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Engadget Podcast 084 - 08.15.2006
We're back! Again! Yes, we're quite sorry for the delayed program (listen in to find out a bit why), but there's no dearth of news to discuss. Fresh from Apple's big WWDC 2006 kickoff event we've got the long predicted and somewhat jejune Mac Pro, the Cinema Display bumps, and some interesting tidbits on Leopard, including Time Machine -- which Ryan sorely needed this week. Sony also pulled a fast one on us with the mylo, an intriguing and beguiling new WiFi handheld that seems to compete more with the PSP than anything else. Also hot off the presses is Engadget Mobile's scoop on the BlackBerry Pearl, RIM's new mobile consumer foray, and their first with a camera, removable media, and media playback capabilities. Thanks for welcoming us back, and enjoy! Get the podcast [iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3). [RSS] Add the Engadget Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically (MP3). [MP3] Download the show (MP3). [AAC] Download the enhanced show (AAC). [OGG] Download the show (OGG). Hosts: Peter Rojas and Ryan Block Producer: Trent Wolbe Music: Solvent - Instructograph (Ghostly International) Format: 1:00:15, 27.6 MB, MP3 Program: 6:05 - Apple WWDC 2006 6:48 - Mac Pro hands-on 7:03 - Apple OS X 10.5 "Leopard" officially debuts 15:56 - Sony launches mylo 27:51 - The BlackBerry Pearl 44:00 - Listener emails LISTEN (MP3) LISTEN (AAC) LISTEN (OGG) Contact the podcast: 1-888-ENGADGET, Engadget (Gizmo Project) or podcast at engadget dawt com
System Shootouts: Mac Pro vs Dell Precision 690
System Shootouts has pit a Mac Pro against a Dell Precision 690 workstation in an in-depth feature-for-feature comparison to see who gets to go home with the prom queen. This match is of particular interest in part because of how detailed the feature criteria is (it included extra drive/bays like a floppy or memory card readers, as well as any included backup solutions and even web authoring software), but also because of how ultimately mismatched these two machines are. One machine is so overpriced that System Shootouts opted to break traditional policy and include a display and/or extended warranty program in the name of mercy for the losing contender.In case you can't tell, I'm trying not to spoil this particular match because I think it's such an interesting upset, especially in light of how Apple did their own hardware match-up on stage at WWDC 2006. Check out the shootout for yourself to see whether the Mac Pro or the Dell wound up spending prom night home alone.
Mac Pro benchmark roundup
Other sites are already getting their hands on Mac Pros and putting them through the benchmark ringer, and since we aren't done checking the couch for change yet, I figured a benchmark roundup would be the best way to let you sink your teeth into some cold, hard numbers. If you've been waiting to see how well these things perform in real world tests, your wait just might be over: Macworld pits a 2.66 Quad Core Ghz Mac Pro against 2.5 Quad and Dual 2.7 G5 Power Macs - G5s run crying to mama in everything but Adobe Photoshop tests (hint: that will be a benchmark theme across the board) MacInTouch posts some initial impressions as well as a wide variety of benchmarks, including some real low-level geek stuff like "multi-threaded scalar." Until now, I thought a 'scalar' was just a monster in Unreal Bare Feats posts their own set of tests, including the only After Effects test I've found so far (AE still isn't a UB either; I guess Adobe misunderstood the phrase 'fashionably late to the party') Geek Patrol, as you might glean from the name, also posts some extensive low-level tests in categories such as memory performance, floating point, integer and more Apple's product page also seem to think pretty highly of their own new Mac Pros That's it for now. Just don't blame us for the credit card interest if this pushes you over the edge to buy one.
Brand new Mac Pro ruthlessly gutted!
And now, time for some pr0n. The folks over at PowerMax just got an early shipment of one of those fancy new Mac Pros from Apple, so they naturally ripped open the box and gutted the computer. Looks like fun, but don't take our word for it, hit the read link to head on over and peep those hugemongous heatsinks for yourself.
