Apple MacBook Pro

❤ Apple updates 13-inch MacBook Pro with Magic Keyboard, double the storage, and faster performance

Galaxy Expert May 5, 2020 Apple, Apple Mac, Apple MacBook, Apple MacOS, Featured, Lifestyle, Macbook Pro, News, Repair Service, Top Stories, World Apple, Apple Mac, Apple Mac Update, Apple Macbook, Apple MacBook Pro, Apple MacBook Pro Update, Apple MacBook Update, double the storage, faster performance, MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Pro Update, MacBook Update, Magic Keyboard

Introducing the 13-inch MacBook Pro updated with the new Magic Keyboard, double the storage, and faster graphics performance.

Cupertino, California — Apple today updated the 13-inch MacBook Pro with the new Magic Keyboard for the best typing experience ever on a Mac notebook and doubled the storage across all standard configurations, delivering even more value to the most popular MacBook Pro. The new lineup also offers 10th-generation processors for up to 80 percent faster graphics performance¹ and makes 16GB of faster 3733MHz memory standard on select configurations. With powerful quad-core processors, the brilliant 13-inch Retina display, Touch Bar and Touch ID, immersive stereo speakers, all-day battery life, and the power of macOS, all in an incredibly portable design, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro is available to order today, starting at $1,299, and $1,199 for education.

With a sleek aluminum unibody design in space gray or silver and weighing just 3 pounds, the 13-inch MacBook Pro is highly portable and packed with performance and advanced technologies.

“Whether you’re a college student, a developer, or a creative pro, the 13-inch MacBook Pro delivers powerful performance, a stunning Retina display, and all-day battery life in our most portable pro notebook. Today we’re adding the new Magic Keyboard, doubling the standard storage, and boosting performance, making the 13-inch MacBook Pro an even better value for our customers,” said Tom Boger, Apple’s senior director of Mac and iPad Product Marketing. “With these updates, our entire notebook lineup features the Magic Keyboard for the best typing experience ever on a Mac notebook, offers twice the standard storage than before, and delivers even more performance.”

The new Magic Keyboard comes to the 13-inch MacBook Pro, delivering the best typing experience ever on a Mac notebook.

New Magic Keyboard

The updated 13-inch MacBook Pro now features the new Magic Keyboard, first introduced on the 16-inch MacBook Pro and added to MacBook Air in March. Magic Keyboard features a redesigned scissor mechanism with 1mm of key travel for a comfortable and stable key feel, while the new inverted-“T” arrangement for the arrow keys makes them easier to find, whether users are navigating through spreadsheets or playing games. Magic Keyboard also features a physical Escape key, along with Touch Bar and Touch ID, for a keyboard that delivers the best typing experience ever on a Mac notebook.

Magic Keyboard on the 13-inch MacBook Pro features a physical Escape key, Touch ID for easy login and secure online purchases, and Touch Bar with dynamic and contextual controls.

Double the Storage

Customers love the superfast SSDs on MacBook Pro, with sequential read speeds of up to 3.0GB/s. The 13-inch MacBook Pro now comes with double the storage of the previous generation, with standard storage starting at 256GB all the way up to 1TB, so customers can store even more photos, videos, and files. And for pro users who need even more storage capacity for large photo libraries and video projects, the 13-inch MacBook Pro now offers up to a 4TB SSD.

With standard storage starting at 256GB all the way up to 1TB, 13-inch MacBook Pro users can store even more photos, videos, and files.

Better Performance

The 13-inch MacBook Pro lineup now offers up to 10th-generation quad-core Intel Core processors with Turbo Boost speeds of up to 4.1GHz. Customers who are upgrading from a 13-inch MacBook Pro with a dual-core processor will see up to 2.8 times faster performance. The integrated Intel Iris Plus Graphics deliver up to 80 percent faster performance over the previous generation 13-inch MacBook Pro for 4K video editing, faster rendering, and smoother gameplay. The new graphics also enable users to connect to Pro Display XDR at full 6K resolution.

With the latest 10th-generation processors, the 13-inch MacBook Pro delivers up to 80 percent faster graphics performance for 4K video editing, faster rendering, and smoother gameplay.

Faster Memory and More Memory

16GB of faster 3733MHz memory is now offered as a standard configuration on select models, and for the first time on a 13-inch Mac notebook, customers can choose a 32GB memory option. With 32GB of memory, users will experience better performance while running multiple virtual machines and up to 50 percent faster performance when editing gigapixel images in Photoshop.

