Mac 101: Upgrade to SSD

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Shawn "Doc" Boyd

If you are looking for a way to get more out of your MacBook or MacBook Pro, consider a solid-state drive (SSD). SSDs offer faster data read and write speeds, fast file transfers, speedier boot times and will save you some battery life. In the past, SSDs were considered somewhat pricey upgrades and out of reach for many users. Today, prices are dropping and quality drives can be had for a song through retailers like Amazon and OWC.

Today I will show you how to install an SSD, specifically the Samsung 840 series into a June 2012 MacBook Pro. The proceedure in this tutorial video will work for any SATA-based Mac notebook with a few monior adjustments to the physical installation of the disc.

Keys to Success

Remember: before doing a full hard-disc transplant, make a full backup of your computer. Rather than restoring from a backup to a new drive, I used Carbon Copy Cloner and a Seagate Thunderbolt Adapter to clone my internal drive’s contents before installing the new SSD. If you don’t have a Seagate Backup Plus drive you can pick up a universal drive dock or Notebook Hard Drive Upgrade Kit for about US$30. They’re nice to have around anyway.

This whole upgrade process is super easy and you should be able to complete it in a few hours depending on how much data you need to transfer. No go forth and do yourself a solid.

Mac 101: Upgrade to SSD originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 14 May 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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These Laser-Cut MacBook Lids Will Take Your Mac Décor To An All New Level

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Buster Heine

Putting a sweet decal on your MacBook’s lid is cool and all, but if you’re looking to take things to another level with your MacBook decorating skills, maybe you you should try cutting some artwork into it with a laser.

The process of laser cutting artwork into your MacBook’s lid isn’t easy, but the people over at Uncover will do it for you. You can get almost any design cut into your MacBook, but Uncover requires that you send in your MacBook to be beautified, or just buy a new one through them so they can customize it before sending it out to you.

The results are pretty stunning, and it will definitely help you stand out at a college or your next IT conference.

Here’s a peek at some of the cool laser-cut artwork others have had Uncover do for them:

Uncover says they can modify both MacBook Pros and MacBooks Airs. Unfortunately, laser cutting isn’t cheap. Some of the simple designs will only set you back $260, while more complicated procedures demand up to $780. Whatever you decide to go with, you better love it for the rest of your MacBook’s life because there’s no going back once you’ve cut your lid with lasers.

Source: Uncover

Via: iLounge

Apple tops the list for best performing Windows laptops

Posted on April 25, 2013 by Mike Schramm

Soluto has ranked a few different brands of Windows laptops based on their performance against trouble and crashes, and here’s a fun twist: Apple topped the heap. That’s right, on a list of laptops that included Acer and Dell, an Apple MacBook Pro running Windows via Bootcamp got Soluto’s best rating, the lowest score based on “a combination of crashes, hangs, BSoDs, boot and background processes.”

Soluto says the reason Apple scored so well is probably because this was a “clean” Windows installation, which means that it didn’t have any of the crapware that PC manufacturers usually have to install on their sold devices to try and turn a profit (buying a computer with something installed on it that you don’t want — can you imagine?). But Soluto also says there are obvious issues with running Windows on a Mac, first and foremost that drivers for any accessories (customized keyboards or mice) may not work correctly. Still, if you want a trouble-free Windows experience, Soluto says running it on a Mac is the way to go.

Apple showed up on the list twice, once for the 13-inch MacBook Pro and also for the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display. The 15-inch model boasted slightly more crashes than the smaller model — maybe because of the display? At any rate, it’s a sad situation for PC manufacturers when Apple claims two of the industry’s most trouble-free spots.

[via Lifehacker]

Apple tops the list for best performing Windows laptops originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Best Laptop To Run Windows On Is A Mac

Posted on April 24, 2013 by John Brownlee

How crappy are Windows PCs these days? The most reliable, best performing, highly rated laptop for running Windows on is a frickin’ Mac: specifically, a mid-2012 MacBook Pro 13. That’s the conclusion of a new reort released by Solutu, purveyors of a cloud-based PC monitoring and management software suite, sampling data gathered for the first three months of 2013 from 150,000 portable PCs, and awarding them a score according to how many times programs on average crashed or hung, how long it took to boot up, how many background processes were running, and how many times it BSODed (or completely crashed).

