GigaOM » Apple

Mac 101: Breathe new life into your Mac with a memory upgrade

Darrell Etherington — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:19:22 +0000

Every time new Macs come along, I’d wager most current Mac users spend at least some time internally debating if it’s the right time to get a new computer. But that new computer experience might be available for a lot less money, if your Mac is eligible for a simple, DIY memory upgrade.

Step one: Find out if your Mac can handle it

Not all Macs are eligible for memory upgrades, or at least not ones you can perform easily at home. Some might already be equipped with their maximum supported memory, and some might have more difficult to replace memory kits, like the MacBook Air does, for instance. But in general, you can find out if your Mac could take on more memory by checking your system stats.

In Lion, this is easy. Go to the Apple menu, click “About this Mac,” and then click “More Info…” Then, click the “Memory” tab along the top and it’ll show you how much memory you currently have installed, and the capacity of each individual module. In my example, I have 4 x 4 GB modules installed on my iMac, which is the most this model officially supports. Many base configuration models of iMacs currently available ship with two slots free, as mine did before I upgraded.

To find out the maximum memory your model supports, you can do two things. First, click the link in that Memory information page that says “Memory Upgrade Instructions” to be taken to the relevant Apple support site for your computer. So long as you know when your computer was released, you can find all the information you need, including Apple’s maximum memory capacity for your specific model here. If you need to find when your Mac was released, check our guide for finding that out.

You can also take a second option, which is to visit OWC, find your Mac of choice under the “Memory” section and see what options the site provides. OWC actually offers kits that provide memory in capacities that often exceed Apple’s official supported specs, but will still work fine with your hardware.

Step two: Figure how much memory you need to upgrade

OWC is a great resource for figuring out how much RAM you need to purchase to upgrade. Navigate to the Memory section on the OWC homepage, then find your model of computer. Now, the site will provide you with a number of options for memory upgrades and replacements. OWC had basically done the thinking for you, so you can just click on a combo package greater than your current memory configuration and not worry about whether or not the modules will work with each other or your machine.

The other benefit of going through OWC is that they have very fair prices, and they even offer rebate pricing on the memory that shipped with your Apple computer. You won’t get much, but it’s more than you’d make by throwing your old RAM in the garbage.

Step three: Install the RAM

Following Apple’s installation guides is the best way to go about replacing your RAM. Here are links to the instructions for upgrading iMac memory, Mac mini memory, MacBook Pro memory, and MacBook memory. It’s not difficult and requires a minimum of tools, but you will need a small screwdriver, like one you’d use for eyeglasses repair, in order to replace memory on iMacs and MacBooks.

Step four: Enjoy considerable performance boosts

When I upgraded my 2011 iMac from its basic 4 GB of memory to 16 GB, it was definitely like getting a new machine. Things never grind to a halt anymore; I can run Photoshop alongside other demanding applications without major slow-downs; and my computer seldom requires an actual restart or power-down to get things moving smoothly again. The entire upgrade cost me less than $100, too.

If you love your Mac but find yourself less than impressed with its performance lately, a memory boost could be just the thing to put the spark back in your relationship.

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Apple takes the semiconductor spending crown as mobiles trump PCs

Darrell Etherington — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:18:57 +0000

Apple spent the most on semiconductors in 2011, beating out Samsung and HP to take the crown. HP dropped from the top spot, thanks to overall weakness in the PC market, while Apple soared upward on the rising tide of smartphones, tablets and the MacBook Air.

Apple spent $17.3 billion on semiconductors in 2011, driven mostly by the popularity of the iPhone, iPad and solid-state drives that ship by default with its MacBook Air. Apple’s spending increased 35 percent from 2010, when it spent $12.8 billion on semiconductors. HP, which had spent $17.6 billion in 2010, saw its PC shipments decline 16.2 percent year over year in the fourth quarter of 2011. That, combined with a lackluster year overall for PCs, drove HP’s spending down to $16.6 billion in 2011.

It is no coincidence that Apple’s biggest competition on the mobile device front was also its closest rival when it came to semiconductor spending. Samsung spent $16.7 billion in 2011, a 9 percent increase over its spending in 2011.

Apple’s massive spending on semiconductors is a result of huge sales of its products, but that kind of spending power will also help it continue to secure and maintain its supply-chain advantage. Expect to see the gulf between Apple and HP in terms of this measure of success widen further, as mobile devices increasingly overtake PCs as the central device in users’ daily lives and as Apple continues to shift its focus to notebooks and computers that rely more on solid-state storage.

