MacMedics Macintosh Service & Consulting Blog

iLife 09 has been released with new copy of iPhoto with a new feature called “Faces” (uses face recognition technology to identify faces in your photo library). iPhoto also has new feature called “Places” which allows for GPS geo-tagging using info from your camera. Facebook & Flickr support have also been added to iPhoto as part of iLife 09 refresh. iMovie 09 offers video stabilization. GarageBand 09 has new guitar effects and jam tools as well as a new interface to teach you to play keyboard or guitar. iLife is $79 or free with any new Mac.

iWork 09 has also been released at MacWorld today. $79 or $49 with a new Mac

MacBook Pro uni-body 17″ has been announced as well. 6.6 pounds and 0.98 inches thick. New MacBook Pro 17” works with the new cinema displays because of built-in Mini Display Port. Unit has 2.93GHz processor, up to 8GB of memory,320GB hard drive or upgrade to solid state drive with 256GB. New MBP display offers option of glossy or matte display. New battery technology offers up to 8 hours in single charge.

Starting today, a major portion of the iTunes Store’s 10 million songs are now available DRM-free via iTunes Plus. The entire 10 million songs in the iTunes Store library will be offered DRM-free by the end of March ‘09. Apple will also offer an easy to use one-click solution to upgrade currently DRM enabled iTunes music libraries to iTunes Plus for 30 cents per song or 30% of an album’s price.

The iTunes Wi-Fi music store is now compatible with 3G, allowing iPhone users to preview and download the entire iTunes music catalog over the 3G cellular network. Downloaded songs via 3G are the same price and quality as over Wi-Fi.

Also, beginning in April, the iTunes Store will offer pricing in three different tiers ($0.69, $0.99, and $1.29) based on the different prices the music labels charge Apple for their music.

Get more info from CNN at this link.

MacWorld 2009 starts tomorrow. We’ll keep you up-to-date on all of the announcements. We’ll send out a MacMedics newsletter with the highlights (not on our list? Sign up here!). You can also tune into Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/macmedics.

There are a few rumors flying around about what might be announced, but so far it does not look like anyone has really credible evidence that something incredible is coming out. The rumor mill is talking about the Mac Mini it might stay and get a needed refresh, or it might go away. Also swirling in the mist is talk of a NetBook, a super low cost Mac notebook designed to go head to head with the $400 PC laptops. There could be an iPod refresh or new models released, but so far nothing has been confirmed.

If you’re into MacWorld rumors, this blog has a set that I pretty much agree with: http://tinyurl.com/8zbjdb

Steve Jobs is not giving the keynote this year, instead it will be Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. This will also be the last year that Apple will attend the MacWorld Expo.

If you’re a MacMedics client, and you’d like a free copy of our 5-page Time Machine white paper, please get in touch with us to request your copy.

If you’re not working with MacMedics currently, but would like to sign up for our free e-mail newsletter, we’d be delighted to share our report on Time Machine with you. Sign up for our newsletter here, and we’ll send you a copy.

Last year at this time we announced our campaign to “retire” older hard drives and to also ensure that data was backed up. We created an informative website to explain our thoughts on the matter. Our site has had thousands of hits over the last year, but sadly we still see cases daily where clients have lost data.

Hard drives can fail at anytime and at any age, so it’s very important to always have a back up of your data. Our message must be getting out there, because we see more and more clients who are in the planning stage of a back up system lose their data the day before they hooked the the new back up system up. As ironic as that sounds, it happens all the time. People just put it off too long and the risk catches up with them. With larger and larger hard drives available as the Apple factory option that risk only increases with the amount of data stored in one place. An automatic and reliable back up system should be put in place BEFORE you start generating data.

Another situation we commonly see is where a back up has been made and the primary drive then gets erased (on purpose) in preparation for a move to a new computer or some other reason. It’s very, very important that when you make a back up with plan to only have that data on solely the back up drive for a time, that you test to ensure your data is really there. If the backup is bootable, then try booting off it to test. If it’s a Time Machine back up, then do some sample restores from a couple of different days. The rule here is if you’re going to be moving your data, it’s very important that to check to see that data is valid before you erase your old data.

