For those of us in the northern hemisphere, summer is fast approaching and that can often mean extreme heat which pushes the temperature limits beyond what any computer is intended to operate in. In fact, Apple species ambient operating temperatures for most Macs as between 50° and 95° fahrenheit, this means that anything above 95° goes beyond the conditions the Mac was specified to function within.

Does that mean you can’t use your computer in intense heat? Most likely not, it just means you have to find ways to help keep it cool. With that in mind, here are some tips to keep a portable Mac cool when faced with blazing temperatures, they should be applicable to any MacBook, MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air. Some of these solutions come by way of OSXDaily reader Niladri Haldar, who regularly uses his MacBook Pro in summer temperatures over 100° without incident.

1. Avoid using a Mac on a bed or fabric surface – Anything soft doesn’t allow for sufficient heat dispersion and can even block the air ventilation on many portable Macs, try to always use a Mac on a hard surface of wood, metal, or glass
2. Use a Laptop Stand – anything that raises a Mac away from a base surface allows for heat to radiate out and for air to flow around it, cooling the hardware. I use a Griffin Elevator Stand and on hot summer days it can mean the difference between having the fans blasting or not having them on at all
3. Raise the Rear of a MacBook – No laptop stand? Make do with what you have, and try placing the rear of the Mac elevated by a hardcover book or something similar. It’s not as effective as a laptop stand, but this promotes airflow and can make a significant difference in keeping hardware cool.
4. Place a Mac at the edge of a table or desk – No stand and no book to raise the computer with? Try hovering the rear end of a MacBook over the edge of a desk or surface to increase air flow where Macs blow out their heat
5. Use a Fan – Yes, a standard room fan. This may sound silly but if you’re in an environment without Air Conditioning and the mercury is rising, pointing a fan onto a Mac will blow cool air onto it and help disperse heat. If you’re using a Mac in temperatures over 90°, this is one of the best things you can do to not only keep yourself cool but also your computer.
6. Keep Away from the Sun – Again this may seem like common sense, but using a computer in direct sunlight places an unnecessary burden on the fans. Even on reasonably mild sunny days the sun can cause fans to go into overdrive, it’s best to avoid direct sunlight completely.
7. Frozen Peas to the Rescue – This might sound crazily stupid, but during a heatwave last summer I pulled a bag of frozen peas out of the freezer and placed my then toasty MacBook Pro on top of it so I could play Starcraft 2 despite the 100° ambient temperature. The result was practically no fan usage. You’ll want to be very cautious to avoid condensation from the frozen bag though, so setting a thin layer of hard plastic or something similar between the frozen veges and Mac is a good idea
8. Consider a Cooling Pad – Some third party laptop stands have built-in fans that blow directly onto the underside of a computer, these can be very effective

Finally, a quick word of advice: if you’re in extreme heat and you don’t have any method to cool down your Mac, do yourself a favor and don’t use it at all until you get out of the crazy weather. Heat is one of the most detrimental forces to anything electronic and overheating can lead directly to reduced lifespan of hardware, diminished battery capacity, and other problems. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.

Do you have any special tips you use to keep a Mac cool during intense heat? Let us know in the comments.

The next time you’re in desperate need to crack open a beer bottle, reach for your iPad power adapter. Say what? Well, apparently it can double as a bottle opener, not that we’d recommend that. This may be the ultimate Apple-geek party trick and I’m sure college students the world over are rejoicing in their dorms right now at this exciting new discovery, but that doesn’t mean anyone endorses this practice or that we’d recommend you trying.

Using an iPad power brick as a bottle opener is almost certainly not covered by your AppleCare warranty so don’t cry to Apple or anyone else if you break something in the process. We certainly aren’t going to try it ourselves, though this should also work with the MacBook Pro & Air MagSafe charger too. But you’re entirely on your own here, so party on.

Heads up to @EvaZebra for discovering the revolution on Twitter, you should follow us there too.

