Mac

Thirty years is a long time to suffer for the bad behavior of a few young and boisterous tech workers. But after being permanently banned from the posh La Playa Carmel resort in 1983 for an evening of skinny-dipping and other misdeeds, Apple executives appear to be back in the fold.

According to SFGate, the new ownership of the La Playa Carmel has decided to extend an olive branch, and Apple seemingly has booked an event there.

That was the message from the new owner of the recently restored La Playa Carmel, where Cupertino'… Read more

Kensington has just announced driver software for OS X that allows Mac owners with USB 3.0-capable systems to make use of its latest docking stations.

USB 3.0 is the latest iteration of the USB protocol, which at 5Gbps throughput offers a substantial speed boost over USB 2.0, and gives it more options to host high-bandwidth devices, including video adapters for external displays. While video, networking, and audio over USB is nothing new, the greater bandwidth of USB 3.0 allows for more of these options to be lumped together into rather versatile docks such as Kensington's SD3500V docking station.… Read more

Apple had either a very solid first calendar quarter of Mac shipments in the U.S., or one that was quite bad, depending on who you listen to.

A dueling pair of PC shipment reports from market trackers IDC and Gartner put Apple's Mac numbers in the U.S. at odds. IDC says Apple's shipments in the first three months of the year were down 7.5 percent from the same quarter last year. Gartner, on the other hand, says Apple's Mac shipments were up 7.4 percent.

So who's right? We'll know when Apple … Read more

If you are a longtime Mac user who simply could not bring yourself to throw away your old systems, then you may still have an old Apple Desktop Bus (ADB) keyboard such as the Apple Extended Keyboard II lying around. Despite being an older style, many of these keyboards were quite well-made and if only they had USB connectors instead of their ADB connections they could be put to good use on modern systems. It turns out, this is quite doable.

Recently tech hobbyist Scott Vanderlind found that by adding a small USB controller to the keyboard, he could tap … Read more

Macs of the near future may be able to tap directly into high-speed 802.11ac networks.

Code for the latest OS X 10.8.4 beta includes a string with the term "802.11ac channel," according to Apple-focused blog 9to5Mac. This appears to be the first reference to 802.11ac in OS X since the term does not show up in the code for OS X 10.8.3, the current version of Apple's OS.

Past rumors have suggested that Apple would be one of the early adopters of 802.11ac, equipping its laptops and tablets with … Read more

Anyone eyeing a 27-inch iMac can now save a healthy chunk of change by opting for a refurbished unit.

As of yesterday, Apple began selling four refurbished variations of the big-screen iMac through its online store. Buyers can save anywhere from $270 to $400 depending on the model.

A 2.9GHz version with 8GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive, and a 512MB Nvidia GeForce graphics card goes for $1,529, 15 percent off the price of a new unit.

A 3.1GHz edition with 4GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive, an 8x SuperDrive, and a 1GB AMD Radeon … Read more

Mac Pro users who have played the waiting game with Apple to completely revamp its desktop machine might get the goods soon, according to a new report.

Citing an accurate source, Mac Daily News says Apple plans to announce a new model of the machine sometime this month.

An Apple spokesman told CNET the company does not comment on rumors or speculation.

Mac Daily News warns that the April date could "slip" all the way through June, which is when Apple is expected to once again hold its annual developers conference in San Francisco. A source familiar with … Read more

Despite Apple CEO Tim Cook having knocked the idea of a convertible MacBook-iPad hybrid device, the company has filed a patent application for just that. The proposed patent, titled "Wireless display for electronic devices," was published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office today.

The application describes a computer display that is removable from its base -- basically a convertible laptop. But, what's different about this idea from other convertibles made by other companies is that it has wireless display technology. That means the device could be charged wirelessly.

Here's how Apple describes it in … Read more

SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS, Calif. -- In the common retelling of Apple's history, it was Steve Jobs' and Steve Wozniak's second computer, the Apple II, that launched their fledgling company toward stratospheric growth and financial success. The machine's triumph as a single platform for business software, games, artistic tools -- and more -- set the stage for the later debut of the first Mac, and later OS X and iDevices.

What many forget -- or may not even know -- is that when the Apple II was introduced at the inaugural West Coast Computer Faire in April, 1977, it suffered from what, in retrospect, was a glaring shortcoming: It had no disk drive. … Read more