Macintosh

Time for touchscreen Macs? Hell no!

By Peter Cohen, Monday, May 13, 2013 a 4:42 pm

With the advent of Windows 8, several PC manufacturers have introduced notebook computers that also operate as tablets - the screens separate or fold over so you can touch, swipe and gesture on your laptop the same way you would a full blown tablet. That's led to a predictable question: When will we see a touch-enabled Mac? My hope is that day will never come. There are better ways to interact with your Mac than to touch the screen. Leave your touching to the iPad.

Rumors of OS X 10.9's "delay" are unfounded

By Peter Cohen, Friday, May 3, 2013 a 3:40 pm

Recently the blogosphere has begun to coalesce around a common idea: OS X 10.9 is going to be delayed. Balderdash, I say. OS X 10.9 isn't delayed, because Apple hasn't announced a ship date for it. In fact, Apple hasn't said much publicly about iOS 7 or OS X 10.9, except a passing comment from Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller, who mentioned that Apple would "get new versions of iOS and OS X" into the hands of developers at the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco in June.

Apple expands SSD options for configure-to-order iMacs

By Peter Cohen, Thursday, May 2, 2013 a 2:45 pm

If you're in the market for a new iMac and you value raw speed over storage capacity, you may be interested in a recent change at Apple's online store. Apple is offering new storage options for iMac buyers interested in configuring their systems with Solid State Drives (SSDs), according to Eric Slivka at MacRumors. Now Apple will configure 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMacs with 256GB and 512GB SSDs. You'll add $300 or $600 to the cost of your machine, respectively.

Scapple makes it easy to layout ideas visually on your Mac

By Peter Cohen, Thursday, May 2, 2013 a 1:01 pm

Literature and Latte's newest application for OS X is called Scapple, and it's now available for download. It's a really helpful utility for visually-oriented users who want to get some ideas down but might feel hampered by traditional outlining tools and text editors that enforce some sort of linear structure.

$14.99 - Download Now

Acorn image editor gets UI overhaul, non-destructive filters

By Peter Cohen, Thursday, May 2, 2013 a 9:58 am

Flying Meat Software (a.k.a. Gus Mueller) has released Acorn 4, the latest major update to its image editing software for OS X. Acorn 4 sports a new user interface, support for non-destructive filters, dramatically improved vector tools and enhancements to performance, among many other changes.

Belkin ships Thunderbolt Express Dock

By Peter Cohen, Tuesday, Apr 30, 2013 a 10:47 am

Belkin announced Tuesday that it's shipping its Thunderbolt Express Dock, an expansion chassis for Thunderbolt-equipped Macs that provides a Gigabit Ethernet connection, FireWire 800 port, two Thunderbolt ports, three USB 3.0 ports and separate headphone and mic jacks.

Apple set to focus on "power users" with 10.9, but whither the regular folks?

By Peter Cohen, Monday, Apr 29, 2013 a 6:29 pm

WWDC will bring with it the first developer's looks at new versions of OS X and iOS; Apple VP Phil Schiller said so when the company announced WWDC's dates. According to Mark Gurman of 9to5Mac, OS X 10.9 will tout features geared toward "power users," among them better Spaces management for multi-monitor systems, tabbed browsing and more.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown - Elite Edition ships for Mac

By Peter Cohen, Friday, Apr 26, 2013 a 10:19 am

Feral Interactive has released XCOM: Enemy Unknown for the Mac. The turn-based tactical role-playing game, originally developed by Firaxis, appears in a Mac-exclusive "Elite Edition" that combines previously-released downloadable content including the Slingshot and Elite Soldier Packs along with the Second Wave update.

MacBook Pro is the best performing Windows laptop

By Peter Cohen, Thursday, Apr 25, 2013 a 9:30 am

The MacBook Pro was judged to be the "best performing" Windows laptop, according to a new study by PC services company Soluto. Soluto used "frustration analytics" to make the determination, according to Brooke Crothers at CNet.

GOG adds 22 more Mac games

By Peter Cohen, Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 a 10:11 am

The folks at GOG.com have added 22 games to their roster of downloadable titles for the Mac, including vintage classics like Wing Commander 3: Heart of the Tiger and The 7th Guest, plus more recent fare like the 3D platformer Psychonauts and Runic's hack-and-slash dungeon crawler Torchlight.