Category: MacBook Pro

Apple Updates Consumer Desktop Line And More

Here’s a quick run down of what Apple released yesterday:

Apple Keyboard
Compact design of the Apple wireless keyboard without the need for battery switching and with the benefit of two USB 2.0 ports

AirPort Extreme Base Station
Simultaneous dual-band Wi-Fi broadcasts on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands so you have maximum range and full compatibility with all Wi-Fi devices. Guest networking broadcasts a second Wi-Fi network for guests to use the internet without having access to all of your network devices.

Time Capsule
Gained the same features as the AirPort Extreme.

MacBook Pro
Added 2.66GHz and 2.93GHz Core 2 Duo options.

Mac Pro
The entry level is now $300 cheaper, at $2,499. It also received brand new Nehalem processors, and obviously Mini DisplayPort.

Mac Mini
5 USB ports, Mini DisplayPort (exactly as the leaked picture suggested, take that doubters), Geforce 9400M graphics.

iMac
Entry level now has a 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of memory, 320GB hard drive, Geforce 9400M graphics, for the same price of $1,199. 24″ iMac now starts at $1,499.

Apple Updates Consumer Desktop Line.

MIni DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter Coming Soon From MonoPrice

I have already been in contact with at least one company that plans to solve the Macbook to HDTV issue. MonoPrice.com, a wholesale distributor of computer cables and accessories based in California, has informed me that Apple fans are on their radar and a Mini DisplayPort to HDMI video adapter is on the way. “Yes, we will carry this item soon. However, it won’t be available until end of January 2009 or so,” a company representative said via email.

MonoPrice.com makes some awesome stuff. There cables and adapters are just as good as everyone else but unbelievably cheap when it comes to pricing.

MacBook owners rejoice: Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter soon | MacYourself

DisplayPort MacBooks Showing HDCP Errors While Playing iTunes Content

Apparently some of the content in the iTunes store (from what I can tell, only the HDTV shows) have HDCP which means that if you want to connect one of those brand new MacBook, MacBook Pro, or MacBook Airs to a non-HDCP compliant display that uses DVI or HDMI your not going to be able to watch that content on that display.

I’m not sure if there is a way around it, I would guess that since the HDCP is ignored if connected to a VGA display you could get a DisplayPort to VGA adapter and then a VGA to DVI adapter which could (possibly) make your computer think that it is connecting to a VGA monitor and not a DVI monitor and therefore ignore the HDCP flag, but since I don’t have the hardware to test it I can’t say for sure if that will work.

Regardless of whether or not there is a workaround this is a problem and I don’t know if Apple is ever going to fix it, since the limitation is put on the media because of the content providers Apple will most likely tell consumers to complain to the media companies and not to Apple.

I just wish that media companies would stop treating regular joes as pirates and understand that the ones they really need to stop (you know, the guys who are selling pirated copies) don’t have any problem getting around this restriction and therefore is pointless in the “war against piracy.”

Engadget

Apple’s October 14th Announcements

So Apple had some pretty good announcements yesterday and overall I’m very satisfied with what was announced. Rather than do a full run down of what was announced I’m going to instead do a quick list of the announcements (I’m sure many of you have already heard about them thus the shorter post).

Apple has managed to develop a way to carve a large portion of the new notebooks out of a block of aluminum which not only makes the notebook sturdier and thinner but also cuts down on the overall materials used to make it.

All of the notebooks (with the exception of the 17″ MacBook Pro and the old 13″ plastic MacBook) will be getting the new Geforce 9400M integrated graphics (The MacBook Air will be running it at a lower clock speed do to thermal constraints).

The MacBook Pro will also have a discrete graphics (Geforce 9600M GT 256MB/512MB) card allowing the user to switch from integrated to discrete when you either want more battery life or more graphics performance.

MacBook Pro gets an easy access panel to replace the battery or hard drive. But, will be losing FireWire 400.

All new notebooks get a mini DisplayPort.

MacBook Pro and MacBook get a buttonless glass trackpad (the entire pad is a button) along with a battery indicator on the side of the notebook.

New MacBook Pros start at $1999.

All notebooks now have options for solid state drives.

