This weeks awesome Mac setup comes to us from Sergey N., a doctor and medical researcher in Russia who needs plenty of screen space to get work done quickly and efficiently. Maximized for productivity, the Macs are set up with a Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad, and a Griffin Powermate, each configured for different tasks and gestures. Hardware shown is as follows:

• iMac 27″ (mid-2011) with 16GB RAM, 1TB HD & 240GB Intel SSD running OS X 10.7.3
• Dual Dell U2711 displays connected to iMac
• Apple keyboard
• Magic Mouse configured with custom gestures tied to keyboard shortcuts using MagicPrefs
• Magic Trackpad also configured with custom gestures
• MacBook Air 11″ (2010) 2GB RAM, 64GB SSD, used for travel
• MacBook Air 13″ (2011) 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD, used for additional screen space
• Griffin PowerMate USB controller, custom configured for app-specific shortcuts
• 2 iPod Shuffles attached to the left display for music
• iPod touch 4th gen, 32GB model for the kids
• iPhone 4S 64GB
• iPad 1 16GB that gets occasional use as an additional screen
• PowerCom Imperial UPS for power management

The iMac is configured with 9 virtual desktops per screen, for a whopping total of 27 workspaces not counting fullscreen apps, and the MacBook Air 13″ brings an additional 8 workspaces into the mix. How’s that for maximizing productivity?

Want your sweet Apple setup featured here? Send us a good picture along with brief description of hardware and what you use it for to osxdailycom@gmail.com, we receive a ton of submissions so it may take a while to get around to them all!

If you use Instagram and you’ve ever wanted to download all the pictures you’ve taken you’ve probably noticed there is no built-in option to do so. Thankfully there are several free options that let you back up all photos from Instagram and export them all directly to your computer.

We’ve narrowed it down to the two best solutions, a native OS X app and a web app. Both serve the same function and will download all of your Instagram pictures for local storage. The biggest caveat with both solutions though is they download the photos at a paltry 612×612 pixel resolution, though that is likely an Instagram limitation and not the applications fault (if anyone knows a workaround for that, let us know!).

Read more »

There has long been a debate as to whether background apps can drain battery life of iOS devices. Many people argue they don’t (or at least shouldn’t) have any impact on battery, and others are certain that background apps do. Carat is an iOS app brought to us by a team at UC Berkeley that aims to resolve that age old question by monitoring what apps are doing on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and then reporting back to you what apps are eating away at battery life. This is followed up with some recommendations on which apps should be quit, killed, relaunched, and some other helpful tips to improve and conserve battery life.

Although Carat is a genuinely useful app that is worth the free download, you should heed the warning of many App Store reviewers who note that, ironically, Carat itself hogs battery by constantly using Location Services. In other words, you may want to check it’s recommendations and then kill Carat itself. That’ll probably be fixed an update, but it is kind of an amusing bug in an app designed to improve battery life.

• Download Carat free from the App Store

If you don’t want to download the app, you can follow these basic tips to get a vague idea of what Carat will suggest: update iOS to the latest version, quit unused apps, upgrade apps to the newest versions, restart apps that handle background tasks. Fair advice all around.

iOS 6 includes an impressive Apple-baked version of the Maps application, but the new Maps icon shows some less than impressive directions. Anyone familiar with Cupertino, California and 1 Infinite Loop should immediately identify the problem here: the Maps icon is directing traffic to fly right off the De Anza blvd overpass and into the median of I-280. Oops.

This is obviously a joke as there are legitimate ways to take a left turn onto 280 from northbound De Anza, but that wouldn’t be as amusing to show.

This picture has been making the rounds and has been sent to us 60000 times so figured we’d post it. If anyone knows the original source of the image let us know and we’ll link it up.

We have covered a handful of different ways to disable the internal screen on a MacBook Pro/Air while keeping the laptops lid open and the computer turned on, ranging from a command line approach, dimming brightness or using sleep, and even a silly magnet trick, but for whatever reason there have always been a few users who can’t seem to get any of the methods to work, or they find them cumbersome to bother with. If you fall into that camp, here is yet another approach to disabling the internal screen of a Mac laptop while the lid is open, this method is easy enough and has been verified to work on a variety of MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air machines running OS X Lion or later.

As with the other methods, the MagSafe power cable must be connected to the MacBook in order for this to work.

1. Open System Preferences and click “Mission Control”, then click on “Hot Corners”
2. Select a hot corner and pull down the menu to select “Put Display to Sleep”
3. Now connect the external display to the Mac and move the cursor to the newly created sleep corner to turn off the internal display
4. Close the MacBook lid and wait a few seconds before opening the lid again, the internal display should stay off while the external display will be powered on

This approach lets you continue to use the MacBooks built-in keyboard and trackpad too.