Super Secret Apple Rumors Podcast 083 - 08.08.06
Ah, welcome to another addition of the Super Secret Apple Rumors Podcast, with your host Stevie J. Jobsie didn't have a ton of new gear to announce -- just the Mac Pro -- but it is, in fact, WWDC. Did we ever get a load of information about Leopard, though, the new version of OS X Apple's making us wait until next year to get. Next freaking year! Well, whatever, there's sure to be a lot more to come with 10.5, but in the mean time take it away, Steve. Get the podcast [iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3). [RSS] Add the Engadget Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically (MP3). [MP3] Download the show (MP3). [AAC] Download the enhanced show (AAC). [OGG] Download the show (OGG). Host: Steve Jobs Producer: Trent Wolbe Format: 01:25:22, 39.1 MB, MP3 Program: 07:46 - Apple unveils dual Xeon-Based Mac Pro 32:06 - Time Machine backup 42:30 - Apple OS X 10.5 "Leopard" features LISTEN (MP3) LISTEN (AAC) LISTEN (OGG) Contact the podcast: 1-888-ENGADGET, Engadget (Gizmo Project) or podcast at engadget dawt com
Mac Pro developer note posted
I want a Mac Pro, there is no denying it. I do not need a Mac Pro, there is no denying that either. I will not be getting one any time soon, however, I can obsess over the details thanks to the Mac Pro Developer Note, which Apple has just posted.If you are interested in the nifty gritty of how this thing is laid out, then the dev note is the place for you. I'm just glad the liquid cooling system and series of computerized fans are no longer needed.
Engadget gets hands on with the Mac Pro
Engadget spends a little time with the new Mac Pros, and has posted some pictures of the experience. Check out the post for some cool pics of the strangely familiar Mac Pro.
Apple slashes Cinema display prices, too
A number of observant TUAW readers have also noticed that Apple has (quietly) slashes Cinema display prices with the introduction of the Mac Pro. There were rumors of Cinema updates before WWDC, but it seems that Apple simply wanted to give our pocketbooks a break with the $500 increase in the Mac Pro's price. Cinema display prices now look a little something like this: 20-inch: $699 23-inch: $999 30-inch: $1999 (what a drop!) Unfortunately, I can't even get into the EDU store so I'm not sure how much better prices are for students yet. Ultimately, these prices should look a bit more appealing amidst criticism of what some say are slightly overpriced LCDs.
Apple Mac Pro hands-on
Well, keynote's over, which means we got to go take a look at what Apple introduced today. We didn't see much going on in terms of the operating system, but they did have a couple of Mac Pros on display for us to handle and smudge. Guess all that talk about a radically redesigned tower system isn't going to be, but hey, if you're down with the cheese grater then this is the machine for you. Dual drives, quad processors, loads more ports, plenty of video options -- well, you know what it's got, you just came for the pr0n, and the pr0n you shall get. Click on for loads of pics!
Apple announces Mac Pro - shipping today
"The fastest, most configurable Mac ever" indeed. Today at WWDC 2006 (check out our coverage and the chatcast) Apple introduced the Mac Pro, and it might as well come with a pair of hot pads with all-new features like this: Two 2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon "Woodcrest" processors 4MB shared L2 cache per processor 1.33GHz dual independent frontside buses 1GB memory (667MHz DDR2 fully-buffered DIMM ECC) NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT graphics with 256MB memory 250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7200-rpm hard drive1 16x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) And the fun doesn't stop there. You can stuff up to 16GB of RAM in these beasts now, along with 2TB of storage. With over 1,000,000 available BTO configurations, we wouldn't be surprised if customers have a hard time simply deciding on which Mac Pro they want to throw down their credit cards for.Also notable: gone are the two or three configuration options from the PowerMac Mac Pro's page in the store. It simply offers the base configuration, which now starts at $2499, and beckons you to click 'configure'. Just try not getting lost in options on your way to the checkout.
Apple unveils dual Xeon-based Mac Pro
Well, Apple's transition to Intel is finally complete for consumers. After the PowerBook got transformed into the MacBook Pro, the iBook into the MacBook, and the iMac and Mac mini got Intel makeovers, it was time to attack the pro desktop segment, a place where only Intel's Core 2-based Xeon "Woodcrest" processors could manage. The Mac Pro, possibly Apple's worst kept secret in the last couple of years picks up where the Power Cheesegrater Power Mac G5 left off, with the same cheese grating action, but a whole lot more under the hood. Of course, headlining is the 64bit dual-core Xeon with 4MB shared L2 cache across the board, topping out at 3GHz. The performance per watt is supposedly 3x that of the G5, and Apple is stuffing a pair of the chips in each new Mac Pro. Thanks to the heat decrease, there's room for four internal HDDs, along with the dual disk drives that were rumored. The base configuration goes for $2500, and features dual dual-core 2.6GHz processors, 1GB of RAM, a 250GB HDD, NVIDIA's GeForce 7300GT with 256MB of RAM, and a 16x SuperDrive. If "barebones" isn't quite your style, Apple has a spankin' 4,976,640 configurations to choose from, ramping up to a ATi Radeon 1900 or Quadro FX 4500 GPU, 16GB of RAM and 2TB of disk space.