Many people equate productivity with screen size and assume it’s difficult to get much work done on a small screen. That simply isn’t true, I use a MacBook Air with the 11″ display and use the following tips to stay focused and maximize productivity with the small screen.

• Hide Inactive Apps – Use Command+Option+H to hide all applications and windows except for the active app, also you can Option+Click out of a specific app to hide it as you begin working elsewhere. Hidden apps are easy to identify if you enable translucent icons in the Dock.



• Auto-Hide the Dock – Hit Command+Option+D to enable auto-hiding of the Dock, summon it when needed by swiping to the bottom of the screen with the cursor. Dock is a great app launcher but keep it hidden when not in use.
• Use Full Screen Apps – Full Screen apps help you stay focused and make the most of small screens. I would suggest the feature was designed with Mac laptops in mind, so don’t forget to use it. Click on the Arrow icons in the upper right corner of an app to enter into full screen.



• Use Virtual Desktops – Create new Desktops through Mission Control by hovering over the right corner and clicking the + button. Use this with Full Screen apps to create a great desktop workflow that can be quickly swiped between



• Assign Window Positions & Split Screen – Utility apps that assign window positions and split the screen between active apps are very useful for laptops, I use DoublePane but free options are available. Use these anytime you need to see two apps at once.



• Use an External Display or AirDisplay * – When possible, connect a portable Mac to an external display. For me that’s an Acer 22″ display or the iPad and Air Display. Is this cheating? Maybe, but your productivity doesn’t care.

Have any ideas on how to make the most of a Mac with limited screen real estate? Are they OS X tips or hardware tricks? Let us know in the comments.

If you have an Apple Remote Control and a Mac with an IR receiver port, you can quickly put the Mac to sleep using just the remote control. Obviously you’ll need to be in the same room as the Mac to do this, but it’s pretty handy. Here’s what to do:

• Point the remote control in the direction of the Mac and hold the Play button for about 5-8 seconds

The Mac screen will turn black with a few ZzZz’s appearing on the screen, with sleep immediately following.

Remote control sleep works with the good old white plastic remote controls and the newer aluminum models, the only real requirement is the Mac must have an infrared (IR) port. With the exception of MacBook Air and older Macs, almost all of them do.

For Macs without an IR port, or if you’re not in the same room (let alone the same state), you can always sleep a Mac with email or using SSH after some minimal setup.

Thanks to Brian G for the tip

iMessage in iOS and the Messages for Mac beta let you send files like movies, text, pdf, audio, and pictures between a Mac and iOS device easily. To use the file transfer feature:

• Drag a file from the Mac into a Messages chat window
• Click send from the Mac
• The user on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iMessages will receive the file in a familiar fashion to iChat file transfers

The iOS user is then able to open the file, be it an mp3, video, picture, whatever. This is a great feature that is easy to use and welcome for all Mac and iOS users.

Use iMessage With Unsupported File Types & As SFTP Alternative

Now, what is less known is that you can technically transfer just about any file type between the two OS’s using the same technique, even obscure file formats. This means iMessage can be used as a simple method of moving any files to an iOS device without using SSH and SFTP, although the destination folder of these files creates some limitations.

Files sent to and received by the iOS device end up at the following location:

/var/mobile/Library/SMS/

This is where the limitation comes in. Accessing that directory isn’t possible without a jailbreak and an app like iFile to navigate around the hidden iOS file system, and moving files around within the iOS file system after the fact requires an SSH client like Prompt, in addition to some knowledge of the command line. This makes it a useful feature for advanced users who are comfortable with jailbreaking, but for the average person sending anything other than standard media files and documents isn’t too useful.

A lingering question is now if Apple will maintain support for any file type. Keep in mind that while this is active in the Messages for Mac beta, it’s possible the support for additional file formats will be abandoned in the final shipped release, which is due out with OS X Mountain Lion this summer. Let’s hope it stays.

