model. The MacBook is just one-inch thin and features built-in 802.11n wireless networking for up to five times the performance and twice the range of 802.11g.
Continue reading "Apple has updated its line of MacBook computers" »
What can you do with the Mac Pro's extra drive bays? One of the coolest things is to fill them with the highest-capacity hard drives you can find and then configure those drives in a RAID (Redundant Array of Independent [or Inexpensive] Disks). But what exactly is a RAID, and how do you set one up? The answers are in this article.
From anonymous nerds on the Internet to six-figure analysts in corner offices, everyone is talking about a rumored subnotebook from Apple, the MacBook Pro Thin. The transition to Intel and fabulous new technologies like a non-crippled FSB, and the notable failure of the 12" PowerBook to make the transition, has only heightened the sense of anticipation. Recently, several rumors have come together to form supposition, which, unfortunately, might not be good news for those pining away over an MBT.
Apple has published a firmware update for its Airport Extreme Base Station that fixes two security flaws in the Wi-Fi router. The patch fixes a bug found in certain versions of the Base Station that prevented the router from acting as a firewall by blocking IPv6 traffic by default. "This may expose network services on hosts connected through an AirPort Extreme Base Station with 802.11n to remote attacks," Apple said in a Monday advisory.
Switching to a Mac infrastructure may sound like an expensive proposition for a small-business owner. However, some businesses who have made the change say they made the right choice. The cost savings on security and ease-of-use quickly paid off incurred expenses, they said. Relearning some tasks that operate differently on a Mac may be a barrier, but Parallels comes in handy.
More information here.
There may come a time when you have to bid a fond farewell to an old computer. Perhaps it just doesn’t have enough processing power or drive space to cut it as a message center or a backup server. Or maybe your small living area can’t hold yet another machine. Whether you want to sell it, donate it, or simply recycle it, you should take steps to protect yourself and the environment.
Just two weeks after Apple released its streaming media box to the public, hackers successfully installed OS X, Apple's desktop operating system, on the $300 device, making it the cheapest PC Cupertino has ever sold.
"The breakthrough is done, OS X runs on Apple TV!" wrote "Semthex," the anonymous hacker responsible for the mod, at his website. "Now we got (the) low-budget Mac we ever wanted."
Independent UK developer Ben Bird has upgraded his video surveillance system for Mac users, SecuritySpy. The system offers powerful video surveillance features for Mac users aiming to protect their home or business – motion detection, real-time compression and network video streaming.
Many of you would love to take your Internet access with you as you travel on family vacation or spring break; for others, terrestrial broadband (cable modem or DSL) is unavailable or prohibitively expensive at your fixed location. Good news for all: the choices on the wireless access front are better than ever before.
The Apple TV comes with a stripped-down version of Apple's OS X, but retains many of its basic features, such as directory structure and file format. In just over a week, hackers have been able to upgrade the Apple TV's 40GB hard drive (derided by many as being too small for any serious media collection) and enable secure shell access (SSH) to the machine, among other things. Most recently, and the most practical hack so far to date (announced on March 29) is to enable the USB port, which had been disabled by Apple in software.
No doubt you know that sharing your internet connection on your Mac is easy. For instance, if want to turn any Mac with a built-in Airport card into a wireless router (e.g. with a cable or DSL modem plugged into the built-in ethernet port), all you have to do is go to the Sharing pane of your System Preferences select it and hit start. However, what if you want to do something a little bit more complicated? This tutorial covers some other ways for turning your Mac into a router, including over FireWire and adding a second ethernet port via USB (which can be really tricky).
Jason writes: "With the arrival of my Apple TV yesterday I needed a solution to get my Xvix/WMV/Divx files converted and imported into iTunes so that I can watch them. I already have Quicktime Pro, which with the recent release added the ability to “Export to Apple TV”. Since I have a lot of files, and no desire to sit around and convert these one at a time, it seemed like a perfect job for Automator."
David Chartier writes: "After spending a good 24 hours with a shiny new Apple TV, I agree with Mossberg and Pogue: this thing rocks."
"Apple has produced a great device that makes getting your iTunes and iTunes Store content from your Mac/PC to your TV and entertainment center, and with a nearly 10x lead in the digital media market at 118 million active iTunes users, they have quite an audience for it as well."
