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Daily Roundup: MacBook Pro review, the new Surface 3 and more!
April Fools' Day is nearly upon us and now's your chance to get caught up on the last bit of serious news before the internet gets crazy. First up, we review Apple's refreshed MacBook Pro with Retina display and find out if the Force Touch trackpad is everything we've hoped and dreamed. Meanwhile, Microsoft announces the Surface 3 running Windows 8.1 and Google comes up with a new way to put Chrome OS on your television. Head past the break for the details on these stories and more.
Caturday: Rascal, the web-surfing cat
TUAW reader Don Newmeyer sent us a photo of his web-surfin' feline pal Rascal checking out his favorite site - could it be TUAW? Don says: Below are some links to photos of my cat, Rascal (appropriately named) surfing the web on my Retina Macbook Pro. He also likes to type unpronounceable words like "gggggggggggggghhhhhhhjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj..." You can see an iPad next to the MBP, but Rascal has never shown any interest in playing cat games on it. We'd love to see photos of your favorite feline soaking up the warmth of an Apple product, chasing a Magic Mouse, or just being a general nuisance while you're attempting to work on your Mac, iPad, or iPhone. Please let us know via our feedback page and please remember that your cat photo has to have some sort of connection to Apple or its products. For security reasons we can't accept inbound attachments, so you should host the photo (Dropbox, Flickr, iPhoto Journals, etc.) and send us the link. Many thanks to Don Newmeyer and Rasca!
IRL: The Retina display MacBook Pro and Sony's SRS-BTX300 Bluetooth speaker
We've got a twofer this week, folks. As that lead shot up there suggests, we'll be revisiting the Retina display MacBook Pro -- the 13-inch version, to be exact. And then, past the break, we'll also give you a mini-review of Sony's SRS-BTX300 Bluetooth speaker.
Twelve South's Rutledge BookBook for MacBook: Uniquely yours
The team at Twelve South has done it again; yesterday, they released the Rutledge BookBook for MacBook, an "artisan leather case" for MacBook. Using the familiar antique book format of the classic BookBook, the Rutledge BookBook uses a special process to make each case subtly different. Buying one, you can be assured that you have a completely unique way of protecting your MacBook. According to Twelve South" "We developed an entirely new technique for applying multiple layers of color, then carefully removing selected elements - revealing a radiant tapestry of hues and patterns. Each cover reveals a slightly different finish, as the brilliant tones follow the natural grain of the leather itself." Specifications Price: US$99.99 Dimensions: 11" MacBook Air - 12.3" x 8.3" x 1.25" (312mm x 211mm x 32mm) 13" MacBook Air / MacBook Pro - 13.4" x 9.8" x 1.25" (340mm x 249mm x 32mm) 13" MacBook Pro w/Retina Display - 13.0" x 9.3" x 1.25" (330mm x 236mm x 32mm) 15" MacBook Pro w/Retina Display - 14.9" x 10.5" x 1.25" (378mm x 266mm x 32mm) Design Highlights Twelve South is known for its design work, with products like the BookArc, the Compass 2 for iPad and iPad mini, the BackPack for iMac, and PlugBug all having a signature style and class that make them stand out. The Rutledge BookBook for MacBook is no exception. While it's essentially a riff on the original BookBook case (still available for $79.99), the Rutledge BookBook adds a gorgeous patina to the leather cover that just can't be described. There's a depth and warmth to the finish of the cover that makes it look like a museum piece. But you won't want to hang the Rutledge BookBook on the wall; it makes a great protective cover for your MacBook as well. I always wondered if "hiding" a MacBook or other device in a book-like cover would keep the electronics from being stolen; now the Twelve South site specifically points out that