Graphics cards, spots on the screens: the little cares of the iMac

Defective graphics cards, spots on the screen, the latest iMac were not without their problems more or less important and more or less accepted by Apple. Problems all the more annoying than the iMac is a machine all-in-a dedicated closed to the public and therefore difficult to repair. While a new generation iMac must be submitted by the summer, we should review these concerns conception.

The incredible business security flaws

Security is not a market like any other. Every year in early March, meet in Vancouver people around the world show and exploit weaknesses of the major browsers. For each vulnerability exploited, participants leave with an average of $ 10 000. Pwn2Own but, this is sort of the Olympics in this industry. Of glory, but little money! Because with a security breach, it is possible to earn much more money....

Apple: report of the meeting of shareholders

Apple on last 23rd held its annual meeting of shareholders. All members of the board (which is Tim Cook) were re-elected; Apple CEO received a score for his part Soviet, with 98% confidence votes. Shareholders have first obtained the members of this board are now elected only if they obtain a majority of votes. Otherwise, the person has to resign voluntarily.

Tim Cook began by recalling that this was the first meeting since the death of Steve Jobs: "There is not a day that goes by that I missing," and thanking the shareholders have expressed their condolences, he added that this sadness in him had turned into determination. He promised to pass that Apple was still working as hard and this year it will launch products that would make sense ("some products That Will Blow Your Mind").

Upgrade your Mac Mini 2011 for less

Apple has a nasty habit of charging very expensive options that can be added to the Mac: it is better to buy the basic configuration and spend a few minutes to assemble the additions that we will also be procured. This is particularly the case with the Mac mini, relatively modular machine: you can easily access the RAM, change its original hard drive without too much trouble and even add a second drive if one is handy. Is the game worth the candle?

IPad 3: the slab remains off

MacRumors has entrusted its supposed iPad 3 slab with nimble hands of iFixit. The site specializes in repair (and disassembly) gathered his observations in a short video.

The balance goes in the direction of the previous finding of MacRumors, it would propose to a good definition 2048x1536.

Mac sales

Apple sold 5,198,000 Mac over the holidays, just beating analysts' estimates (5.14 million). 

The MacBook confirm their good form despite the absence of news: it took 3.719 million laptops (+ 2.85% compared to Q4 2011 / + 27.93% vs. Q1 2011) against 1.479 million Mac office (+ 15.73% compared to Q4 2011 / + 20.54% vs. Q1 2011). 

There is renewed talk of numbers record. The figures are timely to celebrate the anniversary of the Macintosh, introduced January 24, 1984.

Breaking into the Mac in the enterprise concerned

5 million Mac or almost! The number of Macs sold in the last three months of 2011. We will know whether or not Apple has crossed the symbolic threshold during the presentation of its financial results next week. The underlying trend is changing to an apple branded computers. 

The Mac mini turns right

At the Macworld 2005; Steve Jobs introduced small Apple products including the iPod shuffle ... and the Mac mini. Today they celebrate their seven years.

According to some it is the Board of Directors, at a time when Apple was preparing its passage Intel, which would have led to the creation of the Mac mini, against the advice of Steve Jobs. According to others, is the successor to the G4 Cube, and Cube NeXT before him, and therefore born from the will of Steve Jobs, obsessed with the idea of ​​a desktop clean and simple, the antithesis of tower PCs. The truth is probably somewhere halfway: the board of directors at the time was eating into the hand of Steve Jobs and the Mac mini is far from the versatility of Cube.

WWDC Alerts: not to miss the train of WWDC

Victim of its success! Last year, the 5,000 tickets for the Apple Developers Conference (WWDC) were gone in 10 hours . The program with both iOS 5 and OS X Lion was particularly attractive indeed.

Nevertheless, it illustrates the growing success of Apple solutions to developers. In passing, we recall that the ticket costs just over € 1000. To this, add one round trip to San Francisco and accommodation costs.

2012: Challenges for Apple -II

The MacBook Air as a source of inspiration?

End of 2010, the MacBook Air was introduced as the future of Mac. And coincidentally, the site of Apple computers to promote OS X Lion are systematically MacBook Air. Last year, Apple has pushed the point home by giving its ultraportable processor powerful enough that it can be used as a primary computer. Will the "revolution MacBook Air" will finally contaminate the rest of the range or will it expand with the arrival of a new model with a 15-inch screen? It is inclined to favor the second hypothesis. In this case, the question is whether Apple will give a "facelift" to its professional range or if it will let it quietly grow old and accelerate the transition to the MacBook Air.

Your best Mac OS X - I

Last week we offered you a selection of applications to discover the same time as your Mac. We ask you then your own advice and many of you to respond to offer applications.

Here is a selection of ten applications from your proposals. If you have any questions to ask regarding this, please do not hesitate to contact us!

QuickTime, 20 years of digital video - I

On December 2, 1991, Apple gave the world the first version of QuickTime, which triggered a technological revolution. At a time when digital video was completely replaced analogue, it is time to render unto Caesar what is his by right.

