As is customary with just about all Macs, Apple offers a small number of standard configuration systems that you can buy off the shelf (these are the systems Macworld uses for review), along with a handful of optional upgrades that—for a price—allow purchasers to customize their new Macs. The 2013 MacBook Air is no exception: Apple offers more RAM, higher capacity flash storage, and faster processors. Macworld Lab put together an “ultimate” configuration of the new MacBook Air, and the performance gains are so significant that our configure-to-order (CTO) MacBook Air competes well against Apple’s current $1699 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro.

The standard configuration 2013 MacBook Air has 4GB of 1600MHz LPDDR3 RAM, a dual-core 1.3GHz Intel Core i5 (Haswell) processor that can reach speeds of 2.6GHz with Turbo Boost, and either 128GB ($999 for 11-inch, $1099 for 13-inch) or 256GB of flash storage ($1199 for 11-inch, $1299 for 13-inch).

Your configuration decisions on the MacBook Air are especially important due to the closed design of the laptop. RAM and CPU are not user upgradable, and it's unclear if third parties will offer internal storage upgrades to the 2013 MacBook Air. (The new MacBook Air has a new implementation of flash storage, so flash storage modules designed for the 2012 MacBook Air will not work.)

Configure to order

Doubling the RAM on the $1299 13-inch MacBook Air from 4GB to 8GB adds $100 to the base price, while increasing the capacity of the flash storage from 256GB to 512GB adds $300. Swapping out the standard 1.3GHz Core i5 processor (with 3MB of L3 cache) for a faster 1.7GHz Core i7 processor capable of reaching 3.3GHz with Turbo Boost (4MB of L3 cache) adds $150. Our ultimate CTO model puts all three options into a new 13-inch MacBook Air for a total of $1849.

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Most of the products Apple announced at WWDC won’t ship until later this year, but the new MacBook Air models are here. The MacBook Air didn’t undergo a dramatic, Mac Pro-like redesign—all of the changes to the MacBook Air are hidden under the hood. Even compared to last year’s MacBook Air—which brought Thunderbolt and USB 3.0—this new Air is more evolutionary than revolutionary.

Mike Homnick

Haswell inside

The biggest change in this iteration of Apple’s most portable of portables is the inclusion of Intel’s latest generation of Core processors, code named Haswell. These fourth-generation Core processors replace the Ivy Bridge processors in last year’s MacBook Air. The Haswell processors require less power than Ivy Bridge, which improves battery life in portable computers like the MacBook Air.

Haswell also includes new integrated graphics in the form of the Intel HD Graphics 5000, which Apple says provides 40 percent higher performance than the HD Graphics 4000 used in Ivy Bridge processors.

The new MacBook Airs all support the new 802.11ac wireless networking standard, and the flash storage has also been improved, with higher capacities on the 11-inch models and faster performance across the line.

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Apple on Monday updated the MacBook Air with Intel’s fouth generation Core processors, code named Haswell. Macworld Lab has the new MacBook Air and the results are interesting, to say the least—the 2012 and 2013 13-inch models received the same overall system performance score in Speedmark 8, but individual tests tell a different story.

There are four standard models of the MacBook Air, but all four share many of the same internal parts. Each MacBook Air comes with a 1.3GHz dual-core fourth generation Core i5 processor, capable of reaching speeds of 2.6GHz using Turbo Boost. Not mentioned in the marketing materials is that Hyper-Threading is supported on these i5 processors, allowing multi-threaded applications to address four virtual processing cores on these dual core systems. All of the standard MacBook Airs ship with 4GB of 1600MHz LPDDR memory and use Intel’s new HD Graphics 5000 integrated graphics.

As you’d expect, the new 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Airs’ performance was practically identical. Just one Speedmark point separated the 13-inch and 11-inch models and the individual test results between them were similarly similar.

The new 11-inch MacBook Air was 9 percent faster overall than last year’s 11-inch 1.7GHz Core i5 Ivy Bridge model. The individual application tests (listed at the end of this story) show that many results were very close, with seven tests (including Photoshop and Aperture) within 3 percent of each other. The biggest differences were in graphics and storage tests. The Intel HD Graphics 5000 in the new system pushed 24 percent more frames per second in Cinebench’s Open GL test and produced an 8 percent higher frame rate in Portal 2. The faster flash storage in the new MacBook Air lived up to the hype, transferring 6GB of files and folders 51 percent faster than last year’s Air. We ran Black Magic’s Disk Speed Test on the two systems and found the read speeds for the new 11-inch model were 667.7 MBps, versus 141.1 MBps on the 2012 11-inch Air’s 64GB of flash storage. Write speeds on the new 11-inch model hit 726.8 MBps, compared to 393.7 MBps on the 2012 Air.

