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Mac Hardware and Software |OT| - All things Macintosh

T

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
jcutner said:
Am I doing something wrong, or is this to be expected?

If I set my rMBP 13" to Scaling for 1440x, or 1650x because Retina is too small (I'm coming from a 1280x800 on my old MBP 13", so while it looks better, the screen real estate is the same) and then I load up a YouTube 1080p video full screen, it lags? Theres a serious drop in frame rate and it's not smooth.

I thought this machine would be able to handle it? I thought I'd be able to play back 4K youtube video's at native res :( Too much to expect?
Click to expand...
Maybe it's Flash being Flash? Try finding a 1080p video that uses HTML5 instead.

Also, are you in Safari or another browser?
 
H

Hypertrooper

Member
I got my rMBP a few hours ago. I did the mistake to sync my e-mail account with this slow connection. Is there any way to pause sync process and continue when I have access to faster internet? This stuff takes me down. Have other important stuff to download first. Sigh.

And any good Mac for dummies articles?
 
T

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
jcutner said:
Using Firefox
Click to expand...
IMHO Firefox is a bit behind. (It still uses a single process for tabs instead of separate ones for each like Chrome and Safari 7.) Try the following:

Find a 1080p video if high enough quality that's running in HTML5 instead of Flash.

Test the same video in Safari and maybe Chrome and see if the experience is the same.
 
F

Fuchsdh

Member
The Real Abed said:
IMHO Firefox is a bit behind. (It still uses a single process for tabs instead of separate ones for each like Chrome and Safari 7.) Try the following:

Find a 1080p video if high enough quality that's running in HTML5 instead of Flash.

Test the same video in Safari and maybe Chrome and see if the experience is the same.
Click to expand...

You could also use the HTML5 Youtube Safari browser extension. Doesn't give you access to all the same features of the Youtube player but if you just want the damn videos to play it works far better.
 
T

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
Fuchsdh said:
You could also use the HTML5 Youtube Safari browser extension. Doesn't give you access to all the same features of the Youtube player but if you just want the damn videos to play it works far better.
Click to expand...
Well that won't make any difference for the original poster who is using Firefox. But I'm sure there must be an HTML5 YouTube extension for Firefox.
 
V

VPhys

Member
hateradio said:
Do any of you have/use a hard shell case?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007VSDKCO/?tag=neogaf0e-20

I'm thinking about getting one, but I haven't seen how it looks in person. Maybe I'll just go with a slip case instead.
Click to expand...

Been using my rMBP daily for over a year and it still looks like new.

I'm not quite sure what the point of a hardcase is. I guess it's for people who don't have a laptop bag or backpack? I slip the mbp into my bag and I'm good to go.
 
G

gokieks

Member
hateradio said:
Do any of you have/use a hard shell case?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007VSDKCO/?tag=neogaf0e-20

I'm thinking about getting one, but I haven't seen how it looks in person. Maybe I'll just go with a slip case instead.
Click to expand...

No. I've seen more than 1 case where it caused scratches, and while better QC would help, the innate design of how those are to be attached to the laptop means there's always going to be the risk.

Instead, I would heartily recommend the hard cases by booq. Does an excellent job of offering protection during transport, well made, and the soft inside lining ensures that the case itself won't cause any scratches. I'm just generally a big fan of booq products - I used a Viper hardcase for my MBA, and now I have a Boa squeeze for my work Dell + personal rMBP.
 
H

-Horizon-

Member
OK, I think this thread might be able to help me decide and answer a few questions:

So I'm currently deciding between a Macbook Air or a Retina Macbook Pro (2013)

Now I really like that the Air can get 12 hours on a charge, I've also heard that Mavericks helped improve that time. Can any one confirm about how much more time it gets?

Also, I've been hearing that to "futureproof" you're stuff, you need like 8 gb of ram. Now I'm currently thinking of getting the laptop from Best Buy who only offers the base version of 4 gb. Would this decision come back to bite me if I do pick the 4 gb ram air?
I mean I'm not gonna be doing a lot on the laptop, web browsing, multiple tabs open, watching videos, presentations, and essays so should I worry at all now or in a couple of years?

