mac pro
Latest
Tim Cook: China Mobile deal a 'watershed,' and more news for January 15, 2014
This Friday, the iPhone goes on sale at China Mobile -- the largest mobile carrier in the world. And it seems everyone is very, very happy about that. Speaking to CNBC in Beijing where Tim Cook is for the launch, he said this Friday's launch "is a watershed day ... It's a huge announcement ... we're incredibly impressed with them; we have deep respect for them. We see this as bringing the world's best smartphone to the very largest and now the fastest network in China." Since China Mobile preorders began in December, the mobile carrier is selling a whopping 60,000 units a day, which equals more than 1.3 million iPhones sold between December 25 and January 13. With the China Mobile deal, Apple will be able to sell iPhones in more than 3,000 new locations in China, including many new cities where the iPhone just isn't available now. Going on further press rounds about the China Mobile launch, Cook told The Wall Street Journal that he is "incredibly optimistic" about the launch and said of the carrier: "We've gotten to know each other ... today is a beginning, and I think there are lots more things our companies can do together in the future." In other news: Black Sabbath's 1970's albums are now available on iTunes. Warner Brothers has brought eight of the band's albums from the 1970s exclusively to iTunes this week. Previously only the bands later albums were available. You can view the albums here. An anti-poaching class-action lawsuit against Apple, Google and others will proceed. The Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that more than 64,000 workers will be able to sue Apple, Google, Adobe, Intel and other tech companies for allegedly conspiring to keep pay down so workers wouldn't jump ship from one company to the next. A hacker group called The 1775 Sec has said they've breached an Apple database and posted user's personal information to the web. However, this is the same group that claimed responsibility for Dropbox's downtime earlier this month -- something which was found to be untrue. Finally, is it a Mac Pro or is it a trash can? Whatever it is, it's got amazing reviews.
The Mac Pro returns to Europe, and other news
Leading the morning news for January 13 is something that is sure to make European Mac users very happy: After banning the previous Mac Pro back in March of 2013 because it did not pass safety requirements for shielding on fans and electrical ports, the European Union has lifted its ban on the device with the release of the new model. European users can buy the new Mac Pro from Apple's online store now. Dropbox wasn't hacked this weekend, as was the popular rumor when the service went down for many on Friday evening. The company reveals that the downtime was due to a backup OS update going awry. Virtually all users now have service back. Apple is opening a new flagship store in Brisbane, Australia this Friday. It will be Apple's fourth store in the state and be located in the MacArthur Chambers building. The grand opening is at 10AM local time. If you want a deal on the latest 15-inch Retina MacBook Pros, check out Apple's refurbished store. The company has just added a host of the refurbished 15-inch units. Prices start at US$1699 -- a $300 savings -- and go up to a savings of $450 on some models.
Morning news roundup for January 6
Welcome to the first Monday of 2014 -- officially the most depressing day of the year. But if going back to work in bitter, cold weather after the fun-filled holidays has you down, it could be worse: You could be getting sued, like Ryan Seacrest, which leads our morning news roundup for January 6. BlackBerry sues keyboard maker for iPhone keyboard that hasn't shipped. What happens when "media personality" Ryan Seacrest makes an iPhone keyboard that resembles the one found on a BlackBerry? He gets sued, of course. Chitika holiday usage share numbers reveal people like iPad and iPhones as gifts. This is a big "duh," but here is some hard data showing Apple had a good holiday season as far as the iPhone and iPad are concerned. New Mac Pro CPU can be upgraded. OWC found that the Intel Xeon E5 processor in the new Mac Pro was socketed and removable, potentially allowing for processor upgrades in Apple's pro desktop in the future. Could this mean Apple doesn't plan to update the actual hardware for years to come? Apple acquires SnappyLabs. Apple has officially made its first acquisition of 2014 in the purchase of the SnappyCam app, which allows users to take burst photos easily. Of course, if you haven't already bought/downloaded SnappyCam, you're out of luck -- the app has been removed from the App Store. Evernote CEO responds to claims of buggy software. Think Evernote has taken a turn for the worse in the past year? You're not alone. Evernote's CEO agrees -- and promises to fix it. Today is the last day of Apple's 12 Days of Gifts app. The gift? The Sweet Summer Sun, Live in Hyde Park 2013 (Live) mini-album by The Rolling Stones.