Brand new 24″ Cinema Display with glass front, MagSafe power adapter to power your laptop, 3-port USB hub, and DisplayPort. 1900×1200, Built in iSight camera & mic, built-in stereo speakers, LED backlit.

Old plastic MacBook gets a price drop to $999.

New MacBook will see almost all of the benefits that the MacBook Pro did except for the discrete graphics and will start at $1299.

Last Minute Notebook Event Rumor Roundup

The MacBook Air will be getting a mention at todays event. It will be shown off and announced at the event but won’t be available until January 2009. – 9 to 5 Mac

That mysterious button/port on the left side of the MacBook Pro case photos is supposed to be a battery release button. – 9 to 5 Mac

According to Gizmodo the new MacBooks will not be seeing any price cuts at all. – Gizmodo

It is also very possible that the $899 product that has been rumored is not a MacBook but instead is an LED based Cinema Display with Displayport and Magsafe power adapters. – Mac Rumors

Unfortunately I’m going to be working during the event so I won’t be able to even find out what happend until I get out at 4:30pm Eastern time. But, I’m expecting new MacBooks and MacBook Pros with a mention of new MacBook Airs. I also see the possability of some Apple TV announcements but I’m not holding my breath for it (this prediction is more of my wishful thinking prediction). Either way I’m sure we’ll have a nice event (that is unless you are expecting something crazy coming out of left field).

New MacBook Pro Design Gets Photographed

Update x2: 9 to 5 Mac brings to light the possibility that JR is a faker. Remember back before the Let’s Rock event a JR photo showed up showing off a new iPod Nano that was later found to be fake. Just keep that in mind while looking at these photos. (the photo below is the fake by JR, the distance between the bottom of the device and the click wheel is too small and clearly fake).

Update: Many people around the net have noticed that the image above doesn’t show a button underneath the trackpad, meaning that if this image is real the notebook would instead use tapping the trackpad to perform mouse clicks.

Tomorrow is the Apple notebook event and someone has been able to (allegedly) take a photo of the new MacBook Pro design.

The photos looks pretty legit but I still wonder why all these spy shots are never taken by anyone who is capable of holding the camera still. It is a great looking design though and seems to incorporate the new case designs that have already practically been confirmed.

Oh, and by the way, The Boy Genius claims that a source guaranteed a $899 low end price point.

Engadget
The Boy Genius Report

Apple Rumors: Blu-ray Drives in Macs, iWork ’09, iLife ’09, and a Networked HDTV

Although Apple’s invitation clearly stated that they will be talking about notebooks there have been several rumors lately that have cropped up and many of them coming from fairly reliable sources.

Kevin Rose said in the latest live Diggnation episode (not currently available for download) that Blu-ray drives would become an option for high end MacBook Pros. Kevin Rose has been incredibly accurate lately with his predictions and has also previously stated that Blu-ray support would be coming in version 10.5.6 of OS X.

There have been many predicting that we might see some early signs of iLife and iWord ’09 but I don’t really see much validity to these rumors and see them merely as wishful thinking.

Jason Calacanis is even saying that he knew first-hand that Apple has been working on a networked television.

“These LCD HDTVs will be fully networked, with the ability to stream all their iTunes content from your Mac or PC. In fact, Calacanis told me they’ll function like a standard TV with an Apple TV box, only without the need for the box.” –Nate Lanxon, CNET.

I’m pretty sure that if this was announced Apple would have to also announce new Cinema Displays because I don’t know if I would be able to deal with the outcry from customers complaining about how Apple is capable of releasing an HDTV but hasn’t been able to rev the displays in years.

This is how these events always go though, more and more rumors and speculation than the event could ever contain and because of that inevitably, people will be terrible disappointed. I on the other hand expect nothing more than new notebooks and to be honest, if that was all Apple was to show off I would be very satisfied. And besides, there is always Macworld.

Update: MacX.cn has posted some higher quality images of the MacBook and MacBook Pro cases. A couple of them are below and you can see the rest of them here.

Apple Invites Media to Cupertino For Notebook Event On Oct. 14

Yesterday Apple finally sent out invites to an event that will be held in Cupertino, CA on October 14 at 10am Pacific time. The tag line for the event is “the spotlight turns to notebooks.” So, clearly we will be getting new notebooks.

