http://www.macfixer.net Apple related articles from the MacFixer Fri, 03 Sep 2010 08:43:15 -0400 en http://www.macfixer.net/articles/228/ 73308f0f Thu, 05 Aug 2010 18:19:27 EDT Years ago, a small section of the Mac community would often complain that Apple should release a "headless iMac". The rest of the Mac community argued that this made no sense. If you want an all in one, buy a G4 iMac ($1300). If you want something headless, buy a G4 tower ($1700). Apple eventually even released the Mac mini ($500). The idea of a headless iMac made very little sense. But times have changed. iMacs have become a significantly more powerful machine. iMacs have more than enough power for the average Mac user. Very few users need the processing power of a Mac Pro. But many users do still need the expandability of a tower. This can be a problem because unlike the days of the G4, the Mac Pro towers are extremely high priced. They start at $2500 and the current high end models are as much as $5000. A computer that expensive is not a good fit for someone that needs no more CPU or GPU power than an iMac, but needs maybe one or two PCI cards installed, and could benefit from more than one internal hard drive. Adding to the difficulty of "getting by" with an iMac, about half of Mac users prefer n anti-glare screen, but Apple has no anti-glare option on iMacs. Also the iMac has only one FireWire port, and zero eSata ports. So the hole in Apple's lineup is a product for people who would be perfectly happy with the processor and graphics power of the current generation of iMacs, but need some amount of expandability, and would prefer anti-gloss screens. This machine would also appeal to a large segment of the PC user population that still cling to towers for their tinker-ability. This 4th model of desktop computer really didn't make sense 8 years ago. But things have changed significantly since then, most importantly including Apple's market share. The image included with this article is not a spy shot. It's just a quick photoshop mangling of a photo of a Mac Pro. Replace the two full size optical bays with a single slimline drive, remove one of the PCI slots, replace the server class Xeon processors with Corei5s and Corei7s, and replace the fully buffered, super hot RAM with several (8) standard laptop DDR3 slots. This artwork is to scale in front of an actual Mac Pro. This would be a great little Mac. My prediction: This Mac will never happen. Apple does not have much interest in desktop computers. Every engineer working on a desktop Mac, is an engineer not working on iPad 2 / iPhone 5 / MacBook 19. http://www.macfixer.net/articles/224/ 17ab833a Thu, 24 Jun 2010 18:24:18 EDT Every time Apple updates the Mac mini, some people are left disappointed. I think this is because such a nice, powerful little machine has so much potential filling all sorts of niches. The Mac mini is always one or two features away from being an amazing [fill in the blank]. The previous two Mac mini updates were great in my book. There were still a few more features I'd want, but it was still a great little machine. However, this most recently update, is very disappointing to me. When it comes down to it, I feel like Apple just put the Mac mini in a fancy case, and then jacked the price. It's true, they did upgrade the processor and the graphics chip. But they didn't put high-end processors and graphics in the mini, they just bumped them up to match the same low-end that the MacBook and MacBook Pro's have. High end mobile graphics, at least as an option, was one of the things on my Mac mini wish list. Something on par with what's in the more expensive MacBook Pros. Apple also changed the video-out ports. From one miniDP plus one miniDVI port, to one miniDP and one HDMI port. Lots of people have been waiting for this for a long time. But again, I find this disappointing. miniDP to HDMI adapters are only $10. I would MUCH rather have seen the new Mac mini have two miniDP's, with a miniDP to HDMI adapter included in the box. That way they could still advertise it as "having HDMI", but it would give the mini a lot more versatility. Two large LCD displays powered by a single Mac mini would be a GREAT setup for 2D graphics, like print and web work. Apple did add an SD card slot. Most of their laptops have an SD card slot too. It's very handy on a laptop. You're on the go, so you don't want to carry an extra USB device around. You just spin your MacBook around and stick the memory card in. But the Mac mini is a desktop. It's not a hassle keeping a card reader around. And the SD slot is on the back of the machine. The way most people set up their desks, the back of their Mac mini is not easily-accessible. I see the SD slot as more of a gimmick than a useable feature. Also, while I did have an expansion