Month: January 2016

An SSD can make your old Mac feel new again

Posted on by Peter

If you have an older Mac that still uses a hard disk drive and you’re looking to keep it alive for a while longer, I strongly recommend considering replacing that drive with a Solid State Drive (SSD) instead. It’s one of the best instant performance improvements you can make to your Mac, and it’ll keep it going for a while longer.

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Hard drives are squarely 20th century technology. They work a bit like record players: There’s a disc inside that spins around a central spindle, like the record spinning around, but instead of needle playing a groove on the record, an arm with a device at the end of it can read and write to the disk magnetically. They’re slow, noisy, use lots of energy (and generate heat), they’re heavy, and mechanical.

SSDs have become standard issue across the Mac laptop line since the introduction of the Retina MacBook Pro in 2012. They store data similarly to how information is stored on your phone — by writing data to chips which remember the data even when they’re turned off. By using silicon to store the information instead of a physical disk, you can read and write information much, much faster. 

SSDs are a popular upgrade option for do it yourselfers — a number of companies make their own mechanisms, including many which are designed to fit into the same space made for a laptop hard drive (commonly a 2.5-inch drive). These third-party SSDs use the same Serial ATA (SATA) connections as a hard drive, so it’s just like replacing a hard drive. Only soo much faster.

There’s a downside to SSDs: They’re more expensive per gigabyte of storage than a hard drive. You can buy a 1 terabyte hard drive for less than $100. An SSD with that capacity will start at about $250, if you shop around and find a good sale. Having said that, the price on SSDs has come way, way down in recent months, so you can find some good values if you look. Even a year ago, a 1 TB SSD was well outside the budget range of many of us.

I’ve recently replaced the hard drive on a mid-2009 MacBook Pro with a 128 GB SSD, and the difference in performance is nothing short of amazing. Even with its small RAM footprint, this MacBook runs well enough to be a daily driver. What’s more, Macs of this age are pretty serviceable, too: Putting it in involved a single tool (a Philips #00 screwdriver) and required about ten minutes.

Check web sites like iFixit.com and Macsales.com for more info on installing SSDs. OWC (macsales.com) is also a good place for Mac users to buy them.

MacBook branding is messy

Posted on by Peter

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Apple’s branding of the MacBook is a hot mess, and I hope they clean it up. Let me explain.

For the last several years, Apple has bifurcated its laptop sales into two brands: The MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro with Retina Display. It differentiated them by offering the MacBook Air as being less expensive, having lighter weight, and sporting all-day battery life. The MacBook Pro offered a superior screen, faster performance and more expansion options.

That changed in March of 2015, when the company resurrected the MacBook brand, dormant since the discontinuation of the polycarbonate-clad MacBook in 2010. In its previous incarnation, the MacBook was positioned as Apple’s entry-level model, a step down from the MacBook Air, but a system better suited for students and others looking for a value-priced, reasonably durable Mac laptop.

The 2015 MacBook flips that on its head. The new MacBook is positioned as the laptop of tomorrow. It sports twice the memory and twice the storage capacity of the Air, with a (smaller) Retina display like the MacBook Pro. It’s also a showcase for new technology like a different keyboard mechanism and Force Touch trackpad.

By making it even lighter and thinner than other Mac laptops, Apple also eliminated every external interface except a USB-C connector (shared by data and power) and a headphone jack. Otherwise, the assumption is that whatever you need to do can be done wirelessly either using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

The MacBook is also the first Mac laptop to follow Apple’s aesthetic direction for iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches: It’s available in different finishes like Space Gray, Silver and Gold.

All of this adds up to a very enigmatic product in Apple’s Mac line. The MacBook stands alone from the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. When looking at them side-by-side, buyers unfamiliar with the Mac line are often confused — why is the thinnest, lightest MacBook not a MacBook Air. After all, doesn’t “Air” mean it should be light?

So what’s the right answer? I don’t know. My expectation is that over time the lines between the products will blur as Apple incorporates more of the MacBook’s design and aesthetic into its other products. Maybe there won’t be a meaningful difference. Or maybe the MacBook Air will go away entirely. But right now, the MacBook sticks out like a sore thumb.

2015: The Apple year in review

Posted on by Peter

Apple certainly wasn’t sitting still this year. Here’s a look back at the major accomplishments of Apple in 2015.

MacBook

Apple retired the “MacBook” mark in 2010 when the white polycarbonate-clad laptop was discontinued, offering only the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro instead. The MacBook roared back to life in 2015, reimagined as a next-generation laptop designed to work entirely wirelessly.

The MacBook is Apple’s slimmest, lightest laptop, clocking in a hair over 2 pounds, equipped with a Retina display, Force Touch trackpad and a new keyboard that’s love it or hate it depending on your preference. It’s also a bit slower than the MacBook Air, thanks to the Core M processor inside — a lower-power, lower-speed variant of the processor used in other Macs.

Tim Cook has said that the MacBook is a look at the future of the laptop. Some design decisions, like using USB-C as the sole interface for power and external connectivity, haven’t been well-received, so we’ll see how much of this tech makes it into other Mac laptops over time.

