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Which peripherals are covered under AppleCare?
Filed under: Hardware, Peripherals, Airport, Troubleshooting
In the wake of our earlier post on possibly time-bombed Time Capsules, there was some confusion as to whether or not the Time Capsule would be covered under any AppleCare Protection Plan you might have. The suggestion was made in the comments to Mel's post that extended coverage would apply, but we decided to double-check.

In short, it's true. if you have an AppleCare Protection Plan that is currently in-force for a Mac that you own, your Time Capsule is covered under that agreement. In fact, there is no need for the Time Capsule to be on the same receipt as the computer you purchased. As long as the Time Capsule is owned by you and "in use" along with the covered Mac system, it is covered along with the product for which you have an existing AppleCare Protection Plan.

Of course, this does not cover any damage you inflict on the Time Capsule, and it must not be hacked or used in any way other than it was intended. In other words, don't use your Time Capsule as a doorstop and expect to get AppleCare coverage on it when it breaks.

In addition to the Time Capsule, this "in use" coverage extends to the following products:
- AirPort Extreme Card
- AirPort Express
- AirPort Extreme Base Station
- Apple-branded DVI to ADC display adapter
- Apple RAM modules
- MacBook Air SuperDrive
And, naturally, while coverage does not extend to products that are subject to their own AppleCare Protection Plans (such as an iPhone, iPod, or, of course, another computer) it does extend to a single Apple-branded display if the display was purchased at the same time as the computer you're using it with. Otherwise you need to purchase a separate AppleCare Protection Plan for the display. Clear as mud?

All of the above is contained within the terms and conditions of the AppleCare Protection Plan for North America. In addition to those actual terms, an Apple Genius I spoke with said that coverage also typically extends to Apple-branded hardware on the same receipt as the covered computer purchase, and in general he and his colleagues endeavor to extend the best courtesy they can to their customers when the situation permits. So you may, in fact, receive coverage better than the terms within the agreement itself if you are pleasant, don't yell at the nice Geniuses and say "pretty please." Complimenting their shoes is always a nice touch. They also like chocolate.

If you'd like to check to see what agreements are current, you can click here to check them out, see when they expire, and read the terms and conditions yourself. If your agreement is not registered or is not listed under your Apple ID, you can check by agreement number and computer serial number. Also, if you are not in North America, you can read the terms specific to your agreement here -- many European countries have stronger consumer protections than the US does, and longer warranties may be standard where you live.
TUAW Which peripherals are covered under AppleCare? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 11 Sep 2009 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: Time Capsule - Apple - iPhone - TUAW - AppleCare
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3rd gen iPod touch teardown: 802.11n potential and room for a camera?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Hardware, iPod touch
Just this morning, we linked to the results of iFixit's iPod nano teardown. Hours later, we have the opportunity to dive into their 32GB iPod touch teardown. There are definitely a few interesting tidbits about what Apple did and did not do with the iPod touch this time around... and possibly some hints of what could happen in the future.

Here are the highlights:
- The ARM processor in the iPod touch is a newer revision than the iPhone 3GS's CPU. We still don't know its exact clock speed but it's a definite upgrade from the 2nd Generation iPod touch.
- It has a 1080 mAh battery; what does that mean? Well, it'll get pretty good battery life. Apple's website lists it at 30 hours of music playback.
- The NAND flash memory is manufactured by Samsung and has been split into two chips to achieve the 32GB capacity.
- The wireless chip is from Broadcom. According to their documentation this chip supports 802.11 n as well as 802.11 a/b/g. This is a new move from Apple. Until now, all of the mobile devices have only had g-capable wireless chips. It's possible that this would be enabled in the future, but I wouldn't put money on that.
- Mark this one as rumor fodder: iFixit claims that there is room for a camera at the top of the device. The empty space measures 6mm x 6mm x 3mm. That could easily fit the same style camera as the 5th gen iPod Nano, but they don't believe an iPhone-quality camera would fit because of the limited space.
If that's not enough iPod touch news for you, read on.
Continue reading 3rd gen iPod touch teardown: 802.11n potential and room for a camera?
TUAW 3rd gen iPod touch teardown: 802.11n potential and room for a camera? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 11 Sep 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: IpodNano - IPhone - Apple - IpodTouch - Unofficial Apple Weblog
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Are Apple Time Capsules out of time after a year and a half?
Filed under: Hardware, Wireless, Airport, Bad Apple
There are quite a few unhappy Time Capsule owners over at the Apple support boards. It appears that some Time Capsules are going belly-up at roughly the 18 month mark, simply refusing to power on.

As Brian from Texas wrote:

"My TC did the exact same thing two days ago. It is 18 months old. After doing some research, I have found others with the same problem. At 17-18 months, the power supply goes out. I went to the Apple store today and they said too bad, out of warranty."

