MacBook Pro

Apple, Dell prepping ultraportables?

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 06:59:54 -0500

Raise your hand if you love a good ultraportable MacBook Pro rumor! It sure seems like rumors of a lightweight, souped-up MBP have come back with a vengeance and with El Jobso now officially confirmed to be giving the MacWorld keynote on January 15th, you really have to wonder if it might all be coming together.

Feeding more fuel to the fire, here's the latest news out of ~~rumor island~~ Taiwan: Apple is snapping up 13.3 inch LED-backlit LCD display panels like hotcakes--the same type of panel that's currently used in the 15" MacBook Pro. According to Digitimes, fabrication plants in Taiwan are currently pumping out the panels, which are designed for use in "high-end models," as fast as they can. Production should hit 90,000 units this month, with as many as 300,000 panels scheduled to be ready in Q1 2008. If I didn't know any better, I would think that someone was gearing up for a major product launch...

Finally, here's an interesting little tidbit for you Dell fans: in the same article, Digitimes reveals that Dell is purchasing similar 12.1 inch display panels in bulk. Could Dell be preparing an even more ultraportable response to whatever Cupertino is cooking?

For more on the rumors:
- see this Digitimes article

"Fake Mac" beats MacPro in benchmarks

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 06:59:53 -0500

Remember that "fake Mac" we showed you how to build a few days ago? Well, what if I told you that that same machine beat out a dual 2.66Ghz MacPro tower and a 2.0Ghz Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro in a series of benchmark tests? Don't go nuts: there are, as always, a few caveats. First off, it wasn't really a fair fight: while the "hackintosh" was loaded up with 4GB of RAM, the MacPro sported only 1GB and the MacBook Pro a paltry 2GB. And as we all know, OS X is a memory hog, so take the following results with a rather large grain of salt. That said, Lifehacker decided to put all three machines through the paces with the Xbench Benchmarking tool and found that the fake Mac came out ahead in terms of an overall score. In real world tests--like transcoding music files, encoding video and compressing a file--the MacPro fared far better but the fake Mac still made a surprisingly strong showing. What do these tests tell us? Well, they tell us that a fairly capable Mac can be fashioned from commodity parts and a hacked OS. It would be nice to see the hackintosh go up against an Apple machine with similar specs though--then we could see what it's really made of.

For more on the benchmarking tests:
- see this Lifehacker article

Ultraportable MacBook Pro in January?

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 06:59:53 -0500

Rumors of an ultraportable MacBook Pro are nothing new (in fact, they're pretty old, as far as Apple rumors go) but the latest tidbit seems a bit more credible than most. AppleInsider is reporting that the mythical sub-notebook will finally show its face at the MacWorld Expo in mid-January, following months of development. Here's what they're telling us to expect in terms of specs:

No optical drive
A weight of 3.4 pounds with battery--half as heavy as the 15" MBP
NAND Flash SSD in lieu of a mechanical hard drive
"[N]ear instantaneous boot times," thanks to the SSD
13-inch, LED-backlit LCD panel

Those are some pretty serious specs and could end up pushing this little lappie's price tag north of $2000. Still, if you're looking to buy the thinnest, lightest Mac ever produced, money probably isn't much of an issue. MacWorld is scheduled to run from January 15th to 18th, so I suppose we'll all have to wait until then to find out if there's any truth to this one.

For more on the rumor:
- see this Apple Insider article

MacBook Pro: fastest Vista notebook ever?

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 07:59:54 -0400

After our article last year on whether Apple notebooks are cheaper that Dells, I'm almost afraid to report on a piece of obvious fanboy bait like this. Then again, it's not like I'm gonna keep a ticking time bomb of this caliber from you while the rest of the Internet eats it up. So here it is: PC World tested a slew of x86 laptops this year and decided to announce the best of the year, including which model ran Windows Vista the fastest. Guess what? The winner was the 17" MacBook Pro with a 2.4 Ghz Core 2 Duo. "The fastest Windows Vista notebook we've tested this year--or for that matter, ever--is a Mac," PC World writes "Not a Dell, not a Toshiba, not even an Alienware." Now, before you shout out "Bogus!" let me get to the specifics of the test: PC World used WorldBench 6 Beta 2 to determine which machine came out on top and the MacBook Pro scored a benchmark score of 88--just one point higher than Gateway's E-265M. Got something to say? Sound off in the comments but please folks, try to keep it civil, eh?

For more:
- see this PC World article

MacBooks getting a speed bump soon?

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 06:59:53 -0400

Apple's MacBook line of consumer portables haven't been updated since May, so it's not entirely surprising to hear that the black and white notebooks might be getting a speed bump soon. Think Secret reports that the MacBook line will see a minor hardware refresh following the release of Leopard (on the 26th?); the new machines "could be [in] consumer hands by the first half of November, if not sooner." What's unclear is exactly how the machines will be upgraded--will the MacBooks simply get bumps in CPU clock speed or will they move to Intel's new Santa Rosa architecture? Either way, that will bring the high-end MacBooks suspiciously close to the MacBook Pro line in terms of specs, so might a MacBook Pro update be in the cards as well? No such luck if you believe Think Secret: "Apple is not expected to update the MacBook Pro before the end of the year, and sources at this time don't expect any other Mac hardware to see a revision before the holidays."

