Articles about Apple

For some, Apple's decision to drop the startup chime from the latest batch of MacBook Pros came as great news -- for others it was an absolute travesty.

The quest for a silent startup has led many Mac users over the years to seek out third party tools to kill the sound, but now that it has gone there are those who want it back. All is not lost! If you prefer a musical start to your computing sessions, you can re-enable the chime.

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"What the heck is happening at Apple?" people ask me. "Has the company lost its mojo?" "Why no new product categories?" "Why didn’t Apple, instead of AT&T, buy Time Warner?" And "Why are the new MacBook Pros so darned expensive?"

After first getting out of the way the fact that Apple is still the richest public company in the history of public companies, let’s take these questions in reverse order beginning with the MacBook Pros. In addition to their nifty OLED finger bar above the keyboard, these new Macs seem to have gained an average of $200 over the preceding models of the same size. What makes Apple think it can get away with that?

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Things can go awry with any computer from time to time, and getting things back to normal is often just a matter of knowing the right trick. With a Mac, resetting NVRAM is a quick fix for a number of issues, and Apple has changed the way you go about doing this with the late-2016 MacBook Pro models.

One of the reasons for the change is that these latest models do not feature the startup sound, so timing the required key presses is a slightly different matter now. Here's what you need to do.

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When Apple unveiled the new MacBook Pro range last week, much was made of the Touch Bar and other things that have been added. What was not noticed immediately is that the company has also ditched the famous startup chime that used to sound when powering up the laptops.

More than this, Apple has eliminated the need to use the power button. Just as laptops wake from sleep when the lid is opened, the new MacBook Pro automatically powers up when the lid is lifted -- even if they are fully switched off.

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That's the question to ask if you're considering ordering the new MacBook Pro unveiled last week or wondering whether or not to cancel an already placed purchase before it ships. For fervent fanboys who drink Apple Kool-Aid like water, "treat" can be the only answer. But for the thinking public, the response depends on several factors, such as budget and whether or not buyers believe that the fruit-logo company advocates a rational design ethic.

Let's start with the latter. Apple is finger-obsessed and has been since before the first Mac shipped, as I explained in March 2010 post: "What 1984 Macintosh marketing reveals about iPad". The company lags behind Google getting to the next user interface, which is more contextual and immediately responsive: Voice, meaning touchless interaction, rather than touch, supported by artificial intelligence. By contrast, Apple isn't ready to abandon the finger-first motif, as Touch Bar makes so obviously apparent.

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The new Apple MacBook Pro looks to be a wonderful laptop, but understandably, not everyone is impressed. The "Pro" moniker literally means "professional", and there are some concerns from that segment. Some photographers, for instance, will be very hurt and disgusted by the lack of an SD card slot. More importantly, the computer maxes out at 16GB of RAM -- many pro users want 32GB or more, which is not possible on the new machine, sadly.

While you might expect some of these disappointed Apple loyalists to turn to a Windows machine -- and I'm sure some will -- some are turning to an unexpected alternative -- Linux. You see, immediately after the Apple Keynote, famed Ubuntu laptop and desktop seller, System76, saw a huge jump in traffic from people looking to buy its machines. The traffic was so intense, that it needed to upgrade servers to keep up!

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When Apple unveiled the latest MacBook Pro, it was the Touch Bar that stole the show. But if you were expecting this touchscreen addition to the keyboard to become an all-singing, all-dancing fun parade, you may be disappointed.

Apple -- loving, as it does, to remain firmly in control of everything -- has issued developers strict guidelines that restrict how the Touch Bar can (or should...) be used.

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Apple's newest MacBook Pro with Touch Bar has four Thunderbolt 3 (USB Type-C) ports, making it amazingly versatile. While all the ports can charge the device, they can all transfer data and video too.

If you are investing in Apple's latest pro laptop, and you need blazing fast external storage, LaCie has a Thunderbolt 3 product that will make you giddy. Called "Bolt3", it offers 2800MB/s read, and 2200MB/s write. The beautifully designed drive also has two Thunderbolt 3 ports, so you can daisy-chain to other devices, such as displays or additional storage.

