Angelus Errare
Banned
Yup, when they finally switched from that brushed metal to the gray gradient I was so excited and thankful.
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Mac Hardware and Software |OT| - All things Macintosh
- Thread starter 3N16MA
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Yup, when they finally switched from that brushed metal to the gray gradient I was so excited and thankful.
Dr. Feel Good
Banned
I said screw it and bought the new Macbook. No regrets. Thing is awesome and extremely portable. Battery life could be better but can still last most of a day through heavy use. Highly recommended.
Question: Safari in Yosemite. Used to be able to play youtube videos perfectly but now its totally beyond screwed up. I can't play videos full screen before they look like a CRT tv that can't pick up a signal nor is the timeline correct when I go to click anywhere in the timeline.
Tried deleting my cookies/everything. Ideas?
EDIT: Okay, figured it out and it had to do with one of my extensions "ZoomBySite". This extension allowed me to set sites to zoom out differently without having to correct each one every time I visited. Anyone have an alternative?
Tried deleting my cookies/everything. Ideas?
EDIT: Okay, figured it out and it had to do with one of my extensions "ZoomBySite". This extension allowed me to set sites to zoom out differently without having to correct each one every time I visited. Anyone have an alternative?
Trojita
Rapid Response Threadmaker
Yo guys, why didn't you tell me about MPV? I've been using MPlayerX this whole time and this is much better! Seriously if you care about quality and scaling (especially if you use a mac mini as a htpc like me) do yourself a favor and get it. It's pretty much the Mac equivalent of MPC-HC + MADvr.
http://sva.wakku.to/~chris/mpv_builds/
The one thing people should know is this is a based on a Linux compiled program (Like Mplayer was). It's a barebones ui and the settings are configured in a text config file. There is a lot of stuff there under the hood you can tweak though.
http://sva.wakku.to/~chris/mpv_builds/
The one thing people should know is this is a based on a Linux compiled program (Like Mplayer was). It's a barebones ui and the settings are configured in a text config file. There is a lot of stuff there under the hood you can tweak though.
I'm having a kind of odd, but annoying as hell problem with OSX 10.9.5
At seemingly random times (last time it was halfway through a movie) iTunes will pop up and ask me to Agree to the license agreement.
Now I tried to google this issue, but all the topics I saw was only for people who actually used iTunes. I never even opened iTunes so I have no clue to solve this.
At seemingly random times (last time it was halfway through a movie) iTunes will pop up and ask me to Agree to the license agreement.
Now I tried to google this issue, but all the topics I saw was only for people who actually used iTunes. I never even opened iTunes so I have no clue to solve this.
It might have to do with the fact that iTunes stores login information into the iTunes Store as a Safari cookie. As a consequence, it asks you to log in again every time you clear your Safari caches. Maybe it does that with the license agreement too.
Never used Safari either.
HeavyMetalLover91
Member
So I gotta question for you guys, my friend is selling an iMac mid 2011 21.5 inch screen for £560.
I have a MacBook Pro mid 2012 which I use for all my computer work, and an iPad for travel and general internet usage. I don't need this desktop per se but the bigger screen and the no worry about charging constantly would be handy. My main question is, is it worth it.
For reference, the specs are:
Processor 5Ghz Intel core i5
Memory 4 GB 1333 MHz ddr3
Graphics AMD Radeon HD 6750M 512mb
So my question is, is it worth it and will it hold up? I don't experience any real issues with my MacBook Pro, it can be slow to wake up from sleep if it's been left a while, but it handles Yosemite well enough. Any one here still holding on to a 2011 iMac? Is El Capitan gonna slow it down significantly? thanks for any advice you guys can give me!
I have a MacBook Pro mid 2012 which I use for all my computer work, and an iPad for travel and general internet usage. I don't need this desktop per se but the bigger screen and the no worry about charging constantly would be handy. My main question is, is it worth it.