There are 6 pages of TC owners with similar issues, most of them happening after about a year and a half, so it looks like something is going on with the units.

This seems eerily similar to the 'dead airport express' syndrome of a couple of years ago where the products would simply fail to work and all the data and power lights went off. Sometimes there was an audible popping sound. Other times, the APX just died.

If you are having this issue it might be a good idea to report it to Apple and see if the weight of complaints gets them to look into this. Let us know too.

Thanks to Mike for the tip.

Update: As it's being discussed in the comments here, Lauren went ahead and investigated whether AppleCare for your Mac will cover an out-of-warranty Time Capsule. The answer may surprise (and please) you.
TUAW Are Apple Time Capsules out of time after a year and a half? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 11 Sep 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: Time Capsule - Apple - Unofficial Apple Weblog - TUAW - Macintosh
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iTunes 9 Genius Mixes: You don't need to be a genius to create 'em
Filed under: Audio, Software, How-tos, iTunes, iPhone, Music
I have to admit to an embarrassing situation Wednesday afternoon. While writing the iPhone OS 3.1 overview post, I got to the section about "Genius Mixes" and was totally boggled. I couldn't see any way to create them on the iPhone itself, and there was nothing I could see in iTunes 9 that would do the job.

Fortunately, there are some fairly bright people here at TUAW, and after a couple of quick exchanges in iChat, I had Genius Mixes working. If you don't have access to a Mac and iPhone brain trust like I do, you might also have problems setting up Genius Mixes, so I'm here to give you the rundown on how to do this. Read on for the rest of the details.
Continue reading iTunes 9 Genius Mixes: You don't need to be a genius to create 'em
TUAW iTunes 9 Genius Mixes: You don't need to be a genius to create 'em originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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OWC announces portable, bus-powered external SSD drives
Filed under: Hardware, Peripherals, Odds and ends
I'm pretty paranoid about making sure that backups are done on all of my Macs. That's why I carry a small Western Digital MyPassport hard drive with me wherever I go with my MacBook Air, since I do at least one Time Machine backup a day -- even when I'm on the road.

This is my second MyPassport drive. That's not saying that anything is wrong with the Western Digital drives; it's just that the first one I owned fell off of a classroom desk while a backup was in progress, pulling out the USB cable and dropping about three feet onto a hard floor. The drive appeared to be OK, but never worked again.

That's why I was happy to hear that OWC announced the Mercury On-The-Go Pro series of portable bus-powered SSD drives yesterday. Solid-state drives, since they have no moving parts, can put up with a lot more abuse than traditional platter-based drives. They also offer better read performance than regular hard drives, and are often less power-hungry.

The drives come in three different capacities -- 64 GB (US$279.99), 128 GB (US$449.99), and 256 GB (US$729.99) -- and all offer 64 MB of cache, as well as Firewire 400/800 and USB 2.0 interfaces. Being bus-powered, they don't need an AC adapter, making the On-The-Go Pro series perfect for road trips.

While SSD drives are still more expensive than traditional hard drives, they're definitely more rugged, and in the long run that might be less costly than replacing a dropped hard drive. I've had extremely good success with OWC's products in the past, making this a doubly-attractive proposition. Of course, making sure my students don't cause my drives to take a dive off of a desk is a cheaper solution!
TUAW OWC announces portable, bus-powered external SSD drives originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: Western Digital - Time Machine - Hardware - Hard disk drive - Storage
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iFixit tears apart the 5th Generation iPod nano...nicely
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Hardware, iPod nano
The pioneers at iFixit are at it again, this time exploring the Loop's newest, coolest gadget -- the iPod nano. According to their measurements, this iPod is as thin as it could possibly be, and more densely packed than any previous Apple device. I work on iPods at my day job, but I'm afraid to start working on this one because there is very little wasted space and LOTS of glue.

Here are some facts worth highlighting:
- The iPod nano uses flash memory manufactured by Toshiba.
- Apple would not be able to put a larger camera into it without reducing the footprint of other components.
- It uses the same style speaker as the iPod touch. The sound exits through the dock connector.
- The display has 17.5% more real estate than the 4th Generation iPod nano.
Read on for the nitty gritty, "I want to tear it apart" information...
Continue reading iFixit tears apart the 5th Generation iPod nano...nicely
TUAW iFixit tears apart the 5th Generation iPod nano...nicely originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 11 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: IpodTouch - Apple - IpodNano - IPod - TUAW
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Count The Beats: A Welcome Note...
Filed under: How-tos, Tips and tricks, Reviews, Music

Welcome to a brand new series focusing on music creation on the Mac and iPhone platform.