Anonymous Apple employee supposedly speaks about WWDC
When we go through our usual motions and say "take things with a grain of salt," we mean it -- but seriously people, take this one with a few. A site called DVD Newsroom is claiming to have published a short interview with an anonymous Apple employee who gave them the blow by blow of what we can expect from WWDC 2006 next Monday. In a nutshell: no iPhone (yet), Blu-ray probably coming in January (at Macworld 2007), Mac Pros will ship October or November, new monitors with "built-in iChat" (huh?), no plans for an Apple TV, nor a 12 or 14-inch MacBook, iTunes movie downloads will feature burning to DVD, no Mac tablet on the horizon, and, of course the bit everyone wants to know, "expect a true video iPod with Airport support" in the future. So there you have it, yet another unsubstantiated rumor keeping the Apple-blubber-lit fires burning bright going into the weekend. We hope not to have to pain you with more over the next couple of days, but we're making no guarantees.[Thanks, Eliz and Marty]
Too many Mac rumors
Managing all the information in all these damned Apple rumors that everyone is so insistent upon proliferating is no small task, but we know that there exists a vast amount of people hungry for any WWDC 2006 launch information they can get (and an equal amount lying in wait to say we're merely Apple fanboys). While we know how much you'd love for us to report on these as we go, we'll give you the short list, and invite you to leave rumors for us to add in comments. Bon appetit! A chap named Brian sent us another iPhone picture, this time it's called the iCall. The story goes: it was supposedly found by an insider on the floor in a storage room at the Moscone. Hey stranger things have happened (then again, remember the iHome?). MacRumors says we'll have Xeon Xserves, the Mac Pro, and new 1:1000 contrast ratio Studio Displays with iSight and Apple Remote support, Core 2 Duo mobile MacBook Pros, and loads of new stuff for Leopard. Scoble says Apple is "readying a dizzying amount of new products," but not much else. FirstAdopter thinks the Mac Pros will run Xeons, run from $1,800 - $3,200 in base configs, and have pretty much all the usual options. Ars Technica seems to think roughly the same, and pontificated on it for a few thousand words. Going back a little, Macworld reported that Blu-ray drive support may (or may not) make its way into Steve's presentation. Apple joins Kronos, therefore must be developing iPhone. Sure, take it to the bank. iPhone software found in iPod updater. Hurrah! Oh, wait, it still doesn't mean anything (yet). Someone posted an oh-so-bad iChat Mobile video on YouTube. In case you missed it, that was the iPhone rumor du jour last night. Thanks, Steve. Apple Insider is insisting MacBook Pros are going to go Merom (Core 2 Duo). Yeah, and why not? Just about every other laptop manufacturer already has, and they'd be downright foolish not to launch the MeromBooks at WWDC.
WWDC 2006 banner revealed from within Moscone
Damn well, here we go again with the tea leaves. Someone snagged a picture of a massive banner over at the Moscone Center in San Francisco where WWDC is taking place next Monday. While it doesn't give us too much to work with, we can clearly see the usual set of Mac icons, what could maybe possibly be the aluminum nano (it's just not quite as white as the iMac beside it to these eyes) and two very out of place images: a "64-bit" logo, and what appears to be a PowerMac. Of course, the easy thing would be to conflate the two and say that a 64-bit Intel Mac Pro is set to be debuted, but we're hesitant -- though we know they wouldn't give the most prominent spot on that massive banner up to an old fuddy duddy G5 box. So maybe there will be a Mac Pro, but maybe it won't be as visually overhauled as everyone is hoping (then again maybe not), and maybe that 64-bit business is regarding their Xserve line. What's up with that shielded area over on the right though, the bit that's covering the MacBook Pro? How they love taunting us all. (Click on for bigger versions.)[Thanks, Ravi]Update: another banner image added from another angle! Doesn't help much though, very little yet-unseen detail. Thanks Benjamin!