In looks, it sits at the top of the heap. Apple TV is a gorgeous, one-inch-tall, round-cornered square slab, 7.7 inches on a side. It slips silently and almost invisibly into your entertainment setup. (You can’t say that for the Xbox, which in comparison is huge and too noisy for a bedroom.)
The heartbreaker for millions, however, is that Apple TV requires a widescreen TV - preferably an HDTV. It doesn’t work with the squarish, traditional TVs that many people still have.
People familiar with the matter say Apple has called upon its award-winning design chief Jonathan Ive and his team to cut the fat from the the current iMac line and outfit a pair of new Core 2 Duo-based models in a form factor that will be both slimmer and sleeker than today's offerings.
For Apple, the impending iMac makeover will represent the first major industrial design overhaul to hit its flagship all-in-one consumer desktop line in nearly three years. The last eye candy to accompany an iMac update came back in August of 2004, when the company retired its "sunflower" iMac G4 design while introducing the portrait-style iMac G5.
Apple's intentions seem clear: It wants to be the company that finally figures out how to tie the television to the Internet and make video downloads as common as music downloads. "With Apple TV, we believe we are providing a new, better way for people to seamlessly and wirelessly enjoy their digital lifestyles," Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's chief financial officer.
Apple has created an attractive package, both in form and features. The Extreme looks like a warmer for a really expensive coffeemaker, whereas its competitors look about as cheerful as an Imperial Probe Droid or worse. Looks aside, it features a USB 2.0 port. Plug any USB hard drive or (nearly) any printer into the port (or plug in a USB hub and use 'em both), and they'll be wirelessly available to any Mac or PC on your network that's running Apple's AirPort client software - another strong vote for media sharing and network backups.
Apple is looking to develop a laptop that eschews conventional hard drives in favour of Flash memory, according to an analyst. The new ultra-mobile device could be classified as a "sub-notebook", and would use Flash memory chips for storage and a stripped-down version of Mac OS X similar to the iPhone's, according to Wu.
Mark Kellner writes: "It's taken 25 years or thereabouts from the arrival of my first computer, a Sanyo MBC-1000, but I believe my search for the "perfect" desktop one is over. The device sports a massive 24-inch liquid crystal display, big enough to make watching a video of the NBC-TV series "Law & Order" enjoyable."
At $179, Apple's AirPort Extreme 802.11 draft-n wireless base station is priced like brand X, but Cisco couldn't have done it any better. Apple's claim of 5X performance and 2X coverage relative to 802.11g is no mere boast; it was proven for this review. Apple's new base station is easy to manage from Windows and OS X, and current AirPort Extreme admins will appreciate the rewritten AirPort Utility's expert features like logging and performance charting.
Apple has delayed the release of its TV set-top box. Initially the company said the $299 device would ship in February, but now expects it to go in mid-March.
With the introduction of AirPort Extreme 802.11n base stations, Apple announced that the majority of its current machines are compatible with the draft of that standard via a drive update. On the other hand, the MacBook and MacBook Pro Core Duo aren't likely to get compatible Airport modules. For Apple, these machines are condemned to always remain at 802.11g. Read on to discover how this situation can change.
A tiny sub-notebook on its way from Apple is expected to re-establish the Mac maker as a leader in the field of compact computing while drawing parallels to the legendary PowerBook 2400 along the way.
Apple has posted AirPort Extreme Update 2007-001, intended for some Intel-based Macs running Mac OS X v10.4.8. The update corrects an issues that could cause system crashes on a wireless network caused by malicious intent, according to Apple.
A forthcoming update to Apple's MacBook Pro line will usher in a generation of more vibrant and uniformly-colored notebook displays thanks to some new underlying backlight technology.
Anyone with a yen for disassembling computers discovered last year that Apple had jumped the gun on wireless standards by including Atheros and Broadcom 802.11n, or “N,” chips into some Intel Core 2 Duo models. This stole some of Apple’s thunder last week at Macworld Expo when it formally announced its adoption of 802.11n and the wireless networking standard’s 100 Mbps-throughput. But what was more surprising was the company’s willingness to commit to a standard that’s a year from completion.
iPhone combines three products — a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, maps, and searching — into one small and lightweight handheld device.
iPhone also introduces an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software, letting you control everything with just your fingers. So it ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, completely redefining what you can do on a mobile phone.