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MacBook Air shipments jump as notebooks plummet overall

Darrell Etherington — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:53:46 +0000

Apple’s MacBook Air continues to be a hot seller according to the latest sales estimates coming out of Apple’s Asian supply chain. Shipments of the ultra-slim notebook were up to 1.2 million units in the fourth calendar quarter of 2011, up from 1 million the quarter before.

The MacBook Air was the only notebook that saw increased shipments during the quarter, according to Digitimes Research, which said on Monday that notebook shipments slowed by 8.7 percent sequentially to 48.59 million units worldwide during the quarter.

In Apple’s last quarterly earnings report, it reported 4.89 million Macs sold, meaning if we use Digitimes’ estimate of 1 million MacBook Airs sold, the notebook represented roughly 20 percent of the total. We know Apple’s iMac is also performing well, but it’s logical to assume the Air is growing in influence in terms of the overall Mac picture. Expect that trend to continue, since analysts expect the so-called Ultrabook category to explode in the next six years.

Apple doesn’t usually break out sales of individual Mac lines from the overall Mac category total, but it will still be interesting to see if it has any official comment on the success of the Air during its quarterly earnings conference call on Jan. 24.

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2012: the year of Thunderbolt

Darrell Etherington — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:26:50 +0000

Apple got an early start on outfitting its Mac computers with Intel’s Thunderbolt technology, introducing first a MacBook Pro sporting the high-speed I/O port in Feb. 2011. Now, almost a year later, a rush of accessories at CES 2012 says this will be the year mainstream users start to get some real benefit from having Thunderbolt on board.

“Thunderbolt” is turning up in my inbox quite a bit, with pitches for Thunderbolt docks, drives, adapters and expansion devices. No doubt that is helped in part by the news that Thunderbolt will be coming to computers from select PC vendors, including Acer and Asus, arriving sometime in the second quarter of this year. But it also helps that nearly all of Apple’s line of computers, including its popular iMac desktop, have put Thunderbolt into the hands of a much broader potential market of peripheral shoppers.

Some of the products on tap include more-traditional external drives than we have seen to date, with SSD drives from usual-suspect Mac accessory makers like Elgato and OCZ. These drives still are not exactly aimed at the average computer user, since they will reportedly come in starting at $400 for storage sizes of 128 GB and up. But they should be a hit with pro video and audio editors, as well as the semi-pro or serious hobbyist crowd.

Much more interesting to mainstream Mac users are devices like the Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock, which should arrive in September and will boast three USB 2.0 ports, one Firewire 800 connection, a Gigabit Ethernet port, one 3.5 mm audio jack and two Thunderbolt ports. Basically, it provides a lot of what the Apple Thunderbolt Display offers but without the screen and for a heavily reduced price of $299. For users who want a quick and easy docking solution for plug-and-play home theater connectivity, this is a good solution and cheaper than many receivers.

Another solution that average users might get some use from is the Thunderbolt eSATA hub shown off by LaCie at CES. It features connections for up to two eSATA-connected drives via one Thunderbolt port, along with a second Thunderbolt port for daisy-chaining. ESATA drives are loads cheaper than their native Thunderbolt equivalents, and with top speeds of 6 Gbps, eSATA is still plenty fast for most users. No word on pricing yet, but this one is coming soon: within the first quarter of 2012.

LaCie also unveiled a dual 3.5-inch drive enclosure called the 2Big that hooks up via Thunderbolt, with size offerings of up to 8 TB of total storage planned. I wouldn’t expect this one to be within the average consumer’s price range, but the more the tech is adopted at all levels, the better the potential of lower prices across the board.

Some of these items are still pro-focused and the others aren’t exactly cheap, but at least accessory makers finally seem to be embracing the possibilities that Thunderbolt offers. With cheaper third-party cables and maybe some USB 3.0 cross-compatibility, this should be the year we see the Thunderbolt port get used for more than just Mini DisplayPort connections.

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Why the MacBook Air will be the iMac of notebooks

Darrell Etherington — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:27:58 +0000

Apple’s iMac occupies a prized place in a fast-growing segment of the overall desktop PC market, the all-in-ones, that few others can approach. That’s how Apple can continue to show growth in an area where sales are slowing for other competitors, and it managed that advantage by being there early. Like the iMac before it, the MacBook Air is Apple’s next perfectly placed and timed attack on the competition.

Doing it before it was cool

The iMac was an all-in-one long before the form factor was popular, although it arrived much later than its own predecessor, the original Macintosh computer. Still, at the time the iMac arrived, the competition was all about separate towers and monitors. All-in-ones had trade-offs that seemed considerable at the time, including fewer customization options and no opportunity to really get into the high-performance range of personal computing.