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Apple product releases may have been few and far between so far in 2013. But if Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference keynote on Monday is anything to go by, the company has put the time since its last major press event in October 2012 to good use.

The company unleashed a torrent of announcements Monday, starting with a preview of the latest version of OS X and wrapping up some two hours later with a look at a substantial overhaul of iOS. And while much of what Apple showed off won’t be available to the buying public until later in 2013—only the updated MacBook Air lineup and redesigned AirPort products shipped on Monday—the WWDC keynote was a reminder that the company has big plans for the rest of the year. It also served as a rebuttal to Apple critics who’ve made note of the company’s relative lack of product news in recent months.

“Can’t innovate any more, my ass,” Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller snarled when showing off a redesigned Mac Pro on Monday—a not-at-all subtle poke at an increasingly common critique of the company among the Internet’s chattering classes.

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Jörg Jacobsen’s $5 Eye-Friendly (Mac App Store link) is the third resolution-switching utility for the Retina MacBook Pro that I’ve looked at, after Pupil () and QuickRes (). In my quest to find the ideal resolution-switching app for my Retina MacBook Pro, is the third app the charm?

Like the other two apps, Eye-Friendly appears only in the menu bar. When you want to change your display’s resolution, you click the Eye-Friendly icon and mouse over your display (the menu lists your laptop’s built-in display, as well as any external displays); a submenu appears with available resolutions. Resolutions that look the best on that display are denoted with an Eye-Friendly icon; choose the desired resolution to switch to it. If you use only the best-looking resolutions, the Eye-Friendly Modes Only option configures the app to show only those resolutions.

Eye-Friendly’s menu is much more elegant that QuickRes’s, though it’s not as flexible as Pupil’s, which allows you to not only select which specific resolutions you want to appear in the menu, but also re-label them. But since it’s not difficult to find a resolution in Eye-Friendly’s list—and, as I mentioned, you can narrow the list down to show only the best resolutions—this level of customization isn’t a feature I miss.

Eye-Friendly also offers convenient keyboard shortcuts: Just place your cursor on the display you want to change, and then press Control+Option+Command+Up Arrow to cycle up through available resolutions or +Down Arrow to cycle down. Eye-Friendly displays each resolution in a semi-transparent overlay on the screen; when you settle for a couple seconds on the one you want, the display’s resolution changes to match.

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In the latest update to the Retina MacBook Pro, some models got price cuts, some received slightly faster processors, and some got a healthy bump in the amount of RAM. Anyone who purchased a Retina MacBook Pro prior to this refresh shouldn’t kick themselves for making the leap, but the reduced cost for the 13-inch models and faster performance for the 15-inch models make these thin, light, and fast laptops a better deal than ever.

Let’s be specific

From the outside, the 2013 Retina MacBook Pros look identical to the 2012 models. Our previous reviews of the original 13-inch and 15-inch Retina MacBook Pros contain more details on the look and feel of these laptops. But here’s a short summary of the specifications.

All of the Retina MacBook Pros have two USB 3.0 ports, two Thunderbolt ports, a MagSafe 2 power connector, a headphone jack, and an SDXD card slot. As with last year’s Retina MacBook Pros, RAM is not user-upgradable; but luckily, the standard 8GB of memory is sufficient for all but the most demanding users. If you require more than 8GB of RAM, you will need to move to a 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro which can be configured with 16GB of RAM.

The 13-inch models feature LED backlit screens with 2560-by-1600-pixel resolution and a pixel density of 227 pixels per square inch. This extremely high resolution—four times higher than that of the MacBook Pros with standard screens—makes the individual pixels in an image virtually undetectable. The 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro is just 0.75 inch thick and weighs 3.57 pounds. The non-Retina 13-inch MacBook Pro is 0.95 inch thick and weighs 4.5 pounds.

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When Apple released the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro (), it was only a matter of time before the Retina display made its way to other Apple laptops. That time is now, and with the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display, a compelling argument can be made that Apple’s newest laptop is a perfect combination of performance, portability, and features.