And how is Mavericks on the Air? Are there any problems I should watch out for?
 
L

Laekon

Member
-Horizon- said:
OK, I think this thread might be able to help me decide and answer a few questions:

So I'm currently deciding between a Macbook Air or a Retina Macbook Pro (2013)

Now I really like that the Air can get 12 hours on a charge, I've also heard that Mavericks helped improve that time. Can any one confirm about how much more time it gets?

Also, I've been hearing that to "futureproof" you're stuff, you need like 8 gb of ram. Now I'm currently thinking of getting the laptop from Best Buy who only offers the base version of 4 gb. Would this decision come back to bite me if I do pick the 4 gb ram air?
I mean I'm not gonna be doing a lot on the laptop, web browsing, multiple tabs open, watching videos, presentations, and essays so should I worry at all now or in a couple of years?

And how is Mavericks on the Air? Are there any problems I should watch out for?
Click to expand...
You could probably get away with 4 GB. I only break that with Illustrator, office, and a bunch of photo heavy web sites open. I would recommend getting any Apple product from their refurb store as you get the full warranty and save 15% or more. The new Air has been available for a few weeks now but 8 GB ram models only show up every few days. The new Retina Pro's will take about 3 months to show up on the refurb site.

Just finally reading up on the new MacBook Pro's and can't believe they went with lower performance in the base model. I also like how the top spec price is the same whether or not you get the gfx card. I like some Apple products but can't believe how they rip off their customers.
 
M

multivac

Member
Hope this fits here, didn't want to bump the forever old hackintosh thread.

Anyone here run a hackintosh? I was set to buy a MBPr (would be my first Mac), but then I decided $1500 just wasn't going to work right now with Black Friday/Christmas coming up, haha. I'm waiting until June/July for the supposedly retina Macbook Airs, now, but I've already bought some Mac software on sale and OS X in a virtual machine has got me jonesing for something more permanent.

My hangup is my Apple ID. Has anyone with a hackintosh had problems or heard of anyone else having problems with their Apple ID? I would be devastated to lose it, as I've spent hundreds on iPhone and iPad, and will probably spend hundreds more on the Mac App Store. Just want to be sure it's safe before going the hackintosh route until I can get a Macbook Air next year. Thanks!
 
G

gokieks

Member
Apple has never shown any real inclination of going out of their way to stop the Hackintosh community, and even if they did, preventing them from buying things is hardly the sane way of going about it. You don't have to worry about it.
 
N

NinjaCatfish

Member
Futureman said:
any opinions on hooking this up to my rMBP (late 2013)?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/29-ips-led-hd-219-ultrawide-monitor/8822139.p?id=1218906369172&skuId=8822139&st=categoryid$abcat0509000&cp=1&lp=4

I'm kinda blown away by the price, resolution, size and reviews.

I would probably need to buy a new desk actually ha.

I guess the resolution is so large because of the how long it is...
Click to expand...

DVI and HDMI would both get you the same picture quality, and I'm pretty sure they'll both support the resolution.
 
D

Deku Tree

Member
Futureman said:
any opinions on hooking this up to my rMBP (late 2013)?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/29-ips-led-hd-219-ultrawide-monitor/8822139.p?id=1218906369172&skuId=8822139&st=categoryid$abcat0509000&cp=1&lp=4

I'm kinda blown away by the price, resolution, size and reviews.

I would probably need to buy a new desk actually ha.

I guess the resolution is so large because of the how long it is...
Click to expand...

Sounds good. Max resolution seems to be 1080p. That is why the price is lower.
My 27" Dell gets 2506 x 1440 so 1440p. And I had to pay $699.
 
F

Futureman

Member
actually I'm looking at another now....

Dell 24" that comes with a DVI and VGA cable... how would I hook that to my MBP? Through Thunderbolt? Or a cable with VGA on one end and HDMI on the other end?
 
D

Diprosalic

Banned
my new macbook seems to be stuck at Pudong International Airport. My TNT tracking didn't get an update for 3 days now. i wonder if they still can make it for wednesday?!
 
