Please keep an eye out for a very convincing fake email that is made to look just like an official Apple email.

Here’s what it looks like:

It appears that wherever it points to has been shut down, but it is quite likely that they will switch it to a different server very quickly.

Many small/medium businesses are planning to take advantage of the increased deductions available on equipment purchases made in 2011. Sections 179 Tax Deductions have increased to $500,000 on equipment purchases of up to $2.0M. This equipment can include Macintosh computers, iPads, iPods, software purchases, volume licensed software, etc. The deductions also include provisions for leased equipment and software.

Apple currently has two great leasing oppertunites available as well, that can also help you take advantage of 2011 year end tax savings.

Finance Apple products at 95% of the price. Extended through December.

Lease your business technology for 30 months at no interest. Extended through December.

Also if you have plans for a Macintosh or iPad, but you’re too busy to implement it right now, MacMedics will invoice you in 2011 for Apple hardware, MacMedics consulting fees, or pre-paid labor blocks. Please get in touch with your local MacMedics representive.

MacMedics is the ONLY Apple Authorized Service Provider and the only independent Apple Authorized Value Added Reseller In Prince George’s County, Maryland. MacMedics’ office in Lanham is also one of the closest Apple Authorized Service Providers to the Annapolis Apple Store. (The other being the MacMedics office in Millersville, MD.) So if you’ve got a tough Macintosh repair problem that the Apple Store could not solve, then we are one of the closest places to come get a second opinion.

(The only other Apple Reseller in PG county, other than MacMedics is Best Buy in College Park, MD.)

If you need Macintosh help, training, Apple Authorized Service, or Apple Authorized Sales assistance without the hassle of:

D. Trying to first get an appointment with an Apple Genius, and then not really getting enough time to really pick their brains for expert Macintosh advice.

It’s also important to know that the Apple Store does not perform data recovery. If you think your data is at risk, setting up your computer on the Genius Bar to copy your data, is not a good idea. As hard drives fail, they generate heat, and as the generate heat they fail more. We’ll remove the drive from your computer and put it right on our data recovery equipment to try and rescue your data. Our fee for this type of recovery is only $199. Read more here.

(Plus as an added bonus ALL Macintosh laptop repairs are performed locally right here in or shop. The Apple Store will often send your laptop away for Apple Depot Service)

Our expert Apple Certified employees stand ready to help at anytime. We are super proud to be an award-winning Apple Authorized Service Provider and Authorized Apple Reseller AND Certified Members of the Apple Consultants Network (and MacMedics is the ONLY ACN member located in Prince Georges County, Maryand. We’re a great alternative to either buying a new Mac or bringing a sick Mac computer to the Mall. MacMedics is also a multiple repeat winner of Apple’s “Commitment To Excellence Award”. In fact, we’re the only Apple Authorized Service Provider In Anne Arundel or Prince Georges counties to win this award according to Apple. This award recognizes us for several things, but most importantly for accuracy and speed of Macintosh repairs. There’s a reason that MacMedics is the most frequently referred service firm for tough Mac service cases, like LCD replacements, liquid damage, vintage or obsolete Mac equipment, and Macintosh data recovery. With well over 50,000 in-lab and on-site service cases and our staff’s combined Mac experience of over 200 years, MacMedics IS the place to bring your sick Mac!

We also perform Hard Drive Upgrades (under warranty or not) and expert Macintosh Data Recovery, two things you simply can’t get at ANY Apple Store. Plus, if you do need a new hard drive, we can upgrade the size, speed, and you get a 3-year warranty, compared to like-for-like hard drive swap at the Apple Store, plus there you only get a 90 day warranty.

Come visit either of our TWO fully-staffed and stocked Macintosh Service & Sales locations in Lanham, MD (1 Mile from I-495/I-95 just inside the Beltway of off Rt 50 and Martin Luther King Hwy.) or in Millersville, MD (near BWI Airport 1/10 of a mile from I-97).

For folks that live in Anne Arundel County or more specifically, Annapolis, Davidsonville, or Bowie and work in the Washington DC metro area, MacMedics in Lanham, Maryland IS the most convenient option for Apple sales and service. We stock all of the most common Apple, computers, iPads, iPods, and Apple accessories, like MacBook & MacBook Pro batteries, G4 and MagSafe power adapters, back up hard drives, and FireWire & USB cables. Also, in comparison to the Apple Store, our Apple Warranty and AppleCare service is the fastest. Most Apple warranty repairs are generally complete within 24 hours. With our Lanham office being 1 minute from RT 50, it’s super easy to get to us and drop off your repairs quickly. Pull up right at our office door and you can be inside in 10 steps.

