upgrade

EFI update preps MacBook Airs for new displays

In conjunction with the impending release of its new Thunderbolt Cinema Displays, Apple's pushed out a software update to its latest MacBook Air models that gets them ready to plug in to the new hardware, while fixing a handful of bugs in the process.

The EFI update, versioned 2.1, comes in at 3.9MB and promises to fix issues that arise when recovering Lion using the new Internet Recovery feature. The update is also aimed at improving performance in target disk mode when plugging in via Thunderbolt.

Of special note is the fix of an issue with plugging in to Apple's yet-to-be-released Thunderbolt Display, which has been marketed as a docking station of sorts for late-model MacBook Air owners.

For instance, those users can plug in to the display to get a Firewire 800 port, FaceTime HD camera, Gigabit ethernet and three USB 2.0 ports, extending the I/O that ships on Apple's smallest notebook, and demoing some utility for the computer's Thunderbolt port, which currently has just a handful of third-party accessories to make use of it.

Apple introduced its Thunderbolt Display alongside new versions of the MacBook Air, Mac Mini, and its Lion OS software update in late July, saying only that it would be launching that new display hardware "within the next 60 days." A report in MacRumors last week suggested that Apple was already in the process of shipping its $999 Thunderbolt Displays to stores. However, Apple continues to list it as shipping within the next "2-3 weeks" from its online store.… Read more

Sprint to increase upgrade fees to $36

Yesterday we reported that Sprint is raising its ETFs to a whopping $350 for advanced devices, though it will be prorated based on the remaining months of your contract.

Well, perhaps to ready itself for the incoming deluge of customers who want to upgrade their handsets to the Samsung Epic 4G Touch or the rumored iPhone 5, Sprint will also increase its upgrade fees from $18 to $36 on September 9, according to an internal document leaked to SprintFeed.

We're not quite happy with all these fee increases, but hopefully this means Sprint will be able to keep its … Read more

S&P backtracks on Google downgrade

A week after downgrading Google's stock, Standard & Poor's reversed course, saying the stock price had fallen so much that it was now a more attractive buy.

Scott Kessler, head of technology sector equity research at S&P, wrote in a research note released today and cited by the Associated Press that he was upgrading the Web search giant's rating to "hold" from the "sell" rating he bestowed on the company's shares last week following Google's gutsy move to buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. The acquisition will give … Read more

Intel letting customers upgrade underpowered chips

Intel is once again offering an upgrade on underpowered processors.

Dubbed the Intel Upgrade Service, the chipmaker's program allows customers who are running the low-end Core i3-2312M, Core i3-2102, and Pentium G622 to pay a fee to upgrade the performance of their processors.

According to the company, the upgrade will deliver better application, video, and photo performance, along with improved "responsiveness for everyday PC activities." In benchmark testing, the Core i3-2513 delivered performance that was 11 percent faster on applications and 15 percent faster on digital-media creation, Intel said.

Related stories: • Would you buy an Intel chip hobbled by design? • … Read more

Petition to revive Oscar the Grouch trash-can utility in OS X Lion

Mac OS X Lion has plenty of features that make it worth the upgrade for all Intel Mac users, but it's still missing one of my favorite extensions from the Mac OS legacy: Oscar the Grouch.

Oscar was a trash-bin animation utility that originally came bundled with OS 7.1 (later updated in 7.5) and featured everyone's favorite grumpy sanitation officer singing "Oh I love trash" and "I love it because it's trash" whenever you emptied the bin.

The character cameo quietly disappeared soon after, although Henson and Kermit the Frog himself … Read more

Get a 4GB desktop RAM module for $19.95

Thought I'd take a reader request today. Cheapskate fan Tom told me that he's looking to upgrade the RAM in his desktop, and wanted to know if I could steer him to a good deal on 4GB modules.

Your wish is granted, Tom! Buy.com has the Kingston HyperX Genesis 4GB DDR3 memory module for $29.95 shipped. A $10 mail-in rebate (PDF) drops the price to $19.95, which makes this one of the best deals on a 4GB stick (with these specs, anyway) I've ever seen.

The HyperX is a 240-pin DDR3 module with a … Read more

How to install RAM in an iMac (video)

With the arrival of Mac OS X Lion, a lot of folks are going to discover that Apple's latest operating system is more of a memory hog than Snow Leopard and that a little RAM boost may be required.

Regardless of whether you're upgrading to Lion or not, upgrading your RAM is good idea because it's one of the most affordable--and easiest--ways to speed up your machine. Also, for anybody looking to buy a new iMac, we strongly recommend upgrading the RAM yourself, because you can save a good bit of money by not ordering extra RAM … Read more

Extending MacBook Pro speed and capacity with dual drive upgrades

There is no doubt that when compared to a mechanical hard drive, the new solid state drive (SSD) technology is by far superior in terms of speed. Data access and throughput can be well above 4x faster than a contemporary mechanical drive, and using it as your main boot drive widens a major bottleneck, resulting in exceptionally quick boot-ups, application launches, sleep and wake events, and shutdowns. Beyond speed, the drives also have a number of additional perks, including cooler operation than most mechanical drives, power efficiency resulting in longer battery life for laptops, silent operation, and higher tolerance for … Read more

Will Mac OS upgrades eventually be free?

Apple's pricing of Lion at $30 this week represents a new standard for the company, which is cutting $100 off the typical price of its OS. Apple did the same thing with Snow Leopard back in 2009, though that upgrade was pitched as more of a housekeeping update as opposed to a full-blown release.

There's another component at work here. For the first time that single price is good for all five of a user's authorized Mac computers, effectively replacing Apple's "family pack" multi-user license.

The question now is whether Apple plans to go … Read more