Eric Slivka
Eric is the Editor-in-Chief of MacRumors and has been writing for the site since 2008.
An avid swimmer and former biophysicist, Eric has been using Apple products for over 35 years and has been interviewed for pieces by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Reuters, BBC, CNBC, and other publications.
Eric's current primary role involves day-to-day oversight of the editorial operations at MacRumors, but he also contributes occasional news and review articles while handling various other duties related to the site's operation.
An avid swimmer and former biophysicist, Eric has been using Apple products for over 35 years and has been interviewed for pieces by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Reuters, BBC, CNBC, and other publications.
Eric's current primary role involves day-to-day oversight of the editorial operations at MacRumors, but he also contributes occasional news and review articles while handling various other duties related to the site's operation.
Eric Slivka's Articles
Apple Updates Standalone Keyboards for OS X Lion
As noted by Italian site iSpazio [Google translation], Apple has quietly tweaked its standalone Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad for OS X Lion.
One minor change is a slight adjustment to the icon displayed on the F3 key to remove the frame around the collection of windows. The F3 key had been used to activate Exposé, but with that feature now being folded into the broader Mission Control ...
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Apple Planning to Introduce White iPod Touch Later This Year?
Concord Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has in the past provided some accurate claims primarily regarding Apple's notebook lines, now reports to AppleInsider that Apple may be planning to introduce a white iPod touch later this year. The forthcoming fifth-generation iPod touch is said to otherwise be nearly identical to the current version.Looking into the current third calendar quarter,...
Lodsys Takes On Gaming Heavyweights Including Rovio, EA, and Atari in Patent Dispute
Patent holding firm Lodsys, which has received tremendous publicity for targeting iOS and Android app developers in a patent dispute over the developers' use of in-app purchasing and upgrade links within their apps, has amended the list of defendants in its lawsuit on the manner to include a number of high-profile gaming firms.
As detailed by FOSS Patents, Lodsys has now included Angry Birds ...
Adobe Retracts Claim Suggesting Lion May Lack Support for Flash Hardware Acceleration
Earlier today, Adobe made waves with a statement in a tech note outlining issues with Adobe products running on OS X Lion by claiming that Lion may have dropped support for hardware acceleration of Flash Player content.
Adobe has now issued a correction retracting that statement and noting that OS X Lion does in fact offer the same level of hardware acceleration as found in Mac OS X Snow...
New Mac Mini Benchmarks Show Significant Performance Gains
Just like early reports on the new MacBook Air released yesterday, the new Mac mini is also showing significant improvements in raw performance over its predecessor machines. Mac mini web hosting company Macminicolo.net has obtained both standard and server models of the new line and put them through some preliminary benchmarking using Geekbench.
The testing reveals significant performance...
Apple Releases Apple Server Diagnostics Version 3X109
Apple today released Apple Server Diagnostics 3X109, a new version of the company's software that will allow owners running OS X Lion Server components on Mid 2010 Mac Pro and Mid 2011 Mac mini server configurations to test their machines for hardware issues.Apple Server Diagnostics tests your server for hardware issues. Apple Server Diagnostics version 3X109 is compatible with Lion server on the ...
Teardown Confirms Apple Still Using Modular Solid-State Drive on New MacBook Air
Teardown and repair firm iFixit is well underway on a teardown of the new 13-inch MacBook Air, and while most of the computer's internals are nearly identical to that of its predecessor, a few items of note have been discovered.
- Apple is continuing to use a modular design for the MacBook Air's solid-state storage, meaning that it can be replaced or upgraded if necessary, although it is not ...
Apple Launches Business App Store for Volume iOS App Purchases
Last week, Apple announced that it would be debuting a new volume purchasing program to allow businesses to purchase iOS in volume and distribute them within their organizations.
As noted by The Loop and in a brief announcement on Apple's site, the program has now gone live.Businesses in the United States can now enroll in the Volume Purchase Program and purchase your apps in volume for...
Apple Shipping Up to 500,000 New MacBook Airs Per Month, Could Hit 15 Million Notebooks in 2011
DigiTimes reports that Apple is off to an aggressive start with its new MacBook Air models, having already pushed out 400,000-500,000 units in June and continuing with strong production through at least the end of August. Sources within Apple's supply chain also indicate that Apple is shooting for total notebook shipments of 13-14 million in 2011, with the possibility of hitting 15 million units....
