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5th-generation iPod touch hands-on!
It's obvious that the iPhone 5 is the star of today's show, but Apple's not letting its iPod line go untouched. The newest iPod touch takes a note from the newfangled display on its cellular sibling, bringing a vaster panel (the same 4-inch, 1,136 x 640 one found on the new iPhone). At 88 grams and just 6.1mm thick, it's also shockingly thin and light -- of course, the anodized aluminum backing makes it feel like a premium piece of kit. Premium, as in, right up there with the iPhone. In a world where Apple's seeing its iPod sales sink quarter after quarter due to self-cannibalization from the iPad and iPhone, it's interesting (but appreciated) to see so much effort placed on the new iPod touch. The introduction of the dual-core A5 chip (that's dual-core on the CPU and the graphics side) is a huge boon for the touch. Apple's claiming a 7x improvement in graphics, and given that this thing is claiming such a huge swath of the mobile gaming market, it's pretty much a necessity. Indeed, our interactions with the device were notably faster than on the prior touch. We didn't exactly have 40 hours here to test the audio playback claims (in fact, we didn't even have eight to test the claims on video), but you can bet that'll be a huge selling point.%Gallery-165128%
iPhone 5 hands-on!
At long last, the iPhone 5. We just got our hands on Apple's latest smartphone following its unveiling in San Francisco, and suffice it to say, it's a beautiful thing. Some might say we've been waiting for this moment since October 4th of last year, but another crowd may say that the real next-gen iPhone has been on the burner for much longer. Indeed, this is the first iPhone since June of 2010 to showcase an entirely new design, but it's obvious that Apple's not going to deviate far when it comes to aesthetics. Apple followers will aptly recall Steve Jobs' quote in July of 2010 -- you know, that one about "no one" wanting a big phone, with current CEO Tim Cook seated just feet from Steve as the phrase was uttered. Now, however, Apple's inching ever closer to that very realm, with an elongated 4-inch display that enables new apps to take advantage of more pixels (1,136 x 640), while legacy apps can still operate within a familiar space. The phone itself doesn't feel too much different than the iPhone 4 and 4S; yes, it's a bit taller, but by keeping the width the same, you'll utilize a very familiar grasp to hold it. In typical Apple fashion, even the finest details have been worked over tirelessly. The metal feels downright elegant to the touch, and the same line we've said time and time again applies here: there's no doubting the premium fit and finish when you clutch one of these things. Yeah, the headphone port's now on the bottom, but avid Galaxy Nexus iPod touch users shouldn't have too much trouble adjusting. %Gallery-165125%
Apple announces iPhone 5-compatible updates for iPhoto, iMovie, Keynote and more
At its press event today, Apple announced the new iPhone 5 with a 4-inch, Retina display. For customers, the larger screen means there's extra room for apps to display their content. The most noticeable difference will be the homescreen, which will now display five rows of icons. This extra screen real estate allows built-in apps like the calendar to display the full five-day work week. Other apps like iPhoto, iMovie, Keynote, GarageBand, Pages and Numbers will also be updated to support the new screen.
Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 now fully supports Retina MacBook Pro: both HiDPI and GPU compute
Adobe's video editing application is already a lovely thing on the Retina MacBook Pro, but not visually -- only in terms of its raw performance on that Core i7 CPU. Until today's update -- 6.0.2 -- the software hasn't actually been able to make use of HiDPI itself, and neither has it been able to exploit the performance-boosting potential of GPU compute on the laptop's NVIDIA GTX 650M graphics card. If you're lucky enough to own this combo of hardware and software, Adobe's official blog suggests that you go ahead and check for the update or apply it manually following the instructions at the source link below (it's actually within Bridge that you should check for the update, with other Adobe titles closed). We're hopefully about to apply it ourselves and will report back on its impact. Update on the update: As expected, video thumbnails look sumptuous in the absence of pixelation, making this a worthy revision. That said, software encoding of a short timeline was still faster with the Mercury Engine set to software mode rather than GPU compute. A 2:30 clip took 2:02 to encode with OpenCL, 2:00 to encode with CUDA, but just 1:42 to encode in Software mode. No doubt people who do multi-cam editing or need to render complex effects in real-time may see a benefit -- please, let us know if you do! Update: Just had word from NVIDIA that may explain what's happening with our encoding times. We're told it's only if we enable "Maximum Render Quality" that GPU compute will shine through in terms of performance, because enabling max quality in software mode would slow it down. So far we've only tried with default settings, so clearly there's room here for more experimentation.
