MBP
Latest
The MacBook Pro Touch Bar plays 'Doom' because of course it does
Doom is the rice of the video game world. It's a staple of the industry and it works with everything, running flawlessly on ATMs, printers, pianos, calculators, e-readers, chainsaws and even on a terminal within Doom itself. This week, Facebook iOS engineer Adam Bell got Doom running on one more unlikely appliance: the Touch Bar of the latest MacBook Pro.
Apple's Boot Camp 6 supports dual-booting with Windows 10
Apple began rolling out the latest version of its multi boot utility, Boot Camp 6, on Thursday. It supports newly-released Windows 10 (64-bit edition only) as well as USB 3, USB-C, Thunderbolt, SD and SDXC connections. Users will need to be running OS X Yosemite and have an authentic copy of Windows 10 installed on a separate partition. The update is still propagating, according to MacRumors, but should be available to Intel Mac owners shortly. That includes the 13- and 15-inch MBPs, 11- and 13-inch MBAs, MacBook, MacMini, and various iMacs. Users don't actually have to do anything to get the update, as it will download automatically if you're already running the latest rev of Boot Camp 5. [Image Credit: Getty Images]
Retina MacBook Pro gets a processor bump across the line
Eagle-eyed Apple Store watchers noticed the company's online commerce site taking a brief nap this morning, and sure enough when it woke up again something new had arrived: revised models of the 13" and 15" MacBook Pro, with faster Intel Haswell processors and a unified floor on RAM capacity (8 GB for the 13" models, 16 GB for the 15" models), which previously dropped to 4 and 8 GB respectively for the "budget" configuration in each size. You can compare the current MBPs seen here to last week's model seen here via archive.org. Default processor speeds on the 13" model went from 2.4/2.6 GHz i5 dual-core processors up to 2.6/2.8 GHz; BTO options for the 13" include a 3.0 GHz dual-core i7 chip. On the 15" model, both standard configs received a similar clock bump to their i7 quad-core CPUs (2.0/2.3 up to 2.2/2.5), with the fastest BTO processor now at a spicy 2.8 GHz. The price on the higher-end config of the 15" also drops $100 to $2499, as does the price of the non-Retina 13" MBP (from $1199 to $1099) which is unchanged from a spec perspective. These updates (which were hinted at a couple of days earlier via an iPad spec display in a Chinese store, of all places) should be available to ship immediately; if you bought a Retina MBP in the past 14 days in an Apple Store (and possibly at other authorized retailers) you may return it for restocking and move up to the newer model. As MacRumors notes, this is not the "big leap" to Intel's Broadwell chipset that is anticipated for next year's MBPs, but it certainly is welcome in the meantime. Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
MacBook Pro with Retina display review (13-inch, 2013)
When Apple held its last big keynote, it unveiled some new iPads, just like we knew it would. But it also used the 80-minute news conference to refresh its Mac lineup, announcing a new Mac Pro desktop and some slimmed-down MacBook Pros, all running Apple's brand-new operating system, OS X 10.9 Mavericks. In particular, the MacBook Pros sort of flew under the radar that day, mostly because they look more or less like last year's models, just with slightly thinner chassis. There wasn't a lot to say -- at least not after a few minutes of hands-on time. That doesn't mean this isn't a meaningful upgrade. This time around, as you'd expect, Apple used Haswell processors, though it also went with Intel's brand-new Iris and Iris Pro chipsets, which haven't actually been used in that many notebooks yet. Meanwhile, Apple moved to PCI Express SSDs for much-improved transfer rates, and upgraded the wireless card to 802.11ac for faster streaming. Sounds like a simple sales pitch: They're thinner, lighter and speedier. And, in the case of the 13-inch model, it's cheaper too: The starting price is now $1,299, versus $1,699 a year ago. So does that mean the 13-inch Retina display MacBook Pro offers better value than it did then? More importantly, with a lower price, lighter design and a claimed 10 hours of battery life, is it starting to veer into MacBook Air territory?
