The LG UltraFine 5K is the closest thing we'll get to an Apple Thunderbolt 3 display. Photo: Apple
The days of Apple making its own stand-alone displays for the Mac Mini and Mac Pro are dead.
Apple revealed a new 5K 27-inch Thunderbolt 3 display during its “Hello Again” keynote yesterday, only instead of being made by Apple, the company partnered with LG to create the monitor. And according to people who talked to Apple at the event, there are no plans to ever make an Apple display again.
You wanted the best, you got the best. The hottest laptop in the world ... MacBook Pro! Photo: Apple
Anybody watching Apple’s “Hello Again” event probably suspected we’d get “one more thing” in addition to the long-rumored Touch Bar and the recently leaked TV app. Or maybe a couple more things.
Underwhelming! And cruelly disappointing to all the Apple faithful hoping against hope for new hardware. Here are all the other things we wanted — but got so viciously denied — during Apple’s MacBook Pro event today.
The iPhone 7 could like right at home alongside a Mac Pro. Photo: PConline
Leaked SIM trays purportedly manufactured for the upcoming iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus hint at a new glossy black color option. The finish looks like it was inspired by the Mac Pro’s sleek cylindrical body that was first introduced in 2013.
Do you find it difficult to choose Apple products? Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple’s product portfolio has expanded quickly since Tim Cook replaced Steve Jobs as CEO, what with the launch of larger iPhones, Apple Watch and the 12-inch Retina MacBook. But are things getting out of hand?
Some fans might argue Apple has too much on its plate, and that other products — particularly its software — are suffering as a result. Others might argue that Apple needs everything in its current lineup — and more! — to keep up with the competition.
So, who’s right? Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight as we exchange insults and virtual blows over whether Apple desperately needs to streamline its product lineup.
After Apple brings an OLED touch pad to the MacBook Pro later this year, the feature is likely to make its way to other notebooks — and maybe even the Magic Keyboard. This awesome new concept video imagines what that might look like.
Update your fancy wrist computer to the latest watchOS. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
With WWDC 2016 just days away, you’d be right to hesitate at buying new Apple gadgets this week. But with experts expecting more new software than hardware, rest assured that these great deals and freebies will still look good next week. Read on for free headphones, free classes at the Apple Store, and more in this week’s best Apple deals.
The Aura is spectacular inside and out. Photo: Digital Storm
Apple doesn’t have gamers in mind when choosing components for its latest Macs, but PC maker Digital Storm has proven that it’s possible to build a beastly gaming rig into the iMac’s gorgeous all-in-one form factor.
Check out the company’s stunning new Aura PC, which puts NVIDIA’s latest GTX 1080 graphics card behind a 34-inch curved display.
If you want a Mac that looks like the trashcan Mac Pro, but don’t actually want to spend the several thousand dollars it costs to buy a Mac Pro, the Dune Case might be for you: it’s a Mac Pro-inspired PC case for any hackintosh you care to throw into it.
Want more power for your money? Build a Hackintosh. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
I recently decided it was time to get a proper desktop computer. I needed it predominantly for work, but I wanted it to be powerful enough to play the latest games in 1080p without worrying about stuttering or terrible frame rates.
The new Mac lineup didn’t offer a perfect fit — the Retina 5K iMac was too expensive, and the new Mac mini simply wasn’t powerful enough — so I set myself a goal: To build a gaming machine with a dedicated video card, capable of running OS X, for around the price of a Mac mini.
I set a budget of $650 for my build. That’s $150 more than the base model Mac mini, but $50 less than the midrange model. In this piece, I’ll take you through the components I purchased and why I chose them, and how I put them all together. Next week, I’ll show you how I installed OS X to turn my DIY gaming rig into a Hackintosh.
If you've got an old iMac G4 knocking around, turning it into a stunning desk lamp is actually easier than it looks. This particular model was sold on Etsy, but there are lots of guides to making your own.
Photo: SewWhatSherlock, Etsy
These wires and Mac Pro do some amazing work. Photo: Damian Kulash/Instagram
Just take a look at that beast above, posted by lead singer and guitarist for nerdtastic rock band OK Go, Damian Kulash. The Instagram photo, captioned “There is a machine that makes OK Go videos. This is that machine.”
Founded in 1998, OK Go consists of Damian Kulash (lead vocals, guitar), Tim Nordwind (bass guitar and vocals), Dan Konopka (drums and percussion) and Andy Ross (guitar, keyboards and vocals). They’re known for their extensive, quirky and technically complex music videos.
Here are a few of those awesome videos, made with the OK Go cart above.
The new Mac Pro, with its sleek cylinder design, has gotten a bad rap. While it’s light-years from the bulky, ugly first-generation Mac Pro and “built for creativity on an epic scale,” this ingenious machine, which Apple sells for between $2,999 and $3,999, looks like a common waste receptacle.
The much-trashed design recently got some love from architect Takara Maru, who carved out a spot on this sleek walnut desk for it. Some might joke that it’s to shield users from the Mac Pro’s looks, but really the aim is to reduce clutter on the desk surface so Maru can focus on home design.
