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Future MacBook SSDs could get even faster as Mac compatibility confirmed for super-fast Optane tech

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Apple’s PCIe SSDs are already very fast, in part due to the Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) protocol used in the latest MacBooks, which dramatically reduces latency times. But future models could get even faster as MacWorld notes that the very latest SSD tech is compatible with NVMe.


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9to5Toys Last Call: Anker Dual-USB Solar Charger $40, WD 4TB NAS $160, Cards Against Humanity 20% off, more

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call Updates:

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TiVo makes the DVR sexy with 4K content, AirPlay and one-click commercial skipping

anker-solar-charger-deal

Anker 14W Dual-USB Port Solar Charger: $40 shipped (Reg. $50+)

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WD My Cloud 4TB Personal Cloud Storage NAS $160 shipped (Orig. $220)

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Amazon Gold Box – Cards Against Humanity 20% off: Starter Kit ($20) and Expansion Packs ($8)

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Get a no-contract iPhone 6s from Boost Mobile for just $450 shipped (Orig. $649)

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Apple iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi: 16GB $380 shipped (Reg. $499), 64GB $490 shipped (Reg. $599)

More new gear from today:

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LG 34-inch 21:9 UltraWide LED IPS Monitor: $620 shipped (Reg. $780+)

More deals still alive:

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USB Power: Anker 15,600mAh Battery Pack $24 (Reg. $30), Lumsing Wall Charger + 3-ft. MFi Lightning Cable $10more

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Four magazine subs for $16 (or less): Wired, Dwell, ESPN, GQ, Rolling Stone, Men’s Fitness, and many more

New products & more:

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Bose’s latest connected speaker lowers the entry price into the SoundTouch family

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Keurig’s new KOLD brewer lets you make Coca-Cola at home but it’s going to cost you

9to5Toys Last Call: iPad Air 16GB $300, Samsung EVO 1TB SSD $310, Sony 4K AirPlay Receiver $299, more

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call Updates:

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Apple 13″ MacBook Pro w/ Retina Display: 2.7GHz/8GB/128GB $1,100 (Reg. $1,299)

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iPad Air in Silver or Space Gray: 16GB $300 (Reg. $399), 32GB $350 (Reg. $449)

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Samsung 850 EVO 1TB 2.5-inch Internal Solid-State Drive: $310 shipped (Reg. $350)

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Sony 7.2-ch. 4K AV Receiver w/ AirPlay and Bluetooth for $299 shipped (Reg. $400), more

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QuickRes – the app that changes your resolution in a click: 50% off

Apple’s massive iOS sale w/ 100 apps for $0.99 ea: Rayman, Angry Birds, Pixelmator, Spider-Man, many more

App Store Free App of the Week: SpongeBob Moves In ($4 value)

Disney’s award-winning Animated iPad app hits a new all-time low price of $3 (Reg. $10)

Save 50% on the brand new Screenium 3 high-res, high-speed screen capture app for Mac

More new gear from today:

motorola-sb6121-sb6141-dealMotorola Refurb DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modems: SB6121 $45 (Orig. $100), SB6141 $55 (Orig. $100)

 

More deals still alive:

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iPhone 6/Plus $100 off w/ VZW or Sprint 2-yr contract: 16GB $100, 64GB $200, 128GB $300

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iOttie Easy One Touch 2 iPhone car mount: $17 Prime shipped (Reg. $25)

New products & more:

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This Lightning cable cleverly solves an annoyance every iPhone user deals with

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JBL details new Flip3 & Xtreme portable Bluetooth speakers w/ fresh designs & features

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Review: Bang & Olufsen Beolit 15 Bluetooth speaker

Review: DODOcase Apple Watch Charging Stand

Review: SanDisk Connect Wireless Stic

9to5Toys Last Call: Logitech Harmony Keyboard $70, Onkyo Wi-Fi A/V Receiver $185, DODOcase Apple Watch Stand Giveaway, more

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call Updates:

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Logitech Harmony Smart Keyboard for Apple TV, PlayStation & the rest of your living room $70 shipped (Orig. $150)

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Daily Deals: Onkyo 5.2-Ch Network A/V Receiver $185, Lexar High-Performance MicroSDXC $73, more

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Crucial M500 960GB 2.5-inch Internal Solid-State Drive: $290 + $4 shipping (Reg. $340+)

Pay what you want-MobileFirstBundle

Pay what you want Mobile-First Developer’s Bundle ($1,740 value, currently $6)

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$50 iTunes gift card for $40 shipped: save 20% on apps, music, movies and more

