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Posts with tag macbook

Major Design Changes Planned for Apple's Laptops

by Thomas Houston , posted Apr 8th 2008 at 12:32PMBreaking News



According to AppleInsider, Apple's current MacBook and MacBook Pro designs will significantly change when Apple next refreshes its pro- and consumer-level laptop lines. The Mac news and rumor site reports that the MacBooks will see the biggest changes with eco-friendly aluminum and stainless steel exteriors replacing the current plastic cases.

Apple's Pro laptop line is looking particularly dated. Despite faster Intel chips and hardware improvements over the years, the design of the MacBook Pro has remained largely unchanged since its introduction in 2006. The MacBook Pro was largely modeled after the Aluminum Powerbook G4, Apple's older "pro" laptop that debuted all the way back in 2003. Apple updated the MacBook Pro line earlier this year with improved multi-touch mousepad support and improved hardware features, but again, there were few aesthetic changes.

The MacBook Pro design will be influenced by Apple's current iMac and MacBook Air designs, and AppleInsider says that "the end result... will be a more uniform Mac product matrix in terms of design and material usage, and a MacBook offering that will far outclass its rivals."

Don't miss AppleInsider's handy chart (halfway down the page) visualizing the evolution of Apple's laptop models since the late '90s. While we're definitely excited for a design refresh of Apple's laptop lines, we've all but given up hope that the Mac Pro's five-year-old looks will ever be updated.

from AppleInsider

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MacBook Air Hacked In Under Two Minutes

by Tim Stevens, posted Mar 28th 2008 at 9:20AM

MacBook Air Hacked in Under Two Minutes

If there's one thing Apple users love to taunt Windows users about, it's security. Mac owners giddily flaunt their lack of virus scanners and lack of worries in front of their PC comrades, whose machines look comparatively bloated with virus scanners, firewalls, and daily patch updates to fix the exploit du jour. Bad news for those Mac users, then, as a recent hacking competition showed that the new MacBook Air is able to be completely compromised in under two minutes.

The hacker in question, Charlie Miller, achieved this feat as part of a hacking competition called PWN 2 OWN. Miller hosted a malicious Web page privately, accessed it from the MacBook Air, and then, within two minutes, was able to take full control of the machine remotely and make it do his bidding.The culprit here is apparently an undiscovered flaw in the Mac Web browser Safari, which has shown to be somewhat lacking in the security department on both the iPhone and on Windows.

Charlie won $10,000 for his troubles, and he got to keep the laptop, but as part of the deal, he was also required to keep secret about the details of exploit, so hopefully there's little chance of it getting into the wild and taking over Macs around the world.

Still, we'd recommend steering clear of Safari -- and perhaps not being so smug.

From Engadget

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Apple Soars to 14% of Computer Sales In February

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Mar 18th 2008 at 2:16PM

Apple Soars to 14% of Computer Sales in February
While the rest of the economy (and the computer industry along with it) flounders, Apple is apparently making out like a bandit. According to industry analyst NPD, Apple's share of computer sales rose from 9 percent to 14 percent in the month of February, while increasing its share of market revenue from 16 percent to 25 percent.

Notebook sales have been climbing in general, but Apple is growing at about three times the rate of the rest of the industry. And, most surprising, Apple's sales of desktop PCs has increased 55% since last February, a time during which the rest of the industry has seen desktop PC sales shrink by 5 percent.

Also surprising is Apple's continued revenue increases, even in the face of sagging iPod sales, which are actually down from the same time last year.

From AppleInsider

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University Lets Students Trade Windows Laptops for MacBooks

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Mar 3rd 2008 at 1:20PM

Oklahoma Christian University Will Let Students Trade in Windows Laptops for MacBooks
Oklahoma Christian University (OC) is the latest in a long line of schools to get on the Apple bandwagon. Handing out new MacBooks to incoming students is hardly unique, but this new exchange program is.

Most of these programs are for new students only, but OC will offer current students an opportunity to trade in their Windows laptops for brand new Apple machines. And if that isn't enough, students will also be offered an iPhone or iPod touch.

