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2009.
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All prices are in US dollars unless otherwise noted.
News & Opinion
Reviews
Apple Updates
Software
News & Opinion
Beginning of the End for the iMac?
The Industry
Standard's Ian Lamont says:
"Ten years ago, Apple released a product that marked the start of
its remarkable turnaround under Steve Jobs. The product was the iMac. The candy-colored, self-contained desktop
computers was an eye-opener for people who were accustomed to beige PC
towers that had all of the sex appeal of a Soviet apartment block. The
iMac was an instant hit....
"However,
while Apple has been able to keep the iMac on the leading edge of
design and consumer demand, its future doesn't look so bright. This may
seem like an unusual statement considering the iMac has been in the
leading product in its desktop lineup. Nevertheless, the iMac can't
outrun trends taking place in the marketplace.
"Even before the economic crisis hit, there had been an ongoing
shift to notebook computers. Apple's 2008 10-K reflects this - overall
Apple notebook sales more than doubled from 2006 to 2008, compared to a
70 percent rise in Apple's desktop sales.
"Apple has been trying to hold the line on iMac pricing, but it
won't be able to sustain $1,000+ levels in a recession."
"The obvious choice is to wind down its consumer desktop
business."
Link: The
Beginning of the End for the iMac?
Why 'Consumer' Macs Are Enterprise-Worthy
Computerworld's Seth Weintraub says:
"Not too long ago, ad agencies, design firms and other creative
companies were about the only businesses that widely deployed Macintosh
computers to their employees. But for a number of reasons, word of the
benefits of Apple Inc. hardware - and software - on enterprise desktops
is now spreading...
"Macintosh computers appear to be making market-share gains in the
home, opening the door to similar success in the enterprise. But which
Apple machines are appropriate for corporate use? Should IT managers
focus only on the 'professional' end of Apple's offerings - the
Mac Pro desktop machine or
MacBook Pro
laptop line? Or would an iMac, a Mac mini or a MacBook make as much sense for
business?"
"There is no comparison between Apple's 'consumer' machines and the
consumer lines of its competitors. All of Apple's machines are ready to
move into the enterprise, depending on the job at hand...."
Link:
Why Apple's 'Consumer' Macs Are Enterprise-Worthy
Proof There Will Be a New Mac mini and iMac
Hardmac's
Lionel reports:
"While digging in the Mac OS X configuration files, some people
found proof that Apple prepares to launch a new mini Mac and a new
iMac.
"As if there could be any doubt, the two machines will use GeForce
9400M on their mother boards; this news brings more question than
answers.
"For mini Mac, this is excellent news . . . However we can
ask the question about Firewire on this machine. If Apple remains
coherent, the Mac mini, just like MacBook, should lose these ports.
"For the iMac . . . There too, one can question the
presence of Firewire. For the higher models, Apple will certainly
follow MacBook Pro route and will integrate a faster second
chip....
"According to some sources, Apple might emphasis [sic] the
capabilities of the new iMac and Mac mini for games. Some information
let us think that the reason for the Mac mini to sport a discrete GPU
would be to offer much better abilities for games...."
Link: There
Will Be a New Mac mini and iMac - Report Says There's Proof
New iMacs and Mac minis Confirmed to Use NVIDIA
Chipsets
AppleInsider's
Slash Lane reports:
"Apple's next-generation iMacs and Mac minis will adopt the same
NVIDIA chipset platform found at the heart of the company's most recent
notebook overhaul, new findings confirm once over.
"A member of the InsanelyMac forums was recently rifling through the
extension files that ship with the latest MacBooks and MacBooks Pros
and discovered references to a 'Macmini3,1' and 'iMac9,1.'
"Running System Profiler on Apple's most current iMacs and Mac minis
reveal the model number of those systems to be 'Macmini2,1' and
'iMac8,1,' meaning the configuration files included with the company's
latest notebooks are for still unannounced models."
Link:
New iMacs and Mac minis Confirmed to Use NVIDIA Chipsets -
Report
The Ultimate Guide to Mac OS X
MacTrainingGuide says:
"In this Tutorial-Review of Mac OS X we will navigate through every
one of its features with a concise definition, videos and pdf documents
to support any technical information of the System, this is a looong
journey, but once taken you won't need to look back for more
information about OS X. In this first chapter we will check: The
Desktop, Mac OS X Finder, Quick Look, Spaces and Time
Machine."
