Mac Hardware and Software |OT| - All things Macintosh

Deku Tree said:
And you folks are going to love it even more if
and when?
Apple switches to ARM processors in their laptops and possibly their desktops.

http://www.macrumors.com/2014/05/25/arm-mac-magic-trackpad/
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This sounds like insurance, rather than an actual product move (like how they had Intel OS X computers for years before they actually switched). Shifting away from Intel would suck and be far worse of a transition than PPC -> Intel, and possibly OS 9 -> OS X. I don't see them doing it unless Intel can't keep delivering the goods, and having ARM in their back pocket as an exit strategy is certainly a way to keep some fire under them.

With that said, I don't think Intel has underdelivered in its consumer products; we're getting slightly more powerful but far more power-efficient results. If anything the stagnation is with their Xeon lines, where you're getting a year-old processor tech for extremely high prices--the remarkable thing with the new Mac Pros is that a lot of that cost is purely processor-based, rather than a result of the radically different design.*

http://ark.intel.com/products/series/75291/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E5-2600-v2-Product-Family#@All

*On the other hand since it's a single-socket system you can't save money by getting 2x 6C processors as opposed to a 1x 12C, but still. If Apple did offer a stripped-down i7 version of the Mac Pro it could easily drop the price a thousand bucks.

Water said:
Their incentive to invest in Mac drivers is weak since Apple doesn't offer high-end GPUs at all, doesn't offer reasonable GPU choice with their machines (so that GPU vendors would be in actual competition with each other) or enable the vendors to sell GPU upgrades after the fact. This would change e.g. if there was an Apple desktop that can accept an expansion card and is not priced right out of mass market, or if Apple pushed reasonably priced external Thunderbolt GPU enclosures as accessories for the laptops and "desktop laptops" they currently sell.
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Well all the stuff I've seen on pricing would be in the $200-300 range, but I can't actually find evidence people have actually *shipped* these expansion enclosures.
 
Deku Tree said:
My beef with migration assistant is that I used it on many computers over many years, and through all that it migrated background WD crapware over and over again to my new computers. Then last year I was hit with the WD crapware mavericks bug.

Otherwise yes it works perfectly.
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That's my problem exactly. I have seen way too many systems where a user gets a brand new Mac or just finishes a clean install, and then you can go into the Application Support folder and see a never ending list of support files, preferences, and install remnants from every application that has ever been installed on that Mac.
 
Fuchsdh said:
Well all the stuff I've seen on pricing would be in the $200-300 range, but I can't actually find evidence people have actually *shipped* these expansion enclosures.
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Without direct Apple driver support and hot-pluggability, I doubt it's a viable strategy for a third party to try to sell a TB enclosure for Macs. And it's not a viable product outside of Macs because A) practically no one besides Apple puts Thunderbolt on laptops, B) plenty of Windows machines ship with good GPUs or can be upgraded internally so there's much less demand. TB enclosures are a fix for a gaping hole that exists specifically in Apple's computer lineup.

No reason for a mass-produced Thunderbolt enclosure with a moderate power supply unit to cost more than $150.
 
thenexus6 said:
Yeah, well on her hard drive she has 60gb of "other" I assume is just junk. I have literally nothing in my other folder so I didn't want all that crap just going back
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60GB is ALOT. When I did my clean install, I did not re-install Garage Band and iMovie along with a few other programs that I never used, and I got back over 40GB of SSD space. Those programs use tons of space.
 
Mr. Wonderful said:
That's my problem exactly. I have seen way too many systems where a user gets a brand new Mac or just finishes a clean install, and then you can go into the Application Support folder and see a never ending list of support files, preferences, and install remnants from every application that has ever been installed on that Mac.
Click to expand...

That's why I won't be ticking every box in the migration assistant; I have nearly 9 years worth of garbage in there.

Thunderbolt just seems like a big waste to me, I doubt I will use it as anything other than a mini display port. Apple could probably remove it from the iMacs and MBAs and few would care. The premium on Thunderbolt HDDs is mad, I got a USB3 enclosure instead.
 
