Macintosh

As rumored last week, Apple has today released a new model of iMac. These machines are considerably cheaper than their predecessors, priced at $1099. Previously, the cheapest iMac SKU was priced at $1299 (which is now the mid-range model).

The cheaper iMac features a 1.4 GHz dual-core i5 CPU, which represents a significant worsening in performance over the previous base model of iMac, which featured a processor clocked at 2.7 GHz.  The CPU does Turbo Boost up to 2.7 GHz however, which does make up some of the difference.

Aside from the CPU, the hard drive has also been cut to 500 GB. The new model also features a lower-end integrated graphics chip. All other iMac models continue to use either Iris Pro integrated graphics or dedicated Nvidia cards. Otherwise, the internals of the new machine are unchanged.

Apple’s Press release below…

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Alongside the second beta of iOS 8, Apple has provided an update to the OS X Yosemite Developer Preview. Yosemite brings many new features to the Mac, including a new design, Continuity features, and enhanced applications. We’ll update this post with new discoveries in the new preview as they are found. You can let us know what you find at tips@9to5mac.com. 

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Apple has issued SMC update 2.0 for all mid-2013 MacBook Airs, citing a fix for battery problems while the computer’s screen is closed.

This update addresses an issue which may cause the battery to drain faster than expected when the lid is closed.

You can download the update here or in the Mac App Store.

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Apple has posted the video about OS X Yosemite’s new design from the WWDC keynote. The video gives a look at the system’s new inherent translucency, cleaner layout, redesigned icons, and new buttons. You can watch it below:

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Update: Our winners have been chosen at random and contacted. As thanks for everyone participating, Pad & Quill is generously offering 15% off any order for a limited time to our readers using the coupon code DAD14 at checkout. 6/12/14

With Father’s Day quickly approaching, our friends over at Pad & Quill are teaming up with us to give away some cool bags and cases for your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and more. Pad & Quill makes super well-crafted accessories that look and feel very rich and thought out. We’ve had the chance to cover and review several of their products in the past.

We’ll be picking one grand prize winner to receive Pad & Quill’s Field Bag, Aria for iPad Air case, Bell Fino for iPhone 5s case, and any choice of Pad & Quill MacBook case for free (over a $600 value). In addition to the grand prize winner, two additional winners will be selected each to receive their own choice of any Pad & Quill iPhone or iPad case. Find out how to enter after the break…
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There are times when an iPad can act as a handy sidekick to your Mac, but with a typical iPad stand you end up looking a little like a nodding dog as you look up at your monitor and down at your iPad. The TwelveSouth HoverBar 3 is designed to solve that, positioning your iPad display right next to your iMac or Apple Thunderbolt/Cinema Display.

The HoverBar can also be used on its own to position an iPad more comfortably, especially when using it to watch movies … 
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Apple wants users to be able to smoothly move between their Macs and iOS devices. AirDrop now interoperates between Mac and iOS devices. However, it goes further. Handoff allows you to send a document from your Mac to your iOS device, just by being in close proximity to each other.

The Mac also notices when an iOS device is nearby for Personal Hotspot. The phone appears in the WiFi menu, shown above, and with one-click the phone connects to the Mac and the devices start tethering.

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Just a couple of weeks after releasing OS X Mavericks 10.9.3 to users, Apple has seeded the first beta of the upcoming OS X 10.9.4 to developers. We first reported that Apple was nearing a release of OS X 10.9.4 in beta to developers. It’s unclear what changes are in store with the new system, but hopefully it fixes the many headaches that Mac Pro users have been facing since 10.9.3’s release earlier this month. No word on when 10.9.4 will go public, but it is interesting that this Mavericks release will be in beta in tandem with OS X 10.10‘s beta release next week at WWDC. Thanks, D!

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Slipping shipping times for iMacs on Apple’s site may support a timeline released last month by KGI Research analyst Ming-Chi Kuo indicating that new, lower-cost iMacs could be launched this quarter.

Apple usually quotes 24 hours for delivery of standard-configuration iMacs, but is currently showing 3-5 business days across the range. Increased shipping times are sometimes an indication of lower or sporadic stocks, which tend to precede the launch of new models. With WWDC just one week away, that would be a logical time to announce them … 
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Update: The glitch may be related with the latest versions of Find My Mac and iTunes, according to testing by The Mac Observer.

Since upgrading to OS X 10.9.3, some users are reporting that their /Users folder is now hidden. This means the folder is no longer visible when looking at the root of the hard drive in the Finder, which is inconvenient for Macs with multiple users installed.

With OS X Lion, Apple took the liberty to hide the Library folder from OS X users. However, it does not seem like hiding the /Users directory is an Apple design decision. Many users are still seeing this folder after updating and the behaviour is consistent. The most likely conclusion is that is simply a bug that slipped through to final release, despite Apple’s new beta testing program. If you are affected by this bug, you can find out how to make your /Users folder visible again after the break …

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As part of Apple’s earnings releases, Apple has announced an extension to its buyback plans. The company will now buyback an additional $30 billion of Apple stock, totalling $90 billion, significantly accelerating its original plans.

Apple® today announced that its Board of Directors has authorized another significant increase to the Company’s program to return capital to shareholders. The Company expects to utilize a total of over $130 billion of cash under the expanded program by the end of calendar 2015.

The board has also announced a seven-for-one stock split beginning June 2nd 2014. Apple last split its stock in 2005, nine years ago. Apple will also increase the dividend by about 8 percent to $3.29 per common share. This will begin on May 15th. Apple plans to increase its dividend every year. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Cook said that the buyback will “show you how much confidence we have in the future of the company”.

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Fortune has its usual roundup of what the analysts are expecting Apple to report in iPhone sales next week, and the forecasts make worrying reading. The overall average is for quarterly sales of 38.2 million, which would represent year-on-year growth of just two percent.

Adding to the concern, ten of the 32 analysts included in Fortune‘s poll predict a fall in sales when compared to the same quarter last year.

With the new iPhones having generated record sales in their opening weekend, and Apple having reported all-time quarterly high iPhone sales in Q1, the question is why the pessimism regarding Q2 … ? 
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With Apple in the midst of its second major court battle with Samsung over alleged patent violations, and all but one of the five claims relating to Android rather than to anything Samsung-specific, it’s gotten me wondering whether further cases of this kind are truly beneficial to Apple.

I understand it emotionally, of course. It’s galling to work hard on a hugely popular hardware design or user-interface only to see someone else copy parts of it, and the desire to hit back at that is a natural one. But I’m not sure that it makes too much sense rationally … 
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