Link:
The Ultimate Guide to Mac OS X
Reviews
Mac OS X 10.5.6 Faster, Especially Graphics
Macs Only's Bill Fox reports:
"Apple released Mac OS X 10.5.6 on Monday, 12/15, with new graphics
drivers, among other things, so my hope of improved graphics
performance was again renewed. I installed Mac OS X 10.5.6 using
Software Update on a number of Macs: Mac Pro, MacBook Air, iMac Core 2
Duo, PowerMac G4 Cube and PowerBook G4. Only the iMac had the installer
problem noted in this Apple KB article and I fixed it by downloading
and using the stand-alone combo installer. I have been using 10.5.6
since, experiencing no problems on any of the computers....
"Mac OS X 10.5.6 recovers the graphics speed drops that occurred in
10.5.5 . . . Best of all, my vastly faster Mac Pro is finally
faster at the OpenGL game Halo than my former MacBook Pro - 10.5.6 is
70% faster than previous releases of Leopard on my Mac Pro!"
Link: Mac OS X
10.5.6, How Fast Is It! Really Good News
Mac OS X 10.5.5 vs. 10.5.6: Improved Graphics
Performance
Bare Feats' rob-ART morgan reports:
"According to the Apple Support documentation, Mac OS X Update
10.5.6 'includes general improvements to gaming performance.' We ran a
series of tests to see what improved...."
Link: Mac OS X
10.5.5 versus 10.5.6: Improved Graphics Performance?
Apple Updates
Mac OS X 10.5: Software Update Stops Responding
During 'Configuring installation'
A new Apple Knowledge Base
article says:
When attempting to update software using Software Update in Mac OS X
10.5, the update process may stop responding while "Configuring
installation" is visible in the update window.
This can occur if Software Update attempts to install an update that
was only partially downloaded.
Products Affected: Mac OS X 10.5, Mac OS X 10.5.3, Mac OS X 10.5.4,
Mac OS X 10.5.1, Mac OS X 10.5.2, Mac OS X 10.5.5
- Resolution: Quit (or if necessary, Force Quit) Software
Update.
Note: If the issue occurs while installing an update after log out
(such as an update that requires a restart), shut down your Mac by
holding down the power button, then power it back on.
- Click the Finder icon in the Dock.
- From the Go menu choose "Go to Folder".
- Type: /Library/Updates
- Click Go. The /Library/Updates folder opens.
- Select all contents of this folder and move them to the Trash.
Once the above steps are complete, use Software Update again to
re-download and install the update.
To avoid this issue, download and install the Mac OS X 10.5.6 Update
or later. Note that this update must first be installed to avoid the
issue; the issue may occur while downloading the Mac OS X 10.5.6 Update
or later.
Link: Mac OS X 10.5:
Software Update Stops Responding During 'Configuring
installation'
Software
Primate Labs Announces Geekbench 2.1
PR: Primate Labs has announced the immediate availability of
Geekbench 2.1, an update to their cross-platform processor and memory
benchmark for Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris, and Windows. Geekbench provides
a comprehensive set of benchmarks engineered to quickly and accurately
measure processor and memory performance. Designed to make benchmarks
easy to run and easy to understand, Geekbench takes the guesswork out
of producing robust and reliable benchmark results.
Geekbench 2.1 focused on making the application more approachable to
new users by overhauling the benchmark result view in a way that make
benchmark scores more prominent and easier to understand. These same
improvements were also ported to the newly redesigned Geekbench Result
Browser making scores even easier to compare than before.
Version 2.1 also includes a number of new features and bug fixes for
power users, including offline result submission, increased benchmark
accuracy in virtual machines, and improved timing code that better
handles software-overclocked systems.
Minimum System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.4 or later, Windows XP or
later, or Fedora Core 8 or later are required to use Geekbench 2.1.
Pricing and Availability: Geekbench costs $19.95 for new users,
Geekbench 2.0 users will receive the update for free. Please visit the
product website for further details.
Link: Geekbench
Desktop Mac
Deals
Low End Mac updates the following price trackers monthly:
For deals on current and discontinued 'Books, see our 13" MacBook and MacBook Pro,
MacBook Air, 13" MacBook Pro, 15" MacBook Pro, 17" MacBook Pro, 12" PowerBook G4, 15" PowerBook G4, 17" PowerBook G4, titanium PowerBook G4,
iBook G4, PowerBook G3, and iBook G3 deals.
We also track iPad,
iPhone, iPod touch, iPod classic, iPod nano, and iPod shuffle deals.
