MacWorld Magazine UK July 2013

|X THE WORLD’S BEST-SELLING APPLE MAGAZINE 7 _ eam l aa V za — wea oll es pm, = a a JULY 2013 =IDG Mac > Health Check How to fix crashes, panics and freezes like an Apple Genius iPad&iPhoned APP REVIEWS, TIPS AND BUYING ADVICE FOR 10S ADDICTS 6 OF THE BEST: FREE INSIDE } Por ~ your iPad or iPhone 21-PAGE SPECIAL meer sfor | THE BEST BUYS FOR YOUR iDEVICE How to use Podcasts MEMSE I. HOSTING Virtual. Dedicated. Cloud. v “Yd 1 month free trial for all new dedicated server orders* Secure Tier 3 UK Datacentres ¥ Miniserver VM Virtual Servers ¥ Private Cloud Computing Scalable Cloud Solutions Market Leading Prices Accreditations Full Dedicated Servers Award Winning Hosting a Ae Y, 15014001 IS09001 CarbonNeutral® hosting 01483 608010 www.memset.com * Terms and conditions apply. For full details visit www.memset.com Macworld Contents JULY 2013 Opinion 7 Karen Haslam When only a Genius can help. 8 Mac News What to expect from WWDC 2013. 9 Reaction: Adobe Creative Cloud Feature 40 Apple's financial results, and its ‘amazing’ upcoming products Mac Health Check 41 Wall Street frenzy for Apple’s From crashing apps to system $17bn bond offering slowdowns, kernel panics to connectivity issues, we bring Opinion you fast fixes for the most 12 Abbi Perets common Mac problems. Apple, tear down that wall Features = y——] 14 Mac Health Check | Fast fixes for the most common Mac problems. 33 The Ultimate Mac What can we expect from the new Mac Pro? 33 Feature The Ultimate Mac Apple promises that the next Mac Pro will be ‘really great’. What can we expect? 40 Subscribe Subscribe to Macworld magazine Working Mac 66 Mac Cleanup Tips Our favourite tips to help you keep your Mac organised D4 Create a 72 Animated GIFs Be prepared for : Make your own animated GIFs hard-drive failure = the easy way. Prepare for emergencies eee 74 Reviews 74 Extensis Portfolio Server 11.0.1 75 AOC d2757Ph ; 76 Pentax K-5 Il basta 76 QNAP Turbo NAS TS-269L Wacom Cintiq 13HD 77 Wacom Cintiq 13HD This might just be the hottest little 78 SecureMac PrivacyScan eLeniventOel on Zug 78 Rosetta Stone TOTALe 79. Shiny Frog Pixa JULY 2013 « MACWORLD 3 008,004 Contents JULY nd 2 & swosao1s 1747 C o>) » APrint printers 32. Brother MFC-J4510DW 82 Canon Pixma MG6350 83 Canon Pixma MX455 83 Epson Expression Photo XP-750 84 HP Envy 120 84 HP Photosmart 7520, Mac ‘Apps 86 TextWrangler 4.5 86 Speedy Net 1.0 87 Characters 1.1 87 Type2Phone 2.0.2 Help Help Desk Tips you won't get from Apple Buyers’ Guide Buyers’ Guide Expert advice on the best hardware and software Simon Jary Apple: blue is the colour 50 Best buys: Hardware 10 essential hardware accessories 54 Landscape art on the iPad Joseph Connor turns countryside photos into beautiful iPad art 56 The iTunes Store at 10 How Apple reinvented music 46 New gadgets & accessories 48 Best new apps & games 4 MACWORLD - JULY 2013 003_004 Contents JULY.indd 4 user’ rid Contents Hardware 58 Braven BRV-1 speaker system Supertooth Disco Twin speakers 59 Cambridge Audio Minx Air 100 Just Mobile Xtand Go. Moshi Origo case for iPad Apps b 60 Twitter #music 4 61 Traktor DJ Splashtop 2 62 Super Stickman Golf 2 63 Knights of Pen & Paper Cut The Rope: Time Travel 64 Beginner's guide 14/05/2013 17:57 THUNDERBOLT. Introducing the world’s most exciting video capture and playback for Final Cut Pro X! Intensity Shuttle with Thunderbolt™ technology is the world’s most exciting video capture and playback solution for Final Cut Pro X! Get full resolution HDMI, Component YUV, S-Video and NTSC/PAL video on your Mac using super fast Thunderbolt technology! Capture incredible 10-bit broadcast quality video in SD or HD for editing plus live playback from Final Cut Pro X to big screen HDTVs and projectors for the highest quality monitoring! Capture, Edit and Monitor! Connect cameras, computers or practically any video source to Intensity Shuttle and capture up to. full 1920 x 1080 HDTV video in either compressed or uncompressed video formats. 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OEE ero From the Editor’s Desk / By Karen Haslam EDITORIAL Editor Karen Haslam 0207756 2877 karen_haslamidg co.uk Pad & iPhone User editor David Price 020.7756 2867 avid_priceaidg co.uk Editorial assistant Ashleigh Alsopp 020 7756 2950 asheigh_allsoppadg.co.uk Act director Mandie Johnson 0207756 2211 mandle johnson aide.co.uk Production editor Rob Woodcock 020.7756 2876, ob. granidg co.uk US editor Jason Saal Contibutors rests Bastounis, David Bayon, Christopher Been, Michael Buns, Josh Centers, Rob Ciya, Lizzy Mary Cullen, Wiliam Duke, Matt Egan, Duncan Evans, Dan Frakes, Kaen Froeman, Lex Friedman, Michael Gowan, Rosemary Hattersley, Kar Hodge, Cif Joseph, Joe Kissell, Ted Landau, Vic Lennard, Alan Martin, Krk McEineam, Chris McVeigh, Dan Moren, Tom Negrino, Abbi Pets, Jeff Sandstoe, Gavin Stoker ADVERTISING Head of sales Stove Marshal steve_marshalliaidg co.uk Tom Drummond tom drummondiidg.couk Group advertising manager Michael Newton michael newtonaidg.couk ‘Senior account manager 020.7756 2837 ‘Account manager Tom How 020.7756 2833 thomas. howalidg.co.uk Sales executive Becky Clewarth 020.7756 2803 rebocea_clewarthidg.o.uk MARKETING Marketing manager Ash Patel ‘ash_ patel. co.uk Head of marketing design James Walker james. walkeraidg.couk Affliate manager SUBSCRIPTION ORDERS Subscriptions hotline ase 438 267 smacworldesubscription.co.uk SUBSCRIPTION RATES (14 issues) uK £43.99, £39,99 direct debit Europe #100 Rest of World £125 FINANCE Financial director vis Norman Credit controller Dawnette Gordon Purchase ledger clerk ym Mico! Management accountant Patt Shah PUBLISHING Publishing director Simon Jy 020 7756 2208 sjaidg co.uk Managing director Kit Gould Macworld is published by IDG UK DG Ux, 101 Euson Road, London NWI 2RA. Tel: 020 7756 2800 Printer: Wyndham Press Group Ltd 01621 877 777 Distribution: Seymour Distribution td 020 7429 4000, No material may be reproduced in whole or part without written permission. While every care is take, the publisher cannot be held legally responsible for any errors in artes, tings or advertisements ‘All material copyright IDG UK 2013 SIDG | tikcdsu 007 Karen 2.indd_7 Fix your Mac When only an Apple Store Genius can do the job s much as we love our Macs, things do go wrong from time to time. We recently encountered a problem with a MacBook Air. Less than a year old, the laptop started refusing to charge. It had been a bit temperamental for a few weeks — on occasion the light on the power cable would fail to come on when it was plugged into our Mac, a little wiggling usually sorted the problem out and we just ignored it. However, one day with 15 per cent battery left and a lot of work to do, the light failed to come on and the laptop refused to charge. Our first step was to troubleshoot the problem. We had been plugged into a power strip so we switched it for a wall plug. No change. No charge. We didn’t have a spare power cable to test, so our next step was to reset the SMC. The System Management Controller manages battery performance and charging, amongst other things. Unfortunately this didn't fix the problem. If you encounter a problem with your Mac you may wish to try and fix it yourself, as we did. If that's the case, then our Mac Health Check feature (page 14) will come in handy. However, if you can’t find the answer to your problem, it may be time to go and see a Genius at the Apple Store. You can book your appointment in the retail section of Apple's website. Pop in your postcode, pick the Apple Store that's most appropriate for you, and choose an appointment time; it couldn't be simpler. On the day of your appointment, it's wise to check in early. When we arrived at the Apple Store in Bluewater with our MacBook Air and faulty power cable there was a member of staff with the sole responsibility of checking in people for Genius appointments. Apparently, it should be possible to check in using You get between 15 to 20 minutes with your Genius — abit longer than you get with your doctor the Apple Store app on your iPhone, but we couldn't get that to work. However, the app is the best way to check in as it sends you an alert when the Genius is ready, so you can browse through the store without missing your appointment. You get between 15 to 20 minutes with your Genius — a bit longer than you get with your doctor. Most problems can be resolved during that appointment. In our case, the Genius got a new power cable from the back, plugged it in and started charging our Mac. He suggested something could have moved in transit, causing the Mac to start charging again, and offered to send our MacBook Air away for testing. This could have taken a couple of weeks, so we just took our chances with the new power lead (which we were allowed to take away for free). It might be frustrating when things go wrong with your Mac, but what other company goes to quite these lengths to fix it for you? It’s yet one more reason why we're Mac. JULY 2013 * MACWORLD 7 14/05/2013. 18:48 News What to expect from Apple at WWDC Apple's WWDC will kick off on 10 June — here's what you should expect to see, and what you shouldn't BY ASHLEIGH ALLSOPP n 24 April, Apple announced that its annual Worldwide Developers Conference will take place in San Francisco from 10 to 14 June. All 5,000 tickets for the event, which cost £1,050 each, sold out within two minutes — a record for Apple. In 2012, it took two hours for the tickets to sell out, and the previous year's tickets sold out in 10 hours. “Enthusiasm for WWDC 2018 has been incredible,” Apple wrote on its developer website shortly after the tickets were released. For those developers unable to attend the conference, the company will be posting videos of all of the sessions online during the conference. What to expect In a press release, Apple revealed that developers in attendance will be treated to an “in-depth look” at the future of iOS and OS X, which we expect means previews of iOS 7 and OS X 10.9, Apple's next mobile and Mac operating systems, at WWDC 2013. That's despite rumours that say “dramatic changes” in the new mobile operating system may risk putting Apple behind schedule. In May, Bloomberg cited anonymous sources in a report that suggests Apple design guru Jony Ive has envisioned a major revamp of iOS for the next iteration. It's been reported that, as a result of an Apple executive shake-up in October that saw former software boss Scott Forstall leave the company, Ive has ordered a major redesign of iOS. This is expected to be “flatter” and will likely see the end of skeuomorphic design elements that Forstall is said to have loved, such as realistic-looking bookshelves and leatherbound calendars. & MACWORLD - JULY 2013, 008009 News.indd 8 Bloomberg's sources said that Ive has also been “exploring more dramatic changes” for the calendar and email apps in iOS. These significant changes mean that engineers are “racing” to finish iOS 7 in time to preview it at WWDC. Other reports from publications across the web, including AllThingsD, Wall Street Journal and 9To5Mac, agree that Apple is working on a complete redesign for iOS 7, which could include brand new native app icons. Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty expects iOS 7 will include a new internet service, such as a mobile payment system that expands upon the Passbook app, or a music streaming service (dubbed iRadio). Some rumours have suggested Apple may delay the release of OS X 10.9 because it has pulled engineers from the team to help in a final push on the next version of iOS. However, based on Apple's WWDC announcements, we believe we will still get a preview of the new Mac operating system at the event. