Speed Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Snow Leopard performance improvements are there, but small

by Casey Johnston (Aug 27th, 2009)

Snow Leopard is purported to provide many small but much-needed tweaks to its predecessor, Leopard. One oft-touted tweak is a speed boost, but according to tests by Macworld the performance and speed of a few different computers improved only slightly with many native tasks, and some took even ...

Talkcast reminder: Potluck night tonight

by Mike Schramm (Jun 28th, 2009)

Our weekly interactive podcast goes live at 10pm Eastern this evening, and it's going to be a potluck night on the show -- you bring whatever you want to talk about, and we'll bring our own casserole of TUAW news from the last week. We'll definitely talk about the new iPhone 3GS: how fast it is, ...

Speed test comparing iPhone 3G, 3GS, and Palm Pre has surprising results

by Casey Johnston (Jun 25th, 2009)

Gadget fans can fight endlessly about which device is faster than which, without resolution or relief. Fortunately for the weary, Medialets has found common ground between a few of the most popular smart phones to use as a racetrack. According to Medialets, there is a common benchmarkable ...

Inside iPhone 3.0: Enhanced controls for podcast & audiobook playback

by Michael Rose (Jun 21st, 2009)

It's on the master list of 3.0 features, but we've been sent enough tips and suggestions about it to conclude that the advanced podcast/audiobook controls came as a pleasant surprise for lots of iPhone and iPod touch owners who upgraded. In the 3.0 version, from the playback display for a podcast, ...

Convertbot updated to 1.1, adds more units to convert

by Mike Schramm (Apr 21st, 2009)

I haven't had much use for Tapbots' Weightbot, even though I actually am currently watching my weight, but I really appreciate the look and feel of the program -- it's one of the most polished apps on the App Store. And Convertbot is no different -- while the actual situations where I need to ...

Livin' on the edge with optimized, beta Firefox builds

by Michael Rose (Feb 8th, 2009)

Do you feel the need... the need for speed? With more and more of our computing lives taking place via our web browsers, eking out even a slight performance improvement for Firefox or Safari (or a similar reduction of resource demands; I'm looking at you, Flash Player) can improve the user ...

AT&T to limit iPhone 3G speeds to 1.4 Mbps?

by Cory Bohon (Jun 16th, 2008)

MacNN noted in a recent post that AT&T is listing the iPhone as having a 1.4 Mbps connection (down-stream) while other 3G phones such as the Motorola Q have upwards of 3.6 Mbps connections. If you are thinking that this is a typo on AT&T's website, think again, because it was also ...

Growl 1.1.1 available now

by Mike Schramm (Sep 28th, 2007)

The latest version of Growl, the all-in-one notification app, has been released. 1.1.1 is available for download right now over on the site. New to this version, you'll find speedier notifications, an improved Music Video style (which was one of the main complaints with the last release), improved ...

iPhoneTypingTest.com

by David Chartier (Jul 13th, 2007)

You probably know how fast you can blaze up a regular keyboard, and maybe you've even taken a typing test on a more traditional mobile keyboard found on Windows Mobile or BlackBerry handsets - but how fast are you on your iPhone's virtual keyboard? iPhoneTypingTest.com ought to help you answer ...

iPhone Second Impressions: On activation, UI, EDGE and answering questions

by David Chartier (Jun 30th, 2007)

Another quick round of first impression stuff that covers some user problems with activation, EDGE speeds, Google Maps and Mail. We're working on some more focused, in-depth posts that explore individual features in their entirety, such as Safari, the keyboard, Mail, etc. For now, let's get ...

Mac Pro benchmark roundup

by David Chartier (Aug 11th, 2006)

Other sites are already getting their hands on Mac Pros and putting them through the benchmark ringer, and since we aren't done checking the couch for change yet, I figured a benchmark roundup would be the best way to let you sink your teeth into some cold, hard numbers. If you've been waiting to ...

Safari bookmark tips from macosxhints

by David Chartier (Jul 16th, 2006)

The never-failing macosxhints.com is at it again, this time with a series of tips concerning Safari, speed and bookmark management. This tip offers a simple method for using the Finder to sort Safari's bookmarks alphabetically (hint: make sure you hit cmd + j in the Finder and enable the 'Keep ...

Hacker installs Core 2 Duo chip in Mac mini, hangs on for the ride

by David Chartier (Jun 13th, 2006)

Macenstein has blogged a Mac mini CPU swap, as a poster in a Taiwanese forum has switched out the Core Duo chip for a Core 2 Duo chip, a next-generation CPU from Intel. The brain upgrade has resulted not only in the Mac mini stomping a PowerMac G5 dual 2.5 GHz in an iTunes MP3-AAC conversion test ...

SuperDrive Firmware Update v2.0 for some PowerPC-based Macs

by David Chartier (Jun 1st, 2006)

Apple has released a firmware update for SuperDrives in a variety of PowerPC-based Macs, including: PowerBook G4 (12 -inch 1.5GHz) PowerBook G4 (15-inch 1.33GHz, 1.5GHz, or 1.67GHz) PowerBook G4 (17-inch 1.67GHz) iMac G5 (17-inch 1.6GHz or 1.8GHz) iMac G5 (20-inch 1.8GHz) Mac mini ...

Did the SMC Firmware Update cripple some Intel Mac clock speeds?

by David Chartier (May 17th, 2006)

A thread in Apple's support forums discusses complaints of crippled clock speeds after installing yesterday's SMC firmware update on Intel Macs. Upon an apparently successful update, some users checked their min and max clock speeds with CoreDuoTemp to find that their max has been limited to 1000 ...