K

kidko

Member
Diprosalic said:
my new macbook seems to be stuck at Pudong International Airport. My TNT tracking didn't get an update for 3 days now. i wonder if they still can make it for wednesday?!
Click to expand...

Damn that sucks! Maybe someone forgot to scan it and it's actually on its way. Hope!

Mine left China on saturday, stopped off at Narita before hitting Anchorage, then finally landing in Austin yesterday. Says it's on the truck for delivery this morning even though my estimate was for Wednesday. Hype
 
T

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
I knew missing the cutoff date for AppleCare would bite me in the ass.

My 2012 Air's battery is basically fucked. It always says I need to service it and lately it has started giving me the "battery is dead. Please plug me in" message if I try to wake it up when not plugged in. (Like at work right now) even though the battery is fully charged. And it was working perfectly fine a few hours ago. Second day it's done this. I have no idea how much a battery replacement in an Air will cost outside of warranty.

I can't buy my new RPro soon enough. I still can't believe I missed my email by a month and missed out on AC. Never again. Next time I'm setting an alarm for 11 months to remind me.
 
V

VPhys

Member
The Real Abed said:
I knew missing the cutoff date for AppleCare would bite me in the ass.

My 2012 Air's battery is basically fucked. It always says I need to service it and lately it has started giving me the "battery is dead. Please plug me in" message if I try to wake it up when not plugged in. (Like at work right now) even though the battery is fully charged. And it was working perfectly fine a few hours ago. Second day it's done this. I have no idea how much a battery replacement in an Air will cost outside of warranty.

I can't buy my new RPro soon enough. I still can't believe I missed my email by a month and missed out on AC. Never again. Next time I'm setting an alarm for 11 months to remind me.
Click to expand...

How many cycle's has your battery been through?


A 2012, that's frightening considering I'm also out of warranty on my rMBP. At least I have my credit card warranty. Did you not put your MBA on a credit card?
 
T

TUSR

Banned
The Real Abed said:
I knew missing the cutoff date for AppleCare would bite me in the ass.

My 2012 Air's battery is basically fucked. It always says I need to service it and lately it has started giving me the "battery is dead. Please plug me in" message if I try to wake it up when not plugged in. (Like at work right now) even though the battery is fully charged. And it was working perfectly fine a few hours ago. Second day it's done this. I have no idea how much a battery replacement in an Air will cost outside of warranty.

I can't buy my new RPro soon enough. I still can't believe I missed my email by a month and missed out on AC. Never again. Next time I'm setting an alarm for 11 months to remind me.
Click to expand...

Pretty sure its like around $200

VPhys said:
How many cycle's has your battery been through?


A 2012, that's frightening considering I'm also out of warranty on my rMBP. At least I have my credit card warranty. Did you not put your MBA on a credit card?
Click to expand...

Good god people, buy Apple Care :lol
 
S

StopMakingSense

Member
The Real Abed said:
I knew missing the cutoff date for AppleCare would bite me in the ass.

My 2012 Air's battery is basically fucked. It always says I need to service it and lately it has started giving me the "battery is dead. Please plug me in" message if I try to wake it up when not plugged in. (Like at work right now) even though the battery is fully charged. And it was working perfectly fine a few hours ago. Second day it's done this. I have no idea how much a battery replacement in an Air will cost outside of warranty.

I can't buy my new RPro soon enough. I still can't believe I missed my email by a month and missed out on AC. Never again. Next time I'm setting an alarm for 11 months to remind me.
Click to expand...

FWIW, Applecare only covers battery defects, not "normal" battery degradation. Though I am sure going to the Apple Store they would have put this in the defect category to do you a solid since it would be a borderline case, as that amount of battery degradation is really fast.
 
F

Fuchsdh

Member
TUSR said:
Good god people, buy Apple Care :lol
Click to expand...

In 23 years of Mac ownership with eight Macs, the only hardware issues I ever had all happened to my MBP. AppleCare saved me at least $1500 (also the guy was nice enough to save me some extra coin by covering it even after it had lapsed a week.) It's essential for laptops IMO.
 