For those wondering why you’d want to do this at all, keeping the lid open with the screen off serves these purposes; it allows for maximum cooling of the MacBook because heat dissipates through the keyboard, and it allows the GPU to devote all of it’s power to the external screen. These two perks make this a popular trick for anyone doing intensive graphics work and for gamers.

Thanks to Jared L. for the tip

Ever wished you could easily start over from scratch when laying out your app icons on an iPhone or iPad without resetting the entire device to factory defaults? You can thanks to a handy feature that resets the app icon layout to it’s factory default settings.

Not only will this restore the iOS home screen to its default icon arrangement, but it also has the added benefit of removing every app that is contained within a folder and placing them back onto the Home Screen of the device, effectively removing those folders in the process.

Read more »

For many of us, our contacts list are the most important part of our iPhones and what we care most about backing up. It’s easy to re-download apps and adjust settings, but it can be very difficult to rebuild a large contact list of names, email addresses, and phone numbers if you lose it. For that reason you may want to be sure the address book is being backed up so that all of your contacts are preserved in case you need to restore them, here is how to do this.

Read more »

The first beta of iOS 6 has only been in the wild a few days but has already been jailbroken. The DevTeam released a dev build of Redsn0w 0.9.13 to handle the jailbreak which works on iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and iPod touch 4G, though each device is tethered for the time being and there are a handful of major issues with the jailbreak that should prevent most users from attempting to use it on their devices.

As the versioning implies, Redsn0w 0.9.13dev1 is intended for developers only. There are many components that do not work, including Apple’s default apps, many 3rd party apps, Cydia apps, and more. Furthermore, this version of the tethered jailbreak does not install Cydia. Because of all the caveats this is really a proof of concept and should not be widely adopted beyond those developing jailbreak tweaks or apps, but it does suggest that when iOS 6 is released to the public a jailbreak will accompany it rather quickly.

Download Redsn0w 0.9.13dev

For the brave devs that wish to try this, these are direct links:

• Mac
• Windows

If you’re a developer and you wish to try this out, point Redsn0w at the iOS 6 IPSW file to jailbreak, and then boot tethered. As the Dev Team mentions, anyone attempting to use this version of redsn0w will need a registered UDID to activate their device.

iOS 6 is scheduled for a public release this fall.

iOS 6 comes with over 200 new features that will make the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch even better, but there’s a few caveats: first, it doesn’t run on all hardware, and second, on some of the supported devices the feature set will be limited. We’ll sort all of that out.

Devices Supported by iOS 6
According to Apple, the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPad 2, iPad 3, and iPod touch 4th gen will all run iOS 6.

Noticeably absent from the supported device lineup are the iPad 1 and iPod touch 3rd gen, despite those devices having similar hardware to some of the other supported hardware. If you have one of these older devices, consider an upgrade if you want the latest and greatest features.

iOS 6 Feature Compatibility
Here is where things get slightly more complicated: Even if your iPhone or iPad can run iOS 6 that doesn’t mean it will support all of the features.

Some of the more anticipated and prominent improvements in iOS 6 like FaceTime over 3G won’t be supported on the iPhone 4 or 3GS for example, and Siri will come to iPad 3 but not iPad 2. And many of the most exciting features won’t work whatsoever on the iPhone 3GS, and are barely supported by the iPhone 4. If this sounds complicated it’s really not, but to help decipher which of the bigger features will work with what, MacRumors put together a helpful chart…

You’ll notice it’s only the newest hardware that is fully compatible with most of the major features of the newest iOS, but keep in mind that all supported hardware will be benefiting from the smaller improvements, with things like the iPhones new calling features, Guided Access, Single App mode, Facebook integration, Do Not Disturb, and all of the many more subtle improvements that were demoed at WWDC.

iOS 6 was given a loose release date of “Fall” of this year.

If you’ve ever entered a lengthy command into the terminal and upon execution discovered a syntax error, a “no such file or directory”, or “command not found” message because you made a typo, you’ll love this quick tip that lets you rerun the last executed command while replacing the erroneous syntax. You’ll need to be using the default bash shell for this to work.

The general syntax to use is as follows:

!!:gs/old/new

!! runs the last command again, while :gs/old/new replaces instances of the text “old” with “new” within the last command.

For example, here’s a simple change directory command with an error in the path:

cd /System/Library/CoerServices/Dock.app/Contents/

Notice “CoerServices” should be “CoreServices”, but rather than type out the entire command and path again, you can enter the following:

!!:gs/Coer/Core/

And suddenly you’re in the proper directory.

This is obviously extremely useful when you’ve discovered errors floating in command line syntax somewhere, but it’s also perfect for toggling settings on and off through things like defaults write commands by replacing “no” with “yes” and so forth:

!!:gs/no/yes

You can also place sudo in front of !! to run the previous command as root.