OC's Apple hocking programs and campus-wide Wi-Fi put the university at the cutting edge of technology and education, so we're big fans.

From TUAW

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Apple Updates MacBook and MacBook Pro Laptops

by Thomas Houston , posted Feb 26th 2008 at 10:07AM



Following months of rumors, Apple finally upgraded its two main laptop lines with this morning's announcement of updates to both the MacBook and the high-end MacBook Pro line of laptops.

The new MacBook Pros have a larger, multi-touch mousepad similar to the one found in the MacBook Air and iPhone. While the exterior design looks much the same, the MacBook Pro line received several important hardware updates: New Penryn Intel mobile chips running as` fast as 2.6-GHz (perfect for video editing, gaming and other processor-intensive tasks), faster NVIDIA graphics cards (smoother video, gameplay and visual effects), LED backlighting (crisper, brighter colors), and increased memory and storage (great for storing movies, photos and music). It's good to see speed bumps and greater storage capacity on the entry-level the MacBooks, but we wish Apple had added multi-touch to the new models.

Available now, the MacBooks begin at $1099 and the MacBook Pros start at $1999.

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Possible UFO Spotted Over Texas, Chased By F16s

by Tim Stevens, posted Jan 16th 2008 at 9:42AM

UFO Spotted Over Texas, Chased by F16s

Wondering how yesterday's MacBook Air got so thin? Some, of course, think it was just the result of decades of research by Apple techies. We think we have a better explanation, though: alien technology. Don't believe us? According to the Stephenville Empire-Tribune, several witnesses say they spotted something mysterious in the air over Texas last night. Said unidentified flying object (UFO) was traveling at an estimated 3,000 miles per hour while being chased by military jets!

One of the witnesses, a pilot named Steve Allen, indicated that the alleged craft was difficult to see, but based on the lights that appeared to be on the edges of the thing, Allen estimated it to be about one mile long and a half-mile wide.
The lights went from corner to corner. It was directly above Highway 67 traveling towards Stephenville at a high rate of speed - about 3,000 miles per hour is what I would estimate.
No mention of how thin this thing was, but it would have had to have been a large craft to be sure, and a fast one, something we certainly don't have in our military -- at least not that we're aware of anyhow.

No comment from Apple, for whatever that's worth.

From Stephenville Empire-Tribune (via BoingBoing)

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Apple Announces New MacBook Air, World's Thinnest Laptop

by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted Jan 15th 2008 at 6:55PM

MacBook Air
All the rumor-mongers were right: Apple announced the MacBook Air, the world's thinnest laptop. This beauty comes in at a ridiculous .16 inches thin -- so thin that it fits in a manila envelope. It features a full-size keyboard, so there are no compromises as far as usability goes. It also has a 13.3-inch display, built-in iSight camera, and a new, larger trackpad which does all the cool iPhone-like things like zooming, pinching, and scrolling. It has an 80-gig drive built in unless you want to upgrade to a 64-gig solid-state (no moving parts) drive.

Do we want one? Heck yes. It starts at $1799 and ships in 2-3 weeks. Go get 'em!

Gallery: MacBook Air



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Is This the Ultra-Portable Apple MacBook? Nah.

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jan 3rd 2008 at 9:05AM

Is This the Ultra-Portable MacBook? Nah.
Honestly we're a bit shocked it took as long as it did for someone to post a "photo" of the alleged, but unconfirmed, ultra-portable MacBook. The inclusion of a wide rumored "multi-touch" touch-pad is also a nice inclusion in this likely digitally-altered image.

There is little evidence to substantiate the photo's validity. It was posted on a MacRumor message board, by a first-time poster with no explanation, and no follow-up images or comments to questions about his post.

This is all part of the ritual leading up to the MacWorld conference on January 14th, when Apple announces its new products for the first half of the year.