Restaurant and apparel gift cards 20% off: JCPenney, T.G.I. Friday’s, Legal Seafood, Steak n’ Shake, Jiffy Lube, more

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Father’s Day: Tommy Hilfiger, Nordstrom, more up to 50% off, DEWALT tools & gift cards from 20% off, more

More new gear from today:

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Sony Bluetooth speakers: SRSX3 in white $80 (Reg. $128), SRSX5 in black $95 (Reg. $150)

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Games/Apps: Captain Toad Treasure Tracker $33 Prime shipped, Slayin for iOS goes FREE, more freebies

More deals still alive:Apple-Certified MFi iPhone 6 2,500mAh Battery Case-sale-01

Apple-Certified MFi iPhone 6 2,500mAh Battery Case: $25 Prime shipped (Reg. $45

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Apple begins selling iPad mini 3 on its refurbished online store

New products & more:

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June Oven has better specs than MacBook & was designed by former Apple engineers

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Sonder keyboard’s E-ink display keys bring a fully customizable setup to your Mac

9to5Toys Last Call: 32GB Wi-Fi Flash Drive $30, iPhone 6/Plus cases from $2, 480GB Pro SSD $200, more

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call Updates:

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Add 32GB to your iPhone or iPad wirelessly for $30 (Orig. $60) or via Lightning for $50 (Orig. $80)

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Verus iPhone 6/Plus and 5/s cases in multiple styles and colors starting at $2 shipped

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SanDisk Extreme Pro 480GB 2.5-inch Internal Solid-State Drive $200 shipped (Reg. $230+), more

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EC Technology 22,400mAh Ultra High Capacity Power Bank $29 Prime shipped (Reg. $39)

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Bose updates its best-sounding Soundlink Mini II portable Bluetooth speaker with (almost) everything we asked for

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2Do task management app for iOS and Apple Watch goes free for the first time (Reg. $15)

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Apple’s all-new 12-inch MacBook is available to ship today, Gold model included + small discounts and potential tax advantages

More new gear from today:

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Amazon Gold Box – up to 68% off iconic actors/directors collections: Clint Eastwood 22-Disc Blu-ray set $47, more

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The Smart AC Control from tado° lets your iPhone control your existing air conditioner

More deals still alive:

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iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi 64GB in all colors: $500 shipped (Reg. $599)

iPad mini 3 Wi-Fi 16GB $300 shipped (Reg. $399)

New products & more:

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Here Active Listening Earbuds let you control the volume of the world

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Microdia plans a microSD card with 512GB of storage space, release in July

CalDigit unveils durable USB-C Tuff drive for the 12-inch MacBook, T4 nano RAID drive w/ HDMI & Thunderbolt 2

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CalDigit USB-C Tuff

USB-C is the sole port on Apple’s new 12-inch MacBook, and CalDigit today announced a version of its durable external drive that takes advantage of the new reversible USB 3.1 port. CalDigit Tuff features a USB-C port and cable for connecting the portable drive to the Apple’s ultra-thin notebook, and an included adapter cable ensures compatibility with the USB port that you’re used to seeing on your hardware as well. Since the new MacBook’s thin and light profile intends for it to venture out of your office and into the wild, CalDigit Tuff is ruggedized to endure drops, splashes, dust and other extreme environments.

CalDigit Tuff starts at $139.99 for 1TB HDD with availability starting in July (new MacBook orders currently deliver in 4-6 weeks). A solid state drive version with up to 1TB of storage will also be available while a higher capacity 2TB HDD option will be offered.
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Review: LaCie’s 4TB Rugged Thunderbolt/USB 3 portable hard drive delivers SSD-like speed at HDD cost

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LaCie announced its new 4TB Thunderbolt/USB 3 Rugged RAID portable hard drive ($420 list, $399 Amazon) today, and I’ve had some time to take it for a little ‘spin.’ There are two speedy 7200RPM 2TB portable hard drives RAID-ed together inside to give the device very impressive, almost SSD-like speeds but with the cost savings and huge storage of portable hard drives. At the same time, the package isn’t much bigger than a regular portable hard drive and better yet, it can take a serious beating…


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Future Macs could get up to 10TB SSDs thanks to new Intel/Micron technology

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SSDs are fast, but still expensive compared to spinning metal drives, giving us less storage capacity in today’s Macs than we got in older models. Pick up a classic 13-inch MacBook Pro with a hard drive, for example, and you’ll get 500GB of storage for $1100, compared to just 128GB of SSD storage in the $1300 entry-level Retina model.