Making a small laptop feel big

The 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro has a 13.3-inch LED-backlit screen with a native resolution of 2560-by-1600 pixels. Do the math: That’s 4,096,000 pixels. Under the Display system preferences, OS X offers four scaled resolution settings: 1680-by-1050, 1440-by-900, 1280-by-800, and 1024-by-640 pixels. For comparison, the 13-inch non-Retina MacBook Pro (which Apple still sells) has a native resolution of 1280-by-800, and the 13-inch MacBook Air's is 1440-by-900.

If you’ve eschewed 13-inch laptops because they don’t offer enough on-screen real estate, it’s time to reconsider. The 1680-by-1050 setting (what OS X calls More Space) gives you more room to work, and with the help of third-party software such as the free QuickRes (), you can use scaled resolutions that go beyond 1680-by-1050. For example, QuickRes can set the Retina display to a mind-boggling 3360-by-2100 resolution, which made the icons and text on screen much too small for my eyes. (It’s possible that using the Retina MacBook Pro at these very high-scaled resolutions can adversely affect performance, though I didn’t record any benchmarks at these settings.) You can also use third-party software to set the laptop at its native 2560-by-1600 resolution.

Unless your eyes can’t tolerate the small on-screen sizes, it’s hard to argue that you can’t get enough workspace on a 13-inch laptop with a Retina display. Of course, some apps and tasks do work best with a 15-inch screen, but I bet some longtime users of the 15-inch MacBook Pro will decide that it’s time to switch to a 13-inch Retina model.

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Tuesday was a very busy day for Apple and we in the Macworld Lab were ecstatic to see the Mac so well represented. Luckily, we didn’t have to wait long to get our hands on a new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display.

We tested the $1699 standard configuration model, which has a 2.5GHz dual-core Core i5 processor, Intel’s integrated HD Graphics 4000, 128GB of flash storage, and 8GB of RAM. Apple offers a second $1999 model that is identical except it has 256GB of flash storage. The 13-inch Retina display has a 2560 by 1600 native pixel resolution.

Apple still sells non-Retina 13-inch MacBook Pros that have a 1280 by 800 screen resolution. The $1199 model has the same 2.5GHz dual-core Core i5 processor as the Retina laptop and the same integrated graphics, but it has just 4GB of RAM and a 5400-rpm 500GB hard drive. The $1499 non-Retina model has a 2.9GHz dual-core Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM, integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000, and a 5400-rpm 750GB hard drive.

When it comes to my computer setup, I prefer having at least two displays on my desk. It’s a lot easier to work when you have all that screen real estate. In my setup, I have a laptop and an external display; but when I have to unplug my laptop and work remotely, the single display feels cramped, even on a 17-inch MacBook Pro. It helps to use Mission Control and create multiple desktops, but it feels so inefficient to shuffle between desktops all the time.

Last December, GeChic released the On-Lap 1302, a 13.3-inch portable external display for laptops. Weighing only 23 ounces, the On-Lap 1302 is light enough and small enough to stash in your bag with your laptop. Though the On-Lap 1302 display itself is rather ho-hum, you can have a two display setup wherever you go, even if you’re working out of your local library or coffee shop.

HDMI and the Retina MacBook Pro

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Believe it or not, it’s been nearly four and a half years since Apple released the original MacBook Air. At the time, it was revolutionary in terms of its size and weight, but it also was slow, had little storage, had only a single USB port for expansion, and was very expensive—it started at $1799, and if you wanted solid-state storage, the price increased dramatically (by $999!). As Jason Snell wrote at the time, “laptop design has always been about compromise,” and the original Air required some painful compromises.

The Air itself has also evolved: The second iteration gained some speed, better video capabilities, and more storage. The third generation got faster and cheaper. In 2010, Apple gave the Air its biggest update by adding a second USB port, improving performance, standardizing on flash storage, lowering prices, and—in the biggest move of all—releasing a road-warrior-dream 11-inch model priced at just $999. The company turbocharged the Air last year by upgrading to Intel Core i5 and i7 processors and adding a Thunderbolt port.

In a few short years, the Air has gone from an expensive technology demonstration to a successful product firmly established as the heart of Apple’s laptop line. This year’s models improve the appeal of the Air by increasing performance, enhancing expansion capabilities, and lowering prices. In fact, the new models might just be making the MacBook Pro line a little nervous.