Weekly Roundup: 2013 in review, NSA iPhone hack, live at CES 2014 and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Daily Update for January 2, 2014
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get some of the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the player at the top of the page. The Daily Update has been moved to a new podcast host in the past few days. Current listeners should delete the old podcast subscription and subscribe to the new feed in the iTunes Store here.
Daily Update for December 31, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get some of the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the player at the top of the page. The Daily Update has been moved to a new podcast host in the past few days. Current listeners should delete the old podcast subscription and subscribe to the new feed in the iTunes Store here.
News Roundup for December 31
Happy New Year's Eve! Before you succumb to revelry, have a look at the last Apple news update of 2013. Mac Pro teardown reveals a highly repairable machine. Apple's latest piece of desk jewelry is easy to work with... and on. iFixit has given it an 8/10 for repairability. The NSA has reportedly had the iPhone hacked since 2008. A report from Der Spiegel suggests that the group's elite hacking unit has been able to fully command an Apple iPhone for the last five years. Hello, Big Brother calling. Meanwhile, Apple told TechCrunch that it never collaborated with the NSA to create an iPhone hack and was unaware of the organization's efforts to do so. The company also made a statement to TechCrunch, saying, "We will continue to use our resources to stay ahead of malicious hackers and defend our customers from security attacks, regardless of who's behind them." Apple's relationship with its court-appointed monitor worsens. I bet I know who eats alone at Caffè Macs. Apple: iOS 7 installed on 78% of its mobile devices. Considering that iOS 6 is only a year old, this number means that 96 percent of Apple handhelds are either running either the current or former operating system.
Price comparison between Apple's new Mac Pro and a comparable DIY PC
Apple's highly anticipated Mac Pro began shipping several days ago, and it's no understatement to say that you'll need quite a bit of cash in your bank account if you're hoping to pick one up. The base model Mac Pro checks in at US$2,999, though that price tag can easily climb up to nearly $10,000 if you want to really trick it out. Specifically, the top-end configuration on Apple's new Mac Pro will set you back $9599. For that much money, you'll get a machine with 64 GB of RAM, a 12-core 2.7GHz Intel processor with 30 MB of L3 cache, a solid 1 TB of PCLe flash storage and dual AMD FirePro D700 GPUs with 6 GB of GDDR5 VRAM each. At least you get free shipping, right? With a maxed-out price tag of $9,599, the Mac Pro is clearly not geared towards the average consumer. Still, there's no denying that's a whole lot of money even for seasoned professionals. To get a better perspective on the value proposition offered by the new Mac Pro, FutureLooks decided to figure out how much it would cost to put together a comparable PC. The final tally may come as somewhat of a surprise: After tabulating all the major component costs (plus another $99.99 US for Windows 8 Pro), we are at a total of around $11,530.54 US using today's prices at retailers that actually stock the hardware. I'm not afraid to admit that compared to the asking price of $9,599 US, the new Mac Pro seems like one heckuva deal for these components. Everything is tested to work properly together (versus some of our unknown incompatibilities with this potential build), and a highly proprietary design that is small enough to fit into a carry on bag, with twice the amount of registered memory (32GB vs 64GB ECC). You simply can't build a smaller form factor PC that matches the Mac Pro today. Indeed, if you're hoping to put all of the Mac Pro's computing power into a do-it-yourself machine, good luck trying to get everything to fit into a smaller footprint than the Mac Pro which is just 9.9 inches tall and 6.6 inches across. As for the nearly $2,000 price difference, TechGage points out that a lot of the savings comes from the relatively cheap upgrade price Apple offers for AMD's dual D700s. TechGage posits that this is likely due to AMD "bending" for Apple to prevent them from going the NVIDIA route. Apple's new Mac Pro is undeniably pricey, but you're getting a whole lot of bang for your buck if you need the type of processing horsepower the machine provides. Looked at from a different angle, the new Mac Pro is still a heckuva lot cheaper than the nearly $1 million some anonymous bidder put down for the red Mac Pro that was recently up for auction.
Weekly Roundup: 2013 Mac Pro review, judge okays NSA spying and more!
