Apple Toolbox

If you’ve recently received an Apple notebook as a gift or just want to know how to configure you Mac’s trackpad, read on! Multi-touch trackpads are one of Apple’s flagship features on the latest MacBook Airs and Pros. This is because they add a ton of functionality to OS X Lion as well as other [...]

According to Digital Daily, the Macbook Air could become a 2.2 billion dollar revenue maker for Apple. And we are not talking over several years, we are talking 2.2 billion A year! How crazy is that? To think a Mac that started off so poorly and with such little fanfare, to turn it around and [...]

If you have a non-Unibody MacBook Pro, and it suddenly starts to make an odd grinding noise, there are a number of possible explanations. The most obvious choice, especially if the noise occurs when the computer is working very hard, is the hard drive. Hard drives fail for many reasons, and once the failure begins, [...]

Some users have reported shorter battery life from MacBooks and MacBook Pros after the update to Mac OS X 10.6.6. Fixes Reset SMC. Some users have reported that resetting the Mac’s SMC (system management controller) at least temporarily resolves this issue. Calibrate. Note that new batteries may need to be calibrated before they will hold a [...]

Some users have reported an issue in which MacBook and MacBook Pro trackpads, and the Magic Trackpad, appear to become stuck in “clicked” mode. Users experiencing this problem may accidentally highlight text, drag items or perform other activities. This issue may occur after the trackpad software update or the Mac OS X 10.6.4 update. Potential [...]

Apple has released Magic Trackpad and Multi-Touch Trackpad Update 1.0. Release notes state that the update: “includes the required software to use Magic Trackpad. The update also installs the three-finger drag gesture and inertial scrolling for Mac portable computers, as listed below. This update also installs a Trackpad System Preferences pane for configuring Magic Trackpad on [...]

Late last week we noted that Apple had released a Boot Camp Update for 2010 13-inch MacBook Pro, but the download links were broken soon after release. The update has now been officially posted, and appears on Apple’s software download page. Apple says the update: “addresses an issue that may cause the Boot Camp Control [...]

Some users have reported an issue in which, after the update to Mac OS X 10.6.3, MacBook screens fail to power on the LCD backlight. This results in a faint, dim, barely visible image on the screen. Fixes Sleep corner. James Wang notes a workaround that allows recovery from the backlight failure, as follows: Set [...]

Users of mid-2010 MacBook Pros continue to experience frequent stalls/hangs, accompanied by the spinning beach ball progress indicator, under varying conditions (previously noted here). The problem appears to be hard drive-related, and occurs most frequently with the standard 320 GB 5400 RPM drive, but is also occurring with the 5400 500GB and 7200 500GB drives. [...]

Some users have reported much-shorter-than-advertised battery life from brand new MacBook Pros,  including the mid-2010 MacBook Pros and just-released MacBook. Although real-world battery life often falls far short of manufacturer claims, several users are reporting battery life that is half or less of that indicated by some tests under similar usage conditions. These users are experience battery [...]