For reference, the specs are:
Processor 5Ghz Intel core i5
Memory 4 GB 1333 MHz ddr3
Graphics AMD Radeon HD 6750M 512mb
So my question is, is it worth it and will it hold up? I don't experience any real issues with my MacBook Pro, it can be slow to wake up from sleep if it's been left a while, but it handles Yosemite well enough. Any one here still holding on to a 2011 iMac? Is El Capitan gonna slow it down significantly? thanks for any advice you guys can give me!
User 479360
Banned
For the last couple of months, my three to four year old iMac (which was somewhat recently upgraded to Yosemite via the free upgrade) won't turn on after going to sleep. It only happens sometimes, but using the Bluetooth keyboard/mouse won't bring it back to life, and pressing the power button does nothing.
I have to hold the power button to turn it off, then reboot the computer.
This doesn't happen all the time, and I thought I'd fixed it with support's help, but I just had the same issue minutes ago.
Any ideas?
I have to hold the power button to turn it off, then reboot the computer.
This doesn't happen all the time, and I thought I'd fixed it with support's help, but I just had the same issue minutes ago.
Any ideas?
@HeavyMetalLover91
if your MBP is working fine, i wouldn't bother with the old iMac to be honest.
there's some hints that a 4K 21" imac is coming soon (references in El Cap beta) which could be way more attractive and a bigger upgrade and I don't think the price you mentioned is that great for a 4 year old machine considering how much the 21" models cost now.
also, you'll probably want any new computer - imac or otherwise - to come with an SSD.
if your MBP is working fine, i wouldn't bother with the old iMac to be honest.
there's some hints that a 4K 21" imac is coming soon (references in El Cap beta) which could be way more attractive and a bigger upgrade and I don't think the price you mentioned is that great for a 4 year old machine considering how much the 21" models cost now.
also, you'll probably want any new computer - imac or otherwise - to come with an SSD.
Try resetting your energy saver settings, SMC, and zapping the PRAM.
So yesterday my mother got the following Safari browser pop up Phishing scam on her two year old MBP.
She was on a florist web site when she got the pop up. And she called the number thinking it was Apple and they asked her for $700 to put up a security wall. I believe she is running Mavericks. She refused and they said they would do it for $350. They directed her to a "gotoassist citrix" web site (https://www.citrix.com/products/gotoassist/overview.html) and she was in the process of or may have given them remote access to her computer, I had a hard time getting her to tell me which... she says that she has given people at Apple remote access to her computer in the past using the "gotoassist" web site... but I'm not sure if Apple uses that software with their customer phone support? At this point she called me, and I had her hang up with the person and turn off her computer. My mother lives in a different state from myself.
Now my mother has an appointment at the Apple store on Thursday, her computer is off, and I am not sure whether or not her computer is "infected" and/or transmitting her info to other people.
Do you know would I help her to configure Safari so that she doesn't get Phishing messages like that in the future? Can I just block all pop-ups? Does she have to wipe her computer? Or is deleting all her Browser Caches enough?
Thanks!
She was on a florist web site when she got the pop up. And she called the number thinking it was Apple and they asked her for $700 to put up a security wall. I believe she is running Mavericks. She refused and they said they would do it for $350. They directed her to a "gotoassist citrix" web site (https://www.citrix.com/products/gotoassist/overview.html) and she was in the process of or may have given them remote access to her computer, I had a hard time getting her to tell me which... she says that she has given people at Apple remote access to her computer in the past using the "gotoassist" web site... but I'm not sure if Apple uses that software with their customer phone support? At this point she called me, and I had her hang up with the person and turn off her computer. My mother lives in a different state from myself.
Now my mother has an appointment at the Apple store on Thursday, her computer is off, and I am not sure whether or not her computer is "infected" and/or transmitting her info to other people.
Do you know would I help her to configure Safari so that she doesn't get Phishing messages like that in the future? Can I just block all pop-ups? Does she have to wipe her computer? Or is deleting all her Browser Caches enough?
Thanks!