Apple has launched a new $49 Mac Pro Security Lock Adapter in its online store, giving Mac Pro owners (and Apple Stores) an easy way to secure their machines with existing Kensington locks.
Apple’s lock adapter is a straightforward metal bracket that secures the Mac Pro’s lift-off cover to the machine’s base by way of a security cable, thereby barring access to the machine’s internals. The cable lock can then be secured to make it difficult for thieves to steal the $3,000-plus machine.
Almost exactly one year to the day after being announced, it’s now possible to order a Mac Pro and have it ship to you within 24 hours.
Costing between $3,000 and $4,000, Apple’s gorgeous stealth powerhouse of a machine went on sale December 19, but right from the start began suffering shipping delays due to a limited production cycle. One possible explanation for this was the Mac Pro’s “Made in the USA” status, in contrast to virtually all other Apple products, which are designed in California but assembled overseas — often in China.
That not a question most Mac Pro owners grapple with but the guys at RatedRR aren’t your average Apple fanboys. In their latest series of Apple destruction videos they’ve decided to pack an ungodly amount of C4 into Apple’s powerhouse machine just to see how big the explosion is.
Windows 8 has been a gigantic flop for Microsoft, but Apple, at least, is giving the new operating system a surprising push. The Mac maker has dropped support for Windows 7 running under Boot Camp on the new Mac Pro, making the installation of Windows 8 the only option for those who want to dual boot Windows on the most powerful Mac yet.
Officially, the new trash can Mac Pro only supports up to 64GB of RAM. That’s a lot, but not necessarily enough for the performance-obsessed graphics pros and video editors that Mac Pro is aimed at.
For those that absolutely need 128GB of RAM in their Mac Pro, the memory maestros at Transcend have figured out a way to double the supposed “maximum” amount of memory in a top of the line Mac Pro.
But as with almost everything with the Mac Pro, don’t expect it to be cheap: it will cost you $2,480 to juice your Mac Pro up to that crazy extent.
If you have a brand spanking new Mac Pro, Apple has released a new firmware update that will help it stay quiet and not sound like the jet engine that it may physically resemble.
Recommended for all late 2013 Mac Pros, the Mac Pro SMC Firmware Update 2.0 allows the Mac Pro to enter Power Nap without running the Mac Pro’s fan for most Power Nap activities.
The update also addresses a rare issue where a low-speed USB device may not be detected at boot.
If you’ve already dropped a few grand on a Mac Pro, the good news is the update’s free. You can grab it from the link below.
Tired of turning your iMac or Apple Cinema Display just to share things with co-workers or to get a better vantage point when you’re working? This Cult of Mac Deals offer has got your solution.
The Rain Design i360 turntable provides an elegant and dynamic way to turn the iMac, Apple Cinema Display, and Apple Thunderbolt (24“–27”). At the push of a finger, you can share the screen during group discussion and access the back ports easily. And you can get the i360 for only $39.99 courtesy of this special offer from Cult of Mac Deals.
Personally, I love the look of the new stealth engine Mac Pro, but some people find it to look, well, a little too much like a trash can (which may not be a coincidence).
Jarred Land, one of the key figures of the Red Digital Camera Company, obviously agreed. He built himself a machined aluminum chassis to keep his Mac Pro in, plus an integrated Redmag Mini card reader with 8TB internal Thunderbolt RAID, and a monster fan to keep things cool.
It looks pretty awesome, but sadly, it’s a one-off: Land says he did it just for fun.
Excessive demand and limited production cycles have pushed the Mac Pro’s estimated shipping date back to April.
The high-end machine, available in both Quad-Core and 6-Core editions, was originally supposed to ship in December, before being pushed back to February, then March, and now April.
To be honest, you could probably leave your new Mac Pro on the floor next to your desk and any office burglars would just mistake it for a rather small trash can. But if you want a little more security, you might consider adding something Apple didn’t provide for: a Kensington-style lock. A new security bracket from MacLocks features a design as clever as that of the computer it protects.
Macminicolo has been around for nine years, plugging Mac Minis into its data center and letting you use them as your own. Thy can work as servers, or just as 24/7 automation machines. Now, the folks at Macminicolo have launched Macprocolo (Mac Pro Co-location). You can probably guess what it is.
If you’ve wanted to order a Mac Pro at any point since it was unveiled in December, you’ve faced a long wait, with shipping times almost immediately slipping to February.
A month later, and you’d think things would be getting wrong, but you’re wrong. On Apple’s online store, Mac Pro shipping times have slipped another month to March.
Generally speaking, even when Apple launches a product with constrained supply, it gains momentum on manufacturing and is soon able to meet demand within a month’s time. The new Mac Pro, though, remains in scarce supply over a month since launch.
That got one German thinking. If the Mac Pro looks so much like a trash can, why not build a Hackintosh out of a trash can. Which is exactly what he did, crafting his Mac Pro out of an Authentics Lunar bathroom trash can that comes with matching toilet brush. And while the replica isn’t anywhere near as powerful as the real thing, it certainly looks the part. Check out more images below.