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[Chris R]

So I was trying to read some hard drives on my MBA today and they are not showing up. I'm guessing it is due to not having enough power to spin the drive up. Sucks too because the drives work perfectly on my Mini, I was wanting to transfer stuff over but I guess I'll just have to use my 16GB thumb drive :|

edit: Nevermind, grabbed a shitty USB cable. Got the one hooked up to my PS3 charging my controller and everything is working now. Yay!

 

[mf.luder]

So I was trying to read some hard drives on my MBA today and they are not showing up. I'm guessing it is due to not having enough power to spin the drive up. Sucks too because the drives work perfectly on my Mini, I was wanting to transfer stuff over but I guess I'll just have to use my 16GB thumb drive :|

edit: Nevermind, grabbed a shitty USB cable. Got the one hooked up to my PS3 charging my controller and everything is working now. Yay!

I had the same exact problem. Swapped USB cables and it all worked out.

 

[Kong Fisso]

so I'm trying to read a dvd, any dvd, on my new imac. Of course it doesn't work since superdrives are fucking pieces of shit. There should be a fucking court order against calling those things 'super'.

Number of macs owned: 2.
Number of superdrives shitting out within a couple of months: 2

Great stats, Apple.

 

[njean777]

Do you really use the optical drive all the time? Because I would have, and probably will, gotten an external drive. I rarely use mine ever. So I won't miss it at all.

Now if only they could put the full Pro processors in them. Hopefully the next Intel class will be a lot cooler so they can.

I use it enough that I need it, not everyday but about maybe 3-4 times a week. I also like the fact I can have more ram then 4 gigs.

 

[Jasoco]

so I'm trying to read a dvd, any dvd, on my new imac. Of course it doesn't work since superdrives are fucking pieces of shit. There should be a fucking court order against calling those things 'super'.

Number of macs owned: 2.
Number of superdrives shitting out within a couple of months: 2

Great stats, Apple.

And now you know why Apple wants to kill the optical drive.

 

[whitehawk]

so I'm trying to read a dvd, any dvd, on my new imac. Of course it doesn't work since superdrives are fucking pieces of shit. There should be a fucking court order against calling those things 'super'.

Number of macs owned: 2.
Number of superdrives shitting out within a couple of months: 2

Great stats, Apple.

Hmm, good thing I bought Applecare for my new iMac. No problems with my DVD drive so far though.

 

[whitehawk]

And now you know why Apple wants to kill the optical drive.

You simply can't yet though. I just bought some music editing software from a store recently, and used a DVD to install it. What would I do if I didn't have a DVD drive? I wish Apple would put blu-ray drives in the 2012 iMacs considering how cheap drives are now, but I know it's never going to happen.

 

[Jasoco]

You simply can't yet though. I just bought some music editing software from a store recently, and used a DVD to install it. What would I do if I didn't have a DVD drive? I wish Apple would put blu-ray drives in the 2012 iMacs considering how cheap drives are now, but I know it's never going to happen.

When Apple killed off built-in floppy drives, no one was ready to move on yet either. They still bought external drives to use their disks. Eventually people moved passed it. The same will happen with optical drives. And a Blu-Ray drive will never ever show up in a Mac because Apple sees it as a dead-end format and direct competitor to the market they think will win. Downloadable video purchases.

 

[whitehawk]

I know DVD use is dying, but I can't see it being absolutely dead in the near future. Also, difference with the floppy drive is that there was a better alternative, CDs and DVDs.

Hmm... Could companies eventually sell physical software on unwritable USB drives?

 

[njean777]

When Apple killed off built-in floppy drives, no one was ready to move on yet either. They still bought external drives to use their disks. Eventually people moved passed it. The same will happen with optical drives. And a Blu-Ray drive will never ever show up in a Mac because Apple sees it as a dead-end format and direct competitor to the market they think will win. Downloadable video purchases.

Problem with that philosophy is most of the united states doesn't have good enough broad band speeds to download movies. I see maybe in the next ten years downloads will take off, but until we update our infrastructure it is not happening. I think they should sell an external blu-ray drive for the time being. More people I personally know buy blu-rays then download movies. Not to say I know everybody lol, but the fact still stands that people are more keen on blu-ray then apple thinks.

 

[cory.]

