Folks still rocking Apple’s Leopard may have been feeling left out after Lion and Snow Leopard both got an update for addressing that Flashback malware. If you’re one of them, you’ll be glad to know that Apple has finally issued a Leopard fix that comes with a removal tool for the vulnerability afflicting its big cats. In addition to a 1.23MB Flashback update, Apple also released a second 1.11MB fix for Leopard that disables versions of Adobe Flash Player that don’t have the requisite security updates. Both should further whittle down the number of Apple computers affected by the Flashback trojan. For the actual updates, feel free to pounce on the source links below.

SOURCE via 9to5mac

Lately talk of an Apple-branded HDTV and the iPhone 5 has dominated as far as Apple rumors are concerned. However, today brings us an Apple rumor of a different breed, one that speaks of an Apple MacBook Pro with a 15-inch retina display.

9to5Mac cites ‘trusted sources’ from Apple’s supply chain in reporting that contrary to previous rumors, Apple’s next 15-inch MacBook Pro will not feature a MacBook Air-like design. According to the site, Apple is instead opting for a slimmed down, more robust version of the current MacBook Pro. Aside from a slimmed down design, this new MacBook Pro will feature a dedicated power button key on the keyboard (similar to the MacBook Air), USB 3.0, a distinct lack of optical drive, two USB 2.0 ports, two Thunderbolt-sized ports, and an SD card slot. However, the most interesting feature is the rumored presence of a Retina display.

Already present on Apple’s iPhone 4 and iPad 3, the 15-inch MacBook Pro Retina Display is said to boast multiple resolution modes that allow the user to adjust the sharpness and image sizes to their liking via presets with names such as ‘big,’ ‘small’ or ‘optimal.’ This represents a huge departure from the usual numbered resolution modes that computers users are used to seeing but will no doubt make changing the resolution a lot more user-friendly for the less tech-savvy of users.

Along with the Retina display and support for USB 3.0, expect Intel’s newest line of Core processors under the hood. Apple’s OS X Mountain Line is scheduled for this coming summer, and, considering the iPhone 5 likely won’t launch ’til September, we’re wondering if Apple is going to have a MacBook Pro announcement fill the gap at WWDC. If that’s the case, we don’t have long to wait until we see this new MacBook Pro make a debut.

SOURCE via 9to5mac

Hey, Mac users: are you ready for an update? Because Apple is dropping its latest OS version on your heads. 10.7.4 just hit, and it brings with it a number of small fixes to help improve things like security, stability and compatibility for your system. The update promises to fix an issue with the “Reopen windows when logging back in” setting, compatibility with some third-party keyboards and the ability to copy files to SMB servers, among others. You can check out a more complete list of fixes just after the break.

The 10.7.4 update is recommended for all OS X Lion users and includes general operating system fixes that improve the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac including fixes that:

• Resolve an issue where the “Reopen windows when logging back in” setting is always enabled

• Improve compatibility with certain British third-party USB keyboards

• Address an issue that may prevent files from being saved to a server

• Improve the reliability of copying files to an SMB server

For detailed information on this update, please visit this website: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5167.

For information on the security content of this update, please visit: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222.

SOURCE via Apple

Apple’s products have long been known for their high price tags. The company’s MacBook Air line is priced significantly cheaper than its full-fledged notebook line (the MacBook Pro) and it starts at an already pricey $1000. It can run up to as much as $1700 if you go for the top of the line model. However, rumor has it Apple could be considering a cheaper MacBook Air that would see the base model fall to $800.

According to a report from Digitimes’ sources, Apple is hoping to better compete with the Windows 8 ultrabooks launching later this year and is willing to offer a cheaper MBA in order to do it. While early ultrabooks were closer to the $1000 mark, prices are steadily coming down. These days, it’s not difficult to snag an ultrabook for under $800.

The cheaper MBA is apparently going to be released in the third quarter of this year, but it’s not yet clear if Apple plans to launch a whole new budget MacBook Air, or if this rumored $800 model will actually be the $1000 with a $200 price cut. The company doesn’t exactly price new merchandise to sell but it’s no stranger to dropping prices on older products.

CES this past January was ultrabook central and we’re expecting to see another slew of super-slim extra light laptops at Computex in June. With AMD’s Trinity APU launching this month, the ultrabook market is heating up fast. Will a $200 price cut from Apple be enough for Cupertino to stay competitive?

SOURCE via DigiTimes

What’s scarier: 1 out of 5 Mac computers in a group of 100,000 found to be infected with malware, or that Sophos can take a snapshot of all 100,000 without each user’s knowledge. Even if the security firm is trying to access the overall health of Apple’s platform, installed software secretly taking snapshots of the computer’s current condition sounds a little creepy nonetheless.

According to the latest report from Sophos, 100,000 Mac computers using the company’s free anti-virus software were analyzed over a span of seven days. The firm discovered that 1 in 5 Macs were playing host to one or more instances of Windows-based malware while 1 in 36 (or 2.7-percent) were found to be carrying Mac OS X malware. The good news is that the Windows-based malware won’t cause symptoms on Macs unless the user is also running Windows. The bad news is that it can still spread to other Macs.

“Some Mac users may be relieved that they are seven times more likely to have Windows viruses, spyware and Trojans on their Macs than Mac OS X-specific malware, but Mac malware is surprisingly commonly encountered,” said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos. “Mac users need a wake-up call about the growing malware problem.”