Fast-forward to today, 14 years after the introduction of the first iMac, and it is the computer with the lion’s share of the hottest growth area in desktop computing. According to DisplaySearch, as reported by Bloomberg on Wednesday, the iMac accounts for 32.9 percent of the all-in-one desktop market, which itself grew 39 percent over the course of 2011 to 14.5 million shipments worldwide. DisplaySearch believes that the market will reach 23.3 million units by 2014, and Apple looks likely to lead the pack, since its next-closest competitor is Lenovo, with 22.7 percent of all-in-one sales.

Early investment pays later dividends

Apple doesn’t always strike a vein when it comes to early, unusual designs for its computers. The G4 Cube is a prime example. But that doesn’t mean they don’t bear fruit. The Cube formed the groundwork for the Mac mini, which succeeds as an HTPC and an inexpensive Mac desktop option. Likewise, the early MacBook Air, which was expensive, somewhat underpowered and mostly admired from afar, paved the way for the current generation of sleek, fast, awesome general-use machines.

Apple worked out its ultraportable teething issues early, while competitors either looked on in disbelief that anyone would want such a device (its downsides vs. traditional notebooks were similar to the iMac’s flaws regarding user customization and repairs) or offered even more half-baked attempts at competing, like Dell’s Adamo. The first iteration of the MacBook Air meant Apple was ready to come back cheaper, faster and stronger.

Playing catch-up

Now Intel is prompting other notebook manufacturers to jump in late and try to capitalize on the demand for ultraportables. CES pitches are littered with the term, and it seems like every PC maker is planning an Air-like notebook for release in the near term. But the iMac’s doppelgängers haven’t managed to dethrone it, and I highly doubt we will see the notebook market behave very differently.

With both the iMac and the MacBook Air, Apple managed to successfully skate to where the puck’s going to be, and in doing so it has put itself at the fore of growth areas in overall markets (desktop and notebook PCs) that are otherwise sluggish. For users, that means both the iMac and the Air will be among Apple’s most exciting products to watch in 2012 and beyond.

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Blackbox bamboo MacBook Air case is beautiful and takes a beating

Darrell Etherington — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 20:31:08 +0000

I like my MacBook Air because it’s thin and light, and can be packed in a bag or case without even really adding any extra weight, but there are times when that svelte frame is a liability rather than an asset. When thrown in a single-compartment backpack with heavy books or other gear, for instance. For those times, there’s the Blackbox case.

Natural beauty

The Blackbox is a handmade case, currently available for iPad 2 and MacBook Pro. I got the chance to check out the upcoming MacBook Air version, and it’s a beauty in natural bamboo. The good looks owe as much to the craftsmanship as to the materials, as this is one clean-looking case with smooth lines that echo those of the MacBook Pro case created by Apple’s own industrial designers.

Rugged and ready

The experience of having your MacBook Air in the Blackbox feels a little like nestling it inside a cutting board, and that’s a very good thing. Thanks to the leather strap, the corners of your computer are protected, and a snug, secure fit is guaranteed. The wood feels solid despite being hollow, and there seems to be almost an inch of coverage on the edges, making sure that there’s no weak connection points that will come apart or snap apart during a minor tumble. It also means you can stack plenty of weight on top of the case with your computer inside without worrying about hurting your Mac.

Life resistant

Blackbox cases are treated with a water-resistant finish that helps enhance their good looks and also make sure that an accidental spill won’t fry your machine. I tested it out by dripping a bit of water on top and then wiping it clean; definitely looks like it’ll hold up to all but the most grievous of Starbucks incidents. Thanks to the weight resistance and a very snug fit, it should also stand up well to be tossed in a bag with other loose kit. Just make sure there’s nothing in there with edges that might scratch the exposed portion of your MacBook, as the top is open save for the strap.

Not trim, but light

The one downside, especially if you’re using an Air mainly for its portability, is that this case does add considerable girth to your device. In fact, it more than doubles the height of the Air at its thickest point. But the Blackbox is surprisingly light despite its added bulk. On its site, Blackbox says that the existing versions only add around 1.5 lbs, and I’d say that’s about where the MacBook Air model is, too. It’s not heavy at all, considering how durable these things are.

A good friend you see only once in a while

That’s how I’d best describe the Blackbox MacBook Air case. You won’t need it every time you need your Mac, but for adventurous outings, and times when bringing dedicated computer bags separate from your other luggage isn’t practical, the Blackbox is a rugged performer that’ll give you peace of mind when transporting your valuable, but fragile-feeling MacBook cargo. It isn’t yet available on the Blackbox site, but according to the Kickstarter site for the project it’ll retail for $109 when it arrives sometime soon.

