Apple has released three System Management Controller (SMC) firmware updates for its MacBook lineup: MacBook SMC Firmware Update 1.5 (494 KB), MacBook Pro SMC Firmware Update 1.6 (666 KB), and MacBook Air SMC Update 1.8 (982 KB). All three address a “rare issue” that caused laptops with a battery that had accumulated more than 1,000 charge cycles to shut down and possibly fail to boot back up again. According to this Apple support page, all recent MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models (as well as MacBook models from 2009 and later) have a lifetime expectancy of 1,000 charge cycles. As always with firmware updates, we recommend relying on Software Update or the App Store app to ensure you get the firmware update for your specific model, and be careful not to interrupt the update process. (Free)
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Fun Way to Send Attachments in Mail
If you're working in a file that you want to attach to a message in Apple Mail, you can transfer the file to Mail easily: From the title bar of the file's window, drag the little proxy icon to Mail's icon on the Dock. Your Mac will make Mail the active application and open a new outgoing message, with the file attached.
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Written by
Tonya Engst
SMC Firmware Updates for MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air
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My wireless connection drops sporadically after installing this update. MacBook Pro 13". No logs or other indicators of a problem. Airport still shows green but cycling it off then on again reconnects. Only odd thing is that Update->Preferences shows "MacBook Pro SMC Firmare Update" version 1.6 as installed *twice*, once on Feb 6 and again on Feb 18. Apple is unable to help.