Apple initiates replacement program for ‘small number’ of iMacs with 1TB Seagate HDDs

Did you pick up a new iMac between May and July 2011 sporting a 1TB Seagate HDD? You should probably know that the platter might be of the prone to failing variety. No worries though, Apple’s announced it’ll replace potentially faulty drives at no cost to keep ya smiling, and your fixed disk a-spinnin’. Owners of registered rigs at risk are being notified via email, but if you skipped that form you can check the serial number on Camp Cupertino’s website (linked below). After confirming that the machine’s eligible, you’ll be able to drop it off at an Apple Store or authorized service center for the swap. It’s also suggested that you back up the drive prior to bringing it down; at the very least, it’s an excuse to make use of that Thunderbolt port, right?

Apple initiates replacement program for ‘small number’ of iMacs with 1TB Seagate HDDs originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 24 Jul 2011 12:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple Thunderbolt cable, Promise RAIDs now available to get your 10Gbps interconnect on

Apple Thunderbolt Cable
Was it really four months ago that Intel and Apple took the curtains off of Thunderbolt I/O? The MacBook Pro and iMac lines have since been refreshed with the interconnect, but early adopters haven’t had much more than a fancy port to stare at. Thankfully, Apple’s $49 T-bolt cable is finally available as your ticket to the 10Gbps superhighway. Apparently, it quietly hit Apple’s web store this morning along with some fresh Promise Pegasus RAID enclosures ($1k for 4TB up to $2K for 12TB) to support it. All of the peripherals appear to be in stock and ready to ship; so if you’ve been eagerly waiting to make use of that extra port, now’s your chance.

Apple Thunderbolt cable, Promise RAIDs now available to get your 10Gbps interconnect on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Jun 2011 18:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple iCloud to halt backups, MobileMe email, when storage limit is reached?

Hey there, future iCloud power user, take a gander at the MobileMe email from MacRumors above — that’s what to expect when you approach the 5GB storage limit. Apparently, automatic backups and your MobileMe account’s email traffic will pause until you delete some files or purchase more space via your iDevice or a computer — for an undisclosed cost. That’s one sliver of info which Apple’s remaining tight-lipped about despite unveiling the mostly free cloud service weeks ago. Also worth noting, as TUAW points out, is that content purchased within the iTunes ecosystem won’t impact your quota. Hey, those app downloads can sure make it easy to fill up a drive, ya know.

Apple iCloud to halt backups, MobileMe email, when storage limit is reached? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 11:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple patent app sheds light on wireless charging dreams, NFMR love affair

Apple threw quite the wireless party by introducing PC Free and iCloud at yesterday’s WWDC keynote, but it seems that the engineers in Cupertino may have even more tricks up their sleeve. Judging by a recently filed patent application, the company’s hoping to add charging to its list of cord-cutting services. Specifically, the patent describes building a NFMR (near-field magnetic resolution) power supply directly into your iMac so it can charge your iPhone, iPad, or even peripherals — such as a keyboard or mouse, when equipped with a special antenna — without the assistance of your ol’ trusty charging cords or batteries. Sporting a somewhat mature iMac that’s operating sans NFMR? Pop a special USB dongle in that bad boy and presto, you’re good to go. The patent points out that the range is limited to one meter, though there may be ways to install repeaters in peripherals to extend that distance further. Of course, patents won’t guarantee we’ll be grabbing the scissors to cut our cords anytime soon, but at least we won’t have to rely on these things for the rest of eternity.

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Apple patent app sheds light on wireless charging dreams, NFMR love affair originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Jun 2011 09:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Useless iMac Slipper Does Nothing. Nothing at All

The iMac slipper is useless, yet strangely compelling

Pop quiz: You have €30 ($43) to spend on an essential, useful accessory for your iMac. What do you buy? Apple’s own aluminum remote control to turn your computer into a TV? A bluetooth receiver or wireless mouse to cut down on cable clutter?

Or the iMac Slipper, a Florentine vegetable tanned leather and felt square from Hard Graft? The slipper slips over the foot of a 24 or 27-inch iMac or a Cinema Display and insulates it from the cold desk while also covering its naked toes. It is also quite ridiculous, notable mostly because it is actually designed to do nothing but part you with your cash (and raise your iMac a few millimeters, I guess).

The product page bills this as a “conversation starter.” I can just imagine how that conversation might start. “Hey, idiot…”

iMac Slipper [Hard Graft via Mac Stories]

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Nostalgia: Steve Jobs tours the first Apple Store at Macworld 2001 (video)

Since we’d rather not attempt to pick out a birthday present for the retail store that has everything, we’re breaking out the home movies to see just how far it’s come in the past decade. Here’s some footage from Macworld 2001, in which a chipper Jobs takes us behind the wood barricade for a “little private tour” of the first ever Apple Store in Tysons Corner, VA, showing off a rear-projection screen for playing commercials and debuting the hyperbolically-named Genius Bar. All said, not that much seems to have changed with the stores in the past ten years, save, of course, for the inventory — of particular note are the MP3 player and PDA sections, both populated with third-party hardware. Apple would scorch the earth of the music player market later that year with introduction of the iPod. The personal organizer still had a little time left, but surely even back then the iPhone was a twinkle in old Steve’s eye.