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Apple’s Anobit buy reportedly a done deal

Darrell Etherington — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 13:56:15 +0000

Apple is reportedly just about finished acquiring Israeli flash memory firm Anobit. Last week, reports suggested that Apple was in the process of acquiring the company, and on Tuesday, Israel’s Calcalist reported that Anobit has now informed employees of the deal’s completion.

Apple actually already uses an Anobit chip that improves the performance of flash memory using digital signal processing (DSP) in its iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air. It could be useful to help expand the available onboard storage in future iterations of these devices. By acquiring the company in its entirety, Apple can ensure it has continued access to a key competitive differentiator.

Official details on price are still unknown, but earlier reports pegged the amount being negotiated between the two companies as somewhere between $400 and $500 million for the 200 person firm. It has been suggested that Apple will open an R&D center in Israel, its first such facility outside the U.S., and it is possible the Anobit acquisition could have something to do with those plans.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted a welcome to Apple on Tuesday morning, congratulating the company on its “1st acquisition here,” and assuring the company that it will “benefit from the fruit of the Israeli knowledge.” It’s not clear whether the PM’s office is just reacting to the news reports, however, or if it has inside knowledge of the deal’s progress.

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A few of our favorite things: Power accessories

Darrell Etherington — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 19:47:02 +0000

This holiday season, we’ll be running a series of weekly features called “A few of our favorite things,” where we round up some gift suggestions based on the gear that has passed through our offices either for review purposes or through personal purchases. We’ll tell you what we think is the best gear out there, for a variety of product categories and budgets.

Shopping time is almost up for this year’s holiday season, but shipping deadlines have yet to elapse completely, and stores will still be plenty busy. In this week’s installment of our ongoing series, we’re looking at power accessories for Apple devices that could make great last-minute gifts and/or stocking stuffers.

Best backup battery: Just Mobile Gum Plus. There are a lot more solid options in this category than there were, say, a couple of years ago. But the Just Mobile Gum Plus wins for a number of reasons, including its high capacity (4400 mAh, enough for up to three charges for your iPhone), good looks and small, easily pocketable or stowable design. The Gum Plus is $69.95 plus shipping.

Best iPhone battery case: Mophie Juice Pack Plus. The iPhone battery case market is likewise crowded, but there are a few that have stood the test of time, and the Mophie Juice Pack Plus is one of them. Even considering the unfortunate recall that happened this year with its iPod touch model, the Juice Pack Plus is the best-in-class when you’re looking for something for your iPhone 4 or 4S extra battery life needs, because of its 2000 mAh capacity and pass through volume and sleep/wake controls. The Juice Pack Plus retails for $99.95.

Best charging adapter: PlugBug. The PlugBug from twelveSouth is a clever and invaluable add-on for people with a variety of Apple mobile devices. It’ll help convert your MacBook adapter so that it can also do double duty and charge your iPhone or iPad at the same time from the same outlet. Plus it can act as a standalone iPad charger and comes in an eye-catching red design that makes it harder to miss when you’re doing that final visual sweep of your hotel room. At the Apple store online, the PlugBus is $34.95

Best charging cable: The Magic Cable Duo. Innergie’s clever little cable with in-line, swappable 30-pin Apple dock connector and micro USB is able to charge pretty much any modern mobile device, including the above-mentioned Mophie Juice Pack Plus, as well as any Apple iOS gadget. The Magic Cable Trio adds mini USB to the mix, but we’re willing to bet that for most up-to-date gadget geeks out there, the Duo will cover all the necessary bases. The Magic Cable Duo sells for $19.99 on its own.

That’s our list, but feel free to argue our choices or voice your own suggestions in the comments.

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Retina Display MacBook Pros in 2012? Why it could happen.

Darrell Etherington — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:26:38 +0000

The MacBook Pro could get a substantial boost in screen resolution, according to sources upstream in Apple’s supply chain talking to DigiTimes Wednesday. But how likely is it that Apple will actually produce these monster graphical powerhouses in 2012, as reported?

Challenges with high-res displays

Apple would have to address significant challenges in order to bring a 2880×1800 resolution display to a MacBook Pro, which DigiTimes reports is in the works. Currently, the max screen res on the biggest MBP is 1920×1200, so a bump up to the reported resolution wouldn’t require a doubling of vertical and horizontal pixels, but it would be a considerable step up.

