Retina Macbook Pro screen going blank/black intermittently/panic

Over the last few days my retina Macbook Pro has been playing up.

It started with a kernel panic (aka Grey Screen of Death GSOD).

After which I booted into single user mode and ran fsck -fy to check and repair any permissions, of which there were none. It seemed ok for a day or two, but recently I opened it to wake it from sleep and the screen remained black. They keypad was illuminated but screen completely black, the computer was on though, you could hear volume changes with the volume keys, you could see it on the network and remote screen share into it but the display was kaput and even restarting didn’t kick the screen into life.

There was a quick fix – an SMC reset worked (temporarily):

  • Whilst the computer is off press the left SHIFT+CTRL+OPTION and the Power button together at the same time and then release them. You should notice your charge light on the magsafe adapter briefly change colour.

Continue reading “Retina Macbook Pro screen going blank/black intermittently/panic”

New iPad Predictions. The iPad HD or the iPad 3?

With the new iPad set to be announced tomorrow we thought we’d bring you a preview post of all that we expect to be seen and we’ll revert back here to see how right or wrong we were.

It seems this years model has been the worst kept secret in Apples history. The only swerve ball coming from this iPad announcement invite photo which hinted at no home screen button (yes, that iPad is in portrait mode as the drips on the wallpaper only appear in that pattern in portrait and would appear above the 5th icon in a 5 icon dock) so while this picture shows it, the parts have confirmed this not to be the case. In fact it would appear the front of the iPad will be exactly the same as the iPad 2, available in white and black, with the same home button and of course the same 9.7″ screen (we’re also 90% sure it’ll be offered in 16gb, 32gb and 64gb sizes again)

Continue reading “New iPad Predictions. The iPad HD or the iPad 3?”

Should you buy a Kindle if you already have an iPad 2?

My inner geek is telling me I need a Kindle. Even before the newer and cheaper models I’ve always been drawn towards a Kindle which is strange because I don’t read books, period!

I have an iPad 2 and several eBooks on that in both iBooks and Kindle app format. I’ve started to read books and then lost interest or been distracted by push alerts for a game of Words with Friends of Twitter alerts. That’s one of my issues with the iPad as a reading device, it’s far too easy to get distracted. I should really turn on AirPlane mode if I want to sit down and seriously read a book on the iPad but I just can’t bring myself to do that and I don’t know why. Continue reading “Should you buy a Kindle if you already have an iPad 2?”

Power Support Anti Glare Film for the iPad/iPad2 [Review]

right = with anti-glare film, left = no anti glare film

If you’ve read my Elago S4 Breathe iPhone 4 case review and my more recent Cool Bananas SmartShell iPad 2 Case Review you should now be getting a feel for the fact that I hate dressing up my Apple devices in anything big and bulky unless absolutely necessary. The same applies when it comes to covering any Apple device screens in a “film” to protect it. Since the very first generation iPhone I’ve been plagued with tiny scratches on the glass, I used to curse every time I saw one, now I just take it in my stride and accept scratches will appear unless I wrap my iPhone and iPad in cotton wool. Continue reading “Power Support Anti Glare Film for the iPad/iPad2 [Review]”