With every new version of Mac OS X comes new system requirements, and as expected a few machines are getting cut from the list of compatible Macs. The newer the Mac the better, but here is what we know so far about system requirements for OS X 10.8:

Basic System Requirements for OS X Mountain Lion:

• 64-Bit Intel Core 2 Duo processor or better required
• Ability to boot into OS X 64-bit kernel
• Advanced GPU chipset required
• Internet connection required to download and install OS X 10.8

You can check for 64 bit kernel boot suport by typing “uname -a” at the command line, launch the Terminal to do this. The uname -a command will return something like this:

Darwin MacBookAir 11.2.0 Darwin Kernel Version 11.2.0: Tue Aug 9 20:54:00 PDT 2011; root:xnu-1699.24.8~1/RELEASE_X86_64 x86_64

Look for “x86_64” to verify that a Mac is booting into a 64 bit kernel. This will happen by default with most OS X Lion compatible Macs, but Snow Leopard users won’t necessarily boot into the 64 bit kernel by default and will have to verify compatibility with the list of hardware below.

Macs that will support OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion

As usual, the newer the Mac the better:

• MacBook Pro – 13″ from mid 2009 or later, 15″ from late 2007 and newer, 17″ from late 2007 and newer
• MacBook Air – late 2008 and newer
• iMac – models from mid 2007 and newer
• MacBook – 13″ aluminum from 2008, 13″ from 2009 and newer
• Mac Mini – early 2009 and newer
• Mac Pro – early 2008 models and newer
• XServe – early 2009 models and newer

Macs that are NOT expected to support OS X Mountain Lion

Older Macs and those with weaker GPU’s will likely be left behind:

• Anything with an Intel GMA 950 or x3100 integrated graphics card
• Anything with an ATI Radeon X1600
• MacBook models released prior to 2008
• Mac Mini released prior to 2007
• iMac models released prior to 2007
• Original MacBook Air

This list of compatible and incompatible Macs and system requirements are based off of the first OS X Mountain Lion Developer Preview and may be subject to change, we will update when we learn more about the specifics. OS X Mountain Lion will be released this summer but presumably long before that we will know precise system requirements and what Macs are and are not supported by the new version of OS X. Stay tuned.

Thanks again Daryl

The entire MacBook Pro lineup will be redesigned “radically” this year to more closely resemble the MacBook Air, according to a new report from AppleInsider. Citing a source who says “they’re all going to look like MacBook Airs,” AppleInsider also suggests the MacBook Pro 15″ will likely be the first of the bunch to be redesigned, and will feature the removal of older technologies like the traditional hard disk drive and optical drives, in favor of digital distribution and SSD drives.

Assuming the latest report lines up with past rumors and reports, here is what we could possibly see from a refreshed MacBook Pro line this year:

• Thin and light MacBook Air inspired design
• Dual Core & Quad Core Ivy Bridge CPU’s with speeds up to 2.9GHz
• An ultra high resolution display at 2880×1800
• SSD drive to replace the traditional hard drives
• Removal of the optical drive
• Longer battery life
• Emphasis on digital distribution for software installation

Taiwanese trade publication Digitimes previously suggested that a new MacBook Pro (or Air) 15″ model may come in March, which would coincide nicely with the iPad 3 rollout. If the suspected high resolution display was included, it would also help to resolve the issue of designing for a retina iPad resolution on the currently smaller screen resolutions offered with Mac laptops.

If you haven’t set up iCloud and Find My iPhone yet, now is a good time to do so. This friendly reminder comes to us from a recent New York Times article, which details the story of a police officer using iCloud to bust an iPhone thief and return the iPhone to its rightful owner using none other than the free Find My iPhone service:

The ace up the sleeve of Officer Garland, an avid Apple consumer was something called “Find My iPhone,” a free 5.4-megabyte piece of software, or app, that he had on the iPhone in his pocket.

Punching in the victim’s Apple ID … he quickly determined by the location of a small gray phone icon on a digital map that the robber was near Eighth Avenue and 51st Street.