As ZDNet’s Ed Bott points out, the laptops that were determined to be most reliable were the ones that ran clean installs of Windows, instead of bloatware-infected OEM installs. And surprise, every Mac running Boot Camp must use a clean install of Windows, making it the king.

Jeez, PC makers. This is just sad.

Source: Soluto

Hacker Builds Retina PC Using An iPad Display

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Killian Bell

You don’t necessarily have to spend $1,200+ on a new MacBook Pro to get a computer with a Retina display. Providing you’re happy to pull apart your iPad and you know what you’re doing with a soldering iron, you can build your a Retina display for your PC.

That’s what Polish hacker Andrzej did.

Andrzej took advantage of the eDisplayPort interface on his iPad’s Retina display — which was manufactured by LG — and turned it into a traditional DisplayPort using a connector he found online for $14. Soldering everything together was the hardest part, Andrzej describes on his blog, but the effort was well worth it.

Creating the PCB was fairly straightforward, I just had to route all the FPC connector pins out to pads where I would solder DP cable wires. It was possible on a single-sided home-made board.

I tried to make the traces for DP lanes to be of the same length (that’s very important for high speed differential signals), and as it turns out, either my PCB design is pretty good, or DisplayPort is very forgiving.

Soldering everything was a little difficult, the FPC connector has tiny pins, but they stick out a little bit, so it’s doable with a regular soldering iron.

After the PCB was done, I cut open a DP cable and soldered all the wires in their places.

Unfortunately there is no standard for wire colors, so I had to open up the DP plug to trace them to the correct pins.

Andrzej was left with a Retina display for his PC that runs at full resolution. The whole thing cost him around $70 in parts, he says, with the display itself purchased from China for just $55. Andrzej says that this is just a prototype, and that he’s working on a “professional PCB with a DP connector so no wire splicing will be required in the future.”

Maybe you’ll soon be able to buy a readymade adapter from Andrzej that’ll do all the hard work for you. But in the meantime, you can try out the hack yourself by following the instructions on Andrzej’s blog.

Source: EmertyHacks

Via: Macgasm

Hacker Builds Retina PC Using An iPad Display

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Killian Bell

That’s what Polish hacker Andrzej did.

Creating the PCB was fairly straightforward, I just had to route all the FPC connector pins out to pads where I would solder DP cable wires. It was possible on a single-sided home-made board.

I tried to make the traces for DP lanes to be of the same length (that’s very important for high speed differential signals), and as it turns out, either my PCB design is pretty good, or DisplayPort is very forgiving.

Soldering everything was a little difficult, the FPC connector has tiny pins, but they stick out a little bit, so it’s doable with a regular soldering iron.

After the PCB was done, I cut open a DP cable and soldered all the wires in their places.

Unfortunately there is no standard for wire colors, so I had to open up the DP plug to trace them to the correct pins.

Source: EmertyHacks

Via: Macgasm

Hacker Builds Retina PC Using An iPad Display

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Killian Bell

That’s what Polish hacker Andrzej did.

Creating the PCB was fairly straightforward, I just had to route all the FPC connector pins out to pads where I would solder DP cable wires. It was possible on a single-sided home-made board.

I tried to make the traces for DP lanes to be of the same length (that’s very important for high speed differential signals), and as it turns out, either my PCB design is pretty good, or DisplayPort is very forgiving.

Soldering everything was a little difficult, the FPC connector has tiny pins, but they stick out a little bit, so it’s doable with a regular soldering iron.

After the PCB was done, I cut open a DP cable and soldered all the wires in their places.

Unfortunately there is no standard for wire colors, so I had to open up the DP plug to trace them to the correct pins.

Source: EmertyHacks

Via: Macgasm

Pupil Switches Retina Resolutions Right From Your Menubar

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Charlie Sorrel

Remember when we used to switch resolutions on our computers? No, probably not. That’s because only old people experienced the pain of doing such a thing manually – these days our monitors are built in to our computers, and the pixel-mapping is done by the OS.

Unless you have a new Retina MacBook Pro that is. Now there might actually be a reason to switch resolutions. But who wants to dig around in System Preferences? Instead, you can use Pupil.