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has a strong track record for predicting Apple product launches, has said he believes Apple will unveil updated MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models at WWDC this year, which he expects will feature Intel’s Haswell chips. A new Mac Pro could also be on the cards. (See page 33 for more details.) What not to expect During Apple’s quarterly earnings call on 23 April, CEO Tim Cook said that Apple Redesigned Apple unveiled a new logo for WWDC. is working on “amazing” new products for an autumn launch, adding that Apple will introduce “exciting new product categories” in 2014. This has led to the conclusion that we're unlikely to see the launch of the next-generation iPhone, dubbed iPhone 5S or 6, any time before autumn, unless Cook has decided that the next handset doesn't qualify as one of the “amazing” new offerings he mentioned. Katy Huberty expects a September launch for the new iPhone. A September event could also be used to unveil an iPad mini with Retina display, according to DisplaySearch analyst Richard Schim. The event is also expected to see the launch of a thinner, lighter iPad 5. It doesn't look like a bigger iPhone is in the works, though. Tim Cook has said the company won't be launching a larger model until building one doesn’t require any “trade-offs” in order to accommodate a larger display. Read more at bit.ly/12MlyAA 14/05/2013. 16:31 Creative Cloud: Reactions and reassurance We round up reactions and responses following the announcement of Adobe's Creative Cloud-only future BY ASHLEIGH ALLSOPP dobe used its MAX conference keynote on 6 May to announce changes to its software line and Creative Cloud (CC). Moving forward, the company will sell its software solely through subscriptions to CC, which costs £46.88 per month for individuals with an annual membership “This is the decision of our company — to focus on CC ~ and it’s huge,” enthused Scott Morris, Adobe's senior marketing director. “It's an even bigger decision than when we moved to Creative Suite years ago. In the same way, there will be customers who have a hard time with it at first. But today our customers are on Creative Suite — they got over it; they saw the benefit of it; and that’s exactly the type of transition we're going through.” Morris wasn't wrong about some customers having a “hard time” with Adobe's decision to go subscription- only. Following Adobe's announcement, student and photographer Derek Schoffstall started a petition on Change. org demanding that Adobe back away from its new model. The petition collected 10,000 signatures within a week, with commentators pointing out the cost and ‘rental’ of the software as reasons for their dissatisfaction. Microsoft has also taken a swipe at the decision. “Unlike Adobe, we think people's shift from packaged software to subscription services will take time,” Clint Patterson, director of communications for Office, wrote in a blog post. “We are committed to offering choice — premier software sold as a package and powerful services sold as a subscription.” Of course, there are some customers who think the move to a subscription-only model is a good idea. One reader told us 008_009 News.indd 9 Illustrator on Aah 4? No more CS Adobe's David Wadhwani reveals ‘CC’ rebranding at the MAX conference. on Twitter he thinks CC is fairly priced, while another, Chris Mayer, tweeted: “Considering how rampant piracy is of Creative Suite apps, the subscription-only path is the only sensible option.’ Reassurance Adobe executives have been fighting the case for the Creative Cloud. “When you compare the people who've complained about the new model to the people who loved it, it skewed heavily to the new model,” argued Mortis. “One reason people were resistant to CC is they were afraid we'd raise the price. We have no intention of doing that.” We spoke to Adobe vice president David Wadhwani to discuss the changes. “What we want to do is get this technology in the hands of as many people as we can,” he explained. “The way we do that isn’t necessarily to take what we're selling now and make it cheaper and cheaper,” he added when we voiced our readers’ concerns about the price of CC. “However, | think there are opportunities that we can take some of the technology we have now and surface it in different ways that are more affordable and more approachable to a broader set of customers.” The focus on CC means subscribers will have access to new features on regular basis. “We'll be releasing updates as soon as the features are ready,” said Wadhwani, noting that he also expects the company to have aggregating points. He told us Adobe won't be introducing suites for different types of CC users, because it would add a lot of complexity to purchasing decisions. Without suites, CC customers have access to all of Adobe's applications. “What we're starting to see is more and more of our photography user base get into video, and more graphic designers wanting to learn about web. So as that happens, | fully expect to see more usage of our tools across all of the different elements,” Wadhwani said. Adobe will be rolling out updates to its CC apps on 17 June. JULY 2013 * MACWORLD 9 14/05/2013. 16:31 News Cook talks earnings, ‘Surprises’ on the way iPad sales up, Macs flat... Apple reports on Q2 figures and the ‘amazing’ products coming this autumn BY LEX FRIEDMAN s some investors feared, on 23 April Apple reported numbers for its second quarter of 2013 that were worse than its performance in the same quarter a year ago — though the company still saw record sales for the quarter. The firm posted $43.6 billion (about £28.6bn) in revenue for the quarter — just beating its own estimate of $41 to $43bn — and net profit of $9.5bn. In the same quarter last year, Apple reported $39.2bn in revenue and $11.6bn profit. Apple's gross margin was down 10 per cent compared to the second quarter of 2012: 375 per cent versus 47.4 per cent. In a conference call with Wall Street analysts, Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledged that Apple's growth rate has slowed, and that its margins have decreased. Cook pointed out the advantages of 2012, including favourable foreign currency rates and historically low component costs, and notes that the iPad mini is a lower-margin product. New products coming Cook expressed disappointment over Apple’s recent stock performance, but added: “The most important thing is creating innovative products, which is still in our control.” He was optimistic about the future, telling analysts Apple “has some really great stuff coming in the fall and of course in all of 2014”. Cook referred to “amazing” new products in the pipeline for this autumn. “Our teams are hard at work on some amazing hardware, software and services that we can’t wait to introduce this fall and throughout 2014,” he said. “We continue to be very confident in our future plans. Apple has many distinct and unique advantages as the only company in the world with world-class skills in hardware, software and services. And, of course, we have a tremendous culture of innovation with a relentless 40 MACWORLD « JULY 2013 010_011 News.indd 10 focus on making the world’s best products that change people's lives.” In addition to the expected iPhone 6, iPad 5 and iPad mini 2, Cook dropped hints that could refer to the rumoured iWatch and Apple television. “This is the same culture and company that brought the world the iPhone and the iPad,” he said. “And we've got a lot more surprises in the works.” iPhone and iPad Apple enjoyed record revenue for the March quarter thanks to solid levels of iPhone and iPad sales and the strongest ever quarter for its iTunes Store. iPhone sales were up seven per cent year on year to 37.4 million units. Apple pointed to comScore numbers showing the iPhone as the top smartphone in the US, with 39 per cent market share. Asked about smartphone market share, Cook said this sector has second from its iOS App Store; year-on- year revenue from app sales doubled in the quarter. According to Apple, 300 million people use iCloud every day. The Mac Mac sales remained flat, with just under 4 million sold in the quarter. There was a slight drop year on year, but a minimal one; last year, Apple reported selling 4 million Macs in the quarter. Revenues per Mac were $1,378, which is the highest that number has been since 2008. The overall PC market was down nearly 14 percent, according to IDC. Looking forward For the third fiscal quarter, Apple predicts revenue between $33.5 and $35.5bn, with gross margin between 36 and 37 per cent — which would be down slightly from Q2. The company predicts operating expenses between $3.85bn and $3.95bn. always been competitive, but argued that Apple has the best mobile ecosystem by far, and that it plans to keep augmenting it. As for the iPad, sales soared year on year: 19.5 million were sold in the second quarter of 2013, compared to 11.8 million in that quarter a year ago. That's a jump of 65 per cent. Apple posted $2.4bn in revenue from iTunes during the quarter, a record tally. According to chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's online emporium of music, movies, books and apps now tops $4bn in quarterly billings, making it store in the world. Apple also claimed that more than 800 apps are downloaded per Gross margins The iPad mini was both hero and villain in the quarter. Apple saw sales of the iPad increase, but profit margins were down, partly due to the low-cost mini model 14/05/2013. 18:51 Apple asks for loans to pay back investors Investors throw $52 billion at Apple in S100 billion share repurchase bond offering BY KAREN HASLAM uring the conference call with analysts at which Apple unveiled its financial results, the firm also announced what it calls “a significant increase” in its stock buyback and cash dividend programmes, as part of its effort to return cash to investors. Apple plans to return $100 billion (about £66bn) to shareholders by the end of 2015: an increase of $55bn on the capital return programme first announced last year. The programme includes a huge increase in Apple’s share repurchase scheme, from $10bn in 2012 to $60bn now. Apple says it’s the largest single share repurchase authorisation in history. Apple says it will increase its quarterly dividend by 15 per cent. The first dividend of $3.05 per common share will be payable on 16 May to shareholders of record by the close of business on 13 May 2013. This compares to previous dividends of $2.65 per share. Apple says this puts it “among the largest dividend payers in the world, with annual payments of about $11bn”. The firm ended the quarter with $144.7bn in cash, compared to $1371bn in the previous quarter. The problem is that even with all this cash, paying shareholders is no mean feat. As a result, Apple has decided to reach out to the debt market to offer $17bn in bonds in order to pay money back to investors. The problem is that even though the company has all this money ‘in the bank’, only $45bn of it is located in the US. Apple had two choices: it could bring some of its cash back into the US, and pay 35 per cent tax on it; or it could raise $60bn of cash by issuing these bonds. Given that Apple could lose more than a third to tax if it repatriated the money, it makes more sense for the company to take advantage of what are historically low interest rates on corporate debt, backed by international cash reserves. 