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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%
Apple switching to AMD graphics in 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pros?
Back in December, CNET let loose a rumor claiming that Apple would be ditching NVIDIA in favor of Intel and AMD graphics in its future MacBook lineup. Now, here we are with a credible leak showing an entry level 13.3-inch MacBook Pro sporting a Thunderbolt port, Core i5 Sandy Bridge processor, and Intel HD Graphics 3000 with 384MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with the laptop's main memory. Today CNET is repeating its original claim while adding that the 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro models will feature an automatically switchable AMD discrete GPU that augments the Intel graphics whenever more power is required. Of course, they'll also feature that new Thunderbolt port and 32-nanometer Core i series Sandy Bridge processors for improved performance and power savings. We'll see soon enough, since the whole thing is supposed to get official later today.
HP gets down to business with redesigned and refreshed EliteBook and ProBook laptops (hands-on)
Two weeks ago "consumers" got totally redesigned HP Pavilion dv and g-series laptops, leaving those poor guys in the conference room with nothing but their "old" Calpella-based machines and sad Excel spreadsheets. Well, it's their turn now alright -- HP's been stirring up brand new EliteBook and ProBooks for the guys and gals in suits (though, we're really of the mind that these laptops are for anyone looking for some tough and powerful hardware). All ten of the new machines (yep, 10!) have been given new metal designs, Intel's latest Sandy Bridge processors, facial recognition software, and an easy-access latch to get to the hard drive and RAM. And there's more -- hit the jump for a break down and impressions of each of the models, and don't forget to check those galleries below for some shots of these rigs in the flesh. %Gallery-117316% %Gallery-117319%
Dell rolls out updated XPS 15, XPS 17 laptops
Well, it's not the promised thinner and lighter replacement for the XPS 14, but Dell has just announced two other new XPS laptops: updated versions of it XPS 15 and XPS 17. Both of those are available today in a whole range of different configurations, including your choice of Sandy Bridge or Huron River processors, NVIDIA GPU options up to a GT 540M on the XPS 15 or GT555M on the XPS 17, up to 8GB or 16GB of RAM, and even an optional 3D-capable panel on the XPS 17. As usual, prices vary widely depending on the configuration, but things start at just $899 for a basic XPS 17 or $1049 for the XPS 15 -- hit up the link below to check out all the options available.
Sony VAIO CA and CB pack the latest Core i5 power for those who can look past the neon
We're aware, the "exclusive" green and orange neon color of Sony's VAIO CB and CA laptops can make your eyes bleed, but Sony's pretty excited about the aesthetic and the way it radiates light around the edges of the laptop. Oh, and don't forget how the touchpad "emits a beautiful glow." It's true, the rigs do have an interesting glow stick-like look to them -- at least, we thought so when we saw them last month -- however, we found their innards and features to be more enlightening. Starting at $800, the 14-inch CA10 and 15.5-inch CB10 will both be available with Intel Sandy Bridge Core i5 processors, AMD Radeon HD 6630 graphics, and Blu-ray drives. Select models will also pack Intel's WiDi 2.0, which lets you stream 1080p video to your TV. And remember Sony's Remote Keyboard, which lets you navigate your PS3 or Bravia TV with the laptop? Yep, the CA and CB both have that functionality baked in as well. What's that? You'd be interested if they didn't blind you? What if we also told you they will come in black and white? We thought that might change your mind, and according to the official press release below there will indeed be alternative color versions. You'll be able to pre-order them both on March 13th, but until then you can always see if the neon grows on you with the photos below. %Gallery-117252%
Lenovo trots out new ThinkPad T, L, and W series laptops
It feels like just yesterday that Lenovo unleashed a serious amount of Sandy Bridge laptops at CES, but left out of the bunch were the more traditional ThinkPad T, L and W models. Well, Lenovo's got those on its mind right now, and each is being refreshed with Intel's latest Core 2011 processors, NVIDIA Optimus or ATI discrete graphics, and improved VoIP features. One even promises 30 hours of battery life! Yep, there are a few key updates coming to each series, so hit the break for a short breakdown of each of those, and don't forget to peruse the glossy press shots below. %Gallery-117243% %Gallery-117242%
MacBook Pros may be in for an imminent refresh, about time too
Welcome back to our annual tradition of speculating on just when and how Apple will freshen up its laptop range. AppleInsider is citing multiple sources today in support of its assertion that the MacBook Pro line will be getting upgraded by Apple, potentially as soon as next week. The Mac OS vendor is reportedly briefing folks to be ready for a "significant product launch" soon, which is narrowed down to its laptop division by a couple more pieces of circumstantial evidence. Apple's Asian online stores have shifted their promised MBP delivery times from 24 hours to "one to five days," indicating potentially lower stock quantities, while Italian blog iSpazio has dug up five new product SKUs that could be the markers for new laptop models. None of that sets anything in stone, of course, but we're also hearing the expected upgrade to Sandy Bridge won't afflict Apple's new machines with that Cougar Point chipset flaw, so whenever Apple deigns to bring us this upgrade it should be nice and pristine.
