Macintosh

341 'Macintosh' stories December 2010 - January 2014

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U.S. Apple Online Store joins international stores in shipping Mac Pros in March

Mark Gurman Jan 22 2014 - 10:29 am PT

Repeat of the late-2012 iMac launch, indeed. Joining Apple’s international online stores, Apple’s United States, Canada, and Mexico online stores are now quoting a March shipment timeframe for the “late 2013” Mac Pro. The Mac Pro launched in December to a February shipment quote, and as the month of January nears its end, the new March shipment timeframe indicates little to no improvement in a supply to demand balance for the $3000+ workstation.

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Mac mini could finally see refresh next month according to retailer

Zac Hall Jan 22 2014 - 8:24 am PT

Mac mini

Last year came and went without as much as a mention from Apple about the fate of its Mac mini line of desktop computers. The Mac mini lineup currently on sale through Apple, Amazon, and other retailers last saw its hardware updated in late 2012 at the original iPad mini event.

So it’s not too unreasonable to believe that a placeholder entry found online at computerstore.be, a Belgium retailer, found in MacRumors forums could be a genuine preview of what to expect in the updated hardware. The specs reference everything we would expect for a hardware updated Mac mini: Intel Iris graphics, 802.11ac wireless networking, Gigabit LAN, and more.
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‘Name Your Own Price’ Mac Bundle: Snagit Screencapture, Flux 4, Boom, Mac X Video Converter, Elite Keylogger Pro, more

9to5 Staff Jan 21 2014 - 9:53 pm PT

From 9to5toys.com:

(also don’t forget the Parallels Bundle!)

Stack Social is running another ‘Name your own price bundle’ with some solid offerings starting at $1 and an email address (Update: Now over $3 and rising!). The price goes up as people buy it so it is best to get in early.

The bundle includes:

Snagit For Mac ($50) – The #1 Rated Screen Capture tool for Mac
Flux 4 ($140) – Powerful Mac Web Design Made Easy
Jump Desktop ($30) – Connect and Share With Any Computer in the World
Boom For Mac ($7) – System-Wide Volume Booster
MacX Video Converter Pro ($50) – Convert Any Video Format (including YouTube) for
Playback Across All Apple Devices
Tunes Cleaner ($30) – Easily Delete Duplicate Songs to Revitalize Your iTunes
Mariner Write ($50) – A Streamlined, Simple Editor for your Mac
CameraBag 2 ($20) – Ultimate Desktop Photo Editing
Chronicle 5 ($15) – Never Worry About Your Bills Again
Folx Pro ($20) – An Easier and Faster Way to Download Files & Torrents
Elite Keylogger Pro ($49) – The Undetectable Keystroke Logger for Mac

If you are feeling generous, 10% of all sales go to a charity of you choice – so get in early, and get on the leaderboard (which qualifies you to enter a drawing for a MacBook Air).
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Mac Pro shipping estimates slip into March as supply fails to catch up with demand

Ben Lovejoy Jan 20 2014 - 7:26 am PT

mac_pro_uk_ship_march

Shipping estimates for the Mac Pro have slipped from February to March in many countries, suggesting that Apple has made no progress in reducing lead times from around six weeks. U.S. shipping estimates so far remain in February.

Launched last month to rave reviews, the all-new design has been praised for its upgradability, in sharp contrast to the MacBook range. However, it appears that Apple’s desire to keep its promise of a late 2013 launch date, made at WWDC, led to a repetition of the previous year’s iMac shortages …
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Stylish screensaver recreates the iOS 7 lock screen experience on your Mac

Benjamin Mayo Jan 14 2014 - 1:18 pm PT

Want to bring iOS and OS X even closer together than they already are?
Christian Heudens has recreated the iOS 7 lock screen to your Mac as a free downloadable screensaver. The thin fonts look great on a Retina Display. It’s a neat way to give your Mac a bit of individuality and make your experience across your Apple devices even more consistent.

The developer has done a good job of replicating the feel of iOS 7, using the same starry wallpaper by default and font style. The screensaver adds a zoom effect to the background too, which is a sophisticated yet subtle addition.