010.011 News.indd 11 Apple’s interest rate Apple has been able to borrow at rates nearly as low as the highest-rated triple-A firms in the world, borrowing $5.5bn for 40 years at an annual yield of 2.415 per cent, three-year debt at 0.511 per cent, five-year debt at 1.076 per cent and 30-year debt at 3.883 per cent. Although these are good rates, Apple didn’t quite qualify for those offered to AAA firms: its debt was rated at AA-plus by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, and Aa1 by Moody's. That put it just shy of the triple-A rating of companies such as Microsoft, Exxon Mobil and Johnson & Johnson. So why didn’t Apple get a AAA credit rating? S&P said its rating reflects the expectation that Apple will maintain “excellent liquidity and significant net cash”, while Moody's blamed Apple's imperfect rating on the “highly volatile industry”. Apple bonds: good investment? Apple offered investors floating-rate notes that mature in 2016 and 2018 and fixed-rate securities that are due in 2016, 2018, 2023 and 2043, according to a regulatory filing. Investors know that Apple has the money to pay them back. And depending on the circumstances, Apple bonds could be a better bet than other options, as explained by Sage Advisory Services Mark MacQueen. He told the Wall Street Journal: “Apple bonds are a low-risk alternative to Treasury bonds in this yield-grabbing environment.” However, there are still risks. Currently the Federal Reserve is holding rates down to spur economic growth, but that won't last forever. When rates climb, bond prices fall, meaning investors in Apple bonds could lose money. Share and share alike Apple is raising funds so that it can pay money out to its shareholders The potential risks didn’t stop people from buying the bonds, however. Investors came from all over the markets; within hours of the bonds going on sale ‘on 30 May, the bankers had enough investors to sell the Apple debt twice over. Reuters sources said investors “could barely submit orders fast enough to get in on the deal from Apple, the only major tech company without a single penny of debt on its books”. By midday there were more than $50bn of orders. It was “one of the most hotly desired bond deals Wall Street has ever seen”, according to bankers at Deutsche Bank. Greenlight Capital Fund manager David Einhorn, who caused a stir earlier this year when he sued Apple over legislation that he believed would make it impossible for the company to issue preferred stock to shareholders, praised Apple's stock repurchase plan. “This is a vastly more shareholder-friendly capital allocation policy, than where Apple stood a few months ago,” he said. JULY 2013 « MACWORLD 11 14/05/2013. 18:51 Spotlight | By Abbi Perets Apple, tear down that wall Here are several reasons why the company could - and should - benefit from a little less secrecy ou buy a new iPhone on day one and, due to its new shape and size, you can't get a decent case or connect your new phone to your old accessories. It's a niggling problem, sure, but it's just one example of how Apple could improve our lives by tempering its legendary secrecy. Prior to the iPhone 5 launch, rumours about its new features abounded. But many consumers — and vendors — didn’t see its dock connector in person until launch day. As a result, vendors had to tush to update their accessories, in some instances without adequately testing the products. Clearly at least a handful of vendors were privy to Apple's closely held secret, because a few cases were out around the launch date, but choices (and stock) remained limited for weeks. Likewise, developers had to head back to the digital drawing board — or suffer the indignity of seeing their apps run with black bars at the top and bottom. So much disappointment and frustration, all because Apple decided to keep its iPhone changes under wraps. iWork in secret That's not the only area into which Apple could let a bit more sunlight fall. According to Inside Apple author Adam Lashinsky, many Apple employees work in a vacuum, in “lockdown rooms.” But when staffers can't see the whole picture, they can’t always make good decisions. Might the launch of Maps have gone smoother if more employees had been able to conduct more real-world testing? Don Melton, who led the original Safari project at Apple, wrote on his blog that “we operated the project like some CIA black op — with loyalty oaths and all.” He recalls how difficult hiring the development team was, “since | couldn't tell them what they were working on 42 MACWORLD « JULY 2013 012 Spotlight.indd 12 until they took the job.” The fact that Melton even has to point out that his team wasn't under physical lockdown — the way other groups were and would be —is a bit terrifying from a human resources perspective. Cross-innovation could help Apple. Remember when iCloud debuted in 2011? It worked beautifully with iOS. With Lion? Not so much. If the iOS and OS X teams had merged back then, we might have been a step ahead of where we are now. The black market When you walk into an Apple Store and ask for an in-demand item that’s out of stock, don’t expect a lot of information. Yes, the store can put in an order, but according to one former employee, that location might not receive the items it requested, since the corporate powers that be decide where units are needed most. This seems like a good opportunity for Apple to apply one ofits strengths toits stated mission of delighting customers This lack of information from Apple HQ creates black markets. | was in Singapore in late October 2012- after the iPhone 5 had been officially released there — and! stopped by six or seven Premium Apple Resellers. None could tell me when they would get a shipment of iPhones. Yet they were surrounded by unofficial sellers with plentiful stock — at a hefty markup. In some places, 16GB phones were selling for the equivalent of £814. Apple is not receiving the extra profit on those sales, and such price gouging only frustrates even the most dedicated Apple fan. Why not communicate more clearly with consumers and sellers? Apple is said to have the best supply chain in the business; this seems like a good opportunity for Apple to apply one of its strengths to its stated mission of delighting customers. Here comes the sun Fortunately, Apple may be lifting the cone of silence. In October 2012, the company announced a restructuring that put several executives — Jony Ive, Eddy Cue, Craig Federighi, and Bob Mansfield — in positions to oversee larger groups of developers. If we're lucky, this will, as the press release promises, “encourage even more collaboration between... hardware, software and services teams.” We can haggle over whether “even more” is the appropriate phrase to use, but at least Tim Cook seems unafraid to kick down. walls and open things up a bit. There are grounds to be cautiously optimistic that Apple is changing for the better. And that’s one secret that should be shouted from the rooftops. Abbi Perets started using Macs back when the Apple logo was in colour. She writes about tech, parenting and health, and lives in Israel. 14/05/2013. 13:24 INSPIRING BETTER BUSINESS “Mr Scaife inspired me.” his is myy story! “At high school | was always trying new business ideas, from Behind the scenes, we require a technology provider to ensure running the school tuck shop to toy manufacturing, which our clients get the best possible experience. Fasthosts infrastructure was encouraged by my physics teacher, Mr Scaife. is reliable, secure and supported by real experts. They have helped us become UK market leaders and are successfully supporting our international growth plans.” We took my business idea - selling crisps to local offices - to the bank. Armed with a cheque book and a £50 overdraft, immediately knew | wanted to run my own business. Glenn Elliott CEO & Founder. Asperity Employee Benefits Leaving the crisps behind me, now run an industry-leading . employee benefits business with offices in London, Australia ( { | e MW and New York and thanks to an excellent team we are showing no signs of slowing down. ® fasthosts Find out more at fasthosts.co.uk/inspire or call O808 1686 777 DEDICATED SERVERS « VIRTUAL PRIVATE SERVERS « WEB HOSTING +» DOMAIN NAMES - EXCHANGE EMAIL - RESELLER HOSTING Fast fixes for the most common Mac problems +) HEALTH CHECK obody ever said the Mac was perfect. (Well, okay, some people do, but you can't take them seriously.) Macs crash, freeze, refuse to turn on or go online, and generally misbehave just like any other computer — though maybe not as often or as severely. Hence this guide. We'll tell you what to do when apps freeze up, when your Mac slows down, when OS X goes into a kernel panic, when the internet won't work, and when the Trash refuses to empty. Such crises may be rare, but they do occur — and when they do, you want to be prepared. BY JOE KISSELL @TED LANDAU 44 MACWORLD « JULY 2013 14/05/2013 14:07 014_030 Mac Fixes.indd 14 014_030 Mac Fixes.indd 15 14105/2013 14:08 ae | | | Features | MACHEALTH CH © TROUBLESHOOTING ECK CRASHING APPS Crashes and freezes in OS X happen infrequently, and most of them are easy to resolve. Better still, even though a crash or freeze may have any of numerous causes or symptoms, the same troubleshooting procedure works for most of them. SEND A REPORT, OR DON’T Your first step should be to determine the scope of the problem. Is just one program having difficulties, or is the whole system affected? If an application suddenly quits, it’s at least part of the problem. Most crashes trigger an error message. If you see one of these, click Reopen to send Apple an automated report with details about your system configuration and what went wrong, as well as to relaunch the program. Or click OK to send the report without relaunching the app. If you don't want to send Apple information about crashes automatically, go to the Security & Privacy pane of System Preferences, click the lock icon, and enter your username and password to unlock it. Then click Privacy, select Diagnostics & Usage, and uncheck Send diagnostic & usage data to Apple. After you do that, the options in the crash dialog box will change to Ignore, Report and Reopen; note that your system will send information to Apple only if you click the Report button SKIP REOPENING WINDOWS If the program crashes again after you relaunch it, you'll see a message asking whether to = \__ 46 MACWORLD « JULY 2013 014_030 Mac Fixes.indd 16 Sometimes an app freezes but doesn’t quit, resulting in the dreaded spinning cursor or, as some call it, the ‘spinning pizza of death’ reopen the windows that were open the last time. We recommend clicking Don’t Reopen, because something in one of these may have caused the crash. Either way, as long as the application functions normally from then on, you can go about your business. (If it continues to crash, you should follow the steps on the next page, beginning with Restart) Sometimes, however, an app freezes but doesn't quit. If your symptom is an unresponsive Mac — perhaps featuring a spinning wait cursor, also known as the “spinning beach ball” or, as some call it, the “spinning pizza of death” (SPOD) — you'll need to isolate the cause. SWITCH TO ANOTHER APP Try changing to another application — by clicking its dock icon, for example, or by pressing 3¢-<Tab>. If other S apps respond, and especially ifthe SPOD appears only when you hover your cursor over a window or menu belonging to the application that was in the foreground when your Mac stopped responding, try force-quitting that particular program. One way to do this is to press 3¢-<Option>-<Esc>, select the app in the list that appears, and then click Force Quit. (You may need to repeat this once or twice to get the app to quit) If force-quitting succeeds, relaunch the program. More often than not, that will be enough to bring the application back to life. If relaunching (or force- quitting and then relaunching) an app fails to do the trick, if none of your apps respond or if the cursor is frozen in place ‘on your Mac's screen, move on to the following steps, performing each one in the 14/05/2013. 