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OWC Aura Pro works in the new 13-inch rMBP

Thursday, October 25th, 2012 | Author:

Once we had the new 13″ MacBook Pro with Retina display unboxed, it was just a matter of time before we installed an OWC Aura Pro SSD to see how well it worked.

Well, as these pictures show, the Aura Pro fits just fine in the 13″ rMBP’s drive caddy (something new that wasn’t in the 15″ model), and so far everything seems to be running quite solidly.

Obviously, we’ve got a battery of other tests to put the drive through and we’ll have a more definite answer by early next week, but right now, all signs are pointing to “Yes.”

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Category: Product Spotlight
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“Small” Apple Event Unleashes Big Hardware Updates

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012 | Author:

Well, another Apple event has come and gone. It started out with CEO Tim Cook recapping the success of the iPhone 5, the iPod Touch and iPod nano and later talking about iBooks. However, we’re going to focus on all the new hardware that got announced today – and there was a lot of it.

The Mac line got a big refresh, with updates to the iMac, Mac mini, and 13” MacBook Pro. 

The mini had the smallest outward changes, with most of its improvement happening internally. All the expected upgrades are there, most notably the addition of USB 3.0. This along with the existing Thunderbolt and FireWire 800 ports, gives the mini multiple high-performance upgrade options and makes the NewerTech miniStack a perfect fit. We will have to verify this once we get one in, but the internal layout appears unchanged (other than the chipsets) so upgrading memory and internal storage on the new Mac mini should also remain relatively unchanged - including adding a second drive via a Data Doubler.

Article Continues…

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Category: Apple News
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Power Nap Not Available to All Models Announced, but works with Aura

Friday, July 27th, 2012 | Author:

Whenever a new OS, there’s always a feature or two that a lot of people are really looking forward to. With OSX 10.8, lots of MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with retina display (rMBP) owners were excited about the Power Nap feature, which enables software updates, backups, iCloud syncing and a number of other functions while the computer is set to “sleep.”

Unfortuantely, this feature wasn’t enabled from the start; apparently, a new firmware update is required. Apple has already released SMC updates for the 2011 and 2012 MacBook Airs and the 2012 rMBP update is “coming soon.” However, Apple has seemed to have quietly dropped support for the 2010 MacBook Air, even though it was initially announced as working with those models.

UPDATE 7/30/12: Apple released an SMC update for the rMBP, which adds Power Nap support.

We went ahead and tested it anyway and found that while the 11″ 2010 MacBook Air doesn’t support Power Nap, the 13” 2010 MacBook Air does.

While we were at it, we also tested the 2010 MacBook Air 13″, 2011 MacBook Air 11 & 13″, and the 2012 MacBook Air 11 & 13″ with our OWC Mercury Aura Pro SSDs (for the 2010, 2011, and 2012 models) and can confirm that Power Nap works as perfectly with our SSDs as they do with the originals.

UPDATE: More information regarding the 2010 MacBook Air 13″

We’ve now checked Power Nap capabilities on multiple 13″ 2010 MacBook Airs, and it seems hit-or-miss for compatibility. With those that it worked for, it did so without any extra changes. For those it didn’t work with, it just wasn’t enabled. We couldn’t find any rhyme or reason to why some worked and  some didn’t.

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Category: Apple News
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NewerTech Announces NuGuard Keyboard Cover for Protecting 2012 Apple MacBook Pro with Retina Display

Tuesday, July 24th, 2012 | Author:

Newer Technology, Inc. announced today the NuGuard Keyboard Cover for the 2012 MacBook Pro with Retina Display. The black silicone cover is the first and only keyboard cover on the market for the 2012 rMBP and matches the function keys printed on the full-sized keyboard’s 78 (U.S.) keys.

Protects Against Wear and Damage

NuGuard Keyboard Covers feature a silky smooth silicone surface to provide the fastest touch-typing possible.  The form-fitting sheet is molded to cover each key and the space between each key for protection against key wear, food/drink spills, and dust/hair clogging.

“The NuGuard Keyboard Cover is a great way to protect the 2012 MacBook Pro with Retina Display keyboard from wear and tear, as well as the machine from damage,” said Grant Dahlke, Brand Manager, Newer Technology, Inc. “It’s smooth to the touch for fast typing and peels off easily for simple cleanup to keep the machine looking and working like new.” 

Pricing and Availability

The NewerTech NuGuard Keyboard Cover for 2012 Macbook Pro with Retina Display is available immediately from Other World Computing for $17.49, as well as through the retail channel, and comes with a one-year warranty.

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Category: Press Releases
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MagSafe 2 Power Supplies More Powerful than Previous Models

Monday, June 18th, 2012 | Author:

Along with all the other bells and whistles covered last week, the new MacBook Pro with Retina display and MacBook Airs also sport MagSafe 2 power connectors. It’s a slight redesign on the current models, so your old spare MagSafe adapter or the ones from an Apple display won’t fit in the new ‘Books.

This isn’t something insurmountable; Apple offers a $10 converter that allows you to connect a MagSafe adapter to a MagSafe 2 equipped MacBook. There’s only one small thing you’ll want to be mindful of.

While the wattage for both adapters is the same 45W, the voltage is different. The new MagSafe 2 adapters output at 20 volts, while the original MagSafe adapters only output at ~18 volts. So if you use that converter to hook an older MagSafe adapter to your MagSafe 2 MacBook, charging can potentially take longer, due to the lower voltage output compared to the newer adapters.

We don’t foresee any catastrophic problems from this, just the minor inconvenience of longer charge times when using the older adapter with the converter. How much of a difference there will be, we can’t say at the moment; we’ll have more info once the adapters are available and we can test it.

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Category: Apple News
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