Mac Hacks (32 page)

You need a Mac with Bluetooth (which any modern Mac already has)
and at least one Bluetooth device, such as an iPhone or iPod Touch
(virtually any portable Bluetooth-equipped device will work). No special
Bluetooth support is necessary to have your Mac and iPhone talk, since
your Mac doesn’t have to actually exchange any information with the
device; it only has to be able to detect that the device is within
range. I’ve used the technique described here with an old Nokia phone, a
Motorola Bluetooth Headset, and an Apple iPhone. You only need one
Bluetooth device, but it needs to be one that you’re going to carry
around, so the Apple Magic Trackpad is only a good choice if you carry
it around in your purse or briefcase.

Figure 11-1. This is a perfectly acceptable signal.

You
need an app that lets you run scripts when it detects the
presence of a Bluetooth device. There are a few different apps that can
do this, but I use
the Bluetooth
Proximity Tasker
, which is available in the App Store. It’s a
little clunky to set up, but it does what we need and it’s inexpensive
($2 as of this writing).

The
first step is to formally introduce your Mac and your
Bluetooth device (let’s assume it’s an iPhone) to each other, a process
called “pairing.” To do this, make sure your device’s Bluetooth support
is switched on and that it is set to “discoverable” mode. On an iPhone,
for example, go to Settings→Bluetooth and turn on Bluetooth.
Don’t
close the Settings pane when you’re done—it
has to be open for your iPhone to be discoverable.

Next, head over to your Mac and follow these steps:

Figure 11-2. The key is to click the tiny + button (circled) or—if you don’t
see the + button—the Set Up New Device button. Once your Mac sees your
device, follow the onscreen instructions to pair the device.

When you’ve finished the Setup Assistant, your iPhone will be
added to the list of devices in the Bluetooth preference pane.

Next,
open the Bluetooth Proximity Tasker app on your Mac. (If
you see a dialog box about AppleScript not executing, don’t be
concerned. This is just Bluetooth Proximity Tasker telling you that it’s
not going to run any scripts while you’re configuring it. This is a good
thing, despite the confusing alert.) If you don’t automatically see the
app’s preferences window, then click the gear icon on the right side of
your menu bar and choose Preferences. Next, click the Bluetooth Device
button and select your iPhone from the list of devices and then click
Select. This tells the app that this is the device you want it to watch
for.

Next, tell the app to run an AppleScript when your iPhone is
within range of your Mac. To do this, copy and paste a debugged script
from AppleScript Editor into Bluetooth Proximity Tasker’s In Range
AppleScript field. (The next section includes suggestions of the type of
scripts to use.)

Bluetooth Proximity Tasker can also execute a script when it
stops
detecting your device, which you configure
with the “Out of Range AppleScript” field, but I haven’t found this
useful for home automation. The reason is that Bluetooth’s range is
rather limited, so you can’t reliably infer that you’ve left home simply
because your device has moved out of range; you might have only gone to
the kitchen for another cup of coffee. But if you’re simply using the
script to trigger the screensaver or something simple like that, the
option can be quite useful.

One very nice feature of Bluetooth Proximity Tasker is the Select
slider, which lets you set the detection sensitivity. For example, if
you want to run the script only when your iPhone is
very
close to your Mac, set the slider towards the
right. Or, to run a script when there’s no sign of your iPhone at all,
set the slider all the way to the left. You’ll have to experiment to
find the setting that works best for you.

The Delay field defines how often the app checks for the presence
of your iPhone. The value you enter here (in seconds) should be
appropriate for the actions you’ve programmed in your AppleScript. For
example, if you want your Mac to turn on the room lights as soon as it
detects your presence, you’ll want to have Bluetooth Proximity Tasker
look for your iPhone every minute or so. But if you simply want to
announce how many mails you have waiting, then a longer scan interval
might be sufficient.

