Magic Trackpad review

Apple’s Magic Trackpad isn’t the first of its kind — in fact, Wacom has been playing this game for awhile — but it’s the first of its kind from the cats in Cupertino, so obviously people take notice. The premise of such a device is stupidly simple: it’s a laptop trackpad that lives on your desktop. Over the past few years, there have been rumors that Steve Jobs has his sights set on eliminating buttons from Apple products altogether, and this certainly feels like the next step in the plan. But does it make sense? Is this an improvement over standard input devices like a mouse or trackball? More importantly, in the age of iPads and netbooks, does anyone even need an external input device like this? We’re going to try and answer those questions (and more), so read on for our full review!

Continue reading Magic Trackpad review

Magic Trackpad review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:04:00 EDT.

Apple Mac Pro line overhauled with 12-core processors, arriving in August for $4,999

So shall it be written, so shall it be done. The Mac Pro has at long last proven rumors of its impending refresh accurate, as Apple has just updated its most powerful hardware with even more grunt. As we’d heard previously, that means you can now get dual-CPU rigs that offer a full dozen cores to play with, courtesy of Intel’s Xeon server-class chips, though in order to get in on that game you’ll have to splash a cool $4,999 entry fee. The quad-core starting price is still $2,499, though the eight-core machines have jumped up to $3,499, with both variants getting mild speed bumps to 2.8GHz and 2.4GHz, respectively. More specs can be found in the full press release after the break.

Continue reading Apple Mac Pro line overhauled with 12-core processors, arriving in August for $4,999

Apple Mac Pro line overhauled with 12-core processors, arriving in August for $4,999 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:34:00 EDT.

MacBook refresh gets official with 10-hour battery

Weird, but there it is, the leaked MacBook refresh is now official, on Tuesday, just as we thought. The 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo refresh with NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics and longer 10-hour battery life (up from 7 hours) is sitting up, nice and pretty on Apple’s very own store in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Germany, and a few other sites. It’s still $999 making it a better deal for the moment than the similarly spec’d 13-inch MacBook Pro listing for $1,199. Expect it to go global shortly. A few more screengrabs after the break as Apple gets its house in order.

Thanks, Jose and Peter

Continue reading MacBook refresh gets official with 10-hour battery

MacBook refresh gets official with 10-hour battery originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 May 2010 04:19:00 EST.

MacBook Pro Core i7 review

While the MacBook Pro is just another Intel-based computer with standard internals, slightly inflated price tags, and a familiar (if legendary) design sense, Apple having the absolute corner on the market for building machines that legitimately run OS X can be a little rough on the upgrade obsessed. Waiting 10 months for a new computer, without an industry full of hungry competitors with wild alternatives to quench your thirst, can be difficult, and the January launch of Intel’s new Core i5 and Core i7 chips for laptops further fueled the saliva. Still, Apple would like you to believe these new MacBook Pros with their 2010-ready internals and same-as-last-year good looks have been worth the wait. Find out for yourself in our full review after the break.

Continue reading MacBook Pro Core i7 review

MacBook Pro Core i7 review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Apr 2010 19:08:00 EST.

Apple refreshes MacBook Pro family with Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors… at long last!

This transition from the last crop of Core 2 Duo chips (which Apple introduced in June of last year) to Intel’s Core 2010 chips has caused quite the unprecedented wait, but at last we’re staring down a fresh crop of MacBook Pros and all is right with the world. The 13-inchers are sticking with Core 2 Duo, but the 15.4-inch and 17-inch models are now Core i5 and Core i7 through and through. The higher end models are nabbing NVIDIA’s GeForce GT 330M graphics with Optimus switching (though Apple just calls it “automatic graphics switching technology”), while the 13-incher get NVIDIA GeForce 320M scraps. Along with the faster 2.4GHz and 2.66GHz chips in the 13-inch, Apple claims to be able to squeeze 10 hours of battery life from the machine, but the real meat is in the Core i5 2.4GHz (520M), Core i5 2.53GHz (540M), and Core i7 2.66GHz (620M) processors in the larger models.

Developing…

Apple refreshes MacBook Pro family with Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors… at long last! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Apr 2010 08:34:00 EST.

Mac Pro Update Soothes Audio Processing Issues

The Achilles’ Heel of the latest and greatest Nehalem-based Mac Pros seemed to be their trouble handling audio processing—even playing a song in iTunes reportedly caused overheating and sacked performance. Mac Pro Audio Update 1.0 offers sweet relief.