You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past seven days -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Afternoon news roundup for December 27, 2013
Good afternoon! Here's what's going on in the Apple world since our morning roundup: On the second day after Christmas, Apple's 12 Days of of Gifts has given to us... Rovio's Little Thief for iOS! It's free until tomorrow, when day three's gift goes live. Other World Computing has already gotten its hands into the new Mac Pro and revealed that the Intel Xeon E5 processor is removable. This opens the door for future upgrades to the Mac Pros, as the machines use a standardized LGA 2011 CPU socket. Apple's Coquitlam Centre store in British Columbia was briefly closed after a smoke bomb went off just before 2:45 PM on Thursday. Police told The Province that they believe the incident was a prank, and there were no injuries. Poor Vdio. It barely had a chance to get off the ground. The service that was launched in April won't even make it to 2014, as Rdio announced the service is shutting down. Those who purchased items through Vdio or have unused rentals will be compensated with Amazon gift cards.
Daily Roundup: 2013 Mac Pro review, Jack Dorsey joins Disney, Google powered robots and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Morning news roundup for December 23, 2013
Here's a look at what's going on in the Apple world as of this morning, December 23. A new Mac Pro, an iffy iOS jailbreak and a doomed Opel Corsa are just a few highlights. Let's begin, shall we? fcp.co spends 24 hours with Apple's Mac Pro and Final Cut Pro 10.1. The notably quiet Mac Pro (the sound of an air conditioner drowns it out) feels "silky smooth" while editing 4K with Final Cut Pro 10.1. Just watch. Also note that there's no security slot in the Mac Pro, which is odd for such a small machine that could easily fit into a backpack. Tim Cook has sent an email to Apple's employees, thanking them for the work the company completed in 2013. The best bit for us customers comes at the end: "We have a lot to look forward to in 2014, including some big plans that we think customers are going to love." There's an untethered jailbreak for iOS 7, but it's not without problems. Cydia creator Jay Freeman noted the included version of Cydia is unofficial and untested. Also, this release included a Chinese App Store called Taig (only installed if the phone's default language is Chinese). Unfortunately, it was found to include pirated apps. The Evasi0n team responded quickly with a statement: "We are very upset that despite our agreement and review by their team, piracy was found in the store. It was not acceptable and they have been strenuously working to resolve the problem in good faith, and have removed all instances of it that we have brought to their attention." Meanwhile, in Berlin, some thieves tested the airbag deployment of an Opel Corsa by ramming it into a window of the Kurfürstendamm Apple Store. They got away with some display iPhones, iPads and Macs before fleeing the scene in two Audis (the poor Corsa was going nowhere). The poorly timed attack means that store is badly damaged just as the holiday shopping season wraps up.
Ship date for built-to-order Mac Pro slips to February; fully loaded config tops $18K
' Three words: pent-up demand. That is what's behind the quick jump from a label of "shipping in December" to "shipping to February" if you're trying to order a Mac Pro configured to your specifications on the Apple online store. The way the backlog has increased in just a few short hours has us believing that the ship dates may slip even more. If you want one of these towers of power soon, heading to your local Apple Store with credit card in hand may be your best option. Speaking of configuring a Mac Pro to order, a quick calculation using the online configurator tool showed that selecting the "power user's" option for every item that can go into one of the little cylinders can add up quickly. Grabbing a six-core and dual-GPU model and then tricking it out with 12 cores, 64 GB of memory, 1 TB of flash storage, dual AMD FirePro D700 GPUs with 6 GB of VRAM, a 32-inch Sharp 4K display, a Magic Trackpad, an Apple Wireless Keyboard and an AppleCare Protection Plan will set you back US$13,581. While you're at it, you may as well add on a black 2.0 meter Thunderbolt cable and a PROMISE Pegasus2 32TB Thunderbolt 2 RAID system. Now you're up to a cool $18,219. Fortunately, many creative professionals have been saving their pennies for this day and can write off the equipment purchase as a business expense...