Doesn't look like I'll be able to get 10.4 on this iMac until I can acquire RAM, but OS 9 is fun to play around with too. Should be mostly fine for now, just no TenFourFox.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

Problem with that philosophy is most of the united states doesn't have good enough broad band speeds to download movies. I see maybe in the next ten years downloads will take off, but until we update our infrastructure it is not happening. I think they should sell an external blu-ray drive for the time being. More people I personally know buy blu-rays then download movies. Not to say I know everybody lol, but the fact still stands that people are more keen on blu-ray then apple thinks.

True, but the question is how many people would watch blu-ray moveis on their laptops or desktops? If most people are watching movies on those, it's probably using streaming services like Hulu or Netflix (or the Cloud) which doesn't require quite as much bandwith. I think the idea is that BluRay isn't as versatile of a format as floppys, CD-Roms or DVD-roms were, because those were still used for content delivery for all sorts of software. BluRay is pretty much exclusively for home movie watching.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

Problem with that philosophy is most of the united states doesn't have good enough broad band speeds to download movies. I see maybe in the next ten years downloads will take off, but until we update our infrastructure it is not happening. I think they should sell an external blu-ray drive for the time being. More people I personally know buy blu-rays then download movies. Not to say I know everybody lol, but the fact still stands that people are more keen on blu-ray then apple thinks.

If you can download Lion, you can download movies.

If you can afford a Mac, you can afford a good TV and standalone Blu-ray player.

 

[Tobor]

Problem with that philosophy is most of the united states doesn't have good enough broad band speeds to download movies. I see maybe in the next ten years downloads will take off, but until we update our infrastructure it is not happening. I think they should sell an external blu-ray drive for the time being. More people I personally know buy blu-rays then download movies. Not to say I know everybody lol, but the fact still stands that people are more keen on blu-ray then apple thinks.

70% of the country has broadband Internet. Now ask yourself where most Apple customers would fall. I'm guessing within the 70%.

Apple clearly feels that's enough to pull the trigger on killing discs and still make money.

 

[noah111]

Anyone know if these sell the mini Display port to HDMI adapters in stores? I really want to get one but I can't find any where i'm at... how much do they even cost (realistically)?

^Talking about this btw, so I can connect my MBP to an HD TV and control my awesome Plex (Movies, TV, Music) library using my iPhone as a remote.

 

[Raitosaito]

Anyone know if these sell the mini Display port to HDMI adapters in stores? I really want to get one but I can't find any where i'm at... how much do they even cost (realistically)?

^Talking about this btw, so I can connect my MBP to an HD TV and control my awesome Plex (Movies, TV, Music) library using my iPhone as a remote.

I don't think you'll find one at any local electronic stores for cheap. This is guessing from my own experience, so don't take it as fact.

Amazon and Monoprice sell relatively cheap ones. I think is 8 on Monoprice, and the highest rated one on Amazon is 3.30 before shipping.


Here's the LINK if you want to check it out. Just like HDMI cables you rather buy online. On a side note, no MBP before late 2010 model will support HDMI out with audio, and maybe not at all.

 

[noah111]

DAMN, that is so cheap for what it offers.

Too bad I can't order online since they don't chip here (From Amazon's FAQ: "...except for Cuba, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, and areas not served by the French postal service.")

I'd love to get one somehow.. I'll keep the link and perhaps a friend in a bordering country can get it for me eventually. Thanks!

 

[Kong Fisso]

And now you know why Apple wants to kill the optical drive.

Because their optical drives suck?

 

[Jasoco]

Nah. Because they hate moving parts because moving parts break.

Why do you think they so aggressively put down the original click wheel in the iPod when they invented the click wheel? Or praised the iPod mini when they put out their first Flash iPod? Or talk so highly of their MacBook Air with no moving parts at all? Because moving parts suck. Moving parts break.

And I agree.

 

[avaya]

Thinking of getting the base model 11" MBA with 2GB RAM - will this be ok for just web browsing, watching movies and word processing?

 

[scorcho]

the MBA has a fan. and it should handle web duties and light multi-tasking with aplomb. you should pay for the extra RAM, though, since you can't do that with aftermarket parts.

 

[avaya]

the MBA has a fan. and it should handle web duties and light multi-tasking with aplomb. you should pay for the extra RAM, though, since you can't do that with aftermarket parts.

