Mac

Mockup: New, thinner MacBook Pro on the left. Current model on the right. 

Apple is putting the finishing touches on an entirely new 15-inch MacBook Pro that is the outcome of years of research and development in ultra-thin mobile computing and super-high-resolution displays. According to trusted sources in Apple’s supply chain, who have handled prototype components and casings for the new Apple notebook, the computer is currently undergoing test production rounds. The new 15-inch MacBook Pro is coming this summer, and it features an ultra-thin design, a “jaw-dropping” Retina Display, and super-fast USB 3.

Read on for all of the details! 
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For those of us still with pre-Thunderbolt Mac Pros or Xserves (or Hackintoshes), there are not a lot of inexpensive choices for getting super fast data access onto our machines. Sure, you can buy a SATA 3 hard drive like my favorite Samsung 830 series, but the built in SATA 2 on these old machines is a bottleneck that will “only” yield 250 MB/second read speeds.

Along comes OWC last month with its first-ever Mercury Accelsior Mac-bootable PCI SSD card that is actually a PCI-to-striped RAID SATA array. The two SATA3 cards you see above actually look like (but aren’t – don’t try it) the same super high-speed Sandforce 3 drives that OWC sells as MacBook Air updates.

By the way, the cards are a snap to install and configure. If you have ever added a PCI video card, this is the same thing. Even better, there are no drivers to install, and the drive automatically shows up as a mounted disk that can (and should!) be booted from.

How did they compare to the single MacBook Air SSDs?

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After months of talking about its features, Intel officially launches its new Ivy Bridge processor today. As we previously reported, this processor is undoubtedly headed to the next line of Macs, and it will help provide some significant feature updates. The processor is a 22-nanometer 3D transistor chip that will be more efficient than the bigger Sandy Bridge processors it replaces. It is initially available in 13 quad-core models in both the i5 and i7 versions. According to Intel, lower-end i3 and i5 models will launch later this spring.

One big aspect to note is that the Ivy Bridge also features on-chip USB 3.0 – a technology Apple is long-rumored to adopt. While may Apple not choose to take that route, the likelihood of it using the now built-in USB 3.0 tech has grown exponentially.

Intel’s Vice President and General Manager of the PC Client Group Kirk Skaugen told the crowd at the Intel Developer Forum earlier this month that the Ivy Bridge Processor is built for Retina display computers, “if OEMs choose to use it.” This is especially interesting, because Apple is rumored to include a Retina-like display thanks to a slue of hints in the developer preview of Mountain Lion. Retina would be a game changer on the displays of Apple’s Pro/Air. Intel’s new 4000 chipset supports up to 4K resolutions natively, and it supports improved audio and security functions that Apple may or may not choose to take advantage of.

With the official launch of the Ivy Bridge processor, the launch of new Macs does not seem to be that far off. The new processor will most likely be found throughout the Mac line, including the MacBook Air, iMac, Mini, and MacBook Pro.

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As of yesterday, security company Symantec released a statement claiming there were still 140,000 Macs infected from the recent Flashback malware outbreak that originally infected an estimated 600,000 Mac users. That was despite Apple issuing a Java security update to remove the malware. Today, security researchers from Kaspersky said during a press conference (via Ars Technica) that it estimated infections dropped to 30,000, while still warning more “mass-malware” on OS X is on the way:

“Market share brings attacker motivation… Expect more drive-by downloads, more Mac OS X mass-malware. Expect cross-platform exploit kits with Mac-specific exploits.”

Kaspersky also clarified that much of the Flashback infections were spread through trusted WordPress websites that have been hijacked rather than through malicious downloaded files as many assume. Ars explained:

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From 9to5Toys.com:

The Spring 2012 Mac SuperBundle is one of the better Mac Software bundles we’ve seen.  If you want to burn DVDs or even Blu-rays on your Mac, you are getting Toast Titanium 11 for half its $99 list price and get 9 other solid apps to boot.

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The Spring 2012 Mac SuperBundle includes:
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At the Intel Developer Forum that took place yesterday, Intel’s Vice President and General Manager of the PC Client Group Kirk Skaugen revealed (14:30 mark) that Intel’s upcoming Ivy Bridge Processor is built for Retina display computers, “if OEMs choose to use it.”