Mac Pro now on sale with December 30 ship date (Updated)
Apple started selling its new Mac Pro today, with ship dates that start on December 30 in the US and January in other countries. There's also a ship-to-store option for Personal Pickup orders, but it looks like those units will arrive at the end of December as well. The base model of the Mac Pro starts at US$2,999 for a machine with a 3.7 GHz quad-core Intel Xeon E5 processor, 12 GB DDR3 ECC memory, dual AMD FirePro D300 with 2 GB GDDR5 VRAM each and 256 GB of PCIe-based flash storage. The top model with a 12-core processor, 64 GB of RAM, 1 TB of PCIe storage and Dual AMD FirePro D700 GPUs (6 GB VRAM each) costs a whopping $9,599. You can check out all the configurations and ship times on Apple's website. As noted by 9to5Mac, the Mac Pro is also available through third-party resellers. Though they can't ship the Mac Pro any faster than Apple, these retailers, like B&H and MacMall, may save you some cash. The biggest savings will be in taxes, with B&H only charging sales tax in NY and MacMall charging it in five states. MacMall also takes a $5 cut out of the base price of the machine. Update: Ship dates for the Mac Pro are now pushed out to February in the US, UK and other countries worldwide.
Final Cut Pro X and Motion updated with support for the Mac Pro
Today is the day that the new Mac Pro goes on sale in most Apple stores across the globe. To prep for this big launch, Apple released an update to Final Cut Pro X that brings with it support for the dual GPUs in the Mac Pro; better handling of 4K content including titles, transitions and generators; and a long list of smaller features. The most significant feature for Mac Pro owners is the addition of 4K monitoring over Thunderbolt 2 and HDMI. Besides Final Cut Pro, Apple also updated Logic Pro X and its two Final Cut Pro companion apps, Motion and Compressor. You can check out the full list of changes and download the updated version of Final Cut Pro X from the Mac App Store.
Apple's new Mac Pro now on sale, will ship by December 30th
After months of waiting, Apple's new Mac Pro is now available to order through its online store. Coming just a day after the company announced the availability of the trashcan-shaped desktop, the quad-core and six-core models start at $3,000 and $4,000 respectively. Should you order today, Apple says it'll ship your new Mac Pro by December 30th. That base model will get you a 3.7GHz quad-core Xeon CPU, 12GB DRAM, two AMD FirePro D300 GPUs, and a 256GB SSD. However, if you max out every setting, you're looking at around $10,000 -- and that's without a mouse or a keyboard.
Apple's new Mac Pro will finally go on sale December 19th
We knew it was coming, now it's almost here. Apple has confirmed that the new Mac Pro will go on sale from tomorrow, starting at $3,000. For that, you'll get a 3.7GHz quad-core Xeon CPU ("with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.9 GHz"), 12GB DRAM, two AMD FirePro D300 GPUs, and a 256GB SSD. As usual, you'll be able to order online via Apple's online store, through various resellers and, perhaps most importantly, Apple's retail stores. While there's no word on whether you'll be able to walk out of an Apple Store with a Mac Pro tomorrow, the fact that it's assembled in the US suggests that could be the case, at least in the States. We've contacted Apple for clarification and will update you when we know more.
Apple's new Mac Pro to go on sale December 19 for $2,999
Apple announced today that the Mac Pro will go on sale starting Thursday, December 19 with prices starting at $2,999. The Mac Pro is Apple's professional workstation with four-core, six-core, eight-core or 12-core Intel Xeon E5 processors, up to 64GB of ECC DDR3 RAM, dual AMD FirePro graphics chips with up to 6GB of dedicated memory, up to 1TB of PCIe-based solid state storage, six Thunderbolt 2 ports and support for 4K displays. This power is coupled with a radical new design that turns the bulky desktop into a smooth cylinder. You can buy a new Mac Pro tomorrow through the Apple's online store, Apple's retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers. Show full PR text All New Mac Pro Available Starting Tomorrow CUPERTINO, California―December 18, 2013―Apple® today announced the all-new Mac Pro® will be available to order starting Thursday, December 19. Redesigned from the inside out, the all-new Mac Pro features the latest Intel Xeon processors, dual workstation-class GPUs, PCIe-based flash storage and ultra-fast ECC memory. Designed around an innovative unified thermal core, the all-new Mac Pro packs unprecedented performance into an aluminum enclosure that is just 9.9-inches tall and one-eighth the volume of the previous generation. Mac Pro features 4-core, 6-core, 8-core or 12-core Intel Xeon processors running at Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.9 GHz and two workstation-class AMD FirePro GPUs that deliver up to eight times the graphics performance of the previous generation Mac Pro.