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With all the exhilaration surrounding the debut of Apple's pioneering Retina MacBook Pros, it's easy to overlook that the company also upgraded the rest of its pro laptop lineup. In addition to the Retina MacBook Pro—the justifiable new standard against which Apple's other laptops (indeed all laptops) will now be judged—the company has also updated a pair of 13-inch and a pair of 15-inch non-Retina MacBook Pros. These new “regular” models offer a speed boost over their late-2011 predecessors thanks to brand new processors and video components, and feature updated technology, including USB 3.

Targeting markets

To grasp the regular MacBook Pro’s still-significant appeal is to consider the specific needs of Apple’s mid-market target audience of non-visually oriented professionals. This class of users, though not creative in the strict definition of “creative pro,” still requires substantial computing power, though not necessarily a super high-resolution display—or the price tag that goes with it.

Apple had developed three laptop models for three distinct sets of buyers: The MacBook was a consumer model for general users; the MacBook Pro catered to a higher-end crowd of creative professionals; and the MacBook Air was there for a smaller group for whom portability outpaced all other traditional notebook appurtenances like an optical drive, spinning hard disk, and multiple connection choices. This crowd appreciated the MacBook Air's friendly specs for traveling light (even if it was just from the bus stop to the office or class).

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Apple isn’t afraid to stir things up, making people rethink how they use technology. In recent years, most of that kind of innovation has focused on the iPhone, iPad, and iOS. But the MacBook Pro with Retina display, released at WWDC 2012, now directs attention back to the Mac.

The Retina MacBook Pro is not only a groundbreaking release, combining stunning performance and portability in a 15-inch Mac laptop; this model will also force you to change the way you interact with a laptop. From overhauling how you view and work with content to how you deal with external devices and connections, Apple isn’t afraid to push its customers in new directions. The Retina MacBook Pro is certainly a more-than-gentle nudge.

Looking good: The Retina display

The marquee feature of this laptop is right in the name—the Retina display. The Retina display made its debut in the iPhone 4, followed by the third generation iPad. It’s finally made its way to a Mac. You can look at the Retina display as another step in the iOS-ification of the Mac, or you can see it as I do—another way to remind you that all of these products are part of one big happy Apple family.

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Usually, a CPU that offers more processing power also requires more energy—and in a laptop, that results in shorter battery life. But with Haswell, Intel’s fourth-generation Core processor, the company promises to boost processing power and graphics performance while using less energy.

Apple

Haswell made its Mac debut in Apple’s new MacBook Air, released at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday. So far, Apple has released only two versions of the Haswell ULT processor for both the 11- and 13-inch models: a 1.3GHz dual-core Core i5 processor capable of Turbo Boost up to 2.6GHz and 3MB shared L3 cache in the standard configurations; and a build-to-order 1.7GHz dual-core Core i7 with Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz and 4MB shared L3 cache. And the question isn't if Haswell will be in other Macs, but when.

Macworld Lab has the new MacBook Air, and benchmark results, battery life tests, and a full review are in the works.

Better power management

With the sales of tablets biting into laptop sales—and with Intel’s lack of presence in the tablet market—Haswell was designed to help laptops better compete with tablets, a point reiterated Monday by Apple Senior Vice President Phil Schiller during the introduction of the new MacBook Air at the WWDC keynote. (Schiller actually referred to the “age of the iPad” instead of tablets in general, but the point remains the same.)

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If Apple has anything to say about it, the future of the notebook will be long and healthy. And it will be exemplified in the new versions of the MacBook Air, announced during Apple's WWDC 2013 keynote, and available immediately.

Based on a new fourth-generation Core processor called Haswell ULT—the replacement for Intel's Ivy Bridge processor—the new lightweight notebooks feature significantly longer battery life, faster graphics performance, improved wireless networking, and greater energy efficiency.

The 11-inch Air improves from 5 hours of battery life to 9 hours, with standby for up to 30 days. The 13-inch Air goes from 7 hours to 12 hours of battery life. Wakeup time is 1 second. What does that mean for everyday life? According to Phil Schiller, Apple's marketing guru, you get up to 10 hours of iTunes movie playback and you can watch the entire trilogy of Lord of the Rings.

Designed for power savings, with more energy-efficient Intel Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs, the new Airs have a slower clock speed while still delivering 40 percent faster graphics performance, Apple says. The MacBook Air is based entirely on flash storage, and is up to 45 percent faster than the previous version.

