Ever since the G3 era, Apple has had a hard time with names. Four
different designs were called PowerBook G3, every iMac has simply been
called an iMac, and the Mac community has done its best to come up with
helpful names. Most recently, Apple has been designating models by
their release date - Early 2010, Mid 2010, and Late 2010 - but with no
consistency. Since releasing the new iMac on May 3, we've seen Apple
refer to it as both Early 2011 and Mid 2011!
We've made an arbitrary, sensible decision at Low End Mac. Models
released from January through April are Early, May through August are
Mid, and September through December are Late. This may not match Apple
or other sites, but we think there's something wrong when calling an
October 2010 model a Mid 2010 MacBook Air, which is just one example
we've seen.
General Apple and Mac desktop news is covered in The Mac News Review. iPad, iPod, iPhone, and
Apple TV news is covered in The iNews
Review. All prices are in US dollars unless otherwise noted.
News & Opinion
Reviews
Apple Updates
Products & Services
Software
News & Opinion
New iMacs Have Next Generation Quad-Core
Processors, Graphics, and Thunderbolt
PR: Apple updated its signature all-in-one iMac on May 3 with next generation
quad-core processors, powerful new graphics, groundbreaking high-speed
Thunderbolt I/O technology, and a new FaceTime HD camera. Starting at
$1,199, the new iMac is up to 70% faster, and new graphics deliver up
to three times the performance of the previous generation.
"Our
customers love the iMac's aluminum enclosure, gorgeous display and
all-in-one design," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president
of Worldwide Product Marketing. "With next generation quad-core
processors, powerful new graphics, Thunderbolt technology and a
FaceTime HD camera, we've made the world's best desktop even
better."
The new iMac features quad-core Intel Core i5 processors with an
option for customers to choose Core i7 processors up to 3.4 GHz. These
next generation processors feature an integrated memory controller for
an amazingly responsive experience and a powerful new media engine for
high-performance video encoding and decoding. With new AMD Radeon HD
graphics processors, the new iMac has the most powerful graphics ever
in an all-in-one desktop.
iMac is the first desktop computer on the market to include
groundbreaking Thunderbolt I/O technology. The 21.5" iMac has a single
Thunderbolt port, while the 27" model features two ports for even
greater expansion. Developed by Intel with collaboration from Apple,
Thunderbolt enables expandability never before possible on an
all-in-one computer. Featuring two bi-directional channels with
transfer speeds up to an amazing 10 Gbps each, Thunderbolt delivers PCI
Express directly to external high performance peripherals such as RAID
arrays, and can support FireWire and USB consumer devices, and Gigabit
Ethernet networks via adapters. Thunderbolt also supports DisplayPort
for high resolution displays and works with existing adapters for HDMI,
DVI and VGA displays. Freely available for implementation on systems,
cables and devices, Thunderbolt technology is expected to be widely
adopted as a new standard for high performance I/O.
iMac includes a built-in FaceTime HD camera and Apple's innovative
FaceTime software for crisp, widescreen video calling the whole family
can enjoy. The new camera supports high definition video calls between
all FaceTime HD-enabled Macs and standard resolution calls with iPad 2,
iPhone 4, the current generation iPod touch and other Intel-based Macs.
The iMac continues to feature its signature aluminum and glass design,
gorgeous IPS LED-backlit high resolution display, SD card slot and
comes with Apple's innovative Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad.
Continuing Apple's commitment to the environment, Apple's desktop
line is a leader in green design. The iMac meets stringent Energy Star
5.2 requirements and achieves EPEAT Gold rating.* iMac features
LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free
glass. iMac uses PVC-free components and cables, contains no brominated
flame retardants, uses highly recyclable materials and features
material-efficient system and packaging designs.
Every Mac comes with Mac OS X Snow Leopard, the world's most
advanced operating system, and iLife, Apple's innovative suite of
applications for creating and sharing great photos, movies and music.