As you know, here at TUAW, we are crazy about anything Apple. We just love it! But, dear reader, this is not the be all and end all of our hearts. For many, if not all of us, music is a great passion of ours too. So, when these two worlds collide, naturally, it's a beautiful thing.

Recently, you may have seen a few posts on TUAW covering iPhone apps such as FourTrack and Noise.io or Soundboard for the Mac. Well, in this series, we are going to be singing a similar tune but taking a bit more of an in-depth look, or, if you will, taking things a semi-tone down (OK, enough with the music word play).

What exactly can you expect from this (fortnightly) series? If you're a home studio enthusiast (or a singer-songwriter trying to make ends meet) there will be tips, tricks and how-tos from Garageband all the way to Logic Studio and everything in between. Reviews on some of the latest and greatest music creation software and hardware for the Mac and iPhone/iPod Touch as well as, every now and then, a bit of inspiration for those rainy days.

But don't fret (oops!) if you can't hold a tune. For those less musically inclined we know you still need a soundtrack for the holiday you had with Granny last year and she wants to share the photo's on a DVD with some 'hip and happening' music in the background - we've got your back.

Stay tuned and leave a comment if you have any bright ideas for what you'd like to see covered in this new series.

TUAW Count The Beats: A Welcome Note... originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 11 Sep 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: iPhone - Apple - TUAW - Unofficial Apple Weblog - FourTrack
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Hands-on with the new iPod nano, part 1
Filed under: iPod Family, Reviews, iPod nano

While people were still reeling from the fact that the iPod nano, and not the iPod touch, gained a video camera, my trusty 5.5G 30 GB iPod video decided to die a slow, painful death. Over the past few weeks, I'd been hearing the hard drive click of doom, having the iPod randomly reboot while listening to an audiobook, and then had the entire system lock up on me and not unfreeze until the battery had worn completely down. When the last symptom occurred a second time yesterday during the iPod event, I decided it was time for a new iPod and ordered my first nano.

For years, the nano seemed like a good idea, but it wasn't something that fit my needs. My music collection clocks in at a respectable 8GB, and it is growing. I have another 6GB of audiobooks, also growing, and at the time I purchased my iPod video I had another 8GB of TV shows and movies ripped from my DVDs. In the days before the iPhone and iPod touch, the iPod video was just a more practical device for those of us who weren't quite so new to the whole idea of a portable music player. Apple initially targeted the noobs with the iPod mini, and then followed with the iPod nano.

Now that's changed. If you really want to play video on a portable device, the iPhone or the iPod touch is the way to go. If you primarily want to listen to music, the nano is an excellent choice for an everyday iPod. 16GB is more than enough to cover many music collections, and if you need more capacity there is still the iPod classic or the larger iPod touch models. The current nano can fit my entire library of music and audiobooks, and leave some room for videos if I choose -- except I really don't want to squint at subtitles on a nano.

Meanwhile, Apple is also realizing that they need to change their marketing strategy for the nano. With more than 220 million iPods sold to date and a 73.8% marketshare, the general public is fully aware of the brand and most likely has an iPod. So, Apple is changing tactics and has decided to take on the Flip, a popular and inexpensive handheld video camera that is roughly the size, although thicker, of a nano. New ads promote the "fun" factor of the nano, but overall it's just a solid iPod.

We're splitting our look at the new nano into two parts. Today, we're taking a look at the device itself and a vast chunk of the new features. Tomorrow, we take an in-depth look at the iPod nano's flagship feature -- the video camera -- and see how well it holds up to both a Flip and an iPhone 3GS.
Continue reading Hands-on with the new iPod nano, part 1
TUAW Hands-on with the new iPod nano, part 1 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: iPhone - IpodNano - IpodTouch - IPod Classic - Apple
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iTunes has a fan page on Facebook
Filed under: Odds and ends, iTunes

Yeah, like everyone else, iTunes has fan page on Facebook. If you can stomach the process, you can even get 20 songs for free by becoming a fan. The process is a bit clunky, however, which seems to be par for the course on Facebook. First, you become a fan. Then, you'll need to allow the "Free On iTunes" app to get access to your profile (typical of a Facebook app, of course). Then, you click a link that says "redeem now" -- a link which took me to a blank page.

After digging back into the fan page again, I found that button again, and clicked it again. This time I got the right page, but iTunes never woke up (that is, the store link didn't work). Then I tried yet again to "redeem now" and voila! A page warning that I'd already done all this appeared. Luckily there was a redemption code on this page, and the "redeem now" button finally worked. I am now downloading iTunes 9, iPhone OS 3.1 and 20 songs by indie artists.

If you can suffer the mess that is Facebook, you can get some free tunes.

Gallery: iTunes on Facebook

TUAW iTunes has a fan page on Facebook originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: IPhone - Apple - TUAW - Facebook - ITunes
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