Turns out that some of the users on the Apple Support Discussion forums are finding out that the approved 3rd party memory upgrades are causing instability and lock-ups. Reports seem to indicate that only Apple brand RAM is working properly. Which is fine, if you are drinking the cider and don’t mind paying the premium for the Apple logo (as much as double the street price for DIMMs).

Of course, at the moment you can’t even buy the official Apple memory since they are out of stock.

So the best thing to do at this point is to sit and wait, or keep swapping out RAM until you find a set that will work (not dangerous at all). Either way, probably not the user experience Apple wants you to be having. Or is it?

[via jkOnTheRun]

It has come to pass that HDCP – High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (or, in this case, DisplayPort Content Protection) – is now built into the new MacBooks to protect iTunes Store media. Most of the content is not protected but it seems some newer videos are, which means you can’t play them over a non-HDCP compliant TV or monitor.

While many of us just use the screen or iPods to watch the potentially protected films, this could have ramifications for those wanting to connect their laptops up to TVs without HDMI or DVI ports – namely TVs with only VGA or component/composite ports. It could also have ramifications on the Apple TV in situations where users have odd TV set-ups.

What is HDCP? It’s essentially a digital standard that tells your OS what you can display content on. If you connect your device to a project, as one high school teacher discovered while trying to play an iTunes video, the HDCP system will stop video from streaming to that device. If you connect it to an HDCP-compliant monitor then you’re in luck.

As someone who often and with great gusto downloads from the iTunes store – I have to pay for something sometime, right? – HDCP is just one more thing that will make me rethink this plan. As a Mactard, I’ve found that iTunes is the easiest way to grab goodies but with Amazon coming up behind I might be swayed. Oh, and the video in question? Hellboy 2? Do a quick search on ThePirateBay. I’m sure you’ll find it in non-HDCP encrypted format.

Twenty-six percent of respondents reported planning on buying about an Apple desktop – considerably less than Dell’s 37 percent. Respondents said that Dell was a “great value.”

via Electronista

It’ll cost you $1300 for the privilege, though — and that’s not including the laptop you have to buy. I guess that’s the price you have to pay to be the coolest kid on the block. That is, until the real multi-touch sub-$1000 Mac tablet hits the market. So basically forever.
[via the Register]

2. The unibody design means you can’t just replace the dented bit
Remember the white MacBooks that turned yellow when you used them? Luckily, you could replace the plastic top panel for a pretty low cost. With my MBP, a ding on the right side meant a similarly low-intensity solution. Now, the new manufacturing process is fantastic, and guarantees a more rigid and durable frame, but if something should happen to it… well, either you’re hammering it out or you’re paying for a whole new “brick.” And somehow I doubt they switched to this new process because it was so cheap.
Estimated cost: $250 (arbitrary)

3. It tells on you if you spill
There are moisture sensors at the bottom of the keyboard and the top of the trackpad, right where you usually spill your coffee. If they’re tripped, it’s a dead giveaway when sending it in for repairs or reselling it that it’s had a wet past. I spilled on mine once, screamed at the coffee shop, and flipped my MBP over in time to get most of it out. I then pried off the keys and sopped up all the rest. I’ve had absolutely no problems with it since then, and it may as well have not happened. And speaking of spills…
Estimated cost: 1/4 of the resale value, or the cost of a replacement

4. The keyboard is nearly impossible to fix or replace
Check out this great teardown of the MacBook Pro. Certainly takes them a while to get to the keyboard, doesn’t it? Oh, it’s the last page. That’s because between you and the keys is every single other component in the laptop. Get some grime in there? Some tea? Hope you like screws, because there are about 80 of them to take out and put back if you want to wipe that sucker down.
Estimated cost: $150 or you can do it yourself and break it trying

5. You’ll go down in history
The first guy to crack his nice MacBook screen with a Wiimote or whatever (why not) is going to be laughed at forever. Similarly the first guy who botches a keyboard replacement or sits on the thing and bends the chassis into a butt shape. Every gadget and catch-all site on the internet will have you, your name, and your photo up within hours, with headlines like “This is why we can’t have nice things” and “What a nerd!!!” Is that what you want? No? Then for god’s sake, be careful!
Estimated cost: Whatever your dignity is worth to you

So. Scared yet? Personally, I’m not letting the threat of expensive damages hang too heavily over my head. After all, as I mentioned, my currently lappy has taken abuse of every kind and is still going strong — although the battery is shot. It’s always been an costly proposition buying a Mac, and the prospect of losing a little more cash isn’t going to scare anybody off.

