I have a feeling of déjà vu…two years ago I was writing about the awesome new Thunderbolt port that Apple had just introduced, replacing Firewire and Mini DisplayPort. Now comes USB-C, the new almighty all-in-one port. It is so capable it is the only data port shipping on the new MacBook introduced this week at Apple’s media event. So what’s it all about?

Well, much like Thunderbolt, it has the ability to transmit multiple data streams through a single port. Audio, video, data, and (most importantly) power making it capable of being the only port on the new MacBook. Power is key! While Thunderbolt can power devices like external hard drives, it doesn’t have the ability to power and recharge the internal battery. With this single connection you can power and recharge your laptop, connect to an external hard drive, and stream HD content via HDMI all through a single USB-C port.

This sounds well and good, but like all new technologies it will take some time for the industry to catch up. For instance, those using USB 3.0 drives will need an adapter to connect to USB-C. Apple, of course, released adapters alongside the new MacBook. The VGA and HDMI adapters look very similar to the Lightning AV adapters for iOS devices. They provide another USB-C port for charging, either HDMI or VGA, and a USB 3.1 port to connect your USB devices like iPhone, external hard drive, or thumb drives. Again, very similar to Thunderbolt adapters/hubs.

My two cents: it is a great step forward. This new port allowed Apple to create a product that I feel has been missing from their lineup. The MacBook is an amazing combination of an iPad and MacBook Air. Its Retina display takes inspiration from the iPad Air and MacBook Pro w/Retina while it’s size is thinner than even the 11 inch Air and still provides a full-sized trackpad and keyboard. It may be a while before additional adapters come out but to me that is not the point. This machine was built with the wireless world in mind. Like the iPad Air, it is meant to live in a wireless world. AirDrop, WiFi, and AirPlay provide enough wireless connectivity to allow for less of a need for adapters.

Only time will tell, but I foresee this as being the new wave for consumer level laptops. For those that still need to connect to multiple devices throughout the day, (ethernet, older Firewire drives, multiple monitors, etc…) the MacBook Pro w/ Retina is still going to be the best option. Those living in a wireless world, though, will be quite happy with this new update. I am especially excited for a gold laptop!

_Dear Friends,_

Spring Forward! Apple’s event on Monday was streamed live and I watched it on my Apple TV. It was a bit weird sitting in front of the TV in the middle of the day but as Tim Cook took the stage it turned out to be one of the more memorable Apple presentations. Rachel will be talking about some of the details later on but I want to talk about my reactions to the announcements.

The event started out with a recap of Apple’s initiatives, particularly in China, with an expanding retail footprint. While some had expected a significant upgrade to the Apple TV when Tim started talking about Apple TV it was a very significant price drop from $99 to $69 instead. This puts the Apple TV in a more competitive space and in the hands of more folks. The HBO Now announcement was a significant step in what I see as a trend in TV content. Breaking with common practice, HBO has now allowed their content to be available as an broadband-only service. Prior to this announcement you had to subscribe to HBO through your cable or satellite company, but with HBO Now you do not need a contract with those companies, you simply pay the $14.99 a month for HBO. I suspect that many other content providers will see the writing on the wall and start to offer à la carte content. This will make the Apple TV the only TV interface you may need. While I still maintain a cable connection, mostly for local news broadcasts, I find myself using Apple TV for about 80% of the content I now use. This will change the nature of TV.

As Tim talked about iPhone and Apple Pay one of the most fascinating presentations was on Apple’s new ResearchKit which is a tool for medical research. Apple has made this software open source and has already helped to create apps to aid medical research into Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, asthma, and breast cancer. Apple is doing this work not because they have a profit motive, but rather because it is the right thing to do, which is rewarding in and of itself. Less than 24 hours after Apple announced ReasearchKit, the open source medical framework had received thousands of signups. This will be a huge boon to medical research and we applaud Apple!

Next up, Apple once again demonstrated that they are not finished innovating with the Mac. The Mac market share continues to grow while other platforms shrink and Apple showed off the new MacBook with some new innovations and forward thinking. First off, let me say that I welcome the return on the simple MacBook moniker! This new MacBook is the thinnest and lightest Mac ever and, like other Apple products, will come in three color choices: silver, space gray, and gold. It features the new “Force Touch Trackpad” that is able to sense a click anywhere on its surface and can distinguish just how hard you are pressing to enable a new feature called “Force-Click”.

Most startling was that the new MacBook only has two ports. A headphone jack and the new USB-C port. Apple has consistently led the industry in adopting new technologies and in some cases eliminating others. With this single port (which can handle charging and via adapters can connect to USB 3.0, DisplayPort, HDMI and VGA) Apple is once again setting the new standard. While Apple itself has announced a handful of new USB-C adapters, I would imagine quite a few other companies will have adapters and hubs soon.

Of course, the  Watch dominated the rest of the presentation. Apple announced pricing ranging from $349 for the Sport, $549 for the Apple Watch, and *$10,000* (!!!) for the Apple Watch Edition. While Small Dog Electronics would love to be authorized by Apple to sell the new  Watch, Apple has made the decision to tightly control the distribution channel and will, at least at the start, offer it only at their own retail stores where Apple employees will assist customers in choosing the right watch. I think the  Watch will be a huge success and, even though I have not worn a watch since I was 12, I gotta have one!

This week’s Kibbles & Bytes exclusive is a Chill Pill/Chill Box combo. If you buy any Chill Box speaker this week we will give you a Chill Pill speaker for free! I use both of these speakers from time to time. The Chill Pill is so compact that I can toss it into my bag and have it with me when I travel and the big sound from the Bluetooth Chill Box is great when I am hanging out in the garage or on the deck and want to listen to some tunes.

