Category: Apple

The boys and girls over at iFixit have posted a 9-page tutorial on how to remove the Mac mini’s optical drive and hard drive and replace them both with bigger, faster hard drives.

This can only be done to a new Mac mini, as the older models use the older style PATA connectors for the optical drive, while the new one is all SATA.

The procedure looks easy enough, but does involve some technical knowledge and some soldering. And, without a doubt, this would void your AppleCare - but it is a really cool way to void it.

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Blair Saldanah is a collector of all things Apple, and is selling off his collection, piece by piece:

Here’s the situation: my wife needs medical care; and we don’t have health insurance. As we all know, desperate times call for desperate measures. So… I’m forced to liquidate my absolutely amazing Collection of Apple Memorabilia! Take a look around, see what you like, and email me to discuss your needs. Many items have some bargaining room (maybe!) and we’ll do quantity discounts too, so find what you want and let’s talk. You might be surprised!

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Mac|Life has posted a lengthy piece named “ 50 Things Every Mac Geek Should Know.” Here’s a tidbit:

But to help give you the street cred–that is Mac knowledge–to back up the passion, we present the 50 things you really should know if you want to call yourself a Mac geek. If you’re a recent convert to the Way of the Mac, be sure you study this compendium so you can move up a few levels of geekitude. If you’re a longtime Mac geek, test your know-how against our list–and be sure to let us know what we missed by flaming us at [email protected].

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Wired Magazine:

The launch of the latest Mac Mini dispels long-held rumors that the diminutive desktop was about to be discontinued. But Apple’s shabby treatment of the device still leaves plenty of questions unanswered.

Namely, why did it take so long for Apple to make a relatively minor, incremental upgrade? Why are there no changes in the case’s overall appearance? Ultimately, why did Apple do the least it could’ve possibly done with this device?

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With the updates this morning, I read over this sentence and didn’t even really stop to think about it:

AirPort Extreme now operates in the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands simultaneously to ensure top performance for all your devices.

Here’s what that really means - that a single base station can broadcast the faster 802.11N signal for N-equipped computers (including ever Macintosh computer, including the just-updated Mac mini) and the slower 802.11G signal for devices like iPhones, iPod Touch devices, and older computers.

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Apple updated both the Time Capsule and the Airport base station today. From Apple:

You can now access all the files on your Time Capsule drive over the Internet. Simply register your Time Capsule with your MobileMe account, and its drive appears in the Finder sidebar of your Mac just like any other attached drive. It’s like having your own personal file server wherever you go.

Mac Rumors has more:

…now offering simultaneous 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz dual-band networking “for optimal performance, range and compatibility.” The new models also offer the ability to set up a secondary Internet-only Wi-Fi network to allow family and friends to access the Internet without giving them the password to the primary network or allowing them access to networked drives and other peripherals.

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Seems I was wrong about the date, but right that Apple would drop new models across the line all at once. Here are some highlights:

1. The Mac mini now sports an NVIDIA chipset, a Firewire 800 port, 5 USB ports, 2 video ports and runs on less power than before. Same case as before, however. The starting price - $599.

2. The iMac got better graphics, and now only the low-end model has the 20-inch display - all the other models are 24 inches. They all come with more RAM out of the box, and the 24-inch can take 8GB of RAM. The 20-inch model is $1199, the 24-inchers start at $1499, and they are still wrapped in aluminum and glass, just like before.

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I replaced a ton of white and black batteries for Apple’s MacBook series during my time behind the Genius Bar, and saw several battery firmware updates to help the issues. Today, Apple released yet another update that “improves the ability of MacBook batteries to maintain a charge if you shut the system down and do not use it for an extended period of time.”

As with any updates, read the directions, folks.

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Mac Rumors:

The big story circulating around the internet this weekend was the possibility of a March 24th Apple Media event. The date was based on a couple of anonymous reports from World of Apple and My Apple Guide. While the date seems plausible, neither site has any particular track record for accurately predicting Apple’s future plans.

[…]

Of the releases, the iMac and Mac mini are expected to be smaller bumps that may not warrant a full media event. The Mac Pro, however, is expected to incorporate a major architectual jump with the adoption of Intel’s Nehalem processors. Intel is also conveniently launching Mac Pro suitable Nehalem processors at the end of March. And in a final piece of related news, the latest Mac OS X 10.5.7 developer seeds has been revealed to already “fully” support the Nehalem processors.

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The MacOS iPhone Project is (according to their site) an attempt to get Mac System 7 running on an iPhone. Details are sketchy, but they do have photos. Here’s a blurb:

This is where we ran into one of our biggest issues, the cursor, it sound simple, but Apple didnt make it easy for us.

I have a feeling this will require jail-breaking the device, but time will tell.

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Gizmodo spent some time with Apple’s new 17-inch MacBook Pro and has posted a nice review of the machine:

Apple will tell you that the MBP17 is the thinnest, lightest 17-inch notebook in the world. We’ll tell you that for a monster of a laptop, it manages to not be too monstrous. The 17-inch (1920x1200) screen is a sharp, contrasty and colorful panorama, but it’s the little touches that make the MBP17 manageable: The system’s near-silent operation (using a 256GB SSD instead of a hard drive) is almost unnerving. Its underside gets warm, but never hot. And the unibody design makes particularly good sense in this larger size, as the wide chassis does not flex to your grip as you might expect.

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Macworld, on Apple’s annual shareholder meeting today:

With Jobs currently on medical leave until the end of June, the health of Apple’s CEO was very much on the minds of attendees at the shareholders’ meeting. In fact, it was the subject of the first thing asked when company executives opened the floor to shareholder questions. A shareholder asked whether Apple’s board of directors had kept investors in the dark about the status of Jobs’ health and inquired about a succession plan. Board member Arthur Levinson, who is also chairman and CEO of biotech firm Genentech, replied that the board disclaims information that it deems important and proper, and that it talks regularly about a succession plan.

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