Here you have it. The Macbook Air’s biggest issue since the M2 has been fixed. M2’s 256GB model’s SSD speeds were roughly 1500MB/s read and write, the M3 is twice that. You no longer have to upgrade to the 512GB model to enjoy the faster speeds.
MacBook Air
Apple Silicon M1 MacBook Air (Late 2020) Unboxing
I borrowed an M1-powered MacBook Air from my relative for this unboxing.
If you have been paying attention to the recent MacBook Airs, this unboxing is going to look exactly the same as the ones that came before.
The keyboard has the only obvious physical change with these few key changes.
Battery life
I have not taken out the power adapter from the box yet, but have already installed the 11.0.1 update. It took more than 20 mins, and I noticed the battery percentage did not change even after the update has been completed. After playing with the MacBook Air for more than an hour in total, the battery percentage only dropped like 2-3%. Take note that I did not push the MacBook Air hard, nor did I do any benchmarks since those are all over the internet already, but this thing is fast and snappy! And the battery life is incredible.
The state of iOS apps on Apple Silicon macOS
It appears more than just a few developers have chosen to block their iOS apps from appearing from the Mac App Store, either because they already have a macOS version and obviously they want to make money from those, or they are just bent on not giving macOS users access to their apps. Possible reasons could be because their apps are “not ready for macOS yetâ€, or maybe because they will lose out on a lot more tracking info if users chose to use their apps instead of their websites. Whatever it is, none of the third party apps that I use on a daily basis are available on macOS, and that sucks. Maybe Apple was wrong to give the developers that choice in the first place. Developers who are lazy and want more money but do not want to do the extra work.
However, from recent reports it seems that you may actually be able to install iOS apps not available on the Mac App Store by executing their .ipa files directly. Worth a try I guess.
Conclusion
These are definitely the best Macs to have came out of Apple in probably the last two decades. Going Intel in 2006 might have allowed a lot more people to be exposed to Macs, but it also took away the uniqueness Macs have over the rest of the computing industry, with their RISC processors. With the M1 Macs Apple has regained its uniqueness and advantage over the rest of the traditional computing industry, and do not expect them to slow down anytime soon. Very soon the pathetic PC whiners are just going to claim that their old AF x86 platform architecture is superior because they say so, just like stupid Android people who still think they have the most powerful phones just because some manufacturers have to use massive cooling solutions for their shitty designs. Well idiots will be idiots and there are so many idiots in the PC industry that it is not even funny.
Should you buy an M1 Mac now?
The usual answer applies – buy only if you need a computer now. If not there will always be faster Macs in the future. If you have been waiting, especially for a MacBook Air, I think this is a good time to purchase it. The MacBook Pro, maybe not, since there are rumors that a 14-inch one is coming next year.
MacRyu’s Mac Setup 2014
So in 2007 I posted my old setup based around my 2007 24″ Aluminum iMac and 12″ iBook on Flickr.
Then in 2011 I posted my revamped setup based on the same iMac but with a relatively new 2010 MacBook Air.
After another 3 years and spending the last 12 months not bothered with updating this site, I want to reboot this site with my first decent post – my current Mac setup.
And here it is.
The iMac, now in its seventh year of service, has been semi-retired and is only used sparingly these days. Its main duties have been taken over by the 2012 11″ MacBook Air, which is connected to a Crossover 27″ high resolution monitor (2560X1440, LG’s IPS panel, the same ones used in the current 27″ Thunderbolt Display) via Dual-link DVI, which I run in clamshell mode for the time being. It will be eventually replaced by the next Mac Mini, whenever that thing is refreshed, because running clamshell mode can be a pain in the arse for long term use.
The iMac is these days used as a BT machine, iTunes server or for casual file access when I don’t want to turn on 4 switches just to access or print a file. It has been upgraded with a OCZ SSD last year, and boots into Mavericks in about 6 seconds flat, which is extremely speedy for a 7 year old machine. It is also connected to my HDD docks for serious backing up duties.
The Harman Kardon Soundsticks III is the world’s favourite computer speakers (they are almost always in every celebrity’s home or desks, just watch TV!) and I finally saved enough to get them last year. The iPad mini stand was a real replica of the see-through acrylic ones found in authentic Apple Stores, and was a gift from my brother a few weeks ago. Also on the table are docks for my iPhones (the 5S is being used to take the photos, that is why it is not in its modified Belkin dock), iPads, and other pieces of tech toys including the PS Vita 2002, Cowon Z2, Nexus 4 and the Xiaomi Note+. Oh and I love my Starbucks Reserve Mug.
Yes, those are the Sony consoles hiding in the dark corner.
Hopefully this site will still be around in 2017, when I will (most probably) post my updated Mac setup again.
