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From 9to5Toys.com:

MacMall is offering 9to5 readers an additional 3% off of their already lowest prices on Mac Minis and iMacs this month yielding the lowest prices you’ll find anywhere (by as much as $50) with free shipping via this link.  The 3% is deducted at checkout and MacMall doesn’t charge tax in most states.

All discounts, including higher end models listed below:

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Are you following Cult of Mac on Instagram yet? If not, you probably should because it’ll change your entire Instagram experience from “kinda cool” to “insanely amazing.” Last week we asked readers to show us where you spend your time blogging or surfing the web. You guys took to Instagram and Twitter and showered us with photos revealing small glimpses into your digital lives. There was a lot of great photos to sort through but here are the ones that we thought stood out the most.

We love Andreas Nilsson’s lighting in this picture of his blogging tools.

 

Instagram user grijalva keeps a Bamboo drawing tablet with his Mac at all times.

 

Comfort is a must when blogging, so julieelise swapped out a desk chair for a more comfortable seat.

 

Teaching a cat how to read [via Sarah Ramsingh)

 

John Brownlee devines a lot of blogging inspiration via his parakeet.

 

The simplicity of Supabaz's setup makes us pine for less clutter in the office

 

Chris Foresman from Ars Technica shows us where the magic of his Apple articles come into being

Matt blogs with a big ass Eiffel Tower picture in the background

 

Canon and Macbook from Carnivalous

 

Want to be included in the next gallery? Follow us on Instagram so we can see your work and include it next time.

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We already know from previous reports that Apple is working on a magnetic charging system for iOS devices, similar to the MagSafe connectors on its MacBooks. But one hurdle that stood in the company’s way was the MagSafe’s inability to transfer data.

However, a newly published patent entitled “Programmable Magnetic Connectors” seems to confirm that Apple is making progress on a magnetic connector capable of transferring power and data, which could spell the end of its 30-pin dock connector and even the headphone jack.

The patent, entitled “Programmable Magnetic Connectors,” was picked up by Apple Insider earlier this week.

Apple explains that the disadvantage to its existing 30-pin dock connector and headphone jack is that they precent a device from being properly sealed. This is why Apple places liquid damage indicators in those ports. Furthermore, the male end of these connectors is left exposed when it’s not inside your device.

However, a magnetic connector would allow Apple to seal the device, making it more difficult for moisture to penetrate through its ports. And not only would the system work for data and power transfer, but also as a replacement for the headphone jack.

Apple’s solution is a new universal cable that features programmable magnets unique to each device. When you attach a cable, it would automatically recognize the device it’s hooked up to and “reconfigure itself accordingly,” the filing reads.

In one embodiment, Apple details a headphone jack that is concealed within a plastic casing at the end of its cable. When the user attached it to their device, a magnet pulls the jack out of its housing and into your device.

But Apple explain that these magnets could also be used to “repulse, eject, and/or precent coupling of certain cables.”

This is very exciting stuff for those who use iOS devices. As much as I love mine, I hate the 30-pin dock connector, and I’d much prefer a universal solution — especially if it’s got magnetic powers.

[via Apple Insider]

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Every time new Macs come along, I’d wager most current Mac users spend at least some time internally debating if it’s the right time to get a new computer. But that new computer experience might be available for a lot less money, if your Mac is eligible for a simple, DIY memory upgrade.

Step one: Find out if your Mac can handle it

Not all Macs are eligible for memory upgrades, or at least not ones you can perform easily at home. Some might already be equipped with their maximum supported memory, and some might have more difficult to replace memory kits, like the MacBook Air does, for instance. But in general, you can find out if your Mac could take on more memory by checking your system stats.

In Lion, this is easy. Go to the Apple menu, click “About this Mac,” and then click “More Info…” Then, click the “Memory” tab along the top and it’ll show you how much memory you currently have installed, and the capacity of each individual module. In my example, I have 4 x 4 GB modules installed on my iMac, which is the most this model officially supports. Many base configuration models of iMacs currently available ship with two slots free, as mine did before I upgraded.