Is the fan loud? I've heard of the 2010 MBA's getting hot when streaming web video, is it less pronounced on the 2011 model?

 

[Pachimari]

My new MBA 13" got hot on the bottom and for the first time I heard the fan in full force while playing a HD video on full volume on Gametrailers. But I don't think the fan is anything to worry about.

 

[Digishine]

Ok I'm thinking about to buy a Macbook Air 13inch now my question is does anyone knows a good sleeve for it ? Cause I would take it with me all the time so it must be something that people don't expect I'm holding a laptop in my hand

 

[Cudder]

Does keeping an (almost) dead battery in a MBP effect the hardware at all? My battery literally holds a charge for like 20 minutes, and it's also said "Replace battery now" in the top bar for months. I just got used to keeping it plugged in all the time.

 

[Bboy AJ]

Anyone running Parallels on their latest MBA? I can't seem to get the microphone to work. I have no idea where to start. Any help?

Running Win 7 x64

 

[Blackhead]

Ok I'm thinking about to buy a Macbook Air 13inch now my question is does anyone knows a good sleeve for it ? Cause I would take it with me all the time so it must be something that people don't expect I'm holding a laptop in my hand

http://twelvesouth.com/products/BookBook_for_Air/

?

 

[Jasoco]

Where do I get a 64-bit version of Java? I am playing Minecraft and Far now "recommends" 64-bit. The game SAYS that I have 32-bit. But Google says that the OS should have installed the 64-bit one if I have a 64-bit processor. (Which I do) And Java's website won't even let me download a version because it says OS X is automatic so I don't need to download it. Bullshit. This is worse than when Adobe told me I couldn't force a download of Flash because I was using Google Chrome and it has it built-in. LET ME DOWNLOAD THE GODDAMN PROGRAM!

 

[Treefingers]

Where do I get a 64-bit version of Java? I am playing Minecraft and Far now "recommends" 64-bit. The game SAYS that I have 32-bit. But Google says that the OS should have installed the 64-bit one if I have a 64-bit processor. (Which I do) And Java's website won't even let me download a version because it says OS X is automatic so I don't need to download it. Bullshit. This is worse than when Adobe told me I couldn't force a download of Flash because I was using Google Chrome and it has it built-in. LET ME DOWNLOAD THE GODDAMN PROGRAM!

You already have it, Minecraft just does not use it by default (blame Notch). Here's a guide to getting it enabled:

http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/649868-guide-mac-support-101/page__p__8508704#entry8508704

 

[Jasoco]

You already have it, Minecraft just does not use it by default (blame Notch). Here's a guide to getting it enabled:

http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/649868-guide-mac-support-101/page__p__8508704#entry8508704

That worked! Thanks! Will let you know if the performance changes any, but it's not showing me a red message anymore so it's obviously using the right version now.

 

[Digishine]

http://twelvesouth.com/products/BookBook_for_Air/

?

Thanks !
Will buy it

 

[Jasoco]

My new Air is coming tomorrow! I'm so paranoid that Fedex will fuck me over and not even knock or ring the doorbell and just stand on the porch for 10 seconds before leaving. Because they did it once. I waited all day for a package only to go outside later that night to find the "Sorry we missed you" note on the door. I was furious. Not a single doorbell ring or knock at all because the driver was a lazy asshole in a hurry. The next day I left the note they left with my SIGNATURE ON IT and they STILL didn't deliver it. Instead took the note off the door and left with the package again.

So I printed out the "Pre-sign" paper. They better fucking leave it this time. There will be 3 or 4 people home. I want my Air!!!

 

[PhoncipleBone]

My new Air is coming tomorrow! I'm so paranoid that Fedex will fuck me over and not even knock or ring the doorbell and just stand on the porch for 10 seconds before leaving. Because they did it once. I waited all day for a package only to go outside later that night to find the "Sorry we missed you" note on the door. I was furious. Not a single doorbell ring or knock at all because the driver was a lazy asshole in a hurry. The next day I left the note they left with my SIGNATURE ON IT and they STILL didn't deliver it. Instead took the note off the door and left with the package again.

So I printed out the "Pre-sign" paper. They better fucking leave it this time. There will be 3 or 4 people home. I want my Air!!!

