Mac

One of the more interesting things released today at Apple's event was the new “Fusion Drive” in the new iMac (and yes, it's only for the new iMac and new Mac mini models so far). Fusion Drive is Apple's take on solving the “I want the speed of an SSD but I have way more stuff than…

The Stationery Pad feature in Finder—when I mention this in passing to my students and clients, most of them give me that deer-in-the-headlights blank stare, usually followed by, “uhh, yes, Sandro… the Stationery Pad.” But they know that I know that they have no idea what the Stationery Pad feature is! Well guess what, this…

Our Macs are the place where we run iTunes, backup our iDevices, and even manage iOS apps on the iPhone/iPad pages. The apps are in there, we just can't run them.  And now we’re waiting a very long time for a new Ivy Bridge iMac. What if the delay is because Apple is working to…

Apple’s MacBook Pro with Retina Display (rMBP) is a marvel of engineering and performance, but its unusually high resolution, 2880-by–1800, and the way that Apple scales it to lower “equivalent” resolutions means that the Cupertino company had to change the way that it presents resolution options to users. Instead of an extensive list of all…

Let's say you launch an app that is not already positioned on your Dock. For example, you launch it from your Applications folder. Typically, it will plop itself onto your Dock – way over at the right end, assuming your preference is to have the Dock at the bottom of your screen. It will show…

Apple has its own reasons for doing what they do; they're certainly entitled to do so. You see, Apple is very focused on getting brand-new Mac customers and, in particular, those coming to the Mac with iOS experience, to not have to think about a “file system” where folders and files can be moved, copied,…

On the contrary, with many of the recent iMac models, as well as MacBook and MacBook Pro models (prior to the ones with sealed batteries), Apple has included friendly diagrams depicting the procedure for replacing the RAM memory modules. On most iMac Models, this little visual guide is etched onto the bottom of the pedestal…

Would you like to have the Slide to Unlock of iOS fame on your Mac? Do you have a need to lock your Mac’s display from prying eyes? Perhaps, you simply want a lovely photographic vista with information such as the time, date, and current temperature. ____________________ By incorporating Slide To Unlock, Lock Screen Plus…

It always seems like a new design starts the moment the old one goes live. If that’s true, then this design has been 7 years in the making. More specifically, though, this one started in November, 2011 – still a respectable 10 months. We put out a call for – and solicited bids from –…

Many methods were discussed during the show, but the simplest one was suggested afterwards by Peter Lewis of Stairways Software, maker of the excellent Keyboard Maestro utility. To locate Java applications, open Terminal and type the following command: find /Applications -name “*.jar” Using the find command, this query will search the system’s Application folder for…

The issue, it turns out, is not the size of the security slot in the vertical dimension (case depth). An Apple salesperson explained to me that, rather, it’s the depth of the case with respect to the size of the locking key when it’s inserted and turned 90 degrees. (That’s because of the T design…

NPD DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim told CNET that Apple is planning for a 2560-by-1600 resolution display for the 13-inch MacBook Pro. Such a display would have fewer pixels than the current 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro, which touts a 2880-by-1800 panel, but the smaller screen area on the 13-inch model will create a similar “Retina” effect.…

When OS X Lion was rolled out, we were given several new technologies to add to our toolbox of Mac goodness. One of these, Launchpad, falls into a unique category in that people either love it, or they hate it. Perhaps “hate” is a bit extreme, but most “tech-savvy” types lambaste Launchpad as an overly…

Previously, the Living Earth HD, world clock and weather, was available only for iOS. Now, it’s been brought over to the Mac, and it’s equally spectacular. Plus, it includes desktop and screen saver functions._________________ The iOS version of this app was previously reviewed, and it was given a high rating. What’s nice about this app…

Along with the ability to use the iPhone as a remote camera, version 3 also supports recording directly from the iPad camera, includes MacBook Pro retina display support, offers an updated user interface, includes Final Cut Pro X support, and is OS X Mountain Lion compatible.With the release of iStopMotion 3, Boinx also consolidated its…

Nearly all Macs have built-in speakers but, while Apple is working to improve its sound quality, on most Macs the speakers simply don’t get loud enough. They’re generally fine for close listening in a quiet environment but once you add some ambient noise or move away from the computer, Mac users often find themselves wanting…

Let’s talk cursors. Actually, it’s the old-timers who say “cursors” while everyone else calls them “pointers.” Apple uses both terms interchangeably in their documentation. These are the darling little on-screen indicators designed to provide feedback to users. According to the latest revision of Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines document, there are eighteen system pointers in OS…

Improvements will come as more developers make their apps “Retina-ready,” but part of the cost of early adoption is waiting for third parties to catch up. New Retina Display MacBook Pro owners therefore eagerly await Retina updates to their favorite applications. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a central listing of apps that were…

Maybe They’ll Look Something Like This In some ways, this isn’t precisely news. When Apple released released a barely noticeable bump to the Mac Pro during June’s World Wide Developer Conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that his company was working on a more significant bump for sometime in early 2013. As noted by AppleInsider,…

Wired Journalist Mat Honan (via Wired) UPDATE: For those interested, we’ve done some investigation into what exactly happens during a remote wipe of a Mac via iCloud. You can read our findings here. By now, the news of Wired journalist Mat Honan’s “Epic Hacking” has hit the mainstream news. Late last week, in a matter of minutes,…

This deserves some explanation, stating with the fact that what these new options mean is that one can essentially order the same configurations on both models. Previously, the 2.3GHz model came with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage, period, for US$2,199. For $2,799, one could get 2.6GHz, 8GB of RAM, and 512GB of…

This line of reasoning means that competitors who underestimate the ability of the iPad to supersede the PC are delusional. And it also means that if they spend their time designing PCs, namely Ultrabooks, to compete against the MacBooks, then they’re doubly delusional.I want bring your attention to the best article I’ve seen in a…

This app runs in the background on your app and makes typewriter noises while you type. It picks up keyboard input from any app your working in, meaning that you can be sure and annoy the heck out of everyone around you no matter what you are doing! Seriously, though, we think this is a…

EPEAT measures and ranks the recyclability of computers, and the group’s certifications are requirements for come company and government agency purchase programs.Apple’s withdrawal of all of its computers from the EPEAT program over a week ago led to speculation that the MacBook Pro with Retina Display didn’t earn a gold ranking thanks to its glued…