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The ebook negotiations game, in case you were wondering, is hardball. Meanwhile, Apple may start trading places (for your iPhone) and your MacBook Air may become even more magical. The remainders for Thursday, June 6, 2013 just had two weeks left before retirement.

Apple ebooks trial: Amazon ‘yelled … and threatened’ when publishers tried to control prices (The Verge)

The ebook price-fixing trial continues apace, and we continue to hear about how Apple and Amazon negotiated with the publishers, which is starting to sound a bit like excerpts from Glengarry Glen Ross 2: Die Harder.

Apple Said to Start IPhone Trade-In Program in Stores (Bloomberg)

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If it’s June, it must be time for another Worldwide Developers Conference. (Well, unless it’s one of those years where Apple holds the event in August, but work with us here.) With the annual gathering of Mac and iOS developers set to kick off next Monday, June 10, we’ve assembled a panel of editors to preview Apple’s big event.

Senior editors Dan Frakes and Dan Moren and associate editor Serenity Caldwell will tell you what to expect when Apple executives take the stage for next Monday’s WWDC keynote, whether that’s new Mac hardware (it’s a possibility), new phones or tablets (unlikely, we think), or previews of the upcoming versions of Apple’s operating systems (practically a near certainty.

Download Episode #358

Show Notes

Our talk of a revamped Mac Pro didn’t materialize out of thin air. Following the 2012 WWDC keynote, Apple CEO Tim Cook promised “something really great” for professional users after a customer complained about the lack of Mac Pro updates.

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Your iPhone may be getting more than just power from that charger. Elsewhere, the patent lawsuit is coming from inside the law firm and the iHernia of Mac portable concepts. The remainders for Monday, June 3, 2013 are large and in charge.

Researchers Say They Can Hack Your iPhone With A Malicious Charger (Forbes)

Security experts have created a malicious iPhone charger that can supposedly install malware on your iOS device when you connect it. Easy fix: Never charge your iOS device again. Take that, suckers!

Apple, betrayed by its own law firm (Ars Technica)

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If you were worried Apple might not have a keynote at WWDC this year, you can finally relax. But don’t get too relaxed: Comixology’s pulling controversial comics again, and iPhone repair costs are up, up, up. The remainders for Thursday, May 23, 2013 are powered by the Infinite Improbability Drive.

Apple’s WWDC Keynote Scheduled for Monday, June 10 (AllThingsD)

Phew. For a minute, I was really worried that they might decide to hold it a week later, just to mess with people.

ComiXology pulls 56 digital comics from iOS app [Updated] (ComicBookResources)

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It happens to every Mac (and every other kind of PC): The system slows down when it’s doing lot of things at once. If this happens to your Mac more than you’d like, though, your system might need more RAM.

Adding more RAM to your Mac—if you can add more RAM—is one of the eaiest ways to improve your Mac’s performance. The crucial question is, How much more RAM do you actually need? Macworld Lab ran benchmarks on a couple of Macs at different RAM configurations and analyzed the results. Our conclusion: The impact of more RAM depends on the types of tasks your Mac performs. In some situations your Mac may benefit from having as much RAM as you can afford; in others, you’ll be fine with the stock configuration.

But before we dive into the results, let’s take a brief look at what RAM is and why it’s important to your Mac. (This article focuses exclusively on the impact of RAM on system performance, but of course RAM isn’t the only component that affects performance. Macworld Lab is currently working on tests that will allow us to take a similar look at how other components—storage, graphics, and CPU—affect performance.)

What is RAM?

Random Access Memory is a temporary storage medium that your Mac’s CPU uses for fast access to data it’s processing. The CPU can access data contained in RAM much faster than it can data held on long-term storage devices like traditional hard drives and even solid-state drives.

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If you’ve never heard that noise before, you’re bound to hear it someday: that amazing, dull crunch as your Mac slips out of your hands or off a desk and makes a date with the ground at 9.8 meters per second squared, gravity having played the role of a yenta-like matchmaker bringing together your computer and an admirably dense surface. The crunch registers in your brain, and you have a sudden mental image of the universe collapsing.

julianbl/neowin.net

Here’s how to make the best of a terrible situation, get as much of your data back as possible, and avoid a similar disaster if your Mac decides to smooch the ground again somewhere down the line.

Pick it up, clean it off

After your Mac falls, calm down, pick it up, look over the damage, and clean away whatever dirt and detritus you can. From there, make sure that your Mac is turned off, and then weigh your options.