To be safe, I'd back up select files and wipe her computer. Aside from a few theoretical exploits that target firmware, that'll clean the computer of anything bad.
I'd suggest setting up Adblock or Ghostery (or both) on her computer. Best option is to prevent her from seeing any malicious ads she could click on in the first place. Won't protect her from email-based phishing but that's another ballgame.
In Safari you can also block cookies/data not from the website you're directly on (though that can come with collateral impacts).
And yeah, Citrix are scum. Their "Goto meeting" software regularly spawns updated clones of itself and is resistant to the normal drag-to-trash method of installation.
infiniteloop
Member
I belive Apple use a branded Bomgar, at least in the US, rather than go to assist.
User 479360
Banned
Thanks
Last time this happened (which was earlier this summer), support had me check the Bluetooth, and both the SMC/PRAM. I did the latter again today.
I just reset the energy saving to defaults, then put it back to 30 minutes for when the computer goes to sleep. I don't trust it anymore.
I don't know how to reset the Bluetooth.
KharmaPolice
Member
MPV is awesome, though a small GUI for editing configurations would be great. Editing the config file isa bit of a hassle. It also plays everything and is light on resources as far as I can tell. It doesn't update automatically so one needs to check for the newest build periodically.
Thanks so much!
I am going to have my mom do a TimeMachine backup with the internet off on her computer, and then she can wipe the drive and I can help her selectively restore the files that she wants.
Was that the software Leo "dickpic" Laporte was always advertising?
Installing Adblock Plus and Ghostery should be the first thing you do on your family's machines. Gmail seems pretty good at filtering spam/phishing crap, I can't even remember the last time I got a dodgy email.
User 479360
Banned
I thought the same wake up issue was about to show itself just now, but the computer woke up when I pressed the power button once.
The wireless Bluetooth mouse and keyboard (first-party Apple products) would not wake it, though, and I had to manually press the keyboard's power button.
It took a bit for the mouse to connect.
I don't know what to do now.
The wireless Bluetooth mouse and keyboard (first-party Apple products) would not wake it, though, and I had to manually press the keyboard's power button.
It took a bit for the mouse to connect.
I don't know what to do now.
The Real Abed
Perma-Junior
The best you can do is just train your parents to know that if a website asks you to call a company, or if someone calls your house and asks you to call a number, never ever ever call the number they give you. It's a common scam and doesn't matter if she was on OS X or Windows. It would tell you to call Apple or Microsoft and would give the same number. (I got a call on my house phone a few weeks ago from someone claiming to be Capital One a few days after I called Capital One to report a fraudulent charge on my card. They gave me a local phone number (With a 1-800- prefix) and pronounced my common name completely wrong. If I hadn't known better I might have fallen for it and called them back. You just need to use common sense and remember and assume that everyone is out to scam you. Don't trust anyone. Don't ever call phone numbers that aren't printed on the website you know is real.
Remember, Safari (And other browsers) will show a checkbox after the first alert box to disable alerts from then on during that visit so you don't get stuck in a loop, but you can't really easily block actual sites. The site up in that photo is a normal Amazon cloud server. So blocking it would just cause more problems. They do that on purpose.
The only defense is to know not to click. Just teach her to be aware. And never ever install Citrix or MacKeeper or anything at all that the computer asks her to. At least not without asking you first. (But tell her that the answer will probably be no so don't bother wasting her time calling every time.) Blocking popups doesn't work as effectively as it used to anymore because new methods have been designed to get around that. The real problem here is knowing that the florist website she visits has been compromised. I'd have her call them instead of "Apple". Tell her next time she gets a message like that, call the site she was trying to get to, but don't ever call a number they flash on the screen like that. It's always fake.
Trojans are a crappy thing. And that's exactly what that is.
Hopefully she didn't cause damage. Who knows how far into the process she got. Crossing fingers. Did she actually install the app and give it a password? If so then it might be in. If not, chances are it never got access to anything. They'll probably disable WiFi right off the bat to make sure the software can't phone home until they make sure it isn't installed.