* PCIe-based flash storage delivers sequential read speeds up to 10 times faster than conventional desktop hard drives, and ECC DDR3 gives the new Mac Pro up to 60GBps of memory bandwidth for seamlessly editing full-resolution 4K video while simultaneously rendering effects in the background. With an incredible six Thunderbolt 2 ports, each with up to 20Gbps of bandwidth per device, the new Mac Pro completely redefines desktop expandability with support for up to 36 high-performance peripherals, including the latest 4K displays. Pricing & Availability The Mac Pro is available with a 3.7 GHz quad-core Intel Xeon E5 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.9 GHz, dual AMD FirePro D300 GPUs with 2GB of VRAM each, 12GB of memory, and 256GB of PCIe-based flash storage starting at $2,999 (US); and with a 3.5 GHz 6-core Intel Xeon E5 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.9 GHz, dual AMD FirePro D500 GPUs with 3GB of VRAM each, 16GB of memory, and 256GB of PCIe-based flash storage starting at $3,999 (US). Configure-to-order options include faster 8-core or 12-core Intel Xeon E5 processors, AMD FirePro D700 GPUs with 6GB of VRAM, up to 64GB of memory, and up to 1TB of PCIe-based flash storage. Additional technical specifications, configure-to-order options and accessories are available online at www.apple.com/mac-pro. The all-new Mac Pro will be available to order starting Thursday, December 19 through the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com), Apple's retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers. *Testing conducted by Apple in October 2013 using preproduction Mac Pro 12-core 2.7 GHz units with 1TB flash storage and AMD FirePro D700 graphics, and shipping Mac Pro 12-core 3.06 GHz units with 512GB SSD and ATI Radeon HD 5870 graphics. Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.
Tony Fadell, the Podfather himself, appears to have purchased the red Mac Pro and gold EarPods from Jony Ive's auction
The Jony Ive and Marc Newson Project (RED) auction held just a few weeks ago at Sotheby's was without question a rousing success. Many items yielded winning bids that were hundreds of thousands of dollars more than what auction officials were anticipating. All told, millions of dollars were raised and subsequently donated to The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. With Ive being one of the two designers curating the auction block, there were two Apple-centric items up for bid. One was a one-of-a-kind red Mac Pro that fetched US$977,000. The other was an 18k gold pair of Apple EarPods that were purchased for $461,000. The money and person behind these winning bids has remained a mystery, until now. Two photos posted to Twitter today seem to indicate that former Apple executive Tony Fadell, the podfather himself, may have picked up not one, but both items. The photos come courtesy of photographer Kevin Abosch, who tweeted that his "friend" Fadell came by sporting some unique hardware. My friend @tfadell stopped by with 1 of a kind solid rose gold earbuds. Very cool! Thank you!!!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/RUc6hpD0JG - kevin abosch (@kevinabosch) December 11, 2013
Jony Ive and Marc Newson discuss their upcoming (RED) auction
On November 23, the famed auction house Sotheby's will be holding an auction to benefit Bono's Project (RED) charity. While Sotheby's holds notable auctions quite regularly, the Project (RED) charity is unique insofar as all of the products up for grabs have been curated by two of today's most distinguished designters: Apple's own Jony Ive and eclectic industrial designer Marc Newson. In addition to picking which items will be up for grabs, both Ive and Newson worked together to design some unique items that you won't be able to find anywhere else. Some Apple-centric items include golden EarPods and an all-red version of Apple's highly anticipated Mac Pro. One of the more intriguing items is a one-of-a-kind Ive and Newson-designed Leica M camera. With the auction less than two weeks away, Ive and Newson sat down to discuss some of the themes that run across many of the objects which will be on the auction block. Also making an appearance in the video is Bono, who is as engaging as ever. The auction, naturally, is titled "Jony and Marc's (RED) Auction" and you can peruse all of the 44 items available over at the Sotheby's website. Some other notable items include a Stormtrooper helmet from Star Wars, a Soviet space suit and a Product (RED) inspired Steinway & Sons Grand Piano. As a point of interest, Sotheby's anticipates that the aforementioned Leica camera will fetch the most money, with bids expected to fall in the range of US$500,000 to $750,000. All proceeds from the auction will be donated to The Global Fund to fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria. While we're on the topic of auctions, I wonder what ever happened to the person who won the auction to have coffee with Tim Cook at Apple headquarters. If you recall, the winning bid came in at $610,000. So many questions to ponder: Did this meeting already go down? Has the meeting been delayed until Apple's new mothership campus is finally up and running? Was Carl Icahn the lucky winner?! Questions for the ages.
