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News & Opinion
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News & Opinion
MacBook Pro on Performance Enhancing Drugs?
iSource's PatrickJ says he uses a 2010 15" MacBook Pro
as his desktop computer, and while all of his MacBooks have been pretty
stellar performers, this one (with a recent memory upgrade to
8 GB) "is just a flat-out speedy beast of a machine. It lives to
kick ass and take process names."
PatrickJ's MacBook Pro has been so much of a beast lately that he's
beginning to suspect it's been hanging out with a bad crowd, maybe
juicing in the clubhouse when he's out of the house, getting some of
that PED (performance enhancing drugs) action on its innards.
Link: My MacBook Pro:
Possibly on Performance Enhancing Drugs
Robust Sales Make MacBook Air a Cash Cow for
Apple
AppleInsider's Neil Hughes reports that more than five months after
the second-generation MacBook
Air's debut, adoption rates remain robust positioning the air as a
meaningful growth driver for Apple and raking in a projected $2.2
billion a year.
Link: Strong Sales Make
Apple's 'Quasi-tablet' MacBook Air a $2.2B-per-Year Product
The $2.2 Billion MacBook Air
Fortune's Philip Elmer-DeWitt reports:
"According to [J.P. Morgan analyst Mark] Moskowitz, revenue from Air
sales tripled and units quadrupled year over year after Apple (AAPL)
cut the price, added a camera and introduced an 11-inch model last fall."
Link: The
$2.2 Billion MacBook Air
Intel to Launch New Sandy Bridge Chips That Could
Be in Next MacBook Air
Hardmac's Lionel reports that with the MacBook Pro's
across-the-board upgrade to Sandy Bridge silicon, a lot of people are
waiting for Apple to upgrade the MacBook Air, one of the last Macs
still running a Core 2 Duo CPU. He notes that in a device as thin and
tightly packed as the MacBook Air, adding faster CPUs presents
formidable challenges. The 11.6" Air's current Core 2 Duo draws a
modest 10W plus the power consumption of the Nvidia 320M IGPU, but
Intel's current i3 and i5 CPUs draw at least 25W.
However, Lionel reports that help could be on the way in the form of
Intel's new low consumption Core "i" processors, such as the
Intel Core i5 2537M CPU, which is clocked at 1.4 GHz and reaches
2.3 GHz in Turbo Mode, but that even this new chip draws 17W - about
70% more than the Air's current CPU - but compensates somewhat by
including graphics support on-chip.
Another variant of the low-power Core "i" family will be the Core i7
2657M featuring 2 cores (4 threads), clocked at 1.6 GHz with a turbo
mode reaching 2.7 GHz, which would put the 13" MacBook Air in the 13"
MacBook Pro's performance ballpark - and still with a power draw of
just 17W.
Link: Intel to Launch Sandy Bridge
Chips That Could Be Found in the New MacBook Air
Swapping Batteries in Older 'Books
MacFixIt's Topher Kessler notes that while Apple's current laptops
are built with internal batteries to increase power capabilities, older
'Books still have easily removable batteries. In similar systems, the
batteries are interchangeable, and while it may be obvious that you can
swap batteries among these systems, some people may also have concerns
about doing this, such as whether or not the system would read battery
status properly and if charge values would be similar across multiple
machines.
The article includes tips on live battery swapping without external
power and general battery care.
Link: Swapping
Batteries in Apple's Laptops
TRIM Enabler Increases Solid State Drive
Performance in OS X
Life Hacker's Whitson Gordon reports that a free utility called TRIM
Enabler increases solid state drive (SSD) performance in OS X
10.6.7. TRIM manages
how data blocks are made available on a solid state drive, and it isn't
available in OS X by default. However, if you're running Snow
Leopard and have a supported SSD, you can enable it with TRIM Enabler
(see below), which patches OS X 10.6.7 systems
to take advantage of TRIM.
Link: TRIM Enabler
Increases Solid State Drive Performance in OS X
UNIX fsck Command Also Supports TRIM
Hardmac's Lionel notes that veteran Mac users and many people who've
had problems with their hard drives know the fsck command (available
with Single-User Mode login - hold down the Command and S keys on
startup or reboot - you can't run the fsck routine from the Terminal)
on OS X. When starting in Single-User mode, fsck allows
verification of the the integrity - and repair if necessary - of the
startup disk, and reports that there is an extra line, "Trimming unused
blocks" when fsck command TRIM for users whose SSD had slowed down
before they activated TRIM.
To proceed:
- Boot in Single User mode (command + S)
- When asked type the fsck -ffy command (note the space in the
syntax)
- When fsck is finished running, type exit to continue a normal boot
or reboot to restart.
Link: The FSCK Command
Also Supports TRIM
Early 2011 15" MacBook Pro Nearly Matches Mac Pro Performance
Computing's Cliff Joseph observes that Apple's updated MacBook Pro
line brings both improved performance and battery life, as well as
debuting the speedy Thunderbolt I/O technology, noting that while
the 13" model
will probably sell in higher volume, the 15" model has
enough clout to ensure that it earns its keep and can even match one
configuration of Apple's current
Mac Pro workstations in performance. He further notes that one
interesting thing about Thunderbolt is that it's a "dual-protocol"
technology that supports existing PCI Express and DisplayPort devices,
suggesting that third-party manufacturers should be able to develop
adapters and hubs for existing FireWire and USB peripherals that will
allow Thunderbolt to serve as a universal high-speed I/O technology for
virtually any kind of peripheral.
