Apple is replacing USB-C cables that shipped with early MacBooks
If you were an early adopter of Apple’s slimmed-down MacBook, then this may apply to you. According to the company, a “limited number” of laptops sold between its launch in April of 2015 and June 2015 have USB-C cables that could fail due to an unspecified “design issue.” You can identify the faulty cables that need replacing by reading the label, which says “Designed by Apple in California. Assembled in China.” without a serial number after that. The MacBook was one of the first devices to support the new standard when it arrived last year, and since then we’ve come to learn that finding quality cables is both harder and more important than ever.
Registered owners and those who provided an address during checkout should receive a new cable by the end of the month, all others can kick off the replacement process by contacting visiting a Genius Bar/authorized repair center or contacting Apple directly. Of course, if you think you’ve already had to buy a new cable after a failure due to this issue, you should contact Apple about a refund. Of course, if Apple wants to avoid any future issues they should probably just stick to Benson-certified connectors, it’s what we do.
Via: MacRumors
Source: Apple
Best Buy Sales Event Includes $300 Off Retina MacBook, $125 Off iPad Air 2, and More
Best Buy today introduced a new deal into its Apple-centric “Holiday Event,” giving customers the chance to get $300 off of the entry-level Retina Macbook, along with free two-day shipping for last minute holiday shoppers.
Originally priced at $1,299, the deal reduces the new Gold, Silver, and Space Gray MacBook to $999, rivaling that of the entry model 13-inch MacBook Air. College students also have the opportunity to get the MacBook as low as $949, thanks to a $50 student discount offered when ordering either a MacBook or an iMac. The $1,599 version of the 12-inch MacBook, with increased flash storage, isn’t available in Best Buy’s current sale.
The Apple Holiday Event began earlier in December at Best Buy, and all of its deals are still running in the lead-up to Christmas. When activating on a two-year contract, the retailer is offering the 16GB versions of the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus for $1 and $99.99, respectively. The iPad Air 2 has been cut by $125 for both cellular and Wi-Fi only options. A similar deal is running for the iPad mini 4, which has been reduced by $100 on each of its versions. The Apple Watch is also still available at a $100 discount.
Discuss this article in our forums
Best Buy Sales Event Includes $300 Off Retina MacBook, $125 Off iPad Air 2, and More
Best Buy today introduced a new deal into its Apple-centric “Holiday Event,” giving customers the chance to get $300 off of the entry-level Retina Macbook, along with free two-day shipping for last minute holiday shoppers.
Originally priced at $1,299, the deal reduces the new Gold, Silver, and Space Gray MacBook to $999, rivaling that of the entry model 13-inch MacBook Air. College students also have the opportunity to get the MacBook as low as $949, thanks to a $50 student discount offered when ordering either a MacBook or an iMac. The $1,599 version of the 12-inch MacBook, with increased flash storage, isn’t available in Best Buy’s current sale.
The Apple Holiday Event began earlier in December at Best Buy, and all of its deals are still running in the lead-up to Christmas. When activating on a two-year contract, the retailer is offering the 16GB versions of the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus for $1 and $99.99, respectively. The iPad Air 2 has been cut by $125 for both cellular and Wi-Fi only options. A similar deal is running for the iPad mini 4, which has been reduced by $100 on each of its versions. The Apple Watch is also still available at a $100 discount.
Discuss this article in our forums
My Nexus 6P looks better than yours thanks to my dbrand copper skin
dbrand seriously hooked me up with some sweet skins for my Nexus 5X and 6P. Many of you tech enthusiasts are similar to the writers here at AndroidGuys, in that you love your devices and want to make sure they look good too. Looks are becoming more important as we grow more attached to our devices.
A great way to prevent scratches, cover up existing scratches and to completely customize the look of your smartphone is to use a skin from dbrand. Yesterday I wrote about a gorgeous carbon fiber skin that I put on my Nexus 5X that looks awesome. dbrand sent me a carbon fiber skin for my Nexus 6P as well, but I didn’t want to give you guys the same look. Instead I went with the brushed copper skin with a cutout for the X in Nexus.
Nexus 6P in copper and the Nexus 5X in carbon fiber.
