Mac

After holding off on the release of a faster iPhone because of concerns about battery life, is Apple really prepared to take a step backward with Intel's Silverthorne chip?

AppleInsider reported Friday that Apple has decided to use Intel's upcoming low-power Silverthorne chip in "not one but multiple products currently situated on its 2008 calendar year product roadmap." Silverthorne is Intel's latest push to capture the handheld/mobile phone market as part of a product concept called the Mobile Internet Device.

The report goes on to say that the most likely candidates for Silverthorne are … Read more

It's a good thing the music industry has Mac users, according to The NPD Group.

That's because according to a survey conducted by the market research firm, Mac users are more likely to pay to download music--and buy CDs--than Windows users. "There's still a cultural divide between Apple consumers and the rest of the computing world, and that's especially apparent when it comes to the way they interact with music," said Russ Crupnick, an analyst with NPD, in a press release.

The data says that 50 percent of all Mac users surveyed by NPD … Read more

It's download time again for Mac OS X users, as 31 new security-related fixes for both Tiger and Leopard were made available by Apple Monday afternoon.

The security patches are mostly geared for users of Mac OS X 10.4, known as Tiger, but there's a bunch as well for version 10.5, known as Leopard. They should be automatically pushed to Mac users through the Software Update function, but you can also go to Apple's Web site and download the patches.

A number of serious vulnerabilities, such as ones that could lead to a malicious attack … Read more

Updated 1:55pm with comment from Intuit below.

Mac users who installed an update to their QuickBooks software over the weekend were met with a nasty surprise: missing data.

If you're a user of Intuit's QuickBooks accounting software for small businesses on your Mac, and you haven't installed an update pushed to users over the weekend, don't.

The update caused several Mac users to lose data from their Desktop folders, infuriating many who were hoping to close their books this week for 2007, only to lose valuable purchase orders and spreadsheets. This problem doesn't appear … Read more

A new version of QuickTime is available from Apple that plugs security holes in the software for both Mac and Windows users.

QuickTime 7.3.1 was published Thursday afternoon in order to plug unspecified "security issues," according to Apple's Web site. But the fixes appear to correct the Real Time Streaming Protocol issue identified in late November that could lead to unwanted visitors if you visited a Web site that contained code taking advantage of the flaw.

Four separate patches are available on Apple's site, three for the Mac OS X big cats Panther, Tiger, … Read more

We had a pretty good idea that a new iPhone would be coming in 2008, but what will it look like?

A report from Goldman Sachs Wednesday spotted by AppleInsider doesn't exactly shed much more light on that subject, but says that Apple is gearing up to deliver two new iPhones next year. The first one sounds like it will be just a storage upgrade with more flash memory in the first half of the year, while the second half of the year should bring the long-awaited 3G iPhone, according to the report.

Both Apple CEO Steve Jobs and … Read more

CNET News.com readers almost blew out my inbox Tuesday morning.

I had a pretty good idea it was going to happen, after posting a request in this space from Mac readers for comment on the story I posted today, "Why do Apple customers care so much?" At one point, I received about 50 e-mails in 50 minutes before I had to ask people to stop.

I asked readers to consider a simple question: Why are Mac users so passionate about Apple? And why is that hardcore, unyielding group of Apple users unable to accept any criticism of … Read more

The question inevitably comes up when I meet people and they learn I write about Apple for a living: "So, what's that like?"

I usually answer, "It's crazy." There perhaps has never been a more interesting time to write about Apple and its growing impact on the computer, telecommunications, and music worlds. Unfortunately, it also means that I have to witness (and sometimes join) a daily descent into a pit of mudslinging.

Their size and degree of organization can be debated, and it's usually overstated. But there is no question that Macintosh users … Read more

Hi there,

I'm looking for a couple of Mac fans who regularly post on CNET News.com or Crave regarding topics related to Apple. I'm working on a story about the Mac community, and really want to talk to at least a couple of you about Apple, its products, and your passion for those products.

Please send me an e-mail (tom dot krazit at cnet dot com) if you're interested. I can quote you by your real name or your CNET user name if you prefer, but we can discuss that kind of thing in more detail … Read more