Brief history of the Mac startup chime

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 31, 2016

The new MacBook Pro does away with the classic Mac startup sound that's been present on Macs for the past seventeen years, probably to avoid annoying users as the notebook automatically powers on when you open the lid. But rather than completely kill the chime, Apple's disabled it on the new MacBook Pro.

Thankfully, you can re-enable it with a simple Terminal command.

We think this could mark gradual phasing-out of the familiar Mac startup sound just as the one-port MacBook with USB-C has spelled doom for Apple's proprietary but love MagSafe connector. Here's a brief history of the Mac boot chime.

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MacBook Pro’s lack of 32GB RAM option could also be blamed on Intel’s Skylake chips

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 31, 2016

As you know, Apple's limited the new MacBook Pro to a maximum of sixteen gigabytes of RAM. Truth be told, no Mac notebook thus far has permitted customers to double the system RAM to a whopping thirty-two gigabytes though many MacBook Pro fans seem to have expected just that as an option.

As we told you, Apple on its part did acknowledge that it'd decided against giving the new Pro 32GB RAM because doing so would have decreased the notebook's battery life.

The statement is true, but lacks detail.

The Loop's Dave Mark points us to a more technical explanation for why you cannot outfit your brand spanking new MacBook Pro with 32GB RAM.

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How to bring back the classic boot chime on the new MacBook Pro

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 31, 2016

The new MacBook Pro has ditched the iconic boot chime that's been a signature part of the Mac startup process over the last 17 years. Pingie discovered that the sound is not gone entirely. Apple's just disabled it and it's possible to bring it back should you want. In this quick tutorial, we'll show you how to re-enable the boot chime on your late-2016 MacBook Pro with a simple Terminal command.

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New MacBook Pro doesn’t play classic startup chime when turned on

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 31, 2016

As spotlighted by French blog MacGeneration.fr based on Pingie's discovery, Apple's latest MacBook Pro no longer plays the classic F-sharp major chime when the computer has been powered on (you can bring it back with a simple Terminal command).

The iconic boot sound's been part of the Mac since 1999, but Apple's apparently decided to break with the tradition beginning with the new MacBook Pro, perhaps because it turns on automatically as soon as you open the lid.

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New aerial footage shows major landscape changes as iSpaceship nears completion

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 30, 2018

YouTubers Duncan Sinfield and Matthew Roberts flew their drones above Apple Campus 2 like they do every month, bringing us breathtaking visual updates of construction progress at the iSpaceship site. Last month, we saw a bird's eye overview of the enormous ring-shaped building facade glowing at night and the month before landscaping work was beginning to show. Their latest footage reveals major landscape changes with large trees sprouting up everywhere around the new campus.

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Jony Ive speaks on MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar, touchscreen Macs & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 31, 2016

Jony Ive, Apple's Chief Design Officer, sat for a Q&A with CNET's News Editor in Chief Connie Guglielmo following last week's “Hello again” Mac event. Ive talked about various topics, including design considerations behind the creation of the Touch Bar, a marquee new feature of the new notebook, saying it's “just the beginning of a very interesting direction”. He explained why Apple'd rejected a touchscreen iMac “many, many years ago” and more.

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The different kinds of memory states on your Mac and what they mean

Anthony Bouchard ∙ October 31, 2016

I was recently asked about the difference between active, inactive, and wired memory on computers. Many memory measure tools use these terms to describe your memory usage and doesn't really go into much depth about what they mean.

In this piece, I hope to shed some light on this confusion and explain the differences between these memory states the best I can.

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Wallpapers of the week: The Walking Dead

Jim Gresham ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

The Walking Dead season 7 premiered last week with a brutally violent opener, bringing the show to the next level. Arguing the tagline "we're just getting started," the show continues to entice viewership.

Before diving headlong into the fresh season, use the following wallpapers to reminisce about the good days. The upcoming season will prove to continue what appears to be a shocking new change in the show. 

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Sharp exec confirms iPhone 8 will have curved OLED screen & all-glass design

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 17, 2018

Sharp President Tai Jeng-wu—who is also a high-profile executive at Foxconn, Sharp's parent company and Apple's favorite contract manufacturer—said publicly that Apple's next iPhone will use a curved screen based on organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology akin to that on Samsung's Galaxy S7 smartphone, Nikkei reported Saturday.

As you know, Apple currently uses OLED screens on the Apple Watch and the new MacBook Pro's Touch Bar. All iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices to date have used traditional LCD screens.

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