No Apple store near you to do a pick up at? Or did you order it from somewhere else due to their better pricing this past weekend?
And FedEx does suck. Similar thing happened when I ordered my iPhone 4 earlier this year. I had to chase the driver down to get the phone.

 

[amrihua]

Because their optical drives suck?

Apple doesn't make them.

 

[Phoenix]

For the few people who still might not know it, most of the Apple hardware supports ATI video cards out of the box now. I'm putting an ATI 6870 in an older Mac Pro (2008 vintage) to give it more gaming legs (Its an 8 core box so its got more than enough CPU).

 

[Jasoco]

No Apple store near you to do a pick up at? Or did you order it from somewhere else due to their better pricing this past weekend?
And FedEx does suck. Similar thing happened when I ordered my iPhone 4 earlier this year. I had to chase the driver down to get the phone.

I ordered it Black Friday and in-store pickup was unavailable. Besides, all the Apple Stores are 30 miles away from me in every direction.

 

[Splash Wave]

Right now I have my MBP (2008) plugged into a 27-inch monitor with the DVI->VGA adapter it came with. It's outputting at 1080p, but would using a different cable yield better quality? HDMI?

edit: i suppose this question is better suited to the OS X noobs thread.

 

[barnone]

Can anyone recommend a 11" or 13" MBA for a sophomore in computer science? I want to install a ubuntu or mint partition, and I know the SSDs aren't too spacious. Most of my stuff I can save in the cloud, though (Box or DropBox).

If not, any recommendations? I might consider a 13" MBP or a Windows ultrabook.

 

[Crazymoogle]

Right now I have my MBP (2008) plugged into a 27-inch monitor with the DVI->VGA adapter it came with. It's outputting at 1080p, but would using a different cable yield better quality? HDMI?

HDMI = DVI in terms of video quality. It's the same thing.

Your problem is the DVI-VGA bit. Get VGA out of the equation and you're fine.

 

[Splash Wave]

HDMI = DVI in terms of video quality. It's the same thing.

Your problem is the DVI-VGA bit. Get VGA out of the equation and you're fine.

Gotcha. This was a set-up left over from my last monitor, and I only just recently thought to fix it.

 

[Chris R]

Can anyone recommend a 11" or 13" MBA for a sophomore in computer science? I want to install a ubuntu or mint partition, and I know the SSDs aren't too spacious. Most of my stuff I can save in the cloud, though (Box or DropBox).

If not, any recommendations? I might consider a 13" MBP or a Windows ultrabook.

I'd see how much the 256GB drive 13" Air with your student discount is (though I find my 128GB 13" Air plenty roomy, and I'm thinking about setting up a bootcamp partition).

 

[Jasoco]

I got my new Air! And within a single hour I had all my files migrated in from my clone and am currently cleaning up and tweaking to the new environment. This thing is awesomely thin and light. I'm almost afraid I'll break it.

I already see the benefit of the extra pixels. While I still would have loved a tiny 11" computer, I am glad I got the 13" resolution.

Can't wait to do some real tests. And try and get Windows into BootCamp. That's going to be the fun part.

The part that amazed me the most and I didn't realize it was this awesome is the thinness of the display part. It's thinner than my iPod touch! No wonder they can't use the good HD iSights in here yet. (Hopefully in a couple years by the time I upgrade again the Air will be more close to the Pro in specs. Quad cores, HD cameras and bigger SSD's and 8GB RAM as an option. Technology don't fail me now!

Now I have to clean off the old Pro and prepare it to give to my father who is coming into the Mac world new from his Windows PC. The iPad and his new iPhone were like gateway drugs.

 

[Fuu]

Have fun, Jasoco. I loved this first month with my 13" Air, it's such a lovely machine. I haven't messed with bootcamp yet, make sure to post how it goes for you!

 

[Crazymoogle]

Yeah, I'm still in my first week on an MBA 13" as well, but as Laptops go it's pretty damn awesome. I think I'm going to skip Bootcamp though; my desktop has W7 covered pretty well. Can spend any time saved tinkering there figuring out all of the slightly mind-bending differences between Windows and OSX...

(also, multidesktop with multitouch gestures = so awesome for laptop use!)

 

[Kong Fisso]

Nah. Because they hate moving parts because moving parts break.

