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Apple Introduces $999 iMac For Educational Institutions

We reported a few hours ago on reports that Apple was set to launch a new iMac model for educational institutions later this month for a sub-$1000 price. Surprisingly we only needed to wait a few more hours for this new model as it turns out that Apple has decided to launch this new educational iMac today — meaning that for educational institutions they can purchase this new iMac model now.

This new iMac model is available for $999 and is directly targeted at educational institutions — individuals are not able to purchase this model. The specifications of this new iMac model are in line with what was stated in the 9to5 Mac report this morning with a 3.1GHz Core i3 processor, 2 GB RAM, 250 GB of hard drive storage and an AMD HD 6750 with 512 MB. This knowledge base article contains all the specifications of this new iMac but interestingly this model (which is dubbed a ‘Late 2011’ iMac) does not have Thunderbolt, that makes this iMac the first new Mac from Apple in 2011 that doesn’t support Thunderbolt.

  • 3.1GHz Intel Core i3 Dual-Core
  • 21.5-inch LCD
  • AMD Radeon HD 6750 with 256 MB
  • 2GB RAM
  • 250GB Hard Drive
  • SuperDrive
  • OS X Lion

Updated to include link to specifications page.

[Via MacRumors]

UK Carrier Orange Teams Up With Apple, Offers Customers 1 Free Movie Rental Per Week

European mobile carrier Orange today launched a new “Film To Go” service in the UK which now allows its customers to rent one free movie per week from the iTunes Movie store. Each week a new movie will be available for Orange customers and will be downloadable on the Thursday - this week the movie is ‘My Blueberry Nights’ and in the following weeks ‘The Wrestler’, ‘The Ghost’ and ‘Che: Part One’ will be offered.

To get the free movie rental, Orange customers in the UK will need to send a text message with “FILMTOGO” (no quotes) to 85060 and they will receive a redemption code — beware however that whilst renting the movie is free, this text message will cost 35 pence. The received code is a standard redemption code for iTunes and once entered will allow Orange customers to download the movie (although this can only occur on the Thursday), once downloaded the rental abides by the standard restrictions where it is available for 30 days but once started must be completed within 48 hours before it expires.

[Via The Next Web]

Apple Set To Introduce Education-Focused iMac Model For Less Than $1000?

Apple may be preparing to launch an education-focused iMac later this month according to a report in 9to5 Mac today. The “new” iMac would be less powerful than the current generation of iMacs available to consumers but would be priced at a lower level that is geared towards volume and educational customers.

9to5 Mac claims that this ‘education’ iMac will include a previous generation 3.1GHz dual core processor, 2 GB of RAM, 250 GB of hard drive storage and an AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics processor with 256 MB dedicated memory — the article doesn’t rule in or rule out the inclusion of a Thunderbolt port. No price is attributed to this machine in the article but they suspect it would be sub-$1000 and cite the example of a previous education-focused iMac being sold for $899 and a similar refurbished model selling for $929 now.

This ‘education’ iMac is expected to silently launch on August 16th, but there is potential for that date to change if Apple wishes — there isn’t any real rush to get this product out as soon as possible. Whilst this rumoured new iMac model is a bit odd and out of the blue, the specificity that 9to5 Mac has in terms of specifications (despite the lack of a concrete price) suggests that it is likely that this is indeed a product about to launch.

[Via 9to5 Mac]

MobileMe to iCloud Transition Goes Live for Developers

As first noted by 9to5mac, Apple is now allowing developers with access to the iOS 5 beta or OS X Lion 10.7.2 preview to migrate their existing MobileMe accounts to iCloud. A MobileMe account needs to be associated with a development device to be correctly transitioned to iCloud for now – once an account is eligible, the migration process can be initiated from OS X Lion (from the MobileMe control panel) or by directly visiting me.com/move.

As Apple previously detailed in its MobileMe to iCloud Transition Q&A, some functionalities of MobileMe won’t transfer over to iCloud. This includes MobileMe Gallery, iDisk and iWeb publishing, which, however, will still be accessible until June 30, 2012, even after moving to iCloud. Another feature that iCloud won’t include is the ability of syncing several Mac OS X items like Dashboard widgets, Preferences, and Mail Rules.

Apple’s web interface for the transition is very straightforward and guides you through the process of moving your MobileMe account to iCloud by detailing each step with an explanation, and links pointing to support articles.

Once upgraded, an already configured MobileMe account on iOS or OS X will need to manually “confirmed” before completely moving to iCloud. If the account isn’t already configured, you’ll just need to log in as a new iCloud account and choose which content you’d like to keep stored on Apple’s servers.