“*Check it out here!*”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900001795

* HBO Now will arrive exclusively on Apple TV. The service is $14.99 a month and will arrive just in time for the “Game of Thrones” premiere in April.

* Apple made this service even more accessible by lowering the price of the Apple TV from $99 to $69. If you’ve been holding off, now is the time to buy! “*Shop Now*”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/80135/apple-tv-3rd-gen

* iPhone sales recently hit the 700 million mark, with a 99% customer satisfaction rate.

* New Apple Pay-able Coca-Cola machines. “*Learn more here.*”:http://www.coca-colacompany.com/innovation/100-000-coke-vending-machines-in-north-america-will-accept-apple-pay-by-year-end

* Apple adds ResearchKit software framework. This open-sourced software will help medical institutions gather data without requiring participants to physically show up for research.

*New: MacBook*
* The all new MacBook with a 12-inch Retina Display. Can you even see it? It is only 2 pounds and, at 3.1 mm thick, it’s 24% thinner than the latest MacBook Air.

* Click anywhere and get the exact same feel wherever you tap, with the all new “Force Touch Trackpad.”

* If you look inside, you’ll notice the logic board has shrunk significantly. This computer is so small that Apple had to get ride of the fan and layer the batteries in order to optimize battery life.

* The base model starts at $1299 with a 12.1 inch Retina display, 1.1GHz dual-core Intel Core M processor, a large 8 GB of RAM, and 256 GB of flash storage. It comes in Silver, Space Gray and a stunning Gold (#macbooklust). This computer will be be shipping April 10th and will be available mid-April in our retail stores as well as online.

*Updates: MacBook Air, MacBook Pro*
* The MacBook Air now has faster 5th Gen Intel Core i5 & i7 processors, they have the faster Thunderbolt 2 ports, and the 13 inch MacBook Air configuration gets Flash storage so now it is twice as fast as it was before. “*Shop Now.*”:http://www.smalldog.com/Macs/MacBook_Air

* The 13 inch MacBook Pro will get the Force Touch Trackpad, faster processors with 5th Generation Intel Core i5 & i7, twice as fast Flash memory as well, and one extra hour of battery life. “*Shop Now.*”:http://www.smalldog.com/Macs/MacBook_Pro/13in

*New: Apple Watch*
* The newest edition to the Apple family is the Apple Watch.
* New feature called “Glances” which allows you to swipe up to view things like weather, your calendar, and you can even check your heart rate, and you’ll even be able to see messages right on your wrist.

* On the activities end, the Apple Watch will let you know if you’re sitting down too long (like right about now perhaps). Most of the features mentioned in Monday’s announcement were also described in Septembers 2014 event.

*If you have time:*
“*Watch the whole 92 minutes of Apple Spring Forward event here.*”:http://www.apple.com/live/2015-mar-event/

“*Or this 2 minute recap will get you caught up.*”:http://time.com/3738220/apple-watch-event-2-minutes/

A customer pointed out that in “*my article last week*”:http://blog.smalldog.com/article/electronic-signing-made-easy/ I mentioned setting up a customer’s machine to use Preview instead of Adobe Acrobat reader to open their PDF files but I did not tell you how to do that. This same method will work for any file type. As an example, I prefer to use Numbers (instead of Excel) and Pages (instead of Word) so I have set my Mac to open Word docs with Pages and Excel spreadsheets with Numbers. To do this you need to learn the “get info” command. It is available in the Finder under the “File” menu or by the keyboard command of *Command-I*.

To set PDFs to open with Preview, select any PDF file in the Finder and use one of these methods to Get Info. A screen like this should show up:

!http://blog.smalldog.com/images/4310.png!

You will see in the circled area a drop-down box that will let you choose which application to use to open this document. Here is where you set Preview or Pages or Numbers or whichever Application you want to open that file. You then have the choice right below to “Use this application to open all documents like this one”. Hit the “Change All” button and you are all set.

*St. Patrick’s Day*
*Lots of basketball*
*SPRING* ….*finally!*

We are embracing the mayhem all month long with specials on monitors, speakers, fitness trackers, backup batteries, cases, headphones and much more! The second half is now underway, time to welcome spring with open arms, grab some wireless headphones, and and your backup drive and head outside.

*Trade-In and Trade-Up*
!

Lately I have had a few customers tell me that a warning popped up on their screen telling them that their Mac was infected with a virus or that their files were locked or their firewall was breached. It then gave a phone number to call.

*This is a SCAM!*

They will give you a phone number to call, sometimes trying to make you believe that you are calling Apple and then proceed to tell you that you need to pay them some money to unlock your files and buy “protection”. Apple will never pop up a window to ask you to call. If you get that kind of pop-up it is a scam and if you do give them your login name and password you DO run the risk of malicious software being installed on your Mac.

Do not give out your login name and password to anyone calling on the phone unless you are sure you know who you are talking to. When in doubt, give Apple a call at 1-800-275-2273. Do not call iYogi who has purchased the Google position on “Apple Technical Support Number” but call Small Dog or Apple directly.

If you need help removing this type of malware, or just want a checkup to ensure that you have not been hacked, our Apple Certified Consultants can help! They can even log into your machine remotely to perform this clean up. Please email our Consulting Department at “consulting@smalldog.com”:mailto:consulting@smalldog.com to request this service or find out more.

I would also like to hear about your experiences with RansomWare and we will do a follow-up in a future issue.