Apple has posted an excellent walkthrough video showing off the some of the bigger new features of OS X Mountain Lion. The 5:30 video is embedded below, and although it doesn’t cover every one of the 200+ new features in Mac OS X 10.8, it shows off the highlights and is well worth watching if you’re considering upgrading your Mac in the near future.

OS X Mountain Lion will be released next month on the Mac App Store for $19.99, upgrades from OS X Lion and even directly from Snow Leopard are possible.

Apple knows how to pick great background pictures, and the new default wallpaper from iOS 6 beta is no exception of a lovely watery scene.

You’ve probably seen the rippled water already in screenshots of iOS 6 from Apple, but thanks to @sonnydickson you can set the calming image as your background now too.

• Click here or on the image above to grab the picture at 2048×2048

The image is at 2048×2048 resolution, so it will fit on a new iPad and scale nicely to most other devices too.

Don’t miss the new OS X Mountain Lion wallpapers too, they’re also all high-res and quite attractive.

Apple has started to run commercials for the Mac line again, with the newest ad focused on the speedy new MacBook Pro with Retina display. The ad is straight forward and shows the new MacBook Pro performing tasks rapidly with some ghosted hands speeding around on the keyboard and trackpad, with the narrator saying: “The radical new MacBook Pro with Retina display. Innovation in every dimension.”

This is the first Mac advertisement to run in a while, making it a noticeable departure from the vast majority of Apple commercials which tend to focus on the iPhone and iPad these days.

The first benchmarks for the new retina MacBook Pro, MacBook Pro 2012 refresh, and the updated MacBook Air 2012 have shown up from GeekBench and, as you would probably expect, they’re very impressive.

First up is the new MacBook Pro 15″, which is easily the fastest Mac laptop Apple has ever made. The preliminary Geekbench scores top out at 12,303 for the non-retina and 11,844 for the retina model, but it’s important to note the non-retina model as tested has a slightly faster chip speed and so the top of the line next-gen MBP 15″ will likely end up as the fastest.

Each of the 2012 MacBook Air models also show a nice speed boost from the previous generation, but where you’ll really notice a huge performance boost is if you’re upgrading from the 2010 models.

The biggest gains are experienced by the top of the line models, though basically even the slowest models from the mid-2012 refresh are now faster than the 2011 speediest. This is mostly the result of the new Intel Ivy Bridge processor architecture at work, but for anyone who gets an Air or retina MacBook Pro your Mac will feel even faster thanks to their speedy new SSD drives as well.

If you’re thinking about upgrading, any upgrade from last years models are going to be a nice improvement, and if you’re coming from 2010 or prior models you’re going to experience gigantic gains. This is really a great time to be an Apple fan, if you are going to upgrade soon don’t forget that any Mac bought between now and July also comes with a free copy of OS X Mountain Lion when it’s released next month.

OS X Mountain Lion is due to be released next month but if you’re like us you don’t want to wait that long to get your hands on the new beautiful wallpapers. These come to us from the latest Mountain Lion developer preview, and each of the 15 images is at a gigantic 3200×2000 resolution, making them ready for whatever retina Mac or iOS device you want to dress up.

Click any picture below to open the full sized image.

Read more »

Some of you may have experienced the unfortunate kernel panic on boot problem that is occurring on certain Macs after they’ve installed recent software updates. If you haven’t installed the “Thunderbolt Software Update 1.2” yet it’s best to avoid it completely until a fix comes from Apple. If it’s too late and you’re experiencing crashes on reboot, then you’ll probably want to know the cause of the kernel panics is that recent Thunderbolt Update and we’ve got three different ways to resolve the problem.

Before beginning, there’s some good news and some bad news. The good news is each of these methods will maintain your files, preferences, apps, settings, and customizations. The bad news is that you’ll either have to reinstall OS X (just the operating system), or restore from a Time Machine backup. Regardless of which approach you take, do not install the Thunderbolt update again when the Mac reboots if it’s available in Software Update, wait until a fixed version comes from Apple within a day or two.

Fix #1: Use Internet Recovery
This will redownload and reinstall OS X Lion from the internet, it’s fairly automated once you begin the recovery process.

1. Reboot the Mac and hold down Command+R to boot into Recovery Mode
2. Select “Re-install OS X” and enter your Apple ID
3. Let Internet Recovery do it’s magic

Fix #2: Use Time Machine and Restore from Recent Backup
This is only going to be practical for those who make regular Time Machine backups, if you don’t, you should start doing so now.