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Apple now shipping the Mac Pro to Europe once again, after EU ban of old model

Benjamin Mayo Jan 12 2014 - 6:10 am PT

macgpic-1389469699-373877936439979-co-op

<a href="http://www.macg.co/mac/2014/01/premieres-expeditions-des-mac-pro-pour-leurope-79176">via MacGeneration</a>

Since March, the old Mac Pro has not been available to buy in Europe as changes in regulations meant that the old Mac Pro no longer complied with EU law. In particular, the large exposed fans of the Mac Pro were the main reason behind the ban — the amendment required fan guards and minor changes to electrical ports.

With the design of the new Mac Pro, Apple once again complies with regulatory requirements. Via MacGeneration, customers in Europe are now receiving shipment notifications with delivery as early as January 14. According to Apple’s online store, customers ordering today should receive their Mac Pro in February.

Apple releases software update for new Mac Pro to fix reliability and graphics issues

Mark Gurman Dec 19 2013 - 11:35 am PT

Only hours after the new Mac Pro became available for order (and months before you’ll be able to get your hands on one), Apple has released an EFI software update for the machine. The update is said to resolve multiple hardware-related issues:

This update is recommended for all Mac Pro (Late 2013) models. This update improves system reliability during reboot, resolves an issue with memory self-test, and improves graphics power management when using Boot Camp.

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Hours after release, Mac Pro shipment estimates slip to February 2014

Benjamin Mayo Dec 19 2013 - 7:46 am PT

On Apple’s website, only a few hours since it went on sale, delivery estimates for the Mac Pro have slipped to February next year.

This morning, the store opened with delivery estimates of December 30th with some variants quoting a January timeframe. Now, it appears the initial allocation has sold out as Apple’s website now reports February shipment for all models.

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Final Cut Pro updated to version 10.1, 4K monitoring, Mac Pro optimisations and more

Benjamin Mayo Dec 19 2013 - 12:29 am PT

Alongside the release of the new Mac Pro, Apple has updated Final Cut Pro in the Mac App Store to take advantage of the machine’s immense raw processing power. Specifically, Apple says that playback and rendering has been optimised for the Mac Pro’s dual GPUs.

Final Cut 10.1 also adds 4K support, including monitoring across Thunderbolt 2 and HDMI displays as well as 4K titles, transition and generators. The update also adds a whole slew of other minor features and changes to the modern (if controversial) video editing suite.

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Apple releasing ‘assembled-in-USA’ 2013 Mac Pro tomorrow

Zac Hall Dec 18 2013 - 5:39 am PT

_93A3256.CR2

After three years without a substantial update and several months of teasing and promoting, Apple has finally announced that tomorrow it will begin selling the newly designed and more powerful Mac Pro it first showed off at WWDC back in June. (Full press release below.)

We have begun manufacturing the Mac Pro in Austin. It’s the most powerful Mac ever. Orders start tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/Jrd1Gic3Ya

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) December 18, 2013

The road was certainly not rapid between update cycles with two years of nary a word on whether or not the Mac Pro line had any life left in it and a full year of teasing and promoting the 2013 model being released tomorrow. Let’s take a look at the Mac Pro saga that led to today’s debut…
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Tears everywhere: Apple features its new holiday commercial on its homepage

Ben Lovejoy Dec 18 2013 - 5:21 am PT

Apple clearly loves its new holiday ad: it has now featured it on the Apple.com homepage, with links to both the ad and the ‘full home movie.’

The ad has been generally well-received, with most describing it as endearing – replacing Apple’s usual product-focused approach with story-telling based on how the phone might be used. Apple used a similar approach with a recent iPad Air commercial, shown below.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8Le9wvoY00]

Two of Apple’s most active Twitter users, CEO Tim Cook and SVP Marketing Phil Schiller have also tweeted out the YouTube link.

Happy Holidays to all of our amazing customers! http://t.co/eonnck8cDF

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) December 18, 2013

https://twitter.com/pschiller/status/412798014835535872

It is clearly something Apple is proud of and maaaybe its ad of the year?

Adobe (ADBE) stock rockets after announcing on-target earnings and strong subscription growth

Ben Lovejoy Dec 13 2013 - 7:30 am PT

Adobe stock climbed 10 percent to just under $60 in opening trading after announcing Q4 earnings in line with expectations, and strong growth in subscriptions as the company transitions away from one-time purchase licences.

While year-on-year numbers were poor, revenue down almost 10 percent and earnings almost halved, Adobe has been at pains to point out this was expected as it shifted to subscription-based sales.