As Officer Garland and his partner drove there, the signal source shifted, closer to Eighth Avenue and 49th Street. There, a man later identified by the police as George Bradshaw, 40, of New Lots, Brooklyn, stepped outside a Food Emporium.

Officer Garland pushed the “Play Sound” button on his phone. Instantly, a pinging beep — not unlike the sound of a submarine’s sonar — began emitting from Mr. Bradshaw, 20 feet away.

The victim later identified the robber and got her iPhone back.

So have you configured iCloud and Find My iPhone yet on all your Apple gear? It’s easy to do, read our guide on setting up iCloud and follow the instructions below to enable the specific Find My iPhone (or Find My iPad and Find My Mac) feature. You’ll need iOS 5 or later on the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, or OS X 10.7.2 or later on the Mac.

Setting Up Find My iPhone (or iPad)

You will need an Apple ID, iOS 5 or later on an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, and iCloud setup.

• Launch the Settings app
• Locate and tap on “iCloud” – if you are asked for an Apple ID you haven’t setup iCloud yet
• Near the bottom of iCloud settings, look for “Find My iPhone” and switch to “ON”, allow the app to use location services

It’s that easy to turn on, but you’re not quite finished yet because you will want to also install the Find My iPhone app for iOS. The Find My iPhone application is a free download on the iOS App Store, and lets you locate the iOS devices or Macs on a map, send messages and pings to the devices, and even remotely wipe them of their data.

Setting Up Find My Mac

Assuming you already have iCloud enabled in OS X 10.7.2, setting up Find My Mac is very easy:

• Launch System Preferences
• Click on “iCloud”
• Click the checkbox next to “Find My Mac” and then click “Allow”

The Mac will now be accessible via the iOS Find My iPhone app in the device list, and can also be pinpointed on a map using the iCloud.com website.

Apple has released iBooks Author, an easy to use app for Mac OS X that lets anyone create interactive multi-touch books for the iPad, these can be published on the iBookstore or iTunes U and offered as free or paid titles.

iBooks Author should be a big hit with both small and large publishers, teachers, and anyone else who wants to become a published eBook author. While the original aim is the educational market, made obvious by all six templates being textbooks, iBooks Author really has much wider appeal and could very well start an independent iPad book publishing craze on the iBookstore just like the App Store did years ago for apps. I’ve been playing around with the app all morning and it really is nice, with surprisingly powerful tools put into a simple to use interface.

iBooks Author is a free download and requires Mac OS X 10.7.2 or later and iTunes 10.5.3 or later:

• Download iBooks Author from the Mac App Store

One unfortunate obstacle for publishing that is beyond Apple’s control: ISBN numbers. ISBN’s are a series of numbers sold by a monopolistic organization who charges a highly inflated $125 for a single number, or sells them in packages at $1000. These numbers required to sell a book through the iBookstore (or anywhere else for that matter). Other than that, there are no fees attached, but Apple does take their customary 30% of each book sale to provide the iBooks service and store.

If you’re interested in the iBooks publishing program, don’t miss the iBooks Author Gallery and check out Apple’s FAQ on the matter.

Recently we posted a Mac museum collection that featured an iMac using wallpaper that made it appear like you could see right through to the logic board. It turns out these images are from iFixIt, the company that likes to tear down Apple hardware.

In the process of documenting their teardowns, iFixIt also has taken high resolution images that work great for wallpapers, giving the illusion that there is no screen on the device, and instead making it look as if icons and windows are floating directly atop circuitry. It’s a cool effect, and they have a variety of freely available native resolution wallpapers in this style for the iMac, iPad, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and even the Apple external Thunderbolt display.

• Find them all on iFixit.com’s blog or check out some more images below

If you don’t care about showing the exact hardware for your device, they all make great wallpapers in general. My favorites have to be the iPad and iMac, although the Thunderbolt chip is nice too:

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