Supply shortages, new model numbers suggest new MacBook Pros
Reports from Italy indicate Apple may be preparing to launch an updated line of MacBook Pros at the end of February. iSpazio claims an Apple employee informed the site about the imminent release of five new models of MacBook Pro [Google translation] with part numbers MC720, MC721, MC723, MC724, and MC725. According to the report, all three currently available screen sizes - 13-inch, 15-inch, and 17-inch - will be represented among the five new configurations. Today, the Apple online store in the United States lists shipping times of 24 hours for MacBook Pros. However, supplies of the current models appear to be more constrained in Asia; this morning, the Apple online stores in Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, and Hong Kong show lead times of up to 10 business days for the MacBook Pro. The dwindling availability of the current MacBook Pro lineup supports the rumor that Apple's professional family of notebooks is about to be refreshed. The Mac Buyer's Guide by MacRumors indicates the MacBook Pro saw its last major update 311 days ago on April 13, 2010. The current lineup features six standard configurations ranging from a 13-inch model with a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo to a 17-inch notebook with a 2.53 GHz Intel Core i5 processor. iSpazio's report does not include any specifications or pricing for the upcoming early 2011 models. [via MacRumors]
Intel ad: Is this the new MacBook Pro? We don't think so
The Maciverse is all a-twitter this morning with speculation that an Intel promo photo is showing off the next-generation MacBook Pro. As you can see in the photo at right, there's a very thin laptop powered by the new Intel Sandy Bridge processor. We reported about a month ago that Spanish Mac site FAQ-Mac.com had found an Intel promo showing an alleged Core i5 MacBook Pro that was to be given away. Somehow, people seem to be comparing that photo with the laptop seen in today's advertisement. Most likely, this is just a lot of breathless anticipation by a lot of MacBook Pro owners who wish their computer was as thin and sexy as a MacBook Air -- but with a lot more power. Let's think about this, folks. First, although there are abundant rumors about a MacBook Pro refresh appearing next month, we still don't know what it would look like, and it's rare for Apple to let anyone, even Intel, see what its designs look like in advance. Next, this device doesn't appear to have the traditional iSight / FaceTime camera, and considering that cameras are built into most Apple products these days, it seems like that would be a great loss. It also appears to be missing the optical drive, which isn't unprecedented -- after all, the MacBook Air doesn't have one -- but it would be a bit of a shock to MacBook Pro owners who are used to having that SuperDrive. On the other hand, the black case could be an indication that Jony Ive and crew are starting to move away from the aluminum and glass design metaphor towards lighter carbon fiber construction. The opinion in the TUAW newsroom is that this is not a MacBook Pro; it's most likely a generic placeholder image. If we're wrong, I'll eat chocolate-covered bacon. [via CrunchGear]
Toshiba Satellite R830, R840, and R850 laptops unveiled at MWC
There have been a lot of phone and tablet announcements here at MWC 2011, but laptops? Not so much. Toshiba's not following the crowd here, though. Instead, it's touched down in Barcelona with three fresh Satellites -- the 13.3-inch R830, 14-inch R840, and 15.6-inch R850. Aesthetically, they should look very familiar as Toshiba's basically refreshed its Portege R700 series with Intel's latest Core i5 and i7 Sandy Bridge processors and enhanced its cooling system. The company was a bit vague on specific configuration details (though, we took some shots of the system properties in the gallery below), but its press release does list that the rigs will be available with up to 8GB of RAM and 640GB of hard disk storage, SSDs, and USB 3.0. The R830 (pictured above) is still one of our favorites, and like the R705, it is made of magnesium, only weighs 3.2 pounds, and still has a optical drive. The R840 and R850 have been slightly retooled with subtlety striped lids, which we are told of made of a high stiffness resin. Both models have chiclet keyboards and regular touchpads with two mouse buttons, though the 14- and 15-inchers have pointing sticks. All three models will be hitting in April, but Tosh is keeping quiet on pricing. Hit the first gallery for a few shots of the rigs and the second for a look at the special copper airflow cooling system Toshiba's cooked up. %Gallery-116841% %Gallery-116874%
Rumor of MacBook Pro refresh in March getting louder
Another report reinforces the rumor that Apple's MacBook Pro refresh will land in early March. This latest leak from AppleInsider claims volume production is underway, and assembled units will begin shipping the first week of March. The source of this information also hints that the MacBook Pro will see new product enhancements besides the Sandy Bridge processor. Details on which aspects of the notebook will see an upgrade were not provided, but we could easily see some of the popular features of the MacBook Air, such as a standard SSD drive or instant-on capability, coming to the MacBook Pro line. This isn't the first time this rumor has been tossed around. Earlier this week, Danish blogger Kenneth Lund issued a similar report that predicted a March 1 launch date. Earlier this month, new dummy SKUs thought to be for the MacBook Pro were spotted in Best Buy's inventory system. Combine these rumors with the observation that current generation MacBook Pro hardware inventory is low, and you have multiple signs pointing to the imminent release of new MacBook Pro hardware. Anyone excited to find out what Apple has in store for its premier notebook lineup?
