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Apple’s first Mac OS X 10.9.3 beta boosts support for connected 4K displays at retina resolution

Mar07
by on March 7, 2014 at 6:34 am
Posted In: Around the Web, MacBook Pro, Product Updates

Apple has seeded the first beta of its OS X Mavericks version 10.9.3 to developers, and 9to5Mac reports that the update brings in support for users with Macbooks connected to 4K-resolution monitors.

Basically, Mac users can now natively set their 4K displays to run the Mac OS at a pixel-doubled retina resolution, resulting in much sharper content on your bigger screen. Before this update, content from the Mac showed up only on a larger scale with window elements spread out.

9to5Mac Retina 730x524 Apples first Mac OS X 10.9.3 beta boosts support for connected 4K displays at retina resolution

9to5Mac also reports that the beta now lets the retina Macbook Pro support 4K displays with a refresh rate of 60Hz, which would make the display feel much smoother compared to an output of 30Hz or 24Hz.

➤ Apple building support for driving 4K displays at ‘Retina’ resolution, 60Hz output from 2013 MacBook Pros [9to5Mac]

Image via 9to5Mac, thumbnail image via Kimihiro Hoshino/AFP/Getty Images

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The Mac beta of F.lux, which helps computer addicts sleep better, now adjusts to your actual day

Mar07
by on March 7, 2014 at 3:07 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider, LifeHacks, Product Updates

shutterstock 171835172 520x245 The Mac beta of F.lux, which helps computer addicts sleep better, now adjusts to your actual day

F.lux is a program that sits quietly on your computer or smartphone, removing the blue light emitted by your screen which can subconsciously affect circadian rhythms and adversely affect your sleep.

Essentially, F.lux — available for Mac, Windows, Linux and iPhone/iPad — helps you sleep better by calibrating your screen’s brightness to the rise and fall of the sun in your location.

The Mac version is still in beta, but it has just been updated with a load of new features. What’s most useful is that F.lux now adjusts to your actual day, and not just sunrise and sunset. All you have to do is tell F.lux when you wake up, and the new version of the program makes a schedule tailored to you, so you can use a screen that knows when you wake up and go to sleep, as well as when the sun is up.

fluxgraph 730x163 The Mac beta of F.lux, which helps computer addicts sleep better, now adjusts to your actual day

As the day progresses, F.lux automatically moves between its three light settings. However, as color perception differs across the world, the team behind F.lux recognizes that it isn’t accurate to predict how users see colors at different times. The Mac beta of F.lux thus also comes with a new interface so you can go back a few times, for just a day or two, to set it the way you like — after which the adjusting should kick in automatically.

fluxtabs The Mac beta of F.lux, which helps computer addicts sleep better, now adjusts to your actual day

Other new features include a Movie Mode, which lasts two-and-a-half hours, so you can watch movies while preserving shadow detail, skin tones and sky colors. This was introduced to the Windows version in a massive update last year. The Mac beta also now has a new way to disable F.lux until sunrise.

➤ F.lux

Headline image via Shutterstock

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