Fuchsdh said:
This sounds like insurance, rather than an actual product move (like how they had Intel OS X computers for years before they actually switched). Shifting away from Intel would suck and be far worse of a transition than PPC -> Intel, and possibly OS 9 -> OS X. I don't see them doing it unless Intel can't keep delivering the goods, and having ARM in their back pocket as an exit strategy is certainly a way to keep some fire under them.
Click to expand...
That's exactly what I said! It's a backup plan in case Intel flakes out like Motorola and IBM did.

I wouldn't want it if it destroyed my ability to run Windows at full speed in a Virtual Machine. I sure as fuck am not going back to the Virtual PC days. (Sure, ARM version of Windows. But tell that to all the games that would have to be updated.)
 
The Real Abed said:
That's exactly what I said! It's a backup plan in case Intel flakes out like Motorola and IBM did.

I wouldn't want it if it destroyed my ability to run Windows at full speed in a Virtual Machine. I sure as fuck am not going back to the Virtual PC days. (Sure, ARM version of Windows. But tell that to all the games that would have to be updated.)
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Reason #81230891 why gaming on a PC can suck. There's no stability to the platform and who knows what change is going to break your compatibility. I'm fairly certain the number of game makers who would port their released games to ARM from Intel would be much, much lower than those who did UB for Intel.
 
If Apple ever does switch to ARM, hopefully they wait until I own a gaming PC. I'll just use Steam Home Streaming and not worry about having to run Windows on my computer.

Until then though, I'll stay Intel.

That said, I don't see it happening for a long time if ever. Sure Intel is delaying stuff lately, but come on, no big deal. Way too early to jump ship. It hasn't even been 10 years since the Intel switch. And they've done a lot of really awesome improvements since then. So Apple needs to shift around some updates. Whatever. People are becoming way too reliant on a schedule anyway.

Of course I say this since I already have my top of the line 2013 rPro and it's fucking awesome. So I'm a bit biased.
 
my macbook is dying, im pretty sure its a harddrive failure. ive had to reinstall mavericks, but thats done nothing. its a mid 2010 mbp.

running spotify/chrome would crash my laptop, and consistantly won't go past the boot screen unless i cmd+r to to repair the disk. then it goes back to being a POS.

Any idea what to do, how much of a hassle would it be to replace the harddrive myself or to go to an apple genius. I mean its four years old and ive been itching for a new MacBook Air for a long while. What could be m best option in reselling this?
 
Dany M said:
my macbook is dying, im pretty sure its a harddrive failure. ive had to reinstall mavericks, but thats done nothing. its a mid 2010 mbp.

running spotify/chrome would crash my laptop, and consistantly won't go past the boot screen unless i cmd+r to to repair the disk. then it goes back to being a POS.

Any idea what to do, how much of a hassle would it be to replace the harddrive myself or to go to an apple genius. I mean its four years old and ive been itching for a new MacBook Air for a long while. What could be m best option in reselling this?
Click to expand...

I'm fairly certain that, especially if you perform the hard drive swap yourself, you'd get a much better resale if it's in perfect working order than broken.
 
Dany M said:
my macbook is dying, im pretty sure its a harddrive failure. ive had to reinstall mavericks, but thats done nothing. its a mid 2010 mbp.

running spotify/chrome would crash my laptop, and consistantly won't go past the boot screen unless i cmd+r to to repair the disk. then it goes back to being a POS.

Any idea what to do, how much of a hassle would it be to replace the harddrive myself or to go to an apple genius. I mean its four years old and ive been itching for a new MacBook Air for a long while. What could be m best option in reselling this?
Click to expand...

The HD swap on that model is very straight forward, and would yield you a better resale value greater than the cost of the hd.
 
Anyone know what kind of gains we're likely to see with the Broadwell chips? Trying to decide whether or not to hold off on getting a new Retina MacBook Pro.
 
Is it normal that VMware Fusion doesn't want to use my USB install key with Windows 8.1 on it or do I need to make an ISO file instead using Microsoft's install tool?
 
If ARM will allow a Mac desktop for under $500, then by all means. I want to switch so many family members over, but the current line up is just a few hundred too much for something with just 4gb ram and a mechanical drive.
 
giga said:
If ARM will allow a Mac desktop for under $500, then by all means. I want to switch so many family members over, but the current line up is just a few hundred too much for something with just 4gb ram and a mechanical drive.
Click to expand...