The rumors are saying that we will be getting new designs for MacBooks and MacBook Pros. There is a possibility that the new MacBook will be priced at $799 on the low end separating it from the MacBook Pro line.

9 to 5 Mac is claiming that we won’t be getting all aluminum MacBooks but instead the new design will be made from both plastic and aluminum with the aluminum acting almost as a skeleton for the notebook.

There have also been some rumors stating that there will be a 13″ MacBook Pro that will have all the features of the MacBook Pro but with a much smaller display.

I personally believe that we will be getting new MacBooks and MacBook Pros and I subscribe to the 9 to 5 Mac theory stating that the new MacBooks will be made from plastic and aluminum.

Images of the leaked MacBook cases after the jump.

Continue reading Apple Invites Media to Cupertino For Notebook Event On Oct. 14

Will There Be New MacBooks Next Week?

Apple always sends invitations to events a week in advance and if the rumors are true we should be seeing invitations sent out tomorrow. New designs are always showcased on stage by Steve Jobs and “the brick” rumors are really pointing a big change to the design of MacBooks.

Not only should we be seeing a change to the design of the MacBook but we should also be seeing faster processors, the inclusion of Nvidia graphics processors, more memory, and bigger hard drives. This is truly worthy of an event and the rumors are pointing to Oct 14.

The MacBook Pro is also supposed to be seeing a bit of a design change and some updates under the hood. I haven’t been able to find any information talking specifically about what we will be seeing under the hood but a slightly thinner design, smaller bezel around the display, and new MacBook style keyboard are some of the design aspects to keep an eye out for.

The Brick will be a new manufacturing process for the MacBook (and possibly the MacBook Pro and Air). This new manufacturing process is supposed to revolutionize the use of Aluminum in manufacturing and according to 9 to 5 Mac is “One of the biggest Apple innovations in a decade.”

If this is all true we are in for quite a treat and I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw big price drops in the notebooks, maybe $100-200 off in the new lineup. Since Apple gives invitations out a week in advance we should be seeing them tomorrow inviting all of the press to some sort of event on Oct 14.

CrunchGear
9 to 5 Mac

New MacBook Pro Design Details

There was an image going around the net a few days ago of what was claimed to be the next design of the MacBook Pro. I never posted the image here because I thought it was clearly fake. But, Jason O’Grady has heard that the new MacBook Pros will keep its boxy-look and won’t be adopting the tapered edge design that seemingly all of the new Apple designs have been getting. This does contradict previously leaked information saying that the MacBook Pro would be getting the tapered edge.

O’Grady also believes that the new MacBook Pro will be “as much as a half-inch narrower” than the existing model and will be thinner. The bezel around the screen will be smaller.

There are also indications that the new Macbook Pro will have the newer style MacBook-like keyboard and a slightly smaller trackpad.

Jason O’Grady

T-Systems Displays New Design in MacBook Pro Image

T-Systems (owned by Deutsche Telekom) is selling a MacBook Pro that happens to have the same specs as current MacBook Pros, but the photo shown doesn’t depict a MacBook Pro that I’ve ever seen before.

The simple answer (and the truth) is that it is just a mock up of a Macbook Pro, or a graphic designers take on the MacBook Pro.

So we already know that this isn’t real but looking at it makes me really wish that Apple would do a nice refresh of the MacBook Pro line. I would love to see the MacBook style keyboard included and maybe even the slightly wider trackpad like on the MacBook Air.

John Gruber over at Daring Fireball has already claimed that sources are telling him that their will be a refresh of Apple notebooks on October 14th but we don’t know whether it will be design refresh or a spec refresh. Both the MacBook and the MacBook Pro are getting a little long in the tooth in regards to their design while the MacBook Air could see some spec bumps. I’m very excited to see what Apple decides to do with the notebooks when that day finally comes.

Back to the photo above for a moment though. Why would an online store have a photo of a computer that isn’t real? Wouldn’t it be more logical (and easier) for them to display an actual photo of the MacBook Pro, even if it is just one of Apple’s press shots? The whole thing seems very strange to me.

T-Systems
Daring Fireball