Written by Benny Ling | 25 October 2011
Posted in Apple

Apple has updated their MacBook Pro line without even taking down the Apple online store, just as the rumour blogs predicted a few weeks ago. Also just like the rumour blogs said, only small CPU and GPU bumps here. A slightly faster CPU, a slightly faster GPU, and that's just about it.

Apple has also made the "Celebrating Steve" video publically available, depicting just how Apple said goodbye to their co-founder. The event may have originally been invitation only, but now the whole world can see how Apple celebrated Steve Jobs. With Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs biography now available in the iBookstore and worldwide, both these things make for a fitting tribute for Steve Jobs.

Written by Benny Ling | 24 October 2011
Posted in Apple

Samsung and Apple executives have discussed long-term component supply relationships, most likely in light of the current legal battle between the two companies. A report from Yonhap News notes that though both companies are locked into agreements well into 2012, the companies still had to meet in order to make arrangements for the 2013-2014 timeline and beyond.

The Mac Pro hasn't seen an update since July last year, and it doesn't look like it will see and update anytime soon, either. MacRumors are saying that new Xeon E5 processors from Intel aren't due until early 2012, making that the most likely time that Apple will update their Mac Pro line — and they've even got an educated guess on what chips Apple might put into the new Mac Pro.

Written by Benny Ling | 21 October 2011
Posted in Apple

Patent applications published by the US Patent Office today show evidence Apple might be working on an even thinner design for MacBook Pros, possibly by making one of the thickest parts even thinner — the optical drive. By using magnets to replace certain hardware functions, Apple's patents describe an even thinner optical drive. Hard drives and RAM can all be found in thinner form factors (as in the current MacBook Air), but at the cost of compatibility with off-the-shelf parts.

There have been reports of users having various issues with the Mac OS X 10.7.2 update that was released last week in order to add compatibility with iCloud. 9 to 5 Mac says users are reporting issues with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Thunderbolt displays ever since the update, including spontaneous disconnects of Bluetooth connections, dropping and failure to reconnect to Wi-Fi networks after waking from sleep, and the Thunderbolt display not responding after waking from sleep.

Written by Benny Ling | 20 October 2011
Posted in Apple

Yesterday's quarterly earnings call revealed two things: success in the financials means not hitting the predictions as set out by Wall Street analysts, and that nearly one in every six dollars of Apple's revenue comes from China. CEO TIm Cook even mentioned that progress in China has been amazing, and that China represents an enormous opportunity for Apple.

Over at asymco, Horace Dediu takes a look at the cost of Apple factories. It's a post that's filled with all sorts of numbers on all sorts of metrics, but just looking at the very first graph says machinery, equipment, and internal-use software easily has the highest costs of any other operating cost. Dediu goes on to discuss the ramifications and possible directions of this on Apple's overall strategy.

Written by Benny Ling | 19 October 2011
Posted in Apple

Anandtech take a closer look at iCloud where it perhaps matters quite a bit: on the desktop, on both OS X 10.7.2 and also on iCloud for Windows. They say that while there's nothing particularly interesting about the technology behind iCloud, there's very little that's actually new — with perhaps the exception of document storage in the cloud, something which iClouds predecessor, MobileMe, was never capable of (unless you count iDisk).

If you're having issues with Find My Mac on the desktop, you're not alone. TUAW says some people are having an issue with the new iCloud preference pane that prompts them to update their system, but that just isn't happening. There's also a tick-box you have to make sure is checked elsewhere in the system, in Security and Privacy.

Written by Benny Ling | 18 October 2011
Posted in Apple

ICloud perhaps hasn't been the best experience so far, but it hasn't been too bad. Some users (especially those migrating info across from MobileMe accounts — family or otherwise) have come across a few issues with regards to server loads — Apple even had to throttle transitions in order to keep with demand as reported by Ars Technica, but mostly I would put down those issues to the simultaneous release of iCloud to the public and to existing MobileMe customers, plus the release of iOS 5, and everything else that happened that day rather than anything else.

Hey, this new wireless AirPlay Mirroring thing in iOS 5 is pretty cool. You have to have the newer model AppleTV for it to work, but it's pretty nifty for big-screen games of Flight Control, Angry Birds, or whatever else tickles your fancy.

Written by Benny Ling | 17 October 2011
Posted in Apple

Some people are a little confused about Apple IDs and iCloud, but there's a nice Apple support article that aims to clear some of that confusion right up. It explains how you can use the same Apple ID for iCloud that you do for iTunes Store purchases, how to use a separate Apple ID for iCloud and iTunes Store purchases, and finally, how using a MobileMe account with iCloud affects things (you'll get more storage, for one).

If you're using Photo Stream with iCloud, you might be wondering why you can't remove individual photos from iCloud. You can, however, reset your Photo Stream entirely by logging into the iCloud web interface and pushing a few buttons as detailed in this support article — but it might have been better for Apple to allow a "selective remove" feature in the first place.

Written by Benny Ling | 14 October 2011
Posted in Apple

Yesterday was a pretty big day for Apple. First there was the launch of iCloud, Apple's new sync service that promises to be much better than its predecessor, and even comes with a few web apps of its own. For many MobileMe subscribers, the transition yesterday wasn't so much "smooth" as it was "unavailable" due to impressive load on Apple servers, but those who did manage to make a connection were greeted with some new features. Now that iCloud is available to all, though, Macworld has the getting started guide you need.

No doubt some of that load on Apple servers was due to the launch of iOS 5 for a pretty large percentage of those 250 million iOS devices out in the wild — and with all those Apple fans upgrading at once, something wrong was going to happen sooner of later. Tales of woe and error 3200 flooded the internet, but amidst all the chaos Ars Technica published a single story: notifications, iMessages, and iCloud, oh my!

Written by Benny Ling | 13 October 2011
Posted in Apple

The iCloud website has had its "beta" banner taken off and is now live for non-developers. 9 to 5 Mac report the help site is also up and running, but even though non-developers are now allowed to transition their AppleIDs to iCloud from MobileMe, it's still not clear when the 10.7.2 update for OS X, or iOS 5 for iOS devices will be released in order for devices to be able to connect — both items haven't been released at time of writing, but here's hoping that both with be out very soon.

Apple wins patents all the time, but Apple winning patents for multi-touch (or more specifically, the detection and processing of touch events), as well as an illuminated camera latch — something that Patently Apple seem pretty confident will appear in a future product, but I'm not so sure, as the design seems distinctly un-Apple like.

Written by Benny Ling | 12 October 2011
Posted in Apple

According to TUAW, the Mythbusters will be hosting a Steve Jobs retrospective on the Discovery channel, set to air on October 16th. The retrospective by Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman will include interviews with key figures from Jobs's past, and will no doubt be a fairly interesting look at the life and times of Steve Jobs, perhaps with just a hint of added media spin.

Apple will also be hosting something similar, with an email sent from Tim Cook to the rest of the Apple team informing them of a private event to celebrate Steve Jobs' life, held in the outdoor ampitheater on the Infinite Loop campus. The event, set to occur on October 19th, will probably involve a lot of Apple employees taking the time to remember all the incredible things that Steve Jobs achieved, and the many ways he helped make the world a better place.