Follow me on twitter @ryuworks or @macryudotcom (official account for this site). And join MacNet at http://sgmac.net for all Apple related discussions on FB!
Macs to be released at WWDC 2012
Appleinsider just put out an article with regards to new part numbers (Australian) for what are supposed to be the new Macs to be unveiled next week at WWDC.
While Tim Cook did say during D10 that Apple will be doubling down on secrecy, when the products are actually in the final process of being shipped worldwide to Apple Stores and resellers, it’s pretty hard not to leak any info.
Judging from the part numbers above, the models to be introduced at WWDC next Monday night are as follows (it’s pretty obvious if you look at the models and the Australian prices);
1. J30 – iMac 21.5″
2. J31 – iMac 27″
3. J11 – MacBook Air 11″
4. J13 – MacBook Air 13″
5. K5BPLUS – Mac Pro (We know this from a previous 9to5mac leak)
Which will bring us to the last 2 machine part numbers, D2 and K31.
All these while we have been hearing rumors about a redesigned MacBook Pro, but every single rumor is about a redesigned MacBook Pro 15-inch model, and there is absolutely nothing on a redesigned 13-inch or a redesigned 17-inch.
Which brings us to the very, very obvious fact that next Monday night, there will only be one redesigned MacBook Pro, the MacBook Pro 15″. And from yet another leak reported by 9to5mac, we know that at least one of the MacBook Pro 15″ models will really be professional based, with very high specs listed, as well as the leak that this higher spec-ed model will cost around $3000 (that’s USD, mind you, which is almost on par with Australian Dollar right now). And the D2 BEST model do fit in with this pricing at $3000+. Therefore D2 = redesigned MacBook Pro 15″.
Which brings us to K31. And if the 15″ leak is accurate, so must the 13″ leak be. And therefore K31, the updated MacBook Pro 13″ with no retina display, is the new White MacBook, the cheapest model one can buy from Apple, and is still in the inventory because it was the most popular Mac before the redesign (just like the White MacBook), and some people can’t bear to give up the old.
The rest of the part numbers are likely to be new accessories, although with that large a number of accessory part numbers, whatever is going to be introduced looks really fun, especially B67, with so many versions of it being introduced.
P.S. A few minutes before I clicked published, 9to5mac just posted the entire price list with model names for the very same image Appleinsider put up, making this very post redundant. And K31 isn’t the MacBook Pro 13″ surprisingly (obviously based off the price), but the Airport Express…..A new Airport Express???
9to5mac’s full Apple inventory image below.
Probably the most elegant bag for the new 11-inch MacBook Air – Fabrix Cases’ The Satchel
I have been waiting to post this review for almost one whole year, and now is exactly the best time to release it – the 11-inch MacBook Air officially becomes Apple’s cheapest notebook, and with the Airs being the future of Apple’s notebook lineup, it seems very possibly that the 11-inch will easily become the most popular notebook on Apple’s line soon.
One thing about having a 11-inch notebook is how hard it is to actually find a bag that fits the exact profile of the notebook unless you actually had one custom made. Apple notebooks are probably the only ones with huge support from some of the world’s best notebook bag manufacturers. That said though, the 11-inch MacBook Air is relatively new, being in the market for only less than a year. Many manufacturers have been marketing bags/sleeves that were previously made for netbooks for the 11-inch Air, but few of these bags/sleeves actually perfectly fit the slim profile of the 11-inch Air.
I have been using Fabrix Cases’ The Satchel for almost a year now, since I first got my 11-inch Air last October, and must say that it is easily the best bag for the 11-inch Air and its slim profile.
2011 MacBook Pros – Possibly the coolest ever?
So the rumors about the new MacBook Pros releasing tomorrow night are definitely super interesting to me.
Let’s first recap how and why there is so much anticipation for this MacBook Pro release, unlike the other speed bump/innards update releases over the past two years.
1. It is now 2011. Apple first introduced the unibody MacBook Pros in late 2008, which makes three years already. And Apple loves to refresh its hardware designs every three years or so (discounting the fateful Aluminum Powerbook/MacBook Pro design). Which makes this year a perfect timing for new MacBook Pro designs. As with all Apple redesigns, it’s a big deal.
2. The release of the redesigned MacBook Air last year (I bought one myself, it’s that good). With the new MacBook Airs there is a very apparent new MacBook design philosophy – the focus on using SSDs, and not just any SSD, but the Toshiba Blade X-gale series that first appeared on the MacBook Airs, because they are much much smaller than a standard 1.8″ or 2.5″ traditional SSDs, and also because they are stock parts, they make way more sense for Apple to use them then to solder flash memory onto the logic boards themselves. And Apple publicly said that the Air will be the basic building block upon which future MacBook designs will be derived from, much like how the original Air inspired the Unibody MacBook Pro series.