To find out the maximum memory your model supports, you can do two things. First, click the link in that Memory information page that says “Memory Upgrade Instructions” to be taken to the relevant Apple support site for your computer. So long as you know when your computer was released, you can find all the information you need, including Apple’s maximum memory capacity for your specific model here. If you need to find when your Mac was released, check our guide for finding that out.

You can also take a second option, which is to visit OWC, find your Mac of choice under the “Memory” section and see what options the site provides. OWC actually offers kits that provide memory in capacities that often exceed Apple’s official supported specs, but will still work fine with your hardware.

Step two: Figure how much memory you need to upgrade

OWC is a great resource for figuring out how much RAM you need to purchase to upgrade. Navigate to the Memory section on the OWC homepage, then find your model of computer. Now, the site will provide you with a number of options for memory upgrades and replacements. OWC had basically done the thinking for you, so you can just click on a combo package greater than your current memory configuration and not worry about whether or not the modules will work with each other or your machine.

The other benefit of going through OWC is that they have very fair prices, and they even offer rebate pricing on the memory that shipped with your Apple computer. You won’t get much, but it’s more than you’d make by throwing your old RAM in the garbage.

Step three: Install the RAM

Following Apple’s installation guides is the best way to go about replacing your RAM. Here are links to the instructions for upgrading iMac memory, Mac mini memory, MacBook Pro memory, and MacBook memory. It’s not difficult and requires a minimum of tools, but you will need a small screwdriver, like one you’d use for eyeglasses repair, in order to replace memory on iMacs and MacBooks.

Step four: Enjoy considerable performance boosts

When I upgraded my 2011 iMac from its basic 4 GB of memory to 16 GB, it was definitely like getting a new machine. Things never grind to a halt anymore; I can run Photoshop alongside other demanding applications without major slow-downs; and my computer seldom requires an actual restart or power-down to get things moving smoothly again. The entire upgrade cost me less than $100, too.

If you love your Mac but find yourself less than impressed with its performance lately, a memory boost could be just the thing to put the spark back in your relationship.

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Apple spent the most on semiconductors in 2011, beating out Samsung and HP to take the crown. HP dropped from the top spot thanks to overall weakness in the PC market, while Apple soared upwards on the rising tide of smartphones, tablets, and the MacBook Air.

Apple spent $17.3 billion on semiconductors in 2011, driven mostly by the popularity of the iPhone, iPad and solid-state drives that ship by default with its MacBook Air. Apple’s spending increased 35 percent from 2010, when it spent $12.8 billion on semiconductors. HP, which had spent $17.6 billion in 2010, saw its PC shipments decline 16.2 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2011. That, combined with a lacklustre year overall for PCs, drove HP’s spending down to $16.6 billion in 2011.

It’s no coincidence that Apple’s biggest competition on the mobile device front was also its closest rival when it came to semiconductor spending. Samsung spent $16.7 billion in 2011, a 9 percent increase over its spending in 2011.

Apple’s massive spending on semiconductors is a result of huge sales of its products, but that kind of spending power will also help it continue to secure and maintain its supply chain advantage. Expect to see the gulf between Apple and HP in terms of this measure of success widen further, as mobile devices increasingly overtake PCs as the central device in users’ daily lives, and as Apple continues to shift its focus to notebooks and computers that rely more on solid state storage.

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We know Apple puts a lot of effort into its product packaging to ensure it’s almost as beautiful as the product within, but you may be surprised to hear that an entire room within the Cupertino company’s headquarters is dedicated to testing different variants of product packaging.

The story comes from an advance copy of Adam Lashinsky’s Inside Apple book, provided to NetworkWorld, which provides us with a fascinating look into what goes on within Apple’s headquarters. It’s no surprise that the company puts a tremendous amount of effort into its product packaging, so much so that it has an entire packaging room in which it can sweat over every little detail.

Lashinsky recounts a time when the packaging room was filled with hundreds of iPod box prototypes so that the company could determine which box was best suited to its product, and which would be best suited to the users opening them up.

One after another, the designer created and tested an endless series of arrows, colors, and tapes for a tiny tab designed to show the consumer where to pull back the invisible, full-bleed sticker adhered to the top of the clear iPod box. Getting it just right was this particular designer’s obsession.