The new year is great time to start fresh with a good back up system. Do yourself a favor and make a resolution to get a back up system installed as soon as possible. There are lots of options, and many are very inexpensive. Ask your MacMedics Engineer or Service Coordinator for help. We’ll be happy to help install a system that’s right for you.

P.S. If you have a MacBook check to see if you have a Seagate 7.01 firmware drive. These drives are prone to an unusual fatal hard drive failure. If you have this drive installed, MacMedics recommends that your proactively replace it. See our previous blog post on the topic here.

Also see our post about stripped or spanned hard drive RAIDs such as the LaCie Big Disk. This is another case where having all your eggs in one basket can be very risky. We’ve learned over time that many of clients don’t even know they are using such a system. Super dangerous for your data. If you have one, just get in touch with us ASAP!

A broken LCD screen in an iPod Video is never a happy thing, thankfully MacMedics & ipodmedics.com is running a New Year’s anti procrastinator repair special on replacing the LCD screen/display in the iPod Video.

Apple would love for you to buy a new iPod, but with the economy and the financial crisis looming, repairing an iPod you already own makes more sense then ever!

We’ll install a new LCD screen in your iPod Video and also outfit it with a new Apple factory battery for $55.95 (our normal price is $99). We’ll repair your unit the same day it arrives, and ship it back to you the same day in most cases.

We’ll make this super easy for our loyal readers.

1. Use the Google Checkout link below to buy our iPod Video LCD & battery replacement service with 2-way shipping.
2. We’ll send you a FedEx shipping label via e-mail.
3. Pack up your broken iPod and place the pre-paid label on the box,
4. Drop in any FedEx box, drop it off at FedEx Office, or hand it off to any FedEx Express driver.

We’ll repair your unit and ship it back to you via FedEx. That’s it!

This special MacWorld 2009 offer will expire on 1/31/09 and cannot be combined with any other offers.

Nobody likes waiting in line to get their Apple computer looked at. If your Macintosh computer needs help, just bring it to MacMedics. You DO NOT need a reservation or an appointment, just come by anytime. MacMedics is an Apple Authorized Service Provider, and as such we can honor your 1-year Apple limited warranty or AppleCare 3-year warranty. We also specialize in complex repairs, such as LCD screen replacements, hard drive upgrades, data recovery, and liquid spills.

If you need hours and directions see one of these pages for the MacMedics office near you:

MacMedics Millersville office (for Baltimore-Annapolis area)

MacMedics Lanham office (for Washington DC Metro area)

If you’ve got an iMac or Mac Pro, come get a MacMedics Tech, and we’ll even carry it into our Mac Lab for you.

Lots of schools, collages, and universities have discovered that MacMedics has really good institutional Macintosh service. We’ve been providing Mac service to places like MICA and Johns Hopkins for decades (how many Mac places can say that?). We’ve always focused on helping our clients and performing service for them as quickly as possible. Right now we’re fixing Macs for Prince George’s county schools and a university in a remote area of Pennsylvania that is not anywhere near a good Apple Authorized Service Provider. They have been shipping the units into us over the course of several weeks.

(BTW: If you work or goto school at JHU or MICA be sure to ask for your 10% MacMedics Macintosh service discount)

Nathan, one of our on-site techs in MacMedics Washington snapped this picture in our Lanham, Maryland Mac Lab of some of the machines we worked on waiting to go back into service. We kind of ran out of room, so these units are lined up in our conference room. Makes a cool shot with Bob Dylan and Amelia Earheart looking on. (we have a complete set of these posters BTW.)

Several months ago Apple asked us to help Washington DC public schools get about 50 eMacs serviced. Me and two other techs spent 2 full days on-site in DC replacing logic boards. It was a pretty impressive accomplishment. Notice how fast Charles’ hand is moving as he services this sick eMac.

If MacMedics can help you with your Macintosh service needs, you can rest assured that we’ve got the know-how and the manpower to get it done.

