Mac hardware
Insanely Great Mac Accessories - That Work With iOS Gadgets
A huge shift is occurring in the personal computing marketplace: Desktop computers and even good ol’ laptop sales are under tremendous pressure as more and more people take to iPhones, Smartphones, and tablet computing on Apple iPad and others. The chart below from IDC reveals the increasing trend towards mobile computing devices and phones and away from conventional computing platforms.
These trends are of interest to Apple computer users. Many of us use both a Macintosh desktop or MacBook laptop AND have one or more iOS gadgets like an iPad, iPhone or iPod to complement it. So our notion of shopping for the “Best Mac Accessories” these days should really take into account the kinds of Apple compatible peripherals that will work well on MULTIPLE computing platforms.
One good example of shopping for tech peripherals with the most versatility and usefulness for both Mac OSX and Apple iOS would be in the Bluetooth computer speaker market. Ideally, look for wireless Bluetooth speakers that can pair with - and remember the configuration for MULTIPLE devices. And if you use an iPhone, HANDS-FREE Bluetooth speakers with built-in microphone and call management features are the smart buy.
For more private audio needs - a stereo Bluetooth headset for Mac and iOS can serve both Mac desktop and MacBook users - as well as mobile computing needs for music listening and handling calls on your iPhone as well. Again, look for on-earpiece controls for call management if you plan to use a handsfree capable headset for your cellphone needs.
Another example is the insane demand for Apple AirPrint compatible printers for iPad - iPhone or iPod Touch. More and more laser, inkjet and All-In-One multifunction printers now support wireless iOS AirPrint printing, as well as compatibility with Mac OSX.
Lastly, compact wireless Bluetooth keyboards for iPad, iPhone and Mac which implicitly support some of Apple iOS or OSX special function keys are available when keyboard input is needed as well.
In conclusion, when you’re shopping for Apple accessories, think with a multi-device big-picture view so that your peripheral purchase can work well on existing platforms you already own -- and those mobile gadgets you’re more likely to acquire in the future.
These trends are of interest to Apple computer users. Many of us use both a Macintosh desktop or MacBook laptop AND have one or more iOS gadgets like an iPad, iPhone or iPod to complement it. So our notion of shopping for the “Best Mac Accessories” these days should really take into account the kinds of Apple compatible peripherals that will work well on MULTIPLE computing platforms.
One good example of shopping for tech peripherals with the most versatility and usefulness for both Mac OSX and Apple iOS would be in the Bluetooth computer speaker market. Ideally, look for wireless Bluetooth speakers that can pair with - and remember the configuration for MULTIPLE devices. And if you use an iPhone, HANDS-FREE Bluetooth speakers with built-in microphone and call management features are the smart buy.
For more private audio needs - a stereo Bluetooth headset for Mac and iOS can serve both Mac desktop and MacBook users - as well as mobile computing needs for music listening and handling calls on your iPhone as well. Again, look for on-earpiece controls for call management if you plan to use a handsfree capable headset for your cellphone needs.
Another example is the insane demand for Apple AirPrint compatible printers for iPad - iPhone or iPod Touch. More and more laser, inkjet and All-In-One multifunction printers now support wireless iOS AirPrint printing, as well as compatibility with Mac OSX.
Lastly, compact wireless Bluetooth keyboards for iPad, iPhone and Mac which implicitly support some of Apple iOS or OSX special function keys are available when keyboard input is needed as well.
In conclusion, when you’re shopping for Apple accessories, think with a multi-device big-picture view so that your peripheral purchase can work well on existing platforms you already own -- and those mobile gadgets you’re more likely to acquire in the future.
Slow Road To Mac USB 3.0 Accessories and Peripherals
The debut of SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports on Apple’s Mid-2012 MacBook models has been a long time in coming. It seems likely that before year’s end, we’ll see USB 3.0 iMac and Mac mini updates before the Holiday shopping season. The somewhat neglected Macintosh Pro is slated to get both ThunderBolt and USB 3.0 ports in early 2013. That’s the good news. USB 3.0 for Mac is well on it’s way to replace the decade-old USB 2.0 standard, while still maintaining backward compatibility with slower, legacy USB 2.0 gadgets.
USB 3.0 MacBook Air
$999 11.6" Display
USB 3.0 MacBook Pro 13"
Dual USB3-USB2 Ports
USB 3.0 Retina Display MacBook
New Ultra-Thin NoteBook
The bad news is the transition to a Mac SuperSpeed future is going to have a slow ramp-up phase, with some nasty glitches and got-cha’s along the way. For example, the Digital Music creation market is finding some of their legacy USB 2.0 audio hardware is not playing nice on either PC or Mac USB 3.0 ports even though they’re supposed to be fully backward compatible.
At least the external hard drive market embraced USB 3.0 whole-heartedly last year. As a result, most new backup drives now incorporate USB 3.0 as the defacto standard interface - usable on older and current systems - and ready to plug into the SuperSpeed future. That’s a good thing and anyone pondering a Mac backup drive solution ought to make sure it has USB 3.0 to ‘future-proof’ their purchase. The downside - as the Windows market already learned - is that in spite of USB 3.0’s Ten-Fold theoretical bandwidth increase over USB2, the real-world performance doesn’t come anywhere close to the specs on paper. Part of that is simply the limitations of mechanical hard drives which can’t fully leverage USB 3.0’s bandwidth potential. So realistically expect backing up your Mac to cut your data transfers and backup times in half, but no where near ‘a 10th of the time’ we were all hoping for. Solid-State SSD backup drives do leverage USB 3.0 bandwidth a lot better - but unless you can fit your Mac data onto a 120GB or 240GB SSD, you might find the more impressive performance of flash memory drives over USB 3.0 to be a bit too pricey.
