MacBook

Light. Years ahead.

608 'MacBook' stories December 2010 - March 2014

Check out our top stories on MacBook:

Originally released April 10, 2015 and last refreshed April 19, 2016, the all-new MacBook ($1,299 and up from the Apple Store) is the thinnest and lightest Mac laptop ever made. It’s also the first MacBook to be offered in four color options: classic silver, space gray, gold and rose gold.

Currently offered only with a 12″ screen, it represents the future of Apple laptops. Following a refresh in April 2016, it now includes a 2304×1440 (226ppi) Retina display, 8GB of RAM and up to 512GB of SSD storage, coupled with ultra-low-power Intel Core M processors. The base model includes a 1.1GHz dual-core Intel Core M chip with an Intel HD Graphics 515 GPU; and upgraded models offer to 1.2GHz dual-core Intel Core m5 or 1.3GHz dual-core Intel Core m7 processor with Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz.

With a redesigned chassis that’s only slightly wider than the keyboard, the new MacBook’s 0.14″–0.52″ thickness was achieved in part by dropping all external connectivity ports save for a 3.5mm headphone port and a new reversible USB-C port, which can be used for power, data connectivity, and video output. Most of the MacBook’s connectivity is handled wirelessly with 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4 support. It promises 9-10 hours of battery life depending on how the computer is being used.

A redesigned Force Touch trackpad now can sense multiple levels of pressure rather than just one, using four pressure sensors and a haptic feedback pad to replicate the clickiness of a traditional trackpad. Additionally, the keyboard has been completely redesigned to retain the expected clicks, precision, and travel of conventional keys, while cutting their depth and width to fit the chassis. An ultra-thin top lid has only enough depth for a 640×480 FaceTime camera, a compromise for the smaller size.

Just like the first-generation MacBook Air, the new MacBook is aimed at users whose computing needs don’t demand incredible horsepower, yet benefit from a slim, light chassis with a really nice screen. Though you’ll do better in raw dollar terms and power by buying a comparably priced 13″ Retina MacBook Pro, you’ll have nearly twice the weight to carry around (2.03 pounds versus 3.48 pounds) and a larger footprint to manage. The choice of which is best for your needs will be highly personal.

Current Lineup:

MacBook (12-inch, Early 2016)

Related Guides:

Rumor: 12-inch Retina MacBook/Air updates coming soon without fan or mechanical trackpad button

Mike Beasley Mar 21 2014 - 5:49 pm PT

80 Comments

A forum poster with a reputable history on WeiPhone.com [Google translate] (via MacRumors) claims to have information about an upcoming MacBook/Air refresh. According to this source, the new model will sport a 12-inch design close to the current 11.6-inch model, but will feature significant internal differences.

The updated MacBook will reportedly not have a fan, will feature a Retina display, and redesigned trackpad. This new trackpad will ditch the mechanical button that has been in the multi-touch trackpads since they first debuted. Instead, the new Air will use only tap gestures for clicking but may feature some tactile feedback to simulate a click.

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TwelveSouth announces new hand-finished ‘Rutledge BookBook’ case for MacBooks

Jordan Kahn Mar 13 2014 - 10:45 am PT

7 Comments

TwelveSouth, the company behind the popular BookBook series of cases for Apple devices that we’ve reviewed several times in the past, today announced a brand new option for MacBook users. The new “Rutledge BookBook” for MacBook is the first new product in the BookBook lineup in almost three years and the company says it’s also its most unique yet.

While the overall look of the case is much the same as BookBooks that came before it, TwelveSouth says the Rutledge case features a new process of finishing the leather by hand that makes it look even more like an authentic old book. It also makes every Rutledge BookBook unique:
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RIP Mac optical drives? Rumor suggests Apple to drop last non-Retina MacBook Pro this year

Ben Lovejoy Mar 5 2014 - 4:12 am PT

34 Comments

DigiTimes is claiming that Apple will cease production of the non-Retina version of the 13-inch MacBook Pro this year as it prepares to launch refreshed Retina models toward the end of the year.