1. Reboot the Mac and hold down Command+R or Option to enter into Recovery Mode
2. From the boot menu choose Time Machine and “Restore”, following the onscreen instructions to select the most recent backup to restore from

Fix #3: Reinstall OS X from a Boot USB or DVD
Assuming you followed our instructions from a while back on how to make a bootable Lion USB drive, you can use this approach:

1. Connect the USB drive to the Mac and reboot, holding down the Option key
2. Select the Lion boot disk from the boot menu
3. Choose “Reinstall OS X” from the options

This method will require you to reinstall general system updates afterwards, because the version of OS X being installed is the same as what’s contained on the USB boot drive. This is probably the least practical approach as a result.

Regardless of the approach you take, do not reinstall the Thunderbolt update. We’re repeating that because if you do reinstall it before it’s fixed by Apple, you will end up in the same kernel panic situation again and that’s no fun. These kind of problems are fairly rare but they can happen, which is why we recommend regularly backing up a Mac with Time Machine as one of the four essential maintenance tips for any Mac OS X machine.

If you need further assistance, jump into the comments or join the lengthy forum thread on Apple Discussion Boards.

Thanks to @kingoftroy22 and @mwh_lib for the heads up and pictures

The annual Apple Design Awards were held at WWDC 2012, with the winners representing a great batch of apps for iPhone, iPad, and Mac OS X. Whether you’re just looking for a couple new apps to try out or you’re wondering what type of design catches Apple’s eye, each app is well worth checking out. Links go to the App Store:

iPhone winners

• Jetpack Joyride
• National Parks by National Geographic
• Where’s My Water?

iPad winners

• Paper by FiftyThree
• Bobo Explores Light
• DM1 – The Drum Machine

Mac app winners

• Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Ultimate Edition
• Sketch
• LIMBO

Student winners

• Little Star
• daWindci

Both student winners are iOS games, with the iPad versions seeming to be why each won. You can read more about each app and why it won at Apple’s ADA page.

Paper for iPad and Limbo for OS X are my personal favorites in the group, and National Parks is very useful if you plan on road tripping around the USA this summer. If you want another batch of great apps then last years winners are holding up quite well too.

If you don’t have time to watch the WWDC 2012 keynote video, here’s a quick summary of everything major that was announced at WWDC and also a few things that were quietly updated behind the scenes. New Macs, new operating systems, new apps, it was a big day for Apple.

Macs & OS X Mountain Lion

• Next-Generation Retina MacBook Pro released, starts at $2199 and features a 15″ whopping 2880×1800 display while weighing 4.4lbs in a thinner unibody enclosure. Quad-core Ivy Bridge CPU’s, 8GB RAM and SSD standard. It’s freakishly powerful and attractive, hide your credit card or else you will probably buy one.
• MacBook Air gets updated at both 11″ and 13″ models, 4GB RAM standard and accepts maximum 8GB RAM, Ivy Bridge CPU, USB 3.0, Intel HD 4000 GPU, faster SSD drives, FaceTime HD camera, all models $100 cheaper. Decent update to great Macs.
• Existing MacBook Pro 13″ and MacBook Pro 15″ models got minor spec updates, Ivy Bridge CPU’s, Nvidia 650M GPU, it’s a matter of opinion but compared to the new Retina MacBook Pro and update MacBook Air line the MacBook Pro is now officially boring.
• OS X Mountain Lion release set for next month, priced at $19.99 and a single purchase installs on all of your Macs. As we mentioned a while back, you can upgrade directly from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion too. OS X 10.8 also has over 200 new features, heavy iCloud integration, iMessage, Share Sheets, Power Nap, and much more.
• OS X Mountain Lion Dev Preview 4 is now available for developers.
• Mac Pro got a quiet minor update so boring that it’s barely worth mentioning.
• MacBook Pro 17″ was silently discontinued. But did we mention the Retina MacBook Pro 15″?

iOS 6 and iOS Related

• iOS 6 Announced: Everyone knew it was coming but iOS 6 was officially announced at WWDC, along with a loose release date of “Fall” which probably coincides with whenever the next iPhone will arrive. Over 200 new features are packed into the update.
• New Maps app with turn-by-turn directions, crowd sourced traffic updates, and more
• FaceTime comes to 3G and 4G networks
• Siri gets major updates and improvements, can launch apps.
• Siri comes to iPad 3 with iOS 6
• Many new cars will have Siri integration, Apple working with auto manufacturers to bring Siri buttons directly into the steering wheel of upcoming cars, support from a huge range of manufacturers
• iOS 6 beta 1 for developers is now available to download.
• iPad “Smart Case” released, it’s basically a Smart Cover with rear protection as well.

Mac & iOS Related

• New AirPort Express was introduced
• Back to School Promo starts today for students, $100 iTunes gift card for a new Mac purchase, and $50 with a new iPad purchase
• iTunes 10.6.3 is out, has bug fixes and required for installing the iOS 6 beta

And that’s about it.