And from now on keep a backup of her stuff. Be a good son and maybe sign her up for the free version of CrashPlan (Up to 10GB free online backup) and have it backup any folders she uses for saving files, or sign up for the cheapest $5 plan for unlimited storage. At least that way if something does happen you can get her back up with a quick reinstall of the OS and download of the important files. (And if you forget a file, it'll be there too later. It's like an online version of Time Machine.)
Short version, as mentioned I'd save the money.
Slightly longer version, well for one it's not 5ghz for sure, otherwise you'd also want to upgrade the RAM, and you don't mention the storage there, but I'm guessing it's a platter drive. The biggest issue I see with 2011 machines is that they don't have USB 3, so your storage upgrade options kinda blow. Internal upgrade can be a pain in the ass, USB 2 and FW800 are slow, and Thunderbolt options are generally expensive.
Back up and wipe and whatnot as mentioned to be safe. Might want to run some antivirus/malware stuff before hand too (so as to not possibly infect the backup media), AdwareMedic (now Malwarebytes) has been around for a while and covers a lot of stuff, but not necessarily viruses, not sure what the recommended thing on that is nowadays but I know there's some free tools available. I'd get whatever tools and profile updates (maybe from another machine?) then disconnect from the net entirely before cleaning out the system.
Then yeah, use some blocker extensions and more importantly give some basic net safety education. All the automatic software precautions won't do anything if the user is the piece that gets cracked.
(But still for extra software precaution paranoia, also don't install Flash if possible cause that's a huge exploit vector, use Chrome if that's necessary since it'll auto update that on its own)
Well one more biggie that could be a major pain in the ass is passwords. If they gained access to the machine they might have gotten into the keychain too, which is where Safari and stuff saves passwords. You need the admin account to read that stuff (...but I think there was some exploit to overwrite it recently). Whatever the case to be safe I'd change everything if possible.
And for extra extra paranoia if you don't already set it up like so, you can have separate admin and user (for her regular use) accounts to limit what her account can do normally, since a decent number of stuff would require admin access. Granted the user account would still be susceptible to whatever, but not the whole machine.
The Real Abed
Perma-Junior
Dont do this. Stick with Safari. It protects you from Flash just as well if not better than Chrome and blocks outdated versions and disabled Flash for ads when you don't have a blocker. Safari disables Flash by default with an opt-in option so you would be safe if you make sure the option is enabled.
The Keychain would be encrypted but if she installed an app that asked for her password and it sent it to them who knows what happened. Depends on how far into the process she was before she was stopped.
Change the password for the account and the password for iCloud and when she can change her password for all her important sites. Especially ones that have credit card info on file.
Education about scams is the best defense against them to be honest. You can't get in trouble if you stop yourself before you fall into the trap. But once you fall in then you have a bigger problem.
User 479360
Banned
Well, I did a complete refresh today and am now starting anew. Hopefully that will get rid of my previous issues.
Question, though: Hot Corners doesn't seem to be working like it used to. I always set it so that the top left-hand corner shows all of my open windows. However, after installing two new browsers, even though I have both open at the same time it doesn't show them both. It just puts a blue outline around the one I have open.
What's up with that?
Nevermind: Apparently it's called Mission Control now.
Question, though: Hot Corners doesn't seem to be working like it used to. I always set it so that the top left-hand corner shows all of my open windows. However, after installing two new browsers, even though I have both open at the same time it doesn't show them both. It just puts a blue outline around the one I have open.
What's up with that?
Nevermind: Apparently it's called Mission Control now.
The Real Abed
Perma-Junior
I wish Apple would create their own online backup service. I can't see any reason why they couldn't. They already have all they need to do it. They have vast amounts of online storage. And they have backup software with an awesome user interface that already has an option to backup over a network. So why not go all the way and offer an iCloud Time Machine service? Make it free for people who already subscribe to iCloud. I'd dump CrashPlan and buy an iCloud account just for the user experience Time Machine has over CrashPlan's clunky hard to navigate UI for restoring files.