AT&T iPhone Activations Flat Quarter-to-Quarter at 3.6 Million
AT&T today announced financial results for the second quarter of 2011, revealing that its iPhone activations remained flat compared to the previous quarter by coming in at 3.6 million. Activations were up from 3.2 million in the year-ago quarter.
According to the report, 24% of iPhone activations during the quarter were by customers new to AT&T, a figure just slightly higher than last quarter ...
Adobe Suggests Disabled Hardware Acceleration for Flash Player in OS X Lion [Update]
TUAW reports that Adobe has posted a list of known issues for its products running on OS X Lion. The list is unfortunately extensive, but the company's discussion of Flash Player issues stands out for the revelation that OS X Lion may have disabled hardware acceleration.Flash Player may cause higher CPU activity when playing a YouTube video. Possibly related to disabled hardware acceleration.Ot...
Apple Contributing $2.6 Billion Toward Nortel Patent Purchase
Earlier this month, an Apple-led consortium beat out Google in an auction of thousands of patents from bankrupt Nortel, bidding $4.5 billion for the entire package of patents. As noted by @SammyWalrusIV (via Business Insider), Apple 10-Q quarterly report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that Apple's contribution to that effort totaled $2.6 billion.On June 27,...
Apple Tops Nokia to Become World's Top Smartphone Vendor
As noted by the Financial Times, Apple has officially passed Nokia to become the world's top smartphone vendor. Apple's rapid growth paired with a sharp drop in shipments for Nokia allowed Apple to turn a 5.5 million unit deficit during the first quarter into a 3.6 million unit lead in the second quarter.Shipments of Nokia smartphones declined by 34 per cent to 16.7m units, compared with the...
Apple Leases Major New Office Campus in Cupertino to Support Continued Growth
While Apple's plans for a stunning new corporate campus in Cupertino have received a significant amount of attention, that facility won't be ready to open until at least 2015, and Apple certainly hasn't stopped growing to wait for the new campus to come on line.
The San Jose Mercury News is now reporting that Apple has agreed to lease a nine-building office campus in Cupertino capable of...
Early Benchmarks Reveal New MacBook Air Rivaling High-End 2010 MacBook Pro
Electricpig reports that early benchmarking data obtained by Laptopmag.com from Apple's new MacBook Air models released today demonstrate significant performance improvements over the previous generation and even other Apple notebooks. Testing was performed using the Geekbench benchmarking tools.
According to the report, not only do the new MacBook Air models at least double the scores of...
Apple Releases Apple Remote Desktop 3.5
Apple today released a pair of updates to its Apple Remote Desktop management system aimed at administrators who oversee large numbers of computers, allowing them to assist users remotely, administer their systems, and deploy software updates.
Apple Remote Desktop 3.5 Admin (25.27 MB) and Apple Remote Desktop 3.5 Client (3.74 MB) improve the stability of the software and also add new...
Apple's Linen-Lined Proposal for Grand Central Terminal Store Set for Approval
In a report on the changing dynamics of the retail scene in Manhattan's historic Grand Central Terminal, The New York Times notes that Apple's bid for a retail store in the terminal is likely to be accepted next week. Apple is said to have delivered its proposal in "linen-lined boxes" in order to make a memorable impression.When Apple proposed opening a store on the balcony overlooking the main...
Apple Updates Existing iWork Suite for OS X Lion
With today's release of OS X Lion, Apple has also pushed out a software update to its existing iWork suite of productivity apps, bringing support for new features found in Lion.This update adds support for Mac OS X Lion and takes advantage of the following features:
- Full Screen
- Resume
- Auto Save
- Versions
This update is recommended for users of iWork 9.0 and later. For detailed...
Notes of Interest on OS X Lion, MacBook Air, Mac Mini, and Display Announcements
With a flurry of new hardware releases appearing alongside OS X Lion today, here are a few notes of interest that we wanted to make sure our readers noticed:
OS X Lion
- While Apple initially touted OS X Lion as being a Mac App Store exclusive, the company announced today that the new operating system will also be made available on a USB thumb drive beginning next month. The thumb drive...
White MacBook Not Dead Yet: Still Available for Educational Institutions
Contrary to initial impressions, the white MacBook has not been discontinued entirely, as Apple has announced to resellers that it will continue making it available only to educational institutions at a price of $899. Note that this is for institutional purchases only and the MacBook will not be available to individuals purchasing through Apple's education channels.MacBook (MC516) is now...