Portable Design with a Stunning Retina Display

With a sleek aluminum unibody design in space gray or silver and weighing just 3 pounds, the 13-inch MacBook Pro is both highly portable and packed with performance and advanced technologies. Its stunning and brilliant 13-inch Retina display delivers more than 4 million pixels and millions of colors, along with 500 nits of brightness and support for the P3 wide color gamut. And with True Tone technology, the display offers a more natural viewing experience for design and editing workflows, as well as for everyday tasks such as browsing the web and writing email. The 13-inch MacBook Pro also comes with speakers that provide incredibly immersive wide-stereo sound, Touch ID for easy login and secure online purchases, Touch Bar with dynamic and contextual controls, and the industry-best Force Touch trackpad for precise cursor control and Multi-Touch navigation.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro features a brilliant Retina display with more than 4 million pixels and millions of colors, 500 nits of brightness, and support for the P3 wide color gamut.

Built-in Security and Privacy

The 13-inch MacBook Pro comes with the Apple T2 Security Chip, Apple’s own custom-designed second-generation silicon, which checks that software loaded during the boot process has not been tampered with and provides on-the-fly data encryption for everything stored on the SSD. This allows MacBook Pro and any Mac with the T2 chip to deliver the most secure boot process and storage of any computer. The T2 also protects Touch ID information, so whether customers are unlocking their Mac, entering an online password, or making online purchases, their information stays safe.

Touch ID on the 13-inch MacBook Pro keeps information safe whether customers are unlocking their Mac, entering an online password, or making online purchases.

macOS Catalina

Every new MacBook Pro comes with macOS Catalina, the latest version of the world’s most advanced desktop operating system. macOS has always been at the core of the Mac experience, and with apps such as Safari, Mail, Photos, Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, customers have powerful tools to do amazing things. macOS also makes MacBook Pro the perfect companion device to iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch with built-in Continuity features that allow users to make and receive phone calls without picking up their iPhone; automatically unlock their Mac with Apple Watch; copy and paste images, video, and text straight from iPhone or iPad to a nearby Mac; and in macOS Catalina, extend the workspace of their Mac using an iPad and Sidecar. Security features keep users better protected, and Voice Control lets users control their Mac entirely with their voice.

In macOS Catalina, users can extend their workspace and use iPad and Sidecar alongside their new 13-inch MacBook Pro.

Apple Services

Customers can also enjoy Apple services right on their MacBook Pro, including Mac versions of the Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, and Apple TV apps, as well as Apple News. Apple Arcade is available through the Mac App Store, bringing more than 100 new and exclusive games to Mac customers. And for a limited time, customers who purchase a new MacBook Pro can enjoy one year of Apple TV+ on the Apple TV app for free.³

Pricing and Availability

Starting at $1,299 (US), and $1,199 (US) for education, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro is available to order today on apple.com and in the Apple Store app. It will begin arriving to customers and will be in select Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Resellers later this week. Additional technical specifications, configure-to-order options, and accessories are available online at apple.com/mac.

❤ How to Boot MacBook Pro Without a Battery (Older Models 2006 – 2011)

Galaxy Expert June 15, 2019 Apple, Apple Mac, Apple MacBook, Apple MacOS, Featured, Lifestyle, Macbook Pro, MacOS Mojave, News, Repair Service, Review, Top Stories, World Apple Mac, Apple Mac Repair, Apple Mac Repair Costs, Apple Mac Sydney CBD Repairs, Apple MacBook Pro, Apple MacBook Pro Repair, Apple MacBook Pro Repair Costs, Apple MacBook Pro Sydney CBD Repairs, Boot MacBook Pro, Boot MacBook Pro Without a Battery

You may have noticed that sometimes you can not power on and boot a MacBook Pro when it doesn’t have a battery installed. Let’s say you had to remove the battery of an older MacBook Pro because it was swelling, or the battery failed for some other reason, but when you go to power on the MacBook Pro, nothing happens. (To be clear, this article is aimed at older MacBook Pro model years, like a 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, back when replacing a battery, hard disk, RAM, was all fairly easy to do by opening the bottom case).