Samsung smuggles new Series 9 prototype into IFA: 2,560 x 1,440 on a matte display (hands-on)
Well, this snuck up on us. Close to the end of the first official open-floor day at IFA, Samsung managed to eke out yet another product we want to get our hands on, soonish. This 13-inch Series 9 WQHD Ultrabook beams Windows 8 on 2,560 x 1,440 display (oh yes), making a visible leap beyond the existing Series 9 13-incher, which sticks to a more typical 1,600 x 900. Better still, the surface of the screen has a gentle matte finish. The engineering sample arrived in the Samsung spokesperson's hands just seven days ago. The resolution matches ASUS' high-grade gamer monitor in pixels, if falling ever so slightly short of the Retina Display on Apple's newest MacBook model. There was no news on what the manufacturer will call the new display tech, further specifications, or even whether this was just a proof of concept -- the device was chilling in the corner of the electronics giant's innovation gallery. Hopefully, Samsung won't hold out on those details for much longer. Take a look for yourself in our hands-on video after the break.%Gallery-164050% Joseph Volpe contributed to this report.
Adobe promises Retina support for Photoshop, other CS6 apps
The advent of Retina across Apple's iOS and Mac product lines has meant beautiful HiDPI displays for well-heeled owners -- and bountiful headaches for application developers who have to rework, revise and rebuild their products to take advantage of all those lovely little pixels. Key productivity and graphic arts tools have yet to make the Retina leap, but today Adobe announced that its customers won't have to wait much longer for support. In posts on both the Photoshop.com and Creative Layer blogs, Adobe is promising an autumn 2012 rollout for Retina support in Photoshop CS6, and eventual Retina goodness "over the coming months" in Dreamweaver, Edge Animate, Illustrator, Lightroom, Prelude, Premiere Pro and SpeedGrade. The iPad image editor Photoshop Touch will also be getting tapped with the Retina wand. While this enhancement plan doesn't currently cover a few essential CS apps (After Effects, Fireworks, Flash and InDesign are notably not listed), Adobe says it's "evaluating the roadmap for when other products may support HiDPI displays" and will update customers when those plans are firmed up. Participants in the company's $49/month Creative Cloud software rental setup will be getting updates and new features on an accelerated schedule, including some Illustrator bonuses released this week that are exclusive to the service. [Photo by Bodey Marcoccia, flickr cc]
OWC offers 480GB SSD upgrade for Retina MacBook Pro, requires screwdriver and careful math
Order up a Retina MacBook Pro and you'll likely be confronted with a gravelly message about how the SSD is "built into the computer" and not user-upgradeable. As it turns out, that's not quite true -- so long as you're prepared to ignore a whole bunch of other warnings written inside the chassis itself, iFixit has shown how to remove the factory drive and now OWC has a new SSD to replace it with. The only downside is the cost: at $580, OWC's 480GB Mercury Aura Pro is actually more expensive than Apple's official 512GB upgrade. In an effort to sweeten the deal, OWC is offering those who buy before September 30th a compact USB 3.0 enclosure to make use of the freed-up drive. Alternatively, you may want to wait for prices to drop or for OWC to offer an even bigger capacity with better cost / benefits.
Are Retina MacBooks displaying screen issues?
If a 56-page discussion thread on the Apple Support forums is any indication, there appears to be a problem with some MacBook Pros with Retina displays. The Retina displays with the issues show image retention and burn-in; others do not. TUAW reader Joe K. sent us a note about the issue, which appears to be happening to MBPs with displays manufactured by LG; other displays made by Samsung don't have the problem with image retention and burn-in, are brighter, and seem to display colors with more accuracy. To determine the make of the Retina display installed in your MacBook Pro, Joe supplied a helpful terminal command: ioreg -lw0 | grep \"EDID\" | sed "/[^<]*</s///" | xxd -p -r | strings -6 It's basically the same command seen on OSXDaily to check for LG screens on MacBook Airs, which will also tell you how you know if you have a Samsung or LG display. If your display code begins with "LP," it's an LG display. Mike Rose has verified that with his LG panel he sees faint ghosting of Finder windows when he goes into a PowerPoint slideshow with a gray background. Those who own a MacBook Pro with Retina display and see this problem as described in the thread should contact their local Apple Store or AppleCare for resolution.
Added configuration options for MacBook Pro with Retina display let you max out the base model
$2,199 for the basic MacBook Pro with Retina display is certainly a lot to pay for any laptop, but those looking to add a few more features without going all the way up to the next model so far haven't had a lot of options. That now looks like it's changing, though, with configuration choices for processor and storage now showing up on Apple's online store in addition to the existing one to double the memory -- letting you, for instance, bump up the processor without also jumping to a larger SSD (or vice versa, although adding the larger SSD puts things just $100 shy of the higher end model that also comes with a faster processor). Those options aren't quite a sure thing just yet, though, as they've appeared and disappeared from the site a few times this morning. We'll keep you posted if they stick. Update: It appears things have finally settled down, and the added options have stuck for good.