But god damn am I going to laugh when you sit on that thing next week.

1. Acer Aspire One (white)
2. Acer Aspire One (blue)
3. Old MacBook Pro (cheap)
4. EeePC 1000H (10-inch)
5. White MacBook
6. Old MacBook Pro (expensive)
7. Samsung T260HD 26″ LCD
8. New MacBook (2.0GHz, 160GB)
9. EeePC 1000HA (10-inch)
10. New MacBook (2.4GHz, 250GB)

Apple has provided video in case our hands-on and previews didn’t hit the spot. You get a look at the manufacturing process, the multitouch stuff you may not be familiar with, and a lot of floating MacBooks. Like, a million of them.

If you want more hi-def stuff, there’s more here or you could just order one and get it in super-hi-def.

Update: Watch today’s press conference here.

The Amazing $800 Apple
I had hopes like everyone else, but in the back of my mind lurked doubt. Was it to be a netbook? A tablet? Just a cost reduction for a basic MacBook? Nobody knew for sure, but for some reason the number 800 just stuck in people’s minds. We heard otherwise towards the end. As it turns out, they kept the same pricing scheme almost exactly — and really, $1000 isn’t that much more.

Touchscreen Trackpad
How awesome/retarded would this have been? This kind of hybrid isn’t Apple’s style, but that doesn’t mean we won’t see the idea used somewhere else. I could use a little touchscreen to complement my desktop, so why not include one stuck onto my laptop?

The “Mystery Port”
Ha! I totally nailed this one. Everyone was freaking out about this ambiguous-looking port on the front left corner, saying oh it’s a dock, oh it’s a robot port, etc. Only I was a bastion of skepticism, saying it was nothing at all. Only I! And some commenters, I guess, who I got the idea from. Actually, it’s a battery indicator thing, so it’s not exactly nothing, but it sure ain’t what all them folks said it were.

Blu-Ray all up in there
I can’t believe anyone took this one seriously. Apple is about downloads. They’ve capitalized so much on the iTunes store and the digital distribution model so much that to make a commitment to a new disc format would be ridiculous. Furthermore, people don’t want Blu-Ray on their laptops. Not only is the better picture less appreciable than on a big screen, but most people still want to make regular DVDs of their iMovies and such. They don’t need, or want, the capability to write 50GB to a disc over like half an hour.

Other than that, the other rumors turned out pretty much right. Brick manufacturing process, no 17″ update, new MacBooks (with black/metallic color scheme), new Cinema Display.

So… what’s coming in January, then?

• Have all the ports connect inside the dock to extenders — male ports connected to female ports on the exterior of the monitor. Verdict: no way, a single crooked pin and the whole interface is borked. Alignment would be hard as a mofo.
• Have the ports “pass through” — i.e. the dock slot is open on both sides. Verdict: not likely, it’d be ugly first of all, and second, ergonomically it’s bad to have people pushing on the side that is docked.
• Have ports on the dock/monitor and pass the information through just the dock connector. Verdict: no chance, the connector is barely big enough to pass all the display information through, to say nothing of powered USB, Expresscard data and so on.

Don’t get me wrong, here — it’d definitely be cool; I just don’t see a way they can make it work.

Personally, I’m in the camp of those who think it’s just a piece of tape. It’s ergonomical suicide, they say, to have anything coming out of the laptop so far towards the front (and I agree). So, lacking an obvious answer and dismissing the dock idea as pie in the sky, take a close look at it. Doesn’t it actually look like something taped on, not over? Like a little RFID security tag, or just a little pad that might be stuck on to prevent rubbing during transport? At any rate, we’ll find out Tuesday.

PC SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
FOR WINDOWS XP
* 2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
* 512 MB RAM
* A 128 MB Video Card, with support for Pixel Shader 2.0
* At least 4 GB of hard drive space, with at least 1 GB additional space for creations.