As Adobe customers migrate from a legacy Creative Suite perpetual licensing model to new Creative Cloud subscriptions, revenue is recognized over time as opposed to at the time of purchase.

See below for a cool infographic of Adobe by the numbers …
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Apple spruces up online support portal with new, simpler design

Benjamin Mayo Dec 12 2013 - 10:20 am PT

Apple has recently updated its online support portal on Apple.com with a more modern look and feel. The new design puts easier access to support for each of Apple’s products, with large images and clean lines. The older design (screenshotted below) was much more boxy and cluttered.

In the old layout, customers would have to click through to ‘All Products’ to get help about more obscure products. With the new design, the infinitely scrolling carousel puts everything on the portal homepage. It is also much clearer where to find the Apple communities and access phone support as other aspects of support have been removed completely from the page.

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Apple seeds OS X 10.9.1 to support staff as public release approaches

Mark Gurman Dec 4 2013 - 9:45 am PT

In early November, we reported that Apple had begun seeding versions of OS X Mavericks 10.9.1 and 10.9.2 to employees within the its Software Engineering division. Since then, Apple provided two OS X 10.9.1 seeds to registered developers. These builds focus on improvements to Mail, Voice Over, and general system stability. The update will serve as the first point-update to the recently released OS X Mavericks.

Now, we’ve learned that Apple has provided build 13B40 of 10.9.1 to AppleCare employees. This internal release indicates that the public release of OS X 10.9.1 is near as Apple’s support staff will become familiar with the software in order to seemingly assist customers in the near-future. That particular build is the same version provided to developers last night. OS X 10.9.2 will likely follow with additional fixes in the following weeks.

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‘Jobs’ the movie is now available to rent or buy in iTunes, other venues

Sarah Guarino Nov 26 2013 - 4:32 pm PT

Jobs came into theaters on August 16th of this year. The film received mixed reviews, where some thought the film was intriguing but slightly over exaggerated, whereas others criticized the film as being inaccurate. It was better than iSteve.

For those that missed Jobs in the theaters it is available today in iTunes and on DVD. Through iTunes, Jobs is available to purchase for $19.99 in high definition or for $14.99 in standard definition, or it is available to rent for $4.99 in high definition or $3.99 in standard definition. For those who want it on DVD, Jobs is available for $22.99 and comes in Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD with UltraViolet. This version also contains deleted scenes, feature commentary with Director Joshua Michael Stern and the legacy of Steve Jobs.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKZfFpCKJLM&w=640&h=360]

Apple doubles developer promo code limit to 100 per app version

Benjamin Mayo Nov 12 2013 - 9:33 am PT

Although Apple is yet to provide official confirmation, developers are finding that they are now being allocated 100 promo codes per version of their apps. Until today, the limit was 50.

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Mac Developers also have access to upcoming OS X Mavericks Mail update

Mark Gurman Nov 6 2013 - 9:29 pm PT

Last week, we reported that Apple had provided its employees with an update to the Mavericks Mail app that solves several issues relating to Gmail account compatibility. While this has seemed to stay under the radar, Apple has also provided the update to registered Mac Developers. Apple says that the update became available on October 31st, but we have not heard any sightings of this update until now. The update should be available for all users in the coming weeks. Thanks, Hunter!

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Unlock your Mac by knocking on your iPhone with the new ‘Knock’ app

Benjamin Mayo Nov 5 2013 - 9:01 am PT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyX8FfSKg04

Knock uses a combination of an iPhone app (currently offered at an introductory price of $3.99) and a Mac app (available for free at Knock’s website) to enable unlocking of your Mac, wirelessly, by just knocking the back of your iPhone.

It’s a surreal experience. After a couple of minutes of initial setup, you lock your Mac and rap the back of your paired iPhone twice. Your Mac unlocks. The app doesn’t even have to be forefront on your phone, although it does have to be ‘open’ in the multitasking tray. In fact, your phone doesn’t even have to be unlocked. When it senses the Mac is near, a notification appears on the lock screen instructing you to knock. There are some nice UI touches too. For instance, echoes of the ‘sound wave’ appear on OS X’s lock screen in real time as you knock. It’s a subtle visual indicator that the system is actually working.