slot on my Mac mini wish list, I was thinking more along the lines of an ExpressCard slot, not an SD slot. That way you could install something like a dual port eSata card, and run up to 10 external hard drives through your mac mini. Or maybe a second gigabit ethernet port. A little expandability goes a long way. But the SD card… isn't it. The new Mac mini has a fancy new 'Unibody' aluminum case like the MacBook Pros. And I agree, they do look nice. And they no longer have an external power supply, it's all included in the case, which is also nice. But, these are desktops. The biggest benefit of unibody isn't the look, it's the strength. MacBook Pro's are super rigid, which makes them much nicer to handle and work with. You don't handle a Mac mini. You put it on your desk, you tuck it's external power supply (on older models) in a corner somewhere, and you never give them another thought. This style of case is MUCH less necessary for a desktop computer. And I do not see this new case as justifying the $100 price increase, from $599 to $699. $699 is a lot of money for an entry level desktop. This Mac mini still only has 2 GB of RAM, and you still need to buy a keyboard, mouse and monitor to go with it. It's as if Apple is trying to take the "features" of the 13" MacBook Pro (Apple's best selling Mac) over the MacBook, and apply them to the Mac mini. But it's a whole different story when you're talking desktops. The value just isn't there in my opinion. So in conclusion, I'm fairly disappointed by this new Mac mini upgrade. I was tentatively thinking about buying two of them before they came out. But i'm just going to stick with what I have for now. http://www.macfixer.net/articles/215/ 73e9a94c Sat, 20 Mar 2010 03:49:44 EDT You don't need to be a rocket scientist to know that liquids and laptops don't mix. Still, everyone gets thirsty. A very common form of Mac damage happens when someone spills just a little bit of their drink on the top of their computer. It seeps into the keyboard in kills it. A bunch of years back, this was an annoying thing to happen, but it wasn't all that expensive. Apple's PowerBooks and iBooks had keyboards that were pretty easy to remove. And they were comparatively cheap. A small screw driver was all you needed to remove the old keyboard and install a new one. Then the MacBooks came along. Apple came up with a way to make them even thinner and lighter and more rigid. This came at a cost, the keyboards became integrated into the top case of the computer. So to replace the keyboard, you had to replace the top case, keyboard, and trackpad. A much more expensive part, and also a lot more complicated to install. Apple's current line of laptops are all what they call a "Unibody" design. On all older laptops, the bottom of the computer was the main structure of the computer, and everything bolted to that. Then you bolted the top case to the bottom and there was your computer. The new Macs are all reversed. The "Unibody" top case is the primary structure of the computer, and everything bolts to the top case. Then a thin cover just screws to the bottom to close it up. This new "Unibody" design makes the laptops even thinner and lighter, but more noticeable than that, the new Macs are extremely rigid. The main frame of the computer is a single block of CNC'd aluminum. The old ones were thin layers of aluminum welded and screwed together. The new laptops don't bend and flex and creak when you pick them up. But the down side, and the point of this article is: they keyboards are not easy to replace. You're not just replacing a top case that bolts to the main structure of the computer. The new top case IS the main structure of the computer. This makes it even MORE expensive than before. But the big catch is that to replace it, you have to strip every single part out of your Mac, and put it all together in the new top case. It is the most complicated procedure there is. Any other part, even replacing the screen, can be done with fewer steps than replacing the keyboard. So as a public service announcement to all owners of "Unibody" style MacBooks and MacBook Pros: Please be extra careful with your beverages! A tiny spill can easily cost you $500 or more to fix. http://www.macfixer.net/articles/209/ cbb3bcab Sat, 06 Feb 2010 04:08:09 EDT I've been in the computer repair business for a while now, and this is exactly how it goes over and over again: You know people that backup their data. You've seen hard drives that have notes on the box about backing up. Maybe you've even come across backup software before, but you don't use it regularly. Whatever the case, you don't back up your data. Then one day you lose your data. The most common way to lose data is from hard drive failure. All hard drives die, it's only a matter of time. So at this