FOR WINDOWS VISTA
* 2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
* 768 MB RAM
* A 128 MB Video Card, with support for Pixel Shader 2.0
* At least 4 GB of hard drive space, with at least 1 GB additional space for creations.

When launching the game, some Microsoft Vista users may receive a warning about running out of address space along with a link to the Microsoft Knowledge Base. If you see this message, it is recommended that you follow the instructions and go to the website listed in the message to update your system.

For computers using built-in graphics chipsets, the game requires at least:
* Intel Integrated Chipset, 945GM or above.
* 2.6 GHz Pentium D CPU, or 1.8 GHz Core 2 Duo, or equivalent.
* 768 MB RAM

Supported Video Cards
NVIDIA GeForce series
FX 5900, FX 5950
6200, 6500, 6600, 6800,
7200, 7300, 7600, 7800, 7900, 7950
8400, 8500, 8600, 8800
9600, 9800, GTX 260, GTX 280

Intel® Extreme Graphics
GMA 950, GMA X3000, GMA X3100

ATI Radeon™ series
9500, 9600, 9800
X300, X600, X700, X800, X850
X1300, X1600, X1800, X1900, X1950
2400, 2600, 2900
3450, 3650, 3850, 3870,
4850

Laptop versions of these chipsets may work, but may run comparatively slowly. Standalone cards that are installed in vanilla PCI slots (not PCIe or PCIx or AGP), such as some GeForce FX variants, will perform poorly. Intel integrated chipsets featuring underclocked parts, such as the 945GU, GML, and GMS, will not perform adequately.

Integrated chipsets such as the ATI Xpress and the NVIDIA TurboCache variants will have low settings selected, but should run satisfactorily.

Please note that attempting to play the game using video hardware that isn’t listed above may result in reduced performance, graphical issues or cause the game to not run at all.

The NVIDIA GeForce FX series is unsupported under Vista.

MAC SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Spore requires at least the following:
* Mac OS X 10.5.3 Leopard or higher
* Intel Core Duo Processor
* 1024 MB RAM
* ATI X1600 or NVIDIA 7300 GT with 128 MB of Video RAM, or Intel Integrated GMA X3100
* At least 4 GB of hard drive space, with at least 1 GB additional space for creations.

This game will not run on PowerPC (G3/G4/G5) based Mac systems (PowerMac).

For computers using built-in graphics chipsets, the game requires at least:
* Intel Integrated Chipset GMA X3100
* Dual 2.0GHz CPUs, or 1.7GHz Core 2 Duo, or equivalent

Supported Video Cards
NVIDIA GeForce series
7300, 7600, 8600, 8800

ATI Radeon™ series
X1600, X1900, HD 2400, HD 2600

Intel® Extreme Graphics
GMA X3100
This game will not run on the GMA 950 class of integrated video cards.

via Kotaku

What could have precipitated this incredible growth over the last two years? If you ask me, or any child on the street, you’d be told “It’s the MacBooks, stupid.” Yes, the phenomenally successful MacBook was launched in May of 2006, priced at near enough as to be exactly $1000, and its big brother the Pro was released several months earlier.

I tend to give Apple a lot of flak for their cooler-than-thou marketing, heavy markups, and absurd fan base, but they make great computers and I’m glad they’re reaping the benefits (of fools and their money).

At the moment, these cards have no way of functioning in OSX because there are no compatible drivers. That can be fixed quickly by Apple and Intel, and my guess is that a driver release is how we’ll find out whether the new MacBooks will have ‘em.

I like a company that says “not everyone’s going to need or even understand our product” and is up-front about it, especially if it’s a product I really don’t get. The MagStay Pro is just such a product.

I think the MagSafe power adapters Apple built into its portables is just great, but some people apparently find themselves unplugging their laptops when they don’t mean to. Sure it’s a little annoying, but some folks just get livid. This the MagStay.

It attaches to the USB port next to the power port and holds the power cable firmly in place, so you don’t accidentally unplug it.

Kudos to ThoughtOut for coming up with this, and also for not talking down to those of us who don’t “get it”.

MagStay Pro [Thoughout.biz]