14:08 order it appears, until the problem goes away. RESTART Ifyou can, choose Restart from the Apple menu. If not, force a restart by pressing 3¢-<Control>-<Eject>. (The <Eject> key, if your keyboard has one, looks like an upwards-pointing arrow with a horizontal line beneath it) If even that doesn’t work, press and hold the power button until your Mac shuts down, and then press the power button again to turn your computer back on. CHECK DISK SPACE A startup disk that’s extremely low on disk space (10GB or less) can lead to slowdowns and worse. Delete some files (or move them to another disk) to free up more space. For help with this operation, see go.macworld.com/drivespace. TRY ANOTHER DOCUMENT fan app always misbehaves when a particular document is open, try closing that file and opening a different one. A damaged or corrupted file could be causing the problem. UPDATE YOUR SOFTWARE Make sure OS X and any apps you use regularly are up to date. A posted software update may have corrected a crash-producing bug that's bedevilling you. Choose Software Update from the Apple menu to update your Apple software, as well as anything you may have downloaded from the Mac App Store. For anything else, either use the app’s built-in 014_030 Mac Fixes.indd 17 Problem Report for Mail Mail quit unexpectedly. v Comments Click Reopen to open the application again. This report will be sent to Apple automatically. T | Show Details | f OK software update feature or download the latest version. DISCONNECT PERIPHERALS Try disconnecting any new devices you've recently attached one by one. Restart after each disconnection, and see if the problem recurs. If not, the device may be faulty, or (more likely) it may require updated software or firmware. Contact the device’s manufacturer for assistance. DISABLE PLUG-INS Disable or remove any extensions, plug-ins, or other extras included with the app that’s crashing. Try them one by one, to rule out the possibility that the add-on software is the culprit. TRY A SAFE BOOT To disable various pieces of software that otherwise load automatically at startup, and to run clean-up processes that may resolve random gremlins in your system, perform a safe boot: restart your Mac, and then, immediately after you hear the startup sound, press and hold the <Shift> key until the grey Apple logo appears Send a report send Appl 10 relaunch th +; click OK to send the report on the screen. If the problem goes away, restart normally and try again. REPAIR YOUR DISK Disk errors can lead to all sorts of problems, persistent crashes included. To deal with them, try using OS X Recovery and Disk Utility's Repair Disk feature to look for and fix common disk errors. RUN APPLE HARDWARE TEST Apple Hardware Test is a special utility you can run to evaluate your Mac's logic board, RAM, graphics board, and other components for errors that could lead to crashes and worse. Apple's support site has complete instructions at support.apple. com/kb/PH11342. ADD RAM If your Mac has relatively little RAM (4GB or less) and available slots for adding more, try increasing it. This can speed up operations on your Mac and reduce the likelihood of crashes and hangs related to the system's lack of memory. If you still have crashes or freezes despite trying all of these steps, contact the app’s developer or Apple (if the problem is systemwide) for assistance. - JE KISSELL Don’t reopen If y ee this The last time you opened Mail, it unexpectedly quit while reopening windows. Do you want to try to reopen its windows again? If you choose not to reopen windows, you may have to open and position the windows yourself. Don't Reopen | {Reopen | JULY 2013 - MACWORLD 17 14/05/2013 14:42 Features | MACHEALTH CHECK © TROUBLESHOOTING SYSTEM SLOWDOWNS lt happens to every Mac user sooner or later: The virtual gears inside your computer begin to act as though they’re running in a vat of tapioca pudding. No matter what you try to do, your Mac moves at a pace that a snail could run circles around. But before carting the machine off to an Apple Genius Bar, try these fixes. RESTART YOUR MAC One of the simplest steps you can take is also one of the most effective. Restarting your Mac cures most slowdowns, because it forces background processes to quit, frees up RAM, and generally lets you begin afresh. CHECK NETWORK PREFERENCES For many Mac users, a slow internet connection is synonymous with a sluggish computer. That's because 48 MACWORLD « JULY 2013 014_030 Mac Fixes.indd 18 almost everything they do — from surfing the web to checking email — requires internet access. If your online activity is moving at a snail's pace, improving your connection may be the cure. Do you see a spinning beach ball in Safari when you try to load web pages? Initially it may be unclear Health check whether pages are taking an unusually long time to load or whether your connection is broken. Select Apple Menu » System Preferences + Network. Click Assist me * Diagnostics, pick your connection type, and click Continue to run the tests. Ifa problem pops up, follow the Network Diagnostics tool's advice for dealing with it. CHECK YOUR INTERNET SPEED Go to a site that tests internet connection speeds, if you can get the page to load. Options include Speedtest.net and broadbandspeedchecker.co.uk. You probably pay for certain upload and download speeds, so look at your bill or check with your ISP to see what those speeds are supposed to be. If you detect a slowdown, call your ISP to ask whether it’s experiencing general problems that may be affecting you. If so, you'll have to wait for someone else to correct the issue. Alternatively, your ISP may offer to check and perhaps fix your modem connection through remote commands. TEST YOUR MACS If you have more than one Mac, test the internet speed on all of them. If the slowdown occurs on only one machine, then the problem probably originates with that computer. That system may, for instance, have an unusually weak Wi-Fi 200. Network Diagnostics Network Status © Ethernet © Network Settings ew © lncernee © Server Network Diagnostics ‘Your Internet connection appears to ba working corractiy. (“GoBack | [Quit 14/05/2013 14:42 connection. If so, try turning your Wi-Fi off and then back on: go to the Wi-Fi menu in the menu bar and select Turn Wi-Fi Off. Wait a few seconds, and then turn it back on. DISCONNECT AND RECONNECT YOUR MODEM Unplug your internet modem, wait for about 10 seconds, and plug it back in. If you have an AirPort Extreme (£139, bit.ly/ ZRpGikK) or another separate router, do the same with it. Wait for everything to reboot. Check your speed again. (For more suggestions, see Can't Get Online on page 26.) CHECK YOUR DISK USAGE WITH ACTIVITY MONITOR As noted on page 17 (Check Disk Space), to run at a good pace, OS X must have adequate free space on the startup drive. If your Mac’s available disk space is near zero, then the system will be sluggish. One way to check the amount of free disk space on your Mac is to launch Activity Monitor (in the /Applications/ Utilities folder of OS X) and click the Disk Usage tab at the bottom. Our rule of thumb is that a system should have at least 10GB available (or 10 per cent of the drive's capacity, whichever is smaller). If your Mac's free space falls below this threshold, you should clear some additional space. SEARCH FOR LARGE FILES An easy way to locate big files that you may no longer need is to use Spotlight. While you are in the Finder, press 3¢-F, click the Plus (+) sign, then the 014_030 Mac Fixes.indd 19 Kind pop-up menu, and select Other. Choose File size from the resulting list, and then click OK. Set up the criterion to read File Size is greater than S00MB. If nothing of consequence appears when you run that search, select a smaller file size and try again. Or try using a utility such as Id-design’s WhatSize (£10.49, bit.ly/ZYScuU). Delete any files you no longer need. The simplest way to clean out the cache and log files on your Mac is with a special- purpose utility such as OnyX from Titanium Software DELETE CACHE AND LOG FILES Ordinarily, cache files, such as those in the “/Library/Caches folder, help your Mac run faster. If you delete them as a quick fix, your system will rebuild them later. Log files, such as those in the “/Library/ Logs folder, keep track of past events on your Mac, including past crash reports. Most users Check memory usage ur Mac's RAN never look at these files, so in all likelihood you can delete them without encountering any adverse consequences. The simplest way to clean out your cache and log files is with a utility such as OnyX from Titanium Software (donationware, bit.ly/UJON2u). Launch it and open the Cleaning tab. In your initial pass, delete only items in the User and Logs sections. It’s possible that a bug, such as a ‘runaway’ log file, may be causing your drive to fill up much faster than it should. If the system’s available free space returns to near zero shortly after you clear the files, a bug of this type may be the culprit. If your Mac has this symptom, check the web for possible solutions. CHECK YOUR CPU USAGE If the central processing unit of your Mac is overwhelmed by a particular application, everything on your system may slow down. Launch Activity Monitor, and select My Processes from the pop-up menu near the top of the window. Click the % CPU column to sort by that criterion. If an application consistently remains at or near the top of the % CPU list — and { CPU [ESSTNEUEINMY isk Activity Disk Usage Network | Free: 665.1Me [il] VMsize: 452.1068 Wired: 1,015.8 MB {a} Page ins: 7.53 CB(O bytes/seo Active: 3.60¢3 [| Page outs: 1.18 CB(O byres/sed v Inactive: 2.7568 [Mt] Swapused: 1.4568 Used: 7.3468 Lacie! whether you're overtaxing Activity Monitor especially if it accounts for an atypically high percentage of the CPU's workload (probably anything over 50 per cent, and certainly anything over 80 per cent) — that program may be gumming up the works. To find out, select it and click the Quit Process button. The most likely source of such trouble, by far, is Apple’s Safari (and more specifically, a web page that contains Flash). If pages are loading extremely slowly, and if the % CPU figure for Safari and/or Safari Web Content remains high, it's time for you to take action. To reduce the odds that a Safari slowdown will happen again, minimise the number of web pages that you keep open. You might also try using Google Chrome: if one tab misbehaves in Chrome, you can use Activity Monitor to zap it without bringing down the whole application. CHECK VIRTUAL MEMORY Macs depend ona combination of physical and virtual memory. The former uses space on the Mac’s drive, while the latter accesses installed RAM chips. Physical memory is faster. The more heavily your Mac has to rely on virtual memory, the slower it will perform. It JULY 2013 * MACWORLD 19 14/05/2013. 14:08 Features | MACHEALTH CHECK eo 8 Activity Monitor My Processes e)(Q-Fitr iY Bartender |——{ CPU | System Memory | Di ic iss Sah oS a te PID | Process Name User | CPU) Sandbox | Real Mem | Virtual Mem _| Threads fari Web Content 711 Snapz Pro X landau 5.9 Yes 126.9 MB 219.7 MB 10 1858 Flash Player (Safari In... landau 3.1 No 108.2MB 241.7 MB 30 6680 — () Microsoft Outlook —landau 1.6 No 120.8 MB 183.3 MB 22 239° @ iTunes landau 1.4 No 262.3M8 674.8 MB 59 384 Dropbox landau 1.1 No 97.3 MB 246.6 MB 22 357 MagicPrefs landau 0.8 No 13.6MB 104.3 MB 5 21981 Ba Activity Monitor landau 0.7 No 21.6 MB 90.4 MB 5 21629 ScopedBookmarkAgent landau 0.3 No 4.5 MB 70.6 MB 4 19085 Dashboard landau 0.3 No 61.1MB 359.3 MB 8 371 landau 0.3 No 24.0MB 120.4 MB 5 Space utilized: 85.22 GB ‘Space free: 29.47 GB also creates swap files that grow larger over time. (To find them, select Go + Go to Folder in the Finder, type /var/vm, and click Go.) Swap files can contribute to a system slowdown by using up disk space, but you don't need to delete them manually. Instead, go on to the next troubleshooting option. QUIT APPS To improve matters, quit apps you aren't currently using, then restart your Mac. This action clears the swapfiles (among other things). CHECK MEMORY USAGE WITH ACTIVITY MONITOR As suggested in Check Your CPU Usage (page 19), to investigate memory-usage problems, first launch Activity Monitor. Look under the column headers Real Mem and Virtual Mem. If a program 20 MACWORLD : JULY 2013 014_030 Mac Fixes.indd 20 DNA-SSD 85,219,688,448 bytes 29,469,491,200 bytes Check disk usage !f yot is using a disproportionate amount of Real Mem and Virtual Mem, you can quit it by selecting it in the list and clicking Quit Process. We generally focus on the System Memory statistics at the bottom of Activity Monitor. (Click the System Memory tab to see these.) If the ‘Page outs’ and ‘Swap used’ values