iFixit tears apart Apple's new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro
It's only been a couple of days since Apple released its shiny new MacBook Pros and iFixit has already torn them apart, in more ways than one. Just like its older sibling, the new 13-inch Retina notebook didn't perform that well on the repairability scale, scoring a one out of 10 -- dropping one point from its predecessor's less than impressive two. That's largely down to the same restrictions as before: a glued battery that has been positioned to cover important screws, a Retina display that is fused inside a whole unit, soldered RAM and a non-standard SSD drive. Apple's also reduced the size of the battery, relying on Intel's Haswell processor and Mavericks' improved power management to boost battery life. The same fate befalls the 15-inch model, meaning it'll be almost impossible to upgrade either of Apple's latest notebooks when they start suffering from the effects of entropy.
Apple announces 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display: 2,560 x 1,600 resolution, Thunderbolt and HDMI starting at $1,699
If the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display was feeling lonely up there on its high-resolution pedestal, it needn't any longer. As expected, Apple just announced a 13-inch version to keep it company. The 2,560 x 1,600 resolution means that 13-inch screen offers a ppi of 232, marginally more than its larger brother's 226. As well as that lovely new display, there's a pair of Thunderbolt ports, and a full-size HDMI port to let you make good use of it with, as well as a pair of USB 3s. While this might not be the primary focus of the day, it will definitely be one of the more hotly anticipated reveals from the company's San Jose event this afternoon. The base model will run you $1,699 and comes with a 2.5GHz i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of flash memory. At the top end you can expect 768GB hard drive, atop a Core i7. And, like last time, to top it all off, all the new goodies come in a slimmer, desire-stoking design -- weighing a whole pound less than the 2011 13-incher and at just 0.75-inches thick, 20 percent thinner. Already full of want? Then don't hang around, as it ships today! In the meantime, keep your retinas locked right here for our hands on. For more coverage, visit our Apple Special Event hub!
How well can the MacBook Pro with Retina display handle Windows games?
After jumping the hurdles of our review gauntlet, the MacBook Pro with Retina display proved itself as a top-notch machine for the creative professionals it's geared towards, and anyone willing to pay a premium. Save for a brief bout with Diablo III, our time spent gaming on the hardware was limited. Ever since, we've wondered how the Kepler-toting, Ivy Bridge-packing laptop would handle one of our favorite graphics-intensive pastimes. Sure, Apple machines aren't exactly en vogue when it comes to playing video games, but Cupertino's ultra-high-resolution Mac simply begs to be put to the test. We loaded up Windows 7 on a MacBook Pro carrying an NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 1 GB of VRAM, the stock 2.3GHz processor and 16GB of RAM (upgraded from the vanilla 8GB configuration) and put it through its paces to see how it performs.
MacBook Pro review (13-inch, mid-2012)
When the MacBook Pro with Retina display is in the game, Apple's "regular" Pros may seem a bit like also-rans. After all, why would you choose them when you could get a brilliant 15-inch 2,880 x 1,800 IPS panel and a Core i7 Ivy Bridge processor? Well, price, for one thing. While we walked away from our Retina MBP review mighty impressed, that model starts at $2,199. The latest crop of Pros, meanwhile, keep the same pricing scheme as last year's models ($1,199 and up), but step up to Intel's third-generation Ivy Bridge processors. We took the entry-level 13-incher for a spin to get a feel for how the dual-core Core i5 CPU, 4GB of RAM and Intel HD Graphics 4000 stack up to the competition. Read on to see how it fared. %Gallery-161394%
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%
Possibly fake MacBook Pro spec sheet: USB 3.0, Ivy Bridge and no Retina Display
