Hasta La Gadget!

Apple has released updates for the MacBook Air preparing the ultraportable for the new Power Nap feature of Mountain Lion, with the promise of a MacBook Pro Retina update in the pipeline. The System Management Controller (SMC) updates tweak the mid-2011 and 2012 MacBook Airs to support the new functionality, which allows them to silently power on while not in use and update software, check for new mail, synchronize media and make Time Machine backups, among other things.

Power Nap also supports calendar and contacts synchronization, along with reminders and notes, and makes sure your Mac has the latest content from your Documents in the Cloud account. It will also grab updates for your Mac App Store apps. If you’ve lost your notebook, you can use Find My Mac to locate it even if it’s sleeping.

Not all of the functionality is enabled every time your Mac is sleeping, however. Only when there’s a mains connection will Power Nap download software updates, makes Time Machine backups, run through Spotlight indexing, complete Mac App Store downloads and update Help Center.

Unfortunately, the 2010 MacBook Air isn’t supported by Power Nap, and neither are any MacBook Pro models beyond the Retina Display toting model from this year. That’s apparently due to a flash memory issue. The

More on Power Nap – and OS X 10.8 in general – in our full Mountain Lion review.

[via MacRumors]

Apple Power Nap hits 2011/2012 MacBook Air; Retina MBP “coming soon” is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Apple has released a software update for 2012 MacBook Pros and MacBook Airs that fixes some issues with increased CPU power usage. Of course, we’re still not entirely clear what is causing the CPU to use more power than it should in some cases (and Apple apparently isn’t interested elaborating), but whatever the issue was, it’s been fixed. The software update also “improves compatibility with some USB devices” in addition to fixing the CPU power problems.

So, Apple’s “MacBook Air and MacBook Pro Update 1.0″ is a relatively small one, but necessary for those who were seeing increased power usage when they shouldn’t have been. Apple notes that the update is only intended for “Mac notebooks introduced since June 2012″ so if you’ve had your MacBook for longer than a month or so, there’s no need for you to download this update.

AppleInsider points out that users on Apple’s support forums have been claiming that the CPU power issues have been stemming from port failures, while others have been reporting issues with getting their MacBook to recognize some external hard drives as compatible devices. Regardless of the source of the problems, here’s hoping that this software update fixes those issues for good.

Be sure to check out our reviews for the 2012 MacBook Air and Retina MacBook Pro!

Retina MacBook and Air units get first software update is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Ultrabook standard is a new standard that Intel is trying to introduce to the mobile computing world, but it looks like Apple’s MacBook Air is doing well enough for itself that it could be hindering the sales of Ultrabooks from other manufacturers. This is thanks to Q2 results which revealed that only 500,000 Ultrabooks were shipped, while 2.8 million MacBooks were sold, with a sizeable portion of those belonging to the MacBook Air. Addtionally, IDC analyst Jay Chou estimated that only 1 million Ultrabooks would be sold by the end of this year. While the notion of 1 million does seem like a big number for folks like you and I, it is only a fraction of his estimation of 225 million laptops which are to be sold by the end of the year. This is also way below the 40% marketshare that Intel had expected Ultrabooks to cover. Chou has also suggested that customers could be putting off their purchases as they wait for the release of Windows 8, which is expected to be made available later this year.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Ultrabook manufacturers reportedly facing metal chassis shortage due to Apple hogging the bulk of the supply, Acer and ASUS scale back ultrabook production,

Limited storage on the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro can sometimes be a pain in the neck when you really need more to work with, which is why the new Nifty MiniDrive has been introduced as a new semi-permanent backup storage solution. Taking advantage of the MacBook’s SD card slots, it should be a great alternative to carrying around extra bulky pieces of hardware and having pieces sticking out of the side of your laptop.

The Nifty MiniDrive is a small plastic adapter with a microSD card, which can be inserted to any MacBook Pro’s or MacBook Air’s full-size SD port. It’s been designed to fit snuggly in there without sticking out from the side. It can support microSD cards up to 64GB and is removable from the port by slipping the end of a paperclip through a small section of the outer-facing side to pull it out.

This “nifty” little storage helper is in its Kickstarter project funding phase right now, and its developers were initially aiming for $11,000 in funding to make production possible. They seemed to have had no problem with achieving that amount since they’ve nearly crossed $35,000, so we’ll be seeing this product in the future for sure. Backers can pledge from $25 up to $1,000 for the Nifty MiniDrive project and shipping will be free in the US.

[via Verge]

Nifty MiniDrive offers storage solution for MacBook Pro and Air is written by Elise Moreau & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Italian regulator AGCM is clearly on a short fuse with Apple. After issuing a €900,000 fine ($1.1 million) to Apple for not properly offering the free 2-year warranty required by national law, the agency is now warning the iPhone maker that it could face a temporary exile — and we don’t mean to Elba. On top of an additional €300,000 ($377,490) potential fine, Apple now faces as much as a 30-day shutdown of all its Italian business for allegedly doing too little to tell customers they don’t always need AppleCare for extended coverage. Having lost its appeal on the original fine, Apple’s main buffer is a 30-day window to address the complaints before the hammer drops. We have yet to see if Apple will tweak its policies in time, but it’s hard to believe the American firm will risk even the momentary closure of an important European wing.

Apple may get the Italian boot, has 30 days to push a 2-year warranty for locals originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Jul 2012 08:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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