Snow Leopard builds on more than a decade of innovation and includes
the Mac App Store? for finding great new apps for your Mac. iLife '11
features iPhoto with stunning full screen views for browsing, editing
and sharing photos; iMovie with powerful easy-to-use tools to transform
home videos into fun theatrical trailers; and GarageBand with new ways
to improve your playing and create great sounding songs.
The new iMac is available through the Apple Store, Apple's retail
stores, and Apple Authorized Resellers. The 21.5" iMac is available in
two configurations: one with a 2.5 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5, AMD
Radeon HD 6750M and 500 GB hard drive for a suggested retail price of
$1,199; and one with a 2.7 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5, AMD Radeon HD
6770M and 1 TB hard drive for a suggested retail price of $1,499.
The new 27" iMac is available in two models: one with a 2.7 GHz
quad-core Intel Core i5, AMD Radeon HD 6770M and 1 TB hard drive
for a suggested retail price of $1,699; and one with a 3.1 GHz
quad-core Intel Core i5, AMD Radeon HD 6970M and 1 TB hard drive
for a suggested retail price of $1,999.
Configure-to-order options include faster Intel Core i7 processors
up to 3.4 GHz, additional hard drive capacity up to 2 TB, a 256 GB
solid state drive, additional DDR3 memory and AppleCare Protection
Plan.
Preliminary Performance Analysis of Mid 2011
iMac
Bare Feats' rob-ART Morgan has posted key performance features for
the new 2011 iMac, which he notes uses the same Sandy Bridge chipset
used in the 2011 MacBook Pro, and a top model quad-core Core i7 now
available at clocked at 3.4 GHz and able to run as fast as 3.8 GHz for
brief sprints when Turbo Boost kicks in as well as create up to 8
virtual cores when HyperThreading is required, with Thunderbolt I/O the
icing on the cake.
Link: Preliminary Performance Analysis
of 'Mid 2011' iMac
Worldwide Operating System Software Market Grew to
$30.4 Billion in 2010, Mac OS Fastest-Growing
PR: As the global economy recovered, worldwide operating
system (OS) revenue totaled $30.4 billion in 2010, a 7.8% increase from
2009, according to Gartner, Inc., with Mac OS and Linux (server)
fastest-growing subsegments in the client and server OS segments
respectively, while Microsoft maintained its leading position in the
overall OS market, with 78.6% market share.
Among client OSes, Mac OS was the fastest-growing subsegment in 2010
as the unit shipments of Mac desktop/laptop devices saw strong sales,
although from a much-smaller base. Windows client was still the largest
client OS segment, with high-single-digit growth, particularly driven
by adoption of Windows 7 and the imminent end of life (EOL) of Windows
XP.
Mac OS grew 15.8% to a size of $520 million in 2010, fueled by the
strong sales of Mac desktops and laptops. Apple's making of Mac OS as a
"cool" client computing OS has attracted a group of loyal customers on
Mac devices and platforms. Apple's continuous innovations in mobile
devices, such as smartphones and tablets, have prompted sales of other
Apple devices and will continue to drive Mac sales.
"Generally, client OSes outperformed server OSes and grew 9.3% in
2010, while the server OS segment grew 5.7%," says Matthew Cheung,
principal research analyst at Gartner. "The long-pending demand for PC
refreshment was unleashed as the economy stepped out from the economic
turndown, which drove growth of client OSes."
"In the server OS market, Linux (server) was the
fastest-growing subsegment in 2010 as end users adopted more
open-standard systems. Within the Unix OS market, IBM AIX had high
single-digit growth, but Unix generally experienced modest or negative
growth," said Alan Dayley, managing vice president at Gartner. "The EOL
threat for Unix OSes such as Tru64 and NetWare pushed the 'other
proprietary Unix' subsegment down 39.6% in 2010 as some vendors retired
their proprietary Unix and moved users to more open systems."
Microsoft held the largest market share of the worldwide OS software
segment, with 78.6% share in 2010 (see Table 1). The distant second-
and third-place vendors were IBM and HP, with 7.5% and 3.7% share,
respectively. Oracle climbed up the ranking from No. 8 in 2009 to No. 4
in 2010 by acquiring Sun Microsystems' Solaris business in April
2009.
