Apple has just released three new EFI Firmware Updates, all of which are meant to benefit 2010 models of the iMac, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro. The main purpose of the updates is to add Lion Internet Recovery to these Mac models. Lion Internet Recovery, a feature introduced into OS X with the release of Lion, allows users to re-download the entire operating system from Apple’s servers without having to go through the Mac App Store.

All current iMac, Mac Mini, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air models use Sandy Bridge processors. Currently, Intel is working on Ivy Bridge, the successor to Sandy Bridge, which is designed to be faster and use less power. While Ivy Bridge isn’t scheduled to be released until Q2 2012, there is already information being released, both officially and unofficially.

Too often in my time I’ve seen people with their iMac or monitor sitting on top of books or some other haphazard system to raise the screen to a more ergonomic level. Worse, I’ve seen people with their slick little Mac mini shoved behind a monitor, USB hub or some other piece of hardware. There’s no need for this kind of nonsense when you’ve got something as simple as NewerTech’s NuStand mini XL at your disposal. As the name implies, this stand/riser is designed specifically with the Mac mini in mind.

Electronic retailers such as Best-Buy and Amazon got an early start this Black Friday, offering better deals than Apple’s Black Friday discounts. Amazon is offering up to $150 off Apple computers such as the 1.60GHz 11″ MacBook Air 64GB, for example, and Best Buy also has their share of Apple products on sale, including the iMac, iPad 2 and Apple TV. You’ve got just a couple hours left before Black Friday 2011 has passed you by, so get those orders in now to get significant savings on Apple products.

We’ve seen a few leaks this week on Apple’s annual one-day-only Black Friday sales event. The savings on Apple products were accurately slight, but as in years past, Apple is offering significant savings on compatible third-party products. Save over $100 on Bowers & Wilkins speaker docks and various laptop bags, and you can get fun accessories like the Parrot AR.Drone for under $250.00.

Black Friday is tomorrow, and Apple will be joining the big retailers for a Black Friday sale extravaganza. According to reports, Apple will be offering great deals and big discounts on products ranging from iMacs, MacBook Air / MacBook Pro, iPod nano / iPod touch to iPads. To give you an idea of what Apple has in store for this year’s Black Friday sales event, we’re looking at $101 off on Macs, iMacs, the MacBook Air, and the MacBook Pros; $41-$61 off on a new iPad 2; $11 off on a 16GB and 32GB iPod nano, and $21-$41 off on an iPod touch.

I’m more than a little skeptical of news that the MacBook Pro will get refreshed before the end of the year, especially since the rumor comes from on an unnamed source. However, “people with proven insight into Apple’s future product plans” state the new models will have faster processors, but little else. If you want the latest and greatest, I’d wait a month or two just in case this rumor turns out to be true.

In May 2011 Other World Computing discovered that if you install a non-factory hard drive in the 2011 iMacs the fans would run at full speed all of the time. This was a great disappointment to those who like to upgrade their iMacs for extra performance and power. Fortunately, after a lot of hard work and effort, OWC discovered a fix that would not only cause no reduction in performance, but be 100% compatible with the Apple Hardware Test and maintain proper fan operation as well.

After numerous reports of freezing issues in iMacs running OS X Lion, Apple responded with its iMac Graphic FW Update 3.0 to address this problem. The update weighs in small at only 482KB and requires a user to be running OS X Lion. You can read more about it, as well as download it, from Apple’s support document, or from Software Update instead if you’d prefer.

It’s always a positive development when an established company returns to making products for Apple computers. Corsair, which makes components for PCs, is now selling 4GB or 8GB DDR3 Mac memory for all Macs sold since 2010. That includes the iMac, Mac mini, Mac Pro, MacBook, and MacBook Pro models. The cost for the 4GB DDR3 is $27.99 and the 8GB DDR3 is $54.99 at Newegg and can be purchased now.