MacBook - page 22

Sitting, or standing, in the correct position while working behind a Mac, or any computer, is incredibly important to your overall health — and ergonomic accessories can help. As I’ve come to learn over the past year, incorrect posture and bad ergonomics can result in back, neck and even foot injuries.

When I started struggling with neck and shoulder tightness, I never thought how I was working could be to blame, but after some back and forth with my doctors, the root of the problem had everything to do with my posture and how I was sitting and standing, particularly while working on my iMac or MacBook.

The MacBook is a work of art, but looking at all that pretty brushed aluminum might get old for some.

A Belgian design firm is here to help. Any MacBook owner can quickly give their laptop a unique look with wooden skins that can be customized with initials, a favorite sports figure — even their spirit animal!

Apple is set to release new MacBook models within the coming months, claims reliable KGI Securities Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Following on from recent news suggesting Macs are one of the only PC makers on an upwards trajectory, Kuo also says that Apple’s MacBooks have had “solid growth” among enterprise customers in recent months.

Although we’ve been skeptical of the idea of ARM-based Macs in the past, rumors have been heating up that Apple will switch to ARM processors for all Macs this year due to massive performance gains. But as great as Apple’s A-series chips are, are they really ready to power Macs?

The answer isn’t entirely clear-cut, but a new series of benchmarks suggest that Apple’s ARM chips are starting to compete with Intel’s Core M chips, which power the 12-inch Retina MacBook. If this pace keeps up, iPads might be faster than Macs in just a few generations.

If you’re willing to buy refurbished, you can now score a killer deal on Apple’s Retina MacBook knocking as much as $240 off the price of the newest member of the MacBook family.

Apple was the only computer maker that didn’t endure a blue Christmas, with Mac sales up 3 percent year-over-year as worldwide PC shipments declined. But for how long can the Mac business continue to fight on, immune to the growing thread from other industries?

Smartphones and tablets are now capable at handling many of our daily tasks, and every year they get better. Will the iPad Pro ever be powerful enough to replace your iMac, or will we forever be reliant on powerful processors and dedicated GPUs?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we battle it out over these questions and more!

This week on Cult of Mac’ podcast: Super-sized drones, app-controlled robot bartenders, smart coffee mugs and the coolest of gadgets from CES 2016. Plus, don’t miss our picks for the absolutely, positively, you-should-install-them-today, most essential Mac and iOS apps.

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. It’s simple to build a website that looks beautiful on any device at Squarespace.com. Enter offer code “CultCast” at checkout to get 10 percent off.

Most of the time you hear about another tech company “borrowing” from Apple’s design language it’s a Chinese smartphone maker creating an iPhone knockoff. Not so with HP, which just unveiled its gorgeous new EliteBook Folio notebook — which happens to look a whole lot like a MacBook.

If you’ve ever fancied a MacBook that runs Windows, this is probably the closest you’re ever going to get!

In making a smaller MacBook, Apple took away one little thing that could have us tripping – literally. Gone with all the ports on the slim 12-inch MacBook with a single USB-C port is the magnet in the connector that kept your charging cord securely plugged in.

Trip over the cord on earlier MacBooks and it broke away cleanly without sending your laptop flying. Foreseeing the accidents, tech accessory company Griffin has created a USB-C power cable with a quick-release magnetic feature.

2015 was a bold year for Apple. The company jumped into new product categories, polished its existing hardware and software lines, and wowed us repeatedly.

Apple also made most of us throw up in our mouths a little bit now and then, due to some questionable (and some undeniably bad) choices.

These are Apple’s biggest wins and most epic fails of the past year, as remembered — fondly and otherwise — by Cult of Mac staffers.

This time of the year typically means gifts, both giving and receiving them. Surely some of you have gotten a brand new Macbook, iMac, iPhone or iPad (Pro, anyone?).

If so, you might be looking at a lovely morning playing with your shiny new toys. But where to start? What essential tweaks, software tricks and necessary little tips do you need to make sure they’re set up the right way?

Well, we’ve got your back, with roundups to help you easily set up your iPhone 6s or 6s Plus, iPad (Pro, Air 2 or mini), Apple Watch or new Apple TV the right way. Here’s the list of setup guides to get you up and running with your brand new Apple gear.

Apple gave the world its first-ever peek inside Jony Ive’s super-secret design studio last night on 60 Minutes, but eagle-eyed Apple fans think the company may have revealed more than it intended.