From Engadget

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Are the Rumored Upcoming MacBooks Getting a New Color?

by Tim Stevens, posted Dec 14th 2007 at 7:57PM

Mysterious New Hue of MacBooks Coming?MacBooks have always had a clean, sophisticated look to them. Even so, some style mavens might call the somewhat limited color selection (anything you like so long as it's black or white) a little ... muted? If you're one of those aesthetes looking for something a little more visually appealing, you may be interested in hearing some of the talk of a mysteriously hued MacBook spotted near Apple's headquarters in California.

The finish is described to be dark and metallic, a sort of gunmetal, but more interestingly they're said to be quite a bit more thin than your standard 13-inch. Beyond these scant details, though, more specifics on the rumored new MacBooks remain a bit of a mystery. Surely, though, there must be a new model MacBook that Apple is putting through the final testing stages, and if that's the case, it should be showing up in a brightly-lit, wood-paneled Mac Store near you -- maybe even in January?

Should these rumors be true, you may want to hold off buying any Macbooks until the middle of January 2008.

From AppleInsider

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MacBook Design Flaw Can Lead to Permanent Data Loss

by Alon Avdi, posted Nov 29th 2007 at 9:02AM



Apple MacBook and MacBook Pro owners should be aware of a design flaw that may lead to unrecoverable data loss, claims Retrodata, a data-recovery firm based out of the United Kingdom. The company says that MacBooks manufactured in China and equipped with a 2.5 inch Seagate SATA hard drive with a Firmware version 7.01 may have faulty read/write heads that become dislodged from the hard drive's arm, scratching the magnetic platter surface and causing irrecoverable data loss.

For those customers who wish to know whether they are at risk, Retrodata suggests going to the System Profiler and checking the Serial ATA for the Firmware Revision number. If the computer has Firmware version 7.01, data should be backed up immediately, the company urges. Models affected may include ST96812AS and ST98823AS.

Not so fast, say specialists from other data-recovery companies like DiskEng. While Apple has been silent and Seagate insists that they are looking into the matter, these parties suggest that thousands of instances of the same problem must first be seen and diagnosed before a design flaw can be pronounced for an entire line of hard drives. Some say specific factors such as temperature and read/write head oscillation may be to blame for damaging some computers rather than a general design shortcoming that affects them all.

Just to be safe, consumers should check whether their computer has the specific hard drive in question, and should back up their files if that is the case. Those concerned should also monitor Apple and Seagate pronouncements regarding the issue.

From Retrodata (via Engadget)

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MacBooks Get Upgrades -- Should You Have Waited?

by Tim Stevens, posted Nov 1st 2007 at 11:14AM

MacBooks Get UpgradesNot content to sit back and bask in the praise for Leopard, Apple has given its MacBook line a bit of a freshening. None of the specs are a huge boost, but they will bring some welcome performance increases to the slick portables, and, like so many of Apple's surprise updates, will be enough to make anyone who purchased last week wish they'd waited.

All the MacBooks have moved to the Santa Rosa architecture. This is a new(er) offering from Intel that offers a better blend of performance and power efficiency for mobile computers.

More important, though, is the shift to a new graphics processor, the GMA X3100, which should offer much better performance in games and other graphics-intensive applications than the GMA 950 processor found in older MacBooks.

Finally, the MacBook Pro series top speed has been upped to 2.6-gigaherz from the previous 2.4-gigaherz, though that upgrade comes at a $250 premium. The base MacBook still starts at a quite economical $1,099. The MacBook Pro starts at $1,999, though if you want that 2.6-gigaherz chip, you'll have to spend at least $2,749.

So, if you were thinking of moving on to a new MacBook, now would probably be a good time -- before Apple upgrades again and you're one of the poor suckers who bought a week too early.

From Engadget

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Own a Mac Laptop Dipped in Gold

by Tom Conlon, posted Oct 1st 2007 at 4:48PM

Mac Laptop Dipped in Gold

Hardcore PC-modding Web site computer-choppers.com has gained notoriety on the Internet with amazing projects like the PC made out of a vintage Marantz stereo and the computerized ode to the Digg.com logo. Today, the guys behind the site are making waves with their latest customization: a MacBook Pro that they've painted up in 24k gold.