MacBook Air and MacBook Pro

Apple’s other laptops got some attention in March, too. Apple updated the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display with a new generation of Intel processor and some other features too, and also bumped the MacBook Air with a gentle refresh. The 15-inch MacBook Pro followed later in May.

The Apple Watch

After much fanfare following its unveiling in late 2014, Apple released the Apple Watch. The device’s long-term impact to Apple’s product line and designs remains to be seen, but eight months after its initial release, Apple has increased the device’s distribution from just Apple retail stores to major retailers including Best Buy and Target too.

Apple isn’t sitting still with the Apple Watch — they’ve already revised the design to offer the popular Sport model in different finishes including Rose Gold, introduced with the iPhone 6S this fall, and has revised the operating system, watchOS, to version 2, loaded with new features.

Third-party developers are still trying to figure out how to incorporate Apple Watch app designs and functionality into their products. This is going to be a very interesting market to watch in 2016, when Apple will presumably introduce a new Apple Watch with new features, better performance and more functionality.

iOS 9 and El Capitan

Apple’s annual operating system upgrade cycle — a fixture for the last half-decade — continued unabated this year with iOS 9 and OS X 10.11 El Capitan. Both of them were introduced at WWDC in June, and saw public releases in the fall. iOS 9 and El Cap adoption have been good — it’s helped that this year was a real iterative change for both operating systems, not a major upheaval like iOS 8 and Yosemite.

iOS 9’s hallmark is “more intelligence:” Better contextual reminders, new ways to search and more effective Siri integration. A new News app gives you access to up-to-date info from your favorite sites, and a redesigned Notes app incorporates new features like drawing tools and the ability to include photos and images in notes.

El Cap’s performance is better thanks to some under-the-hood reworks. Core graphics technology is up to 40 percent better, Safari has been reworked and more. Apple’s also made apps like Notes, Maps, Mail, and Safari better than ever.

Apple Music

Apple had long bucked the trend toward music subscription services, but finally shook off that limitation in 2015 with the introduction of Apple Music. For $9.99 a month you get unlimited music streaming from Apple, and while the selection isn’t nearly as complete as the iTunes Store, there are millions of songs to listen to.

Apple sweetened the pot by offering new subscribers a 90 day trial version, and all indications are that it’s been hugely successful.

iPhone 6S

After introducing Force Touch with the MacBook and refreshed MacBook Air and MacBook Pro earlier in the year, Apple introduced the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus in September, revealing “3D Touch” as a new way to navigate the iOS interface. 3D Touch employs haptic feedback — force feedback — so you can “peek” and “pop,” dipping in and out of content without losing your place.

Live Photos record moments in time before and after the shot is taken, and the new 12 megapixel sensor on the new iPhones makes it possible to record 4K video.

Apple TV

Apple TV finally turned the corner in 2015 from a streaming video appliance to something more. The fourth-generation Apple TV debuted with a new remote — the Siri Remote, complete with Siri integration and a touchpad surface — and a lot of new functionality, including the ability to download apps from an Apple TV app store.

The new Apple TV costs more than its predecessor, but packs a much bigger punch. And if initial indications are any gauge, it looks like it’s off to a rousing start, although the rollout of apps to take advantage of the Apple TV has hit a few speedbumps along the way. 

iPad Pro

For the first time since the iPad mini was introduced, Apple’s changed the form factor of the iPad. The $799 iPad Pro features a 12.9-inch Retina display, the biggest iPad screen ever. What’s more, the iPad Pro showcases unique technology like support for the Apple Pencil, a pressure-sensitive stylus that enables you to draw and illustrate on the iPad Pro’s screen effortlessly; and the Smart Keyboard, a combination keyboard/iPad cover that uses a three-conductor interface on the iPad instead of Bluetooth for reliable communications and power.

iMac

The iMac got some much-needed attention in October with refreshed 21.5 and 27-inch models. 5K display is now standard across the 27-inch line, with a 4K model serving as the high end of the 21.5 inch line. 

Executive reshuffling

It wasn’t all product news at Apple this year. Some important behind-the-scenes stuff happened as well. In October the company elected former Boeing corporate president and CFO James Bell to the board of directors. Apple promoted Jeff Williams to the COO’s position, which had been vacant ever since Tim Cook took over at CEO following Steve Jobs’ retirement. Williams has been in control of Apple’s operations for some time, so this titular change doesn’t represent a new direction.

Apple also announced the appointment of Tor Myrhen, a creative from Grey New York, to the position of VP of Marketing Communications, replacing 18 year Apple veteran Hiroki Asai. Johny Srouji has been promoted to VP of hardware technologies after leading development of the A series processors used in Apple’s mobile devices.

And perhaps most tellingly, Apple senior VP of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller’s role has been expanded to include management of the various App Stores Apple has has developed to support iOS and OS X. Some Mac app developers are hoping Schiller’s appointment will help to move some long-standing issues regarding Mac App Store policies and procedures, but we’ll see.