MacBook Pros to get Sandy Bridge CPUs in March?
As the above Danish-language email clearly indicates, the world might very well see a MacBook Pro update on March 1. That is, if the person who sent the tip to blogger Kenneth Lund is to believed. And at the very least, blogger Kenneth Lund thinks that this is the genuine article. Speculation regarding new Apple laptops with Sandy Bridge processors has been rampant, of course, and as TUAW points out, the aforementioned processors are set to make the scene at the end of this month. Besides, March 1 is a Tuesday, the day that Apple usually announces new computer models (also the release date of the Beady Eye album, which at least one Engadget editor is really looking forward to). Besides the new CPUs, there is not much solid indication of what design changes might occur, but if the source here is correct it won't be long until we find out for ourselves. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
iBuyPower's Chimera XLC sports Core i7, 240mm liquid cooling system: FarmVille will never be the same
iBuyPower's ironic Chimera line is back with the Chimera XLC. First seen at CES, this bad boy features an extreme! flame motif on the outside of the box -- in addition to the 240mm liquid cooling system in the box. That's right: 240mm radiator, a 200mm fan, and five (count 'em!) 120mm fans. This bad boy also packs an Intel Core i7 processor, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti GPU, and support for Level 3 Power Drive Overclocking service. Not bad for $1,599, eh? And it's available now. PR after the break.
Intel to start shipping remedied Cougar Point chipsets on February 14th
Well, it looks like Intel's $700 million problem with its Series 6 Cougar Point chipsets is now one step closer to a resolution -- the company has just announced that the fully remedied B3 revision of the chipset will start shipping out on February 14th. That will bring with it an updated BIOS, full pin compatibility with the previous B2 chipset and, most importantly, a "minor metal layer change" that promises to improve "lifetime wear out with no changes to functionality or design specifications" -- in other words, a fix for that rogue transistor affecting SATA ports. Hit up the source link below for Intel's official notice (in PDF form).
Sandy Bridge memory performance tested, value of expensive top-shelf memory questioned
Intel's Sandy Bridge chipset hasn't exactly had a flawless launch, but let's move past that and take a look at how well it performs before it starts breaking. One of the improvements here is meant to be better memory performance, and The Tech Report ran a variety of sticks through the gamut to see what the benefits of high-cost, high-speed memory is versus the cheaper stuff. The results showed that, in the vast majority of cases, DDR3-1333MHz memory was barely outclassed by the DDR3-2133MHz stuff, exhibiting only a modest improvement in games, just a couple FPS at most. Lesson learned? Save your pennies -- or go ahead and spend 'em elsewhere, like that new Thermaltake case.
MacBook Air rumored to receive June update to Sandy Bridge
The new MacBook Air models introduced in October of 2010 have been an amazing success for Apple. Not only were they cited as being responsible for a dramatic increase in Mac sales during Apple's first fiscal quarter for 2011, but the little MacBooks seem to be everywhere. At Macworld Expo last month, it was apparent that the 11.6" MacBook Air had become the de facto "Blogger's Mac," as all of the cool kids had them. Now CNET is reporting that the best are going to get even better. According to the tech news source, Apple is planning a June update to the MacBook Air that will move the line to Intel's Sandy Bridge processors. As we've discussed here at TUAW in other posts, the Sandy Bridge processors are the third generation of the Intel Core Processors (Core, Nehalem, Sandy Bridge) that currently power the majority of the Mac line. The main feature of the Sandy Bridge architecture is that the graphics processing silicon is built right onto the chip; there's no need for a secondary chip or chipset to provide that capability. This would allow the new MacBook Air models to boast much speedier gaming and multimedia graphics with no increase in cost or power usage. Apple is also rumored to have some new MacBook Pro models in the works for a March release. Those devices would be the first to benefit from the newest Intel technology.