Microsoft's Windows (client) business had higher growth at 9.2%,
compared with its Windows (server) business at 7.5% growth. A new wave
of PC refreshment after the economic recession was the major reason for
the better-performing Windows (client) business. Windows 7 also gained
market acceptance as the successor to Windows Vista and XP. The
projected EOL of XP in early 2014 drove enterprises to accelerate
migration to Windows 7 in the second half of 2010.
Among the three OSes owned by IBM, AIX experienced the highest
growth at 9.2% due to the popularity of Power Systems. The
consolidation of the System p and System i platforms and the strategy
to push more AIX contributed to the slow growth of System i at 2.7% in
2010.
HP-UX was able to maintain modest growth at 3.7% in 2010. However,
HP's revenue from proprietary Unix and other proprietary OSes continued
to decline because of the discontinuation of Tru64 and a decline in
shipments of business-critical systems, such as NonStop and
OpenVMS.
Oracle's software revenue from Solaris declined 3.2% in 2010 as end
users were skeptical about Oracle's commitment to the Solaris platform
although the company made several announcements to clear this anxiety.
Oracle's Linux versions (also known as Unbreakable Linux) grew a small
base almost 200% in 2010 which also showed Oracle's strategy to lessen
its dependence on other vendors' Unix or Linux OSes.
Red Hat has been dominating the commercial Linux (server) market.
Revenue of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) server license went up 18.6%
to $592 million in 2010, taking a 58.2% share of the Linux (server)
market. Gartner analysts said the phenomenon demonstrates that the
market has accepted Linux as a viable alternative to Unix and other
proprietary OSes in mission-critical environments.
Additional information is available in the Gartner report "Market
Share Analysis: Operating System Software, Worldwide, 2010."
Link:
Market Share Analysis: Operating System Software, Worldwide,
2010
Sandy Bridge Hackintosh
The Register's Chris Bidmead received challenge from Reg Hardware:
build a PC, install Mac OS X on it, and explain how others can do it
too.
Bidmead notes that pioneer Hackintoshers had to hack the official
Mac operating system, but these days it's easier. Just buy the standard
Snow Leopard installation disk from the Apple Store and rely on EFI to
set up the hardware environment and install the necessary kexts or
"kernel extensions", the Mac world's equivalent of Windows'
drivers.
Bidmead concludes that today it's a breeze to build your own
Hackintosh or adapt existing hardware to run the latest version of Mac
OS X, Snow Leopard.
Link: The Sandy Bridge
Hackintosh
Apple to Release Mac OS X Lion Through Mac App
Store
AppleInsider's Neil Hughes reports:
"With the release of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion this summer, Apple will make
the switch to a new kind of digital distribution for its operating
system upgrades by releasing the software first through its new Mac App
Store...."
Link: Apple to Release
Mac OS X Lion Through Mac App Store - AppleInsider
Keep Your Gear Safe During Electrical Storms
Life Hacker's Alan Henry notes that recent storms that have torn
across the Midwest and South have been terrifying and devastating, with
the cleanup in those areas likely to continue for years, and asks when
an electrical storm comes calling in your neck of the woods, how do you
make sure your gear is okay so you can worry about your own safety?
Link: Tips to Keep
Your Gear Safe During Electrical Storms
Seagate Breaks Areal Density Barrier, Unveils
World's First Hard Drive Featuring 1 TB per Platter
PR: Specialist in hard drives and storage solutions Seagate
has unveiled the world's first 3.5" hard drive featuring 1 TB of
storage capacity per disk platter, breaking the 1 TB areal density
barrier to help meet explosive worldwide demand for digital content
storage in both the home and the office.
Seagate Barracuda XT
Seagate's GoFlex Desk products are the first to feature the new hard
drive, delivering storage capacities of up to 3 TB and an areal
density of 625 Gigabits per square inch, the industry's highest.
