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Apple announces repair programs for iPhone X, MacBook Pro problems
As it tends to do, Apple has chosen a Friday evening to announce programs that will replace flawed components on a couple of its devices. First up is a display module replacement program for the iPhone X. Some owners have been reporting touch issues since the phone debuted, and according to Apple a failed part in the display could cause the following problems: The display, or part of the display, does not respond or responds intermittently to touch The display reacts even though it was not touched If your touchscreen is finicky on an "eligible device" then it will be replaced for free, although there might be a charge for things like a cracked display. The replacement program covers your iPhone X for three years dating back to when it was originally purchased.
The 13-inch MacBook Pro vs. the competition: Small but effective
It's been a while since we've seen a revamp of the MacBook Pro, and this year's models are definitely a big change thanks to the new OLED touch bar. Meanwhile, rival companies have been busy releasing machines that are increasingly more powerful, slimmer and even a bit sexy. We've highlighted some of the more outstanding small and light machines on the market here to see which slim chassis brings the most thunder under the hood.
iFixit tears down the 13" Retina MacBook Pro (with kittens!)
What's better than an iFixit tear-down of a new Mac? A teardown complete with a "21-Day-Old Kitten Late 2012"! The iFixit team did their usual thorough job of gently disassembling and inspecting each part of a brand new 13" Retina MacBook Pro, but it's extra-special this time because there are kitten pictures! It's like they knew I'd be reading it... Among the findings reported to TUAW by Miroslav Djuric of iFixit, other than the fact that kittens are sooooo cute, were: "The most striking layout change in the 13" version is the rearranged battery cells. Their placement allowed Apple's designers to cleverly tuck the SSD away underneath the trackpad assembly. This time we're excited to find two of the six battery cells held in with screws and no adhesive. Battery removal took us roughly 15 minutes to complete, and we didn't have to use a heat gun. All we needed was a Torx screwdriver and three spudgers. At first we thought we found some kitten fuzz inside a couple of screw holes, but it turns out that Apple glued in a small piece of steel-wool-like metal on top of two of the speaker screws. Just five screws keep the trackpad in place. You can actually replace it if it breaks, which is pretty much impossible on the 15" model (since the trackpad is covered by the battery)." Other important information: when you first pop the case open, the integrated parts look like a grumpy face. Why that 13" Retina MacBook Pro has a grumpy face when it's being nuzzled by a sweet little kitten is beyond me, but it does. Enjoy the teardown and that sweet little boo-boo.
Apple's iPad mini liveblog!
Apple may be playing things down, saying it's only a "little more," but we're pretty sure it's going to be big. Something really big. This liveblog is certainly going to be massive and we want you to be a part of it! The event takes place at 10:00 am PT and we'll be there live. Set your browsers at this very URL and check the local time, listed below. Refresh then and join us to see what's next! October 23, 2012 1:00 PM EDT
New Apple TV Events channel will stream the special event later today (update: and on your Mac)
If you haven't already bookmarked our liveblog (you should get right on that), Apple's revealed that it will resume broadcasting its events --starting today. Appearing alongside a new events channel on Apple TV, we get a brief mention of today's conference in San Jose. But until it kicks off at 10AM PT, you can kill some time by watching Apple's back-catalog of events, which are ready to view on the new channel. Update: Better still, you can also hit up Apple's events site to stream it in your browser of choice Safari on OS X 10.6 or later.
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 refreshes MacBook Pros with Sandy Bridge processors, AMD graphics, Thunderbolt I/O tech, and HD cameras
Come on, you knew this was coming! Oh yes, Apple's pulling the curtain off its new MacBook Pro family, and compared to the last refresh cycle, there are a serious amount of updates. Just as we had heard, all three will be getting new Intel Sandy Bridge Core i5 and i7 processors, AMD Radeon HD 6000M graphics (bye bye, NVIDIA!), FaceTime HD cameras, and some super fast Thunderbolt I/O transfer speeds. There are two new 13-inchers, two 15.4-inch versions, and one lone 17-inch model. How much will they cost you and what are the exact specs? You'll want to hit the jump for all of that and the official press release. %Gallery-117499%
Re-defining "Pro": The 13" MacBook Pro
Once again, Gruber called it (aside, I wish I had his sources); the naming distinctions between the unibody 13" MacBook and the 15" MacBook Pro are now gone: say hello to the 13" MacBook Pro. Complete with a lower price (starts at $1199 and goes to $1499 in stock configurations), and more features (SD card slot, FireWire 800, 7-hour battery), the 13" MacBook Pro will likely continue to be Apple's best selling laptop.This is an interesting reversal of branding. When the unibody MacBooks were released last fall, they appeared nearly identical to the larger, "Pro" labeled companion. The two big differences (aside from screen size) were the video card configurations (integrated for the MacBook, as opposed to integrated and discrete in the MBP) and the lack of a FireWire on the "amateur" edition. Many of us speculated that the removal of FireWire was done primarily to distinguish between the two lines and try to move consumers up to a pricier model. There was a lively debate in the posts about FireWire's exodus from the unibody MacBook about what constitutes a "pro" machine from something that shares the same design but is smaller in size. Without rehashing the whole debate, it pretty much mirrored those "my dad is richer than your dad" fights that always seemed to break out at high school parties in my district. In my experience, when arguments essentially become "you're only a pro if the label says so," the real-world distinction is gone.