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Latest MacBook Pro 15 gets blazing SSD performance thanks to 4-channel PCIe (updated)

Ben Lovejoy Nov 4 2013 - 5:43 am PT

Update: It appears this may be a function of the 1TB drives fitted to both 13- and 15-inch models. The reason for this isn’t yet clear: it may be the drives used offer greater bandwidth.

Benchmark tests by French site Mac4Ever show that the latest MacBook Pro 15 is delivering SSD read and write speeds in excess of 1GB per second. The site repeatedly achieved these speeds when Apple claims only “up to 775MB per second.”

The MBP 15 is able to achieve these speeds because it has a 4-channel PCIe connection to the SSD, in contrast to the 2-channel link on the MBP 13 and MacBook Air models, though from some reader reports this may be the case only on models fitted with 1TB drives …

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Apple opens up new East Coast U.S. AppleCare center to speed up repairs

Mark Gurman Oct 29 2013 - 11:50 am PT

Screen Shot 2013-10-29 at 12.14.31 PM

Apple’s new repair center (via Google Earth)

Apple has opened up a secondary dedicated AppleCare repairs warehouse in the United States in recent days, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the new center. The new warehouse is located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and public records indicate that the facility comes in at just under 200,000 square-feet with an additional 2500 square-feet of space available for offices.

Apple will use this facility to conduct repairs and replacements and to manage, package, and ship repaired Apple devices to both customer’s homes and Apple Store Genius Bars across the country. When an Apple customer of a Mac computer, for example, needs aspects of their device replaced and fixed, their product is typically shipped to a similar warehouse in Elk Grove, California…

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Live blog: Apple’s Q4 2013 earnings call

Mark Gurman Oct 28 2013 - 1:42 pm PT

Image of CFO Oppenheimer and CEO Cook

<a href="http://www3.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Peter+Oppenheimer+Tim+Cook+Discusses+Tax+Code+EFIrcwcsO7Cx.jpg">Image</a> of CFO Oppenheimer and CEO Cook

Apple has announced its earnings for Q4 2013, including $37.5 billion in revenue and sales of 33.8 million iPhones, 14.1 million iPads, and 4.6 million Macs. As usual, Apple will be holding a conference call to discuss the results, provide some additional information, and take questions from analysts. Below, we’ll be holding a live blog of the proceedings:

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Apple promoting new Mac Pro with posters sent to select journalists

Mark Gurman Oct 28 2013 - 12:51 pm PT

Following last week’s Apple event that provided some final technical, shipping, and pricing details for the next-generation Mac Pro, Apple has begun sending out posters to a limited set of journalists to promote the upcoming computer. The posters give a look into the distinct design of the workstation and have an interesting description of the computer’s creation imprinted on them. That image can be seen below. More images on Jeff Carlson’s Flickr (via TechCrunch). The new Mac Pro ships in December.

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Apple promoting automated continuous integration to iOS developers, providing free OS X Server copies

Mark Gurman Oct 24 2013 - 4:59 pm PT

Via email, Apple is now promoting Xcode 5.0.1’s new automated continuous integration feature to developers.

As an iOS developer, you can now take advantage of continuous integration in Xcode by creating bots with OS X Server for Mavericks that automate the process of building, analyzing, testing, and archiving your apps. As the bots do their work on the remote Mac, Xcode on your development machine displays the build and test reports. Bots can generate a regular release for your QA team, be configured to execute on every check-in, and even test your apps on connected iOS devices.

Continuous integration via automated bots in the new Xcode will multiple developers working on different aspects of a software product to integrate their code with the other projects in development. This eases up the development procedure of pulling parts of an app together to make the final copy…

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Thinner ZAGG backlit keyboard case for upcoming iPad 5 appears

Mark Gurman Oct 16 2013 - 3:24 pm PT

Ahead of Apple’s October 22nd iPad-focused event, major accessory maker ZAGG seems to be getting its offerings in order for the new Apple tablets. The company posted a listing for an iPad 5 keyboard case on its website this week, and the images for the case clearly show an iPad with a thinner-bezel. The case features backlit keys, white and black color options, and comes in at 7.6mm. While this case does not provide any breakthrough details about Apple’s new iPad, it does demonstrate that case makers expect that the iPad 5 will look just like the several leaks over the course of last many months. The above case launched for the current iPad mini earlier this year.

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