they have many letters from customers who have had a house or car broken into, but the BookBook-disguised MacBook wasn't taken. The inside of the case is covered with a black, somewhat spongy material that should protect your electronics from the occasional bang or drop, and there's a set of small elastic bands to hold the case onto the MacBook's display. A zipper runs around all but the spine of the BookBook, with two leather zipper pulls making it easy to open and close. Finally, on the spine of the Rutledge BookBook is embossed with gold foil highlights, a title and volume number. In a word, it's beautiful. Functionality Highlights The Rutledge BookBook may look great, but it's also an excellent way to keep your MacBook Air or MacBook Pro looking new. You should note that if you're going to stow the BookBook and MacBook in a bag for travel, you'll need to get a bag that can carry a MacBook "one size larger" than the one you have. For example, for a 13" MacBook Pro w/Retina display, you will want to make sure that your bag can hold a 15" MacBook Pro. For a 15" MacBook Pro, get a bag that holds a 17" laptop. Conclusion Anyone looking for a unique and beautiful way to protect a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro should consider the Twelve South Rutledge BookBook for MacBook. It's classy, each case is literally one-of-a-kind, and it might just disguise your MacBook enough to keep it from being a target for theft. Rating: 4 stars out of 4 stars possible
Engadget laptop buyer's guide: winter 2014 edition
CES has been over for a month now, which means it's high time we update all our buyer's guides with some of the new stuff that was just announced. In the coming weeks, we'll have fresh tablet and phone picks, but today, we're all about the laptops. Whether you're in the market for an Ultrabook, convertible, gaming rig or a Chromebook, we've got a suggestion that should fit the bill. Read on to see what made the cut -- and what's been dropped from our guide since last fall.
Engadget's Holiday Gift Guide 2013: Laptops
Welcome to Engadget's holiday gift guide! Head back to our hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Chances are you stick with a laptop longer than a smartphone -- not everyone can afford to upgrade machines every two years, after all. And since you'll be using that notebook for a while, it better be a mighty capable one. Whether you're shopping for a lucky relative or friend or perusing for yourself, this shortlist of laptops and Ultrabooks is a great place to start. Our resident laptop expert Dana Wollman, along with others from the Engadget team, break down the best systems for all budgets.
Caturday: Lula doesn't appreciate Jony Ive's work
Lula's gorgeous, she's smart, but she obviously doesn't appreciate Jony Ive's designs. Says owner Rafael Najmanovich: Here is a photo of Lula, our 7 month old kitten. She really likes my retina Macbook Pro. Not just sitting in my keyboard and occasionally restarting my mac but also trying to chew on the edge of the screen and the power cord. If Lula only knew the amount of work John Ivy put in designing this, she'd think twice before treating it like any old cardboard box... From the number of cats we've seen that like to gnaw on Mac and iPad screens (not to mention the occasional iPhone), Ive must have his engineering and design staff infusing the devices with catnip. We'd love to see photos of your favorite feline soaking up the warmth of an Apple product, chasing a Magic Mouse, or just being a general nuisance while you're attempting to work on your Mac, iPad, or iPhone. Please let us know via our feedback page and please remember that your cat photo has to have some sort of connection to Apple or its products. For security reasons we can't accept inbound attachments, so you should host the photo (Dropbox, Flickr, iPhoto Journals, etc.) and send us the link. Many thanks to Rafael Najmanovich for sharing this photo with us.