What’s more, it wasn’t just about one box. The tabs were placed so that when Apple’s factory packed multiple boxes for shipping to retail stores, there was a natural negative space between the boxes that protected and preserved the tab.

NetworkWorld notes that Apple’s approach to product packaging has also been picked up by its rivals. For example, Samsung’s product packaging for its Galaxy Tab tablet is almost identical to that of the iPad.

Walter Isaacson, the author behind Steve Jobs’s authorized biography, revealed that Steve and Jonathan Ive put a lot of effort into product packaging in a bid to create a perfect “theatre” for its products:

“Steve and I spend a lot of time on the packaging,” said Ive. “I love the process of unpacking something. You design a ritual of unpacking to make the product feel special. Packaging can be theater, it can create a story.”

So next time you purchase a MacBook, iPhone, or iPad, just think about how much effort went into its packaging before you tear it off and throw it straight into the trash.

[via MacRumors]

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Two of the reasons Apple’s iPhone is yet to adopt LTE connectivity is that existing LTE chips are just too large for the iPhone’s slender form factor, and they eat up so much power your new iPhone 4S wouldn’t even last the six hours that you currently get if it was hooked up to an LTE network.

However, a new Apple patent application reveals that the Cupertino company has already set about revolutionizing its batteries to make them thinner and more efficient — possibly making way for LTE connectivity in the iPhone 5.

Future iOS devices and even MacBooks could benefit from better battery life thanks to revolutionary batteries built up of electrode sheets of varying dimensions. The batteries could lose their traditional rectangular shape in favor of a custom design tailored to the device.

For example, your new iPhone could feature an L-shaped battery that fits in around its components, providing greater capacity and better efficiency.

Apple’s patent, which was discovered by Patently Apple, includes a number of battery designs in all sorts of shapes and sizes. In one example (above), Apple uses an iPad to demonstrate a battery that fits behind the device’s bezel and extends all the way around the edge of the device, leaving the entire center open for the device’s other components.

Not only do the batteries save space inside each device, but they could allow for thinner, lighter devices that maintain the lengthy battery life we’ve become used to from iOS devices and MacBooks.

[via iDownloadBlog]

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I had a chance to meet with Samsung Storage solutions at CES 2012 this week and got the low down on its new OEM SSDs that Apple tends to buy in large numbers.  Samsung and Toshiba are the OEMs that provide the SSDs in MacBook Airs.  Samsung’s 470 OEM SSD product is noticeably faster than the Toshiba model that Apple also puts in otherwise identical MacBook Airs.  We have talked about the speed difference before and how Air-buyers often will pay a premium for the faster Samsung drives.

Well, the speed difference is about to get even more noticeable. Samsung told me that it sold out of the 470 series OEM SSDs late last year and the company only makes a much faster variety: the 830 series.

How fast is the 830 Series controller/chips?  I had a chance to speed test the popular 2.5-inch 830 model late last year when it debuted.  Typical speeds were over 400MB/s write and 500MB/s reads (below, left).  That is almost twice as fast as the current MacBook Air SSD from Samsung (below, right), which itself is significantly faster than Toshiba’s SSD.

Samsung stopped short of announcing it is shipping the 830s to Apple, but the company confirmed it ran out of 470s a while ago and all of its SSD customers were receiving the updated 830 series. Samsung also confirmed that Apple is still a customer.

Today I ventured to the Las Vegas Apple Store to check the speeds of the MacBook Airs.  I checked a new 128GB MacBook Air right out of the box which had the same “APPLE SSD SM128C” listed in System Profiler as my year-old Air.  I checked the speed and it is indeed the old disk (same as above, right), which means the new Samsung SSDs haven not hit stores —at least here anyway.

Theoretically, a few things could happen at this point…

I do not know Apple’s supply chain lead-time and Samsung would not even pretend to hint anything about its relationship with Apple.  Therefore, Apple could have bought many months worth of the older 470 series SSDs and they might not show up in the final product for a while.  It also is not 100 percent certain that Apple will continue buying SSDs from Samsung.  Theoretically, Apple could move to another supplier or go 100 percent with the slow Toshiba, although, that would be hard to imagine with Samsung’s product being so good.