There are USB 3.0 card readers that work well on a new Mac, however you’ll find most SD, SDHC, and SDXC cards don’t have data Read/Write speeds that can keep up with a USB3 port anyways. Other devices like USB keyboards, mice and graphics tablets simply don’t have the ability - nor the need - to max out USB 2.0 speeds, let alone USB 3.0.
Things get more interesting in the Audio-Video market, where USB 3.0 accessories for A/V enviroments can and will take advantage of USB 3.0 for high-bandwidth, low-latency needs like multi-channel audio and high-definition HD video streams.
USB 3.0 MacBook Air
$999 11.6" Display
USB 3.0 MacBook Pro 13"
Dual USB3-USB2 Ports
USB 3.0 Retina Display MacBook
New Ultra-Thin NoteBook
The bad news is the transition to a Mac SuperSpeed future is going to have a slow ramp-up phase, with some nasty glitches and got-cha’s along the way. For example, the Digital Music creation market is finding some of their legacy USB 2.0 audio hardware is not playing nice on either PC or Mac USB 3.0 ports even though they’re supposed to be fully backward compatible.
At least the external hard drive market embraced USB 3.0 whole-heartedly last year. As a result, most new backup drives now incorporate USB 3.0 as the defacto standard interface - usable on older and current systems - and ready to plug into the SuperSpeed future. That’s a good thing and anyone pondering a Mac backup drive solution ought to make sure it has USB 3.0 to ‘future-proof’ their purchase. The downside - as the Windows market already learned - is that in spite of USB 3.0’s Ten-Fold theoretical bandwidth increase over USB2, the real-world performance doesn’t come anywhere close to the specs on paper. Part of that is simply the limitations of mechanical hard drives which can’t fully leverage USB 3.0’s bandwidth potential. So realistically expect backing up your Mac to cut your data transfers and backup times in half, but no where near ‘a 10th of the time’ we were all hoping for. Solid-State SSD backup drives do leverage USB 3.0 bandwidth a lot better - but unless you can fit your Mac data onto a 120GB or 240GB SSD, you might find the more impressive performance of flash memory drives over USB 3.0 to be a bit too pricey.
There are USB 3.0 card readers that work well on a new Mac, however you’ll find most SD, SDHC, and SDXC cards don’t have data Read/Write speeds that can keep up with a USB3 port anyways. Other devices like USB keyboards, mice and graphics tablets simply don’t have the ability - nor the need - to max out USB 2.0 speeds, let alone USB 3.0.
Things get more interesting in the Audio-Video market, where USB 3.0 accessories for A/V enviroments can and will take advantage of USB 3.0 for high-bandwidth, low-latency needs like multi-channel audio and high-definition HD video streams.
Cheap ThunderBolt Hard Drive With USB 3.0 As Well
Combo interface hard drives are often a Mac users best shopping choice over the long haul. While many may only use a single interface - say USB or ThunderBolt or FireWire for their own use, sometimes when you need to transfer your data to a new Mac - or share files with someone else - the versatility of having more than one interface to choose from can come in very handy.
Just released - and on the bleeding edge of high-speed connectivity - Buffalo Technologies is now shipping a portable laptop drive with dual interfaces - the Buffalo miniStation USB3 + TBolt drive
. This portable external hard drive is now the cheapest ThunderBolt backup drive option available - AND - it's first to market which also offers a SuperSpeed USB 3.0 port, So it's the first combo interface storage solution ideal for nearly any Apple user.COMBO Interface Laptop Drive
USB 3.0 + ThunderBolt Interface
With a 500GB drive currently selling for $210, and 1TB for $250 it's now the cheapest ThunderBolt drive Per-Gigabyte out there - with the added benefit of USB 3.0/2.0/1.1 connectivity - AND IT INCLUDES BOTH A USB 3.0 AND THUNDERBOLT CABLE as well for a complete TimeMachine and data backup solution. It's pre-formatted for Mac OSX, ready to use out of the box.
Remember, USB 3.0 is BACKWARD COMPATIBLE with slower USB 2.0 (and even USB 1.1) though they'll operate at slower speeds. That's perfect for the MAJORITY of older Macintosh systems and MacBooks out in use today - while offering future ultra-fast drive connectivity as well. It's also perfect for the current crop of both ThunderBolt and USB 3.0 enabled Apple MacBook Pro
systems now shipping. Other desktop Macintosh models that will have both ThunderBolt and USB3 - namely the iMac and Mac mini - are expected to get revisions later in the year.Which Webcams Are Mac Compatible?
A rapidly emerging standard: UVC USB 2.0 Video Class Webcams which are Mac compatible - They're driverless plug and play for modern Apple computers running OS X 10.5 Leopard or 10.4 Tiger. But not all video chat webcams that are Mac friendly are identified as such, not all web cameras use UVC sensors. YET. But the standard is taking hold. So if you don't own a Mac with a built-in iSight (like a Mac Pro tower or Mac mini) -- check out the webcams for Mac link above.
