I came across some interesting information on Mashable today about rumours that are starting to surface regarding hardware updates across several of Apple’s computer lines. The rumour is based upon some ‘official looking ads’ which were seen representing the Australian and New Zealand Apple stores, with slightly higher prices and revised specifications.
It would seem plausible that this would be the case as in the past Apple have been one of the first computer companies to utilise Intel’s most modern processor chips, the latest of which in the range include the Core i5 & i7. The i7 chip has been offered in specific Apple desktop models for some time now. Therefore it would seem only sensible that they work their way into the laptop’s at one time or another.
Another interesting piece of information which also suggests that there might be a revision or update on it’s way is the MacRumours Buying Guide. MacRumours use historical information about previous release dates and the time in-between different releases and upgrades to help suggest when a product line is getting long in the tooth. Turns out it is a very handy tool if you are considering purchasing a new Apple product, jump on and have a look too see if the product you are looking for is nearing the end of its cycle you may like to hold off on that purchase just a little while. At this point in time it is interesting to note that this guide is suggesting that the product lines including the Macbook Pro, Macbook Air and Mac Pro are all recommending ‘Don’t Buy – Updates Soon’.
So this is when it all starts to get a little exciting, my guess is that we probably won’t see any major design changes to the actual products but bring on some modern processors and revisions to perhaps the graphics cards and hard drives. Only time will tell.
Rumours are coming in thick and fast about all sorts of new and refreshed Apple products. It would seem that they may just carry some weight as well. With many rumours about the release of a new iMac to be coming our way seemingly any moment now, it would seem appropriate that a facelift on the iMac would come with new peripherals – wouldn’t it?
AppleInsider mentions in this post on their website a few very notable points which certainly lead to a new release of an iMac, there’s news of supply lines for the current model being restricted. Now in the past when this has been the case with other products such as the iPhone, iPods & Laptops it has almost certainly meant that there’s a new model on the way. To complement this it has been just over two years now since Apple first released the aluminium iMac in it’s current shape, all of these things say to me that it may just be time for an update.
What really catches my eye though is the thought that there may also be new peripherals such as an updated Mighty Mouse and Keyboard to go along with it. Personally I love the aluminum keyboard that was released with the original aluminium iMac. I find it easy and quick to type on, while also being nice and quiet, however I am considerably more excited about the possibility of a new mighty mouse.
Endgadget posted an article the other day about how Apple applied for new patents on the Keyboard and Mighty Mouse, these details were released on the American FCC’s website just long enough for keen eyes to grab some screen shots with pictures and all. I really do find the current Mighty Mouse a great mouse to use, and I think that it complements OS X very well. The ability to use and customise so many different buttons on the mouse in such a user friendly way is something that I seen on many other mice out there to-date. My one and only complaint about the current mouse however is that of the scroll ball. When it works it is genius, but give it some time and some frequent use and this thing gets so gunked up it renders it almost unusable.
The patents that were released seem to hint towards the new mouse containing some sort of multi-touch technology, if this is something that can replace the scroll ball while still maintaining the great user experience then I say bring it on! Given that one of our mighty mouse has a scroll ball that needs cleaning every second day I say that it is definitely time for a new model to come out.
If you are anything like me, it drives me crazy when all I want to do is sync my phone with iTunes and every time I connect it – iPhoto opens. It opens whether there are new photos on my phone or not (thats possibly the most annoying part – please fix this Apple). So I went on a mission to find out how do disable iPhoto from automatically opening when you plug in an iPhone or digital camera. Turns out that it is pretty simple!
Essentially you just need to open iPhoto, select the ‘iPhoto’ menu > Preferences > General Tab > Connecting Camera Options > No Program
This will stop any programs automatically opening when you connect any iPhone or Digital Camera, and allows you to then manually open it when you see fit.
There are other options for doing this, such as using Image Capture. I think they may have taken this out in Snow Leopard 10.6 because I just can’t find it. But presumably in prior versions of OS X you can open Image Capture and follow a similar process to selecting which programs you want your computer to open when connecting a camera.