That may be set to change thanks to new 3D NAND technology announced by Intel and Micron, allowing them to fit far greater storage capacity into the same space as today’s drives. By stacking flash cells on top of each other, up to 32 layers deep, they can can triple the capacity in the same size chip without the usual high price-tag, reports PC World.

For a standard 2.5-inch SATA drive that means up to 10TB of space; for the M.2 drive type used by most laptops, the 3D NAND will boost capacities up to 3.5TB.

We’ve been promised this technology before–Samsung demonstrated 24 layers of 3D NAND back in 2013–but Intel and Micron say that manufacturers will be able to buy the new chips later this year. Of course, with Apple not noted for its generosity when it comes to storage capacity, you may not want to hold your breath.

9to5Toys Last Call: PNY flash storage up to 50% off, Motorola SB6141 modem $55, iOS freebies, more

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call Updates:

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Amazon Gold Box – up to 50% off PNY flash storage: 256GB USB 3.0 flash drive $70 shipped (orig. $130)more

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Motorola SB6141 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem (refurb) $55 shipped (orig. $90)

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Amazon Fire TV streaming media player $34 w/ Sling TV subscription or $84 w/o

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Kensington KeyCover Bluetooth iPad Air Keyboard Case: $10 shipped (orig. $80)

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ZAGG 30% off + free shipping sitewide: Slim Book Bluetooth iPad Keyboard cases from $84, much more

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Small States: Cord Shoes churns out handmade boots with a story behind every pair, $250 giveaway

More new gear from today:

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More deals still alive:

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New products & more:

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How-To: Now’s the right time to swap your old iMac’s hard drive for a fast new SSD

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If you bought your iMac 3-5 years ago, there’s probably nothing so seriously wrong with the hardware that you need to consider replacing the machine. Sure, the new iMac with 5K Retina Display looks a little nicer, but at a steep $2,499 starting point, it’s still a luxury, not a necessity.

Yet there’s something you can do for $200 to $500 that will radically change your iMac’s performance: install a solid state drive (SSD) in addition to or instead of its original hard drive. SSDs use high-speed memory chips rather than the spinning platter mechanisms in traditional hard drives, achieving up to 5X benefits in speed while requiring no moving parts. Five years ago, SSDs were both expensive and limited in capacity, making them unlikely components for most Macs. Today, high-quality, capacious SSDs can be had for reasonable prices, and they’re surprisingly easy to install in iMacs. With limited expertise and only three tools, I swapped out my old hard drive for an SSD in roughly 30 minutes. Here’s how I did it, and – if you’re up for a quick do-it-yourself project – what I’d recommend for you.


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9to5Toys Last Call: iTunes Free App of the Week, Omaker 10000mAh power bank $17, SSD deals, more

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call updates:
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iTunes Free App of the Week: ProCam 2 ($1.99 value)

omaker-battery-sale

Omaker 10,000mAh Dual 2.1A USB Batteries with 1W flashlight: $17 Prime shipped, (+ 5200mAh battery: $30 shipped)

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2.5-inch SATA III SSDs: Samsung 850 250GB $110 (Reg. $150), Crucial MX100 256GB $90 (Reg. $128)

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Apple discounts nearly forty of the most popular productivity apps for iOS and Mac

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Apple 13-inch MacBook Pro w/ Retina display (newest) 2.8GHz/8GB/512GB: $1,599 ($200 off)

Apple 11.6-inch MacBook Air (newest version) 1.4GHz/4GB/128GB $750 (Reg. $899)

Apple 11.6-inch MacBook Air (mid 2013) 1.3GHz/4GB/256GB: $849 (orig. $1,099)

More new gear from today:

More deals still alive:

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New products/ongoing promos/info:

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9to5Toys Last Call: Seiki 40″ HDTV w/ USB $200, The Whole Pantry for iOS free, Intel 240GB SSD $110, more

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the brand new 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

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Seiki 40″ 1080P LED HDTV w/ USB & 3 HDMI inputs: $200 shipped more

Free iOS app courtesy of Apple Store-The Whole Pantry-sale

Free iOS app courtesy of Apple Store: The Whole Pantry ($2.99 value)

intel-730-ssd

Intel 730 Series 2.5-inch Solid State Drives: 240GB $110 (orig. $270), 480GB $200 (orig. $500)

ue-skrillex-04Giveaway: 10 limited edition Skrillex Ultimate Ears BOOM Bluetooth speakers ($200 value)