Dell Latitude XT3 convertible tablet, hands-on (video)
Dell unveiled a mighty business laptop lineup this morning, but only a few stood out -- like this Dell Latitude XT3 convertible tablet PC with a quad dual-core Intel Sandy Bridge processor inside. Yes, it seems Dell's decided to forgo the incredible battery life of its predecessor for potent performance instead, with this particular unit packing a 2.5GHz Core i5-2520M CPU and 2GB of RAM underneath that swiveling 13-inch display. While the prototype XT3's screen seemed a little washed-out and viewing angles left something to be desired, we have to admire its matte dual-digitizer display, which takes multitouch input from at least three fingers simultaneously and also recognizes a pop-out stylus pen (the former responsive enough to navigate Windows 7 by touch alone, and the latter beyond our can't-draw-a-straight-stick-figure ability to easily test). That sunlight-readable screen isn't just for traveling artists, though, as Dell was quick to inform us that the XT3 is the company's attempt to make a convertible tablet that corporate IT will accept as one of its own, thanks to the same magnesium frame and universal docking port as the rest of the new Latitude lineup. We can't lie: we'd be pretty excited about the potential for awesome here, if we had any notion of release dates or price. Find some pictures below, and mosey past the break for a hands-on video. %Gallery-115994% Myriam Joire contributed to this report.
Intel's partners can resume shipping Sandy Bridge laptops... if they agree to a workaround
Fret not, to-be Sandy Bridge buyer -- it looks as if the laptop delays won't be as severe as expected. According to Intel, it's working hard (read: coercing) with OEMs to keep Sandy Bridge laptops flowing from the factory, and apparently, that involves a pinky swear that partners won't utilize the four affected ports. That means that existing machines can be shipped with the first two SATA ports on the mainboard enabled, and considering that most lappies have just a single HDD, one optical drive and no eSATA sockets, the vast majority of 'em should be able to ship sans issue. An Intel spokesperson wouldn't confirm to Laptop the exact vendors who were agreeing to the terms, but at least Chipzilla is now aiming to have newly designed (and unmarred) parts in the channel by "mid-February."
Intel may ship dual-core Sandy Bridge CPUs on Feb 20
Intel confirmed on Monday that the dual-core version of its Sandy Bridge processor will begin to ship on February 20. Early last week, Intel disclosed the existence of a flaw in the SATA chipset for its second-generation Core i5 and Core i7 processors. Over time, this flaw would degrade the performance of both internal DVD and hard drives. Intel developed a fix for this hardware issue and began production of a new and improved chipset. Originally, Intel projected these updated chips would be available in mid-March, prompting speculation that this delay would alter the availability of Apple's 2011 MacBook Pro lineup. With the possibility of a February availability date, computer manufacturers like Apple may not be affected by this flaw, and their 2011 inventory may roll out as planned. This is good news for Apple customers hoping to score a brand new MacBook Pro. That rumored March 11 date is now looking a bit more promising. [Via MacRumors]
HP's Pavilion dv6 and dv7 get Envy-like features, g-series loses the bargain basement looks
We know the story: all you want is an HP Envy 14 or 17, but you just don't have the cash. Well, as it turns out, HP's been thinking long and hard about your issue, and its new Pavilion dv6 and dv7 may very well be what the doctor ordered. Pulling out some of the higher-end Envy features, the new 15.6- and 17.3-inch laptops have been refreshed not only with Beats Audio speakers, HD webcams, and HP's CoolSense technology, but they've also been given "dark umber" metal lids / palm rests. Oh, and did we mention the light-up touchpads? Okay, so it's not the same as the Envy's etched-metal case, but they're certainly a step up in design from the previous glossy rigs, and for their respective $750 and $1,000 starting prices, there's no arguing that it's a pretty sweet deal. Spec-wise the machines are just as impressive -- they boast Intel's latest Sandy Bridge Core i5 and i7 processors, AMD Radeon 6000M graphics, and USB 3.0 ports. Additionally, both models will be available with Blu-ray drives and up to two terabytes of storage. Want it tomorrow? We don't blame you, but you'll have to wait until "sometime in March" to order these bad boys. On the lower end, HP's refreshed its Pavilion g-series, and you know what? For under $500, they don't look half bad. Yep, HP's gone ahead and given its budget mainstream line a total makeover with colorful lids (name a color, they've got it), a pseudo-chiclet keyboard, a touchpad that is totally flush with the palmrest, and Altec Lansing speakers. But while you may be able to take the bargain look out of the laptop, it's hard to remove those bargain specs -- the 14-inch g4, 15.4-inch g6, and 17.3-inch g7 get cut off at AMD's Athlon and Turion and Intel's Pentium and Core i3 processors. Still for the $450 to $600 price points, it's not too shabby. The g-series will be available on March 13th, but until then enjoy the hands-on shots below and the full press release after the break. %Gallery-115866% %Gallery-115873%