He also reports that the 2.2 GHz 15-incher supports Windows 7 via
Apple's Boot Camp tool very impressively, with the its overall
benchmark score of 7,392 almost matching the 7,882 score achieved by a
Mac Pro workstation equipped with a 2.8 GHz quad-core Xeon. He also
praises the MacBook Pro's battery life, lasting a full eight-and-a-half
hours when left running some fullscreen video, exceeding Apple's own
seven hour claim for general tasks such as web browsing and email by a
substantial margin - a good thing being as the MacBook Pro battery is
built-in and not swappable.
Link: Review: Apple
MacBook Pro
Products & Services
Seagate GoFlex Slim Performance Drive
PR: This ultraportable external hard drive
designed to work with both Mac and PC computers features an ultra-thin
anodized aluminum case, delivering USB 3.0 connectivity and high
performance with its fast 7200 RPM internal hard drive for file
transfers up to 40% faster than 5400 RPM drives
Claimed to be the world's slimmest portable external hard drive,
GoFlex Slim is about the thickness of a #2 pencil, making it ideal for
pairing with your netbook, subcompact notebook, and other portable
devices. The rugged case resists damage during transport with a stylish
flair.
Features include the 7200 RPM internal drive, USB 3.0
plug-and-play connectivity backup software with powerful encryption
technology and the Seagate Dashboard management tool for easy
management of your backups and file encryption and at-a-glance
available drive capacity.
Whether you have a PC or a Mac - or if you go back and forth between
the two - you can access and save files on the same portable hard drive
anytime without reformatting, although reformatting to HFS+ will be
required in order to to use backup software for Mac or Time
Machine.
The GoFlex Slim Performance System also lets you view your movies
and photos on your TV by pairing the drive with the GoFlex TV HD media
player
GoFlex Slim Features:
- Preloaded premium backup software with encryption &
synchronization
- NTFS driver for Mac preloaded on drive (Compatibility may vary
depending on user's hardware configuration and operating system)
- GoFlex USB 3.0 interface adapter
- 18" USB 3.0 cable
- Quick start guide
- 3-year limited warranty
System requirements
- Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP (32-bit and 64-bit) operating
system or Mac OS X operating system 10.5.8 or higher
- SuperSpeed USB 3.0 port (required for USB 3.0 transfer speeds.
Backwards compatible with USB 2.0 ports at USB 2.0 transfer
speeds)
Price $99
Publisher's note: Mac OS X does not yet support USB 3.0, so these
drives will only function at USB 2.0 speed without third-party USB 3.0
cards and drivers.
Link: Seagate GoFlex
Slim Performance Drive (Seagate GoFlex drives can be ordered
through Amazon.com)
QuickerTek Brings Back Carry Handle for Early 15"
MacBook Pros
PR: QuickerTek announces that by popular
demand they are bringing back Carry Handles for the first and second generation 15"
MacBook Pros. Model numbers A1150 and A1226. These are the flat bottom
with removable battery model MacBook Air. The new QuickerTek Carry
Handle is priced at $79.95 and is available through QuickerTek's web
store shipping mid-April.
This new lightweight carry handle is made from
sturdy non-flex aircraft quality aluminum for strength and weight
savings. The finish on the aluminum also blends in with the finishes on
the MacBook Pro, so when the handle is attached, it looks like it
belongs there. Countersunk screws add a finish quality that is not
commonly found on handles at any price, and the handle attaches with a
bracket mount that uses the existing screw holes on the back of the
computer, does it not alter your Apple laptop, is completely
reversible, and helps ensure that the laptop doesn't slip and hit the
floor.
The unique design lays the handle out and the bracket elevates the
15" MacBook Pro, which allows better airflow underneath the laptop,
which means a cooler-running laptop. This slight angle adjustment also
keeps the keyboard at a raked position some users prefer.
The QuickerTek Carry Handle doesn't alter the laptop and is
completely reversible. Styled to match your Mac, it goes with all of
your cool Mac stuff. Like most QuickerTek products, the Carry Handles
for the Unibody Family and the first and second generation MacBook Pro
are backed with a one-year warranty on parts and labor.
Link: QuickerTek
Carry Handles
Software
TRIM Enabler for Mac
PR: Independent developer Rafeed Chaudhury says:
"Today I read reports of new discovered hacks to enable TRIM on any
SSD in Mac OS X by editing binary of a leaked kext from MacBook
Pro 2011 build.
"I immediately started scripting an application to automize the
binary editing and allow users to enable support for any SSD model.
"Then, when I was nearly done, a user on MacBidouille [Hardmac]
forum had discovered that you don't even have to edit the kext, you can
just remove the identifier altogether.
"So some work went to waste but anyway, I decided to release the
application anyway, because some users were having problem with
installing their kexts.
"Here you go, TRIM Enabler for Snow Leopard."
Link: TRIM
Enabler for Mac
Bargain 'Books
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