point, you have a computer that won't work, and either no backups, or maybe if you're lucky, you have old or incomplete backups. The next step is to call a computer person, like myself. Then I give you the bad news that your hard drive is dead and all it's data is lost. Sure I can put a new hard drive in and reinstall your system so your computer will work again, but all your personal data is lost. After much grief, you start over from scratch, and this time you start backing up properly. Next time you have a drive failure, you'll have a little bit of downtime, but you won't lose any data at all. Disclosure: backups aren't a guarantee. If a meteor crashes into your house and hits your computer AND your backup drive, you're kind of out of luck. But data loss due to meteor is very rare. Almost all of it comes from failing hard drives. Even a brand new computer can have a drive failure. It's always important to have an up-to-date backup. Your new computer's warranty will cover replacing the hard drive, but it won't get your data back. Do you backup? If not, you should start NOW. Don't wait until you lose all your data, like most people do. If you have Mac OS X 10.5 or newer (Leopard or Snow Leopard), it's extremely easy to back up. The operating system has really great backup software built in called Time Machine. All you have to do is plug in an external hard drive and turn Time Machine on. If you have an advanced setup, you can also use a network volume or a Time Capsule device as a backup destination. http://www.macfixer.net/articles/204/ 1835719a Tue, 15 Sep 2009 04:33:54 EDT The next version of Mac OS X is here. Version 10.6, codenamed Snow Leopard. It is significantly cheaper than all of the recent previous versions of OS X. I believe the reason for that is simply that on the surface, it doesn't look very different at all. It does have a lot of under-the surface features, but for the user, it looks and feels pretty much the same. The most significant change is that this operating system only runs on Intel-based Macs. PPC Macs, G3s, G4s and G5s, are all now officially obsolete and no longer supported by the most up to date Mac OS version. The main feature this upgrade brings is greater optimization and performance. With most of the PPC code stripped out, the operating system as a whole uses a lot less space. In fact, upgrading to Snow Leopard will actually free up several GB of space on your Mac. Apple has also upgraded almost all of their apps to 64-bit. Apple also introduced two new technologies that you really won't feel at all now, but down the road they will make a huge difference. Applications on the Mac will be significantly faster. The names of these two technologies are Grand Central Dispatch, and OpenCL. Without going into too much dull detail, what these technologies do is allow programmers to greatly speed up their programs by having them more easily use all of the processors in your Mac. All Macs have multiple processors, Mac Pros can have as many as 16 virtual processor cores. They also let programmers use the graphics card in your Mac to give a tremendous speed boost to certain kinds of math. As programmers start to use these tools, programs will get faster and faster. There are lots of other even more minor changes too. Like support in Mail/iCal/Address Book, for MS Exchange servers. The bottom line is, this isn't going to be like all the previous Mac OS X upgrades, where it's this big new thing. But it does have lots of optimization and new features beneath the surface, and for only $29, you definitely want to upgrade soon! http://www.macfixer.net/articles/202/ aa78f780 Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:31:23 EDT I've been using the new iPhone OS 3.0 for over a week now. I have to say, I finally feel like my iPhone is the powerful device it's supposed to be. There are many features under the surface that Apple likes to go on and on about. But I want to tell you about the features you will notice. Also keep in mind I'm using iPhoneOS 3.0 on a 1st generation iPhone, not a G3/G3S. First thing you'll notice, it's snappier. It's particularly noticeable in the phone app. Making phone calls is much faster. When you hit the phone app, it pops up almost instantly. When you hit Keypad, the keypad also pops up almost instantly. And dialing on the Keypad, I can't put my finger on it, but it feels much better and more natural too. The phone app isn't the only place you'll feel a boost. The whole phone feels faster, like there is less delay when you click or swipe on the phone. Thing's just happen. My favorite new feature of 3.0, the thing I've been dying for, is the Landscape (aka wide) keyboard. Thats when you turn your phone sideways, and the skinny little narrow keyboard turns into a wide keyboard. Apparently my thumbs