are high (over 2GB, as an approximation) and the amount of memory in the Free listing is approaching zero, insufficient memory is probably contributing to your slowdown. DEAL WITH PERSISTENT PROBLEMS When speed and memory problems remain, or soon reappear, one of two things may be responsible. First, the problem may be a ‘memory leak’ — a bug that causes a particular app to use excessive amounts of memory. Often a search of the web will confirm this situation and offer further advice. Secondly, your computer may not have enough installed memory to meet your current needs. If your Mac doesn’t already have its maximum amount of memory installed, adding RAM is the quickest way to give it more zip ADD RAM We mentioned this option on page 17. If your Mac doesn’t already have its maximum amount of memory installed, and if its memory is accessible for upgrades, adding RAM is the quickest and cheapest way to give the system more zip. See Apple's system- specific guidelines for adding RAM to a MacBook Pro (support.apple.com/kb/ HT1270), a MacBook (support. apple.com/kb/HT1651), an iMac (support.apple.com/kb/ HT1423), a Mac Pro (support apple.com/kb/HT4433), and a Mac mini (support.apple.com/ kb/HT4432). GET A BIGGER HARD DRIVE If you continually bump up against your hard drive's space limits, consider either replacing your current drive with a larger-capacity unit or offloading some of your files to an external drive. Shifting from a conventional hard disk to a solid-state drive can speed things up, too. The site iFixit (www.ifixitcom) contains useful step-by-step guides to replacing the hard drive on many Mac models. BUY A NEW MAC Ifyou can afford it — and especially if your Mac is more than three years old — your best bet might be to buy a new system. A newer Mac than your current model is likely to have a faster processor, more memory, a larger and faster hard drive, faster ports (such as USB 3.0 in place of USB 2.0), and improved W:Fi performance. Add it all up, and it equals no more slowdowns, until the cycle repeats itself. - rep Lanbau 14/05/2013. 14:08 THOUSANDS. OF BUSINESSES ARE SWITCHING 10 BT INFINITY FOR BUSINESS EACH MONTH. SETHE LICHT lw fre spe broadband can franforn pur le of werk READ THIS AND —¥ YOU'LL KNOW Wh. ABT infinity for business pubicstion NA? ~ DOWNLOAD BT Infinity for business — YOUR FREE —~ Thousands of businesses are choosing the UK’s favourite fibre optic Pa BOOKLET broadband each month. It’s no wonder. BT Infinity for business is up to 6x faster than UK average broadband and costs just £1.15 a day. N Download our free ‘See the Light’ booklet to see why your business / | \ should make the switch. = Btw Scan QR code or download the booklet . at bt.com/switchtofibre Business 6 times faster is based on BT Infinity for business Option 2 maximum speed and UK average Broadband speed from Ofcom report, March 2013. Broadband speed can be affected by a numberof things: how far your businessis from the fibre cabinet as well asthe wiring in your building. Not all lines in an Infnity-enabled area can support the service. BT Infinity for business may require a BT line or similar and a fibre compatible router such asthe BT Business Hub provided with Infinity. Terms and conditions apply. £1.15 a day is based on BT Infnity for business Option 2 for £35 a month on a 24 month contract. BT Infinity for business awarded Best Customer Rated Fibre Broadband by uSwtich.com Broadband ‘Awards 2013. See details http://\www.uswitch.com/broadband/awards/2013. ae | | | Features | MACHEALTH CHECK © TROUBLESHOOTING KERNEL PANICS Most crashes on a Mac affect just one application. But you may encounter a type of systemwide crash that brings down your entire Mac: a kernel panic. This occurs without warning, and you can’t save your work or do anything else without restarting. Furthermore, because kernel panics may be due to different causes, you may have trouble diagnosing the problem and preventing its recurrence. IDENTIFY IT CORRECTLY On systems running OS X 107 Lion or earlier, kernel panics usually cause the screen to dim from top to bottom; a message in several languages then appears, telling you to restart your Mac (by holding down the power button for several seconds to turn the computer off, and then pressing it again to turn the system back on). Starting in Mountain Lion, OS X automatically restarts when your Mac suffers a kernel panic; then it displays a message for 60 seconds (or until you press a key) informing you that your Mac restarted because of a problem. (If, however, the kernel panic repeats every time your Mac restarts, OS X will give up after five tries and shut down your Mac.) As Apple notes on its support page for dealing with kernel panics (support.apple. com/kb/TS3742), something as random and fleeting as malformed network packets can cause a kernel panic. So, if you experience this problem 22 MACWORLD - JULY 2013 014_030 Mac Fixes.indd 22 just once, or only rarely, your best bet is to restart the machine, get back to work, and forget about it. But if you encounter kernel panics frequently (Apple defines this as “more than once every few weeks”), you should take extra measures. The sequence of steps that we recommend here differs somewhat from the one that Apple outlines. REOPEN YOUR APPS If you're running OS X 10.8 or later, immediately after your Mac restarts on its own, you'll see a dialog box asking whether to reopen the applications that were open before the crash happened. Click Open. If the kernel panic recurs, the likely culprit is one of the running programs, so click Cancel the next time around. Either way, another dialog box will ask if you want to see more information and report the problem to Apple. You probably do, so click Report. You might not be able to make any sense of the technical details, but glance over them and then click OK to send the report to Apple. If you run into S kernel panics repeatedly, you will just have to roll up your sleeves and do some serious troubleshooting to get rid of them permanently. PERFORM A SAFE BOOT Restart your Mac and hold down the <Shift> key until you see the grey Apple logo. Taking this action temporarily disables some software that might be causing problems, and it also directs your system to run some cleanup. processes. If the kernel panic doesn't recur in this mode, restart your Mac normally. UPDATE YOUR SOFTWARE Outdated software is often implicated in kernel panics. Possible culprits include OS X itself and (very rarely) regular 14/05/2013. 14:08 applications. More commonly the underlying problem relates to low-level software such as kernel extensions and drivers. If you've installed software that works with peripherals (graphics cards, audio interfaces, or the like) or antivirus, file-system or screen-capture tools, check for newer versions. To update OS X, Apple apps, and items purchased from the Mac App Store, select Software Update from the Apple menu; for other apps, use a bui updater or check the developer's website. UPDATE YOUR FIRMWARE Software Update may also notify you of available firmware updates for your Mac. If so, be sure to install them. Another option is to check for firmware updates that are applicable to your Mac model at support.apple. com/kb/ht1237. CHECK YOUR DISK Make sure your startup disk has at least 10GB of free space. If not, delete some files to make room. Next, you'll want to find and fix any disk errors. Start from another volume, run Disk Utility, select your startup disk, and click Repair Disk. If you're running OS X 107 or later, restart and then immediately afterwards press and hold 3-R to enter OS X Recovery. If that doesn’t work, or if you have an older Mac, you can start up from ern a bootable duplicate of your hard disk or your OS X install media. -in Kernel panic in Lion Th 014_030 Mac Fixes.indd 23 If you’ve added any after-market RAM to your Mac, try turning off your system, removing the addi CHECK YOUR PERIPHERALS If kernel panics continue to plague your computer, shut down the Mac and disconnect everything except the bare- minimum items (keyboard, mouse, and display, if those pieces aren't built in) — including any hardware you've added inside your Mac, such as a graphics card. Then turn your system back on, If the problem doesn't reappear at this point, shut down your system a second time, reattach one device, and restart. Repeat the process for each device in your setup. Ifyou see a kernel panic immediately after connecting a piece of hardware, that device may be the problem. You need to restart nal RAM and restarting CHECK YOUR RAM Defective RAM can cause kernel panics — and these sometimes manifest themselves only after an interval of time has passed following their installation. If you've added any after- market RAM to your Mac, try turning off your system, removing the extra RAM and restarting. If that operation makes the kernel panics vanish, contact the company that sold you the RAM to see about a warranty replacement. CONSULT AGENIUS After you've exhausted all of the preceding options, the troubleshooting steps that remain to be tried get more time-consuming — enough so that, if we got to this point with no end in sight, we'd think about making an appointment at the nearest Genius Bar. REINSTALL OS X Have a spare hard drive at your disposal? You can try installing a fresh copy of OS X on it, booting from that drive, and running Software Update to ensure that everything on the system you're working with is current. If the kernel panic doesn’t occur when you run your Mac from that extra drive, you can be fairly certain that you're dealing with a software issue — in all likelihood some gremlin lurking on your startup disk. It won't please you to learn that the easiest solution is to start up from another volume (or use OS X Recovery) and then reinstall OS X over your existing Mac. Worse, if that procedure doesn't work, the next step is to erase the disk and reinstall everything from scratch. - Joe kisseLL ‘our computer. Hold down the Power button for several seconds or pressithe Restart button Veuillez redé frer votre ordinateur. Maintenez la touche de démarrage enfoncée pendant plusieurs secondes ou bien uyez sur le bouton de réinitialisation. Sie miissen Ihren Computer neu starten. Halten Sie dazu die Einschalttaste einige Sekunden gedriickt oder driicken Sie die Neustart=Taste. EMHOFT. NT- Kas JULY 2013 - MACWORLD 23 14/05/2013 14:08 ae | | | Features | MAC HEALTH CHECK © TROUBLESHOOTING MAC WON’T TURN ON One of the scariest things that your Mac can do, short of emitting actual flames and smoke, is refuse to turn on at all. You press the power button and nothing happens —no startup sound, no light, nothing. If this happens, take a few minutes to perform several straightforward checks before hauling your Mac to the nearest Apple Store for repair. This seemingly intractable problem often has a simple solution. MAKE SURE IT’S PLUGGED IN Your first troubleshooting move when presented with a completely unresponsive Mac should always be to ascertain the answer to the classic question: is it plugged in? (You should be aware that failure to ask this question in the critical situation where it would have solved a hardware problem is grounds for Apple Genius disbarment) To make sure your Mac is getting the power it needs, you may have to trace the entire flow of electricity to your Mac. First, check your system's power lead to ensure it’s firmly seated at the points where it connects to the computer and where it plugs into the wall. If the flow of electricity goes through a power strip, make sure that the additional piece is also connected and turned on. Also confirm that any surge protectors still work — a power surge might have knocked them off. You can confirm that an outlet is good by plugging something else, such as a light or a fan, into it. (If the outlet doesn’t work, check your fuses or circuit breakers to see if they've been blown or tripped.) If the outlet and 24 MACWORLD - JULY 2013 014_030 Mac Fixes.indd 24 all cable connections