mac book pro
Latest
Approved Mac OS app boasts 'Retina graphics'
As if there wasn't enough speculation already, what with WWDC just around the corner, bets are already being placed on the possibility of "Retina Display" Macs. So, when an app turns up in Mac App store mentioning "Retina graphics" under the new features list, eyebrows are understandably going to rise. Of course, this isn't the first such tease we've seen, but it's not the least convincing either. So, we're still not ready to put our money down on a retina-reveal next week just yet, but those odds do seem to be getting ever shorter.
Holiday Gift Guide: Buying a Mac
The holiday season is fast approaching which means it's time to start thinking about your loved ones and the gifts they may want to receive. High on the list for some may be a new shiny Mac to replace their old, worn-out computer. It's an expensive gift and one that you'll want to research before you take the plunge. Here are some tips to help you get started with your Mac shopping. Think about usage first Before you even begin looking, you need to decide which Mac model you're going to buy. Apple only makes five products in the Mac line including the Mac mini, the iMac, the MacBook Pro, the MacBook Air and the Mac Pro. The underlying specs on many of these models may be similar, but they are very, very different machines and designed for very different purposes. When buying a Mac, the first thing you need to ask yourself is how is the person going to use their computer. Do they travel or stay at home? Do you they need a media server or a machine for browsing the web? Everybody is different and their needs for a computer will vary, so you should take the time to match the computer to the person who will receive it. Below you will find a description of each Mac product line and how each model is typically used. It should help you narrow down the model best suited for the recipient. If you are knowledgeable about Mac products already, you can skip ahead to our shopping tips which will help you save money on your Mac. Mac mini The Mac mini is a desktop Mac perfect for the person who doesn't need portability. The square, flat mini is slim and stylish which is great for those with a small workspace. It can connect to any monitor via Thunderbolt or HDMI, which makes it ideal for someone like a programmer or photo editor who needs a special display (there is an HDMI to DVI adapter included). The base model ships with a dual-core Intel Core i5 processor and OS X Lion, but there is a quad-core version of the mini with Lion server which is lets you use it as a media, web or file server. This latest version also includes support for Bluetooth 4.0 which will let it connect to a new line of low-power Bluetooth devices for fitness and remote control. The Mac mini still has a Firewire port, in case someone still uses it for storage or video cameras. Starting at $600, the mini is the cheapest Mac available. The Mac mini is a complicated purchase because it ships as a stand-alone unit and does not include an external monitor, external mouse or keyboard. If you are buying the Mac mini as a gift, you should make sure the recipient has these accessories already or buy them yourself in advance. Though the mini will work with any USB keyboard or mouse, Apple makes a wireless keyboard, a wireless Magic Mouse and a wireless Magic Trackpad that work perfectly with the mini. Once you've taken care of the smaller peripherals, you need to think about your choice of a monitor. The mini has a Thunderbolt port that allows it to connect to any Thunderbolt-enabled display. Apple sells a line of Thunderbolt displays which are gorgeous, but pricey. The mini can also connect to a TV via HDMI or a standard monitor using DVI or VGA. You'll need to purchase a cable to connect the Thunderbolt port to the display. The nice part about Thunderbolt is that it's compatible with Apple's older mini-display standard, so any old mini-display cable will work. If you can avoid it, don't buy your mini-display/Thunderbolt cables from a place like Best Buy as you will spend too much money. Monoprice is an excellent place to purchase cables. The online retailer carries a wide variety of cables and their prices can't be beat. Amazon also carries inexpensive cables and shipping is free for Prime members. iMac The iMac is another desktop model, but this Mac is an all-in-one that includes an integrated high-resolution monitor, a keyboard and your choice of a Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad. With its 21.5-inch or larger edge-to-edge monitor, quad-core processor and FaceTime HD camera, the iMac is a great all-around machine that's perfect for a home setting. This latest iMac also includes several USB 2.0 ports, Firewire and support for Bluetooth 4.0 (like the mini). It has Thunderbolt to connect to high-speed peripherals and a mini-display port to connect to a second external monitor as well. Since everything is included in one package, it's an easy buy for someone who doesn't need portability. You basically open the box and have everything you need to get up and running in just a few minutes. It's available in a 21.5-inch size that starts at $1199 and a 27-inch that starts at $1699. MacBook Pro The MacBook Pro is the premier Mac notebook. It's portable, has excellent battery life and ships with a variety of high-end options including a quad-core processor, an integrated DVD-ROM and a high-resolution, anti-glare display. The larger 15-inch and 17-inch models are excellent desktop replacements, while the 13-inch model is a powerful travel companion. The 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pros also include a dedicated graphics card which is useful for photo and video professionals and gamers. The latest version also includes Thunderbolt and Firewire. Unlike the MacBook Air which includes support for Bluetooth 4.0, the MacBook Pro only includes Bluetooth 3.0. That's not a big deal right now as Bluetooth 