If you feel comfortable opening the machine, find a wrist strap and tools, touch a metal object to discharge any static that your body may be carrying, and carefully open the Mac to check for case fragments, damaged parts, or debris that may have ended up in the computer. Don’t turn it on; just focus on the parts that survived the fall and anything that might appear damaged, and clean out the interior as best you can.

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We’re all interested in saving energy. Maybe you conserve to be a better global citizen or to save money on your utility bills. Maybe you use your laptop on the go and want to squeeze every possible minute of battery life out of it. But what if the daily computing practices you follow to save energy end up wasting it instead? What if your assumptions about Mac power usage are wrong? To investigate this possibility, Macworld’s lab compiled a list of eight widely held opinions about energy conservation, grabbed our trusty power meters, and started logging power usage.

We used two systems: a 2011 21-inch iMac and a 2011 15-inch MacBook Pro. We connected them to a Watt’s Up Pro power meter equipped with a USB connection that allowed us to capture energy usage logs while we ran various tests. Here’s what we found out.

1. ‘Laptops use less energy than desktops.’

The iMac we tested averaged around 83W with the screen set to full brightness, and with Bluetooth and WiFi enabled. That’s six times more than the 13.4W that the MacBook Pro drew at similar settings when fully charged. When the MacBook Pro’s battery was at a 50 percent charge and plugged in, however, our 15-inch laptop drew 80W, just about the same as the iMac.

Takeaway: Over the course of a day, laptops do use less energy than desktops.

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You hear the statistic all the time—so often, in fact, that it becomes noise: A laptop is stolen every 53 seconds. According to the FBI, 97 percent of them are never recovered.

I was content to labor blissfully away in the belief that laptop thefts happen to other people—until, in January, I became one of those other people. The crime itself was brazen: I was in the middle of typing an email when a young man snatched my laptop from beneath my fingertips, ran out the door of the Starbucks where I was seated, and jumped into a waiting car.

Frankly, I had let my guard down. I was a regular patron of the place, it was three o’clock in the afternoon, and plenty of witnesses were around. But it was all over in about 30 seconds.

The phenomenon is called “Apple picking,” and it’s an epidemic in major cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York—as well as in Southern California suburbs, as it turned out. I later learned that in the course of just three days, thieves had picked off unsuspecting Apple users in at least 24 Starbucks locations around the region known as the Inland Empire.

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One of the scariest things that can happen to your Mac, short of actual flames and smoke billowing from the case, is a failure to turn on at all. You press the power button and nothing happens—no startup sound, no light, nothing. If this happens, you can check several things before hauling your Mac to the nearest Apple Store for repair—as often as not, this seemingly difficult problem might have a simple solution.

Electricity, e-lec-tricity

First, make sure that your Mac is getting juice. To do this, you may need to trace the entire flow of electricity to your Mac. Check your Mac’s power cord to ensure it is firmly seated where it connects to the computer as well as where it plugs into the wall. If it goes through an outlet strip or a UPS, make sure that’s also connected and turned on. Also check that any surge protectors are still working—a power surge might have knocked them off.

You can confirm that an outlet is good by plugging in something else, such as a light. (If it doesn’t work, check your fuses or circuit breakers.) If the outlet and all cable connections check out, make sure the power cord has no crimps, breaks, or other damage; a broken wire could be the culprit.

Faulty peripherals and broken buttons

Once you’ve established that your AC power path is good, it’s time to look at your Mac itself. Unplug everything you can—not the power cord, obviously, or your mouse and keyboard if they’re wired, and your monitor if it’s not built in, but disconnect everything else and try pressing the power button again. If your Mac turns on, you know that one of your peripherals was at fault.

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It’s that time again when Mac users make their New Year’s resolutions. How about a simple pledge to keep your computer clean? I’m not talking about deleting cache files or removing old apps you no longer use. I’m talking about your Mac’s screen and keyboard, or its dusty, grungy innards. It’s not difficult to do, but keeping a clean Mac can help it run smoother, and keep you from getting sick as well. Here are a few ways you can keep your Mac looking new and fresh.

Clean that keyboard

It’s fair to say that the dirtiest part of your Mac is its keyboard. Even if you wash your hands every time you sit down to type, the keyboard collects the germs and sweat from your fingers, and the dust in your room or office. This can make for sticky keys and transfer cold viruses, or worse.