are working properly, make sure that the lead has no crimps, breaks, or other damage; a snapped wire inside can bring everything to a halt. UNPLUG EVERYTHING Once you've established that your power path is good, it's time to shift your focus to your Mac. Unplug everything that you can aside from the power cable, the mouse and keyboard (if those input devices are wired), and the monitor (if it's not built in); then try pressing the power button again. If your Mac turns on, you'll know that one of your peripherals was at fault. If your Mac doesn’t turn on, it's worthwhile to attempt to reset the machine's SMC (System Management Controller), a chip that manages various hardware functions, including the operation of the power button. Directions for resetting the SMC vary from one Mac model to another. Apple has posted instructions for specific models; available at support. apple.com/kb/HT3964. CHECK YOUR POWER ADAPTOR If you have a Mac laptop, its battery should last through most power outages (from whatever cause), so you may not notice that you have a power-related problem until the battery runs out, at which point your Mac might simply appear to be dead. So try all of the preceding tips, but also check your power adaptor. If you have an AC cable attached to the adaptor (as opposed to a plug that runs directly into the wall), make sure that the cable is securely connected. If you have access to another AC adaptor, switch to it briefly: if the system works normally, you'll know that the original adaptor is bad; if not, the problem may be in your Mac. GET HELP FROM THE PROS If you're still not having any luck, you'll need professional ielp. We've had Macs fail to turn on for reasons such as faulty logic-board components and blown power supplies, but difficulties of that sort require heavy-duty intervention. An Apple Store or authorised repair centre should be able to diagnose and correct the problem. - Joe kisseLL 14/05/2013. 14:08 Office: mac™ Stormfront There’s never been a better oem» time to buy Microsoft Office Buy Office for Mac now and get Office 365 Home Premium for Free* Visit Stormfront www.stormfront.co.uk Your local Apple ex| , 0800 612 1044 « Features | MACHEALTH CHECK © TROUBLESHOOTING CAN’T GET ONLINE If your web browser, your email program, or any of a hundred other internet-connected apps on your Mac starts complaining about not having a connection, you may have to do a bit of sleuthing to figure out the source. After all, a disruption anywhere along the chain between your Mac and a distant server could cause an outage, and the right place to look isn’t always obvious. We suggest trying each of the following steps, in order, until you're able to connect again. TRY ANOTHER SITE OR APP To make sure that the problem isn't restricted to one website, try visiting another — preferably one that's reliable, such as Google’s home page. Similarly, to establish that the issue isn't limited to the current application (such as your email program or web browser), try connecting to the internet with another program. If only one site seems to be having issues, visit Down For Everyone Or Just Me (isup.me) and enter the problematic site's URL. The service will tell you whether computers elsewhere on the web can successfully connect to the site. If they can't, at least you aren't alone, though you're out of luck for now. USE NETWORK DIAGNOSTICS Certain types of network problems may cause your browser to display a Network Diagnostics button. This behaviour is OS X's way of offering to help debug your connection problem, and we suggest that you accept the help. (If you don't see a button, you can launch Network Diagnostics manually: choose Apple menu + System Preferences and click Select location Ap g eact 26 MACWORLD - JULY 2013 014_030 Mac Fixes.indd 26 000 Network Diagnostics Select location Network status “This computer has mulkple locations set up in the Network pane of Syatem Preferences. Your current location © wer Is "Automatic". Click Continue to use this location © WF setngs if this is not the location you expected, select the location you want from thelist below, then click Continue. (© Network Settings ew | Out © internet © server 2 Go back {Continue work Diagnostic Network. Click Assist me, and then click Diagnostics.) The Network Diagnostics utility will guide you through a series of procedures and tests on subjects that range from Ethernet and Wi-Fi connections to network configuration and DNS servers. It takes you through the process for one network configuration, or location, at a time. Sometimes the utility can repair problems itself; but when it can’t, it usually provides more- detailed information about the nature of the problem and suggests ways of solving it. If your Mac connects to the internet through Wi-Fi, check the Wi-Fi menu (at the top right of the screen) to confirm that your system is connected to the intended network. Macs have been known to hop onto less-desirable networks at inconvenient times. If the menu's icon has an exclamation mark superimposed on it (indicating that it can't successfully connect to any network), try choosing Turn Wi-Fi Off from the menu, waiting about 30 seconds, and then choosing Turn Wi-Fi On. If that tactic 14/05/2013. 14:08 Bowers &Wilkins Concert for one | P3 Mobile Hi-Fi headphones Discover depth and detail in your if © music that you never knew existed. And all from an ultra-light ( ' highly portable set of headphones designed to fit easily into your U ) Also available in black or blue life. Personal hi-fi never felt so wearable. Listen and you’ll see. bowers-wilkins.co.uk © solutionsinc. Stormfront iStore Western ' | SQUARE COMPUTER Features | MACHEALTH CHECK Turn Wi-Fi Off v Nora 3703 XOXO Zora Join Other Network... Create Network... Open Network Preferences... doesn’t work, restart your Mac. Sometimes that simple- yet-seemingly-purposeless action turns out to be the only way to clear certain errors that prevent Wi-Fi from connecting. TRY ANOTHER DEVICE If you have access to another computer or mobile device that uses the same Internet connection that your balking system does, check to see if you can connect to a website on that device. If not, you can rule out your Mac as the source of the problem and look elsewhere for a solution. On the other hang, if the second device can connect to the Internet and your Mac can't, even after you restart it, skip ahead to Check Your DNS Settings. RESET YOUR ROUTER For network problems that lie outside your Mac, if you own or control the network device that your Mac connects to (such as an AirPort base station, Time Capsule, router, switch, or hub), turn that device off, wait for 10 seconds, and then turn it back on. Wait for the network device to power on completely (in some cases, this may be a multi-step process that takes 28 MACWORLD - JULY 2013 014_030 Mac Fixes.indd 28 Check Wi-Fi In th menu bar /i-Fi menu make sure you several minutes); then try connecting again. If more than one such device is situated between your Mac and the internet ~ if, for example, you have an AirPort Express connected to a cable modem - start with the device closest to the internet and work your way back towards your Mac, cycling the power on each device as you go. CHECK YOUR DNS SETTINGS The Domain Name System enables your machine to convert domain names (like apple.com) into IP addresses (such as 17172.224.47) that computers can understand. If the DNS server that your Mac uses is offline, slow or faulty, you may be unable to connect to any site or service by name. If none of the websites you try — including stable ones such as Google — respond, here’s an easy way to check whether DNS is functional. In your browser, type this URL: http: //74.125.230.243. That address should bring up the Google website. If it does, your internet connection is y or more IP addresses listed there. If those addresses are enabled (a status that OS X indicates by showing them in black type, rather than grey), select each one in turn and click the Minus (-) button. Then, regardless of whether you already see IP addresses on the list in grey, click the Plus (+) button and enter 208.67.222.220; afterwards, repeat the process with 208. 67.222 .222. (These two If the DNS server that your Mac uses is offline, slow, or faulty, you may be unable to connect to any site or service by name fine, and the problem involves your system’s ability to look up domain names. To fix that problem, open the Network pane of System Preferences and select your network connection in the list that appears on the left. Click Advanced, and then click DNS. Look in the DNS Servers field, and you should see one Adjust DNS |f you fir ebsite ang = WF Wi-Fi TeR/P EEN] WINS 802.1 | Proxies | Hardware) DNS Servers: Search Domains: 208.67.222.222 208.67.220220 +) — v4 or v6 addresses +/- 2 Cancel OK t addresses point to OpenDNS, a free DNS service that may be more reliable than the default servers that your ISP uses.) Click OK and then click Apply. Now cross your fingers and try connecting again. GETTING BACK ONLINE Even if you follow all the steps in this section, you may not successfully connect to the web, because some outages are beyond your control. Because of the internet's distributed nature, an equipment failure at an ISP can affect users besides its own customers. On a larger scale, accidental damage to a major fibre-optic cable can wipe out access to a region. With some outages, all you can do is wait, but if the problem lies beyond your local network, your ISP should be able to tell you what it is and provide an expected repair time. - Joe KisseLL 14/05/2013. 14:08 ! & a: so) Backup & Sync Everything Your files, wherever you are + Amassive 5,000GB Cloud Drive + Stream to your mobile device + Unlimited Backup for 5 computers — + Military Grade Encryption + Access your files anywhere + UK based Customer Support www.livedrive.com/macworld livedrive. | Cloud Storage for Everyone Features | MAC HEALTH CHECK © TROUBLESHOOTING TRASH WON'T EMPTY When you drag files or folders to the Trash icon in the Dock, OS X doesn’t delete them immediately. Just as you can pull something out of a physical trash can before the garbage collector drives by, you can remove files from the Trash until you get rid of them for good (and thereby recover the disk space that those files were using), by choosing Finder + Empty Trash. QUIT THE APP If the error message asserts a file is in use, quit the last app that accessed the file (if you know what it is). Then try again to empty the Trash. Sometimes the error message is spurious — for example, Mail may report that a file is in use long after you sent it as an attachment. Quitting Mail, emptying the Trash, and then reopening Mail usually fixes the problem. OVERRIDE THE LOCK Does the error message tell you that a file is locked? Hold down <Option> and again choose Finder » Empty Trash; in this situation, the <Option> key tells OS X to override locked files. FORCE THE TRASH TO EMPTY Those tricks won't work in cases where the error message declares that you don't have permission to delete a file, or where no error message appears at all but the Trash remains full. In those instances, you have a couple of alternatives. You might already have a utility that, among other things, can force-empty the Trash. For example, both Maintain’s Cocktail ($14 [£9], bit.ly/3pfwkX) and Titanium Software's OnyX (donationware, bit.ly/UJON2u) offer this feature. For a utility whose only function is to force the Trash to empty.try NoName ScriptWare’s Trash It (donationware, bit.ly/rlOhi3). 