Design
With the Nexus 5X skin dbrand I was most impressed with the high-quality materials. Those high-quality materials are sourced from 3M, and dbrand guarantees its products meet the highest standards. dbrand also make precision a primary feature, and I can say the skins I have used are so perfectly cut, that they must have been cut with space age lasers. The cutout for the microphone and fingerprint reader on the back of the Nexus 6P are so perfect that it looks like my phone was made from copper straight from the factory. The proof is in the images below.
Our Variety, Your Choice (from the dbrand website)
Installation
Installation is so easy even I could do it without making a mistake. And that really speaks volumes because I am far from a perfectionist. I typically rush through projects like this, and dbrand was ready for my shaky hands. After installing the Nexus 5X skin, the Nexus 6P installation took me all of five minutes.
1. Get a hair dryer or heat gun and pull out your skin materials.
2. Wipe your Nexus 6P to remove oil and dust.
3. Install the top portion of the skin first by aligning the microphone cutout and fingerprint reader. No extra metal from the Nexus 6P should show.
4. After completing the bottom installation and wiping down the edges with the included cloth, the X is ready for its inserts. Yellow goes on the bottom left, blue top left, red top right and green on the bottom right. You could make your X all green, blue, red, or yellow as dbrand does provide you with four of each color for the X.
Complete. Time to show off my one and only copper Nexus 6P.
Even C3PO is awestruck.
Summary
The look and feel of my Nexus 6P has dramatically changed for the better, all for less than $12. dbrand’s skins are unique, great looking, reasonably priced and easy to install. It makes my wonder why manufacturers of smartphones just don’t offer skins direct since customers do love choice. Many of us really are tired of the same old gold, silver, white and black colors that our smartphones come in.
As you can see from the images above, the skins on both the Nexus 5X and the Nexus 6P are so perfectly cut that they look like they came in actual carbon fiber and copper from the assembly lines. I was even stopped by three people today, while I was out, asking what phone I was using because they had never seen a copper phone before. I love the skins from dbrand as they do protect my all metal Nexus 6P from scratches, and gives it a nicer feel too.
And one last thing, and I really do mean this, if I can install these skins there is no doubt in my mind you can too. My eyes are not quite perfect anymore and my hands are shaky. dbrand offers a huge range of skins so check out their website to see if they have a skin for your device. They even have skins for laptops, smartwatches, tablets and game consoles.
The post My Nexus 6P looks better than yours thanks to my dbrand copper skin appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Apple’s Tim Cook says a converged MacBook and iPad won’t happen
Apple CEO Tim Cook isn’t sold on the Surface, and the company doesn’t plan on bringing together its MacBook or iPad into a single product like Microsoft’s computing device, either. In an interview with the Irish Independent, Cook said: “We feel strongly that customers are not really looking for a converged Mac and iPad.” This follows comments the CEO made in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, where he questioned why anyone would buy a PC — those comments were apparently aimed at Windows PCs, not his company’s own computer range. “We don’t regard Macs and PCs to be the same.”
Via: PhoneArena
Source: Independent.ie
Google engineer takes on subpar USB Type-C cables
Trying to save a few bucks by purchasing offbrand cables? We’ve all done it — but there’s something you should know about new USB Type-C connectors popping up on cellphones (Nexus, OnePlus), laptops (Macbook, Pixel), tablets (Pixel C) and even Apple TV. The reason why they can charge so many devices, is their ability to transmit currents up to 3A, which could be 50 to 100 percent more electricity than older standards. That’s why Google engineer Benson Leung has been putting various USB-C cables sold on Amazon to the test. He worked on both of Google’s recent Pixel devices that use the new cable to charge, and found that many of the cables advertised as Type-C aren’t actually suited for use with the laptop. They might not be wired properly to charge a laptop, or they don’t accurately identify the power source — something that could damage your laptop, USB hub or charger.
Source: Benson Leung (G+), (2), Benson Leung “LaughingMan” (Amazon)
Apple will fix your MacBook’s worn-out display coating
The Retina display on your MacBook or MacBook Pro is supposed to look gorgeous. However, some owners have encountered just the opposite — the screen’s anti-reflective coating is wearing out quickly due to pressure or stains, leaving them with an unsightly laptop (and in some cases, a repair bill). Relief is in sight, though. MacRumors understands that Apple has quietly launched a program that will replace the screens on Retina-equipped MacBook and MacBook Pro models for free until either October 16th, 2016 or three years from when you bought your system, whichever is longer. You’ll get compensation if you’ve already had to pay for a fix. Apple reportedly won’t advertise this program like it does in other cases, but that’s fine as long as it keeps your premium computer looking pristine.