They'd be able to make it super easy to set up too. Just select iCloud as the option for destination and it would check your account and offer to sign you up for a plan if you need one.
Would be a nice option. My CrashPlan service has 8.4 months left of a 4-year plan. I paid like $300-400 for the 4 years but now it doesn't look like they have a 4-year plan anymore. Just 1-year plans for more than it would have cost per year for the 4 at once.
They'd be able to make it super easy to set up too. Just select iCloud as the option for destination and it would check your account and offer to sign you up for a plan if you need one.
Would be a nice option. My CrashPlan service has 8.4 months left of a 4-year plan. I paid like $300-400 for the 4 years but now it doesn't look like they have a 4-year plan anymore. Just 1-year plans for more than it would have cost per year for the 4 at once.
Until Apple go a couple of years without a Honan or "fappening" type incident I would not trust my data with iCloud. I have 2FA and an impossibly long randomly generated password and I still worry they would find some way to screw up on security given how glacially slow they are to act whenever a security flaw is pointed out to them.
While I don't have much of an issue with Apple's security (the iCloud celeb leaks were simply not their fault, and the Honan situation would have been much harder had he actually been intelligent about his security questions*) I think there's some benefit to not having your backups be from a big company. In a way, my data being with a relatively smaller player like Backblaze probably makes them less of a target (albeit there's also the risk they have less quality security.)
*Why security questions are still a thing is beyond me, though. I just answer nonsensical answers to them since that seems the safest option, but they're still not user-friendly (case always matters, there's no verifying your entry so if you made a typo you're hosed) and poor security (if someone actually answers mothers' maiden name that's easy to find out; same with streets or pets.)
*Why security questions are still a thing is beyond me, though. I just answer nonsensical answers to them since that seems the safest option, but they're still not user-friendly (case always matters, there's no verifying your entry so if you made a typo you're hosed) and poor security (if someone actually answers mothers' maiden name that's easy to find out; same with streets or pets.)
HeavyMetalLover91
Member
Probably should've given more context, I'm not really looking to buy a Mac, I personally don't need one. It's more for the family kind of thing. The current desktop we have (PC) has crapped out on us and so the only computers left in the house would be my MBP and my iPad. It wouldn't be my personal go to, but rather used for just storing family photos, a bit of music, web, email, that kinda stuff. So high specs aren't really something I'm worried about as it's unlikely I'll be using it for anything work heavy. £560 is way more than I wanna pay for a machine that I personally won't be using that much, so £999 on the latest model is really not something I wanna do. The rest of the house is all Apple (iPhones etc) so buying a cheap PC isn't an option I particularly like either (long history of bad experiences with PC's), that said, I'd rather go for a £300 PC that a £999 new iMac, but would definitely prefer to have one ecosystem of products rather than a mix and match.
My friend's iMac is 500GB which is more space than we'll ever need so I don't think I'll need to upgrade the storage, and the days of using USBs have decreased rapidly in recent years.
It's one of those annoying things where the use of it is situational, technically we don't need a desktop in the house - it won't be doing things that devices in the house can't currently do, but the times we do need it will be infuriating. As long as the computer itself will hold up over the next few years then I'm inclined to just go for it unless a 4-5 year old Mac really is a bad investment (in regards to software updates etc)
Addressed most of these points in my reply above, although my one question is that is there a particular reason I'd want it to come with an SSD (sorry for noob question, not my field of expertise)
Thanks for the responses though guys, will definitely be thinking about this before blowing a load of money on an old computer
Do any of you use Boot Camp?
I have a 15" Macbook Pro Retina that I use Windows 8.1 on and I'm having some major issues with the battery drainage. Was looking for recommendations regarding the power settings, while letting Wi-Fi stay on even with the lid closed. Although I mainly keep it on, it still drains battery like shit. D:
Seems fine when I boot it in Yosemite though.
