The new MacBook has been out for a couple of weeks, and OS X apps are starting to take advantage of its Force Touch trackpad.
Pixelmator, a popular photo editor and Photoshop alternative on the Mac, is an early example of how third-party developers are utilizing Force Touch. The app recently added support for the pressure sensitive trackpad along with a number of other improvements.
In a video sent out to Apple retail employees, Apple’s senior vice president of retail Angela Ahrendts clarified that the Apple Watch will be arriving for many customers this Friday, but that online ordering was still the only way the Apple Watch can be purchased right now.
Ahrendts talks directly to retail employees, reminding them that the Apple Watch isn’t the only great new product aut right now, but that it is an entirely new type of product and way of selling things for Apple.
“This is not just a new product for us, this is an entirely new category,” she says in the video, “and it is the first time we’ve ever previewed a product two weeks before the availability.”
Even with the horrible audio echoes and Ahrendts’ vocal-pause-laden and seemingly unrehearsed speech, the video is a fascinating look at the messaging all Apple retail staff will be hearing this week as they prepare for the hordes of new customers looking to buy an Apple Watch or new Macbook.
You know how the iPhone and iPad plays a little chime when you plug it in? The new MacBook also does that. But sadly, the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro remain completely silent when they connect to juice — which can make it hard to tell when you’ve accidentally knocked the MagSafe loose.
If you’ve got a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air, though, it’s easy to hack in the new MacBook’s power-charging sound. Here’s how.
Apple’s new MacBook may be one “for the future” but it’s already had a teardown from our friends over at iFixit, filling you in on all the ways the next-gen notebook differs from its predecessor.
That includes Apple’s butterfly mechanism keys, its Force Touch trackpad, form-fitting layered battery, and, of course, the thinnest, most energy-efficient Retina display ever seen on a Mac.
It’s not just ports the new notebook is missing, however. It’s also one of Apple’s least-repairable notebooks to date!
Being a workaholic means I’m always taking my MacBook with me wherever I travel, but carrying around a $2,000 machine is a constant risk. In today’s s video I show you everything you need to know to keep your MacBook safe while you’re on the move.
There’s no question that Google Chrome is one of the best web browsers you can get, but it’s long been a resource hog under OS X. By simply avoiding it on the new MacBook, your battery could last more than three hours longer in between charges.
If you haven’t already pre-ordered your gorgeous gold MacBook, you’re going to be waiting 3-4 weeks for it to ship. Initial supplies have already been claimed since the device went on sale this morning, but the silver and space gray models are still available in 1-3 days if you live in the U.S.
I was setting up my MacBook Pro with Retina display to work with a new external monitor today, thinking that when I connected to the monitor via HDMI and closed the lid, I’d see the display up on the new monitor.
I was disappointed when I saw absolutely nothing up on my new monitor, so I went searching to find out how to make it work. Is it a special setting in the System Preferences? I haven’t had an external monitor for a while, now; maybe things are more complex.
Luckily for me (and you!), it turned out to be much simpler to make happen. Here’s the recipe.
Apple Watch has been hogging so much of the tech spotlight lately that you could be forgiven for forgetting that Apple is also about to release a revolutionary new computer.
The first reviews of the new MacBook landed on the web to remind us that the first gold MacBook will be available to order tomorrow, too. According to the experts, it’s the most beautiful computer ever created. But should you buy it?
Here’s the good and the bad of the new MacBook.
Apple’s new MacBook won’t go on sale for another week-and-a-half. But if you want to get an advance glimpse of the next-gen notebook, you can check out a new unboxing video, which shows off the device’s ultra-thin form factor for the first time in all its glory.
The video’s in Vietnamese, but if you’ve been keeping up with our coverage here on Cult of Mac, you should know what to expect — from the edge-to-edge keyboard to the minimalist USB-C port. Did I mention how much I want one?
I pretty much love Apple and Lego in equal measure, so the idea of somehow combining the two is never going to fail to win my approval.
Assuming that I’m not the only person to feel this way, allow me to introduce the Brik Case: a fantastic Kickstarter campaign intended to raise the cash needed to manufacture a MacBook case that can be decorated with Lego bricks, to create any design of your choosing.
Apple redesigned the LED backlights for the new MacBook keyboard, and it appears a similar update could be coming soon to the Apple Wireless Keyboard.
Several images of an updated keyboard appeared on the online Apple Store for the Czech Republic as well as an Arabic keyboard in the U.S. store. Some of the images of the keyboard have already been pulled, but the redesign adds toggles for brightness to the F5 and F6 keys, as well as a power button on in the upper right corner.
This week: it’s kind of a big deal—the wonderful world of Nintendo is coming to iOS. Plus: the reviews are in, people are loving the new Force Cluck Touch Trackpad; Apple’s rumored streaming TV service might land in June; and why the new Macbook hails the end for the Macbook Air.
Our thanks for Freshbooks for supporting this episode. FreshBooks is the easy-to-use invoicing software designed to help small business owners get organized, save time invoicing and get paid faster. It also makes tax time a cinch. Get started now with a 30-day free trial.
Full show notes ahead!
The war regarding whether Apple did or did not invent the USB-C connector witnessed a pretty decisive development this morning, as Apple was awarded a patent describing a slimline reversible input/output electrical connector for transferring a variety of data types including HDMI, audio, USB and video.