Seagate is on track to ship its flagship 3.5" Barracuda desktop hard
drive with 3 TB of storage on 3 disk platters enough capacity to store
up to 120 high-definition movies, 1,500 video games, thousands of
photos or virtually countless hours of digital music to the
distribution channel in mid-2011. The drive will also be available in
capacities of 2 TB, 1.5 TB and 1 TB.
"Organizations of all sizes and consumers worldwide are amassing
digital content at light speed, generating immense demand for storage
of digital content of every imaginable kind," says Seagate's Executive
Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing Rocky Pimentel. "We
remain keenly focused on delivering the storage capacity, speed and
manageability our customers need to thrive in an increasingly digital
world."
GoFlex Desk external drives are compatible with both the Windows
operating system and Mac computers. Each drive includes an NTFS driver
for Mac, which allows the drive to store and access files from both
Windows and Mac OS X computers without reformatting. The GoFlex Desk
external drives sleek black 3.5" design sits either vertically or
horizontally to accommodate any desktop environment.
Link:
Seagate Barracuda XT
Vatican Bloggers Conference Says Yes to Lifting
Content
The Pontifical Council for Culture hosted its first-ever bloggers'
conference.
The Register's Joe Fay reports that speakers gave themselves "an
indulgence," saying it is okay to lift content from "old media" and
that copyright is old hat. Catholic media appears to have universally
hailed the event as a great success.
Fay notes that one speaker told the meeting copyrights are "an old
model for new media," and cites Father Roderick Vonhogen, a Dutch
priest who also blogs, saying journalists should accept that bloggers
will take their material and reuse it, adding that this amounts to free
publicity and that good journalists will survive anyway, observing, "If
they steal some of your content, as long as you put out quality, you
will make it."
Link: Church Needs
Blogs, Bloggers Need Church, Say Meeting Participants, Cindy
Wooden, Catholic News Service
Link: Vatican
Bloggers Conference Gives Copyright Thumbs-down; Says Yes to Lifting
Content, Joe Fay, The Register
Reviews
Mid 2011 iMacs vs. Mid 2010 iMac and Mac Pro
Bare Feats' Rob-Art Morgan says,
"With the help of the Other World Computing Test Lab, I'm able to
give you some initial performance data for four 'early 2011' iMacs
versus the fastest 2010 iMac and popular 2010 6-core Westmere Mac
Pro."
Link: Four 'Mid 2011' iMacs Versus
One 'Mid 2010' iMac
Apple Updates
iMac EFI Update 1.6 for 2011 iMac
This update includes fixes that improve performance and stability
for Thunderbolt.
The iMac EFI Update will update the EFI firmware on your iMac
computer. When your iMac restarts, a gray screen will appear with a
status bar to indicate the progress of the update. It will take several
minutes for the update to complete. Do not disturb or shut off the
power on your iMac during this update.
Requires the Mac OS X 10.6.7 Update for iMac (early 2011) be
installed.
Publisher's note: Several sources indicate that this update also
enables SATA 6 Gbps on the new iMacs, which ship with SATA 3 Gbps
enabled. dk
Link: iMac
EFI Update 1.6
Mid 2011 iMac Memory Specifications
A new Apple Knowledge Base article explains which kinds of memory to
use with your new iMac (21.5", Mid 2011) and iMac (27", Mid 2011).
The iMac (Mid 2011) computers have four SDRAM slots in the bottom of
the computer and come with at least 4 GB DDR3 SDRAM installed as two
2 GB DIMMs into two slots.
The maximum amount of RAM you can install in your iMac is 16 GB (a 4
GB SODIMM in each slot).
You can use any Small-Outline dual inline memory modules (SODIMMs)
that meet all of these criteria:
- PC3-10600
- Unbuffered
- Nonparity
- 204-pin
- 1333 MHz
- DDR3 SDRAM
You can use RAM module sizes of 2 GB or 4 GB in each slot.