Why do you think they so aggressively put down the original click wheel in the iPod when they invented the click wheel? Or praised the iPod mini when they put out their first Flash iPod? Or talk so highly of their MacBook Air with no moving parts at all? Because moving parts suck. Moving parts break.

And I agree.

I'd think it has more to do with the fact that they don't make squat off cd-sales, in contrast to say itunes-sales. You don't think that has anything to do with it?

Also, moving parts or not, the superdrives have been exceedingly shitty to me. That's all I'm saying. Shittier than any noname brand cd drive I ever had.

 

[Jasoco]

I'm sure that's a factor too. But there's no denying Apple wants to rid their computers of moving parts (Sans fans since they're still required and not a big deal to replace if they have to) as fast as they can. And I am right there with them. The fan is the only moving part left in my new Air.

Speaking of which, I have a curious question about my new shiny new MacBook Air.. Strange things. This is my first i5..

First off, Activity Monitor is showing my processor as having 4 cores. Is this correct? It's an Air with an i5. I thought it was only 2? But it shows 4 different graphs.

I thought you needed an i7 and a Pro for a Quad Core?

Also, About This Mac shows it as having 2 2GB RAM sticks installed when I thought it was one 4GB stick. It's obviously not replaceable by the user, but it doesn't make sense it would say 2x2 when it should be 1x4 and the computer is surely not thick enough for two.

Anyway, by the way. Having an i5 instead of the old C2D is so much better. I have Minecraft running right now in game and my old C2D Pro wouldn't even let me use Chrome or anything else while MC was running because the processor would be completely sucked up. On my i5, I am able to keep multitasking. Fuck yeah this is awesome! And the extra pixels really make a difference. So far I love my new Air.

Though its fan is pretty weird sounding compared to my old Pro. Strange, but not a big deal and only running right now because MC is running. Also I do miss the 8GB, but I haven't really noticed any difference yet. I'm sure the next generation will hopefully have 8GB as an option.

Also, I miss my black bezel, but since I've been using this in a darkened corner all day I haven't noticed it yet. I'm guessing the real test will come when I use it in a brighter room. I only liked black because it blended in better and was less distracting. But I used to have a silver ACD and my iPad is white and that hasn't been a problem. I just liked the black because it looked nice. No biggie. I do however miss having the glass screen cover that I could wipe off without gunk getting pushed into the corners and edges of the screen. Oh well.

Other things I miss but not really are the LED for sleep. I loved its pulsing. And the LED array for the battery. But those are trivial.

Funny, if Apple had put the 1440x900 screen in the Pro this last update I might have still stuck with the Pro. But after using this super thin light awesome machine, I am happy with my choice. (I actually would have gone 11" if they'd put a 1440x900 resolution in them too.)

 

[Crazymoogle]

Probably hyperthreading, which makes your laptop see 2x2 cores in just about every device I can think of...

 

[Phoenix]

Probably hyperthreading, which makes your laptop see 2x2 cores in just about every device I can think of...

Yeah - on the Macbook Pros it shows up as 8.

 

[Jasoco]

That's pretty cool. Whatever it is, it runs Minecraft much better than my C2D did. As I said, I am new to the i-Series processors.

What about the RAM? That seems strange that it says 2x2 for the RAM when it should be 1x4. Not that it matters since I can't replace it anyway. (Wish I could. I never had page files on my 8GB Pro but now I have a lot of them. I'd love to pop 8GB in here.)

 

[Crazymoogle]

That's pretty cool. Whatever it is, it runs Minecraft much better than my C2D did. As I said, I am new to the i-Series processors.

Basically, Intel CPUs (well, desktops for awhile, now filtering down to the rest) are basically setup to use certain parts of the pipeline like a second CPU. Kinda like turning one wide engine into two small engines - if you don't need all of the wide one, why not get two out of that? It's a hardware solution so OSes tend to see double the number of physical processors,

What about the RAM? That seems strange that it says 2x2 for the RAM when it should be 1x4. Not that it matters since I can't replace it anyway. (Wish I could. I never had page files on my 8GB Pro but now I have a lot of them. I'd love to pop 8GB in here.)

(Looks it up...)

The RAM on 2011 MBA's is actually soldered to the motherboard, so it sounds like Apple is just ensuring it's running in dual channel mode. It looks like there are 4 chips, hence 2x2.