Pupil is nothing more than a menubar pull-down which lets you select the res for your Retina MacBook Pro (RMBP) screen. Why would you do this? Because the RMBP doesn’t run at its full resolution. Instead, it takes four screen pixels and molds them into one notional pixel. This is A Good Thing most of the time as it a) makes everything looks smoother thanks to some clever jiggery-pokery at the pixel anti0aliasing level, and b) means that you can actually see the on-screen icons without a magnifying glass.

But sometimes you might want to see all the pixels rendered individually. Some apps, like Adobe’s Lightroom, can do this – they show the UI in the smooth, four-in-one pixel mode and display the actual photo as native pixels.

But that relies on the app. If you want to take control, Pupil will add let you switch up resolutions at the pull of a menu item. You can even name your presets so they’re easier to find.

The app is just $5, and has a generous trial period to check it out first. What are you waiting for? What? An eye test? Ah, yes. Fair enough.

Source: Pupil

Pupil Switches Retina Resolutions Right From Your Menubar

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Charlie Sorrel

Unless you have a new Retina MacBook Pro that is. Now there might actually be a reason to switch resolutions. But who wants to dig around in System Preferences? Instead, you can use Pupil.

But that relies on the app. If you want to take control, Pupil will add let you switch up resolutions at the pull of a menu item. You can even name your presets so they’re easier to find.

The app is just $5, and has a generous trial period to check it out first. What are you waiting for? What? An eye test? Ah, yes. Fair enough.

Source: Pupil

OGIO’s gorgeous 13-inch Covert Shoulder Bag: review and giveaway

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Steven Sande

Apple’s smaller notebooks — the 11″ and 13″ MacBook Air and the 13″ MacBook Pro — are incredibly popular, so it’s not surprising that accessory manufacturers are now turning out some beautiful and functional products especially for these computers. Today we’ll be looking at OGIO’s 13″ Covert Shoulder Bag (US$69.99). It’s perfect for those smaller Apple notebooks and we’re going to give one away to a TUAW reader.

Design

I’ve always been fond of vertical computer bags, so the Covert Shoulder Bag immediately caught my eye. This bag comes in black or Heather Gray — the latter is an attractive dark gray with just a hint of brown in it. That exterior is made of 1000D Kodra fabric with a water-resistant coating, using Nylon webbing for the handles and strap.

The strap is padded for comfortable carrying, and your laptop is going to be well-protected in a main padded compartment with a quilted liner. There’s a second compartment inside the bag for your accessories with a smartphone pocket, a zippered pen/pencil compartment, and several slots for business cards.

Gallery: OGIO 13″ Covert Shoulder Bag

On the back of the case is an open-topped slip pocket, perfect for papers, a book or a folder. Finally, there’s a zipped audio pocket on the front with a cleverly-hidden audio port to thread your headphones through.

The bag weighs in at 1.4 pounds, about half the weight of the 13″ MacBook Air. OGIO includes a metal placard on the front with the style number imprinted on it, which is helpful when someone asks “What is that case?”

Functionality

I tried out the case with an 11″ MacBook Air, which had plenty of room inside this case. It’s designed to carry up to the 13″ MacBook Pro with ease. The Covert uses YKK Vislon zippers, which are watertight, strong, and resistant to chemicals and UV. I found the zippers to be somewhat “rough” in terms of pull, but they certainly keep your gear away from the elements.

The strap is adjustable over a wide range and the padding is fine. One minor point — the strap doesn’t have a non-slip coating on it, so I found that it was somewhat easy for it to slip off my shoulder. Many competing bags use a rubberized material on shoulder straps to keep the strap from slipping.

One other minor niggling point: this isn’t a TSA “checkpoint friendly” bag as it doesn’t have a laptop-only section that can lie flat on an X-ray belt. It’s surprising to find a new computer bag that isn’t compliant, considering that the TSA standard has been around since 2008.

Conclusion

In terms of looks, the OGIO 13″ Covert Shoulder Bag is one of the nicer looking computer bags I’ve seen recently. However, it is probably a better bag for the non-traveler who just needs a bag for school or work, and doesn’t need to run the bag through TSA checkpoints on a weekly basis.

Pros

Well-designed, attractive, and constructed of high-quality components
Vertical design looks very professional
Notebook pocket is heavily padded for good protection
Separate pocket for accessories and other items keeps your MacBook safe from scratches
Separate outside pocket for audio devices or smartphones with a hidden cable port
Price is quite reasonable

Cons

Not checkpoint-friendly
Shoulder strap pad is rather slick and can slide off of your shoulder or require a permanent shrug to keep it from falling

Who is it for?