DIMMs with any of the following features do not work in the iMac
(Mid 2011):
- Registers or buffers
- PLLs
- ECC
- Parity
- EDO RAM
Link: iMac
(Mid 2011): Memory Specifications
Boot Camp 3.2 Update for Mid 2011 iMac
The Boot Camp 3.2 Update for iMac (Early 2011) update addresses
issues with Japanese and Korean keyboards on early 2011 iMacs.
System Requirements: Windows 7
Link: Boot
Camp 3.2 Update for iMac (Early 2011) Released
Products & Services
OWC 'MaxRAM' Lab Certified Memory Upgrades Up to
32 GB for Mid 2011 iMacs
PR: Other World Computing (OWC) has announced the immediate
availability of high performance OWC PC3-10600 DDR3 1333 MHz Memory
Upgrade Kits for the new Mid 2011 iMac models introduced by Apple on
Tuesday. OWC's first-to-market kits that offer up to 16 GB with savings
up to 65% compared to factory options; as well as memory configurations
not offered as factory build options, are 'MaxRAM' lab performance
certified and quality assurance backed by a Lifetime Advance
Replacement Warranty and Money Back Guarantee.
"It just makes good financial and performance sense to upgrade these
new iMacs with OWC Memory Kits versus the factory options," says Larry
O'Connor, Founder and CEO, Other World Computing. "With savings up to
over $400 on same size upgrades and offering options not available from
the factory, we like to think OWC should be the 'first stop shop' for
new iMac owners."
OWC Memory Upgrades Offer More RAM Configuration Options
- OWC 8 GB DDR3 1333 MHz Memory Kit (2 x 4 GB) for all Mid
2011 iMac models - $104.99
47% savings vs. $200.00 factory 8 GB option or as low as $78.99
after OWC offered factory memory trade-in rebate. Replaces both
existing 2 GB modules for 8 GB of total memory.
- OWC 12 GB RAM Configuration for all Mid 2011 iMac models
Not offered as a factory option. Add the OWC 8 GB Memory Kit (2 x
4 GB memory modules) to factory installed base 4 GB RAM for a
total of 12 GB RAM. Compared to $200 factory 8 GB (2 x 4 GB)
option, OWC 8 GB upgrade kit delivers 50% more RAM for 47% lower
cost.
- OWC 16 GB DDR3 1333 MHz Memory Kit (4 x 4 GB) for all Mid 2011
iMac models - $207.99
65% savings vs. $600.00 factory 27" option or as low as $181.99 after
OWC offered factory memory trade-in rebate. Not offered as a factory
option for 21.5" iMac.
- OWC 16 GB DDR3 1333 MHz Memory Kit (4 x 8 GB), 27" Mid 2011 iMac
only, $2,997.99
Not offered as a factory option.
Additional Savings Through OWC Rebate Program
In addition to the savings offered by OWC Upgrades, Mid 2011 iMac
users also retain their original factory memory modules that can either
be set aside for future use or sent to OWC for a cash back trade-in of
up to $26 per Apple factory 2 x 2 GB memory module pair. For more
information on OWC's rebate program, visit https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/trade-in-rebate
Link: iMac Memory
Upgrades
Silex SX-3000EDM Connects and Shares Practically
Any USB Device on a Network
PR: Silex Technology America, Inc. has announced the release
and availability of the Silex SX-3000EDM, a compact embedded Gigabit
Ethernet to USB Device Server Module that makes it very simple for
device manufacturers to add networking capabilities to virtually any
USB device.
This capability is made possible by Silex's SX-Virtual Link USB over
IP software. The software emulates a direct USB port connection on
Windows or Macintosh systems and transfers the packets out over the
network using TCP/IP to the USB device connected to the SX-3000EDM.
This method ensures full compatibility with the USB device driver and
software applications, which means no new software development is
necessary to enable the device to be networked.