It's hard not to drown in Apple rumors right now, but here comes another one to help things along. As a counterweight to recent reports of MacBook Airs getting Retina Displays, the label above hints that the 13.3-inch MacBook Pro could be stuck with plain-Jane 1280 x 800. There's nothing to say that this bit of paper didn't derive from an inkjet hooked up to someone's imagination, but some of the other new specs have been rumored already from separate sources: notably the HD 4000 graphics reflecting the presence of Ivy Bridge, plus Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 co-starring on the I/O front. Those hypothetical additions would be great for productivity, but if there's nothing resolutionary about the new Pros then Apple had better find something else to console us with at WWDC. [Thanks, Josh]
MacBook Pro and iMac with next-gen Ivy Bridge processors crop up on benchmarks (update)
Yup, Apples are bound to flow beneath the Ivy Bridge at some point, but how much of a performance boost will they deliver? If you're happy to hold onto a little skepticism, then two unexpected appearances on the Geekbench site could offer some early answers. The first purports to be an unknown 'MacBookPro9,1' laptop powered by an Ivy Bridge Core i7-3820QM running at 2.7GHz, which achieved a benchmark of 12252 -- that's around 17 percent better than a current equivalent Core i7 15-inch or 17-inch MacBook Pro. The second benchmark comes from an 'iMac13,2' running off Intel's next-gen Core i7-3770 desktop chip clocked at 3.4GHz, which only merits a score of 12183 because it's hobbled by 4GB of RAM. If you exclude memory and compare only the CPU integer and floating point scores, then you're looking at a roughly nine percent gain over a current 27-inch iMac with a 3.4Ghz Core i7-2600 processor. Now, these benchmarks could be faked, or represent non-final hardware, but the motherboard codes look valid (see the source links) and they generally tally with what we've come to expect from Ivy Bridge: a healthy oar-stroke forwards, but nothing that would frighten the fish. Update: 9to5Mac has done some digging and come up with a few more interesting tidbits about the upcoming MacBook Pro refresh. For one, code pulled from the Mountain Lion beta appears to indicate that the Ivy Bridge machines will boast USB 3.0 and a new GPU in the NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M. The site also claims that the laptops will be slimmer than the current gen, a rumor that we've been hearing for quite some time now.
IRL: The CES 2012 Edition, featuring AirDrop, a new MBP and Crumpler
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. We came, we saw, we collapsed. After seven days in Vegas and 700-plus posts, we'd love nothing more than to catch up on The Daily Show, eat something other than In-N-Out Burger and bask in what we hope will be a slow news week. Alas, though, the show must go on, and so must our gadget ramblings. And what better place to start than with the gear we schlepped to CES? You'd think, like marathoners prepping for a race, that we'd stick with the high-tech equivalent of broken-in sneakers, red gatorade and other safe bets. But in fact, the week saw a few of us taking a chance on unfamiliar tech -- everything from the Elgato Turbo H.264 to the Sony NEX-C3. For Darren, the transition from thumb drives to AirDrop was benign, though largely ineffectual. In Terrence's case, an impulsive foray into the world of Macs left him without functioning USB ports. Good times, right? Meet us past the break for a few tales of what went right (or dreadfully wrong) last week in Vegas.
Apple updates 2011 MacBook Pro firmware to v1.4, fixes stability, Thunderbolt, and Turbo Boost issues
In spite of the "Pro" in its name, Apple's 2011 MBP got off to a bit of a bumpy start for many users. Some encountered problems when outputting video through the Thunderbolt port to their Cinema Displays, while others found the new MacBook Pro freezing up when processing loads got that little bit too intense. The good news is that Apple now has a software update geared to remedying all these maladies, with changes specifically designed to improve graphics stability, 3D performance, and support for external displays and Thunderbolt devices. You can grab the download at the source link below or use Mac OS' built-in Software Update utility to freshen up your laptop with the latest code. [Thanks, Mats] Update: A separate EFI Update (version 2.1) has also been rolled out. This one fixes the perplexing issue some reviewers had reported of seeing Intel's Turbo Boost disabled on some machines. Turns out the problem was related to Boot Camp and Apple has now resolved whatever was causing it. Click below for more info. Thanks, Francesco!
