tech news and opinions
No one really seems to know what the problem is but it might have something to do with either the piece that actually holds the headphone jack in or some sort of weird interaction caused by the integrated mic in the headphone jack of the new MacBooks.
AppleInsider | MacBook owners frustrated by new audio jacks.
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
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.”
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
Apple.pro has posted some new photos of what they claim to be the new casing to an upcoming revision to the MacBook line. The new revision to the MacBook line is expected to be released in September. The case resembles the MacBook Air, is made of aluminum, and doesn’t include any electronic components in the pictures.
Apple.pro has in the past posted photos that were later believed to be real (the new MacBook Pro casing comes to mind).
I’m hoping that these new photos are also real, I’ve been thinking about purchasing a new notebook for a few months now but can’t stand the plastic case on the current MacBook. I think I’m going to have to wait until September before I make any buying decisions.
At Apple’s earnings call it was mentioned that Apple would be having a product transition soon and that it would have to lower margins because of it.
That of course caused a wildfire in the blogosphere with speculation of everything from a Mac tablet to cheaper notebooks.
The two possibilities that make the most sense is that Apple could be releasing sub-$1000 notebooks. Piper Jaffray said Tuesday that there is an 80% chance that Apple will introduced redesigned MacBooks and maybe even MacBook Pros at the $999 price point for the MacBook and $1799 for the MacBook Pro.
But, this product transition could be a cheaper iPod Touch which would transition the iPod product line from the old click-wheel style iPods to the new touch models. If the iPod Touch was priced at $199 it would be much more comparable to the iPhone 3G and really the only differences being GPS, Bluetooth, integrated speakers, and the GSM radio.
I’ve thought for a while about the possibility that Apple would drop the price of the iPod Touch and integrate GPS into it as well and then releasing a turn-by-turn application for the TouchOS. This would essentially turn the iPod Touch into a navigation system as well as an iPod and internet tablet.
Update: I received the power adapter at 11:30am and it is working great. Apple makes it very easy to send back my old one too, all I have to do is put it in the box that the new one came in rip off the label (underneath the shipping label is the return label), tape up the package and it’s ready to go.
I’ve been tracking my power adapter through DHL and according to the latest update (which was about 2 hours ago) the power adapter is about an hour away from my house. My guess is that it has to come to the local DHL distribution center and then to my house but hopefully that means I will get it around noon.
This is the first time I’ve ever seen any value from the extra $170 or so that I paid for AppleCare, Apple gave me great service and the only thing they asked of me was to put a $72 charge on my credit card until they received my old power adapter. I’ve managed to get by mostly using my old PC but I still have about 2 hours worth of battery life left in my MacBook, that should mean I’ll be blogging today, but I can’t make too many promises.
I won’t be posting as much today and tomorrow, the Magsafe power adapter for my MacBook isn’t working right. As you can see from these pictures, the plastic around the actual power cable has melted and because of that it no longer works.
I called up Apple and they said they would send me a new one for no cost at all (thanks to AppleCare). The person I talked to said that I should get it in the next day or two. So now I have about 3 hours of battery life left before my MacBook dies. So until the power adapter comes I’ll be stuck using my old PC.
(the pictures were taken with my iPhone camera so excuse the quality).