MacBook Pro: The biggest and baddest Mac laptops

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LaCie introduced the RuggedKey this week. It is an IP-54 water and dust resistant USB 3.0 key that provides speeds up to 150 MB/s and a bumper that offers protection from “heat, cold, and 100-meter drops.” The RuggedKey is now available in Apple stores or from the company directly starting at $40 for 16 GB, but LaCie also announced today that it updated its entire USB 3.0 portfolio with optimizations specifically for Apple’s latest lineup of MacBooks. LaCie said it re-engineered its USB 3.0 products for Lion and Mountain Lion by taking advantage of USB-attached SCSI Protocol support in Ivy Bridge Macs:

Thanks to UAS (USB Attached SCSI Protocol), people with the latest Macbook Air, Macbook Pro and Macbook Pro with Retina Display will experience maximum USB 3.0 performance… Everything from cables and USB keys, to professional RAID storage solutions have been re-engineered for advanced performances. LaCie’s recently announced RuggedKey achieves top speeds up to 150MB/s in 32GB of flash memory – making it one of the fastest USB keys on the market. LaCie’s popular Rugged Triple, and Porsche Design P’9223 and P’9233 have also been optimized for Mac and are available in Apple retail.

On top of Apple stores, the redesigned lineup of LaCie USB 3.0 products is available through LaCie stores. The company’s full press release is below:

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We reported late last month that Tweetbot for Mac, a desktop version of the popular third-party iOS Twitter client, would likely come soon after the company’s graphic designer, Mark Jardine, tweeted an image of the client running on a MacBook. Today, Tweetbot developers decided to make things official with the release of a public alpha, and we recently got a chance to play around with it. (Blog post here.)

The Tweetbot alpha, which at this point runs on 10.7+ and 10.8 Mountain Lion, has a lot going for it despite warnings of “Bugs! Lots of them.” According to Tapbots, the main goal of the alpha was to replicate the core functionality of the iOS client. Like tapping a tweet in the iPad app, hovering over a tweet in the Mac client provides you with the same Reply, Retweet, Favorite, Share, and Actions button to get access to details, conversations, retweets, and etc.

In addition, like the iPad app, you will find a button to quickly switch lists in the upper right, while a Lists button on the left sidebar will let you manage and edit your lists within the app. The app also bakes in the familiar “Mute Filters” for your main timeline. However, only the ability to mute “Clients” appears to be an option now—with the option for muting keywords greyed out. You will also get Twitter, bit.ly, CloudApp, and Droplr URL shortening options, and all the same image and video-uploading options as on iOS, including: CloudApp, Droplr, img.ly, Lockerz, Mobypicture, Pikchur, Posterous, Twitgoo, TwitPic/TwitVid, and yfrog. Syncing options only feature Tweet Marker currently (iCloud coming soon), while all the Read Later services are present such as bitly, Instapaper, Pinboard, Pocket, and Readability.

We have had a lot to say about the Twitter experience on the new Retina MacBook Pros. The official Twitter for Mac app is unfortunately not Retina-ready and almost unusable on the new Retina displays. Fortunately, we have a Retina update to Twitterific to tie us over, but the Alpha Tweetbot release today is also built for the new Retina display. We have no complaints. It looks great, but Tapbots said further improvements are coming…

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The new 15.4-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display is either out of stock, coming soon, on pre-order, or experiencing delayed shipping on almost every retail website, but it appears one seller is offering the latest Cupertino notebook on eBay—for roughly $1,700 more than Apple’s asking price.

Check it out: Apple MacBook Pro 15.4-inch MC975LL/A (June, 2012) with Retina Display

The above eBay deal comes with same day, free shipping and includes insurance (if this is even considered a deal). Another eBay listing offers the base model MacBook Pro for $3,199 USD, but another $95.80 USD is required for USPS priority shipping from Canada.

It is probably safe to say these puppies are in high demand, as evident by the exorbitant price markups.

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Apple has created oversized window displays in the past following its latest product launches, including the iPhone 4S, and we snapped some photos today of the new Retina MacBook Pro signage.

