Apple today released Mac OS X 10.6.2, the second maintenance update for Snow Leopard, via Software Update and the company’s software downloads page. The update brings several bug fixes, reportedly including one for a serious issue involving Guest accounts that has caused some users to lose all data from their primary user accounts. (more…)
On 10.21.09, In Apple Hardware, New Hardware, by dracman
The new MacBook includes many of the great features found on the innovative MacBook Pro, such as an LED-backlit display, glass Multi-Touch trackpad and built-in long-life battery,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With the only lineup of notebooks all featuring unibody enclosures, LED-backlit displays and long-life battery technology, there’s never been a better time to switch to a Mac.”
The new design includes a non-skid bottom surface, and weighs 4.7 pounds. It contains a 2.26 GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 2 GB of RAM, 250GB HD and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics card. The new built-in battery can be replaced by Apple for $129.
The new MacBook is available immediately for the price of $999.
Apple today also announced that the Mac mini, the world’s most energy efficient desktop, is now faster, offers more storage and comes standard with double the memory. Starting at $599, the entry level Mac mini features a faster 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 2GB of DDR3 1066 MHz memory, a 160GB hard drive, five USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 800, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics and a SuperDrive. The $799 Mac mini features a 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB of memory and a larger 320GB hard drive. Apple now offers a $999 Mac mini that is specially configured with Mac OS? X Snow Leopard? Server. Mac mini with Snow Leopard Server features two 500GB hard drives for a total of 1TB of server storage in the tiny 6.5-inch square by 2-inch tall Mac mini enclosure.
The new Mac mini with Snow Leopard Server features a 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 4GB of memory. It also has two 500GB hard drives built in, so you have plenty of room to host wikis and websites, back up the data you need, and store just about anything.
Apple today unveiled an all new iMac line featuring brilliant LED-backlit 21.5 and 27-inch widescreen displays in a new edge-to-edge glass design and seamless all aluminum enclosure. The new iMac line, starting at $1,199, is the fastest ever with Intel Core 2 Duo processors starting at 3.06 GHz, and Core i5 and i7 quad-core processors for up to twice the performance. Every new iMac ships with a wireless keyboard and the all new wireless Magic Mouse, the world’s first mouse with Multi-Touch technology pioneered by Apple on the iPhone, iPod touch and Mac notebook trackpad.
Pricing on the 27-inch model, which carries a 2560×1440 display, begins at $1,699. In addition to the same processor options found on the smaller model, users can also select from a 2.66 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 or 2.8 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, although machines carrying those higher-end processors will not ship until November.
All new iMac models feature an SD card slot and ship standard with a wireless keyboard and the new Multi-Touch Magic Mouse also unveiled today.
SnowChecker is a Mac OS X program that provides a neat interface to browse compatibility data found on snowleopard.wikidot.com.
It has several features, including:
- Scanning for applications on your hard drive to display only relevant compatibility data
- Robust search
- Sorting
Apple today released Performance Update 1.0, addressing hard drive pauses affecting a “small number of customers” on a number of different Mac models. The update is available in Snow Leopard (300 KB) and Leopard (322 KB) versions.
This update addresses intermittent hard drive-related stalls reported by a small number of customers. For detailed information on this update, please visit this website.
The support document outlines the procedure for applying the update and notes that it applies to the following machines:
- MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2009)
- MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009)
- MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2.53GHz, Mid 2009)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2009)
- MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009)
- MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2008)
- MacBook (13-inch, Mid 2009)
- MacBook (13-inch, Early 2009)
- MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008)
- MacBook Air (Mid 2009)
- MacBook Air (Late 2008)
- iMac (20-inch, Mid 2009)
- iMac (24-inch, Early 2009)
- iMac (20-inch, Early 2009)
- Mac mini (Early 2009)
[via]
On 10.03.09, In Apple Hardware, Nέα, by dracman
Apple has applied for a patent (in March 2006) which extends the concept of Multitouch to a computer mouse.
The user would be able to perform gestures such as pinching or a virtual scroll wheel on the surface of the mouse. In one embodiment, the touch-sensitive mouse would use an internal light source and a optically transmissive surface to track finger positions.
Gestures can also be used to invoke and manipulate virtual control interfaces, such as volume knobs, switches, sliders, handles, knobs, doors, and other widgets that may be created to facilitate human interaction with the computing system.
Combinations of taps or gestures could trigger different actions such as “tapping with the middle and ring fingers could open iTunes or be set in the preference panel to do any particular action.”
Apple has had a number of patent applications related to multitouch technology in the past, and features multitouch technology prominently on the Apple iPhone.
[via]
On 09.29.09, In Apple, New Hardware, by dracman
Last week, Intel demoed a new interconnect technology called “Light Peak” which promises to be a flexible high performance optical connector:
Intel just showed off a glimpse of the future: Light Peak, an optical interconnect for mobile devices that can run as fast as 10Gbps. That’s fast enough to do everything from storage to displays to networking, and it can maintain those speeds over 100-meter runs, which is pretty astounding. Intel says the idea is to drastically reduce the number of connectors on mobile devices, which should allow them to get even smaller
The technology could eventually replace the use of Firewire, USB and even display connectors in the future. Engadget has since revealed that ‘Light Peak’ was actually originally conceived of by Apple and brought to Intel.
Apple had reached out to Intel as early as 2007 with plans for an interoperable standard which could handle massive amounts of data and “replace the multitudinous connector types with a single connector (FireWire, USB, Display interface).”
The original conversations happened between Apple’s Steve Jobs and Intel’s Paul Otellini. In fact, the technology was said to have been demoed last week on a prototype Mac Pro motherboard.
The new connector is rumored to be introduced into the Mac lineup in the Fall of 2010, with a low-power variant due in 2011 for mobile devices. Such a move could result in a single connectivity standard in the future, reducing the types of ports on a device to only this single one. The fact that various types of data including High Definition displays can be driven through the connector has led to some speculation that Apple could incorporate such a connector into their rumored tablet.
[via]