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Amazon announces its Black Friday gameplan and prices, new deals every 10 minutes

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Small States – TM1985: former Ralph Lauren designer goes American made w/ elegant backpacks, $407 giveaway + 25% discount

Other new deals:

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More deals still alive:

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Black Friday:

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We’re updating our email newsletter with Black Friday/holiday shopping ideas and savings

Top leaks:

All other leaks/info:

New products/ongoing promos:

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Review: Transcend’s JetDrives add whopping 240-960GB SSD to MacBook Air at a great price

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See that little $190 daughter card up there^? It houses 240GB of Transcend SSD and it could replace the 64GB or 128GB SSD that came in your MacBook Air in as little as 5 minutes. Even better, Transcend just released larger versions in 480GB and 960GB sizes to blow your SATA III MacBook Air or Pro into new worlds of space. Keep in mind these are SATA-based SSDs and Apple’s latest round of MacBook Pro/Airs came with speedier PCIe SSDs so you can’t use these on Apple’s late 2013/2014 models (see bottom of the article for compatibility list).

I got my hands on a demo unit and took it for a test drive…


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9to5Toys Lunch Break: ZAGG iPad keyboard cases up to 70% off, Samsung 250GB SSD $125, free iTunes music, more

Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

 

ZAGG BT keyboard cases: iPad mini w/ backlit keys $30 (Reg. $100), iPad 2/3/4 $50 (Reg. $100)

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Samsung 840 EVO Series 250GB 2.5″ SATA III Solid State Drive $125 shipped (Reg. $250)

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Get eight top country music songs
from iTunes for free

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Canon PIXMA Wireless Inkjet Photo All-In-One Printer w/AirPrint $100 shipped (Reg. $200)


9to5Toys Specials:

  • 1-year of Backblaze online backup storage (PC/Mac) for $25 (Reg. $50) – ends in 2 days
  • Scrivener 2: Winner – Best of the Mac App Store $20 (Reg. $45) – ends in 10 days
  • PasswordBox Unlimited Subscription $9.99 (Reg. $72) – ends in 1 day

Other new deals:

More deals still alive:

New products/useful info:

Giveaways presented by SlickWraps: Apple TV, $100 iTunes gift card, $50 SlickWraps gift card, more

The above contest is now over, congratulations to our winners: @Jemarch86, @austinkeith and @robertburnspr – stay tuned for more great giveaways…

Microsoft/Google/Android:

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Next-gen faster Haswells chips out as soon as next month, could find their way into upgraded MacBook and iMacs

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Intel’s next generation of its Haswell CPUs could be out as soon as next month, according to sources cited by TechPowerUp (via TonyMacx86).

According to sources in the IT retail, Intel could launch these new chips, led by the Core i7-4790K, on May 10th in most markets […]

 Intel Core “Haswell” Refresh processors offer marginally better performance over current Core “Haswell” chips, at existing price points (i.e., they will displace existing chips from their current price-points).The 9-series chipset offers features such as M.2 SSD support, making you ready for a tidal wave of 1000 MB/s SSDs that will launch around Computex.

Apple now uses PCIe SSD interface  even in its base model MacBook Air so the mSATA improvement will only benefit PC users and Hackintoshers but the mildly improved performance might find its way into updated iMac or MacBooks due ’round WWDC.

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9to5Toys Last Call: Discounted Samsung/Crucial SSDs 120GB-1TB, home deals from iRobot Roomba/Dyson/Cuisinart, more

Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and subscribe to the new Safari push notifications feature.

Today’s can’t miss deals: 

Last Call updates:

samsung-ssd-deal-evoSolid State Drives:

  • Samsung 840 EVO Series 1TB $480
  • Crucial M500: 480GB $259, 240GB $114, 120GB $77

cuisinart-single-serve-coffeemaker-refurb-01-saleHome Deals: Dyson table fan: $100, Cuisinart Coffeemaker: $90, 10-Piece GreenGourmet cookware: $200more

pad-quill-little-pocket-book-for-iphone-55sPad & Quill Little Pocket Book for iPhone 5/5S $60 shipped ($10 off)

Other great deals from today:

More great deals still alive:

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9to5Toys Last Call: Belkin Thunderbolt dock $200, Samsung EVO 500GB SSD $280, discounted 32″-70″ HDTVs, more

Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and subscribe to the new Safari push notifications feature.