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After posting initial benchmark data yesterday for the new Retina MacBook Pro’s SSD and USB 3.0, AnandTech published a longer analysis today about the notebook’s display. The report first took a closer look at the new resolution preferences for Retina MBP users and described the advantages of the different scaling options displayed in the gallery above:

Retina Display MBP owners now get a slider under OS X’s Display Preferences that allow you to specify desktop resolutions other than 1440 x 900. At 1440 x 900 you don’t get any increase in usable desktop resolution compared to a standard 15-inch MacBook Pro, but everything is ridiculously crisp… Even at the non-integer scaled 1680 x 1050 setting, the Retina Display looks a lot better than last year’s high-res panel. It looks like Apple actually renders the screen at twice the selected resolution before scaling it to fit the 2880 x 1800 panel (in other words, at 1920 x 1200 Apple is rendering everything at 3840 x 2400 (!) before scaling… Everything just looks better.

As illustrated in the images above showing benchmark data, the review found greatly improved viewing angles, black levels, and contrast when compared to the previous generation high-res MacBook Pro model. AnandTech then looked at Apple’s claims that the new MacBook Pro display reduces glare by 75 percent from previous generations:

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQaN8IC_rSY&feature=youtu.be]

Update: Apple’s website is now listing the Retina MacBook Pros as available in “3-4 weeks”.

Apple’s updated MacBook Pro with Retina display made a huge splash at yesterday’s opening keynote for the Worldwide Developers Conference, but droves of Mac-lovers will have to wait a few weeks before they can get their eager paws on one of these divine notebooks.

Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller noted the super-high resolution MacBook Pro would ship immediately while on stage at WWDC, but those taking a peak at Apple’s online store today will find a “2-3 weeks” shipping notice listed under the 15-inch Retina-optimized computers

The delay in shipping is likely due to high demand, but CNET pondered the alternative reasons:

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Yesterday, we reported that Apple has an incredible WWDC surprise: major updates to four of its Mac lines. We were able to affirm that three of these updates would cover the redesigned MacBook Pro with a Retina Display, refreshed 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Airs, and new iMacs in two screen sizes. Besides those three Mac lines updates, we were unsure if the either the Mac mini or the Mac Pro would make it as the fourth update. We speculated that it could be the Mac mini due to the newly available Ivy Bridge processors, but now, reliable sources are reporting that Apple will, in fact, unveil a new Mac Pro at WWDC next week.

Sources have also been able to provide some part numbers and prices to prove this:

MD770LL/A – K5BPLUS,BETTER, BTR-USA

MD771LL/A – K5BPLUS,BEST,BTR-USA

MD772LL/A – K5BPLUS,ULTIMATE,BTR-USA

The pricing is similar to current Mac Pro models. What’s interesting here is that we’ve seen updates to every other line of Macs that Apple carries….except one…The Mac Mini.

Our sources are currently unsure of the feature-set coming with the new Mac Pro, but these sources say that there will likely now be three configurations. Two standard versions of the Mac Pro and a third version with OS X Server capabilities. In early 2011, we reported on some of the work that Apple engineers had been prototyping up for a future version of Apple’s Pro desktop line. For that report, sources said that Apple had been experimenting with a new Mac Pro design that is rackable and stackable. These prototype machines also included space for more storage drives, an important feature now that the Xserve has been long discontinued. With a year having passed since we heard about these prototype Mac Pros and the ability of Thunderbolt to offload a lot of the expandability, the final new Mac Pro designs could be different than the current designs but we haven’t yet heard definitively either way.

MacRumors reported that Apple has begun pulling Mac Pro stock from some of its retail stores. We’ve heard the same from tipsters, left.

With Apple adding the super-fast USB 3.0 technology to its next-generation MacBook Pro, and with Apple’s latest Macs including the even faster Thunderbolt I/O technology, Apple will likely add these faster connection ports to their latest Pro desktop. Since the Mac Pro is Apple’s most high-end machine for professional workers of all types, the most important features are the internals. Earlier this year, Intel released a series of Xeon E5 chips that would seem like a lock for a new Mac Pro. These new Mac Pros will likely also likely feature the latest graphics chips.