Apple's Mac Pro case, same as the old case (almost)
According to Apple Insider's latest information, it looks like Apple's upcoming Intel-based Mac Pro desktop is going to end up looking pretty much the same as the current Power Mac G5 that it's replacing, with only a couple of small modifications. The biggest change is the addition of a second optical drive slot (seen in an artist's rendition, above), which Apple Insider rightly speculates will probably ship empty in the initial units, giving users the choice to add a Blu-Ray or HD DVD drive as their wallet permits. The other change comes at the rear of the unit, where the power supply has been moved further to the top, bringing it more in line with Windows PC designs. Of course, this could just be a diversion to make it an even bigger surprise when Jobs unveils a radically redesigned system at a hastily arranged "special event", but we wouldn't bet on it.[Thanks, Bababooie]
Intel Xeon to power new Mac Pros?
Most of you didn't bite on the last Mac Pro rumor from Think Secret. New Power Mac case design, sure, but the idea of them sporting Intel's Core 2 Duo (aka, Conroe) procs just didn't fly what with Intel's more flexible 64-bit Xeon (Woodcrest) chip already loosed. No sweat, enter AppleInsider whose sources claim that Intel's dual-core Xeon series processors will power those new Mac Pro desktops (and Xserves, too) which would finally give Mr. Jobs access to that elusive 3.0GHz marker, the current top-o-the-line Xeon clock speed. See, Xeon chips feature the Land Grid Array (LGA) 771 socket which allows for the multiple processor configs we've come to expect from Apple's professional desktops. According to AI, we can expect a dual-processor Xeon Mac Pro at the top-end when launched. Of course, both rumor sites could be right -- a single, high-end Core 2 Duo offered in the entry level Mac Pro with a quad-core Xeon config topping things off. Either way, they agree it's all going down at Apple's WWDC, so we'll know soon enough.
Rumor Mill: Mac Pro in new enclosure at WWDC
ThinkSecret is saying that Apple will announce the Mac Pro and a newly designed enclosure at its World Wide Developers Conference next month. The Mac Pro is the rumored name of the Intel machines that will replace the PowerMac G5's. According to the rumor site, the new Mac Pro's will come in configurations similar to the PowerMac G5, including single and dual processor systems. I suspect the new machines will be sporting the newly released Core 2 Duo Intel processors, however, what I am having a hard time visualizing is what Apple will do to the enclosure. With the MacBook and MacBook Pro, Apple has continued to distinguish their pro machines by their shiny aluminum exteriors. Will Apple stay with the monolithic cheese graters, or will they go with something more subdued and refined? Only time will tell.
Apple's Mac Pro: redesigned Power Mac with Core 2 Duo dropping August 7?
The Apple rumor-mill is all but certain that new Power Mac G5 replacements will be unveiled during Steve Jobs' WWDC keynote on August 7th. Now, Think Secret has "confirmed" that unlike the other Mactel's released to date, Apple's new top-of-the-line desktops, likely dubbed the Mac Pro, will sport a "substantially different" enclosure from their ancestry. The new boxes are also said to sport Intel's Core 2 Duo (Conroe) chips in configurations similar to the most recent Power Mac G5s; a single, dual-core proc in the low-to-mid range systems with top-end systems going 2 x dual-core for some hot, quad-core action. No word on clock speeds, unfortunately. TS' sources also claim that the MacBook Pro will also see a redesign when the mobile version of those Core 2 Duo (Merom) chips are released around August. And, uh, no we don't have any pics of the new designs -- a statement sure to incite graphic designers everywhere into a development frenzy of purported spy-shots. Of course, if you've got the real deal, well, you know where to find us.
Apple trademarks "Mac Pro" in New Zealand
Listen hither, ye name-bashing heathens: Apple made a gutsy move kicking creativity in the crotch by axing the "PowerBook" moniker on the pro laptop line and changing it to "MacBook Pro," but Steve made his intentions very clear during the Macworld keynote by blatantly stating, "We're done with 'power'" (figuratively, of course).That move led many of the Mac Elite to embark on spiritual journeys to the depths of Silicon Valley, contemplating the unanswerable questions of the future: Will Apple rename the iBook to "MacBook"? What's going on with the PowerMac, will it just be named..."Mac"? Maybe "Mac Pro"?The skilled Macology researchers at AppleInsider dug into the matter and uncovered a series of ancient (3 months old) texts that, if interpreted properly, may answer some of those very questions. According to the document, Apple filed for the trademark "Mac Pro" in New Zealand last November, following its recent trend of applying for trademarks in foreign nations -- presumably to prevent snoops (I'm lookin' at you, AI!) from uncovering and interpreting them.Does this mean the PowerMac may soon follow in the PowerBook's footsteps, destined to eternal enslavement in the World of The Has-Beens? This document certainly seems to lend credence -- but, like Nostradamus's predictions of the future, we'll just have to wait and see.