The patent was filed by Apple in the third quarter of 2013, but only published today. It names Eric Jol, Albert Golko, Mathias Schmidt and Jahan Minoo as its inventors: all current Apple employees, with the exception of Schmidt who now works at Nest Labs, founded by former Appler Tony Fadell.
This week: we break down all that we know (and still don’t!) about the Apple Watch, and Leander says why the $10,000+ gold editions are totally opposite Steve Jobs’ vision for the company he co-founded. Plus: Apple quietly kills their iconic glowing logo; what we love and don’t about the new Macbook, and why some are not thrilled with its new “butterfly” keyboard; and with HBO Now coming exclusively to Apple… could big AppleTV changes be on the horizon?
Our thanks for Freshbooks for supporting this episode. FreshBooks is the easy-to-use invoicing software designed to help small business owners get organized, save time invoicing and get paid faster. It also makes tax time a cinch. Get started now with a 30-day free trial.
Full show notes ahead!
The viral video hit “Apple Engineer Talks,” which mocks the new MacBook, is a scream. I nearly died laughing — along with millions of other people.
The clever parody was crafted by somebody who clearly has a deep knowledge of Apple, so I was surprised to discover its creator is actually an Android user.
Here’s how he did it, and why he didn’t make any money off his wildly successful Apple viral video.
Apple’s design team went to extreme lengths when redesigning the new MacBook to be more portable than ever. The most drastic move was to toss out the fan and extra ports for a super-tiny logic board.
The new MacBook logic board is two-thirds smaller than any board Apple’s designed before. It’s the highest-density Mac logic board yet, but really, it’s more like a super-iPhone or iPad logic board. Put side by side with the iPhone 6 logic board, the new MacBook logic board is barely twice its size.
This comparison image might shock you:
The battle of Mac versus PC is raging strong, thanks to the new MacBook. While Apple fans are still debating whether they really want Jony Ive’s minimalist gold notebook, rival PC markers have been quick to shoot down Apple’s latest innovation on Twitter.
ASUS, Lenovo and Dell all took shots at the super-thin MacBook, quickly pointing out that while terraced batteries and gold paint are nice, these notebook companies have been selling even thinner laptops for over a year now.
Take a look at their tweets calling out the new MacBook:
The Apple Watch? It’s incredible.
The new MacBook? It’s unbelievable.
Apple’s team? Amazing!
Tim Cook is either the world’s most positive CEO or he possesses the world’s greatest poker face. Just watch the string of superlatives he unleashed during Apple’s “Spring Forward” event Monday, as rounded up in Cult of Mac’s supercut video below.
The shiny new watch on Tim Cook’s wrist wasn’t the item that tipped Apple’s hand as it bets on the future of computing.
The really big development was what wasn’t in the room: multiple ports on the new ultrathin MacBook.
The future lies in a single port for powering the device and seemingly not much else. It’s called USB-C. And the “C,” for now, stands for confusion.
The new MacBook is one of the most impressive pieces of technology Apple has unleashed in five years. It boasts a Retina display, USB-C, butterfly-hinged keyboard, Force Touch trackpad and terraced batteries. All crammed inside a body that’s smaller than the MacBook Air, made possible by a new fanless processor.
Despite being an unapologetically gorgeous piece of hardware, the new MacBook’s biggest weapon — the fanless processor — is also its greatest weakness.
Apple has placed the new MacBook in a category most people shouldn’t even consider buying, and that’s OK. The new MacBook isn’t for you and me, it’s for the future.
The new MacBook is gorgeous, insanely thin, revolutionary and pressure-sensitive. It’s also missing one killer feature: a glowing Apple logo.
The shining bit of trade dress has been a pop culture icon ever since Apple released the PowerBook G3 in May 1999. However, it looks like Jony Ive’s design team is ready to sacrifice the glowing Apple beacon in the name of thinness. You’ll still find a light-up logo on the MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros, but it was never meant to be on Apple’s new golden beauties.
Take a look at the back of the new 12-inch Retina MacBook:
Today’s ‘Spring Forward’ keynote was packed with more videos than any event in recent memory. Not only did Apple show promo videos for the new products like the 12-inch MacBook and Apple Watch, there were three separate videos just talking about the different materials that went into Apple Watch.
Apple finally posted all nine new videos on its YouTube channel, and you can watch all of them below:
Imagine cruising low around South Africa in your small plane at 105 knots. You’re enjoying the scenery below when all the sudden your plane’s canopy pops open just wide enough to send your bag with a MacBook Air plummeting 1,000 feet to its death.
That’s exactly what happened to one pilot, only lucky for him, the MacBook Air miraculously survived. Redditor av80r posted pictures of his still-functioning MacBook Air after it fell out of his plane mid-flight. According to his story, the farmer who found it claims he heard a whistling sound. He looked up and saw a bag hurtling towards him and took one step to the left and watched it land near where he was standing.
Despite the crash landing, the MacBook Air still works. Although the cooling system is damaged and the glass on the trackpad was busted into a million fragments, the display is hanging on like a champion.
Here’s a view from the side:
When it comes to buying Apple products, you should make sure a deal isn’t too good to be true when you sign up for it.
A U.K. man who purchased a MacBook on eBay for a bargain price was surprised by what arrived in the mail — not a laptop but a black-and-white photograph of a MacBook.