Apple to fix 'unresponsive' 13-inch MacBook Pros
A few early adopters of Apple's new 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro are reporting problems with the keyboard and trackpad not working properly. Apple confirmed on its support site that a fix is on the way. While you wait for the patch to arrive, Apple says you can close the display for 60 seconds and then open it to reset the affected hardware. [Via Engadget]
Daily Update for October 25, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all 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 inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
iFixit tears down new MacBook Pros
What would the announcement of new Apple equipment be without an iFixit teardown a few days later? Don't even think about it, because it will never happen. This week, iFixit eagerly tore into the newly introduced MacBook Pros. Both the 13- and 15-inch models of the Retina display MacBook Pro (late 2013) were given the pentalobe screwdriver, spudger and heat gun treatment to take them down to the component parts. We'll cut to the chase -- there are a lot of nice new components inside each of the boxes, but they're even less repairable than last year's kitten-infused models. iFixit scores repairability on a 1 to 10 scale, with 10 being the best. Both new MacBook Pros ended up with a score of 1. Why such a low repairability score? Well, the battery is glued into place to cover screws that may need to be removed to access other components; the Retina display is one big unit; RAM is soldered into place; and the devices use non-standard SSD drives. One interesting fact: the battery size has been reduced in both of the new models, and the MacBook Pros rely on the power-sipping Intel Haswell processors and the power management capabilities of OS X Mavericks to improve battery life. In a few years, when advances in both the size and complexity of applications and files make these portable speedsters seem like slowpokes, you won't be able to extend their lives by popping open the hood and upgrading the SSD and RAM. Hopefully by that point we may not need notebook computers.
Apple announces new Retina display MacBook Pros with Haswell processors and cheaper pricepoints
Apple today announced some great new enhancements to its MacBook Pro with Retina display lineup. What's more, the base price on both the 13- and 15-inch models have been reduced by US$200. Phil Schiller was on notebook duty, announcing first that Apple's new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display is now both lighter and thinner. Specifically, the new 13-inch model weighs just 3.46 pounds and is only 0.71 inch thin. As expected, the new notebook is powered by Intel's Haswell processor, resulting in improved battery life of up to nine hours. Driving the point home, Schiller noted that the new MacBook Pro has enough battery life to allow users to watch the entire Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy on just one charge. As for other enhancements, the notebook comes with faster 802.11ac WiFi, faster PCIe-based flash storage, Thunderbolt 2 support and, of course, OS X Mavericks. The base model comes with 4 GB RAM, 128 GB of storage and, best of all, starts shipping today for just $1,299. Apple also updated its 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display. Along with a faster and more energy-efficient processor, it also features a GeForce GT 750M graphics card, faster WiFi, Thunderbolt 2 and PCIe-based flash storage. The base model ships with 8 GB RAM and a 256 GB of flash storage. It too starts shipping today and will set you back $1,999.
MacBook Pro tops on best-performing Windows laptop list
Soluto has ranked a few different brands of Windows laptops based on their performance against trouble and crashes, and here's a fun twist: Apple topped the heap. That's right, on a list of laptops that included Acer and Dell, an Apple MacBook Pro running Windows via Boot Camp got Soluto's best rating, the lowest score based on "a combination of crashes, hangs, BSoDs, boot and background processes." Soluto says the reason Apple scored so well is probably because this was a "clean" Windows installation, which means that it didn't have any of the crapware that PC manufacturers usually have to install on their sold devices to try and turn a profit (buying a computer with something installed on it that you don't want -- can you imagine?). But Soluto also says there are obvious issues with running Windows on a Mac, first and foremost that drivers for any accessories (customized keyboards or mice) may not work correctly. Still, if you want a trouble-free Windows experience, Soluto says running it on a Mac is the way to go. Apple showed up on the list twice, once for the 13-inch MacBook Pro and also for the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display. The 15-inch model boasted slightly more crashes than the smaller model -- maybe because of the display? At any rate, it's a sad situation for PC manufacturers when Apple claims two of the industry's most trouble-free spots. [via Lifehacker]
Daily Update for March 26, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all 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 inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Primate Labs benchmarks new Retina MacBook Pro models
Apple bumped the processors in the Retina MacBook Pro line last week, pushing the 15-inch model to the 2.4, 2.7 or 2.8 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 and the 13-inch to 2.5, 2.6, 2.9 or 3.0 GHz dual-core processors. As usual, Primate Labs grabbed a handy copy of their "flagship product" -- Geekbench -- and tested each model's performance. The 100 MHz increase in processor speed across the board on the 15-inch MacBook Pros was responsible for a 3 to 5 percent increase in performance as measured by the Geekbench 2 scores. Likewise, the 13-inch models received a bump in both speed and performance. Primate Labs noted, though, that the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro models ship with both old and new processors. The new processors are only available in 13-inch models that start with 256 GB of storage, while the machines that start with 128 GB of storage retain the older, slower processors. John Poole at Primate Labs notes that the new Intel processor architecture, Haswell, is forthcoming later this year, so it's not surprising that Apple decided to outfit the Retina MacBook Pro line with the latest in Ivy Bridge processors. However, he's curious about why the non-Retina MacBook Pro line didn't receive the same speed bump, and speculates that the current line of Retina-free MBPs might be the last.