And taking that step would come with a cost in terms of requiring more processor power, and in terms of battery life, too. Also, producing high-res displays at scale is a tricky thing; the higher the resolution, the more difficult it would be for Apple to produce screens in THE numbers they require. But, next-generation chips from Intel could address some of these problems, especially as Intel says it’s investing more on graphics and media.

What Apple stands to gain

Some might think that Apple stands to add relatively little to its MacBook Pro with the introduction of a much higher-resolution display; Apple’s notebook market share has steadily risen for many years, after all, and the last time it changed its max resolution at the top end of its laptop offerings was in 2008. Do users really need higher resolution in a notebook?

The short answer is yes. Digital graphics and video pros invest in larger-screened MacBook Pros precisely because of their real estate advantage relative to other computers. Advancements in this area mean that Apple can continue to maintain a competitive advantage with pro users who still seek portability as well as power, and don’t want to depend on connecting to an external display to accomplish certain tasks. And with HD resolution offerings set to become more common among PC laptops, any measures Apple can take to stay ahead of the game will go a long way in terms of consumer perception.

OS X Lion also suggests that this is something Apple has been working toward for a while now, since it contains resolution independent features that allow developers to include “2X” graphics resources just like those found in apps compatible with the iPhone’s Retina Display. That the system is basically ready to go in Lion suggests the introduction of Macs that can take advantage of it during the lifetime of that OS.

Less of a leap than you might think

A jump up in resolution is actually something Apple is just about due for in its MacBook Pro line anyway. And the proposed change isn’t about something as dramatic as doubling res, as it is with the rumored iPad 3. It’ll no doubt be a big step up, but one in a key area that consumers will easily be able to see and experience, which is crucial in a market where big, visible feature changes are now relatively few are far between.

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Leaked Black Friday Apple sales show great deals on accessories

Darrell Etherington — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:56:54 +0000

Details of Apple’s Black Friday sales have reportedly been leaked online, according to 9t05Mac, and in terms of Apple’s own products, there are few surprises. $101 off iMacs, MacBook Pros and iMacs, plus between $10 to $60 off of iPods and iPads are in line with sales from previous years. What might be more exciting are the accessory deals, however; some of the best offer heavy discounts for premium gear.

The images posted by 9to5Mac appear to be from an internal staff leaflet or flyer detailing the Apple Store’s Black Friday deals. In addition to the Mac sales (which are actually pretty good at $100 off even the cheapest models), a lot of accessories are on sale, including Apple’s own iPad Smart Cover ($11 off all models), wireless input devices ($11 off keyboard, Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad) and networking devices ($11 to $51 off AirPort and Time Capsule hardware).

But some of the standouts include sales on products that, while excellent, are normally out of reach for a lot of consumer budgets (mine included). For instance, the Jambox by Jawbone gets a $51.95 discount, making the Bluetooth speaker only $148 on sale. Jawbone’s breakout hit, the fitness tracking UP wristband, is also significantly cheaper according to the spy shots, getting a $21.95 temporary price drop. Bowers & Wilkins’ excellent C5 stereo headset, which we recently picked as the best overall iPhone headphone companion, is on sale for $128, a full $51.95 off its original price, and the same company’s Zeppelin Air, which is the best and brightest of the AirPlay speaker lot, hovers a little closer to being affordable thanks to a $101.95 price break, making it ‘only’ $498.

I may not have expressed much enthusiasm about Apple’s Black Friday sales in the past, but if this flyer turns out to be accurate I’ll be singing a different tune. Deals on high-end Apple accessories don’t come along often enough, and wireless, room-filling sound just might be worth waiting in line for. Check out the full flyer snapshot at 9t05Mac and let us know if anything catches your eye.

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PlugBug review: The best in iPad replacement chargers

Darrell Etherington — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 20:46:31 +0000

Updated. If, like me, you lost your original 10W iPad charger while travelling, don’t buy an official Apple replacement. Why? Because you can have a much better one for slightly ~~less~~ more: The twelvesouth PlugBug.

The PlugBug is $34.95 at the online Apple Store, which is ~~5 cents cheaper~~ about five dollars more than Apple’s official version at ~~$35~~ $29, but it has a neat trick up its sleeve that makes it infinitely more valuable. I thought they looked very promising back when twelvesouth initially announced them, but after using one for a little while, it’s clear the PlugBug is actually indispensable.

Indispensable, that is, if you satisfy at least one of three criteria:

You have a MacBook and an iPad.
You have a MacBook and an iPhone, iPod touch or iPod.
You have a MacBook and an iPad/iPhone/etc. and you travel a lot.