I'm saying no to ARM. I'd rather Apple be stuck playing catch up like they did with the Intel switch.
 
giga said:
If ARM will allow a Mac desktop for under $500, then by all means. I want to switch so many family members over, but the current line up is just a few hundred too much for something with just 4gb ram and a mechanical drive.
Click to expand...

Apple could stick the Mac mini in a plastic shell and create a $499 or cheaper Mac right now. The processors aren't an issue there.
 
Quick question guess:

If you had to choose one, would you pick the

13" MacBook Pro with Retina Display
2.6GHz Core i5
Intel Iris Graphics
8GB RAM
256GB Flash Storage

or

13" MacBook Air
1.7GHz Core i7
Intel HD Graphics 5000
8GB RAM
256GB Flash Storage

The Pro is only $100 more so I'm leaning towards that since it's not much heavier or bigger than the Air. Also, while not 12 hours, 9 hours of battery life is still really good.
 
If you don't mind the extra weight go for the MBP.

The 13" Air still has its fans but I think it and the non-retina MBP are in an awkward spot right now.
 
Hhm. Apparently Apple has a Military discount. I'm not going to be buying this until 2 or so months from now when I get out of boot camp...

I could get the 13inch Retina with 2.8GHz i7 and 16GB RAM for only $1849...

Might go with that.
 
So I have this happening to me today...

ScreenShot2014-05-29at34404PM_zps5664b2bf.png



I've never seen MSHOME and WORKGROUP before the other two are Windows PC's in my office. Any ideas as to why these would just suddenly appear today?
 
The following is not guaranteed to be the cause of the problem. By reading the next paragraph, you implicitly agree not to sue me if you buy a new router and it doesn't solve the problem. :-)

What brand and model of router? If it's a non-Apple router and supports WPS (WiFI Protected Setup), you need to disable WPS in the router's settings. If it supports WPS and doesn't have an option to disable WPS, you need to consider replacing it (check for a firmware update first which might add an option to disable WPS). WPS is broken and allows anyone to use your wireless network regardless of your password strength (it's way easier to figure out the WPS "password" than it's supposed to be).

If you have an Apple router, you are OK and there must be some other explanation.

There are other possible explanations (those may actually be computers on your network, etc.). I'm just suggesting one possibility.
 
Sorry for posting again but I wanted to add the important note that if you replace the router (or disable WPS in your existing router), you need to change your WiFi password. The WPS vulnerability discloses your network encryption key. So buying a new router (or disabling WPS in your existing router) and using the same key will not prevent someone who exploited the WPS vulnerability from accessing your network. And be sure to change the WiFi password over a WIRED connection. Never set/change the wireless password over a wireless connection.

Again, this is not guaranteed to be the problem. It's just one possibility to consider.
 
I own a small business there are only three computers in my office. My windows xp comp that I use only for my business stuff (insurance), my wife's computer (win 7) and my Mac that I use for non business stuff.

The router/modem is an AT&T u-verse supplied variant, I am not sure what model it is I will check tomorrow.

I am used to seeing the two besides Mshome and Workgroup as those are the other two comps I mentioned. Also my Mac hasn't been moved in ages, there have been no changes to my setup or anything like that.


Also thanks for the replies, it kinda freaked me out when I saw those other comps in my shared area.
 
Ryck said:
I own a small business there are only three computers in my office. My windows xp comp that I use only for my business stuff (insurance), my wife's computer (win 7) and my Mac that I use for non business stuff.

The router/modem is an AT&T u-verse supplied variant, I am not sure what model it is I will check tomorrow.

I am used to seeing the two besides Mshome and Workgroup as those are the other two comps I mentioned. Also my Mac hasn't been moved in ages, there have been no changes to my setup or anything like that.


Also thanks for the replies, it kinda freaked me out when I saw those other comps in my shared area.
Click to expand...

Kind of an aside... but you should really upgrade or replace that XP comp... at the very least make sure it has no access to the internet.
 
Yeah XP has some big security holes, and I don't believe that MS is going to patch them since XP is old. But I don't know how hard it is to transition your business stuff to a new OS.

Did you try turning off file sharing on your Mac?
 
Yeah that Xp comp is a pain but there are compatibility issues with anything newer and the software I use for rating. File sharing is definitely off in my Mac, it was the first thing I checked.
 
