Appletell | Apple, Mac, iPhone, iPod | News, Rumors, Reviews, How-Tos

iMacs have always been the cheapest way to get a full-powered machine from Apple. Any cheaper, and you have a MacBook with an integrated graphics card, or a Mac mini, with a generally inferior everything. But with this recent Apple desktop update, Apple has evened the playing field at all price points, something that more than a few customers may be annoyed about.

MORE »

As you likely know by now, Apple has quietly changed its wired keyboard so that it no longer includes a number pad. One with a number pad can be swapped out if you buy online. In store, though, is a different story. An Apple representative told me that in store purchases will come with the standard (no numbers) wired keyboard. This isn’t unexpected, as order customization has never been available at Apple Stores if you buy a computer “off the shelf.” The logic behind the change, though, is not really there.

MORE »

When the app store was first born, there were quite a few great free applications. Facebook, AIM, and especially Aurora Feint all come to mind. But now the free apps on the App Store are mainly “Lite” versions of paid applications. Sure, it’s a smart move financially, but does it always make sense, and is it always necessary?

MORE »

Apple currently ships a ton of full-fledged programs with Mac OS X. Safari, Mail, iChat, Address Book, and iCal are all great examples. As the operating system paradigm shifts, though, I think Apple could be the one to pull these apps all together into one really useful application that many people would rarely ever leave.

MORE »

On Tuesday, I released a list of the 8 principal things wrong with the Safari 4 interface from a usability standpoint. Today, I’m going to outline six fixes that would make me love Safari 4, and that I feel solve all the issues.

MORE »

With Safari 4, Apple apparently got over its “let’s bring Mac OS X style windows into a Windows environment” mentality, and has done a really great job making Safari 4 fit in with the environment in which it is installed. Oddly enough, it seems as though they designed the new Safari 4 interface for Windows, and then applied the exact same design to the Mac version. What you see above is the Fail Diagram, explained below. Most are more design complaints than things that may actually cause a large usability issue, but they are things that a design-oriented company such as Apple should have noted. Feel free to check things out for yourself with your own copy of Safari 4.

MORE »

I’m sitting here, typing away at this article in Firefox. I currently have Mail, iChat, and Twitterriffic open. They are all connected to the internet. Oh, there’s a new batch of tweets! And a new mail message! And in comes a new chat with a link to a funny video. Let’s check it out! Up pops Safari, tries to load the page, chokes, and dies with a pathetic message that it can’t find the server. Did I mention I was writing this in Firefox? Because I am. This is the story of how Safari 4 completely screwed over Webkit on my Mac.

I downloaded Safari 4 at about 3:45 today. I downloaded it using Safari 3. I installed Safari 4, and restarted. Eager to try out Safari 4, I opened it… and got the message you see at the top of this article. Okay, I thought, maybe there’s a little network communication issue. I quit Safari and re-open, to see the same message displayed again. Alrighty, I think, let’s turn off Airport and restart it. Still that same message. I reinstall Safari 4. Still. The. Same. Message.

Now angry at Safari 4, I quit, and whip out the uninstaller. After a restart, I fire up Safari 3, which the installer has restored, ready to start ranting on the ordeal. Guess what greets me? That’s right. The same message. Switching to Firefox now, which is connected just fine and dandy, I offhandedly check NetNewsWire for new RSS. Hey! NetNewsWire isn’t connecting! Fan-freakin-tastic. Safari 4 has caused a system-wide block between WebKit and the internet. Safari, NetNewsWire, Webkit nightlies, Stainless (a Google Chrome-like browser), Software Update, and more have all ceased to be able to communicate with the outside world.

I’m sure these results aren’t typical, but the fact that this could happen in a public beta is more than annoying to me. Does anyone have any similar stories? (And maybe a solution?) Sound off in the comments below.

• Save as Web Application still a planned feature for Safari 4 (Mac)
• Safari 4 is watching you, and never forgets
• UPDATE: No promo codes for apps with a 17+ rating. Really, Apple?

Regardless of whether the Mac mini that has been popping up in pictures and video is the real deal “2009 Edition” or not (my bet: not), a key point many are making to prove it is fake actually makes sense: the two video out ports, one DisplayPort and one mini-DVI.

MORE »

By now, we’ve all seen the photos and video of the “Mac mini 2009 Edition” and, well…excuse me while I fall asleep. Five USB ports seems to be all there is to see on this bad boy, and the case design doesn’t look upgraded one bit, except for a slightly more rounded top edge. Are we seriously to believe that Apple would not continue its gray and black aluminum and glass material scheme? For a moment, though, let’s assume this is totally genuine…

MORE »

Many of the apps on the iPhone are clients for websites. Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Yahoo!, Google, the list goes on and on. What’s great about these applications is that no data is stored on the iPhone, it’s all synced up to “the cloud.” When you move to your computer or another device, all your changes are already there. Would there be a market for such apps on the computer in general?

MORE »