In a 7-day snapshot of 100,000 Macs, Sophos discovered that 75.1-percent were infected with the OSX/Flahplyr malware. Falling in second with 17.8-percent was OSX/FaveAV followed by OSX/RSPlug (5.5-percent), OSX/Jahlav (1.2-percent) and “other” (0.4-percent). This malware can spread via USB stick, email attachments, website download, or even a silent drive-by installation where the user doesn’t realize their Mac’s security has been subverted.

“Cybercriminals view Macs as a soft target, because their owners don’t typically run anti-virus software and are thought to have a higher level of disposable income than the typical Windows user,” Cluley added. “Mac users must protect their computers now or risk making the malware problem on Macs as big as the problem on PCs.”

On the Windows-based malware front, Mal/Bredo reigned as champ, residing on 12.2-percent of 100,000 Mac computers over a 7-day study. Other malware found include Mal/Phish (7.4-percent), Mal/FakeAV (3.8-percent), Troj/ObfJS (3.6-percent), Mal/ASFDldr (3.3-percent), Troj/Invo (3.0-percent), Troj/Wimad (2.6-percent), Mal/Iframe (1.5-percent), Mal/JavaGen (1.4-percent), and “other” (61.2-percent).

“Some of the malware discovered by Sophos on the 100,000 Mac computers sampled dates back to 2007, and would have been easily detected if the users had run an anti-virus product sooner,” Sophos said in its report. “Bredo, a family of malicious programs sent out via spam, accounts for 12.2 percent of malware detected on Mac computers. The first Bredo variant was detected in 2009, and since then, countless variants have been released. Only last week, it was used in a malicious email campaign that purported to have attached a compromising picture of the recipient.”

Naturally Sophos points to its own free anti-virus solution for Macs which can be downloaded and installed from here. Further information about these malware findings on Macs can be found on Sophos’s Naked Security site at: http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com.

SOURCE via Sophos

Apple developers test-driving the latest Mountain Lion (10.8) release may have noticed some higher-res graphics erroneously popping up in “unexpected places,” such as the double-size phone icon that appears alongside an audio chat invitation in Messages. One such dev reported his findings to Ars Technica, as you can see evidenced in the graphic above. This mild slip-up could imply that Apple plans to release Macs with high-density displays later this year, or, at the very least, that Mountain Lion will be Retina-ready. High-res support dates back to OS X Lion, which is reportedly equipped to play nice with HiDPI displays, should they eventually become available. Compatible icons are but a second piece of the puzzle, which could be completed to the tune of deliciously dense 2880 x 1800 (or higher) resolution 15-inch LCDs. Wouldn’t you love to see that.

SOURCE via Ars Technica

A story first reported by SemiAccurate, and later picked up by Apple Insider, suggests that Apple has little confidence in Nvidia that it can supply enough 28 nm Kepler graphics chips to support Apple’s demand. Apple apparently has already made the decision to dump Nvidia for “a large number” of notebooks and may only use Kepler in a limited way, potentially only for the high-end. Given the fact that Apple sells about 3.6 million notebooks per quarter, this may – if the rumor is true – hurt Nvidia.

The rumor further suggests that Apple now intends the graphics capability in its notebooks mainly via Intel’s Ivy Bridge processors, which somehow fits to the rumor that Intel has delayed the introduction of Ivy Bridge due to a large order from Apple that may be connected with the Kepler supply issue.

While all of this information is unconfirmed and neither Apple nor Nvidia will comment on it, we know that Apple is paranoid about eliminating all variables its component supply and make sure that it has enough parts to ship all the products it can. If Nvidia cannot satisfy Apple’s demand of potentially several million graphics chips per quarter, it is reasonable to assume that Apple would dump the company in this round.

This is one Apple rumor which I hope never sees the light of day. According to the guys over at SemiAccurate (A sign of things to come?), Apple has ditched NVIDIA’s next-generation Kepler graphics chip from a “large number” of upcoming laptops. Apparently, Apple will be going instead with the Intel Ivy Bridge CPUs with integrated graphics that offers a higher number of shader counts, which should make up the difference, the key word here of course being SHOULD.

The reason for this change? Apparently, they can’t make enough Kepler chips.

“Nvidia can’t supply, so Apple threw them out on their proverbial magical experience. This doesn’t mean Nvidia is completely out at Apple, the Intel GPUs are too awful to satisfy the higher end laptops, so there will need to be something in those. What that something is, we don’t definitively know yet, but the possibilities are vanishingly small.”

Let’s just hope this one is just a rumor. What do you think? Intel Ivy Bridge Integrated graphics all you need for the new MacBook Pro’s?

Last time around, Apple was cognizant not everyone has broadband to download a 4GB OS, offering solace to those with slow internet with a (pricey $69) USB stick alternative. Times change though, as Cupertino’s confirmed to Pocket-lint that the recently unveiled OS X Mountain Lion won’t be offered with a physical counterpart. Apple’s reasoning? “It was an interesting test, but it turns out the App Store was just fine for getting the new OS.” So there’s that. High time you took the plunge and upgraded to broadband apparently, or contemplated moving within the vicinity of an Apple Retail Store’s willing WiFi. That or you could just buy a new machine. Your call.

SOURCE via Pocket-Lint

You may still be purring your way through our in-depth preview, but Mountain Lion is now officially out of the bag, with Apple releasing a preview version of its latest OS X to the members-only Developer Program. If you’re up to date on those $99/year dues, you can head on over to the Member Center to get your OS 10.8 fix, and start checking out those shiny new Messages, Reminders, Notes and Notification Center apps. Or kick up your feet and bring your desktop to the big screen with AirPlay Mirroring. If you have the Apple-approved credentials to proceed, you can find all that and more by making your way over to our source link just below.

SOURCE via Apple