Got a problem? Wanna’ talk about it? Just pick up the phone and call your nearest MacMedics office. It’s unlikely that you can get anyone at the Apple Store on the phone, and most other places just send you to voicemail. You will only get voicemail here if everysing phone line we have is tied up (and that does happen).

MacMedics has been in business and fixing Macs all over town since before the Apple Store or anyone else. We are very proud to have just celebrated our 21st anniversary servicing the Baltimore, Annapolis, and Washington DC areas.

One other great thing about coming to visit us, is the fact that parking is here is not an issue, and it’s free and 10 easy steps right into our office. So, avoid the time consuming search for parking when you’re trying to find someplace to park the Mall.

Be sure to read one of our most popular Blog posts about why coming to MacMedics makes so much sense at http://www.NOappointments.com.

We are pleased to announce that MacMedics has once again been awarded the Apple Service Commitment To Excellence award for Apple Service.

The Apple Service Commitment To Excellence Program recognizes the top 10 percent of all Apple Authorized Service Providers in the U.S. and Canada who have implemented and utilize best practices to maximize their Apple Warranty Service offerings. Only 265 Apple Authorized Service Providers earned this award this quarter.

The Apple Service Excellence (ACSE) scores measure two items that directly impact consumers who are seeking Apple Service.

1. Repair turn around time. (Was the repair performed quickly?)
2. First-Time fix. (Did we correctly diagnose the problem the first time we looked at it?)

As one of the oldest and largest Apple Authorized Service Providers in Maryland (and the only company with two full-service locations), MacMedics strives to repair Apple computer quickly and accurately.

Most Apple repairs can be completed at MacMedics in about 1-day. Consider that you don’t need an appointment; you don’t need to carry your Mac gear thru the Mall, and that you don’t have to wait in line or fight the crowds at the Apple Store.

See our MacMedics Blog post on why coming to MacMedics is better then visiting the Apple Store for Apple Authorized Service at http://www.NOappointments.com.

Verizon Wireless and Apple today announced that the iPhone 4 will be available on the Verizon Wireless network beginning on Thursday, February 10.

Apple has updated their website with info about Verizon and the iPhone.

Apple Announces iLife ’11

iLife ’11 makes it easier than ever to create amazing things with photos, movies, and music on a Mac and share them with friends and family. It includes major upgrades to iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand, and also continues to include iWeb and iDVD. Key new features in iLife ’11 include:

iPhoto—New full-screen modes for Faces, Places, Events, and Albums; Facebook enhancements, photo mail, new slideshow themes, and a new way to build photo books and cards.
iMovie—Fun, Hollywood-style Movie Trailers, One-Step Effects, People Finder, Sports and News themes, and video publishing to more places.
GarageBand—Find the perfect rhythm and groove with Flex Time and Groove Matching, more guitar amps and stompbox effects, new Basic Lessons for guitar and piano, and “How Did I Play?”.

Learn more on Apple’s website at http://www.apple.com/ilife.

Apple Announces New MacBook Air

The all-new MacBook Air combines the power of Mac with the portability of iPad to create the next generation of MacBooks. The new MacBook Air features:

All-New Design—Apple’s thinnest and most compact notebook ever features a new unibody enclosure.
High-Resolution Displays—Available in two sizes—11-inch (1366 by 768) and 13-inch (1440 by 900).
Better Performance—All flash storage, Intel Core 2 Duo processors, and NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics combine for the perfect balance of performance and portability.
Long Battery Life—Single charge provides up to 5 to 7 hours of battery life with up to 30 days of standby time.

Learn more on Apple’s website at http://www.apple.com/macbookair.

Apple Gives Sneak Peek of Mac OS X Lion

Apple today gave a sneak peek of Mac OS X Lion, the eighth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system. Shipping next summer, Lion is inspired by many of iPad’s software innovations.

Today’s sneak peek highlighted just a few of Lion’s features, including the Mac App Store, a new way to discover, install, and automatically update desktop apps; Launchpad, a new home for all of your Mac apps; system-wide support for full-screen apps; and Mission Control, which unifies Exposé, Dashboard, Spaces, and full-screen apps into an innovative new view of everything running on your Mac, and allows you to instantly navigate anywhere.

To learn more, visit http://www.apple.com/macosx/lion/.

Apple Brings FaceTime to the Mac

Apple today announced the public beta of FaceTime for Mac, an entirely new application that allows Mac users to video call iPhone 4 and new iPod touch users as well as other Macs. Featuring an easy-to-use interface, FaceTime for Mac automatically uses your Address Book contacts so there’s no need to create special buddy lists, and it works seamlessly with the built-in camera and mic on Mac notebooks, iMac, and Apple LED Cinema Displays.