During a very brief shot, taken during Apple’s weekly leadership meeting, a MacBook is seen in the background behind Apple’s general counsel Bruce Sewell that some speculate could be the upcoming 15-inch MacBook Pro.

See for yourself below:

Unlike any other consumer electronics company, Apple has been nailing product design for decades. Jony Ive and his incredibly talented team have produced countless iconic gadgets that rivals can only dream of, and it’s the biggest reason why the company is so successful today.

But there are suggestions that Apple’s design prowess is beginning to slip away. Under new leadership, Apple has rolled out a number of products — most recently the butt-ugly Smart Battery Case — that have led some fans to question various design decisions.

Are those fans right to be concerned? Is it downhill from here for Apple’s design team, or is this a whole lot of fuss over nothing?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we battle it out over those questions and more — and weigh in with your thoughts down in the comments section!

Candy canes are great and all, but in this day and age we’ve come to expect something more when digging into our stockings. Thankfully some of the neatest stuff for stockings, whether portable power, phone-mounted lasers or hands free mounts — is also super affordable. The following are just a few of the awesome stocking stuffers we’ve gathered at Cult of Mac Deals.

Having a backup drive is key to anyone with a laptop, but lugging around an extra hard drive can take the convenience out of portable computing. Plugging into the computer adds steps to the process of getting started with work, but one Macbook slot in particular — the SD card port — can be used to immediately expand its storage by 512 gigs. The way to do it is with a HyperDrive MacBook Storage Expander, and you can get one right now for $19.95.

Pulling the plug and getting the new MacBook with its single USB-C port doesn’t mean pulling the plugs on your peripherals. Plenty of companies, Apple included, offer adapters.

But one of the most versatile and elegant adapters arrived Wednesday from Satechi. Its hub adapter offers three A-type USB ports, an SD card slot and a micro SD card slot, allowing a user to seamlessly carry on.

Want the new iPad or MacBook for Christmas? You’re not alone. Big box store Best Buy found the iPad the most desired tech gift this holiday season, according to a survey of 2,000 people.

The MacBook came in third behind the Bose QuietComfort noise cancelling headphones. Of the 15 tech items listed, the Apple Watch ranked 12th.

These days, it’s all too easy to feel vulnerable whenever conducting a transaction, sending a message, or even just idly surfing the web. One way to feel secure is with a secure virtual private network, and for those of us without the IT chops to set one up ourselves there’s proXPN VPN. Right now you can get a lifetime subscription to proXPN’s VPN service for a full 98% off the normal price, $39 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Apple is ramping up the prices for its entire Mac lineup in seven countries around the world — but don’t blame Cupertino!

Anyone who writes on a computer knows the mental juggling routine involved in keeping track of research, notes, drafts and edits. Scrivener 2 offers a way to consolidate the whole process in one place, making for a much more efficient and less time consuming writing process. The award-winning app has also been a hit with Cult of Mac readers, who now have an extra few hours to get a copy of Scrivener 2 for $19.50.

Microsoft had a surprise up its Windows-loving sleeve today in the form of a new Surface laptop called the Surface Book, the first laptop in history to be built by the company.

Hailed as the, “thinnest, most powerful PC ever created,” the distinctive-looking Surface Book weighs just 1.6 lbs, is 7.7 mm thick, and boasts a 13.5-inch detachable display with 267ppi.

PDFs are convenient and used by almost everybody, but flipping between preview windows is not a very attractive or engaging way to view content. Flip PDF for Mac makes it easy to create beautiful digital books and presentations out of your PDFs, perfect for designers, photographers, advertisers, anyone who could benefit from a beautiful digital presentation of their work. And right now, you can get a copy for a tenth of the normal price, just $9.

It may look like a flask, but the contents of the XTRON pack more of a punch than your favorite bourbon.

It’s a portable power bank from Maximas with a whopping 13400mAh. Its best feature is the USB-C port, the up-and-coming USB standard, and it is capable of charging any laptop with this port, especially the newest MacBook.

Sometimes purchasing an Apple device can feel like you are shelling out for Italian marble. So it might as well look like it.

Design company UNIQFIND has developed skins and cases for MacBooks, iPads and iPhones that have the look of black or white marble.

Not content with competing with Apple in the smartphone and wearables category, noted ripoff artists Xiaomi are reportedly considering unveiling their very first notebook computer early in 2016.