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Hilarious mockups of Apple's new Mac Pro

Apple's new Mac Pro features a striking and quite innovative design -- instead of multiple heat sinks, there's a shared thermal core in the center that helps cool the CPU and twin GPUs at the same time.

As the fan is located right at the top of the thermal core, the Mac Pro features a large hole in its circular frame that's quite unheard of, especially when compared with your normal PC cases.

The unique design has prompted amusing comparisons to trash cans and Darth Vader, and spurred the creative Photoshopping crowd from around the world to innovate further on Apple's new machine. Click on our gallery for some of the funniest mockups we've seen. … Read more

Apple by the numbers, from WWDC 2013

At its annual Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday, Apple touted the latest numbers for its devices, apps, and operating systems circa June 10, 2013.

iOS devices sold: 600 million Percentage of iOS users using iOS 6: 93 percent Mac installations: 72 million, more than double the number from five years ago Mac sales: Have risen 100 percent over the past five years, versus just 18 percent for Windows PCs Mountain Lion sales: 28 million since its debut, making it the best-selling release of Apple's desktop OS Apps in App Store: 900,000 Number of apps geared for the iPad: … Read more

Apple's new Mac Pro said to ditch expansions, arrive this fall

As Apple's developers conference approaches, the rumors are coming hot and heavy. The latest? More scuttlebutt on the Mac Pro, Apple's one and only desktop tower, which the company has promised to overhaul and rerelease this year.

New tidbits come from longtime video producer Lou Borella, the creator of the Facebook group "We Want a New Macpro," who on Monday posted details on the changes from "a source or two that has some credibility."

The gist:

• It will be heavily reliant on Thunderbolt • There will be no internal expandability • It will have support for … Read more

Locate and eradicate duplicate photos on your Mac

Digital photography is a blessing and a curse. OK, it's more of a blessing than curse. Freed from the cost of purchasing and developing film, digital photographers can take multiple shots of the same scene in an attempt to capture the perfect shot. Unless you dutifully manage your photo library and cull the extra shots from each photo shoot, your library quickly becomes difficult to navigate and your hard drive cluttered. PhotoSweeper for Mac identifies duplicate and similar photos and lets you dump the ones you don't need in the trash. The app costs $9.99 in the … Read more

Apple's big Mac Pro revamp to debut this month, report says

Mac Pro users who have played the waiting game with Apple to completely revamp its desktop machine might get the goods soon, according to a new report.

Citing an accurate source, Mac Daily News says Apple plans to announce a new model of the machine sometime this month.

An Apple spokesman told CNET the company does not comment on rumors or speculation.

Mac Daily News warns that the April date could "slip" all the way through June, which is when Apple is expected to once again hold its annual developers conference in San Francisco. A source familiar with … Read more

Why Apple's secrecy is frustrating Mac Pro customers

It's not exactly a revelation to say Apple executives are fond of secrets. While that sense of mystery may work marketing magic with consumers, many Mac Pro customers in the professional world would very much appreciate it if Apple would cut it out with the cloak-and-dagger stuff.

At a starting price of $2,499, the Mac Pro is one of Apple's most expensive products. It's still the go-to workhorse for creative types who work in film, photography, print, and architectural jobs. But many of them are losing patience with Apple following a series of erratic product updates … Read more

Apple's App Store, iTunes back online after outages

Apple users unable to access the App Store or iTunes yesterday should find those sites alive and well today.

The App Store, iTunes, iCloud, and the Mac App Store were inaccessible to many people throughout yesterday, according to 9to5Mac.

Following a series of user complaints via Twitter, Apple eventually acknowledged the problem on its system status page, which indicated outages at various times for its online stores, Mail and Contacts via iCloud, and the Calendar app across different devices.

The status showed the iCloud outage ending at 1:40 p.m. PT. But some people continued to bump into issues … Read more

Apple cuts MacBook Pro Retina prices, bumps specs

Apple today dropped the prices in its line of MacBook Pro laptops with Retina display while boosting processor speeds.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina now starts $1,499, or $200 less than before. The higher-capacity 256GB version costs $1,699, or $300 cheaper than the original price. The processor clock speed also gets boosted to 2.6 gigahertz from 2.5GHz.

The 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina gets a speed boost, with the lower-end version getting its clock speed bumped up to 2.4GHz from 2.3GHz, and the higher-end version getting bumped up to 2.7GHz quad-core processor … Read more

Never fear, Europe: Mac Pro likely will get update soon

A Mac Pro update may be in the works for this spring, according to a couple of France-based online publications.

Mac4Ever and MacGeneration say France Systemes, an Apple authorized reseller, sent a newsletter to customers that mentioned the launch of the new Mac Pro to replace older systems that will be banned in the European Union as of March 1. The letter said Apple informed the company that a new Mac Pro line will be released this spring.

Apple last week told retailers and distributors in most European countries that it will stop selling the Mac Pro on March 1 … Read more

Top five Cracking Open teardowns of 2012

From smartphones and tablets to a $7,000 desktop, we've cracked open a lot of tech this year. And as is the tradition at the end of each year, it's time to take a look at a few of our favorites. During this special episode of Cracking Open, I'm counting down my top five teardowns of 2012.

5. Nokia Lumia 900

First on our list is the Nokia Lumia 900. Released in the spring, this Windows Phone device was Nokia's attempt to recapture some of the American smartphone market.

Unfortunately, as we discovered during our teardown, the phone's hardware just wasn't up to par with the competition. I went so far as to call it mediocre. So why did I include our 900 teardown on this list? Because it's probably this year's best example of why knowing what's inside a device is an important factor in deciding whether to buy one.… Read more