News tagged ‘Mac’

AppleInsider confirms that the lineup of the next-gen MacBook Pros will be officially unveiled this Thursday because this day is also Steve Jobs' birthday. On February 24 Apple's CEO turns 56.

In the first place, previously MacRumors reported that Thursday is the earliest date when Apple can unveil its new models, though next-gen MacBook Pros were originally expected to be released in early March. In the second place, traditionally Apple has been launching its new laptops on Tuesday.

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Rumors suggest that updated MacBook Pros appear later this week, most likely on Thursday. The new MacBook Pros will feature larger glass trackpads than those found on current models for greater flexibility and perhaps for more complex gestures. The lower-end models will have 8GB-16GB solid-state drives to house Mac OS X system files, and will also come equipped with a regular hard drive. This will offer the benefits of SSDs - instant on and super fast performance - while also providing lots of room for heavy users’ files. The idea of separate flash-based storage for system files is not a new one. Intel's "Turbo Memory", in 2006, offered similar functionality. The new machines will be up to a half-pound lighter than current models and there will be five different SKUs.

A new leather case for the next-generation iPad appeared on German website Macerkopf.de. Design of the leaked case confirms all rumors about tapered edges, thinner design, rear-facing camera and flat back, but also provides some details on the actual name of the “iPad 2”. The terms iPad 2 was used by journalists and bloggers for indication of the second-generation iPad. That case comes with packaging with a simple label “For the new iPad” that might mean that iPad 2 will actually be called simply iPad.

It is also noteworthy to say that current iPhone 4 accessories don’t come with labels like “Made for the iPhone 4″. Instead, Apple went for a simple “Made for iPhone” that doesn’t point to the “iPhone 4” name in any way.

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CNet has recently reported that soon Apple will unveil a new high-speed connection technology for its devices, which is based on Intel's Light Peak technology. The latter should appear in products during the first half of 2011, according to Intel. But though Apple's new technology will be based on Intel's Light Peak, it was reported that Apple will brand it under its own name.

Light Peak allows to transfer information with 10 Gbps, which is almost three times faster than USB 3.0 (3.2 Gbps) and more than 10 times faster than Firewire 800 (800 Mbps). In practice it will allow to copy a full-length Blu-Ray movie in approximately 30 seconds.

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Last weekend Best Buy listed five new SKUs for Mac notebooks with price between $1,199 and $2,499. They can be found as "New SKU" in online Laptop Configuration tool, with availability of "Coming Soon".

Though in the past Best Buy's inventory systems weren't precise, new listings provide information on pricing that did not appear anywhere else yet.

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Apple recently filed a new patent application that describes a new feature, “Safe Deposit Box”, which will appear in a new Mac OS X Lion. “Safe Deposit Box” will allow users to secure important files. Users will be able to drag a particular file to a safe deposit icon - files could be automatically encrypted and hidden from access - that then secure the file and also upload the secured file to the cloud for backup that means that important files would be stored beyond the home computer. Users could then access secured files through a safe deposit box window by selecting the safe deposit box icon and verifying his or her identity. It seems that this feature would be included into Lion’s Time Machine but, as usual, there is no guarantee.

Today Apple should start delivering its sealed product line of MacBooks Pro to brick-and-mortar stores of its largest European resellers, according to the information sent by the company to those resellers last weekend.

But February, 21st is also a President's Day in the US, and Apple has been avoiding launching major products on federal holidays, so the partners were told that an official announcement will follow shortly after shipments will be delivered, according to AppleInsider that in turn cites a person familiar with the matter. It was also reported that Apple has vocalized its right to cancel reseller licenses from those dealers who will tamper with the sealed shipment before the announcement will be made.

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Apple today released a fifth beta of Mac OS X 10.6.7 to developers for testing. This time Safary was added to the list of focus area to concentrate on, joining Mac App Store, AirPort, Bonjour, SMB, and Graphics Drivers that had been included in previous builds. No known issues are listed in the documentation again. Fourth beta of Mac OS X 10.6.7 was released on February 11. An estimated target date for public release of Mac OS X 10.6.7 is still unclear.

According to AppleInsider, which in turn cited a person familiar with the matter, Apple will introduce its new MacBook Pro lineup in the next two weeks. Such a delay is caused by the design flaw in Intel's Sandy Bridge processors used in the new laptops.

This information supports previous rumor by Danish blog KennethLund.dk, which on Tuesday identified that March, 1st is the release date for new MacBooks. Though both reports point on Wednesday, history shows Apple may slightly move the date of product launch due to unexpected anomalies in the company's supply chain or manufacturing.

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Apple’s recent customer survey, conducted in order to estimate satisfaction with the new MacBook Airs, contains some questions about 3G data use and connectivity. That fact allows us to suggest that Apple might be planning to add this feature on its future models of laptops.  The current MacBook Airs comes with built-in Wi-Fi module. Now Apple is interested in how often users connect to network via 3G and what type of device they use to connect to a 3G network. Obviously, this option only increases popularity of that already well-known device.

As you may remember, this week Bloomberg reported about the fact that Apple is working on a new iPhone with a 2.3" screen. Today this information was also confirmed by the Wall Street Journal.

"One of the people, who saw a prototype of the phone late last year, said the device is intended for sale alongside Apple's existing line. The new device would be about half the size of the iPhone 4, which is the current model. The new phone would be available to carriers at about half the price of the main iPhone repertoire. "

The latter allows to suggest that this summer we'll see iPhone 5 at usual price of $199/$299, discounted iPhone 4 at $99, and iPhone Nano at $49.

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New rumors about possible update of the MacBook Pro line claim that the new laptops might appear on March 1st. March 1st falls on a Tuesday which is typical for Apple's releases. Moreover the previous update of the MacBook Pro was in April 2010 and now some resellers noticed that MacBook Pro models are on tight supply, and all problems with Intel’s Sandy Bridge processors, which are expected to be built in the new notebooks, were solved, so any delay will be minimal. Many also expect that some of the models may take design from the MacBook Airs.

Last week Apple launched the first Mac App Store section: Personal Projects, in which it displays apps for a specific creative audience. There are apps for musicians, designers, photographers and video editors to organize their projects and ideas at home. Now there are only five apps featured in each of four categories (covering things from design to music and photography). It looks like Apple had trouble finding enough quality apps to fill the space.

The  Amazon UK website placed several manuals for the upcoming Mac OS X 10.7 Lion  that will be released late in July. That fact might suggest that the operating system will also launch around that time. It seems that the OS will be released right after WWDC, this year expected to be from July 5 to July 9. The cover of one of the Mac OS X Lion manuals makes reference to the already announced Launchpad and Mission Control features but also references the dock, most of which was demonstrated last year at the Lion announcement. Noteworthy to say that the release date of these guidebooks is a good indication of product launches. For example, Amazon information predicted the release date Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac.

Cult of Mac reports that Apple is working on a new notification system for iOS.

Apple’s pop-up notification system for new text messages, voicemails and the like has often been criticized as one of the weakest parts of the iOS. Notifications are intrusive, modal and often cryptic. It’s a mess.

And to build new technology into the operating system, the company is going to acquire a small iOS development firm that currently offers a notification system in the App Store. Cult of Mac suggests that it might be Boxcar, which offers an iOS application providing push notifications for a variety of services.