My posts yesterday about the WPS vulnerability were a knee-jerk reaction to any kind of questionable activity on a network. I didn't take the time to realize those were just group names, not computer names. Sorry for the alarm (but everyone should still make sure the vulnerable form of WPS is disabled in their wireless routers).

On a Windows system, you can display computer and group names using the nbtstat command. To see the names and groups registered by the computer on which you are running the command:

nbtstat -n

To see the names registered by another computer on the network (using one of your computer names as an example):

nbtstat -a rickynmarci-pc
 
I'd say it'd be better and cheap just to buy a copy of Parallels and install the latest version of Windows that your "Insurance" software will run on and put that on your Mac and dump the XP PC. That is if the software doesn't already have a Mac version and easy migration tools.
 
adroit said:
My posts yesterday about the WPS vulnerability were a knee-jerk reaction to any kind of questionable activity on a network. I didn't take the time to realize those were just group names, not computer names. Sorry for the alarm (but everyone should still make sure the vulnerable form of WPS is disabled in their wireless routers).

On a Windows system, you can display computer and group names using the nbtstat command. To see the names and groups registered by the computer on which you are running the command:

nbtstat -n

To see the names registered by another computer on the network (using one of your computer names as an example):

nbtstat -a rickynmarci-pc
Click to expand...
Thank you for this info, this morning they weren't there just the two I am used to. I checked just now and Mshome is back but not Workgroup.

The Real Abed said:
I'd say it'd be better and cheap just to buy a copy of Parallels and install the latest version of Windows that your "Insurance" software will run on and put that on your Mac and dump the XP PC. That is if the software doesn't already have a Mac version and easy migration tools.
Click to expand...

Yes I am planning on doing that but I am getting a separate comp, most likely an iMac as my Mid 2011 Mini is already starting to show it's age.


Thanks for the help guys.
 
killertofu said:
I don't understand why people continue to buy the non Retina 13 inch MacBook Pro

I've seriously had friends buy it within the last few months
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A few of my friends have as well, they got really good prices on them, that is probably why. Isn't performance better as well?
 
For the same price, The processor is better and you get double the storage on the MBP (albeit 5200rpm)

Idk I feel like if I were in their position, an all day battery and fast reads. They're not into any kind of professional work. Just browsing and papers
 
I haven't had a home computer with a 5400 rpm drive since... 1998, judging by MacTracker. Every Power Mac since had 7200rpm options or default.

It's pretty pathetic any hardware maker still ships 5400 rpm drives even in 2.5" configs.
 
killertofu said:
For the same price, The processor is better and you get double the storage on the MBP (albeit 5200rpm)

Idk I feel like if I were in their position, an all day battery and fast reads. They're not into any kind of professional work. Just browsing and papers
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Nope, processor is slower. It also eats more power which is why battery life is worse despite the machine being larger and heavier. The display is garbage - worse than the Air display has been since 4 years ago. No one with a clue buys that laptop, and Apple should feel bad for offering it in that configuration at all. Due to the display it's even terrible for "browsing and papers". An appropriate price for it would be something like $800, but even then I'd strongly advise people to dig under their couch cushions for that extra $200 to get an Air and have an actually decent experience.
 
Ryck said:
Isn't performance better as well?
Click to expand...
I doubt it. The non-Retina models are so old that any speed loss a Retina may or may not have is still faster than the older outdated optical drive toting models.

Retina is so much better in every regard. It's just the price that is an issue and probably the reason they still keep them hanging on. Hopefully they will get the Retina price down to the point of the old Pro. Then they'll definitely cut them loose. As for updating them, heh. I'd be surprised if they ever get another processor update. If anything a tiny speed bump.

The last update was mid-2012.
 
The Real Abed said:
Retina is so much better in every regard. It's just the price that is an issue and probably the reason they still keep them hanging on.
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No, the non-retina model costs far too much for price to be the reason of keeping it around. The only explanation that makes sense is the optical drive. I'd guess some institutional customers and other fossils have a hard requirement for internal optical.
 
Two Words said:
The new Retina models need to add some USB ports. 2 Ports is kind of ridiculous.
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I doubt it will happen. They've been rolling with 2 USB ports on their laptops for quite a while now.

On another note, what are the chances that the new OS will be free to download just like Mavericks was last year?
 
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