Motorola Xoom and Thunderbolt-equipped MacBook Pro get torn down
The Xoom's big attraction may be the ethereal Honeycomb that oozes within it, but it's still a gadget made of metal, silicon and plastic, so we're as keen as anyone to see what its insides look like. iFixit has dutifully performed the task of tearing one down to its constituent components and found an Atmel touchscreen controller capable of picking up 15 inputs at a time, a Qualcomm MDM6600 chip capable of 14.4Mbps HSPA+ speeds, some Toshiba NAND flash memory, and of course, NVIDIA's beloved Tegra 2 dual-core SOC. The conclusion reached was that the Xoom is relatively easy to repair, though you should be aware there are no less than 57 screws holding the thing together, so free up a nice long afternoon if you intend to disassemble one yourself. Aside from Moto's flagship tablet, iFixit has also gotten to grips with Apple's latest MacBook Pro, the one that can do Thunderbolt-fast transfers with as yet nonexistent peripherals, though discoveries there were predictably few and far between. The wireless card now has four antennas instead of three and there are some changes made to the cooling systems, but the real reason you'll want to see this is the quad-core Sandy Bridge CPU lurking within -- it's as big and imposing as the performance it promises to deliver.
MacBook Pro (early 2011) with Thunderbolt hands-on
We just got our new 15-inch MacBook Pro review unit, and although it looks almost exactly the same as the previous MBP, it has that fancy new Thunderbolt icon on the side, which ought to make I/O nerd hearts flutter the world over. Unfortunately, there aren't any Thunderbolt peripherals on the market yet, so we can't really test the new connection yet, but we can report that backwards compatibility with Mini DisplayPort performs as advertised and that all of our display adapters worked without issue -- the first time we can ever remember Apple switching a standard and not requiring all new dongles. As for performance, we were given the $2,199 configuration with a 2.2GHz quad-core Sandy Bridge Core i7, discrete AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics, 4GB of RAM and a 750GB HD, which clocked a preliminary GeekBench score of 9647. We'll have tons more testing in our full review, including detailed comparisons of the discrete chip with Intel's new integrated HD Graphics 3000. Apple did give us a quick demo on the new system with a prototype Promise RAID unit and a stock Cinema Display connected over Thunderbolt -- remember, Thunderbolt just uses a Mini DisplayPort connector, so displays can be daisy-chained right in. Apple's demo was a variation of the same thing Intel's been doing for a while -- they played four uncompressed HD video streams off the RAID simultaneously, which pegged the Thunderbolt throughput meter at 600-700MBps. We also watched a 5GB file transfer in just a few seconds -- all very impressive, but we're definitely anxious to try some of this stuff ourselves once Thunderbolt devices start shipping sometime in the spring. Apple also told us that Thunderbolt is running on copper and not optical cables (like the Light Peak protoypes) so that it can support bus-powered devices -- there's 10 watts of power available on the bus, up slightly from FireWire's 8 watts. Up to six devices can be daisy-chained from one port, and since Thunderbolt is based on PCI Express, it can even support FireWire and USB adapters. That's great news for the future of the interface, but the MacBook Pro still has two USB 2.0 and one FireWire 800 port, so it's not of critical importance right this second. We'll have much, much more in our full review -- check back in a few days! Update: We got a closer look at Thunderbolt working with some peripherals this afternoon -- believe us, you don't want to miss the video demo. %Gallery-117510%
Keepin' it real fake: 'MacBook Pro' runs 'OS X,' dodges questions on 'legitimacy'
Oh, sure -- we've seen a litany of knockoff MacBook Pro units, but how's about one that actually ships with OS X? As the level of nerve skyrockets towards infinity, an unnamed manufacturer in an unnamed section of China seems to be hawking a lookalike MBP with Snow Leopard onboard -- a feat that even Psystar couldn't achieve for long. As the story goes, around $466 buys you a 14-inch machine with a paltry 1.66GHz Atom D510 processor, 2GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive and NVIDIA's Ion 2 graphics platform. Oh, and a glowing Apple logo on the lid. Unfortunately, the dodgy specifications list seems somewhat reluctant to "admit" that "OS X" is actually loaded on, but it's there. Trust us. We think.
