Macworld July 2014

Apple has only “60 days left to either come up with [an iWatch] or they will disappear,” analyst Trip Chowdhry told CNBC in March. The company “will become a zombie if they don’t come up with an iWatch,” he predicted. It’s easy to point and laugh, because what this analyst said was stupid. But it’s also worthwhile to think about why people who make such proclamations regarding Apple (and the tech industry as a whole) are so clueless. Reason number one: People want to be entertained. For the past few years, the tech industry has been supremely entertaining. New products, even new product categories, that change the way we live? Especially exciting. The iPod, iPhone, and iPad have definitely been so. Steve Jobs was a master of converting the slow,…

Recently I struggled with a distinctly first-world problem: I had too many computers. There was my main iMac, which I loved. There was my “power” laptop, a mid-2010 15-inch MacBook Pro (with a 1680-by-1050-pixel display and a recently installed 750GB SSD), which I loved. And there was my “light” laptop, a mid-2012 11-inch MacBook Air, which I loved (and which replaced an older 11-inch Air). So what was the problem? I didn’t travel often enough to justify owning two laptops. Generally I took the Pro when I needed the extra screen space and the more powerful (or so I thought) CPU; otherwise, I took the Air. But then I also had to remember which one held the files I required for each trip. It was a horrid setup, and it…

Thunderbolt is both fast and flexible. While the original version is capable of bidirectional throughput at 10 gigabits per second on each of its dual channels, Thunderbolt 2 can reach a maximum of 20 gbps on a combined channel. The technology can transport PCIe, USB 3.0, FireWire, Mini DisplayPort, and gigabit ethernet data. And that’s not all: You can daisy-chain up to six compatible devices on each Thunderbolt port on your Mac. With six available Thunderbolt 2 ports on the new Mac Pro, that adds up to a plethora of peripherals. In Mavericks, Apple added the ability to create a 10-gbps connection between Macs via IP over Thunderbolt. Considering that Intel is planning to bring the same functionality to Windows computers for the first time (see page 13), Macworld Lab…

AT THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of Broadcasters trade show held in early April, Intel revealed that Thunderbolt Networking would expand to allow direct connections between Macs and PCs. Owners of Thunderbolt-equipped Macs already have Thunderbolt Networking available to them, as Apple added that capability with the release of Mavericks. To take advantage of Thunderbolt Networking on a Mac and a PC, the user must install a PC software driver. Intel has not announced the availability of the PC driver at this writing, but the company was performing demonstrations in its booth at the NAB show. In a Technology@Intel blog post (go.macworld.com/inteltbolt), Dan Snyder, the company’s technical PR manager, said that Thunderbolt Networking’s performance is comparable to that of 10-gigabit ethernet. “By offering simple and fast file-sharing, Thunderbolt Networking enables backup or…

If Yukari Iwatani Kane’s Haunted Empire teaches us anything, it’s that a dogged newspaper reporter who wants to write a book about Apple needs a narrative hook. In Kane’s case, Apple is now an empire that is haunted by its departed emperor, Steve Jobs, and is crumbling before our eyes. The book pounds that premise endlessly. Apple’s foundation, Kane writes at one point, is “a cult built around a dead man.” It’s a shame, because inside Haunted Empire she offers some solid reporting, most notably a detailed description of Apple’s manufacturing processes based on interviews with Chinese factory workers. Kane’s summary of Apple’s recent legal issues is good too, as are the biographical sections about the key players at post-Jobs Apple. But elsewhere the book shows a writer trying too…

When you’re shopping for a portable drive, you need to keep a few things in mind. First, portable drives rarely offer data redundancy, so don’t expect to store sensitive or irreplaceable files on one (or at least plan to back up that data). Determine how you’ll use the drive, too, and evaluate whether you need superb speed or massive capacity. Of course, there’s also the expense to think about; to compare costs across different storage capacities, calculate the price per gigabyte. Other considerations: A bus-powered drive operates on power from its data connection, so you don’t need to carry around a bulky power brick. A reliable manufacturer is a significant bonus, as well, and don’t forget about the product’s warranty—drives do fail, and sometimes you get stuck with a lemon.…