4.0 is a new standard, but it could be important next year when these fitness and health monitors start hitting the market. The MacBook Pro is my computer choice as I don't travel very often, but want the flexibility of being able to use my computer at my desk, in front or the TV and sometimes on the porch. It provides the perfect mix of power and portability for the person who isn't always traveling with their notebook. It's available in 13-inch, 15-inch and 17-inch models. Pricing starts at $1199 for the 13-inch, $1799 for the 15-inch and $2499 for the 17-inch. MacBook Air The MacBook Air shares similar specs as the MacBook Pro, but is lighter and significantly smaller. It has a razor-thin design that's simply gorgeous. It lacks a an optical drive of any kind (although Apple sells an external one separately) and has an SSD drive which makes the Air as small as possible, but also yields fast response times and better battery life. The latest version also includes Thunderbolt, Firewire and support for Bluetooth 4.0. It's highly portable and still powerful, two factors that make it one of the best selling Mac models. It's great for students, business people and anyone else who has to carry their Mac around with them on a regular basis. The MacBook Air is available in an 11-inch model that starts at $999 and a 13-inch model that starts at $1299. (Update: The MacBook Air can work with Firewire peripherals, but only through an intermediate device hooked up via the Thunderbolt port, such as Apple's Thunderbolt Display or Sonnet's forthcoming Echo ExpressCard/34 Thunderbolt adapter. --Ed) Mac Pro The Mac Pro is a desktop powerhouse designed for heavy duty computing. It's used by video and photo-editing professionals who run applications that can take advantage of the 6-, 8- and 12-core processor options. It hasn't received an update this year and, as a result, is getting a bit long in the tooth. The Mac Pro is the only Mac model in Apple's lineup without Thunderbolt. It's also the most expensive Mac around and has a price tag that starts at $2499. Places to shop Once you decide what Mac model to buy, you should do some comparison shopping. Unlike PCs which are often steeply discounted, Mac models rarely go on sale. They are a premium product and fetch a premium price, but with some savvy shopping you can save yourself a few hundred dollars. The first place you need to look is Apple's retail store which will give you an idea of the base price and configuration for each model. You can look at both brick and mortar Apple stores and the online store as their prices are comparable. Shopping in Apple's official stores may be the most expensive option, but you will get buying assistance from the store employees and you have the ability to add advanced options like a 7200 RPM hard drive or a high-resolution display. Sometimes, Apple also offers free printers and other bonuses not available at third-party retailers. In addition, Apple's online store has an outlet where you can purchase refurbished models at a discount. These refurbished machines are usually a few hundred dollars cheaper and come with Apple's standard one-year warranty. If you want to look outside of Apple's retail chain, there are several retailers that carry Apple products. Amazon, Best Buy, MacMall and MacConnection are four that come to mind. Best Buy even carries select models in their brick and mortar stores, so you can compare the quality of the Mac with their less expensive PC counterparts. If you have never used a Mac, you'll be amazed at their solid build quality and beautiful design. Most of these third-party retailers will offer Mac products with a slight discount. You'll lose out on any offers Apple has, but you can save yourself $50 to $150 by shopping at a these retailers. If you want to keep track of any discounts or special offers on Mac products, you should check out DealMac, an Apple-Oriented version of the popular DealNews website. Each day, Deal Mac lists new sales that include Mac models and all their accessories. What about used Macs? if you find the prices of regular retail Macs too expensive, you can turn to the resale market for your shopping needs. You can search for a reasonable deal on a used or older Mac at places like eBay and Craigslist. But I must warn you, Macs are well-made machines and they hold their value very well. Don't expect to find a recent MacBook Pro for $200. Nonetheless, you still can save yourself several hundred dollars by buying a used or older Mac. Sometimes, you can find an excellent deal. I recently picked up a fully-functional 2009 Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro for $350 on Craigslist. Shopping used does come with some risks. Most used machines don't include a warranty and you usually can't fully test them before you purchase. eBay does offer warranties through Square Trade and has a buyer protection policy, but Craigslist is like the wild west with little to no protection. You can still get a great deal on Craigslist, you just have to be a bit more selective and find a seller that'll let you fire up the machine before you hand over your money. If you want a safe bet, you can check out Apple's online outlet. As mention above, you can grab a refurbished Mac at a discount and it includes a one-year warranty, too. You'll also want to make sure the Mac you are buying is up-to-date. Back in 2006, Apple made the switch to the Intel platform and its latest OS X versions require this Intel hardware. Older Macs have PowerPC components that are no longer compatible with OS X Snow Leopard 10.6 and Lion 10.7. These PowerPC Macs may be super cheap, but they are obsolete. Thankfully, these models are old enough that you don't see too many of them listed for sale, but they are still out there and you need to be aware of them. Good luck finding the right Mac for whomever you're shopping for, even yourself. Stay tuned to TUAW for more gift guides in the weeks leading up to the holidays.