Clearwire intros new WiMAX mobile hotspots, Mac-friendly 3G / 4G USB WWAN modem
Lookin' for yet another avenue to hop on the 4G superhighway? Fret not, as Clearwire has just doled out a trio of new products intended to help you do just that. Prior to today, you had only a smattering of options to actually tap into Clear's WiMAX network, but the Clear Spot 4G (WiMAX only), Clear Spot 4G+ (dual-mode with 3G / 4G support) and Clear 4G+ Mobile USB stick have all arrived to give choosy moms more choices. The prior two are simply mobile broadband hotspots (think MiFi, but for 4G), with the 4G+ offering support for Sprint's 3G network if you happen to leave one of those few WiMAX zones already lit. The USB stick is particularly interesting, as it's the first dual-mode device hawked by Clear that's fully compatible with Apple OS X. The Clear Spot 4G will be made by InfoMark and available to purchase for $99.99 next month; those who hate committing can also lease one for $4.99 per month. The Sierra Wireless-built Spot 4G+ (a rebadged Overdrive; shown left) demands a hefty premium for that 3G support, with an MSRP of $224.99 (or least for $5.99 per month) and a similar July ship date. The 4G+ Mobile USB stick (shown right) will support OS X 10.5.x and 10.6.x (along with Windows, of course), and can be snapped up today for $114.99 or leased monthly for $5.99. Head on past the break if you're thirsty for more. %Gallery-95571%
How would you change Apple's Core i7 MacBook Pro?
Apple's secrets have been getting out a bit more than usual over the past couple of months, and few were shocked when Intel's newest slabs of silicon slithered beneath the unibody shells of the freshest MacBook Pros. The Core i7 rig in particular drew attention, as this was the first MBP to surface with components within capable of rivaling Wintel machines from half a year ago. One thing that struck us in our own review of the unit was the lack of change outside of the CPU; you're still dealing with the same underwhelming arrangement of ports, and unless you opt for the 17-incher, you're still wondering why Apple ganked your ExpressCard slot. Enough of our ranting -- we're here to hear what exactly you have to say about Apple's newest MacBook Pro. Would you have added in USB 3.0 ports? Finally caved and threw in a Blu-ray option? Added a "Flash-capable" sticker in the palm rest? Go on, get creative in comments below.
Apple issues software update for new 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pros
Apple would seem to have been optimizing its code in the time between sending its latest MacBook Pro models into mass production and yesterday's launch, as we've just come across a software update for the brand new 2010 laptop models. Specifically aimed at the 15- and 17-inch machines -- which differ from the 13-incher with their Core 2010 CPUs and automatically switching graphics subsystem -- the patch is aimed at improving "graphics stability for high-performance video and gaming applications" while also squashing a variety of bugs. That hardly sounds like you'd be in danger if you didn't update, but we'd still advise swallowing the 258MB pill just to keep your aluminum-clad investment safe.
Apple teases Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter (update)
Wait a second, can it be true? Is Apple really caving to the pressures of supporting a socket that's used by pretty much every home entertainment owner ever? In the Tech Specs section that went up with this morning's MacBook Pro refresh, there's a fourth video output listed: "HDMI output using Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter (optional)." That's the first mention we've seen of such a cable from Apple itself; to date, users have had to rely on third-party solutions in order to get an HDMI connector from the Mini DisplayPort. Of course, we're guessing those alternatives sold at Monoprice will best Apple's in terms of price, but as of now, the company has yet to even reserve a product portal within its store. Let's just go ahead and call it: $29.99, shipping in May. Feel better? [Thanks, Arnav] Update: Ars Technica has it that Apple actually won't be making its own adapter; instead, these new machines will simply support audio pass-through with the aforesaid third-party dongles. Glad that's cleared up!