In this situation, if a battery is removed or totally dead and you attempt to start the MacBook Pro, nothing happens – there is no sound, no system boot, no startup chime, nothing. It turns out that some model year MacBook Pro computers will not boot with a simple power button press after the battery has been physically removed or disconnected.

Of course if you happen to have a replacement battery then you can typically just replace the missing battery with a working battery and the MacBook Pro will boot, but that is not always an option. So let’s discuss how to boot an older MacBook Pro when there is no battery present at all.

How to Boot MacBook Pro with No Battery Installed

We are assuming the MacBook Pro has no battery installed in the computer, meaning there physically is no battery installed. Then, when attempting to boot the Mac or pressing the start button, nothing happens. In this case, you can force the MacBook Pro to boot by following these steps:

Unplug the MagSafe power cable
Hold down the Power button for 10 seconds and continue to hold it down
While still holding the Power button, connect the MagSafe power cable to the MacBook Pro and continue to hold the Power button for another 10 seconds
Release the Power button, then press the Power button as usual to power on the computer and boot the Mac

When the MacBook Pro does boot, the fans will be blasting at full speed for the entire time you are using the Mac (resetting SMC or PRAM does not stop the fans running, only replacing the battery will).

Also it appears that the MacBook Pro will reduce its own clock speed in this situation, thereby reducing performance.

The only way to stop the fans from running at full speed and to return the clock speed to regular performance is to install a new battery into the MacBook Pro.

As some experienced this scenario on an old MacBook Pro 2010 model after removing a swollen battery. Once the battery was removed you can press the power button but nothing happens. However, the above method of disconnecting and reconnecting MagSafe while holding the Power button was successful in starting up the Mac – with fans running at full speed and at reduced clock speed however. Nonetheless, Snow Leopard still runs well!

As you can see in the screenshot below, the “No Battery” indicator is visible, but the MacBook Pro is booted and working.

And indeed, this particular MacBook Pro has no physical battery installed as you can see the internals in this picture:

Powering Up a MacBook Pro After Replacing Battery, Logic Board, Hard Drive, RAM, etc too

Apparently the same aforementioned scenario of the MacBook / MacBook Pro not starting up can also unfold when replacing other internal components on these older model year MacBook Pro (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, etc), including replaced logic boards, internal hard drives, RAM, battery, and perhaps other hardware components too.

With some other internal component replacements, sometimes simply plugging in the MagSafe adapter and holding the power button for 10 seconds is enough to cause the MacBook Pro to start.

Also, Check the Power Adapter Wattage

For what it’s worth, in some scenarios where the battery appears dead but is not actually (ie, the charge is long drained but the battery itself isn’t completely useless yet), then you may be able to successfully boot the MacBook Pro with a proper wattage MagSafe power adapter of 85W. These older model year MacBook Pro computers use 85W power adapters, whereas the MacBook and MacBook Air of the same generation used 60W power adapters. Sometimes simply plugging in the proper higher wattage power adapter will allow the MacBook Pro to boot.

This MagSafe power button pressing solution was found on iFixIt forums and it worked for me, so if you’re in a similar scenario with an older MacBook Pro then try it out yourself. If for some reason the above method does not work, the original forum poster does state the following possible workaround involving moving a RAM module to a different slot (if applicable):

“If that doesn’t work then try to remove one RAM memory [module] and switch places and [repeat] the method”

In my case this juggling of the RAM module was not necessary to boot the MacBook Pro (a 2010 model year) without a battery, but that additional tidbit may be valid to you.

This article is obviously aimed at older MacBook Pro hardware, but it may be relevant to other older MacBook models too, including similar model year (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011) MacBook and MacBook Air, and perhaps even some newer MacBook Pro models too. By the way, if you’re rocking an older Mac and want to speed it up, check out these tips.

Of course newer model year MacBook (Pro & Air too) hardware does not have user serviceable batteries and in some cases the battery is glued to the top case, so in those situations the ability to end up in a situation where the computer doesn’t have a battery is much less likely, and any troubleshooting scenario is going to be much more extreme requiring a more thorough hardware repair that is far beyond the scope of this particular article. In those situations, take the Mac to a certified Apple Repair Specialist or an Apple Store instead.

Long live the old Macs! Does this qualify for retro status yet? Probably not… give it a bit longer.