Tim Cook: Macbook Pro and iMac are the best selling notebook and desktop in the US
Tim Cook kicked off today's 'Let's talk iPhone' event by the numbers, mentioning that "the MacBook Pro and iMac are the number one best selling notebook and desktop in the United States." Apparently the Mac platform grew by 23 percent over the last year, versus a four percent growth from the PC sector. Brandishing a chart tracing the trend back five years, Cook says that Apple is now pushing 60 million Mac users worldwide, leaving Cupertino just shy of owning a fourth of the personal computer market. "There are still 77 percent of people who are buying something else," Cook said, "We have an incredibly high ceiling here. We have a long way to go."
15-inch MacBook Pros MIA on BestBuy.com, long-awaited refresh really, truly coming April 13th?
iPhone, iPhone, iPhone... wait, what's that? You're still pining for those refreshed, possibly Core i5- / i7-equipped MacBook Pros that have been long rumored? If a source close to Australian MacWorld has any merit, we'll finally be seeing updates to the laptop line -- Pro and Air, allegedly -- this Tuesday, April 13th. No word on what the new models would feature if true, but without an event all its own, the best we can expect is probably a spec boost. Best Buy seems to be adding some fuel to the fire, first by showing a proverbial mark of death in its database last month, and now by making the 15-inch model unavailable on BestBuy.com. Undoubtedly the retailer's waiting for a new shipment of potent portables, but the question remains, what will they run under the hood? [Thanks, Ryan] Update: UK retailer John Lewis is also showing its MacBook Pro and MacBook Air options as out of stock, though it suffers no such shortages with MacBooks. Draw your own conclusions [Thanks, Ben].
Current MacBook Pro SKU given mark of death in Best Buy database?
We'll admit to not being leading the field of study in Best Buy-ology, but here comes a new quiz for us care of a tipster who sent TUAW a screenshot of the inventory screen that shows what looks to be the current MacBook Pro SKU with status: deleted. What that means is no new orders can be made for that unit, at least for that particular store. Sign of impending MBP refresh? Intel certainly had us riled up last month with that Core i5-infused flier, but we won't get fooled again. Don't hold your breath for this one, but if more telltale signs start popping up, we'll be sure let ya know. Update: Giving credit where due; the image originates from the MacRumors forums. Update II: Another tipster familiar with Best Buy's systems wrote in and noted that "Deleted only means that the that particular store is having it pulled from their planogramed assortment." Sorry to burst your bubble. [Thanks, Jose R]
Apple releases MacBook Pro firmware to silence those 7200 RPM HDDs
That new MacBook Pro's 7200 RPM HDD singing you too many ballads lately? As promised, Apple today released a new firmware update to silence that troublemaker. If it doesn't come up through automatic system update, you can obtain Hard Drive Firmware Update 2.0 (catchy name, eh?) via the read link. Admit it, you're gonna feel just a teensy bit lonelier once your laptop stops chirping so much. Update: Apple today also released Bluetooth Firmware Update 2.0.1, which alongside various bug fixes improves compatibility with the company's wireless mouse and keyboards on all machines with the Broadcom chipset -- that includes all unibody laptops and any Mac released in 2009. [Via TUAW]
Apple 'fesses up to 7200 RPM HDD issues, aims to dispatch a fix forthwith
MacBook Pro owners suffering from 7200 RPM noise pollution and performance issues, Apple has acknowledged your pain and wants you to know that it's working hard to remedy the situation. According to CNET, the problem seems to be restricted to 500GB / 7200 RPM hard drives, with the likely culprit being code that's somehow "causing the drive to sleep during use." No word yet on a release date for the patch, but you'll know as soon as we do. As you know, we'll pretty much take any opportunity we can find to run a Lloyd Dobler Photoshop.[Via Register Hardware]
MacBook Pros with 7200RPM HDDs getting a touch too noisy?