T

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
VPhys said:
How many cycle's has your battery been through?

A 2012, that's frightening considering I'm also out of warranty on my rMBP. At least I have my credit card warranty. Did you not put your MBA on a credit card?
Click to expand...
According to Coconut Battery, 184 cycles in 14 months. It's at 16% capacity now which is terribly low. Considering 3 months ago it was at 81% and 139 cycles. I don't know how it would get so low so fast. Was I holding it wrong?

I don't have a credit card. I have a debit card and a starter card with $601 limit on it.

StopMakingSense said:
FWIW, Applecare only covers battery defects, not "normal" battery degradation. Though I am sure going to the Apple Store they would have put this in the defect category to do you a solid since it would be a borderline case, as that amount of battery degradation is really fast.
Click to expand...
It is a strange thing. I mean, was I using it wrong? I always cycled the battery down to almost gone then back up to full. Which is what I was taught was how to keep it good.

I'll tell you this is the first time I've personally had it happen though. My 2007 white MacBook still had a perfect battery even when every other component died. My 2010 Pro is still working fine too. (Well, my dad hasn't complained.) And my 2011 Air is still going too. (My brother owns that one now.)

Edit: This low capacity thing must be new because I was getting plenty of life out of it 2 days ago. Yesterday was the first day it happened. All others it would last me forever.
 
F

Futureman

Member
can I close my rMBP and hook it up to an external monitor?

I'm wondering what performance will be like having to drive the two screens.

thinking of this Asus 27" 2560 x 1440 display now. $550.
 
G

gokieks

Member
The Real Abed said:
It is a strange thing. I mean, was I using it wrong? I always cycled the battery down to almost gone then back up to full. Which is what I was taught was how to keep it good.
Click to expand...

No, full discharges are not a good thing. Partial discharges with the occasional full discharge is generally the recommended thing to do for lithium-ion/polymer batteries.

E: that said, even all full discharges shouldn't reduce the capacity *that* quickly.
 
C

ChainedMaster

Banned
She got it 2 years ago, and it can't run a Skype video call properly while watching something like Netflix. If she does both, her computer runs slow and she can't watch Netflix without constant buffering. Her internet speed is fine, 20-25 mbps down, 5 up. She had taken it to the Apple store for another reason, but mentioned the Skype problem. They said that I had installed it wrong, whatever the hell that means. So I tried reinstalling it, still doesn't work. We tried Safari and Chrome for Netflix, neither is fast. We even tried Google Hangouts video calls, but apparently this is even worse. Slows down her computer to the point where she can't do anything else but Hangouts. Funny thing is, she can do Tinychat and Netflix just fine.
 
T

TUSR

Banned
gokieks said:
No, full discharges are not a good thing. Partial discharges with the occasional full discharge is generally the recommended thing to do for lithium-ion/polymer batteries.

E: that said, even all full discharges shouldn't reduce the capacity *that* quickly.
Click to expand...

Full* discharges are fine (i.e. not dead)... Partial discharges are what kill Li-ion batteries.
 
T

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
Either way, the point is no matter which way I used it, there's no reason it should have died so soon.

Maybe I'll take it with me when I go to tienda de manzanas to get the new machine anyway.
 
T

TUSR

Banned
gokieks said:
No, they're not. Just about every source suggests shallow/partial discharges to deep/full discharges for lithium batteries.
Click to expand...

Guess you're right!

I keep my 15" rMBP plugged in quite a bit. I only have 89 charge cycles and I got it over a year ago. Sept 10th 2012 I believe.

Listening to music, multiple preview windows open, chrome, skype, messages, and a few other things and I have an estimated 6h and 50m left at 95% charge.
 
T

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
Ugh. Guys. Now CoconutBattery is reporting my capacity as 80%.

WTF? It was 16% before. Yeah. I should see if they can replace it. If only so I can sell the machine later.
 
L

leng jai

Member
I am so close to pulling the trigger on the new 13" Macbook Pro 8/256GB variant. The value proposition seems half decent this time around. My 2011 Air is really struggling these days due to only have 2GB of RAM and I pretty much can never go back to use a non-Apple track pad.
 