Owners of 11- and 13-inch MacBooks who want a reasonably-priced and stylish bag offering excellent protection

Giveaway

Like the looks of this 13″ Covert Shoulder Bag? It can be yours if you’re the lucky winner in our giveaway. Here are the rules for the giveaway:

Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
To enter, fill out the form below completely and click or tap the Submit button.
The entry must be made before April 19, 2013 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time.
You may enter only once.
One winner will be selected and will receive an OGIO 13″ Covert Shoulder Bag in Heather Gray valued at $69.99.
Click Here for complete Official Rules.

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OGIO’s gorgeous 13-inch Covert Shoulder Bag: review and giveaway originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 16 Apr 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Boost Your Volume With Boom For Mac [Deals]

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Mike Vardy

This Cult of Mac Deals offer is for Boom, a sweet little Mac app that both boosts your Mac’s volume and equalizes and enhances its sound. Boom seamlessly integrates itself with your Mac so all you have to do is adjust the volume as you wish. As for the deal….we’ve got it here for just $4 for a limited time.

Think of what Boom can do for the volume on things like:

YouTube videos
Hulu content
The music in your iTunes library
Skype calls
FaceTime and iChat communication
Your favorite games
…and more!

Boom can boost them all. Add to that the ability to boost audio and video files and you have the ultimate sonic boom for your Mac.

Boom will improve the audio quality from the Mac’s built-in stereo speakers on the latest MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, MacBook Pro with Retina Display, and the new iMac as well. With this deal you’ll get a licenses that allows you to run it on 2 Macs, meaning you can have enhanced sound on your home and work machines.

But this offer won’t last. Head over to the Deals page now and add some much-needed ‘oomph’ to your Macs with Boom for only $4!

[subscribebutton]deals[/subscribebutton]

This Wool Felt Sleeve Case Is The Comfiest Home You Could Give Your MacBook [Review]

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Killian Bell

Do you ever worry that your beloved MacBook’s sleek aluminum shell will get damaged when it’s packed inside your bag with the rest of your gadgets and gizmos. This handmade, wool felt sleeve from MyBanana aims to give your notebook a home of its own, away from sharp keys, USB cables, chargers, and all the other things you might need to pack into your bag when you’re on the road.

Wool Felt Sleeve by MyBanana
Category: Sleeve
Works With: MacBook Air, MacBook Pro
Price: £48+

Its slimline design holds your MacBook Air or Retina MacBook Pro — depending on which size you go for — plus smaller items in a pocket on its front. This is ideal for carrying Lightning cables, an iPhone, or even an iPad mini.

Anything you stick inside the sleeve is secured by two vegatable tanned leather traps with snap fasteners.

Pricing starts at £48 ($56) for the 11-inch MacBook Air sleeve, then rises to £54 ($63) for the 13-inch MacBook Air or Retina MacBook Pro models. If you have a 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro, it’ll cost you £58 ($68).

Let’s find out if it’s worth it.

The Good

I’ve been using this sleeve for several months now, and the thing I love about it is that it’s completely unique. It’s not mass produced on an assembly line that churns out thousands of these cases each week — every one is lovingly made by hand.

These fasteners are super strong.

That means you’re unlikely to find anyone else with the same case. I took mine to Mobile World Congress back in Febuary, where I saw hundreds of MacBooks every day — and not one of them was protected with this case.

At MWC, I used the sleeve to protect my MacBook inside my bag, and to prevent it from being scratched or dented by my camera, my iPad mini, and all the cables, pens, and other stuff I had rolling around in there.

It fits incredibly well — it’s not too tight but it’s not too loose — and the leather straps gave me peace of mind when I was pulling my laptop out of my bag; it didn’t matter if I yanked it out at an angle, because my MacBook wasn’t going to fall out.

The pocket on the front of the sleeve was also handy for carrying the odd Lightning cable, and sometimes my iPad mini. You can also fit your MacBook’s charger in there; it’s a bit of a squeeze and I don’t recomment it, but it will fit. But you have to watch what you put in there — more on this below.

Another thing I love about this case is its build quality.

Another thing I love about this case is its build quality. It’s super tough, and everything feels solid and secure, and the stitching and straps are more than strong enough. Mine’s taken quite a battering over the past few months, and it still looks pretty much brand new.

