Cult of Mac

Now that Apple has released new MacBook Airs, you might be tempted to buy one of them (we recommend this one because of the blistering performance that an SSD provides. You should be: once you start computing on an SSD, you’ll never want to go back, and the MacBook Air is a wonderful introducing to the powers of solid state storage.

That said, if you’re used to have a 500GB or 1TB hard drive to play around with on your laptop, you might be worried that it’s hard to live in a small 64GB or even 128GB footprint.

Don’t sweat it. I’ve been using a 64GB MacBook Air as my main work machine for the last nine months, and I’ve found it very easy to live within that space, after having learned a few tricks. Here’s how to make the most of your MacBook Air’s SSD.

Despite sliding almost 30 percent, Apple’s iPad still leads triple-digit growth in tablet demand, finds research released Thursday. Android-based rivals, although growing to 30 percent of tablet sales, still offer only ‘patchy’ alternatives.

Unlike the majority of my esteemed colleagues here at Cult of Mac – indeed, unlike almost everyone in my profession, it seems – I’ve not upgraded to Lion just yet.

The tarnished crown of embattled cell phone king Nokia apparently has been replaced by overwhelming debt and plummeting popularity as Apple’s iPhone dominates smartphone sales.

A consortium that included Apple won an auction for a collection of Nortel patents earlier this month with a bid of $4.5 billion. According to the company’s 10-Q quarterly report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Apple’s contribution was a hefty $2.6 billion.

How has the waiting game for a new iPhone affected activations at initial carrier AT&T? The company announced Thursday it activated 3.6 million iPhones in the June quarter, more than half of the total 5.6 million smartphones sold during the period. That mirrors AT&T’s March quarter, placing all eyes on Verizon Wireless, Apple’s second U.S. iPhone carrier.

This morning, I slapped my parakeet on my shoulder, placed a patch over one eye, clamped a pipe between my teeth, tied one of my girlfriend’s scarves around her head, appropriated one of her blouses and wore it unbuttoned down to the waist and dusted off my early 90s parachute pants.

Why? Yarrrrrrrrrrrrgh. Sid Meier’s classic pirating simulation game, appropriately known as Sid Meier’s Pirates! is now available for the iPad.

Apple’s latest MacBook Air is set to be yet another huge success for the company, with half a million units of the new ultraportable having already shipped from the supply chain during June, according to a new report. This volume is expected to “remain strong” throughout July and August, and could see at least 1.5 million units shipped before the end of the September quarter.

You’d think Apple would be dumping Samsung components from their iPad 2 design as Cupertino tries to reduce their dependence upon the partner who keeps on ripping off all of their best ideas. Instead, though, they’re just tucking deeper into bed with Samsung, despite the international IP lawsuits flinging about.

What’s going on? Well, it might all be about that sexy tablet-sized Retina Display Samsung has floating around.

You’d think that Apple was in need of a rest after pushing out all of that new hardware and software yesterday, but new products and services continue to fly out of Cupertino as the week goes on. Its latest release is the new B2B App Store that allows businesses to purchase iOS apps in volume.

Apple’s latest lineup of MacBook Air ultraportables are not only significantly faster than their predecessors, but thanks to those new Core i5 and i7 processors, they also beat the high-end 2010 MacBook Pro in early benchmark tests.

Today is a huge day for Mac users. For the first time ever, Apple is offering a major Macintosh operating system upgrade exclusively over the Internet. The company has also discontinued much of the boxed software it offers in a clear signal that it hopes and expects to see the vast majority of applications for the Mac delivered through the App Store from this day forward. Just as it did with music (and to limited degree with DVDs), Apple wants to eliminate all physical artifacts from its computing experiences other than the hardware it makes.

But there are downsides to this. Immaterial purchases don’t carry all the same property rights that physical ones do. When the iTunes Music Store launched, users quickly learned that it’s a lot harder to return or resell an album bought from Apple than it is to do the same with a CD. With the iOS App Store, we all know that it’s not easy to get your money back if you make a foolish purchase.