Apple last updated the Mac Pro in July 2010, making this upcoming update significant. It is unclear why Apple had left the Mac Pro in its 2010 form for so long, but a reader email from 2011 might explain that. According to the Apple executive who replied to a 9to5Mac reader inquiring about the Mac Pro’s status, Apple had been “investing heavily” in the professional desktop computer. We are unsure what investing heavily will mean for the final product, but it should surely be an incredible update over the nearly two year old model.

The Mac Pro’s demise: greatly exaggerated, indeed.
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A Weiphone forum member shows a purported new MacBook Pro spec sheet ripped right from a unit. The notables are Intel HD 4000 video, USB 3.0, and a faster 1600MHz DDR3 RAM.

Perhaps more notable is the same .95-inch thickness (in fact it has the exact same dimensions as the current 13-inch MacBook Pro), optical drive, and sad 1,280-by-800 display that is not even as dense as the 2010 13-inch MacBook Air’s display.

This base model (if this is indeed real) is not going to be on our shopping list. Do you know what is?

Update: If this is indeed true, this base model MBP would be running a Intel® Core™ i5-3210M Processor (3M Cache, up to 3.10 GHz),

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Amazon’s Trade-In program now accepts laptops and netbooks, which means Mac users are eligible to swap their MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, or MacBook before the upcoming refresh. How convenient—especially with the new MacBooks likely just weeks away from launch!

Starting today, those who are interested can visit www.amazon.com/tradein to search for electronics worth trading-in. After finding the item, click the Trade in button. After the trade-in submission is accepted, Amazon offers free shipping through UPS Ground or U.S. Postal Service to eliminate the headache and cost of the trade-in process. All items have to ship within seven days of submitting the transaction.

The online retailer deposits a Gift Card into the seller’s account after the deal finalizes. Unaccepted trade-ins either will receive a lower Gift Card amount or simply be returned. The return method adheres to the seller’s preference, which is selected upon completing the initial transaction online.

A quick glance through the MacBook price tags reveal an Apple MacBook Pro MD322LL/A 15.4-Inch Laptop (NEWEST VERSION) for a trade-in value up to $1,230, while an Apple MacBook MC516LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop (OLD VERSION) fetches a trade-in value up to $360. An Apple MacBook Air MC966LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop (NEWEST VERSION) earns a trade-in value up to $74o. The amount offered per trade-in varies depending on the model and condition.

9to5Mac first reported earlier this month that Apple is prepping a new 15-inch MacBook Pro for this summer that features an ultra-thin design, a “jaw-dropping” Retina Display, and super-fast USB 3. Our sources also indicated the MacBook Retina Display will début at the Worldwide Developers Conference next month, but it will not stay exclusive to Apple’s Pro notebook. The first-class, high-resolution display is also coming to the MacBook Air family.
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A new report this morning detailed Apple’s investment in equipment and machinery during the most recent quarter as record-breaking, which indicates the company is certainly up to something.

According to Asymco, Apple’s financial reports hint at even more future investments. The Cupertino, Calif.-based Company spent $1.3 billion in the last quarter, with another $2.5 billion needed over the next two quarters.

“Such numbers are hard to grasp. They are unprecedented not only for Apple but for almost any comparable company,” explained Asymco’s Horace Dediu.

The graph above illustrates the increase in quarterly spending for “machinery, equipment, and internal-use software.” So, what does Apple have in the works that requires so much machine-powered investments?

9to5Mac revealed today that the sixth-generation iPhone will have a 3.95-inch display at a 1,136-by-640-pixel resolution, and it will have a new dock connector. Of course, simply upgrading the iPhone does not explain Apple’s deep investment into production equipment.