And, make no mistake: This isn't a Maaco-style outside spray job. Computer Choppers disassembled the laptop into pieces and have painted everything, including the keyboard, the battery cover, the screen bezel and screen hinge.

Though this started as a one-off "let's see if we can do it" kind of thing, the Computer Choppers site is now offering to give other Macbooks the Trump treatment for between $1,200 and $1,500 a pop depending on the current price of gold. If you'd like to become a goldmember, you can expect to go sans-computer for up to four weeks.

From Geek Sugar

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Apple Boosts MacBook Pro Line

by Tom Conlon, posted Jun 5th 2007 at 9:17AM

Apple Boosts MacBook Pro Line
This morning Apple announced updates to its MacBook Pro line of notebooks. Two new 15-inch models are shipping now, both packed with two gigabytes of RAM (expandable up to four gigabytes) and speed boots clocking in at 2.2 and 2.4 gigahertz. Both are also equipped with Apple's brand new LED-backlit displays and, according to a press release, "are the first of Apple's notebooks to transition to LED backlighting as part of the company's effort to eliminate the use of mercury in its products." Prices for the two models start at $1,999 and $2,499.

A new 17-inch model is also shipping today, sans LED-backlit display, but offering an optional 1920-by-1200 high-resolution display instead, which has 30 percent more screen acreage than standard 1680-by-1050 displays. The 17-inch model also now clocks in at 2.4 gigahertz and comes with two gigabytes of RAM expandable to four. Prices start $2,799.

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Apple Sued for "Sparkly" Displays

by Tim Stevens, posted May 18th 2007 at 10:14AM



If you own a MacBook and you're seeing sparkles, you may be interested in a new class-action lawsuit against Apple. The suit alleges that the image quality on MacBooks falls far short of what Apple promised. However, given that the descriptions of the display problems range from the vague "grainy" to the non-quantifiable "sparkly," we're honestly not sure how this class-action suit will go once it reaches a judge.

What we do know is that Apple Geniuses allegedly telling customers that they are "too picky about...the quality of the display" isn't going to earn Apple any new fans.

From Engadget

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Mac Class is in Session

by Tom Conlon, posted May 2nd 2007 at 1:13PM

Mac Class is in Session
Apple has spun off the personal training component of its in-store, subscription ProCare program into its own separate program called, One to One. For $99 per year, ProCare specialists will still help you set up, backup or repair your computer anytime you walk into an Apple Store. One to One is an additional $99 per year and lets you design a custom, one-on-one, multi-session curriculum around your Mac. The 11 course offerings are for everyone from the luddite to the advanced user and are as follows:
  • Getting Started on your Mac
    The basics: The Mac people hand-hold you through setting up preferences and connecting to the Internet.
  • Mac 101
    Learn how to e-mail, instant message and video chat.
  • iPod + iTunes
    Import your CDs into iTunes. Then, learn how to make Apple even richer by getting schooled on the iTunes Store.
  • Digital Photography
    Apple teaches you how to take better snaps, how to share them with iPhoto and how to use Aperture.
  • Building your own Website
    If you don't already have your own blog, now's your chance to.
  • Podcasting
    Learn to record podcasts, jazz them up with sound effects and share them on the Web.
  • Moviemaking
    Turn your video camera's contents into professional looking stuff using iMovie and Final Cut.
  • Music Making
    Finally record your rendition of Meatloaf's "I Would Do Anything For Love," by learning the ins and outs of GarageBand.
  • Getting Started with Apple TV
    Macsters guide you through the setup of Apple TV.
  • Present and Publish
    Learn to use Mac's answer to PowerPoint.
  • Open Project
    This one is up in the air. Come in with photos, movies sketches and whatever else, and your Mac sensei will help you figure out what to do with it all.
How long before that know-it-all "I'm a Mac" kid starts shaming poor John Hodgman about all this?

From USA Today
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