[Image credit: Cody Yuwapun, Change.org]
Source: MacRumors
How to Recover Deleted files on Mac
You are working on your project when all of a sudden, the system crash. When you managed to boot up your machine, you find that certain files have went missing and you panic. Is there a free data recovery Mac solution that can be used to recover deleted files and photos for Mac?
Well don’t worry, as here comes EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free 9.1 to the rescue. It is the most powerful yet easy-to-use free data recovery mac software to help you to recover deleted pictures and photos for Mac. Not only that, it can also recover all of your videos, documents, emails, audio, folders and more from your Mac computer, digital device or storage media. It can be used to completely recover lost data due to formatting, virus attack, software crash, OS problems, improper operation or for any other unknown reasons.
All you need to do is follow the below step-by-step guide to start using this data recovery solution.
- To get started, all you need to do is to download at its official website as per this link here. Once the download finish, proceed to install and launch it accordingly.
- Next, it allows you to specify which file types that you wish to recover. You can choose from Graphics, Document, Audio, Video, Email, Archive and Other. By default it selects everything but if you can be more specific, it will give you a more precise result in a shorter time.
- Once that is done, select the location that you want this free data recovery Mac to scan. You should be able to see all of your connected devices on display. By choosing to scan the specific location, you will save lots of precious time for the scanning process to complete.
- The scan should be completed in just a few minutes and all of the recoverable files will be shown. This is where you can Preview, Recover and Save the files. For example you want to recover deleted pictures and photos for Mac, you should be able to view the thumbnail of the image file. This will allow you to easily confirm which files you want to proceed with the recovery.
With a very easy wizard and step-by-step guide, you can see why EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free 9.1 is hugely popular and is definitely one of the best free data recovery Mac. You have nothing to lose by having this application in your machine as it can easily help to recover deleted pictures and photos for Mac.
Samsung SideSync 4.0: Mac support and improved connection speeds
We have been going nuts over the new Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+, but those are not the only things the Korean manufacturer introduced today. The company also announced a new iteration of their SideSync services, taking the software to version 4.0.
If you don’t know what SideSync is, you are missing out. It’s actually one of the biggest reasons why I want to get a Samsung device (even though these are not my favorite). SideSync allows you to link your Samsung smartphone to your computer, creating a seamless connection between these devices. Once connected, you can control your smartphone screen from your PC.
Furthermore, one can even use the phone as a secondary display, as SideSync allows you to drag your cursor from PC to phone. Users ca type on either platform, and even copy/paste content and data. It’s also possible to send text messages and initiate calls from a computer. You can learn more about SideSync features in our original demo post. Or you can watch the video below.
There’s already a bevy of amazing features packed into this awesome software. And though the new updates don’t change the functionality much, they are still quite a big deal. For starters, Samsung is introducing Mac support, which will be a huge deal for all Apple OSX fans. In addition, connection speeds have been improved, making the experience even more seamless than it already is.
We are not exactly sure when the new version will be rolling out, but it was announced along with the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+. These phones are set to be released later this month. Maybe Sidesync 4.0 will be read by then, as well? Let’s hope so!
12-Inch MacBook Now Available in Apple Retail Stores via Personal Pickup
Nearly four months after release, the new 12-inch MacBook is starting to become available for personal pickup in Apple Stores in the United States. Previously, some stores have had sporadic stock for walk-in customers, but it now appears that stock is substantial enough for Apple to offer personal pickup.
The personal pickup option isn’t universal yet however, with only select configurations at select stores being available. For example, the 256 GB Silver MacBook is not available for personal pickup in New York, NY while the 256 GB Space Gray is widely available.
While some Apple Stores and Best Buys have had sporadic stock for walk-ins, most Apple Stores around the world have only had the unit on display. In the MacRumors’ forums, users have been reporting which stores around the world have had the new MacBook on display, whether they were available to purchase or not and how many units they had left in stock.
The MacBook is currently showing shipping estimates of at least 1 – 2 weeks when ordered online. Comparatively, both the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro are showing shipping estimates of at least 1 business day.
Pricing for the 12-inch MacBook starts at $1,299 for the entry-level model with 256 GB of storage while the higher-end model starts at $1,599 with 512 GB of storage and a slightly faster dual-core Intel Core M processor.
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