Apple Performance Update 1.0: No more spinning beachball of death?

I have been infrequently getting the annoying spinning rainbow beachball of death on my 13" MacBook Pro with Snow Leopard, most noticeably while using Safari 4. It almost seemed as if the hard drive was failing, but after each pause everything was fine, and Disk Utility showed no problem with the drive. I then thought it was Snow Leopard itself, but it turns out it may be caused by hard drive pauses associated with Apple's latest Macs. This is hopefully corrected with the Apple Performance Update 1.0:

This update addresses intermittent hard drive related pauses reported by a small number of customers.

Products Affected
MacBook Air (Mid 2009), MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2009), MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2009), MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009), MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2.53GHz, Mid 2009), iMac (20-inch, Mid 2009), MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009), MacBook (13-inch, Early 2009), MacBook (13-inch, Mid 2009), MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008), MacBook Air (Late 2008), MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2008), iMac (24-inch, Early 2009), iMac (20-inch, Early 2009), Mac mini (Early 2009)

I've had it with Apple Bluetooth products

Given that the Apple Mighty Mouse's scroll ball has a nasty habit of not functioning properly after just limited usage, it has gotten a well deserved bad reputation. Even the cheap throwaway mice I get at the hole-in-the-wall PC shop in the $5 surplus bin never suffer this problem, yet Apple's pricey Bluetooth mouse does.

But that's not the worst of it. What's even worse is when the batteries in the mouse (or keyboard) die. Put in new batteries, and... nothing. Half the time the computer refuses to recognizes the mouse (or keyboard). Turning it off and on again helps once in a while, but the only really consistent ways to get the computer to re-recognize the mouse (or keyboard) is to reboot, or to manually set it up again from the Bluetooth preference pane. Very, very irritating. What about not letting the batteries die? Doesn't help. If you swap out the battery it's the same effect. Reboot may be necessary.

So lately I've just taken to putting my Bluetooth keyboard in the cupboard, and using a wired keyboard. As for the mouse, I've still been struggling with the Mighty Mouse, but won't get another one with my next iMac. Even if they introduce a brand new multi-touch mouse, they'll have to do some serious marketing to win me over if it's Bluetooth. The proof is in the pudding, and so far Apple's Bluetooth pudding is pretty rotten.

However, if they offered a wired multi-touch mouse, maybe I'd get that instead. Or perhaps a Microsoft RF mouse. Wireless, without all the Bluetooth headaches.

Intel L3426 = Quad-core Xeon iMac?

Intel released a curious new CPU a few weeks ago. It's a Xeon, a chip class usually reserved for high-powered workstations (including the Mac Pro) and servers, yet this chip is quite different than the usual Xeons. Dubbed L3426, it is a relatively inexpensive 64-bit low-clocked (1.86 GHz) quad-core Lynnfield CPU, with a TDP of only 45 Watts, which makes it very interesting for consumer Mac fans.

The reasonably low TDP makes a quad-core Xeon iMac a distinct possibility for the next iMac release. This would seem to support previous Xeon iMac rumours. While 1.86 GHz seems slow, this chip class is actually very, very fast on a per-clock basis, and furthermore, it can rev the clock speed up to 3.2 GHz using Intel's Turbo Boost technology when its multiple cores are not being efficiently utilized. In addition, the Xeon L3426 supports Hyper-Threading, like all the Xeon 3000 series processors. This further differentiates it from Intel's consumer class Core i5 CPUs, which do not support HT.

Alternatively, if Apple wants to put quad-core into the iMac, it can use Intel's Clarksfield Core i7 Mobile class of processors. These chips have the same 45 Watt TDP and are quite similar to Xeon L3426, but are somewhat slower clocked, yet still remain very, very fast. In fact, it is possible that Apple will use Core i7 for low-end (1.60/2.80 GHz) and mid-end (1.73/3.06 GHz) iMacs, and Xeon L3426 for the top-of-the-line (1.86/3.20 GHz) iMac model, although ironically the reported Xeon L3426 pricing is cheaper than the Core i7 Mobile chips. Whether or not it is truly cheaper, the take home message is that Xeon L3426 isn't prohibitively expensive for consumer Macs.

There is also Core i7 Mobile Extreme which is faster clocked than Xeon L3426, but that chip has a higher TDP, which makes it less attractive for use in near-silent all-in-one iMacs.

Telus and Bell Canada to get the iPhone

In just a few short weeks, the two Canadian CDMA providers Bell and Telus will get the iPhone. How is this possible? Well, it turns out the two companies have been building an HSPA network together to access all the cool phones and to get in on that lucrative foreign roaming action.

BTW, at one point Telus try to buy out Fido's GSM network, but then Rogers outbid them and incorporated Fido into Rogers, thereby creating a GSM monopoly in Canada. It was disappointing to say the least. It's about time we get some 3GSM competition around here.

Video head to head: iPod nano vs Canon 5D II

This is a ridiculous comparison of course, but nonetheless it's worth a glance just for fun. Here is the new video-enabled iPod nano vs. the well-respected Canon EOS 5D Mark II digital SLR.

No ISO 6400 or rack focus rig on the iPod nano unfortunately. ;) By the way, with the EF 35 f/1.4L lens and Compact Flash card, the 5D Mark II goes for the bargain basement price of about US$4200.

HDTV resolutions well supported in Snow Leopard

It took Apple long enough, but HD TV resolutions are finally well supported in Mac OS X. Here is a screengrab of my 13" MacBook Pro supplying 1920x1080i to my Panasonic PT-AX200U home theatre projector, in 10.6 Leopard.