Continue reading Nostalgia: Steve Jobs tours the first Apple Store at Macworld 2001 (video)

Nostalgia: Steve Jobs tours the first Apple Store at Macworld 2001 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 May 2011 12:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iMac frees you from the tyranny (and convenience) of servicing your own hard drives (update: not exactly a new problem)

iMac 2011
Letting Apple control most facets of your computing experience is just a fact of life for the Mac faithful, but if you want to swap out the hard drive for a bigger or faster one with the most recent iMac refresh, well, you have somewhat limited options. Rather than a 4-wire SATA configuration Apple uses a 7-wire configuration that keeps you from hooking up just any old hard drive, lest a temperature sensor go batty and your system refuse to cooperate. There are ways around it, but your warranty may not apply afterward…

Update: We’ve revised this post to clarify that this isn’t exactly a new issue. The same problem existed in previous revisions, but the big issue now is that the separate thermal cable has been integrated into the SATA cable. It’s similar to what was done before, just a little harder to get around now. But, you can get around it.

Update 2: Hardmac has a detailed analysis of the situation which we’d recommend you check out. It verifies OWC’s findings, and recommends you short pins 2 and 7 to basically circumvent the issue. Why does Apple do this? The separate temperature monitor enables OS X to more regularly check the temperature of the system’s drives without compromising overall bandwidth provided by SATA.


[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

iMac frees you from the tyranny (and convenience) of servicing your own hard drives (update: not exactly a new problem) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 May 2011 15:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink MacRumors  |  sourceOther World Computing Blog  | Email this | Comments

Apple patent application shows keyboard that doesn’t require contact, blows air

We’ve been generally satisfied with the chiclet-style keyboards that have become omnipresent in laptops and Apple’s latest generation of desktop keyboards, but Cupertino feels that these thinner, lower-profile input devices limit tactile feedback. A patent application from Apple, filed in 2009 but only now revealed, aims to improve the user experience by “expelling air from the input device proximate the key when user selection is imminent.” That’s right — your keyboard could blow on your fingertips as you blow our minds in the comments. Another solution in the patent would function like a vacuum to pull keys away when a proximity sensor detects that you’re about to type, providing simulated feedback. If this concept takes off in the future, your next MacBook Air could really live up to its name.

Apple patent application shows keyboard that doesn’t require contact, blows air originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 May 2011 10:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Engadget Podcast 238 – 05.06.2011

We’ll tell you what: if you even blink these days, you’re gonna miss a special guest on the Engadget Podcast. This week we’ve got Joystiq‘s Chris Grant in the house to shoot the shizzle on Sony’s network hurt and the Wii 3D IMAX rumors bubbling up all around us. And we lure Richard Lawler to step out on his old lady, the Engadget HD Podcast, for a romp on the possibly slightly wilder side of the tracks. Let’s do it: let’s talk tech.

Host: Tim Stevens
Guests: Chris Grant, Brian Heater, Richard Lawler
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: You Shook Me All Night Long

02:15 – Apple iMac hands-on, with dual 30-inch displays! (video)
03:00 – Apple iMac refresh official: Thunderbolt and next gen quad-core processors
03:45 – AT&T officially announces HP Veer 4G, available May 15th for $100 (update)
04:55 – Star Wars Blu-ray set ships Sept. 12th/16th (world/NA), has 40 hours of special features
06:35 – Dish Network, EchoStar will pay TiVo $500 million to settle DVR lawsuit
07:55 – Latest Windows 8 leaks reveal cloud-based settings, more app store evidence
09:35 – Droid Charge review
11:16 – Verizon document suggests LG Revolution will have Netflix pre-installed
13:47 – Sony promises ‘phased restoration’ of PlayStation Network and Qriocity starting this week
20:22 – Sony woes continue as SOE confirms data breach (update: 24.6 million accounts affected)
31:03 – Sony responds to Congress: all 77 million PSN accounts compromised, finger pointed at Anonymous
33:52 – BlackBerry Bold 9900 hands-on (update: video)
34:30 – BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930 (Bold Touch) official
34:45 – BlackBerry Bold Touch makes brief appearance on RIM’s website
35:05 – Android apps on PlayBook eyes-on (video)
35:48 – RIM announces BlackBerry 7 OS with better browser and BlackBerry Balance, but no legacy support
38:10 – Nintendo drops Wii price to $150 from May 15th, throws in a free Wii Wheel and copy of Mario Kart
48:05 – Nielsen estimates show first drop in TV ownership in 20 years, Mayans nod approvingly
50:40 – We won some Webby Awards, and now you can win a BlackBerry PlayBook!
51:44 – Listener questions

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Engadget Podcast 238 – 05.06.2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 May 2011 12:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple Rolls Out New Quad-Core, Thunderbolt-Equipped iMacs

Apple - New Macs

Anytime the Apple Store goes down, the rumor mill starts swirling about whether it’s regular maintenance or a new product is about to be released. This morning was no exception – when the store went down, speculation started as to whether or not we would finally see some new hardware. Apple delivered, and when the store was back up, a new line of iMacs was in the Apple Store. 
The new iMacs feature Intel’s most recent quad-core Core i5 processors, and can be upgraded to Core i7 processors at the Apple Store, up to 3.4GHz. Under the hood, they also feature brand new AMD Radeon HD graphics cards. They also feature Intel and Apple’s new Thunderbolt I/O port (the 21.5″ iMac has one, the 27″ iMac has two) for high speed peripherals – although you might have some trouble finding Thunderbolt devices to connect to it. 
The new line of iMacs also feature SD card slots, a FaceTime HD camera on the front, and users get the choice of a Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad with their purchase. The price hasn’t changed either: the models start at $1199 retail, and go up based on the configuration option you select.