In any of those cases, you will be impressed with what the PlugBug can do, which is piggy-back on a MacBook power adapter (any variety) and provide both USB charging and MacBook power through a single outlet. It can also act as a standalone iPad/iPhone charger, too, and offers 10W so that your iPad will charge at full speed. Plus, if you happen to have an older MacBook that can’t put out the power necessary to charge an iPad, you can at least plug it in to the PlugBug attached to your power adapter.

I really appreciate it around the house, since you can pretty easily keep both cords wrapped around it and tuck into a corner outlet out of the way, providing power for any Mac notebook or iOS device on demand. But it truly shines when you’re packing for a trip: only one charger to keep track of and find space for, instead of two.

My only complaint is a minor aesthetic one: The PlugBug’s bright red finish is a little loud for my tastes, especially in a device that should really be mostly inconspicuous. But at least it’s more likely to catch my eye when I’m doing my final check of the hotel room before handing in my key.

Ed.: The $35 price for the Apple iPad 10W USB Power Adapter is in Canadian dollars. The correct price for the U.S. Apple Store is now provided.

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The 15-inch MacBook Air: A no-brainer

Darrell Etherington — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:00:39 +0000

Apple is gearing up to launch a 15-inch ultrathin MacBook in 2012, according to a new report by DigiTimes. The supplier-connected publication says that parts for the device are now being made at component-maker factories, intended for a March 2012 product release. It’s still just a rumor, but if Apple wasn’t actively working on a slim 15-incher for imminent release, I’d be amazed.

According to the DigiTimes report, it isn’t clear whether the device being produced will be classified as a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air, but it will sport a thinner design, with the aim of making a lighter, more portable notebook computer. Intel has dubbed this category the “Ultrabook,” and a number of Windows-based PC manufacturers either have or intend to join the fray, based largely on Apple’s success with its current MacBook Air offerings.

The Air has been a strong seller since its introduction, according to estimates from industry analyst groups like NPD, and has helped buoy Mac sales to record heights in recent quarters. Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer also cited “very strong growth” of MacBook Air sales during the company’s last earnings call as a driver behind the 74-percent share of Mac revenue accounted for by Apple notebooks.

Meanwhile, the general ultrabook PC market isn’t exactly going gangbusters. According to a tweet from industry-watcher Steve Paine, it looks like all the competition combined can’t compete with the MacBook Air, which is probably due in part to aggressive pricing from Apple. Apple has a significant advantage in the ultraportable space as a result, and can likely afford to diversify its line in order to take advantage of that momentum.

A 15-inch MacBook Air would probably have more limited mass-market appeal compared to more travel-friendly 13- and 11-inch models, but it should appeal to MacBook Pro users who’ve just been waiting for a larger screen to pick up a lighter, more portable machine. Also, a 15-inch will definitely attract some consumers who appreciate more screen real estate, and a larger chassis could lead to another upward bump in battery life, like the two-hour improvement between the 11- and 13-inch Airs.

Apple making a thin and light 15-inch notebook isn’t yet guaranteed, since no official announcement has been made, but given that the ultraportable category is a space where Apple is at least three or four years ahead of the competition, and increasingly a key part of its Mac division, it seems likely we’ll see one sometime soon.

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What comes after the MacBook Air

Erica Ogg — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 22:30:20 +0000

This holiday season offers the recent crop of low-power, thin and light “ultrabooks” their first big chance to prove that they resonate with consumers. Brands like Asus, Acer, Toshiba and Lenovo will have thinner, lightweight designs with longer battery life and near-instant boot times on retail shelves with prices starting at $900. In many ways, these can be seen almost as Windows-based versions of the MacBook Air. Will they boost PC sales the way the MacBook Air boosted Apple’s overall Mac sales? And, now that the Air seemingly has competition, where will Apple take notebook design next?

Apple has continually edited the design of the Air since it debuted in 2008. The 2010 major redesign and price drop has turned it into a big seller for the company. Apple took out the ethernet port, optical drive, hard disk drive and left just two USB ports in the Air. But these non-traditional features have not driven potential notebook buyers running for the hills: Reports after Apple launched 11.6-inch and 13.3-inch models in late 2010 indicated the company sold 1 million in the first two months. Customers responded positively to the extremely lightweight, solid-state storage-only option, near-instant boot/wake times, long battery life, and most importantly, the $999 starting price. A subtler set of updates to the line this summer lead the company to drop its previous (and popular) entry-level notebook, the white MacBook, altogether.

