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$250 Matrox DS1 is Your New (or First, At Least) Apple Thunderbolt to Multi-Peripheral Hub

12.18.12 @ 1:00PM Tags : apple, daisychain, dockingstation, ds1, firewire, imac, mac, macbook, macbookair, macbookpro, matrox, thunderbolt, usb

Apple is steadily abandoning its own FireWire standard, continuously simplifying the ports on its machines, and pushing for the growing acceptance of FireWire’s successor — the Thunderbolt protocol. Given all this, Mac users find themselves in a bizarre transitional phase. It may be frustrating, because while Apple surges forward, peripherals’ acceptance of Thunderbolt has been lackluster at best. Much to the relief of perennial Mac users finding themselves unable to blend their legacy gear with, say, their fresh iMac or MacBook Pro, Matrox has finally released it’s DS1 Thunderbolt docking station — the first solution of its kind — which looks to seamlessly marry almost everything you could want between the old and the new. More »

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FireWire Finally Extinguished? Some Solutions and Work-Arounds for Apple Users

11.6.12 @ 9:21PM Tags : apple, firewire, macbook, macbookpro, usb

It’s always a bit sad when tried-and-true tech or transfer protocols go the way of the Dodo Bird — to utterly date myself, I can remember thinking Zip Drives were the future — or maybe frustrating is more the word I’m looking for. According to Mac World, Apple’s announcement of 13 and 15-inch MacBook Pros and new iMacs all exhibit what very well could be the setting of a trend in Apple’s products — the absence of FireWire ports. Keep reading for how on earth we’re going to deal with this. More »