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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

1Password confirms that Touch ID support for the MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar is in the works

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 17, 2018

As we were watching a live-stream of yesterday's “Hello again” Mac event, our own Sébastien told the rest of the team via Slack that, in his mind, the 1Password + Touch ID + MacBook Pro combination would make a lot of sense. And indeed it would.

Less than 24 hours later, 1Password developer AgileBits has officially confirmed in a blog post that they're hard at work implementing support for Touch ID via the new MacBook Pro's Touch Bar to let users protect the app with their fingerprint.

MacBook Pro didn’t double the RAM because 32GB RAM would decrease battery life

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 28, 2016

I've had a blast configuring the new MacBook Pro in Apple's online store and a lack of 32GB RAM upgrade option immediately jumped out at me. Thirteen-inch Pros include 8GB RAM while the faster and pricier fifteen-inch machines double that to to sixteen gigabytes.

According to Apple, the new MacBook Pro cannot be configured with 32 gigabytes of RAM because doubling the memory would have a negative impact on battery life.

Apple’s new T1 chip that drives MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar runs “eOS”, a variant of watchOS

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 27, 2023

If early impressions are an indication, the Touch Bar on the new MacBook Pro is definitely not a gimmick. The time-saving feature lets you accomplish common tasks faster without needing to memorize a bunch of app-specific keyboard shortcuts.

Instead or remembering a shortcut or wasting time finding it in the menus, you just touch one of the system-wide or app-specific icons that are displayed on the Touch Bar.

For the hardware geeks among us, the more interesting aspect of the Touch Bar is the Apple-designed silicon behind it, dubbed the T1. As developer Steven Troughton-Smith has discovered, the Touch Bar is actually a mini Apple Watch.

Touch Bar on new MacBook Pro will show function keys when using Windows via Bootcamp

Anthony Bouchard ∙ October 28, 2016

Apple yesterday unveiled the new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, a completely redesigned, thinner machine that shifts away from traditional computer ports in place of Thunderbolt 3 and replaces the function key row of the keyboard with a new versatile Touch Bar that dynamically changes based on the app you're in.

So that might raise the question: what happens when you boot into Windows on your MacBook Pro with Bootcamp?

This is Apple’s new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, Touch ID & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 27, 2016

“The Mac is more than a product to us. It's a testament to everything we do and create at Apple,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook at today's “Hello again” Mac event as he unveiled long-expected updates to Pro notebooks. The new MacBook Pro has, as rumored, a programmable OLED touch bar substituting the function key row, called Touch Bar.

There's also a Touch ID sensor powered by a new Apple-designed T1 chip. Like its predecessor, the new MacBook Pro comes in 13 and 15-inch flavors and each is available in Silver or Space Gray finish.

20 cool things you can do with the new MacBook Pro Touch Bar

Anthony Bouchard ∙ October 27, 2016

One of the new flagship features on the 2016 MacBook Pro is the new Touch Bar. This is essentially a versatile OLED bar at the top of your keyboard that replaces the function keys with software-based buttons that change based on what app you're in and what you're doing.

In this post, we'll mention 20 awesome things you can do with the Touch Bar on your new MacBook Pro.