are much bigger than Steve Job's thumbs. But I find it very difficult to type a lot of text on the narrow keyboard. But with all of Apple's apps now incorporating the wide keyboard, I feel like my iPhone finally is that "Internet Communication Device" Apple first advertised it as. I have 6 email accounts set up on my phone, and now I can reply to emails with ease. And without giving very short, abrupt replies. The same goes for text messaging. I've never gone over my 200/month limit before, but I might end up going over now that it's such an ease to type. Push notification is finally here. You can receive messages and sounds from apps on your phone, when they are not even running. You can talk to your friends on AIM, then switch to Mail, and still get instant messages from your friends. It really gives you the ability to multitask. There are many many other improvements, but those three are the ones that really effect me the most. I use my phone much much more these days, because of them. http://www.macfixer.net/articles/201/ 735eb48d Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:59:13 EDT It just goes to show you, treat every customer like they're someone important, because they just might be. I recently helped out a customer that turned out to be a writer for the Boston Herald. He was so happy with the work I did [get his new mac to boot, recover all his data from his old dying mac, to his new mac] that he wrote a small article about MacFixer in the paper. The article is also on their site, but the print version has my company logo and my handsome face next to it ;-) http://www.macfixer.net/articles/199/ ccc484f1 Fri, 24 Apr 2009 01:49:59 EDT Everyone knows Macs are easy to use. But one aspect of Mac OS X continues to confuse the less nerdy among us. This is the Disk Image file. In the old days, you would install software onto your computer by inserting a CD ROM, or even further back, a floppy disk. Usually that disk would have an Installer. You would double click that and you're on your way. These days, most software is downloaded over the internet. Mac OS X has popularized the use of Disk Images (.dmg files) as a means of transferring software. They're easy to use once you get how they work. The .dmg file is the actual file that contains all the data. When you double click the .dmg file, it mounts a "virtual" disk to your desktop. It's usually a white icon but it can be a custom icon. When you double click on the mounted virtual disk, there are three common things you could find. The most common is the application itself. No installer necessary, often times the whole self contained application is right on the disk image. This is where people make a mistake. You don't want to run the application on the disk image. Disk images are just a means of transportation. You want to copy the application from the disk image, to your applications folder. Then eject the "virtual" disk, and delete the .dmg file. Lots of people drag the application into their Dock. But that doesn't actually move the program, icons in the dock are just shortcuts to launch the program. Then every time they DO launch the program, the .dmg file has to mount it's disk image. There are many other ways running programs off the mounted disk image can cause problems. For one thing, the disk image is read-only, so if the application has to store any data internally, it won't be able to. Also, 6 months down the road when you empty out your downloads folder and delete all your .dmg files, you just deleted your only copy of the application in question. But wait, sometimes the application itself isn't sitting there on the disk image. Sometimes there is an installer on there instead. There are two kinds of installers, package installers, and custom installers. Package installers have a neat "opened box" icon, and are usually a .pkg file. Other kinds of installers could be anything, and have any kind of icon. Installers pretty much always work the same though, just double click to run through, then you're good to go. After running the installer, you are again free to eject the disk image, and delete the .dmg file. It may seem like installers are an easier way to get software, but the disk image with the application directly on it is actually the preferred way to get software. Installers can be installing all sorts of files, all over your computer. With an application directly on a disk image, you know what's on it and you know where it's going, because you are putting it there. So in summary, when you download a disk image that contains the whole application on it, simply copy it to your Applications folder, then eject the disk image and trash the .dmg file. And the most common application that comes this way is without a doubt, Firefox. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, just give it a download. http://www.macfixer.net/articles/195/ a85f88c4 Sat, 07 Mar 2009 04:27:43 EDT Last Tuesday, Apple dropped a whole slew of upgrades on us. These include new iMacs with faster processors, better graphics chips, and a big drop in price for the entry level 24-inch model. The new iMacs can also hold 8 GB of RAM, which is pretty nice. The only thing they don't have is 4-core processors, like some sites had rumored. The new Mac Pros have intel's new Nehalem processor. The clock speed is a bit slower but the speed is supposed to be much faster. It's still only available in 4 and 8 core models. No 16 core Mac Pro's yet. However the new processors have hyper-threading that gives them "16 virtual cores". The Mac Pro also has some new graphics options. The default is the GeForce GT 120 with an optional Radeon HD 4870. The Pro's use DDR3 RAM now. Apple also had some minor updates for the 15-inch MacBook Pro and the Airport devices. But the BIG BIG news, is that Apple FINALLY released new Mac Minis! So lets go through my Mac mini prediction page from a few months ago and see how well I did... I thought the new minis would have a redesigned case. I figured no more plastic top, something more resembling the new MacBooks. Nope... oh well. The insides were very much as predicted. 1066 MHz system bus with DDR3 RAM. nVidia 9400m Graphics & chipset. 4 GB max memory. And 2.0 & 2.26 GHz clock speeds. They also added n speed wireless. I was mostly right on the video out. They did add a mini display port, that does support a 30" display. And they did get rid of the full size DVI port, but strangely, they added a Mini DVI port too. One thing I got wrong was the price. I thought they would drop the price a little bit, especially considering the state of the economy. But they kept the price the same, $599 for the entry level model. I had predicted firewire would be gone, but hoped that they would keep it and upgrade it to FireWire 800. They DID keep it and upgrade it to FireWire 800. I'm psyched about this! My Wish-List also had dual display ports, which I mentioned above. It wasn't the way I expected it, but they did it. They didn't add any expansion slots but that was a very very long slot to begin with. The one spec I'm not sure about is the SATA with Port-Multiplication. I haven't yet been able to confirm one way or the other. I sure hope it has this feature, we'll see. But overall, these new minis are awesome! I'll be ordering one very soon. http://www.macfixer.net/articles/191/ 74298cd7 Wed, 14 Jan 2009 23:31:18 EDT In the beginning, all LCD's were matte. A matte screen means that it's not shiny. You really can't catch a reflection off of it. Matte screens are great, you can use them in a well lit room without having to deal with reflections. Then Apple decided that matte screens are ok but glossy screens are great. Glossy screens have shiny glass over them. They make darks look darker, giving an illusion of deeper contrast and sharper colors. And the trade-off is that they are like mirrors. They reflect everything. In a well-lit room, it's like looking in a mirror. Outdoors, all you see is what's behind you. Unless you do all of your computer using in a Cave, glossy screens are not good. Then Apple made a horrible decision. Glossy screens are so great, we don't need an option anymore. Everything will be glossy. The glossy screens on Aluminum iMacs are horrible. But the iMac's are the only real choice for their price/performance bracket, so I have to recommend them anyway. And they're otherwise great computers, you're just going to have to deal with tons of really bad glare while you use it. Apple thankfully brought back the matte option on the new MacBook Pro 17". So the current screen situation is this: iMac 20" and iMac 24" are all glossy. MacBook 13" MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro 15" are all glossy. The MacBook Pro 17" is glossy but has an available $50 matte option. If you're spending all that money on the laptop, I highly recommend you spend the extra $50 and get the screen you can actually see. Of course the Mac mini and Mac Pro don't have built in displays. Apple makes stand alone displays, which used to be all matte, but recently Apple again replaced the 23" cinema display with an all new 24" display that is glossy. So the 20" and 30" cinema displays are matte, but the 24 is glossy. Personally I would love to replace my Mac Pro tower with a high end iMac in 6 months to a year. But the glossy screen is a deal breaker. It's just unbearable to constantly be fighting the reflections. Hopefully, Apple well get the hint and make matte screens an option on all their LCDs. The photo is of a new Aluminum MacBook 13" and a 20" iMac, both glossy. You see what's behind you as well as you see what's on the screen.