Apple released 10.5.6 yesterday. It’s a major update. When you go to install it, ensure you follow Apple’s advice:

1. Back up your computer prior to installing any updates.
2. Quit any open applications before starting the installation.
3. Do not interrupt the installation process.
4. You may experience unexpected results if you have third-party system software modifications installed, or if you have modified the operating system through other means, or if you have moved Apple applications from their default locations

This is all sound advice - we highly advise that you follow these four items. To read more about the update be sure to see Apple’s page on it.

These guidelines are pretty much the same as ours here at MacMedics. What we often see is that a major system update will cause one of two issues.

Running an update may seem like a good idea, but beware! Very frequently an update will cause an issue with a major application like Quark or InDesign, and cause a problem during production. That’s never a good thing. Never run a major update during a deadline, and don’t run an update to try and solve a larger issue without knowing what that problem is.

The other thing we often see is that an update like this can be a heavy duty workout for a sick or dying hard drive (see www.HardDrivesDie.com to learn more on this). Ensure that you’ve got a healthy drive before you run the update. Repair permissions, boot in safe mode, check things out, unplug external devices, and make sure you have File Vault or any other encryption software turned off.

Make sure your data is 100% backed up, and do that by actually checking your back up to ensure your data is where you think it is. If your back up is bootable, try booting off of it to check to see if its working. You don’t want to find out you can’t immediately bounce back from a problem if one should pop up. Sadly Time Machine is NOT a bootable back up, unless you have another system you can test on, but be sure you check it and maybe try pulling a few sample files off of it to test it’s validity.

If your Mac is on MacMedics Scheduled Service, then we’ll perform this update for you when we deem it safe. If you like to live up to the second, follow us on Twitter to watch what’s going on with us and the very latest updates.

Nobody likes to see a broken Macintosh laptop LCD, especially us. We love Macs, so we don’t like to see them hurt and broken after a bad drop or other unfortunate incident. Replacing the MacBook LCD can be an expensive repair when you seek help from Apple. They treat the entire LCD and top case of a MacBook as one part, and it’s expensive! MacMedics offers a flat-rate discount MacBook LCD service for $349. We’ll replace your broken or non-working) MacBook LCD with an OEM part, and return it to you as quickly as possible. If your MacBook has case issues or other problems associated with the broken LCD we’ll work with you to find the best solution for fixing those issues as well. Best of all if our replacement LCD screen has a problem it’s covered by our MacMedics full one-year warranty. (Fine print: we won’t replace the LCD if it’s been broken a 2nd time, so let’s be careful out there!)

Lots of companies are now jumping on the Mac service band wagon. When you have a major Mac service service need like an LCD or logic board, please consider that MacMedics is the regional leader for Apple Macintosh sales and service. We pioneered on-site Macintosh service, and our in-lab service is also highly regarded and award winning. Macintosh computers are highly engineered and as such they often have very small parts, various sized screws, and very tight fittings cases. All three of these things frequently trip up firms that are NOT specialized in Mac service. (see our blog post about how a big box store fried a perfectly working iBook) We frequently see computers after they have already been someplace else and NOT properly serviced. MacMedics is an Apple Authorized Service Provider and we’ve been fixing only Macs for over 20 years. So, before you ship your beloved laptop (or desktop) to places unknown, consider sending it to MacMedics. Also, all non-warranty Apple repairs are covered by our no hassle 1-year MacMedics warranty. If it fails, we fix it free.

See this image large size.

Ship your unit into us, or drop it off and for a limited time we’ll send it back to you via Fedex standard air shipping free of charge.

Add a 500 GB hard drive to any MacBook or MacBook Pro LCD replacement service for just $180 in a MacBook including a bit by bit clone data copy. When you get your unit back, your data will be in just the same place you left it. Also, your old drive is yours, so we’ll return that as part of the service, or we can make it into a portable back up drive for $40.

This week we were gearing up for a pretty big Apple Xserve install in the Baltimore, MD area. We’ll be installing a new Xserve with fully populated Promise RAID along with a new video intake server also with it’s own Promise RAID.

As you can see it was no problem fitting (2) Promise RAIDs, an Xserve, a Mac Pro, an Apple Cinema Display, and a bunch of other stuff into one of the MacMedics trucks.