I have a 15" Macbook Pro Retina that I use Windows 8.1 on and I'm having some major issues with the battery drainage. Was looking for recommendations regarding the power settings, while letting Wi-Fi stay on even with the lid closed. Although I mainly keep it on, it still drains battery like shit. D:
Seems fine when I boot it in Yosemite though.
The Real Abed
Perma-Junior
I'm sure the Time Machine backup would be encrypted and protected with the most protection they can offer if they did it. CrashPlan uses 448-bit encryption for its paid plans and 128-bit for its free ones. I'm sure Apple would be pressured to do the same given how important it is. And the Happening incident wasn't even a "hack" in that the attackers broke into iCloud. They exploited a loophole in software that only Apple employees are supposed to have and realized that no celebrity is smart enough to use 2-factor authentication. Plus they were celebrity targets. Face it, no normal person is important enough to be targeted for that.
Give me an iCloud Time Machine.
Give me an iCloud Time Machine.
It was absolutely their fault, passwords were brute forced on the iCloud website. Most people use short passwords and these are very quick and easy to brute force on a website that doesn't lock you out after a few incorrect tries. They were warned about this and they did nothing.
With Honan it was too easy for the hackers to get into his iCloud using phone support.
And yeah security questions are stupid. Apple still use them on accounts that don't have 2FA.
Being smart has nothing to do with it. Apple were really late to the 2FA party and unless you're a nerd you probably don't know what it is or weren't aware when Apple implemented it. Their agencies should definitely have been on top of it but I don't expect normal people to know about this unless they have a family member who is into tech.
At 500GB pure SSD prices are fairly reasonablearound $200 or less for a Samsung or Crucial.
Also, the talk earlier about skeuomorphism reminded me of this gem: http://daringfireball.net/2005/09/anthropomorphized
Honestly I think I'd have loved brushed metal a lot more if you removed all the heavy borders around windows. Looking back, it's amazing how much wasted space there was in the early OS X design even when people were using 1024x768 displays everywhere.
I have an old laptop that's still on Tiger so I get exposed to brushed metal whenever I turn that on. I didn't mind it at the time, it was just jarring how inconsistent Apple's UI design was back then and they didn't even adhere to their own guidelines. The current visual design of OS X is gorgeous and I think it will age a lot better.
NinjaCatfish
Member
I've got no advice, but I can totally relate. I've had a MacBook Pro 15-inch from 2008, and currently a 13-inch from 2011, and both have terrible battery life under Windows. It's been the same over Windows 7, 8, and now 10. No idea why, but you're not alone.
Hm, glad to see I'm not alone (although it sucks that it seems to be a known problem). I suspect that it's because the settings are natively set to a machine that operates different than a Mac. The power settings in Windows are simply not made for Macs (obviously), so the default settings don't really work well.
I guess it's all about testing and figuring out what would work the best, with regards to open/closed lids, hard drive sleep times and such. I honestly just made sure the Wi-Fi is always on, which is probably not helping the drainage. lol
Support is a question mark, but I suspect it'll last a while just cause there's limited reasons to cut it off (and there's a clear hardware generation before that to cut off first, the Core 2 era machines). I mentioned RAM upgrade and questioned about the drive just cause those will be the biggest things impacting basic performance. RAM is probably easy and cheap enough to upgrade, but that drive might feel slow as shit. But it'll still work, which sounds like the basic justification here, soooo it's hard to say. With enough RAM it can be fine once stuff is loaded at least.
If you want the absolute minimum there's older and/or refurb Mac minis too. Slower chips but they're still in the minimal "it works" category, and ultimately they can be cheaper because of that. You can go as old as 2009 models (I still use one as a basic web/office/VM work machine), but for performance I'd stick to 2011+, and ideally 2012 just cause it's older but upgradable if necessary*. 2014s have soldered RAM and relatively pricey just cause the newness. Just saw the UK refurb store had one for £470 or so, 8GB/1TB/2.6ghz...or a 4GB/500GB/1.4ghz for £340 I think, but I'd stay away cause the combo of low ram and slow ass drive (slow CPU doesn't help either).