Ultrabook makers are, a year later, following in Apple’s footsteps, both in terms of design and features. But it’s been mostly at the behest of Intel. The chipmaker has encouraged PC makers to make ultrabooks, based on lower-power Intel chips (of course). The results, so far, are not exact copies of the Air’s feature set — for instance, the Acer Aspire S has dropped the optical drive but kept the hard drive. But the prices are close to the Air and the overall design inspiration is unmistakable.

So far there are indications that great expectations may need to be modified, as early reports say that Acer and Asus aren’t shipping nearly as many ultrabooks as initially thought. But that could change once the holiday buying season is here, and people are shopping for super portable, well-priced notebooks.

But will it help boost the overall PC market? The PC business, as we know, isn’t in great shape, thanks to a bad economy and a growing interest in touchscreen tablets. Apple has bucked that industry trend — selling more iPads while still selling more computers — and a huge reason is the MacBook Air, which the company said last month helped lead to a record quarter for Mac sales. But the company is obviously not going to sit still.

The things that really wowed people about the Air — the incredible thinness, the deletion of non-necessary features, and the responsiveness of the machine — have to be improved upon. So how can they? Well, as some very accomplished industrial designers told me, it’s very hard to get much thinner than the Air and still have a traditional notebook form factor. Take away too much and you essentially wind up with the iPad.

So it’s going to have to come with advances in software, in interfaces and new forms of input, like voice and touch, and the continual improvement in battery size, life, and — while we know chips will regularly get faster — how manufacturers deal with heat dissipation and battery life in conjunction with those chips’ advances.

To read about these and other factors facing the companies designing our future notebooks, and what some of today’s most forward-thinking electronics designers have to say about it, please read my latest long view at GigaOM Pro.

Asus Zenbook image courtesy of Amazon.com

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This is what Apple does with all of that cash

Erica Ogg — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 14:00:47 +0000

There are a lot of advantages to keeping a hoard of $81 billion in cash on hand, as Apple does. One in particular allows Apple to set itself apart from its competitors in a very real and tangible way: by dominating the global electronics supply chain.

Bloomberg BusinessWeek has a great story out on Friday illustrating the massive pricing, manufacturing and shipping advantages that Apple gets from having one of the most successfully managed supply chains in the world. Reading it, you see how having lots of money frees Apple up to do things other companies either can’t or won’t.

The report includes interesting details, like how Apple made that little green light appear next to the webcam in your MacBook. It was a manufacturing challenge that required $250,000 laser machines to cut tiny holes through metal, so Apple bought “hundreds of them.”

There’s also the tale of how Steve Jobs bought out all air freight for Christmas 1998:

To ensure that the company’s new, translucent blue iMacs would be widely available at Christmas the following year, Jobs paid $50 million to buy up all the available holiday air freight space, says John Martin, a logistics executive who worked with Jobs to arrange the flights. The move handicapped rivals such as Compaq that later wanted to book air transport.

The report illustrates two of the things that set Apple apart from its competitors in ways that are invisible to most of its customers: money and attention to detail. It’s all of those billions in the bank that give Apple the freedom to lavish gobs of attention on everything from massive manufacturing problems to insanely small but critical details. Some of the things the company does with that freedom range from buying out the world’s supply of smartphone displays to Senior VP of Industrial Design Jonathan Ive and some of his team staying near a manufacturer’s facility in China “for months” to closely monitor the design manufacturing and prototyping process for future products.

For next year, Apple appears to be pursuing the same tactics. It has already said via its annual report to the SEC that it will spend “$7.1 billion for product tooling and manufacturing process equipment.”

Locking down the supply chain is clearly a spending strategy that has proven itself. But it will be interesting to see how or if Tim Cook, Apple’s new CEO and longtime supply-chain guru, will continue to use the company’s cash in other ways outside the strategy approved by Jobs. Jobs turned Apple into an extremely conservative company when it came to its spending and investments and resisted any calls for investor dividends or share buybacks. Cook, however, has indicated that he and Jobs differ slightly in their philosophies. During the company earnings call last month, Cook declared:

I’m not religious about holding cash or not holding it. I’m religious about a lot of things but not that one. We’ll continually ask ourselves what’s in Apple’s best interest. So it’s a topic for the board on an ongoing basis.

Thumbnail courtesy of Flickr user Tracy O

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PlugBug is MacBook and iPad charging genius

Darrell Etherington — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:31:52 +0000

I have a recurring dream in which all of my Apple gadgets use the same connector to get their power, so I just have them built into existing electrical sockets around the house. PlugBug doesn’t quite achieve that goal, but this great new Twelve South accessory sure comes close.