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People wanting a shiny new MacBook Pro are in for sticker shock. The entry-level for the cheapest, newest 13-incher is $200 or $500 more than its predecessor, depending on whether or not opting for the newfangled TouchBar and TouchID. That's $1,499 or $1,799. Yikes. MBP 15 is a $400 price hike, $2,399, for current tech.

But if you already own MacBook Pro, particularly the 13-incher released in March 2015 or the larger model two months later, Apple increased the laptop's value by not accelerating its depreciation. No kidding. That's because the new entry-level SKUs are the same as before.

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I am not an Apple fanboy, but I have defended the company's decisions and philosophy more times than I can remember. And for good reason. But, looking at the new MacBook Pro line, I am finding it hard to see where that "touch of genius" is. What exactly makes its latest laptops anything more than glorified MacBooks?

Apple has never been afraid to take risks and innovate. But with the new MacBook Pros it has failed to improve upon their "Pro" status. It wrongfully applied the same approach it has used over and over again in the consumer space without considering that prosumers, the folks who MacBook Pros used to be designed for, have a different set of needs than the average Joe who buys a MacBook Air to go on Facebook at Starbucks. As a result, the new MacBook Pros, while different than before, are not evolved enough for this day and age. The so-called "touch of genius" tagline is proof that Apple has lost touch with the real world.

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Today was Apple's big October event, and I came away impressed. The new MacBook Pro is both drop-dead gorgeous and super-powerful. The Touch Bar is revolutionary, bringing touch functionality to an operating system that isn't designed for a touch screen.

Unfortunately, the prices for the New MacBook Pro models are quite high, starting at $1,800 for one with the Touch Bar (a neutered non-Touch Bar model can be had for $1,500). If you are going to invest in such a pricey laptop, you will probably want it to double as a desktop too. Luckily, LG has two new Thunderbolt 3 monitors (one is 27-inch 5K, the other is 21.5-inch 4K) that will make it so. Dubbed "UltraFine", they double as single-cable docking stations. In other words, when paired with the MacBook Pro (or non-Pro MacBook), you will have a very rewarding macOS experience.

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The Mac laptop line, following today's new announcements, looks lots less like Apple and more like Compaq—where Tim Cook worked much earlier in his career, incidentally, long before the original IBM PC clone-maker's demise. Confusing. Complicated. These are apt descriptions that might just send the ghost of Steve Jobs skyward on either—take your pick—Halloween or Day of the Dead.

Among Apple cofounder's first tasks when returning to the chief executive's chair in 1997: Simplifying product families. Jobs cut the deadweight, surprising many people by killing off Newton, for example. Complex product lines define Apple under successor Cook, by contrast.

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We were expecting Apple to release a new app for Apple TV at its "Hello Again" event, and that was the first thing that the tech giant showed off.

Called simply TV, the new app lets you discover and watch TV shows and movies from multiple apps on Apple TV, iPhone and iPad. There’s also a new Siri feature for Apple TV that lets viewers quickly tune in to live news and sporting events.

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In just a few hours, Apple will be taking the wraps off its latest MacBook Pro. We’ve already seen a leaked photo of the new device, with OLED Magic Toolbar, but Apple will have more to show us than just that. Rumors suggest the tech giant will be updating the MacBook Air and iMac too, debuting an external 5K display, and announcing an Apple TV app called "The Watch List" that will recommend shows users may like.

The event is scheduled to start at 10am PDT/1pm EDT/6pm BST, and as always it will be streamed live so you can tune in at home or (maybe) work.

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When Apple removed the 3.5mm headphone jack from the iPhone 7, some people were upset. Me? I was happy. Look, that analog audio jack was very outdated, and it was time to kill it. Digital audio is superior, and the Lightning port is a great alternative.

The other reason I didn't mind the death of the headphone jack was AirPods -- Apple's revolutionary wireless headphones. Even though I own an iPhone 6S Plus with 3.5mm jack, I was saving up money to buy my own AirPods this month. Like a punch in the gut, however, today, Apple breaks the hearts of many -- AirPods have officially been delayed. In other words, the much-anticipated product will not go on sale in October as previously promised.

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