❤ How to Reset SMC on MacBook Air & MacBook Pro (2018 and Later)

Galaxy Expert January 16, 2019 Apple, Apple Mac, Apple MacBook, Apple MacOS, MacOS Mojave, News, Repair Service, Review Apple Mac, Apple Mac Repair, Apple Mac Repair Costs, Apple Mac Screen Replacement Costs, Apple Mac Sydney CBD Repairs, Apple MacBook Air, Apple MacBook Air Repair, Apple MacBook Air Repair Costs, Apple MacBook Air Sydney CBD Repairs, Apple MacBook AirScreen Replacement Costs, Apple MacBook Pro, Apple MacBook Pro Repair Costs, Apple MacBook Pro Screen Replacement Costs, Apple MacBook Pro Sydney CBD Repairs, Apple MMacBook Pro ac Repair, Reset SMC, Reset SMC on MacBook Air, Reset SMC on MacBook Pro, SMC

Resetting the SMC on newer model MacBook Air and MacBook Pro computers from the 2018 model year onward is a different process than resetting the Mac SMC on prior Macs, this is because of the T2 security chip that controls Touch ID and secure boot functionality on the latest Mac laptops. Despite being a different procedure, resetting the SMC on the 2018 MacBook Air and 2018 MacBook Pro can still be a necessary troubleshooting procedure to resolve some particular issues.

For some quick background, the System Management Controller (SMC) on a Mac is in charge of managing various hardware components of the computer, including fans and thermal management, battery and power management, display and keyboard backlighting, external displays, and other similar low-level hardware functions. Thus if you are experiencing issues with a Mac that pertain to these type of hardware components and functionality, resetting the SMC on the MacBook Air or MacBook Pro may be part of the troubleshooting process, and often an effective one at that.

As mentioned a moment ago, resetting the SMC on these new T2 equipped Macs, including MacBook Air 2018 (and later) and MacBook Pro 2018 (and later) is a different process than resetting SMC on prior Mac models. This tutorial will demonstrate the steps required to reset the SMC on the newest Mac laptop models in the Apple lineup.

How to Reset SMC on MacBook Air & MacBook Pro (2018 or later)

Resetting the System Management Controller on modern Mac laptops with the T2 security chip is different from the SMC reset process on other Macs, and it’s now a two-step process. Sometimes simply completing the first step alone will resolve the issue, but proceeding with both part 1 and part 2 of the SMC reset process for the troubleshooting process is generally a valid approach on these laptops.

Resetting SMC on MacBook Air / Pro (2018 and later) – Part 1

Go to the  Apple menu and choose “Shut Down” to turn off the Mac
After the Mac is turned off, press and hold the Power button for 10 seconds
Release holding the power button, then wait a few more seconds
Now press the Power button again to turn the Mac on

Check to see if the problem is still occurring on the Mac, sometimes the steps above alone will resolve the issue. If the issue persists, proceed to the next set of steps.

Resetting SMC on MacBook Pro / Air (2018 and later) – Part 2

Go to the  Apple menu and choose “Shut Down” to turn off the Mac
After the Mac is turned off, press and hold the right SHIFT key, and the left OPTION key, and the left CONTROL key, for 7 seconds

While still holding those keys, now press and hold the POWER button for 7 more seconds

Release all of the buttons and keys, then wait a few more seconds
Now press the Power button again to turn the Mac on

Whatever the issue with the System Management Controller was should now be resolved, assuming the problem was with the SMC in the first place anyway.

If after resetting the SMC the MacBook Pro or MacBook Air continues to experience problems, then perhaps the SMC reset failed in which you can simply try the process again, or the problem may not be related to the SMC, or the issue may not be resolvable by a simple SMC reset.

Remember that SMC related issues are almost always related to hardware issues, like blasting runaway fans, or backlit keyboards not working, or USB-C ports not properly charging the Mac, things of that nature, and SMC related difficulties pretty much never pertain to software or system software. Another common troubleshooting trick for managing other curious related issues is to reset the Mac PRAM / NVRAM, a process which is the same on all modern Mac models.

Problems with system software are sometimes resolved by restoring from a prior backup, or by reinstalling MacOS itself, and problems with software is often resolved by updating the software, or deleting it and reinstalling it, or trashing related preferences.

It’s important to note that the above method of resetting the SMC pertains only to T2 equipped portable Macs, like MacBook Air and MacBook Pro from 2018 onward, and not with any other Mac or older Mac model.