Today’s can’t miss deals: 

thunderbolt-dock-belkinBelkin Thunderbolt Express Dock: $200 shipped ($100 off)

samsung-EVO-SSD-deal-500GBSamsung 840 EVO Series 500GB 2.5″ SATA III Internal SSD $280 shipped (Reg. $480)

vizio-e701i-a3-70-inch-1080p-120hz-razor-led-smart-hdtvDiscounted 1080p HDTVs: 70″ Vizio $1498, 32″ Sharp $220, 47″ LG $400, 32″ Sony $330 shipped

Other great deals from today:

More great deals still alive:

iFixit teardown praises new Mac Pro for repairability, upgradability

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Following a quick look from Other World Computing last week, iFixit has published its teardown of the new Mac Pro.

Unlike any other Apple product iFixit has reviewed this year, the firm gives high praise to the repairability of the Mac Pro. The system uses no proprietary screws and RAM is accessible without the need for any tools.  Add in the socketed, upgradable CPU originally found in the earlier teardown, the Mac Pro is the most repairable computer in Apple’s lineup by far.


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Mini review: Elgato Thunderbolt Drive+ (512GB external SSD)

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeVJLM8fmrI

I should say at the outset that this is not cheap. Very not cheap. What you’re looking at is $890’s worth of external drive in the 512GB version I have here, or $500 for the 256GB model.

This is not a drive aimed at a consumer wanting a bit of external storage for their movies, but rather a high-performance drive aimed at audiovisual professionals who need an external drive that delivers the kind of speeds in a mobile environment that they are used to from their office setup … 
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Latest MacBook Pro 15 gets blazing SSD performance thanks to 4-channel PCIe (updated)

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Update: It appears this may be a function of the 1TB drives fitted to both 13- and 15-inch models. The reason for this isn’t yet clear: it may be the drives used offer greater bandwidth.

Benchmark tests by French site Mac4Ever show that the latest MacBook Pro 15 is delivering SSD read and write speeds in excess of 1GB per second. The site repeatedly achieved these speeds when Apple claims only “up to 775MB per second.”

The MBP 15 is able to achieve these speeds because it has a 4-channel PCIe connection to the SSD, in contrast to the 2-channel link on the MBP 13 and MacBook Air models, though from some reader reports this may be the case only on models fitted with 1TB drives …


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iFixit investigates the innards of the new iMacs, spare SSD slot now standard in all models

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iFixit has taken a look at the newly-released generation iMacs, tearing down both the 21.5 inch and 27.5 inch variants. Although most of the internal structure is the same, which is to be expected given that the new iMacs have retained the same casing, there are some small differences.

iFixit points out that the 21.5 inch iMac now includes a Fusion Drive SSD bay as standard, improving future upgradeability prospects of the machine. With last year’s model, this expandability was only available if customers had specifically ordered the iMac with a Fusion Drive originally. As the new drives are now connected via PCIe, third-party drive makers should be able to make appropriate adapters to enable the addition of a second hard drive. Both the 21.5 inch and 27 inch models offer this unused PCIe Fusion Drive SSD port. A picture of the empty port is attached below.


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When Thunderbolt adoption goes mainstream, this is your 10GB/s 128GB Thumb drive

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The chicken and egg adoption/price reductions of Thunderbolt haven’t yet made the devices accessible to most storage shoppers. That didn’t stop Thunderbolt’s inventor, Intel from Frankenstein-ing an otherworldly thumb drive with a Thunderbolt interface and 128GB of fast storage.

Internally, the drive has SanDisk SSD (why not Intel’s own?) storage and probably has a bottleneck giving the device somewhere between SATA 3 and 10GB/s Thunderbolt speeds. Intel is making a few for demo purposes and but doesn’t expect a consumer version until wider Thunderbolt adoption takes place and prices for the tech go way down. 
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SanDisk launches new Extreme II SSD, gives way to all-time lows for current memory products

From 9to5Toys.com:

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Today SanDisk has unveiled their newest line of Solid State Drives, the Extreme II, which features faster speeds and 19nm flash memory and proprietary high-performance tiered system architecture.  SanDisk promises that these new drives will offer quick game loads, enhanced gameplay and an improved user experience for anyone who works with big chunks of data.  Boasting sequential read/write speeds of 550MB/sec and 510MB/sec and up to 95,000 random read IOPS and 78,000 random write IOPS, all while coming in at reasonable prices.

The Extreme II SSD is available in three capacities: 120GB ($130), 240GB ($230) and 480GB ($440)

Perhaps a side-effect of this release, our 9to5Toys team is seeing all-time lows for current SanDisk products over at Amazon’s impressive 2 Day Gold Box Event and today’s 480GB SSD for just $300 deal.