30 MACWORLD « JULY 2013 (014_030 Mac Fixes.indd 30 0.0.0 Trash unlocked items? w — -_ (Cancel ‘There are some locked items in the Trash. Do you want to remove all the items, including the locked ones, or just the Remove Unlocked items | { Remove All Items _ The trash won't empty 1 the tr u can get into an yto ve unlocked item: being emptied. A You can’t open the Trash because it's ee HIT THE TERMINAL All of those utilities send OS X commands that you can issue yourself in Terminal. To do so, open Terminal (in /Applications/ Utilities), type cd ~/.Trash, and press <Return>. Type sudo rm -R followed by a letterspace (note that the letterspace is essential), but don’t press <Return> yet. Instead, click the Trash icon in your Dock to open a window displaying the contents of the Trash. Select everything in that window and drag it into the Terminal window; this action adds the Please choose the type of file or folder deletion. Choose Cancel to Quit: Really Stucke [ Cancel} paths of all of those files and folders to the rm (remove) command. Now, press <Return>, and enter your administrator password when prompted. 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Call our team on 020 3137 6446 THERE MUST BE A BETTER WAY To manage images, videos and documents. Many Incomprehensible Filenames Not What You're Looking For La Videos That Don’t Play on Mobile Devices Several Files That All Say | We Probably Have Rights “Final” Stuff Sales Asks For Every Day - For These a Unnecessary Duplicate Images Graphics You Can't Open ‘A Big Waste of Time Really Old Flyers and Brochures Need a Digital Asset Management system? Take the quiz: http://www.extensis.com/DolNeedDam (@) Extensis” : PortfolioServer11 Untitled-2 4 & 15/05/2013. 13:46 —_/ THE ULTIMATE MAC | APPLE PROMISED THAT IT’S WORKING ON SOMETHING ‘REALLY GREAT’. SO WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM THE NEW MAC PRO? By Karen Haslam ack in June 2012, Apple attracted criticism and concern after it made a minor update to the Mac Pro. In response, CEO Tim Cook promised that new models would be announced in 2013, so we know something is on its way. Allikely release date and venue would be at the company’s annual worldwide developers conference (WWDC) - set to start on 10 June. Previously, the event tended to have a pro focus, though in recent years it’s been taken over by the iPad, iPhone and iOS. Hopefully, this June we'll get back to the Mac. But should we expect a Mac Pro at the developer show? Does Apple care about its workstation? Indeed, does anyone care about it anymore? Over the past few years, the traditional Mac Pro customer has opted for an iMac, or a non-Apple alternative that’s cheaper, updated more frequently and has 033_039 Mac Pro Feature S.indd 33 similar — or better — levels of software support. Apple, on the other hand, has pursued the highly profitable consumer market. The Mac Pro isn't a high-powered consumer computer — it isn't even a business machine. It’s a tower system for professionals who like adding things to their computer: new graphics cards, hard drives, and so on. It offers Hyper-Threading technology for up to 24 virtual cores, has ports galore and can pack up to 64GB of RAM. The typical market for Apple's professional system is 3D mechanical design, engineering simulation, animation studios and video production houses. Over the years, the Mac Pro had risen in popularity with this group, only to fade as it failed to keep up with the times. Can Apple win the professional Mac user back, or is this group of users now lost to it? JULY 2013 - MACWORLD 33 14/05/2013 16:16 Features / THE ULTIMATE MAC TODAY’S MAC PRO pple last updated the Mac Pro at WWDC 2012. However, the introduction of this ‘New’ model resulted in a lot of criticism, lead by Andy Hertzfield (a member of the original Mac development team), and a Facebook page, MacProsPlease, was set up by a freelance editor/animator to plea with Apple to address the issue. In response to fears it was abandoning the Mac Pro, Tim Cook promised that a new model would be released in 2013. In an email to one concerned Mac Pro user, he wrote: “Our pro customers like you are really important to us. Although we didn't have a chance to talk about a new Mac Pro [at WWDC], don’t worry as we're working on something really great for later next year.” Apple had launched two versions (along with various build-to-order options and a Server model): one with a 3.2GHz, quad-core Intel Xeon chip, with 6GB of RAM; and a high-end model with two 2.4GHz, six-core Xeon processors and 12GB of RAM. Both have a 1TB hard drive and AMD's Radeon HD 5770 graphics cards. As noted by Hertzfield, there was: “Still no Thunderbolt, still no USB 3.0, no SATA Ill or RAM speed improvements — it seems like it’s stuck in time in 2010.” The top-end graphics option is a pair of 2009 ATI Radeons — that cost around £100. It's no wonder Mac Pro users were concerned. In fact, it’s now almost three years since Apple last really updated its Mac Pro (July 2010, when it introduced SSD and 12 core options). Banned in Europe It hasn't helped matters that Apple has been forced to stop selling the Mac Pro in Europe. An amendment to a safety regulation left the professional Mac incompliant with EU law and the company had no choice but to stop shipping the Mac Pro to European countries on 1 March. 34 MACWORLD - JULY 2013 033_039 Mac Pro Feature 3.indd 34 renee Newand old The Mac Pro's design has hardly changed in 10 years as you can see from these images. Left: Mac Pro, circa June 2012. Right: Power Mac, circa 2003 Apple told Macworld the amendment to the IEC 60950-1 regulation increased requirements around electrical port protection and the fan guards in the system. It added it still considers the Mac Pro to be a safe and reliable product, so if you own one there’s no need to panic. At issue are the Mac Pro’s large fans. Because they are unprotected, it would be possible to touch the fan blades. According to Apple, the new requirements necessitate fan guards and some increased protection on the ports on the electrical system. To comply with these safety regulations it will have to make some internal changes to the machine, though we hope to see more than fan guards in the new model. For starters, the aging Mac could do with a bit of a facelift. Its design hasn't changed in a decade. The only difference between the case of the Power Mac G5 launched in 2003 and that of the current Mac Pro is a few extra ports and a second optical drive. The presence of two optical-drive slots demonstrates just how old the current Mac Pro design is. In terms of technology design, 10 years is equivalent to the time between the Triassic and Cretaceous periods. Some key changes that have happened over the past 10 years include: * Components are much smaller and more efficient, so take up less space ®* Input/Output is now much faster (Thunderbolt and USB 3.0) making external components as viable and easier to use than internal upgrades * Optical technology (DVD-Rom) is being put out to pasture, and drives are being removed from most newer computers * SSD Flash has replaced/augmented traditional hard drives * RAM is integrated with the motherboard * Wireless technology The result is smaller and thinner computers. Indeed, you only need to take a look at the MacBook Air and latest iMac to see this in action. 14/05/2013. 16:16 NEW-LOOK MAC PRO ith the new technology mentioned opposite, a redesigned Mac Pro could be substantially thinner than the current model, and Apple certainly tends towards the slim as its natural design progression. But would this be practical for the traditional user? With a thinner case comes the prospect of Apple creating a Mac Pro that's capable of being both a desktop computer and a replacement for the 4.4cm tall Xserve Rack Apple discontinued in 2010. This would come as relief for both Mac OS X power users and system administrators, who were left in a state of limbo after Apple discontinued its rack mount server. Whether Apple can pack the power of the Mac Pro into a tin thinner case is debatable, though if you look at something like the HP Z1, you can see how HP has squeezed workstation power into an iMac-esque case. . The slimmer form factor may impact its upgradeability though, especially with regard to the PCI Express sockets used for graphics cards. Apple could include space for an upgradeable card, maybe two at a push. Or it could elect to have fixed graphics along with the CPU at the time of purchase. However, upgradeability is important, and for some the ability to add graphics cards and extra memory at a later date is crucial. One cosmetic change that seems inevitable is the removal of the optical drive, which is likely to attract hostility even in this era of cloud computing and Wi-Fi storage solutions. Modular design Another suggestion is that Apple could move to a modular system for the Mac Pro. At the Consumer Electronics Show in January, a company called Xi3 revealed a modular computer called the Piston, and Apple is rumoured to be interested in the technology. If it adopted such a design, it would not sell a single case but 033_039 Mac Pro Feature S.indd 35 several smaller component ‘cubes’ that connect together to form a computer. So you'd buy a processor cube, a storage cube, a graphics card cube, and so on. These would connect using Thunderbolt technology. It's an interesting concept, although whether Apple is planning such a radical change is debatable. An iMac Pro Alternatively, Apple may be planning to launch a desktop computer that sits arguing it's Apple that's been slowly abandoning the high-end market over the past few years. (There's some evidence for this: token updates to the Mac Pro, dropping the Xserve and Xserve RAID, major updates to pro apps that make them seem more consumer than pro- focused, and so on) If you consider Apple's efforts over recent years to make everything smaller, cooler and less power-hungry, along with the fact you don't need massive In January, a company called Xi3 revealed a modular computer called the Piston. Apple is rumoured to be interested in the technology somewhere between the iMac, Mac mini and the current Mac Pro. There are a good number of people for whom neither the Mac the right fit: they don't need all the bays, slots and other geek-wish-list features of the Mac Pro, but the mini doesn't offer enough storage or internal expandability. Similarly, some people won't buy an all-in-one computer like the iMac because they don't like the screen, not to mention that the latest models offer essentially no internal expandability. A screenless desktop with power- user performance and moderate expandability is attractive to some. So how about a minitower with a reasonably powerful processor; a good graphics card in an upgradeable slot; a decent amount of upgradeable RAM; two drive bays that could accept either traditional hard drives or SSDs; and a PCI Express slot? Won't high-end pro users abandon the Mac platform without Pro nor the Mac mit a ‘true’ Mac Pro? Some will, there's no doubt. But many already have, Not such abig Mac A modular design for the new Mac Pro is shown in this concept image. JULY 2013 * MACWORLD 35, 14/05/2013. 