To learn more and download the public beta, visit http://www.apple.com/mac/facetime/.

Apple has the entire keynote from the “Back to the Mac” 10-20-10 announcement event available for viewing at their website.

Apple today released Safari 5.0.1 to enable Safari Extensions for all users and introduced the Safari Extensions Gallery so they can quickly find and download extensions. Safari is available for both Mac and Windows.

Safari Extensions are created by third-party developers and add powerful new features to the browser, from toolbars that display live web feeds to sophisticated programs that filter web page content.

The Safari Extensions Gallery is accessible from the Safari menu or at http://extensions.apple.com. Users can download and install extensions with a single click, and there’s no need to restart the browser.

Use Software Update to download version 5.0.1.

For more information about Safari, go to http://www.apple.com/safari.

To view the Safari Extension Gallery, go to http://extensions.apple.com.

A faster 3.33GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon “Nehalem” processor is now available as a configure-to-order option on the quad-core Mac Pro. Featuring 8MB of fully shared L3 cache, an integrated memory controller, Hyper-Threading technology, and Turbo Boost for dynamic performance up to 3.6GHz, this processor brings even greater performance to the quad-core Mac Pro.

Mac Pro and Xserve systems can now be configured with 2TB hard drives, doubling the total storage capacity to up to 8TB on Mac Pro and up to 6TB on Xserve. The 2TB hard drives are high-performance 7200-rpm SATA 3Gb/s drives with 32MB of cache and are also available separately.

The Mac Pro configure-to-order options include

- 3.33GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon “Nehalem” Processor

- 2TB hard drive option (for a capacity of up to 8 TB)

The Xserve configure-to-order options include:

- 2TB hard drive option (for a capacity of up to 8 TB)

Time Machine is an excellent way to back up your files! It's only cool and powerful if you actually turn it on and USE it!

Friday the 13th can be an un-lucky day, but you CAN take control of your back up and ensure your data is always protected by following a few simple steps.

The important thing is to PLAN AHEAD. Your back up is not complete if it’s not:

1. Automatic (Use Time Machine and this point is covered)

2. Redundant (Double your back up with a clone of your data or use an off-site back up and this point is covered)

3. Off-Site (Take your double back up off-site or get Mozy or CrashPlan Pro and this point is covered)

If you’d like to sign up for Mozy or CrashPlan Pro, we have links to those services, including the hard to find free 2GB Mozy account. We also strongly recommend LoJack for Laptops.

http://www.macmedics.com/mozy (Use code “2012″ for 10% off paid service until 2/1/12)
http://www.macmedics.com/crashplan
http://www.macmedics.com/lojack

We’ve been over this before, but here on the front lines of data loss we see this just about everyday. It’s senseless the number of pictures, school papers, financial and business documents, and music get lost when a back up system can be had for as little as $99!

You need to make your back up system automatic, or use a program like Time Machine. That’s the first step. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY can keep up with a “manual” drag-n-drop back up! To boot, quite a bit of the data loss we see here at MacMedics happens when someone copies over important data during a drag-n-drop Finder copy. Sometime, folks think they have the data copied, but something goes wrong and they just end up with an alias, then they go and delete the original data, because they think they just copied it.

The second step is to regularly test that back up to ensure your files are there and you’re able to grab them anytime you need them. There’s no such thing as a “Set-It-And-Forget-It” back up system.

If you need help getting your back up set up, our advice is free, and we have external portable and desktop hard drives in stock!

If you have data you care about it needs to be backed up! Just because your computer is new or you just replaced the hard drive offers you very little protection. Hard drives can die at any time, and in fact there’s an increased risk of that occurring in the first 30 to 60 days of a hard drives’ life.

See our website http://www.HardDrivesDie.com for more info on “retiring” older drives and ensuring you have a safe back up.

The pictures we take at the holidays are the most cherished and valuable. Make sure the picture you take this holiday make it onto you back up system as soon as you import them onto your computer. Also, as an added tip: Don’t have iPhoto delete your pictures off you camera. Leave them in two places, in iPhoto AND on your camera until you have them BACKED UP. You ALWAYS want to have your valuable data in TWO PLACES at all times.

Before you install this or any other software update, be sure to read our Software Update/Upgrade Warning Page which can be found here.

Here’s the text from the Apple Software Update window:

The 10.6.2 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Snow Leopard and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac, including fixes for:

An issue that might cause your system to logout unexpectedly

An issue that caused data to be deleted when using a guest account.

For detailed information on this update, please visit this website: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3874.

For information on the security content of this update, please visit: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222.