We imagine perhaps with difficulty, but without QuickTime, we would not have digital terrestrial TV or Blu-ray in every home, as we know it today.

Buying a Mac for Christmas

The holiday season approaching, and with them the traditional gifts. Whether you want a Mac to provide a loved one ... or yourself, here are some tracks. It is all general advice and our favorite heart to guide you, not quick fixes that apply to all - hunting gifts would be less funny if not.

A Mac with less than 800 €? 

If your maximum budget is less than € 800, quite clear limits are needed.

Testing the LaCie Little Big Disk 240 GB SSD Thunderbolt

Thunderbolt devices are still rare, while the new standard is promising: it concentrates a data channel and a video channel at a rate up to 10 Gb / s in both directions. Storage specialist LaCie has every reason to be interested in: the Little Big Disk Thunderbolt, with two 120 GB SSD, is offered at € 849. The price performance?

Apple: a multinational support themselves finally

For many years, the financial position of Apple is growing at an exceptional rate, without the company itself follows. This has often earned the nickname Apple "start-up multinational." In 2011, the Cupertino company seems to have taken the measure of his status.

A number of employees rose sharply

49 400 employees in FTE (full-time equivalent), Apple has increased to 60 400 FTE employees, with a further 2,900 FTE employees who are consultants or part-time. Apple now hiring more than 10,000 people per year, equivalent to half of its payroll in 2008.

Testing MacBook Pro 13 "2.7 GHz Core i7" Thunderbolt "(early 2011)

With the update to its line of MacBook Pro, Apple has not done in half measures: while the Core 2 Duo stagnated since 2009, the top model of MacBook Pro 13 "is now equipped with an Intel Core i7 processor with the highest frequency ever seen in a Mac with this diagonal screen, 2.7 GHz.

A small MacBook Pro with large processor

Little or nothing distinguishes this MacBook Pro 13 "Core i7's Core i5 little brother, the exterior design to its HD camera FaceTime through its port Thunerdbolt, we had the opportunity to describe in detail in our test MacBook Pro 13 "2.3 GHz Core i5" Thunderbolt ". Processor and graphics chip, meanwhile, are quite different.

Testimonials: you, your Mac and Flash

Nearly a year in October, Apple does preinstalls more Flash on his Mac. A decision that mimicked that of Microsoft Windows, but also followed the passage of arms around Flash iOS between Steve Jobs and Adobe. Hence the subject of this appeal to witnesses who asked the question whether the policy had changed your habits vis-à-vis this plug-in. The answers provided show various positions and trenches and strategies that are just as among those who kept Flash, but want to hold her bridle. Yes to FlashThe reasons are obvious to install Flash. Adobe technology is far from being replaced.

 Video sites have begun their moult - and yet not all, Canal + has been repeatedly cited as requiring the presence of the plug-in - but many others use it either for promotional content, either through to online tools "I surf more on iPad for some time and we must recognize that many sites require Flash. DIY sites, major retailers of home appliances, computer equipment, etc.. In fact, I will summarize the usefulness of the reader with access to catalogs, the realization of selections or purchases. So back to the iMac ... "wrote wsalado.Same is the ubiquity of Flash with vintz72 "In any new position (PC as Mac), I go very fast in general that he lacks Flash. There is indeed a lot of sites that still use it (partially, but sometimes the whole site is that the Flash).

Commercial sites use it extensively (Citroën, Peugeot, etc.. To name brands of cars). Those who say you do not need should not surf much. In short, until everyone has remade its site in HTML5, I must have Flash and I always install. On my iPod touch, I surf few specific apps and make up for the absence. ""I Flash in-dis-pen-sa-ble: I work in photography and graphic design, given the number of photographers Flash websites (including mine), you can not do without. This is the first plug-in installed in Firefox. And that's also why a iPad is irrelevant "says Norbert75. After the Flash users and those who would pass before there is the middle position.

That which is to have the plug-in on his machine, but use it sparingly, when you can not do otherwise."I do not use Flash Player as it slows down too much navigation and is too hot my MacBook Unibody 2008. But I use an extension (ClickToFlash) that allows me to see the contents when needed. ".This use ClickToFlash was mentioned several times. This extension hides the contents of web pages and Flash can play them on demand. You can also choose the sites where ClickToFlash can act and let down in others. "I use ClickToFlash since purchasing my iMac 27" 2009 and before that on my 24 "... This year, after buying a mini with Leo, the first installation of Flash site met, immediately followed by of ClickToFlash. Contrary to what I read, having lots of RAM (in my case) does not change much, it is mainly the processor that is sought. "Said Ianni.GasyKaManja alternates between two browsers "Mac's Safari or Camino with ClickToFlash with reading Flash blocked by default. I flash to 95% and I do this only when friends send me interesting links: YouTube, Daylimotion, only Flash videos.