The process is now exclusive to developers and there’s the chance Apple will tweak the interface/steps required before the public release of iCloud. However, the information available today falls in line with what Apple revealed months ago about the transition. Furthermore, it appears MobileMe accounts will be automatically upgraded to a paid 20 GB plan for free until June 30, 2012, (with pricing depending on where you live, and the 20 GBs are in addition to the 5 GBs iCloud already gives you for free) although there are no subscription management options available yet to developers on iCloud.com. Read more

13-inch MacBook Air Review

The new MacBook Air is the best Mac I’ve ever owned. This machine is shaping the future of OS X, both as an operating system and a bridge between iOS and the desktop.

In October 2008, I bought my first Mac. I had been a Windows PC user for seven years, and I was accustomed to using a PC at home for my browsing and writing needs, and at work – where my boss demanded we used PCs as he said they were more “reliable” and “fast”. After months of reading and peeking through Apple’s FAQ pages and video tutorials, I decided to buy a MacBook Pro. It was a 15-inch Unibody model with glossy screen, 4 GB of RAM, multi-touch trackpad, and Core 2 Duo processor. Back then, it was my first Mac but also the best computer I ever had. The moment I took it out of the box – and I was immediately impressed by Apple’s attention to detail in packaging and overall presentation – I knew that machine was going to change the way I “did work” on a computer. And it did. A few months later my boss fired me, and I started MacStories.

That MacBook Pro has been with me until last week.

Last year, I bought an iMac. Being the kind of Mac user that travels back and forth every day between his office (where I spend most of my day writing and managing the site) and his home, I was tired of being constantly forced to pack my MacBook Pro inside a bag, carry it around, gently place it on the passenger seat of my car, and pray that the hard drive wouldn’t die because of the terrible roads we have here in Viterbo. In spite of the fact that the MacBook Pro was the best computer I ever had, I slowly came to a point where I couldn’t stand carrying it around anymore. I decided to buy an iMac and make it my “home computer” so that I could offload media on it, backup documents, and do all those other things you’re supposed to do on “a home computer”. I bought a 21.5-inch model – again with a glossy screen – as I thought I wouldn’t ever need anything bigger than that. I was right. I’m happy with my purchase – the iMac is the finest piece of desktop hardware Apple has come up with in the past decade. Sure, my 2009 iMac doesn’t feature a Thunderbolt port and won’t get the performance boost of a Sandy Bridge-enabled machine, but it’s a trusted companion that I plan to keep for at least the next two years (that is, unless something really bad happens to the hardware, or Apple comes out with a desktop computer so revolutionary that it’ll be impossible to say no and don’t buy it).

For me, an iMac is the perfect desktop computer. It sits there, it makes my desk more elegant and classy than it could ever be, and more importantly it never failed me.

But I still had a problem with the MacBook Pro being a clumsy machine I didn’t want to carry around with me all the time. Read more

Latest Chrome Canary Build Has Fullscreen for Lion Built In

Want native Lion support in Google Chrome? The fast updating browser has an early Canary build out with native Lion support, including native fullscreen mode you’ve always wanted. Sure you can use fullscreen right now in Chrome, but it overtakes your current desktop and doesn’t show up as a fullscreen app in Mission Control. With native integration on its way, we’ve got plenty of screenshots past the break.

Read more

Apple Cracking Down on Developers Selling Device Slots for iOS 5

With plenty of free slots left after registering their own UDIDs, some “developers” whom pay the $99 fee for early access are selling off the additional spaces to make a quick profit from non-developers or users whom seek to get into the program at a discount, or to play with the iOS 5 betas early. With so many non-developers having early access, and Apple generally being quiet about NDA breakage, AppleInsider reports that Apple is specifically targeting these “crooks”, shutting down developers who sold their excess slots by closing their accounts (and sending devs a cease and desist via email). Apple is also going as far as flagging UDIDs associated with these accounts, and locking down the iOS devices to render them unusable.

“Once Apple locks your iOS device, the phone will enter the initial setup mode asking you to connect to a WiFi network,” the report said. “And nothing happens more than that.”

AppleInsider points out that websites have grown up around Apple’s developer program, allowing users to use PayPal to sign up for one of the empty slots to get their devices registered. Only developers are supposed to have access to the beta, with the public having access to iOS 5 with a final release this fall.

[KatharikK.net via AppleInsider]

Change the Launchpad Folder Background Image in Mac OS X 10.7 Lion→

Change the Launchpad Folder Background Image in Mac OS X 10.7 Lion

Tired of the linen background image of folders in Launchpad? You can easily change it to anything you want with this simple walkthrough…. you have to use a PNG file, so find one that you want as the new Launchpad folder background image.

Remember when we pointed you to a nine step process that taught you how to change your Dashboard and Mission Control backgrounds? You can even change the background of your Launchpad wallpaper thanks to OS X Daily, whom ask that you prepare a PNG (hopefully one that tiles nicely) before walking through the five required steps. You’re basically just swapping out an image with another image via the Finder, which makes backing up the resource you’re replacing pretty easy. I’d create a backup folder in your user folder before making any changes — that way you have all of the old resources in one rememberable location.

To get started, how about checking out this awesome pattern by Jeff Broderick?

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