The Bad

The sleeve doesn’t have a handle, so if you wish to carry it by itself — not inside a bag — then you’ll have to tuck it under your arm or trust your grip. And I have to say, the wool doesn’t provide the best grip, especially when it’s carrying a heavy notebook.

If you’re popping to a local cafe and you just want to catch up on some emails over a coffee, then this won’t be too much of an issue. But if you plan on carrying your notebook around all day, then it will.

MacBook chargers are a tight fit.

As I mentioned above, you’ll need to watch what you put in the front pocket of the sleeve. While an iPad mini or some cables are just find, smaller items — such as memory cards — are likely to slip out of the gaps at the sides and get lost. I actually lost a pen this way; I’m just glad it wasn’t something more valuable like an SD card full of photos.

You’ll also want to be careful cramming your charger in there. It’ll fit, but it’ll be tight, and if you happen to drop your laptop and it lands on the charger, it’s more likely to get damaged than if it lands on an flat iPad mini.

The Verdict

Smaller items can fall out of these gaps at the sides.

While this sleeve isn’t built for carring a notebook around all day, it’s terrific if you want added protection for your device while it’s inside your bag, or if you want to pop out for a couple of hours and get some work done in a cafe or a library. It’s even good for carrying your laptop to and from the office in the car.

I’m also a big fan of the fact that it’s handmade and completely unique. And because of this, I don’t mind spending a little more on it — not that it’s overly expensive anyway.

Just be careful how you use the front pocket, and make sure you hold it tight when you’re out and about.

Product Name: Wool Felt Sleeve
The Good: Strong, looks good, and completely unique. The most comfortable home you could give your MacBook.
The Bad: No handle and therefore not much grip.
The Verdict If you want a MacBook sleeve that’s unique and well made, then this sleeve from MyBanana is certainly worth a look.
Buy from: MyBanana

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Apple To Refresh MacBook Lineup In Time For WWDC [Rumor]

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Buster Heine

There have been some absurd Apple rumors that hit the web this morning, but here’s one that actually has a chance of happening in the real world.

Apple will be updating its MacBook Air and MacBook Pro line of laptop just in time for Worldwide Developers Conference this June.

Even though the rumor is coming from the unreliable “supply chain sources” at Digitimes, we think there’s reason to believe the update will happen soon. Both the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro haven’t seen updates since June of 2012, so we expect Apple to come out with a minor spec bump for all models in the near future at the very least.

Intel is still waiting for its Haswell processors to be ready for primetime this summer, which is when Apple will also update the MacBook lineup too. Some have speculated that the MacBook Airs will get Retina displays, but with their paltry battery life, we’re not so confident that will happen quite yet.

Source: DigiTimes

Replace Your MacBook’s Keys With These All Wood Danish Mid-Century Chiclets

Posted on March 27, 2013 by John Brownlee

I’m a sucker for wood paneling my Apple products, and so I’m absolutely going to have to do this: the guys over at RAWBKNY (whom we’ve written about before) are now selling laser-etched replacement keys for the MacBook Pro.

They look great, and Michael over at RAWBKNY say that while they are only designed for the non-Retina MacBook Pro right now, he’s tweaking it so it should work on Retina MacBook Pro and MacBook Airs soon.

We’ve got a review unit on the way to see how well these work, but be warned: replacing every key on your MacBook is likely to be a time consuming process. $40 will get you a set.

Source: RAWBKNY

Huzzah! OS X 10.8.3 Update Gives Retina MacBook Pro Owners 20+ Minutes of Extra Battery Life

Posted on March 26, 2013 by John Brownlee

If you own a Retina MacBook Pro, here’s a nice little perk to upgrading to OS X 10.8.3: you’ll get about 20 minutes more battery life per charge.

The Mac Observer ran the update through its paces and here’s what they found:

We decided to also run tests on our 2012 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display (rMBP). We privately tested each beta build of 10.8.3 on both MacBooks as they were released and, starting with build 12D76, we saw a noticeable jump in battery life on the rMBP. Running time went from 398 minutes, which was roughly the same as the public release of 10.8.2, to 421 minutes, a change that persisted with the final build.

If you have any other MacBook, though, don’t hold your breath. The new update doesn’t improve much for non-Retina MBPs.

Source: Mac Observer