NVidia Still Wants to Develop Controller for Intel Sandy Bridge |
| HardMac.com - September 3, 2010, 2:30 pm GMT+1 |
When Intel launched the Core 2 Duo, NVidia released a controller, aka GF 9400M, derived from a discrete GPU, it was much faster than any Intel GMA. NVidia had a great success wit this controller and its second generation is still found in all previous generation of MacBooks and iMacs from Apple. This controller, aka Northbridge, was working with Intel Core 2 Duo only, and when NVidia asked Intel to get a license for Nehalem chips, the founder refused; most probably to keep its competitor outside of the sandbox. This was a hard hit for NVidia, as it prevented the company to offer alternative to Intel controllers for Nehalem. |
Valve Software?s Portal Re-Imagined As Classic Apple Text Adventure [Video] |
| Cult of Mac - September 3, 2010, 2:15 pm GMT+1 |
| www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bBv1WkMUFs Valve Software’s transcendent physics and teleportation puzzler Portal already runs sublimely through Steam for Mac… as long as you have a modern MacBook Pro or iMac. But what if Portal wasn’t a modern game, but a classic Macintosh text adventure? This brilliant mock ad re-imagines Portal as a lost game rediscovered through a lost [...] |
Install a PC Radeon HD5870 in a Mac Pro 2006 |
| HardMac.com - September 3, 2010, 1:30 pm GMT+1 |
Following the release of ROM EFI from Netkas, we tested the procedure ourselves. The EFI part from the ROM found in Apple EOM cards (those shipping with Mac Pro or available from the Apple Store) were of EBC type (so compatible with EFI32 and EFI64), unlike EFI found in iMacs. So we decided to test it on a Mac Pro 1,1 4x 2.66Ghz October 2006. If the card works on such early Mac Pro model, all subsequent models should support such card too. Our choice was the XFX HD5870 1Go DDR5 with the following reference XFX HD-587X-ZNFV. This card is relatively close to the ATI reference design so chance to have the EFI ROM working on it is high. This card is well designed, offering a crossfire bridge, Molex adaptors to PCIE6, a DVI-VGA adaptor and even for gamers a registration card to download Alien versus Predator. This card is not noisier than the HD4870 Gainward with dual fans, so in summary much more silent than the HD4870 available from the Apple Store. This card is rather long, but fits well in the Mac Pro:
The flashing procedure is similar to the one described |
 Apple appears to be the only company immune from a falloff in notebook shipments for the month of July, according to a report from Digitimes Research senior analyst Joanne Chien. HP is said to be the hardest hit, with notebook shipments expected to reach only 39.5 million units by the end of the year. The company had set a goal of 45-47 million units.... Apple September 1st Special Event videoHardMac.com - September 2, 2010, 9:45 pm GMT+1 | |
Apple has now made yesterday's Special Event full video available in the Podcast section of iTunes. If you couldn't watch it yesterday, now is your chance to catch up. By the way, the live stream was a successful real-life test of Apple's HTTP Streaming protocol: it's probably the best live video I've ever seen on the web and it only stuttered a couple of times, and picked up right away. Pretty impressive stuff (I'd really like to get my hands on some hard stats about yesterday: peak number of people watching, taht sort of stuff). Oh, and about CPU usage? Safari never went about 27% CPU usage on my late 2009 2.8GHz MacBook Pro, and it was around 8-12% most of the time. For sure, HTTP streaming is not playing in the same league as Flash streaming ;-) |
Briefly: NewerTech lowers charger prices, TARMAC updated |
| MacNN - September 2, 2010, 6:15 am GMT+1 |
 NewerTech has announced that it has lowered the MSRP for its entire line of battery charging/conditioning stations. The savings, which ranged up to 33 percent off the previous prices, applies to chargers for a variety of 13-, 15-, and 17-inch MacBooks or MacBook Pros, several iBooks and a range of PowerBooks. The charging stations are designed to keep the batteries in optimal charged condition for maximum runtime. All of the chargers are available exclusively from Other World Computing....Daily Deals: 22? iMac Core i3, MacBook Pro, 8-Core Mac ProCult of Mac - August 31, 2010, 7:45 pm GMT+1 | |
 We start the day off with three hardware deals: the first is a 22-inch iMac powered by an Intel core i3 running at 3.06GHz for $1,049. Or, for the same amount, you can grab a MacBook Pro laptop. Finally, if you are seeking more horsepower, how about an 8-core Mac Pro Workstation with 16GB of [...]
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EFI update for the 15 et 17" MacBook Pro of mid 2010 |
| HardMac.com - August 28, 2010, 9:45 am GMT+1 |
A 2MB update is available via the software update: This update is recommended for all 15 and 17 inch MacBook Pro computers dated mi-2010. It corrects a rare problem involving the blocking or the intermittent stoping of the system during its operation. It improves also compatibility with external screens. |
Apple MacBook sleep indictor set to human breathing rhythm |
| MacNN - August 28, 2010, 1:15 am GMT+1 |
 In a nod to Apple's attention to detail and human engineering, Flood Light describes how Apple got its sleep status indicator right, while Dell got it wrong. A July 2002 patent for a Breathing Status LED Indicator describes how the blink rate of a sleep status LED would be timed to a slow breathing rhythm. The blink rate of current Mac notebooks falls within the average respiratory rate of an adult -- between 12-20 breaths per minute. For example, the blink rate of the MacBook Pro 15in late 2008 is exactly 12 cycles per minute....Steam survey finds 47% of Mac gamers run Apple's MacBook ProAppleInsider - August 27, 2010, 9:30 pm GMT+1 | |
Valve's monthly survey of the hardware specifications of Steam users has found that nearly half of Mac gamers run a MacBook Pro, while the iMac accounts for nearly a quarter.
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Daily Deals: MacBook Pro i5 $1,988, $525 MacBook, iPhone App Freebies |
| Cult of Mac - August 27, 2010, 7:45 pm GMT+1 |
 We wrap up another week with two deals for the macBook fan and the latest crop of iPhone freebies from the App Store. First up is a MacBook Pro powered by an i5 dual processor running at 2.4GHz. The unit with a 15-inch screen also comes with 8GB of memory for $1,988. We also take [...]
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New MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update For Mid 2010 Models Stops Rare Freezing |
| Cult of Mac - August 27, 2010, 3:15 pm GMT+1 |
| Got a current gen MacBook Pro that just won’t play nice with your external display, or has a tendency to freeze at starting line at the sound of the OS X boot chime? Apple has just updated the MacBook Pro EFI firmware to version 1.9. The new firmware resolves issues where a mid 2010 15- [...] |