*looking on eBay a lot of people think the same way so they're not that cheap either. Main thing is USB 3 on them which doesn't sound like an issue for you. 2011s have some a bit lower in price at least.
In general I'd like them to be more proactive about password security, like Google (and probably Facebook) does some simple heuristics to try to filter out questionable attempts.
As far as remote backup, anyone looked into Arq w/Amazon Cloud? Arq itself is pricey (license per machine iirc) but supports backing up network shares (so potentially back everything up through the one machine with Arq?), it encrypts on your end before uploading, while Amazon Cloud itself is $60/year for unlimited space. I've looked into Arq itself before, but until Amazon Cloud it never seemed competitive with the other stuff like Backblaze and Crashplan.
It's a long time thing afaik, perhaps increasingly so with the last few OS X versions where they've gotten more aggressive about power saving tricks. And at the driver level their stuff probably isn't as optimized as it could be, like you should assume their Windows support is more about just getting it working at all, rather than working as well as the Mac side.
I suppose so, but it makes sense that things are the way they are. If you think about it, the Mac is set to run Windows natively (what a joke) which means it won't interfere with settings or change them accordingly to "fit" a Mac better. Technically, the OS doesn't know it's being run on a Mac. Unless Apple provides a feature where you can select some kind of option "I am running this OS from a Mac - please optimize the settings to the Mac battery", it'll probabl always be this way. Sorry if my post makes no sense, I'm not sure I managed to translate what I wanted to say properly.
I believe this is why Turbo Boost doesn't quite work in Windows either, because the OS itself doesn't have any setting to deal with it as a Mac feature.
Best way would unfortunately be to just change stuff manually, and use third party software. :<
Does Apple legitimately have a Windows support team..?
Anyone know what an iPad Air 2 128GB in perfect condition should go for now?
I have it in an Apple red leather smart case and has AppleCare+ until October 2016. It's basically doing absolutely nothing. I didn't use it as much as I thought I would and now with the Macbook Pro it's just there.
I have it in an Apple red leather smart case and has AppleCare+ until October 2016. It's basically doing absolutely nothing. I didn't use it as much as I thought I would and now with the Macbook Pro it's just there.
That's what I meant by driver support, it's one thing to just work, it's another to work well. Windows relies those to talk to the hardware, and if they don't expose switching to low power or sleep modes or whatever then it just has to work with the baseline functionality.
That said there's one thing off the top of my head that might help...but only if you have a 15" model with discrete GPU. I think there's an app that can disable it manually, or maybe the Nvidia driver's can do it.
And yeah Apple has a Windows support team, in the sense that they make the Windows drivers and makes it work on their hardware. As far as customer support though, afaik it only extends to Boot Camp/drivers and getting Windows running. If Windows is working then their job is done.
From Amazon used prices are anywhere from $500 to 600ish while new ones are going for around $650, or they'll just buy yours for $415 if you don't want to bother with any selling hassles. eBay looks like a chunk lower, albeit hard to tell cause listings are a mess, and near me some people on Craigslist are going for $550-650.
AlexMeloche
Member
So I just got a new MacBook Pro Retina for school (the high-end version). They installed BootCamp with Windows 8.1 (since many programs I'll used doesn't exist for OS X).
The thing is, I only get around 2 hours (or even less sometimes!) of battery life while running OS X (I get around 5.5 while running Windows).
I'm pretty sure that's not normal. Any idea what it could be? I haven't calibrated the battery yet, maybe it could be this? Pretty annoying for something worth almost 3500$CAD.
The thing is, I only get around 2 hours (or even less sometimes!) of battery life while running OS X (I get around 5.5 while running Windows).