Google Chrome 21 stable release adds Retina MacBook Pro support, webcam use without plugins
Some Retina MacBook Pro owners have been waiting for this day for six weeks: that promised Retina support in Google Chrome is now part of a finished, stable release. Chrome 21 is now crisp and clear for those who took the plunge on Apple's new laptop but would rather not cling to Safari for the web. No matter what hardware you're using, Google has rolled in its promised WebRTC support to let webcams and microphones have their way without Flash or other plugins. Other notable tweaks like wider support for Cloud Print and gamepads tag along in the update as well. If you're at all intrigued by the expanded hardware support in Chrome, Google has an abundance of details (and downloads) at the links below.
Samsung Retina-like 11.8-inch tablet in the works according to court docs
If you've been following the Apple vs. Samsung case even casually, you're probably aware that today marked the start of the patent trial in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, with Judge Lucy Koh presiding. And while the proceedings themselves won't necessarily justify an Olympics-level play-by-play, several interesting bits are sure to come to light. Today's nugget relates to Samsung's tablet roadmap, revealing that a Retina-like tablet may be in the works. The P10, as it's been labeled internally, packs a 2,560 x 1,600-pixel, 11.8-inch display, along with WiFi and LTE connectivity. Details are thin beyond that, and it's still possible that Samsung may not have a high-res tablet for us this year -- though with the company's mysterious New York City event coming up in two weeks, followed by IFA later in the month, there are plenty of opportunities in August alone for such an official reveal. Philip Palermo contributed to this report.
Apple updates iWork suite with support for Mountain Lion, Retina MacBook Pro
Looking for something else to download once you're finished with all 4.34GB of Mountain Lion? Then you'll be glad to know that Apple has now also updated its full iWork suite of applications for the occasion. That includes Pages, Keynote and Numbers, all of which have not only be updated with support for new Mountain Lion features like dictation and iCloud syncing, but support for the new Retina display-equipped MacBook Pro as well. No major changes beyond that, from the looks of things, and all three are of course free updates in the Mac App Store for those that have already purchased them (they run $20 apiece for everyone else).
Acorn 3.3 adds Retina Canvas, Smart Export, more
Version 3.3 of the popular Mac image editor Acorn is out, and developer Gus Mueller writes up the biggest changes on his blog. The Retina Canvas is likely the coolest update: If you're using Acorn, you can now see any art you create at a 1:1 ratio on a Retina Display. So if you have a MacBook Pro with Retina Display and Acorn, you can now see your own work perfectly clearly. All of the other elements have been updated for the new display as well. The update also includes the option to trim a certain selection out of a picture, redo a selection if you lose it for any reason, and the Smart Export feature as well (which will automatically save layers in a piece separately for later use in code). Acorn 3.3 is a sandboxed, App Store-only version (which makes sense, given that Apple is cracking the whip on that lately). But Mueller also says that if you'd rather run the version downloadable straight from the website, it'll know whether you've run the App Store version before, so you still have your choice. Sounds like a nice solid update to a great app.
Splashtop for iPad gets major update: Retina support, easier remote desktopping (update: but at a price)
If you wake up to find the Splashtop Streamer widget on your PC or Mac begging to be updated, then it's probably worth it -- especially if you have a new iPad lying around. Splashtop 2 has been optimized to work with the Retina display, which makes it a cinch to squeeze your entire Windows or OS X desktop onto the 10-inch screen without it looking terrible. The system has also been redesigned to avoid the need to enter IP addresses, passwords, port numbers or Google account details. Instead, you'll create a new Splashtop 2 login that should work once across all your devices. The UI seems a lot friendlier, there's a new in-app purchase to "supercharge" network performance (edit: also required for connections outside of the same WiFi network if you're a new customer, see below), plus there's improved support for fluid video streaming at up to 30fps. (Alas, there's still no fullscreen support for Windows Media Center users though.) The new streamer and iPad app are available now, while the Android update should arrive soon. Want to see it in action? Head past the break for the promo video. Update: We didn't fully appreciate this at first, but cross-network remote desktopping is no longer free to new customers. If you're coming to Splashtop for the first time, you have to make the in-app purchase ($1 per month or $10 per year) to enable "Anywhere Access." That said, the Splashtop 2 app for iPad is currently selling for $2 -- an 80 percent discount which largely compensates for the first year of charges.