“Retina display” is a marketing term coined by Apple to describe a screen where one cannot discern pixels at an average usage distance with 20/20 vision. It is curious that Intel’s VP used an Apple term to describe high-density computer displays for the broader market.

Apple is set to use Intel’s Ivy Bridge processor in its next line Macs, making it an opportune time to introduce its Retina display technology into the Mac line. The Ivy Bridge processor, without help from discrete graphics processors, can power 2560-by-1600 displays (as Skaugen said), which is four times the current resolution found in the 13-inch MacBook Pro. That would look pretty good on 13-inch displays of Apple’s Pro/Air.

Apple’s bigger, high-end notebooks have typically had help from discrete graphics processors. To make bigger displays “Retina,” Apple would likely need to add more GPU processing power.

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Over the past few weeks, security experts have warned Mac users of a new virus making its rounds called the “Flashback” trojan. Flashback is allegedly on over 600,000 Macs, which is roughly 1-percent of the 45 million out there. Flashback exploits a pair of vulnerabilities in older versions of Java. Apple may have patched it, but it is still out there and running on many machines.

How do you know if you are infected? F-Secure has a few Terminal commands to check your machine. For the many who are not adept at keeping their Java updates fresh, terminal commands are going to be even more foreign. Luckily, ArsTechnica points us to a free Flashback checker available on github. The app runs the same checks as you would in Terminal, but automates it for you.

We ran the test ourselves and were clean, but one of our readers found that he had the virus last week. It is definitely worth checking out. If your Mac does have Flashback, F-secure offers a great guide on how to remove it.

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[slideshow]

At the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in January, LaCie announced a new product for Thunderbolt users. The eSATA Hub Thunderbolt™ Series is a $199 Thunderbolt pass-through that allows you to connect 2 eSATA drives to your Mac via the speedy Thunderbolt port.  By Daisy chaining six of the devices, you could add 12 eSATA drives to your Mac setup.

Today, those devices are now available.

eSATA speeds are up to 3Gb/s or equivalent to SATA II, so you will not be making full use of the Thunderbolt bus speed. However, you will still be much faster than either USB2 (480Mbps) or Firewire 800 (800Mbps). Apple’s Thunderbolt cables are sold separately at $50 a pop.

eSATA docking stations start at around $30, so if you have some eSATA or SATA drives laying around and want to get them on Thunderbolt, this might be a good—though slightly expensive–solution.

Seagate makes a $99 Thunderbolt to SATA drive adapter, but it is having trouble keeping stock (and it lacks a Thunderbolt pass-through) and reviewers note erratic results.

The full specs and press release follows:

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ArsTechnica quotes a Russian antivirus company called “Dr. Web” that claims hundreds of thousands of Macs are infected with the Flashback Trojan detailed earlier this week. The attack takes advantage of an old Java vulnerability that Apple just patched this week.

Variations of the Flashback trojan have reportedly infected more than half a million Macs around the globe, according to Russian antivirus company Dr. Web. The company made an announcement on Wednesday—first in Russian and later in English—about the growing Mac botnet, first claiming 550,000 infected Macs. Later in the day, however, Dr. Web malware analyst Sorokin Ivan posted to Twitter that the count had gone up to 600,000, with 274 bots even checking in from Cupertino, CA, where Apple’s headquarters are located.

Dr. Web said over half of the infected computers were in the United States (including 274 in Cupertino), and 20 percent were in Canada. The malware self-installs after you visit a compromised or malicious webpage. Obviously, it would be a good idea to update any Macs in your control.

If you think one of your machines may be infected, F-Secure has instructions on how to use the Terminal to find out. If these numbers are true, chances are some 9to5Mac readers are infected. Update: A reader comments that he was infected (599,999 more to go):

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AirDisplay, a $10 application that lets your iPad function as a second (or third, fourth, etc.) display for your Mac/PC, was just updated to allow it to push HiDPI pixels to the new iPad. We explained it all here.

Developer Avatron announced its “Air Display” app, which allows iPhones, iPads and Macs to act as a second or third monitor, would be implementing support for the 2048-by-1536 resolution of the new iPad’s 264-DPI Retina display. That means you will soon be able to use your third-generation iPad as a 2048-by-1536 computer monitor.