According to MacWorld, the new update, which rolled out last week, seems to help the matter both in terms of cooling temperatures and reclaiming processing power.

In a series of tests, they determined that installing the update resulted in a significantly quicker Aperture import and Compressor encoding with the machine simultaneously running iTunes—19% and 16% improvements, respectively. After the update, the Mac Pro’s CPU was also running 30 degrees cooler and sucking less power from the CPU and power supply.

The update is currently only for Snow Leopard machines, so Leopard users, who have also reported the problem, will have to wait a bit longer to get things sorted. [MacWorld]

Written by: Kyle VanHemert

Apple Might Have More Control Over Ebook Prices After All

More details coming out about Apple’s deals with book publishers, and it looks like Apple might have more leverage over prices than expected. The NYT says that “Apple inserted provisions requiring publishers to discount e-book prices on best sellers.”

Three people “with knowledge of the discussions” told the Times that Apple’s provisions allow it to discount books that hit the bestseller list—maybe down to $9.99, after all—with $12.99-$14.99 as simply a ceiling, that way Apple can compete with bookstores and Amazon’s Kindle that push bestsellers at a cut rate. And if publishers sell a hardcover at a discount, Apple wants to be able to cut the price on their ebook counterpart as well, even if it doesn’t go all bestseller.

Given that the reason publishers were giddy over dealing with Apple was the opportunity to set their own prices, if this report’s true, it sounds like they’re interested enough in creating a viable threat to Kindle that they’ll sell themselves a little shorter than they’d wanted to, just to give Apple a strong foothold in the market. Yep, this is going to be a dirty, dirty fight. [NYT]

Written by: matt buchanan

Apple Offering Free Hard Drive Replacements For MacBooks Bought Between 2006 – 2007

MacBooks bought between 2006 and 2007 could be eligible for a free hard drive replacement, with Apple dodging a guilty admission, stating that “a very small percentage…may fail under certain conditions.”

If you own a white or black MacBook bought between 2006 and 2007, with either a 1.83GHz, 3Ghz, or 2.16GHz processor and 60GB, 80GB, 100GB, 120GB or 160GB, you may be in luck. Or out of luck—as you have to prove the hard drive actually has failed.

The offer is open until August the 15th of this year, or three years after the MacBook was purchased. Now all Apple has to do is address the faulty iMac problem, and we’re gold. Oh, and these eight issues with the iPad…[Reg Hardware]

Image credit: TheYoungThousands

Written by: Kat Hannaford

Get six Mac apps absolutely free

Who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch–or free software for Mac users? The new MacHeist bundle includes six solid apps, all of them yours for the downloading.

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Get six Mac apps absolutely free

Apple to ship Mac OS X Snow Leopard Aug. 28

August 24, 2009 6:27 AM PDT
by Jim Dalrymple

Apple will ship its newest operating system to customers a little earlier than expected. The company said Monday that Mac OS X Snow Leopard will be available this Friday, August 28.

(Credit: Apple)

 
Apple made it clear from the beginning that Snow Leopard was not as much about adding new features as it was about refining the code in the operating system.

For instance, according to Apple, 90 percent of the Mac OS X code has been worked on for the Snow Leopard release. This isn’t just application code, it also includes working on the Finder, making it more responsive.

Apple says that Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard is half the size of the previous operating system and frees up to 7GB of drive space once installed. No doubt this has to do with the refinements in the operating system, but Snow Leopard also only supports Macs with an Intel-based processors, not the older PowerPC processors.

As for speed increases in Snow Leopard, Apple said that its Mail application loads messages twice as fast, Time Machine does its initial backup 80 percent faster, and the included 64-bit version of Safari is up to 50 percent faster.

Snow Leopard also supports Exchange Server 2007. This means that you can use Mac OS X Mail, Address Book and iCal out of the box with Exchange.

Mac OS X Snow Leopard will cost $29 as an upgrade for Leopard users. For Mac OS X Tiger users, the Mac Box Set, which includes Mac OS X Snow Leopard, iLife ‘09 and iWork ‘09, will cost $169.

Apple had said at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June that Snow Leopard would go on sale in September, though more recently some tech blogs had been bandying about an August 28 date.