BlueStacks brings Android apps to OS X, wolves planning a rest with some lambs
BlueStacks is releasing the first public alpha of its Android App Player capable of running on OS X. The virtualization company's software is powered by its Layercake technology and includes a bundle of apps from its various partners. CEO Rosen Sharma hopes the move will encourage developers to build "retina-friendly" apps for Google's mobile OS that can then be sold to those on the other side of the technology divide. There's a sign-up sheet for developers itchy to get their hands on the goods on the company's website, but don't expect a response right away -- there's still a few more days of Google I/O to go first.
Dear Aunt TUAW: Retina MacBook Pro, buy now or wait?
Dear Aunt TUAW, My brother is getting one of those devilishly good lookin' new Retina MacBook Pro's. Should he order now and wait the 2-3 weeks? Or wait and see when it comes in stock at a local Apple Store? Your loving nephew, Jesse Dear Jesse, Do you need to customize your processor and RAM? You'll probably do better online. If not, and you're close to an Apple Store retail outlet, go ahead and look for one in-store. Remember, the Retina MacBook is not end-user serviceable, so you'll need to purchase a unit with the exact memory and storage you'll use for the lifetime of your system. Auntie recommends buying as much RAM as you can afford. (Feel free to max out any specs you can handle monetarily, but Auntie's particularly a fan of RAM for best system performance.) As to where to buy, Apple's online order system generally gets backlogged quicker than its in-store availability. Auntie suspects that demand for the new Retina Pro won't be as high as for that of a new iPad or iPhone, so store inventory should be steady. Whatever you do, especially as you're planning to buy near the top of the Apple ecosystem, make sure you buy into AppleCare. Yes, this raises the base cost of a system by $349, but Auntie considers it an absolute essential for a Retina purchase, as well as for any MacBook Pro. AppleCare greatly increases the likelihood that you'll have a good customer experience over the lifetime of your unit -- and Auntie rarely buys consumer warranties for anything. By purchasing AppleCare, you're buying into Apple's Genius Bar and telephone support ecosystem for a full three years. It's worth the cost differential. Hugs, Auntie T.
Apple MacBook Pro with Retina display review (mid 2012)
Product categories come and go, grow and wither, revolutionize the world and then slowly fade into a state of cold, quiet, everlasting obsolescence. It happens all the time, sometimes over the course of just a year or two (see: netbooks) and, while companies have made billions by establishing truly new categories, rarely has anybody rocked the world by splitting the difference between two very closely aligned ones. That's exactly what Apple is trying to do here. The company's MacBook Pro line is one of the most respected in the industry for those who need an ostensibly professional laptop. Meanwhile, the MacBook Air is among the best (if not conclusively the best) thin-and-light laptops on the market. Now, a new player enters the fray: the MacBook Pro with Retina display. It cleanly slides in between these two top-shelf products, while trying to be simultaneously serious and fast, yet slim and light. Is this, then, a laptop that's all things to all people, the "best Mac ever" as it was called repeatedly in the keynote? Or, is it more of a compromised, misguided attempt at demanding too much from one product? Let's find out.%Gallery-158164%
Apple airs new Retina MacBook Pro commercial
Hot on the heels of WWDC, Apple aired a new commercial that showcases the Retina display MacBook Pro. The ad pans between the retina-capable Final Cut Pro and other OS X apps like Mail. Without a doubt, the commercial is designed to show off activities that would benefit from the gorgeous display. You can watch the retina MacBook Pro ad and a new OS X Mountain Lion video on Apple's YouTube channel. They are also embedded below for your convenience. [Via MacStories]
Final Cut Pro X, Motion receive Retina display updates
Following a series of minor updates to iTunes, Aperture, and iPhoto today, Apple has also pushed out minor updates to two of its pro-video apps, Final Cut Pro X and Motion. Besides a few minor bug fixes, each update provides support for the new Retina Display MacBook Pro. It's likely that Apple will continue to seed Retina-enabled updates for most of its apps in the next few hours and days so they are all compatible with the new MacBook Pro.
Diablo 3 updated with Retina display support for 'next generation' MacBook Pro
Apple revealed the "next generation" of its MacBook Pro laptops this afternoon, along with a refresh of its current line of Pro products. One particular standout of the Nvidia Kepler-powered Pro: Apple's decision to use its gorgeous Retina display, as revealed during the company's Worldwide Developers Conference keynote.Like the last iPad refresh, however, applications and games will have to be updated to utilize the new Retina screen. During his keynote, Apple's Phil Schiller revealed Diablo 3, Blizzard's latest addiction, will be updated for the upcoming laptop model.The new MacBook Pro line begins shipping today, but if you wanna get your hands on that fancy new Retina display, you'll be shelling out a minimum of $2,200. Blizzard has yet to reveal when the game will be updated for use with the new display, but we'll be sure to ask. For information on models and pricing, and everything else during Apple's WWDC, check out Engadget's ongoing live blog.