SX-3000EDM Features
- Easily embed Silex "SX-Virtual Link" (USB over IP) technology
inside a USB device
- Connect any USB device to a Gigabit Ethernet network
- Allows all functions of USB device (i.e.: printer, scanner, fax,
storage or any other function that normally works over a direct USB
connection) to be connected and shared on the network
"We have been evolving our USB device networking technology for more
than 7 years now, and our Silex SX-Virtual Link software has proven
itself by enabling millions of devices in the field," says David Smith,
President of Silex Technology America. "We wanted to provide a way for
hardware manufacturers to easily take advantage of this effective,
stable technology by embedding SX-3000EDM right into their
product."
Silex also offers a SDK which allows custom Windows and Macintosh
applications to be created for discovering and connecting to USB
devices across the network.
For proof of concept and to test the software functionality
immediately Silex offers the SX-3000GB USB-to-Gigabit Device Server,
which has similar functionality in an external box form factor.
Silex is exhibiting at the Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) Silicon
Valley May 2-5, 2011 with its partner Embedded Works Corporation at
booth #1045.
Link:
Silex SX-3000EDM
NewerTech NuPad Base Non-Slip Rubber Foot for 2010
Mac mini
PR: Newer Technology, Inc. (NewerTech) announces that it has
expanded its line of accessories for the Apple Mac mini with the
introduction of the new $4.99 MSRP NewerTech NuPad Base for the
2010 Mac mini. The NuPad
Base provides a flat, formfitting, nonskid rubber foot that eliminates
the sliding and skidding that can occur from day to day use and access
of a 2010 Mac mini.
Provides Stable Mac mini Access on Any Surface
Precision cut to match the shape of the Mac mini's underside
access door, the NewerTech NuPad Base is easily applied via adhesive
backing and solves the problem of the 2010 Mac mini sliding out of
position on smooth surfaces such as desktops and entertainment center
shelving. With the NuPad Base installed, everyday actions such as
inserting a DVD no longer result in having to readjust the mini's
orientation, while access to the mini's access door remains
unhindered.
Ideal for Stacked minis
The NewerTech NuPad Base also provides added anti-skid stability
when two 2010 Mac minis are used in a stacked position on a desktop or
when suspended under a desk, shelf, or cabinet via the acrylic
NewerTech NuShelf Dual Mount.
NuPad Base Features:
- Nonskid rubber surface provides stable operation.
- Unhindered access to the mini's bottom cover.
- Stack multiple Mac minis without fear of scratches.
- Easy to apply with adhesive backing.
- One Year Warranty.
"We feel a Mac mini should remain positioned where you want it,"
says Grant Dahlke, Brand Manager, Newer Technology, Inc. The NuPad Base
for the 2010 Mac mini eliminates that hassle of constantly having to
readjust a mini's position after any casual contact or from accessing
its optical drive."
The NewerTech NuPad Base for the 2010 Mac mini is available
immediately from NewerTech's exclusive distributor, Other World
Computing (OWC), as well as through the retail channel.
Link: NewerTech NuPad
Base
Software
Accordance Bible Software Releases 2011 NIV
PR: Accordance Bible Software has announced the release of
the 2011 revision of the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible.
Recently published by Zondervan, this latest update to the popular
English translation will replace both the 1984 edition of the NIV, as
well as the 2005 edition, which was published separately as the Today's
New International Version (TNIV). The Accordance edition of the NIV11
can be viewed in parallel with those previous editions, and any
differences among them can be highlighted with the click of a
button.
The Accordance NIV11 also includes the NIV11 Notes containing the
Translators Preface, footnotes, and the NIV Cross Reference System.
If you already own the NIV 1984, the NIV 2011 is a $25 add-on,
otherwise it is $30. As a separate module, the NIV 2011 will not take
the place of the NIV 1984 in Accordance, but rather will show up in
your library as NIV11. That means that if you own both, you can view
the two Bibles in parallel. If you purchased the NIV 1984 earlier this
year (January 1, 2011 or later), you can add the NIV11 for $20 with
coupon code NIV11up.
Link: Accordance Bible Software
Desktop Mac
Deals
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.