So you’re finally leaving us, white MacBook. I guess this day was inevitable; can’t say I’m all that broken up about it. Heck, the sooner you move out, the better.

Apple has released Mac OS X Lion in the Mac App Store for $30. Separately, Apple will also begin offering Lion on a USB thumb drive in Apple stores come August. Right now, you can grab Lion from the Mac App Store as a 4GB download.

After you’ve downloaded Lion, it would be wise it back up your install app so that you don’t have to re-download it next time you want to install Lion. You can also make a bootable DVD install disk of Lion to use on your other machines. Keep reading to learn how…

Lion is here. Our own Kahney/Brownlee dynamic duo have written up their own review, but let’s take a moment to find out what other reviewers are saying.

Google finally launched its highly-anticipated Google+ app for the iPhone yesterday, and the app has already climbed to the number one position in the App Store’s Top Free chart!

That’s an impressive amount of downloads for an app that’s still in an invite-only beta…

Apple has begun to discontinue the selling of boxed software in its retail stores. OS X Lion was made available this morning as the first download-only version of OS X, and Apple is placing a strong emphasis on the Mac App Store as its main method of desktop software distribution.

Other flagship products from Apple, like Final Cut Pro X, have been also offered exclusively in the Mac App Store.

Among a slew of other updates today, Apple has updated its Remote Desktop software with compatibility for OS X Lion. Apple Remote Desktop 3.5 Admin weighs in at 25.27MB, and the Apple Remote Desktop 3.5 Client has also been released as a 3.74MB download.

Remote Desktop is used by enterprise and administrative professionals that work with large numbers of Macs.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, Apple has released OS X Lion for $30 in the Mac App Store. Lion was made available this morning for download, and will be sold at Apple stores on a USB thumb drive in August.

If you’ve started downloading Lion, you may notice that it takes a lot longer to download than most apps. That’s because it weighs in at a hefty 4GB. Luckily, there’s a way to at least see your Lion download progress as you wait.

Here’s a little known fact about the OS X Lion installer — it self-destructs after it completes the OS X Lion installation and if you are on a limited or capped ISP data plan that sucks. Especially if you plan on upgrading more than one Mac in your home or office. Luckily, you don’t need to download the OS X Lion installer on each computer and waste precious data or time.

You only need to download it once if you follow this quick and easy tip before installing OS X Lion the first time.

Apple is on track to launch another flagship retail store in Grand Central Station, New York. This store location has been rumored to be in the works for the past year, and Apple could see approval to begin construction as soon as next week.

Apple’s last earnings call echoed the company’s desire for aggressive retail expansion, and this upcoming Grand Central Station store will most likely prove to be a very profitable business venture.

Apple’s development tools for OS X and iOS are  joining the OS X Lion launch party today with the release of  Xcode 4.1.  The new version of Xcode is now available as a free download in the Mac App Store or through the regular Apple developer website.

Apple’s refreshed 2011 Mac minis are a tempting choice for users who want a roc solid, low-footprint desktop machine on a budget. But exactly how much of a budget do you need to allot yourself?

No matter which Mac mini you buy, you’ll be getting a deceptively small machine, absolutely packed with some top-of-the-line tech, like Thunderbolt. But if we had to recommend just one, we’d recommend the $799 Mac mini with a 2.5GHz Intel Core i5 processor and 4GB of RAM.

Here’s why.

Just as expected, Apple has issued an update to its iWork productivity suite to introduce a number of new features included in OS X Lion, including full-screen capability, resume, auto save, and more.

When Apple unveiled the new MacBook Air and Mac mini, the company also included the latest version of the wireless standard Bluetooth. The adoption of Bluetooth 4.0 comes as the Cupertino, Calif. firm takes a leading role in developing a technology for device hubs and the cloud.