PlugBug is a simple adapter that connects easily to your existing MacBook power adapter, adding a 10 W USB charger (the same wattage as the one that ships with the iPad) for charging your iOS devices. The 10 W capacity means that it will charge your iPad faster than the standard iPhone and iPod charger, and it will still also be able to charge those devices just as easily, too.

This innovative but oh-so-simple design from Twelve South will really come in handy for travelers, since it means you can use the often-scant hotel power outlets to maximum efficiency: Just one outlet is needed to charge both your MacBook and a USB-connected device, and the design keeps the top outlet in a two-socket wall panel free for other uses.

Even if you aren’t taking your MacBook with you, PlugBug stands on its own as a very noticeable (it’s red) solo iPad and iPhone charger, thanks to a bottom attachment that covers the power brick plug component when it’s not in use. At $34.99, it’s actually only $5 more than the standard Apple iPad 10 W power adapter, too, so it really seems like a no-brainer for multiple Apple device owners.

This is the first iPad and MacBook accessory in a while that feels like a necessity to me. Anyone else blown away by the design?

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7 signs that it’s time to get a new Mac

Geoffrey Goetz — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:13:35 +0000

Macs retain higher overall resale values than many other PCs, but they don’t last forever. But how do you know when to act? What are the symptoms of impeding Mac death or obsolescence, and when is a good time to consider replacing an old Mac with a new one? The following seven points should help you make an educated decision about whether or not to invest in one of the new MacBook Pros unveiled Monday, or any other new Mac for that matter.

1. Will not run OS X Lion (or Snow Leopard). In the past, if you had a Mac running an older version of OS X, you could keep it running for a long time without much issue. But iCloud’s minimum specs have changed that. Your Mac must have an Intel Core 2 Duo , Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, or Xeon processor to run Lion 10.7.2 which is required to use iCloud on a Mac. If you’re not certain your Mac meets these requirements, you can easily identify exactly what Mac you have and get the specs from there. Users hoping to update to iCloud from MobileMe will need a newer Mac, and those hoping to stay on top of what could become the core of Apple’s business will also want to upgrade.

Not everyone needs the convenience features of iCloud, but you should note that Apple has also stopped releasing security updates for older Macs as well. To play it safe, you may need to have a Mac that can at least run Snow Leopard.

2. Battery no longer keeps its charge. While certainly not the primary reason to get rid of a MacBook that still works when plugged in, it’s a sign that you may be getting near the end of your machine’s useful life. Apple does have a battery replacement program, even for MacBooks that do not user-accessible batteries, but the cost of replacing a battery can run anywhere from $130 to $180, and if your battery is past its prime, other system components might be nearing their end, too. It may be time to consider turning that laptop into a desktop, and get a new MacBook.

3. Most-used apps are sluggish. New software tends to get bigger and more demanding with time. With each new update comes a lot more features. These may not be features you need or care about, but sometimes they’re required in order to maintain compatibility with a particular file format. You can always try sliding back to an earlier version to preserver performance, but if apps you use time and time again are making your computer slow or unusable, it’s probably time to look for something new.

4. An iPad outperforms your Mac. It may surprise you to learn that the current iPad 2′s geek bench scores are about as high as the Mac mini G4′s scores from 2005. You could try to clean out your Mac, free up some hard drive space, or even add some memory or a solid state drive to help and improve performance. But at the end of the day, there is a limit to the gains in performance you can squeeze out of older hardware, and the cost of doing so might outweigh the benefit.

5. Difficult-to-replace component has failed. If you’re not comfortable replacing the internal components of you Mac yourself, service prices can become cost-prohibitive when compared to buying a new Mac. You may also end up being very disappointed following a major upgrade when something else goes wrong, like a hard drive failure. With MacBooks especially, when one part starts to fail, the rest are likely not too far from failing as well.

6. The Mac you want was just updated. Following the rumors about possible Apple product updates can become more obsession than hobby. I have looked toward’s MacRumor’s Buyer’s Guide for years now in an effort to track down when a particular product is going to be updated. The simplest rule to follow, however, is that if you need a new Mac, buy a new Mac. But if your need happens to coincide with a fresh product update, don’t hesitate.

7. You own a PC, but all your mobile devices are Apple. Like works best with like, and that’s particularly true of Apple products. Apple has a great guide to help with the transition from a PC to a Mac. And with Apple’s Boot Camp, VMware Fusion or Parallels, you can keep on using Windows on a Mac if you like.

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