To turn on HiDPI, you just go to the Displays Preferences and select 1024×768 (HiDPI)…HiDPI has been shipping with Mac OS X for some time. But it isn’t enabled in the System Preferences, because until now there hasn’t been a mass-produced computer display with high enough resolution to do it justice. That’s where Air Display and the new iPad come in.

As noted by MacStories (image above), the update is live. The release notes follow:

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According to a study from CNBC’s All-America Economic Survey, 50 percent of all households in the United States are home to at least one Apple product. To put that in perspective, over 55 million homes have at least one iPod, iPhone, iPad, or Mac, with an average of 1.6 Apple products per household. Of those 50 percent, close to one-quarter plan to buy another Apple device in the coming year, while 1-in-10 households that do not currently own an Apple product will make the leap during 2012…

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From 9to5Toys.com:

Ending Saturday, StackSocial offers the $30 The TuneUp Bundle which offers to “Cleanup your iTunes Music Collection. Automagically.” The TuneUp Bundle (Lifetime License) includes:

• Clean — Accurately fixes mislabeled or missing song information (like “Track 01” or “Unknown Artist”) using cutting-edge waveform recognition

• Cover Art — Scans your entire music collection in seconds and automagically™ fills in missing album artwork

• DeDuper— Intelligently finds and removes duplicate music files from your music library using waveform recognition

• Tuniverse — Delivers music videos, artist bios, concert alerts, social network integration and more

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjgeG_fbxus&feature=youtu.be&hd=1]

Ending today, MacUpdate has one of the best bundles we have ever seen on a wide-ranging set of Mac software. You are breaking even with the VMware Fusion 4 headliner, but there are great apps up and down the lineup including Drive Genius disk utility, PDFPen 5 PDF editor, Snapheal photo editing, Forklift FTP/Finder Utility, Typinator 5. These are all great apps….
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Apple is unlikely to ever do such a thing (among other things, it would kill its pricing matrix), but sometimes I wish my iPhone or iPad had a built-in MicroSD card slot for easy access to lots of cheap storage. The 16GB cards routinely sell for $10 and new cards go as high as 64GB. However, it is not just about the storage being inexpensive and extremely portable. The SD cards easily swap with Macs, PCs, Cameras, photo frames, video players, Blu-ray players, and other phones.

You can currently connect MicroSD cards with the unwieldy iPad Apple Digital AV Adapter (this) and a Micro to SD Card adapter, but what say you? Should Apple build a MicroSD card slot into upcoming iOS devices?

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Developer Avatron announced its “Air Display” app, which allows iPhones, iPads and Macs to act as a second or third monitor, would be implementing support for the 2048-by-1536 resolution of the new iPad’s 264-DPI Retina display. That means you will soon be able to use your third-generation iPad as a 2048-by-1536 computer monitor.

The update will also benefit the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S with “dramatically better frame rates.” In addition, the upcoming update will allow you to enable HiDPI mode in Lion or Mountain Lion, a “feature in Mac OS X that renders with double-resolution on a double-resolution screen.” The results of turning on HiDPI mode in OS X is viewable in the image to the right. Avatron explained on its blog:

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From 9to5Toys.com:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjgeG_fbxus&feature=youtu.be&hd=1]

MacUpdate has one of the best bundles we have ever seen on a wide-ranging set of Mac software. You are breaking even with the VMware Fusion 4 headliner, but there are great apps up and down the lineup including Drive Genius disk utility, PDFPen 5 PDF editor, Snapheal photo editing, Forklift FTP/Finder Utility, Typinator 5. These are all great apps.

* 1. VMware Fusion 4 ($49.99)
* 2. Drive Genius 3 ($99.00)
* 3. PDFpen 5 ($59.95)
4. ForkLift 2.5 ($29.95)
* 5. Typinator 5 ($33.00)
* 6. DesktopShelves 2 ($14.99)
* 7. Snapheal ($14.99)
8. Boom [2-Mac Home Pack] ($10.99)
* 9. Phone to Mac ($24.95)
* 10. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition ($29.99)
* 11. Worms Special Edition ($9.99)

* = has never been in a bundle before

The total value is $377.79 — 78% off = $49.99, as always.

Full release follows:

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