If you're anything like us, your inner-geek revels in hearing rare system beeps while holding down obscure key combos that only occur while updating low-level firmware. While much of those theatrics have since disappeared in the modern era, those of you with 2011
iMacs ,
Mac Minis ,
MacBook Pros and
MacBook Airs can at least relive some of that nostalgia as you update them to their latest respective
EFI firmwares . There's four versions (one for each machine, naturally), yet Apple tells us they all address the same underlying problems, including improving "the reliability of booting from the network" in addition to addressing "an issue that can prevent HDCP authentication" after reboots. Finally, there's improvements pertaining to "boot device selection when a USB storage device is hot-plugged." Direct links to the respective support pages are below, or those seeking to avoid guesswork can simply go on ahead and fire up Software Update. Your call.
<a href="http://gdgt.com/apple/macbook/air/13-inch/mid-2011/">
Apple
MacBook Air 13-inch (mid 2011)
</a>
Key specs
<a href="http://gdgt.com/apple/macbook/air/13-inch/mid-2011/" title="Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (mid 2011) reviews" target="_blank">
Reviews • 89
</a>
Prices
Type
Ultraportable
Screen size
13 inches
Screen resolution
1440 x 900
Processor speed
1.7 GHz
System RAM
4 GB
Maximum battery life
Up to 7 hours
Dimensions
0.68 x 12.8 x 8.94 in
Weight
2.96 lb
see all specs →
9.1 average user rating
Speed and features
9.1
Design and form factor
9.9
Battery life
8.6
Display
9.2
Durability
8.8
Expandability
6
Noise
9.1
Portability (size / weight)
9.9
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<a href="http://gdgt.com/apple/macbook-pro/13-inch/early-2011/">
Apple
MacBook Pro 13-inch (early 2011)
</a>
Key specs
<a href="http://gdgt.com/apple/macbook-pro/13-inch/early-2011/" title="Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch (early 2011) reviews" target="_blank">
Reviews • 67
</a>
Prices
Type
Midsize
Screen size
13.3 inches
Processor speed
2.4 GHz
System RAM
4 GB
Maximum battery life
Up to 7 hours
Dimensions
0.95 x 12.78 x 8.94 in
Weight
4.5 lb
Discontinued
2011-10-24
see all specs →
8.8 average user rating
Speed and features
8.7
Design and form factor
9.8
Battery life
8.7
Display
8.7
Durability
8.8
Expandability
7
Noise
8.2
Portability (size / weight)
8.8
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Displaying prices for model:
2.4GHz-Silver
$1100.00
+ tax & shipping
Buy now
<a href="http://gdgt.com/apple/imac/27-inch/late-2012/">
Apple
iMac 27-inch (late 2012)
</a>
Key specs
<a href="http://gdgt.com/apple/imac/27-inch/late-2012/" title="Apple iMac 27-inch (late 2012) reviews" target="_blank">
Reviews • 9
</a>
Prices
Type
All-in-one
Screen size
27 inches
Bundled OS
Mac OS
CPU family
Core i5
Processor speed
2.9 GHz
System RAM
8 GB
Hard drive(s)
1 TB (total) Platter
Released
2012-11-30
see all specs →
8.4 average user rating
Speed and features
9.1
Design and form factor
9.1
Expandability
6.4
Noise
9.1
Size and weight
8.2
Power consumption
8.8
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<a href="http://gdgt.com/apple/mac-mini/mid-2011/">
Apple
Mac mini (mid 2011)
</a>
Key specs
<a href="http://gdgt.com/apple/mac-mini/mid-2011/" title="Apple Mac mini (mid 2011) reviews" target="_blank">
Reviews • 35
</a>
Prices
Type
Small form-factor
Bundled OS
Mac OS (Lion [10.7])
CPU family
Core i5
Processor speed
2.3 GHz
System RAM
2 GB
Hard drive(s)
500 GB (total) Platter
Video outputs
DVI (1 ports), HDMI
Released
2011-07-20
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8.7 average user rating
Speed and features
8.4
Design and form factor
9.8
Expandability
6.6
Noise
9
Size and weight
9.9
Power consumption
9.5
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<a href="http://gdgt.com/apple/macbook/air/13-inch/mid-2013/">
Apple
MacBook Air 13-inch (mid 2013)
</a>
Key specs
<a href="http://gdgt.com/apple/macbook/air/13-inch/mid-2013/" title="Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (mid 2013) reviews" target="_blank">
Reviews • 3
</a>
Prices
Type
Ultraportable
Screen size
13.3 inches
Processor speed
1.3 GHz
System RAM
4 GB
Maximum battery life
Up to 12 hours
Dimensions
0.68 x 12.8 x 8.94 in
Weight
2.96 oz
Released
2013-06-10
see all specs →
9 average user rating
Speed and features
9
Design and form factor
8
Battery life
9.5
Display
7.5
Durability
8
Expandability
7.5
Noise
10
Portability (size / weight)
10
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<a href="http://gdgt.com/apple/macbook-pro/15-inch-with-retina-display/mid-2012/">
Apple
MacBook Pro 15-inch with Retina display (mid 2012)
</a>
Key specs
<a href="http://gdgt.com/apple/macbook-pro/15-inch-with-retina-display/mid-2012/" title="Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch with Retina display (mid 2012) reviews" target="_blank">
Reviews • 87
</a>
Prices
Type
Midsize
Screen size
15.4 inches
Processor speed
2.3 GHz
System RAM
8 GB
Maximum battery life
Up to 7 hours
Dimensions
0.71 x 14.13 x 9.73 in
Weight
4.46 lb
Released
2012-06-11
see all specs →
8.6 average user rating
Speed and features
9
Design and form factor
9.3
Battery life
8.4
Display
9.4
Durability
8.4
Expandability
5.1
Noise
9
Portability (size / weight)
8.9
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Displaying prices for model:
256GB-Silver
256GB (early 2013)-Silver
512GB-Silver
512GB (early 2013)-Silver
$1899.99
+ tax & shipping
Buy now
$1944.99
+ tax & shipping
Buy now