V

VPhys

Member
leng jai said:
I am so close to pulling the trigger on the new 13" Macbook Pro 8/256GB variant. The value proposition seems half decent this time around. My 2011 Air is really struggling these days due to only have 2GB of RAM and I pretty much can never go back to use a non-Apple track pad.
Click to expand...

That truly is the sweespot for that machine. I'm considering "downgrading" from a 15" rmbp to that configuration. Only concern is if I'll miss the larger screen. I don't have a desktop.
 
L

Laekon

Member
leng jai said:
I am so close to pulling the trigger on the new 13" Macbook Pro 8/256GB variant. The value proposition seems half decent this time around. My 2011 Air is really struggling these days due to only have 2GB of RAM and I pretty much can never go back to use a non-Apple track pad.
Click to expand...
I've been waiting for a similar spec Air to show up on the refurb site but I think the Pro might be the way to go now. The screen on the Air isn't bad but after finally getting an iPad 4 I see the advantages of the Pro. I'm cheap though so I'll wait till after the new year to pic one up from the refurb site.
 
F

Flek

Banned
i just have to repost this question for you guys:

I own a 2013 13" macbook air (base model with 8 GB Ram) but i need something bigger too. I am a designer so i work with the adobe suite (mostly illustrator, photoshop and indesign - also some web coding).

So now i can´t decide between getting a 27" iMac (3,4 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5 version with 1TB Fusion) for 1.934,94 Euros

OR simply get a Thunderbolt Display for 879,41 €.

Pro and Cons (and why i cant decide)

iMac 27"


Pro:
- Faster
- own system
- comes with mouse / keyboard
- has individual audio jack
- up to 3 TB of space which i really really need
- i could game on it somewhat

Con:
- own system -> i have 2 systems to look out for (and to buy apple care for)
- way more expensive
- has to last for my work for 4-6 years

Thunderbolt + MB Air


Pro:
- cheaper
- only 1 system to look after
- easier to upgrade to a MB Pro / Air Retina in less than 2 years if needed
- Could use the rest of the money to get a PS4 (therefore instant gaming win)
- i could pickup a nas server later and use this for my data

Con:
- the display has no audio jack - which pisses me off
- i have to buy a external HDD with thunderbolt or firewire lets say for 200 Euros
- i might have to buy a stand for the macbook for 50 Euros
- the SSD is waaay waay to small, even for the Creative Suite, i have to put nearly all my data on the external drive (might be to slow????)
- will the thunderbolt display still be supported by future MacBooks?


So please macgods help me decide ive been arguing for and agains for a complete week now
 
T

The Real Abed

Perma-Junior
Okay. It's definitely fucked. I thought maybe it didn't like the weather lately even though it's been really warm relatively. So I shut it down and took it into work with me instead of leaving it in the car, which is what I've done the entire year I've had it, but now I go to turn it on and boom, same dead battery symbol. It's a fully goddamn charged battery.

Maybe I should "zap the PRAM" as they say? Rather reset the power manager? I'll try that when I get home since I can't even shut it down to reboot it until I plug it in now.

Come on new Retina Pro!
 
T

TUSR

Banned
The Real Abed said:
Okay. It's definitely fucked. I thought maybe it didn't like the weather lately even though it's been really warm relatively. So I shut it down and took it into work with me instead of leaving it in the car, which is what I've done the entire year I've had it, but now I go to turn it on and boom, same dead battery symbol. It's a fully goddamn charged battery.

Maybe I should "zap the PRAM" as they say? Rather reset the power manager? I'll try that when I get home since I can't even shut it down to reboot it until I plug it in now.

Come on new Retina Pro!
Click to expand...

Reset SMC and PRAM, though it sounds like your issue won't be remedied by this.
 
K

kennah

Member
Kind of a random question - does anyone know of a way that I could specify which network connection a piece of software uses.

Usage example - I want to make it so that Chrome will use my wifi only while Finder, Safari, Mail and Calendar use the Ethernet only.

Any thoughts?
 
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