The Daily Roundup for 02.13.2013
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.
Henge's horizontal dock will be a great investment for your Retina MacBook Pro
For Retina display MacBook Pro owners, the Henge Horizontal Dock will be the best investment you can make in your system beyond the computer itself, especially if you utilize multiple displays. Originally unveiled at CES, the US$249 system nabbed a Best of Show award at Macworld/iWorld 2013, and a brief demo proves that it deserves the status. This meaty dock boasts an impressive 14 ports, including two audio ports, six USB 3.0 ports, FireWire 800, Ethernet and an SD card slot. It can also manage up to three external displays, as seen above. A push button neatly ejects the MacBook Pro from the dock, and software will allow you to configure your screens so everything snaps into place once you plug it in. There will be two flavors of the horizontal dock: one with Thunderbolt support ($349) and one without. The horizontal dock without Thunderbolt support will be released during the third financial quarter of 2013, the one with Thunderbolt during the fourth quarter. The docks will accommodate MacBook Pros with Retina displays and all MacBook Airs.
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.
iFixit tears down 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro, rates it two grumpy kittens for repairability
You know the drill (er, screwdriver): someone releases a shiny new gadget and the internet tears it apart, both figuratively and literally. iFixit did the latter like clockwork, getting its tools on the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display. As with its older sibling, the notebook didn't do all that well on the repairability scale, scoring a two out of 10 -- slightly better than its predecessor's lowly one. Why so low? You can blame a glued battery, proprietary screws, soldered RAM and a display assembly that's "almost impossible to take apart." There are, however, plenty of pictures of a tiny kitten, which should help to ease the pain...
TUAW TV Live: Talking minis, opening boxes
Welcome back for another fun episode of TUAW TV Live! Today I've got a lot of hot topics: the new Macs -- mini, 13" Retina MacBook Pro, and iMac; the new iPads and the handful of accessories that were announced by Tim Cook and Phil Schiller yesterday. In addition, I have been inundated over the past few weeks with piles of hardware to review. It's everything from iPhone 5 cases to compact disk drives, from web cams to USB hubs. We'll do a little unboxing on the show this afternoon, and you can give me your first opinions on what you're seeing. Below, you'll find a Ustream livestream viewer and a chat tool. The chat tool allows you to participate by asking questions or making comments. You'll be watching the show in glorious HD! If you're driving somewhere and would like to watch TUAW TV Live while you're stuck in traffic, please don't -- keep your eyes on the road! However, if someone else is doing the driving, you can watch the show on your iPhone and join the chat by downloading the free Ustream App. It's a universal app and is wonderful on an iPad, both for viewing and participating in the chat. In addition, the live stream and chat will be available through our Facebook page. Just point your browser here to watch the show and chat with other viewers while you're on Facebook. Last, but certainly not least, you can watch here and join the chat with your favorite IRC client. Join us on server chat1.ustream.tv, chat room #tuaw-tv. We'll start at about 5 PM ET, so if you're seeing a prerecorded show, be sure to refresh your browser until you see the live stream. For those of you who are not able to join us for the live edition, you'll be able to view it later this evening on our TUAW Video YouTube channel and as part of the TUAW TV Live podcast viewable in iTunes or on any of your Apple devices.
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!