What is certain is that the OEM Samsung SSDs Apple currently uses in its MacBook Airs were sold out many months ago and the faster replacements have been taking their place to Samsung’s customers.  It is also certain that the MacBook Airs are built to take advantage of the speedier SSDs.  OWC sells a crazy fast aftermarket model with similar speeds to those of the Samsung 830 series that work extremely well.

I would be willing to bet that Apple will have a silent MacBook Air update to the faster SSDs at some point soon or —at the very latest— when Apple updates the MacBook Air to the Ivy Bridge platform later this year.

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Apple’s MacBook Air continues to be a hot seller according to the latest sales estimates coming out of Apple’s Asian supply chain. Shipments of the ultra-slim notebook were up to 1.2 million units in the fourth calendar quarter of 2011, up from 1 million the quarter before.

The MacBook Air was the only notebook that saw increased shipments during the quarter, according to Digitimes Research, which said on Monday that notebook shipments slowed by 8.7 percent sequentially to 48.59 million units worldwide during the quarter.

In Apple’s last quarterly earnings report, it reported 4.89 million Macs sold, meaning if we use Digitimes’ estimate of 1 million MacBook Airs sold, the notebook represented roughly 20 percent of the total. We know Apple’s iMac is also performing well, but it’s logical to assume the Air is growing in influence in terms of the overall Mac picture. Expect that trend to continue, since analysts expect the so-called Ultrabook category to explode in the next six years.

Apple doesn’t usually break out sales of individual Mac lines from the overall Mac category total, but it will still be interesting to see if it has any official comment on the success of the Air during its quarterly earnings conference call on Jan. 24.

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Apple got an early start on outfitting its Mac computers with Intel’s Thunderbolt technology, introducing first a MacBook Pro sporting the high-speed I/O port in Feb. 2011. Now, almost a year later, a rush of accessories at CES 2012 says this will be the year mainstream users start to get some real benefit from having Thunderbolt on board.

“Thunderbolt” is turning up in my inbox quite a bit, with pitches for Thunderbolt docks, drives, adapters and expansion devices. No doubt that is helped in part by the news that Thunderbolt will be coming to computers from select PC vendors, including Acer and Asus, arriving sometime in the second quarter of this year. But it also helps that nearly all of Apple’s line of computers, including its popular iMac desktop, have put Thunderbolt into the hands of a much broader potential market of peripheral shoppers.

Some of the products on tap include more-traditional external drives than we have seen to date, with SSD drives from usual-suspect Mac accessory makers like Elgato and OCZ. These drives still are not exactly aimed at the average computer user, since they will reportedly come in starting at $400 for storage sizes of 128 GB and up. But they should be a hit with pro video and audio editors, as well as the semi-pro or serious hobbyist crowd.

Much more interesting to mainstream Mac users are devices like the Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock, which should arrive in September and will boast three USB 2.0 ports, one Firewire 800 connection, a Gigabit Ethernet port, one 3.5 mm audio jack and two Thunderbolt ports. Basically, it provides a lot of what the Apple Thunderbolt Display offers but without the screen and for a heavily reduced price of $299. For users who want a quick and easy docking solution for plug-and-play home theater connectivity, this is a good solution and cheaper than many receivers.

Another solution that average users might get some use from is the Thunderbolt eSATA hub shown off by LaCie at CES. It features connections for up to two eSATA-connected drives via one Thunderbolt port, along with a second Thunderbolt port for daisy-chaining. ESATA drives are loads cheaper than their native Thunderbolt equivalents, and with top speeds of 6 Gbps, eSATA is still plenty fast for most users. No word on pricing yet, but this one is coming soon: within the first quarter of 2012.

LaCie also unveiled a dual 3.5-inch drive enclosure called the 2Big that hooks up via Thunderbolt, with size offerings of up to 8 TB of total storage planned. I wouldn’t expect this one to be within the average consumer’s price range, but the more the tech is adopted at all levels, the better the potential of lower prices across the board.

Some of these items are still pro-focused and the others aren’t exactly cheap, but at least accessory makers finally seem to be embracing the possibilities that Thunderbolt offers. With cheaper third-party cables and maybe some USB 3.0 cross-compatibility, this should be the year we see the Thunderbolt port get used for more than just Mini DisplayPort connections.

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