I'm pretty sure that's not normal. Any idea what it could be? I haven't calibrated the battery yet, maybe it could be this? Pretty annoying for something worth almost 3500$CAD.
The Real Abed
Perma-Junior
It's not normal. If it keeps up take it to a store or whoever bought it for you. I get plenty of hours on my 15" Retina.
Open up Activity Monitor, make sure all tasks are showing, and see if anything is eating CPU. On initial setup it's usually indexing (mds or spotlight processes) but if you've used it for a bit already it should be past that I would think, unless it's fucking up and indexing the Windows partition and bugging out cause it can't write an index anywhere on there? Otherwise I dunno, software update could be freaking out.
Anyway check it and see if anything is standing out. If not then yeah I guess it could be a calibration thing, only way to find out is to run it down. And uh, who is "they" that installed Windows, a school store or something? Kinda curious if they might've put something on the OS X side too that might be screwing up.
AlexMeloche
Member
Nothing seems to stand out, except maybe Google Chrome which has an Avg. Energy Impact of 20,38. Could it be it?
I'm starting a Bachelor Degree in Architecture, all new students are required to buy the computer provided by the school, so everything is installed / configured by the IT guys. I also had to buy programs packs and stuff. Pretty annoying, since I bought a pretty good (almost better) Lenovo laptop last year for a third of the price, and we're gonna end up using Windows 90% of the time.
...I forget how the "energy impact" number works, turn on the CPU percentage column for more live data I guess. There's also a bunch of CPU meter stuff if you want to keep an eye on things, MenuMeters is a free one, Activity Monitor has a floating window thing too but not as unobtrusive.
In any case, yeah Chrome can suck up battery, but still I don't think it'd explain going down to just 2 hours unless it was compounded with other stuff (or Chrome was bugging out and being exceptionally bad for some reason, which I've seen randomly now and then from browsers). And again just to be sure, you're showing all processes, not just all user ones right?
How long have you been running OS X on it? If you've only been running a short time and stuff has been chewing CPU a bit during initial setup that could explain a wonky estimate like that until things settle down and average out more.
AlexMeloche
Member
I've got the new laptop last tuesday, and I've been pretty much only using OS X since.
There's a feature to disable my dedicated GPU within OS X, you mean that but for Windows? I could try that.
It's probably my own fault too because I changed the power settings within Windows.
I just don't see how forcing it all to stay awake (except the screen itself) drains so much battery within Windows while it actually doesn't really touch the battery in OS X. orz
I might just have to re-check the power/idle settings and test around, although with the lack of Windows care from Apple, I wouldn't want to get my hopes up.
wow really? what the actual fuck.
Both of those numbers seem really really low. Something is wrong either with your software or with your battery. You should be able to call Apple support for free or go to an Apple Store to ask them what is going on, or exchange your computer for one with better battery life.
Edit: if it's a software problem with your schools custom install since those things are usually "imaged" the same for everyone you'd think it was happening to other people too.
Just bought my gf a Macbook Air yesterday. Never noticed the non-black bezel before which I kind of dislike after being so used to my retina pro. Hope it works well for her and lasts some years with just the 4GB RAM but she doesn't really do much besides surfing, watching videos, listening to music, facetiming (main reason she got it from me) and organizing pictures.
While I bought it I got around playing with the Macbook a bit. Damn that thing looks tiny even though the screen is just a bit smaller. Not sure I like the keyboard but the force touch felt good.
Anyways, I will get a Apple TV 3 as a gift though I already own a Raspberry Pi 2 with Kodi/openelec. Is it any use for me? It seems like the Airplay on Kodi doesn't work anymore but besides that?
While I bought it I got around playing with the Macbook a bit. Damn that thing looks tiny even though the screen is just a bit smaller. Not sure I like the keyboard but the force touch felt good.
Anyways, I will get a Apple TV 3 as a gift though I already own a Raspberry Pi 2 with Kodi/openelec. Is it any use for me? It seems like the Airplay on Kodi doesn't work anymore but besides that?