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Even though the new iPad mini with Retina didn’t enjoy a launch event or even a pre-launch announcement, some members of the MacJury were on the case, and got to spend the weekend with the newest iPad. Why they picked the iPad mini over the iPad Air (or didn’t), their buying experience, configuration, uses, cases and more are all shared by the panel of Katie Floyd, Ted Landau and host Chuck Joiner.

Jim Sherhart of Connected Data is back to talk about the new Transporter Sync, the newest Transporter that lets you bring your own storage device to the party. That’s important since that means their Transporter technology can be harnessed to put even more storage in your own private cloud. Jim reviews the privacy and security benefits of Transporter, then explains the storage options the Transporter Sync currently supports, and even gives us a sneak peak at some upcoming features of the Transporter software that will help you sync your data with even more convenience.

Sharon Zardetto took lots of time to go through the newest versions of Apple’s iBooks, including the premier edition for the Mac, to research her new Take Control of iBooks. You wouldn’t think there is that much to reading a book on a Mac or iDevice, but you would be wrong. Sharon talks about the variety of options and features that make iBooks such a great experience, how it handles your PDF documents, and names the biggest danger with the program. She also discusses the ebook concept in general, whether paper books still fit in, and more.

Ben Waldie of Automated Workflows helps us cut through the controversy surrounding OS X Mavericks, the iWork suite and get to just the facts. There has been concern about the current lack of support in Mavericks, and also in Numbers, Pages and Keynote. Ben calms the waters a bit, explaining what is missing, what still works, and what his expectations are for scripting in both Mavericks and iOS 7 going forward.

Is the new MacBook Pro with Retina display really worth the money? That’s the latest question taken up by The MacJury, all who have opted to go pro with their laptops. Which configurations selected and why, some diverse experiences in migrating to the new machines, observations on performance, and what they are doing with all that power are covered by the panel of Don McAllister, Tom Merritt, Allison Sheridan and host Chuck Joiner.

Ted Landau talks about his thinking on his thinking on the iPad Air vs. iPad mini with Retina and why he’s waiting until he can hold them both, then dives into Mavericks. Ted’s upgrade went smoothly, but there are always those annoying little issues. Deleting tags in Mavericks, dual display mode and using Gmail with Mail have all been items that need attention, and Ted gives it, along with what he thinks are the long term implications of the iWork file changes. Finally, Ted does a little cost analysis on the upcoming Mac Pro tower and draws his conclusions on who will be in line when it is released.

After spending a weekend with Apple’s new iPad Air, The MacJury convened to discuss their experiences. Buying, configuration choices, initial impressions of speed, camera improvements, size, charging and more are covered by the panel of Jeff Carlson, David Chartier and host Chuck Joiner.

Andrew Renz, Senior Enterprise Engineer and Principal Architect for SharePlan from Code42, introduces us to their new cloud collaboration platform that is targeted at the enterprise market. Featuring capabilities that businesses want and need, SharePlan offers change tracking on documents, secure sharing, block-level syncing, remote wipe capabilities, and support for both desktop and iOS devices. Andrew explains how it works, the simplicity of deployment and use, and the affordability of adopting SharePlan for your business.

To call VIPorbit a contact manager is a bit of an over-simplification. Mike Muhney, the CEO and co-founder of VIPorbit, explains why, after he created ACT!, the Windows-standard for customer relationship management, he moved on to the Apple platforms to build a system that is both simple and powerful. Mike's passion shows through as he walks us through both the concepts and functions of VIPorbit for the Mac, iPhone and iPad, why he selected a proprietary sync service, and how VIPorbit can help you organize all of the contacts in your business and personal life.

As the dust cleared from Apple's October 22 event featuring the iPad Air, updates to the MacBook Pro and more, The MacJury convened to look at some of the larger issues surrounding those announcements. The effects of a fee-free Mavericks on adoption and software valuation, contrasting iPad and Microsoft Surface announcements, and the reaction to the Mac Pro's price are where the discussion started. Who's buying what, the implications of the iPad Air's name and  whether updating almost the entire Apple product line is a good thing are all part of the conversation with Mark Fuccio, Jeff Gamet, Ted Landau and host Chuck Joiner.

Joe Kissell has been chomping at the bit to tell you all about the new version of the Mac OS, Mavericks, and now he's free to do so. In Take Control of Upgrading to Mavericks 1.1 , Joe finalizes his suggestions for seamlessly and successfully performing the update, give us a few things to watch out for, and talks about what the upgrade may and may not break. Some key new features and Joe's usual thorough investigation will have you up, running, and taking advantage of the best of Mavericks in no time.

Joe Kissell is back from vacation just in time to help us get ready for the next upgrade of the the Mac OS, Mavericks. In Take Control of Upgrading to Mavericks, Joe puts us on the right path for a successful upgrade, including strategies for backup, software upgrades and more. While we don't know when Mavericks will be released, following Joe's advice will have you ready when the time comes. And once Mavericks does arrive, you will automatically get the 1.1 version of the book that will take you through all the great new features, and warn you of any surprises.

Ted Landau is back from his travels, and catches us up on his experiences with the iPhone 5s hardware and iOS 7 software, what we can look forward to in the new iPads and why he likes the iPad mini. In lightning-round style, Ted takes on the Surface 2, Steve Balmer's retirement, and more.

Philip Goward of Smile talks about the capabilities of their latest iOS app, PDFpen Scan+. A natural companion app to PDFpen and PDFpenPro on the Mac, and PDFpen for iPhone and PDFpen for iPad, the new app uses your iDevice's camera to scan documents, store them as PDFs or perform OCR on the spot to give you the text of the scan. Philip discusses the conversion engine, why an Internet connection isn't required, and the many ways that your scans can be used.

Joe Kissell is rapidly becoming one of the go-to authorities on common-sense security for Mac users. Joe's latest book, Take Control of 1Password, is not only a tour of the newly updated version of Agile Bits' password utility that makes creating and using secure passwords simple, but some of the updates and changes to the program. Joe's book addresses both the Mac and iOS versions of the program, and gives practical advice on why and how to use the program to make your online (and even your off-line) life more secure.