Bluetooth Proximity Tasker is smart enough to only run your script
when it notices that your iPhone proximity has changed. That is, it will
run the In Range AppleScript code when your iPhone is newly nearby,
after having not been detected the last time it checked. Here again is
where you’ll want to fine-tune the Select slider.

The AppleScripts that you use with Bluetooth Proximity Tasker is
where all the magic happens, and this is your opportunity to really get
creative. You can make your Mac automatically perform anything you can
accomplish with AppleScript when you, carrying your iPhone, get within
sensing range of your Mac.

If
the things you’re interested in automating only happen on
your Mac, such as automatically checking your personal email account
when you come home from work, you don’t need anything except the script
you want to run. But if you want to control the lights in your home or
otherwise reach out beyond your computer, you’ll need home-automation equipment and software.
Two
good software options are
Indigo
or
XTension
. In this example I’ll use
XTension.

My In Range script tells XTension to perform several actions in
sequence, some of which use conditions that are tracked for me by
XTension. The first thing that happens is that, if the current time is
after sunset, a lamp in the entryway turns on. Not only is this
welcoming, it provides a visual cue that my Mac has recognized me and
has started the script.

Next, the Mac uses text-to-speech to tell me how many phone calls
I missed while I was gone. This
information is tracked by XTension using
CIDTracker
.

Finally, the Mac announces how many unread email messages I have
waiting. It determines this by asking Mail for the contents of a mailbox
that only contains messages sent to me by people that I’ve assigned to a
group in Contacts. This is accomplished by a rule that I’ve defined in
Mail.

These are all standard techniques but, as with much of home
automation, it’s the ability to connect existing pieces in new and
convenient ways that creates value and adds convenience.

Now that you know how to trigger actions automatically, the hard
part is deciding on the most useful things to have happen. Perhaps you
want to have Safari load your favorite websites, or have your
appointments read from Calendar. The limit is your imagination,
AppleScript ability, and the fun you find in experimenting with
different
approaches.

—
Gordon Meyer

Tip: If you wondering whether you should replace your battery,
don’t just guess—find out for sure! Apple warranties batteries by the
number of cycles they’ve been through and how much charge they hold.
For
a list of maximum cycles to expect out of your battery
(and how to check its cycle count), visit
this support page
. If
your battery is nearing the end of its useful life, go ahead and replace
it; if not, don’t waste your money. If your battery hasn’t reached the
listed cycle count but is failing, call Apple Support or take your
MacBook to an Apple store. [You
can find a complete list of technical support numbers for
Apple at
this
support page
. In the U.S., the number is 1-800-275-2273.] They
might just replace the battery for free!

Before you get started, you’ll need to gather the components you
plan on installing. I ordered these items from Amazon, but you could
probably find them cheaper elsewhere:

In addition to those items, you’ll also need tools: a screwdriver
that includes tiny Phillips-head bits, as well as an (optional) Torx
screwdriver.

Once your parts are on hand or in the mail, it’s time to prepare
your data for this hack. Preparing your data means backing up. Usually
you’d just back up your data, but this time you’ll be replacing the
entire
drive, so you might want to consider
creating a bootable copy of your hard drive. Time Machine won’t do that
for you, so look to an app like
Carbon Copy Cloner
, which costs
about $40 and is worth the investment. Once your have a copy of Carbon
Copy Cloner (or a similar app), clone your drive to suitable media or to
its final destination.

With
your data backed up and the new parts on hand, it’s time
to dive into the warranty-voiding, performance-enhancing part of this
hack! It’s a good idea to fully drain the battery before you start—you
know, use the Mac until it automatically shuts down. (This isn’t
something we did at Mac Hacks Labs because we didn’t realize it would be
a good idea until later...) Why bother? Because it’s that much less
energy you’ll have to deal with when messing with your Mac’s internals.
So either run the battery down or at least shut off your MacBook, and
then flip it over. On the bottom, you’ll find tiny screws around the
edges. Get the appropriate-sized bit (a Phillips-head 00) and remove the
screws. You’ll note that the screws are different lengths, so devise a
scheme so you’ll know where the screws belong when you need to put them
back in. Once you get the screws out, you’ll see something like
Figure 11-3
.