For more on the rumored upgrade:
- see this Think Secret article

Apple files another patent for ultraportable MacBook

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 06:59:53 -0400

The rumors of an ultraportable MacBook pro are as old as the MacBook Pro itself and while Apple has thus far remained mum on the topic, there's no denying that the company's patent filings have done more to fan the flames of rumor and speculation than just about anything else. We've already seen a concept for a space-saving underside optical drive, now, the company is looking at another space saving idea: collapsible ports. Say what? "Instead of having the ports be directly on the side of a notebook, they would be placed on a pivot that allowed them to rotate," Ars Technica explains. "When needed, individual ports or combinations of ports could be rotated or flipped down, and then retracted when no longer in use. It would work something like those pop-up power outlets you see in conference or training rooms, except the power would be pulled down instead of popped up." Ultraportable MacBook Pro in time for Christmas? Keep your fingers crossed.

For more on the patent filing:
- see this Ars Technica article

Apple previews new video editing software at NAB

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 20:01:33 -0400

With the imminent iPhone launch, the slightly-less-imminent Leopard launch and the rumors a flyin', you'd think that Apple wouldn't have time to announce yet more new hardware and software. But you would be wrong. At the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference on Friday, Apple announced its new lineup of video-editing products: huge news for video professionals and enthusiasts alike. The most exciting announcement is, of course, Final Cut Pro 6 and its new sister product Final Cut Server. Paired together, the software will allow for a cross-platform, networked solution for video editing shops. "We've been working hard to make this the biggest upgrade we've ever seen seen in professional applications at Apple," said Apple's VP of applications and product marketing, Rob Schoeben. One of the most exciting features in the new versions of Final Cut is called ProRes, a system that claims to compress HD video into SD file sizes while maintaining HD quality. Apple also announced a new hardware device for video professionals, the IO-HD, which will allow for the direct processing of HD video in Final Cut Pro. The company claims that the $3,495 device contains everything you need to process HD video on a MacBook Pro (and for that price, it had better do the dishes as well).

For more info on the new products:
- see this Ars Technica article
- and relive the keynote at Engadget's liveblog

Sony drops SSD-based, 12.1" ultraportable Vaio

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 20:01:34 -0400

Still waiting on that ultraportable, flash-based MacBook Pro? Of course you are. If you're really thirsting for a new laptop for the road, however, Sony may have just the thing: a 12.1-inch, SSD-sporting laptop that clocks in at just under 2 pounds. The new Vaio Type G even sports a Mac-like brushed aluminum look. So what's the catch? It only has a 1.06GHz Core Solo U1300 under the hood, an Intel 945GMS Express chipset with integrated graphics and supports a measly 1.5GBytes of DDR2 RAM. So don't be surprised that it ships with XP, since Vista is pretty much out of the question. Still, an ultraportable lappie with up to 12.5 hours of juice (with the extended battery) and a 32GB SSD drive is pretty enticing. The Type G is currently only available in the land of the rising sun, though if you ask real nice, Sony might be convinced to bring it over to these parts soon.

For more on the Type G:
- see this Gizmodo article

ALSO NOTED: Job cuts at Lenovo; Is the iPhone doomed?;

Mon, 26 Feb 2007 19:01:38 -0500

> Is the iPhone doomed to become the next Newton? Article
> Lenovo may cut 1000 jobs, most of them in the U.S. Article
> Looks like the Apple TV will be delayed until mid March. Article
> Microsoft is investigating outstanding IE7 and Vista bugs. Article
> Beware of falling Blu Ray player prices. Article
> How valuable is your IT department? Article
> Corel releases public beta of WordPerfect Lightning. Article
> Parallels Desktop gets an update. Article

And Finally... A MacBook Pro takes a bullet for its owner. Article

More fuel for the LED fire: Samsung unveils new displays

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 19:01:34 -0500

There's been a lot of talk of LED displays as of late: they look great, save power and (allegedly) are coming soon to a MacBook Pro and HP laptop near you. Well here's more fuel for that fire: Samsung, which manufactures displays that are re-branded by companies like Apple, Dell and HP, has unveiled its upcoming lineup of LED-backlit LCD displays and they sure look fancy. There's a massive 40-incher, a 30-inch model and a 15.4'--which is, suspiciously enough, the exact same size as the display in the 15" MacBook Pro. Bloggers, start your engines! While details on pricing and availability are scant at this point, there's plenty of photos to salivate over at Engadget, including side-by-side comparisons with the obviously inferior displays of today.

For more specs and photos:
- see this Engadget post