MacBook Pro hard disk storage really seem to be down on its luck this generation. First was the 3Gbps SATA transfers (now fixed), which honestly didn't affected but a marginal percentage of users upgrading to SSD themselves. Now comes word from a number of irate users on the Apple support forums that claim their HDDs, specifically those spec'd at 7200RPM, are suffering from performance issues and some audible clicking / beeping sounds. The folks at Other World Computing chimed in to say that it might have something to do with the Seagate Momentus 7200.4 G-Force drives, which takes anti-shock precautions that are possibly causing both noise and extra strain. If you're not hearing anything now, we wouldn't suggest you start getting hyper paranoid over the issue -- it's the internet, where things often get blown way out of proportion, in case you haven't noticed. If you're still worried / curious, hit up the read link for the full collection of anecdotes.[Via Engadget Spanish and MacNN]
The Queue: You can't take Spell Power away from me
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky will be your host today. There's a great question about the mechanics of spell casting when a proc / buff is or is not active. It's a very fine point that most people don't consider, and it's a mechanic that has been reiterated by Ghostcrawler and company recently. Take a few minutes to read it, you'll be glad you did.Today's reading music is Frank Sinatra and Natalie Cole singing They Can't Take That Away From Me.I love the way we dance 'till three.Mortur asked... "Now that the Battle.net conversion has been released for a while and bugs have been being dealt with, do you feel that there is much reason anymore for holding off on converting your account to Battle.net? Have the authentication issues after a patch been going away?"
17-inch unibody MacBook Pros now shipping?
If the above picture is to be believed, the new unibody 17-inch MacBook Pro is beginning to ship a little earlier than Apple projected when it announced that two-week delay. That's a fun little valentine treat if it's true -- anyone else get a ship confirmation?[Thanks, Michael]
Apple reveals 17-inch MacBook Pro battery replacement details
Ever since the new 17-inch MacBook Pro was introduced, the million dollar question (make that $179 question) has been: what goes down when the battery fails? Sure, the machine is small -- and the alleged eight hours of charge is nothing to sneeze at -- but is all that worth the hassle of a non-removable battery? When the thing eventually goes kaput (and they always do), those of us in the States can expect to lay out $179 plus tax for a replacement. According to the site, if you drop the machine off at the Apple Store they can turn it around in a day (with appointment). If you mail it in, give it four days or so upon receipt. If you decide to do it yourself? Well, you probably shouldn't. But if you do, make sure you send us pictures.[Via Boy Genius Report]
Mac Pro: the replacement for the Power Mac G5?
Now that Apple has rolled out the MacBook, speculation has turned to the sole remaining PowerPC-based computer in the company's lineup: the Power Mac G5. And, as of today, there seems to be at least one thing that can be confirmed about the new computer: it will be called the Mac Pro. At least that's the assumption that can be made based on a recent Apple trademark filing, in which the company claimed the Mac Pro name for, among other things, "computers, computer hardware, computer software, computer peripherals, notebook computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, computer servers, handheld computers and mobile computers." Which means, of course, that this really doesn't confirm anything, except that Apple likes products with the words "Mac" and "Pro" in them -- which we kind of already knew. And this also raises at least one new question: if the Power Mac becomes the Mac Pro, will the iMac become -- a la MacBook/ MacBook Pro -- just the Mac?Update: Thanks to Jeff for pointing out that there is still one other PowerPC-based computer in Apple's lineup: the Xserve. We'll have to wait a bit to see whether they decide to rename that one.
Mac Book Pro has cons (and pros)
Our good friend Giles Turnbull (whom I have never met, nor spoken to but still consider a friend. Ain't the internet wacky?) lists the pros and cons of the Mac Book Pro. Other than a little noise and heat, he seems to be enamored with his Mac Book Pro.How about you? If you have a Mac Book Pro are you loving it, or wishing you have waited for the second rev?
Price bout: Dell vs. Mac Book Pro
Dell. The very name makes me imagine dull little boxes doing dull little tasks, however, they are the price leader (and overall marketshare leader) on the PC side of the fence. Therefore, by law, every tech columnist much compare Dell's prices to the newest Mac to prove, once and for all, that Mac users pay a premium.Dan Frakes, who can be my number one any time (get it? Star Trek? No? Ok, moving on), has braved the Dell website and configured a 'comparable' Inspiron. The results? Well, I don't want to steal Dan's thunder, but since he writes for Macworld I think you can guess.