Figure 11-3. While the case is open, you should take this opportunity to use
some canned air to blow the dust out of your Mac.

So where should you start? The hard drive is your best bet. By
removing the screws at the top of the drive (these screws are black so
you can tell they don’t go on the case), a black retention bar was
removed and the hard drive popped right out (
Figure 11-4
).

Figure 11-4. The hard drive comes out very easily on this model, but the
ribbons connecting it to the Mac are thin and likely fragile. Use
caution and pay attention to how the ribbon cables are connected;
you’ll want to replicate that setup when you put in the new
drive.

Gently disconnect the ribbon cables, and then grab a Torx driver
to remove the screws from the sides of the hard drive. These screws hold
the drive in your Mac. The replacement drive has holes for these screws
but no screws, so put the screws in the new drive, attach the cables,
and then install the new
drive.

In
the particular model I worked on, it’s much easier to
access the RAM with the battery removed, which makes the next step
obvious: remove that battery. The battery is held in place by two
proprietary Tri Wing screws, but I was able to remove them with a tiny
Phillips-head screwdriver. (If you prefer, you can order the proper Tri
Wing screwdriver from
iFixit.com
or some other source.) Once the screws are out, carefully remove the
battery connector from the main board (be gentle). Then simply lift the
battery out of the enclosure (
Figure 11-5
).

Figure 11-5. The new hard drive is in but the battery is gone. Hopefully the
new battery will provide longer run time. Even if it doesn’t, it will
certainly extend the time until the case needs to be opened
again!

With
the battery out of the way, you’ve got much better access
to the RAM. Remove the top RAM module first by applying slight upward
pressure on it. This causes the module to pop up at about a 45-degree
angle; then simply pull it out of the machine. The same method was used
to remove the RAM from the second slot. Then put the new RAM into the
bottom slot first by inserting it at the same angle at which you removed
the old RAM, and then push it flat (
Figure 11-6
).

Figure 11-6. Putting the RAM in at an angle. This part was a bit tricky, but
I could tell when the angle was correct by the feel of it. Be gentle
and don’t try to force the modules into place.

Once the RAM modules are installed, it’s just a matter of
installing the new battery and putting all the screws back where they
belong (
Figure 11-7
). You might notice
that there’s blue thread-locking material on some of the screws. You
could replace this stuff, but you’re a hacker—you’ll want to get in the
case again someday—so ignore it.

Figure 11-7. Everything is back in place. The only question that remains is,
was it worth it?

Once the MacBook Pro is reassembled, the moment of truth comes:
was the roughly $220 investment worth it? If you’re not a hacker, you
might object that time and effort should be factored into the cost
equation but, as the true tinkerer knows, messing with stuff is part of
the payoff! Philosophical discussions aside, did the hack pay off? Here
are a couple of ways to judge:

With the objective measurements taken and noted, the more
important subjective measurements have to be considered. Even if the
upgrades technically made the MacBook Pro faster than Deep Blue, that
wouldn’t matter if the MacBook Pro still
felt
sluggish because everyone would still hate using it.

I decided to try to get a subjective assessment from someone who
didn’t
spend half an hour installing the upgrades.
Test Subject One—who was unaware that the upgrades had been ordered
until the credit card bill arrived—began using the MacBook Pro and asked
whether the distinctive O’Reilly sticker had been moved to a new MacBook
Pro. When informed that the sticker had not been moved, Subject One
asked why the MacBook Pro seemed so much faster. Subject Two just fired
up Minecraft and started playing without commenting on either the speed
of the computer or his father’s kindness (as evidenced by letting him
use a MacBook Pro for Minecraft). He was soon grounded.