3. The iMac refresh last year brought some interesting hardware configurations, namely, that Apple has a build-to-order configuration for a SSD and traditional HDD combination in an iMac, rather than have just a SSD as an option. This configuration allows one to install OS X and all apps onto the SSD and use the HDD for data. Having the OS and apps on the SSD will basically result in super speeding up boot times, application launch times, system response times, and the such, you get what I mean here. Basically it gives you a feeling of a much faster system than you actually own.
4. And that finally Apple probably has to switch to Core i3/i5/i7 series for their 13-inchers, for the Core 2 Duo chips will be out of production soon (or already is).
Macrumors (sourcing from Macgeneration, a french site) released the following rumored specs and info about the new MacBook Pro earlier today;
– no more white MacBook (Apple goes back to two lines of 13″ inchers)
– 16 GB SSD mSATA drives on all models to store the system
– Core i3 and third USB port on the 13″ model
– Matte screen option on the higher-end 13″
– Option to replace the SuperDrive with a SSD on the 15 and 17″ models
– HD screens on all models : 1440×900 on the 13″, 1680×1050 on the 15″
– 200 to 300 grams lighter : 1.8 kg for the 13″, 2.3 kg for the 15″, 2.65 kg for the 17″
– Better battery life : 12 hours on the 13″, 10 hours on the 15″
– 8 GB of RAM on the 17″
This seem to fit in with much of the changes in design philosophy brought about by the updated MacBook Air and the iMac refresh, for it makes use of 16GB of SSD for the system to basically boost overall system response speeds. Core i3 for the 13″ MacBook Pro makes complete sense with Sandy Bridge being good enough. Though personally I’m still hoping for some kind of miracle where Apple will put in a more decent-than-stock integrated/dedicated graphics on the 13″ MacBook Pro.
Matte screen options for the 13″ will finally appease the bunch of silly users who keep insisting that matte screens are better (when they are not) and who had to buy the 15″ because there wasn’t a matte screen option for the 13″, until now.
The screen resolution change isn’t a surprise, Apple switched the resolution starting from the updated 13″ MacBook Air last year, and it makes no business sense for them to keep using a lower resolution screen for the MacBook Pro lines.
And really, besides the introduction of SSD in every model and the increase of screen resolution, the most important part must be the decrease in weight of the whole MacBook Pro lines. With the unibody series the MacBook Pro line was already almost some of the lightest notebooks in its categories (all the more cool when you realised that competitors are achieving comparable weight using cheap filmsy lightweight plastic that breaks when you knock your laptop against your knee). If the 1.8kg weight for the 13″ MacBook Pro is real, there is just simply going to be no competition.
I am really excited, shouldn’t you be too? Especially you, you, you, you, you, you, and you, since you are already planning to buy your first Mac in the next two months.
This is really exciting.
P.S. And then there’s Light Peak. Shall not comment on it until we see it tomorrow.
P.S. again. It seems that new last minute-rumors have appeared to dispel some of the more cooler rumors including case redesigns and weight reduction. Check it out here. If true, will be much less ambitious and exciting than originally hoped for.
P.S., yet again. Cool my arse. The rumor mill could have never been more wrong. The 13″ers are totally lousier upgrades compared to the previous generation, which has better graphics and longer battery life (10 hours vs the current 7 hours)
First Post of 2011 – MacRyu’s iMac Setup 2011
Almost five years ago, I posted my iMac setup (basically the stuff that’s on my work desk 90% of the time) on flickr. Since that time, components of that 2007 setup have changed, items have been removed and added, well, mostly added (thus a much messier table), and for the first post of 2011, I thought I’ll post some photos of my current work desk setup.
Here is the original September 2007 MacRyu iMac Setup.
And here are the January 2011 MacRyu iMac Setup photos……
MacBook and MacBook Pro pricings are now at their lowest in their entire history in Singapore. Cheapest MacBooks and MacBook Pros ever!
With the release of the latest MacBook (the white one, in case some of you still can’t tell the differences between the MacBook and the MacBook Pro lines), the prices for the MacBooks and the MacBook Pros are officially at their lowest for as long as I could remember.
Mac booth at NUS laptop sales attracts sales personnel from Acer, Fujitsu, Toshiba
Reporting live from the NUS laptop sales at NUS Multi-Purpose Sports Hall 1, the Mac booth has attracted, among the many Mac faithful and new switchers, the sales personnel from other booths, with some of them essentially pledging their interest to purchase a brand new Mac with, ironically, possibly their paycheck earn from the sales of Acer, Fujitsu and Toshiba laptops.
Edited: Lenovo staff’s photo added as well.