16:16 ae | | | Features | THE ULTIMATE MAC ON THE INSIDE n the past, one of the biggest challenges Apple faced when designing a smaller Mac Pro was squeezing in powerful components, while keeping it reasonably priced. But technology has evolved to the point where a smaller Mac Pro could handle all but the most-demanding workload. So what can we expect to see on the inside? Processor Apple looks set to adopt Intel’s next- generation of CPU, codenamed Haswell, for its consumer machines, but don’t expect to see these in the new Mac Pro. The processor inside the current model is Intel’s Xeon E5645 CPU — a two-year- old Westmere-EP chip based on the Sandy Bridge architecture. Xeon processors were designed for workstations and servers, so this chip family seems the most likely for any future Mac Pro. Enter rumours Apple is waiting for Ivy Bridge E, which will be marketed as Xeon ES V2 processors. There's no corresponding Sandy Bridge predecessor. However, Ivy Bridge-E (Xeon E5) processors may not be seen until the end of this year (they are due to launch in Q3 2013), which would scupper any plans to unveil an updated Mac Pro in June at WWDC. However, Apple has previously secured exclusivity from Intel for several generations of Xeon processors. Ivy Bridge E offers six- to 12-core chips, which means Apple could theoretically produce a 24-core system. That's double the 12 cores in the current model. The memory will also be upgraded from 1,333MHz to 1,600MHz to allow for 25 per cent more memory, with eight physical memory lanes. You can also expect to find large amounts of cache, quad-channel memory controllers supporting 8GB of DDR3- 1066/1333/1600/1866 per DIMM slot, along with PCLE 3.0 (40 lanes) and four lanes supporting PCI-E 2.0. However, it's also feasible Apple could put a less powerful processor in the new Mac Pro. It used to be that the small, efficient, cool-running processors used in laptops and consumer-level desktop computers weren't very powerful. If you wanted real performance, you needed a big tower, with a huge, power-hungry processor that required a heat sink or other cooling system, which was itself bigger than some laptops. But that's not the case any more. Today's best consumer- —_ 36 MACWORLD - JULY 2013 033_039 Mac Pro Feature S.indd 36 level processors, such as the Intel Core i7, are small, efficient and cool enough to fit inside a Mac mini, while outperforming the current Mac Pro for many tasks. And Intel Ontheinside Any new Mac Pro will need some seriously powerful components if its to beat back the competition. intel, Ivy Bridge Ivy Bridge Apple is expected to use Intel's new Ivy Bridge E processors, due to ship later this year, inside the new Mac Pro and other vendors are working on making higher-end workstation processors use less power and run cooler. In other words, a Mac mini tower with an i7 chip would be plenty fast enough for many users. If you think this is unlikely, rumours suggest Apple may be moving away from Intel chips for its Mac line-ups. Given the progress of Intel’s CPUs and the difficulty of making such a switch, it's unlikely Apple will abandon Intel processors in the near future, but you never know. Graphics For many professional users the graphics card is crucial, and they will watch for news of the graphics card in the new model with eager eyes. However, the Mac Pro is the only Mac that lets a user update the graphics card, so it may matter less what card is provided, as long as it can be switched out at a later date. The past year has seen Apple move from AMD to Nvidia graphics in its iMac and MacBook Pro. In fact, the only Mac model currently shipping with graphics from AMD (ATI Radeon HD 5770 and 5870) is the Mac Pro. This doesn't indicate that the new Mac Pro will drop AMD cards; indeed an Apple job ad for a systems electrical engineer 14/05/2013. 16:16 for the Mac Desktop Systems Engineering team notes the applicant should have experience with AMD as well as Nvidia GPUs and Intel chipsets. In addition, driver support for the Radeon HD 7900 series of powerful discrete graphics cards from AMD was referenced in an OS X 10.8.3 beta back in November, along with references to a Mac Pro 6.0 model. The Radeon HD 7900 series, codenamed Tahiti LE, includes both the Radeon HD 7970 and 7950. These cards offer 3GB of GDDR5 memory and are based on a 28-nanometer chip manufacturing process, as well as featuring AMD's Graphics Core Next architecture. Hard drive For some pro users, the biggest appeal of the Mac Pro's enclosure is that it can accommodate multiple drives. Many people using these systems need lots of space to store huge video, audio and image files, or other large data sets — and they want fast access to that data. But those who need the most storage and the fastest performance often end up using external solutions, such as fibre-channel storage, anyway. And the performance of Thunderbolt means you can add multiple external drives without the same performance hit you get from FireWire. (There are even Thunderbolt-fibre-channel adaptors.) So it’s not hard to imagine Apple making a smaller Mac Pro and suggesting those who need more storage take advantage of Thunderbolt. One thing is certain; the new Mac Pro will offer a Fusion Drive option — Apple's data storage technology, which combines hard drives with flash (or SSD) storage. OS X manages the contents of the drive AMD«t \ (ae er Radeon The new Mac Pro may ship with AMD's Radeon HD 7900 series of graphics cards. so the most frequently accessed files and applications are stored on the faster flash storage, while infrequently used items are left on the hard drive. Outfitting a new Mac Pro with an SSD and a large- capacity internal hard drive will mean better /O performance for many tasks. Unfortunately, the technology Apple uses to make the Fusion Drive work is proprietary, so any Flash storage inside the Mac Pro will have to be fitted by Apple when you buy the machine. In addition, Apple is said to be developing a 2TB SSD for the new Mac Pro, with a view to offering 8TB of flash storage. This is based on reports that while on a tour of a Chinese factory, sources claimed to have seen “an initial tun of solid state drives bearing a logo which is very recognisable in the West — Apple Inc,” according to BSN. The current Mac Pro can be configured with up to 8TB of storage in the form of 7,200rpm hard drives. The new Mac Pro will offer a Fusion Drive option — Apple's data storage technology, which combines hard drives with flash (or SSD) storage 033_039 Mac Pro Feature S.indd 37 Networking Apple also looks likely to add superfast S networking technology 802.1lac to the new Mac Pro. Code in the second beta of Mountain Lion OS X 10.8.4 (build 12E30) includes a reference to the new, as yet unratified, standard. 802.Nac, sometimes referred to as ‘Gig Wifi’ or 5G Wi-Fi, is the successor to 802.11n. It promises bandwidth of up to 4.3Gbps. In comparison, 802.1in products provide connections of up to 450Mbps. The technology will bring superfast Wi-Fi connectivity to Macs, speeding up throughput, as well as improving coverage, and also supercharging Apple's AirDrop features and Wi-Fi syncing. RAM Where the high-end iMac is capable of supporting a maximum 32GB RAM, Mac Pros can already handle 64GB. That's more than enough for most, but in the pro arena there are workstations offering more. Take the Dell Precision 17600 Workstation or the HP Z820 Workstation, which offer 512GB RAM. If Apple wishes to be taken seriously in this market it may need to up the amount of RAM. JULY 2013 * MACWORLD 37 14/05/2013 16:16 Features / THE ULTIMATE MAC EXPANSION PORTS he easy-access interior of the Mac Pro is hidden behind the side panel. This means users can slide out the processor tray to add memory; the drive bays to add storage; slide a bar to change up to four expansion cards at once; and thanks to the I/O ports add lots of external devices, says Apple of its current Mac Pro. Thunderbolt One thing about the Mac Pro update in June 2012 that didn’t make sense was the lack of a Thunderbolt port. This is especially puzzling, considering it’s the professional market that’s most likely to spend money on Thunderbolt accessories this was a strange omission. For example, it lets you connect four HD screens at a time, who, other than a professional user, would want to do that. As yet, Apple’s high-speed peripheral interface hasn't taken the pro market by storm, and that's probably due to the shameful lack of Thunderbolt in the Mac Pro line. Apple can’t even use the lack of Thunderbolt peripherals as an excuse. Now the technology has been around for a few years, and has long come standard on many Macs, high- end Thunderbolt peripherals are widely available. You can get super-fast RAID drives with Thunderbolt connections. And if you need specific PCI cards, a Thunderbolt PCI case will let you use many kinds of PCI cards (other than video cards) over a Thunderbolt connection. A new Mac Pro will surely have multiple compatible ports. If you were wondering, Thunderbolt is a peripheral-connection technology, developed by Intel with collaboration from Apple, that combines data, video, audio and power in a single connection. Based on the PCI Express and DisplayPort architectures, Thunderbolt allows for high-speed connection of peripherals such as hard drives, RAID arrays, video-capture solutions and network interfaces, and it can transmit high-definition video using the DisplayPort protocol. Each Thunderbolt port provides up to 10 Watts of power to connected peripherals, and up to 10Gbps of data throughput (faster than USB 3.0). USB 3.0 and FireWire Disappointingly, the current Mac Pro doesn't offer USB 3.0 — it’s still stuck in the dark ages of USB 2.0. The problem is that the current Sandy Bridge chipsets don't natively support USB 3.0. One thing the current Mac Pro offers that future models may not is FireWire. It's probable that in gaining Thunderbolt and USB 3.0, FireWire will be culled. The standard has already disappeared from every other Mac, with the exception of the Mac mini, although the first time Apple attempted to remove it the creative world was in uproar. Expansion cards Apple’s Mac Pro is the only Mac to offer PCI expansion, and this is a key reason why it appeals to professional users. These PCI cards can be used for faster RAID performance and transcoding of video, high-end networking, complex audio/video connections, and many other things the average consumer will never need. Such expansion slots are essential for users who wish to add high-end video cards, sound, networking, RAID arrays, and other connectivity options to their One thing the current Mac Pro has that future models may not is FireWire. It's likely that in gaining Thunderbolt and USB 3.0, FireWire will be culled 38 MACWORLD + JULY 2013 033_039 Mac Pro Feature 3.indd 38 Ports The Mac Pro offers users easy access to the interior for simple expansion Mac. There are currently three such slots. However, there are some fears Apple could reduce this to two PCI ports in its desire to make the machine thinner. It may also update to the PCIE3 standard, which will offer 40 lanes per socket, rather than the usual 36. Many of those who in the past required PCI slots can these days make do with other solutions, thanks to Thunderbolt. We've also seen reports that claim that SATA II/SAS connectivity will be native in the new Mac Pro. SuperDrive Another feature that may be removed is the optical drive. We aren't completely convinced Apple will remove the optical drive from the Mac Pro. The professional Mac user is probably the one and only one remaining that could honestly say they require an optical drive. For ‘one thing, some professional creative software isn’t widely available as a download, although it’s only a matter of time. (See our story about Adobe's plan for Creative Cloud on page 9.) 14/05/2013. 16:16 WILL THEY, WON’T THEY he Mac Pro is a classic tower computer, offering owners the opportunity to open up the case and tinker around; taking parts out and replacing them with components of their choosing. Apple hates this. The latest iMacs glass front panel and the LCD have been fused together, where they used to be attached with magnets. Given this, is it surprising that many believe the Mac Pro is doomed? Even if Apple is still interested in the professional Mac market, it may well be that Apple has simply lost the workstation market, as it did the server market with the Xserve, either because it wasn't competitive enough or dedicated enough. Is Apple ready to abandon the higher-end of the desktop market to Dell and HP? Does it really need a workstation? Or to put it bluntly do we need a workstation from Apple? Maybe it doesn't really matter enough. We spoke to some Apple resellers about the removal of the Mac Pro in Europe, and one told us: “The Mac Pro removal is not really going to be that huge of a problem, it was a very small seller in the APR channel, so much so that it was removed along with the Mac mini off the store's display.” The fact is most consumers and even professionals switched over to the iMac a long time ago. As our reseller explained: “While customers have been waiting for a serious upgrade on the Mac Pro, the iMac is a better all-round ma