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In January, following a meeting with Samsung Storage solutions at CES 2012, we told you that Apple’s next-gen MacBook Air would likely make the switch to the speedier 830 series SSDs from Samsung alongside an update to Ivy Bridge. This was of course before we revealed some major changes coming to Apple’s new MacBook and iMac lineups. In addition to Retina displays for almost the entire new lineup, the new ultra-thin 15-inch MacBook Pro will be getting a complete redesign, losing the optical drive, and bringing it closer to to the thin design of current Airs. Like the new MacBook Airs, we have been told that at least some of Apple’s prototype MacBook Pros have used Samsung’s 830 series SSDs…

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9to5Mac first revealed that Apple is readying Retina displays for its computer lineup (MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs, and iMacs) that were previously only available to iOS devices, but new reports claim those high-resolution displays within the supply channel will debut on Apple’s notebooks at an increased cost.

According to DisplaySearch Senior Analyst Richard Shim (via CNET), the panels are becoming a “premium feature” that will cost the Cupertino, Calif.-based Company. The analyst further explained that including a 2,800-by-1,800-pixel display in the 15.4-inch MacBook pro would cost about $160. Apple currently spends $68 on its current models. Meanwhile, he said adding a 2,560-by-1,600-pixel display in the 13.3-inch model would cost $134, versus the current $69 expense.

According to CNET:

“What’s unclear is if consumers will end up paying more for the improvements. When Apple made the jump to Retina Displays in its iOS devices, the cost of the device stayed the same. The scale was a bit smaller though. For instance, according to a bill of materials from IHS iSuppli, the price of the third-generation iPad’s display was $87 versus the iPad 2’s $57, just a $30 difference.

As it stands, Apple already offers one such screen resolution upgrade on the 15-inch MacBook Pro, but customers need to pay for it. For $100 more, users can go from the 1440 by 900 pixel display to one that’s 1,680 by 1,050 pixels, or a 36 percent increase in the number of pixels.”

Whether or not the super-resolution displays cost more, it is highly unlikely that Apple will raise prices. As the publication noted above, adding Retina displays to the iPhone 4 and third-generation iPad, for example, did not increase Apple’s asking price.

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We told you earlier this month about the “NoteBook Case” for iPad—a bluetooth keyboard case that does a good job of turning an iPad into a MacBook-looking netbook. That case is now available in the United States and Europe through CPeel, but today we look at another impressive keyboard case currently on Kickstarter called “Brydge.”

Like the NoteBook Case, the Brydge iPad case gets much of its design cues from the MacBook Pro line. The differences include aerospace-grade aluminium, optional built-in speakers, and a patent-pending “click-in” hinge providing close to 180 degrees of positioning freedom. The hinge is made of “metal alloys and magnets, with a thermoplastic elastomer shell.” By all accounts, at first glance, this appears to be one of the better made keyboard cases we have come across.

The Kickstarter project is currently at just $2,855 in pledges from 16 backers, but it still has 39 days to reach its $90,000 funding goal. A $150 donation will get you the model without speakers, while a $180 donation earns a model with speakers. If the project reaches its funding goal, the company plans to ship the first units by October. A full gallery of close-ups and the different models is after the break.

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Today, we have two pieces of Intel-related news with reports claiming a solid April 23 launch date for the Ivy Bridge introduction, while others report Intel has begun shipping its next-generation Thunderbolt technology.

Late last month, we heard reports from CPU World, which claimed Ivy Bridge CPUs most-likely to land in future Macs would launch between April 22 and April 28 with availability by April 29. Today, we get a solid launch date with Cnet and various other sources reporting Intel will start its initial rollout April 23. As we detailed previously, many of the Ivy Bridge models included in the initial launch would be suitable for MacBook Pro-like devices and desktop offerings. However, Intel’s Ultra low-voltage U-Series Ivy Bridge processors most likely headed for MacBook Air-like designs are expected to launch in June.

Intel today said there would be over 100 Thunderbolt devices by year-end and another report coming from VR-Zone today claimed Intel started shipping its second-generation Thunderbolt controllers codenamed “Cactus Ridge,” which would align nicely if both these updates are headed to future Macs…

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