Or on certain sites only (that of Disney, my bank) or when I have to book or buy something. "The use of a blocker is also highlighted by the older Mac users that the plug-in is broken down.ouviravecAnother solution for Flash without its drawbacks is to enlist the services of Chrome. The plug-in from Adobe is integrated into the Google browser. Therefore one can have a free OS X and Flash for Safari Chrome away when a site or page is needed. The switch from one to the other browsers is even easier. In the Safari menu "Development" contains the command "Open the page" that lists the browsers present. The current page in Safari will automatically be launched Chrome. To enable this menu, go to Safari Preferences and then at the bottom of the panel "Advanced".No FlashThe camp brings together different profiles of refractories. For example owners of older machines somewhat like that of Madalvée "I became a" no flash "in spite of myself on my Power Mac G5 with Tiger, where the software is not updated. Only a few fantasies we are prohibited, such as online shopping site of Adobe (too bad for them) and the sites of those who apply the latest (too bad for them too).

The sites of fans who wear a FrontPage design (a web authoring tool from Microsoft, ndr) of the 2000s are still rich and interesting! "There are also Mac users very recent and have not installed the plug-in after purchase "In my case, not at all in Flash for over a year and a half of my machines, including a MacBook Air 2011 "written rom54" and frankly it is rather a big advantage over any pub is almost more than the browser crashes, less consumption for the computer (the fans do take longer depending on the way sites visited by cons ... I installed Java). Ditto for my wife who has turned his cell phone and flash using the Internet to view iPad. Short life without Flash is rather pleasant.

"Since moving to Leo, I have not bothered to install flash. He has no real use in certain specific web applications ... that I do not personally. Now, the videos can be played natively, and YouTube (video-only service I use) allows, in its HTML5. "Said MacArthurEU.Another module quoted on a few occasions, one designed for these sites and videos that will force them to play their content in HTML5 with options on the definition used by default. This extension, YouTube5 can work with YouTube, Vimeo and Facebook.

iPhone 5: a "very different iPhone"

Fall will be here in a few days. As of September 22, icloud iOS and 5 will then exit at any time. These two sites are also very well advanced and there is no doubt that they will be completed both in the next few weeks. But the icing on the cake, it will be obviously the iPhone 5, whose output is only a matter of weeks. On or about October 15, if we are to believe the statements a little forced and forced to Stéphane Richard, in addition to other ...

Easy Access To The Password of Mac 10.6 and 10.7

Passware, a company specializing in the recovery of encrypted data or circumvent passwords, advertises a security vulnerability in Mac OS X that Leo has not filled. This, says the president of Passware, you can recover the password of the user account of a machine. This extraction involves, however, having first physical access to the machine and then use the FireWire port and hoping that a basic control system is disabled. If the conditions are met, the application of Passware retrieves an image from memory and to find information. The operation would take only a few minutes, regardless of the complexity of the password and the activation state of FileVault. This is one of the new features Forensic Kit 11, the application Passware sells (just under $ 1000) for example to government authorities, private investigators and others who need access to machines locked. This tool is developed on Windows. This version also allows extracting the contents of the Keychain Access in Mac OS X. The multiple modes of access to the password limit the risks. Passware also states that its approach does not work if the user disables the one hand, the automatic opening of the account (the password is not stored in memory in this case) and also if switched off his machine rather than leaving it on standby. This vulnerability is also present in Snow Leopard, and having informed Passware says Apple. In a statement to Cult of Mac, the president of the company added that the security flaw has been fixed in Windows 7.

App: CheckUp, monitor the health of your Mac

CheckUp is a utility to obtain information on your Mac and your system to display an activity monitor on the CPU utilization of your disks, network or memory.

This application, published by the company ADNX.com, has a graphical interface rather original and enjoyable. Once launched, CheckUp just put a window type drawer on the side of your screen. It provides access to various features of the software through the icons.

These icons allow you to display, respectively, from top to bottom:

General information on your Mac (serial number, OS, IP address, etc ...)

• A monitoring of the occupation of processors in your machine
• A monitoring of the filling ratio and the use of internal and external hard drives
• Monitoring network, display speeds for sending and receiving data, and the various connections made by web applications launched
• A list of the different processes running on your Mac
• A summary of data (number of apps installed, many widget, fonts, etc ...)
• A history of recent crash

It is possible to reduce the view of the drawer or to access the software through the preferences icons at the bottom of the drawer.

When clicking on an icon, a new drawer opens, displaying some of the information available. It is possible to enlarge the window again to get more information by clicking on the button at the top left of the drawer.

Example of top drawer and the window for more info Data for part:

CheckUp But not content to simply display information. Indeed, this app has a warning tool interesting. As soon as it detects a problem, the first tray icons are colored orange to alert you the trouble.

It is then enough to go to the appropriate window for the details of the error. Note that it is even possible to set some alerts: alert me from X files in the trash, if the computer does not have enough RAM, etc. ...

In summary:

Checkup, keeps an eye on the health of your Mac
Version 3 ~ 13 MB

7-day full demo, available for 29 euros on the publisher's website

Checkup Download for Mac OS x 10.6