Top Mac News » Tips http://www.topmacnews.com Apple, Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod & Apple TV News, Rumors and Tips Thu, 02 Aug 2012 21:03:46 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 5 Ways to Make iTunes Playlists http://www.topmacnews.com/5-ways-to-make-itunes-playlists/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=5-ways-to-make-itunes-playlists http://www.topmacnews.com/5-ways-to-make-itunes-playlists/#comments Thu, 19 Apr 2012 18:06:35 +0000 Stephen Knell http://www.topmacnews.com/?p=2229

Mac|Life offers a tutorial on creative ways to make iTunes Playlists.

1. Sort Your Seasonal/Holiday Tunes
2. Show Songs Not Played in the Past Week
3. Highest Played This Year
4. Sort Out PDFs
5. Don’t Show Skipped Tracks

A complete tutorial is available at Mac|Life.

]]> http://www.topmacnews.com/5-ways-to-make-itunes-playlists/feed/ 0 Why do I need to calibrate my Macbook Battery? http://www.topmacnews.com/ive-heard-to-get-an-accurate-reading-of-percentages-and-charge-times-on-my-laptop-i-need-to-calibrate-the-battery-why/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ive-heard-to-get-an-accurate-reading-of-percentages-and-charge-times-on-my-laptop-i-need-to-calibrate-the-battery-why http://www.topmacnews.com/ive-heard-to-get-an-accurate-reading-of-percentages-and-charge-times-on-my-laptop-i-need-to-calibrate-the-battery-why/#comments Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:01:50 +0000 Stephen Knell http://www.topmacnews.com/?p=105 Once upon a time, if you purchased a new a Mac laptop, or bought a spare battery, you needed to perform a battery calibration to obtain the best performance out of your battery. Simply put, this meant first charging your battery completely or using your Mac with a power adapter until the battery was fully charged, then using it until the battery runs down completely, then charge it up again. Once this was done, the firmware in the battery had a reference on how long it took to charge, and can roughly figure out how long you could use your Mac before needing a recharge.

Fortunately, according to Apple, if you have recent laptop (which Apple lists as any portable with a non-removable battery) this calibration is no longer necessary. In their support document:

Current Apple portable computer batteries are pre-calibrated and do not require the calibration procedure outlined in this article.

However if you have a removable battery, there are different procedures you should follow depending on which Mac laptop you have.

]]> http://www.topmacnews.com/ive-heard-to-get-an-accurate-reading-of-percentages-and-charge-times-on-my-laptop-i-need-to-calibrate-the-battery-why/feed/ 0 Why does my iPad say “Not charging” after I’ve plugged it into my computer? http://www.topmacnews.com/why-does-my-ipad-say-not-charging-after-ive-plugged-it-into-my-computer/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=why-does-my-ipad-say-not-charging-after-ive-plugged-it-into-my-computer http://www.topmacnews.com/why-does-my-ipad-say-not-charging-after-ive-plugged-it-into-my-computer/#comments Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:50:58 +0000 Stephen Knell http://www.topmacnews.com/?p=131 The iPad needs a relatively large amount of power to charge its battery. Once you connect your iPad to your computer via USB, the iPad checks to see if there is enough power on that line. If the iPad determines there is not enough power, it will not charge its battery but its data connection will still work.

If your computer cannot charge the iPad, you’ll need to purchase a powered usb hub (a hub that provides its own power through a wall-wart power supply). Plug your computer into the USB hub, then plug the iPad into the powered USB hub. If the USB hub is supplying enough power, you’ll see the power icon on your iPad notifying you that the device is charging. Sometimes powered hubs provide different power levels depending on the connector you’re using; if you still get a “Not Charging” message even after plugging into a powered hub, try another connector on the hub.

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