First, unplug your keyboard from your computer or, in the case of a wireless keyboard, remove its batteries. (If you’re cleaning a laptop keyboard, shut down the computer and unplug the power adapter.) Blow out the dust and, if necessary, vacuum the space between the keys (or under them, depending on the type of keyboard you have).

Next, clean your keys with disinfecting wipes. (Apple recommends Lysol and Clorox Kitchen disinfecting wipes.) Since the alcohol evaporates, there’s no risk of liquid damaging the keyboard, and it’s a better disinfectant than soap. Still, make sure to squeeze out sopping wipes.

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My friend Julian Velard is a musician and a geek. But as hard as JV drives his MacBook Pro—and he does push it to its limits, using live audio plug-ins for his keyboards onstage–when the computer acts up, I’m the one he texts for support. (Fair’s fair: If I can’t remember how to play a minor major seventh, Julian’s the one I call. We’re all experts in something.)

When Julian called late last week, his MacBook Pro wouldn’t turn on; it would get stuck on the Gray Screen of Stomach Pain Inducement and never move forward. Over chat, phone, and then in person when he made the trek from Brooklyn to my New Jersey home, I walked JV through my steps for resuscitating a Mac that won’t start up. Let me share them with you too, since you may not have my number.

Step 1: Run Disk Utility

If your Mac won’t boot, there could be many issues at play. But the one I like to rule out right away—or repair, if possible—is any problem afflicting the hard drive. The easiest first step on that front is to run Disk Utility. On a Mac running Mountain Lion, you can run Disk Utility by booting into OS X Recovery Mode.

Make sure the Mac is off. (If it’s not responsive because it’s stuck on a gray, blue, or white screen, just hold down the Mac’s power button for several long seconds until it gives up and shuts off.) Hold down the Command and R keys, and power the Mac back up again.

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If you’re reading this article, chances are you’re thinking about buying a new Mac and in need of a little guidance. Fortunately, we’ve tested (almost) every standard-configuration Mac model currently in Apple’s lineup. We’re quite familiar with Apple’s Macs, and we’re happy to help you choose the right Mac for you.

This buying guide provides an overview of all the Mac models available, and what each model is best suited for. To get more details, you can read the full review for each Mac by clicking the “Read our complete review” links.

MacBook Air

Apple

What is it? The MacBook Air is Apple’s ultrathin, ultralight laptop. It comes in two sizes: 11 inches (2.4 pounds) and 13 inches (3.0 pounds).

Who’s it for? The MacBook Air is ideal for anyone who is always on the go, doesn’t want to be bogged down by a regular-size laptop, and also needs a computer that’s more versatile than an iPad.

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A visit to your local Apple Store during the holiday season can be maddening. The stores are overrun with other shoppers, there’s a mob around each gadget table, and waiting for your turn to be helped by an Apple Store employee takes eons. The walk-in line to purchase an iPhone 5 alone can take upwards of an hour, depending on how many people are in front of you. While we generally like the Apple Store’s “no register” system, it can be a real headache during busy periods.

This year, there are a few ways to avoid waiting in a long line. It just takes a little planning ahead.

Check yourself out

Bring your iOS device to the Apple Store, because the Apple Store app is a handy guide for holiday shopping. The app shows you where the nearest Apple Store is, lets you search for product availability at specific stores, and allows you to purchase items yourself.

The Apple Store app also has a feature called Express Checkout that lets you directly purchase items from the online Apple Store by quickly entering your Apple ID and password. Designate whether you’d like to pick the item up in a store or have it shipped. The app bills the card on file that’s linked to your Apple ID and will ship to the address on file as well; you can adjust these settings by selecting Edit in the app itself at checkout.

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When you hit the road, it’s easy to get paranoid—especially if you’re carrying thousands of dollars’ worth of technology with you. You can alleviate some of your worries by taking security measures to protect yourself against someone running off with your iPhone, iPad, or MacBook.

Use common sense 

If you’re not used to toting a machine outside your usual rounds, don’t forget these precautions.

Don’t leave devices lying around: Don’t leave your laptop or other device on a table or counter at a coffee shop or other establishment and walk away or turn your back. Hardware is too easily snatched and too portable.

Don’t leave bags untended: Don’t walk away from a bag that holds your phone, tablet, or laptop. It’s simple for a thief to poke around without attracting notice, especially during the holidays when shops are busy.

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