Friday November 20, 2009 04:08 PM
Following up on early benchmarking tests that showed Apple's new quad-core Core i5 and Core i7 iMacs boasting significant performance improvements compared to their Core 2 Duo-based counterparts, Macworld has utilized its own Speedmark suite of real-world tests and found similar results.
Speedmark is Macworld Lab's standard test tool for benchmarking new and upgraded systems running Mac OS X. It uses real-world applications and everyday tasks. It is a general-purpose suite that includes tasks everyone from a high-end user to a new user performs every day.
Macworld Lab follows a detailed script to perform the 17 tasks. Each task is performed three times. We compare the results to a 2.13GHz MacBook with 2GB RAM (Mid 2009), which is assigned a score of 100. We then take the geometric mean of the normalized scores.
With the new 2.66GHz Core i5 iMac and the 2.8GHz Core i7 iMac, Apple has not only blurred the line between consumer and professional systems, it's darn near erased it. The 2.66GHz Core i5 iMac offers faster performance at most tasks than the 2.66GHz Quad-Core Mac Pro. The Core i5 iMac also has more memory and more storage space than the 2.66GHz Quad-Core Mac Pro, while being $500 less (plus you get a 27-inch screen with the iMac). Unless you absolutely require additional PCI cards, multiple internal hard drives, or a lot of RAM, the Core i5 iMac makes a strong case for the being the go-to system for most Mac professionals.
[ 9 comments ]
Friday November 20, 2009 02:34 PM
Reuters reports that prominent iPhone game developer Gameloft is scaling back its efforts to produce content for the Android platform in the face of weaknesses of its application store. Gameloft also notes that it is not the only one making the move, with other game developers reportedly experiencing similar frustrations.
"We have significantly cut our investment in Android platform, just like ... many others," Gameloft finance director Alexandre de Rochefort said at an investor conference.
The company's frustration comes from a lack of success on the Android platform, contrasted with Apple's App Store ecosystem and its ability to drive sales for developers."It is not as neatly done as on the iPhone. Google has not been very good to entice customers to actually buy products. On Android nobody is making significant revenue," Rochefort said.
Games for iPhone generated 13 percent of Gameloft's revenue in the last quarter. "We are selling 400 times more games on iPhone than on Android," Rochefort said.
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Friday November 20, 2009 09:23 AM
The repair manuals include in-depth disassembly guides, model identification tips, troubleshooting techniques, and upgrade information. The 241 new repair guides use 1,452 photos to clearly communicate each step of the repair.
The company has also launched an iMac parts store to allow consumers to purchase the necessary parts for their repairs.[ 6 comments ]
Friday November 20, 2009 09:08 AM
InsanelyMac reports that a member of its forums has created a workaround allowing users who have modified their Intel Atom-based netbooks into "Hackintoshes" in order to run Mac OS X to upgrade to OS X 10.6.2. The 10.6.2 update had specifically disabled native compatibility with those processors.
The changes Apple made to the latest mach_kernel removes support for this processor, leaving updated netbooks in a useless state. Fortunately, insanelymac user "teateam" patched the new kernel just two days after Apple rolled out the update. The original post can be found here. Many users are reporting success with this patch, so if your an Atom user looking to update to 10.6.2, give it a try, and let's not forget to give "teateam" a round of applause for saving all our hackintosh netbooks!
The reasons for Apple's disabling of Atom compatibility in 10.6.2 remains unknown, although some of speculated that the company is attempting to make it more difficult for users to create their own netbook Macs ahead of a possible tablet launch next year.[ 172 comments ]
Thursday November 19, 2009 06:46 PM
Apple today released a pair of software updates targeting users involved in remote administration of Snow Leopard Server and users of Apple's Boot Camp solution for Windows.
- Server Admin Tools 10.6.2 provides updates to several applications used for remote administration of Snow Leopard Server.
The Server Admin Tools update is recommended for remote administration of Snow Leopard Server. This update includes the latest releases of:
- iCal Server Utility
- Podcast Composer
- Server Admin
- Server Monitor
- Server Preferences
- System Image Utility
- Workgroup Manager
- Xgrid Admin
This update addresses issues with the Apple trackpad and turns off the red digital audio port LED on laptop computers when it is not being used. It also includes support for the Apple Magic mouse and wireless keyboard. It is intended only for use with Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Windows Vista running on a Mac computer using Boot Camp.
The update weighs in at 23.87 MB and requires Windows XP or Vista SP2 and a Mac running Boot Camp 2.1.[ 9 comments ]