Apple is expected to stop production of the 13-inch MacBook Pro in the second half of 2014 and will replace the product line with thinner models equipped with a Retina display. Meanwhile, Intel will offer second-generation ultrabooks in the fourth quarter of 2014, pushing the notebook industry further into the ultra-thin era, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers …
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Review: How I transformed my workspace w/ LandingZone’s MacBook Pro Dock

Jordan Kahn Jan 24 2014 - 4:02 pm PT

23 Comments

: Without LandingZone

: With LandingZone

Think of it as an iPhone-style dock for your MacBook. At home you might have several things plugged into your MacBook’s various ports (hard drives, USB products, speakers, etc), which means disconnecting and reconnecting everything each time you leave or return with your MacBook. With LandingZone, everything gets connected to ports in the back of the dock, allowing you to simply place your MacBook in the dock and instantly connect to all your peripherals. When you leave, you can pop out your Mac and walk away in seconds without thinking twice about all the connected cables. It also packs in a 5-port USB hub, ethernet adapter, HDMI, and Mini DisplayPort all while reducing cable clutter on your desk. I’ve been using the latest LandingZone Dock model for the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro for a couple weeks and it has truly transformed my workspace.
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Jimmy Fallon scrambles to hide his MacBook during Bill Gates interview (Video)

Jordan Kahn Jan 22 2014 - 9:28 am PT

13 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk7pPutimCM&start=70]

Bill Gates stopped by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night to talk about his various charitable endeavours and to promote the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s annual letter published today. Despite the serious subject matter, Jimmy still managed to squeeze in a few laughs including apologizing for the MacBook and Apple keyboard and mouse that sit on his desk each night before removing them for the rest of the interview.

And then there was this:
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‘Name Your Own Price’ Mac Bundle: Snagit Screencapture, Flux 4, Boom, Mac X Video Converter, Elite Keylogger Pro, more

9to5 Staff Jan 21 2014 - 9:53 pm PT

11 Comments

From 9to5toys.com:

(also don’t forget the Parallels Bundle!)

Stack Social is running another ‘Name your own price bundle’ with some solid offerings starting at $1 and an email address (Update: Now over $3 and rising!). The price goes up as people buy it so it is best to get in early.

The bundle includes:

Snagit For Mac ($50) – The #1 Rated Screen Capture tool for Mac
Flux 4 ($140) – Powerful Mac Web Design Made Easy
Jump Desktop ($30) – Connect and Share With Any Computer in the World
Boom For Mac ($7) – System-Wide Volume Booster
MacX Video Converter Pro ($50) – Convert Any Video Format (including YouTube) for
Playback Across All Apple Devices
Tunes Cleaner ($30) – Easily Delete Duplicate Songs to Revitalize Your iTunes
Mariner Write ($50) – A Streamlined, Simple Editor for your Mac
CameraBag 2 ($20) – Ultimate Desktop Photo Editing
Chronicle 5 ($15) – Never Worry About Your Bills Again
Folx Pro ($20) – An Easier and Faster Way to Download Files & Torrents
Elite Keylogger Pro ($49) – The Undetectable Keystroke Logger for Mac

If you are feeling generous, 10% of all sales go to a charity of you choice – so get in early, and get on the leaderboard (which qualifies you to enter a drawing for a MacBook Air).
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Mac Pro shipping estimates slip into March as supply fails to catch up with demand

Ben Lovejoy Jan 20 2014 - 7:26 am PT

4 Comments

Shipping estimates for the Mac Pro have slipped from February to March in many countries, suggesting that Apple has made no progress in reducing lead times from around six weeks. U.S. shipping estimates so far remain in February.

Launched last month to rave reviews, the all-new design has been praised for its upgradability, in sharp contrast to the MacBook range. However, it appears that Apple’s desire to keep its promise of a late 2013 launch date, made at WWDC, led to a repetition of the previous year’s iMac shortages …
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Toshiba: “Leading Innovation”

Jordan Kahn Jan 7 2014 - 6:40 pm PT

8 Comments

Toshiba’s new Chromebook at CES looks a lot like LG, Samsung, and HP notebooks from IFA. “Leading Innovation”
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Best Buy offering 16GB iPhone 5s for $125, 5c for free on all carriers for a limited time

Jordan Kahn Jan 2 2014 - 8:48 am PT

2 Comments

Best Buy just sent over word that it will be holding a special New Year’s sale this weekend on a number of products including significant discounts on iPhones. The retailer is dropping the cost of the 16GB iPhone 5s down to $124.99 from its usual $199 and the 16GB iPhone 5c will be available to pick up for free, both available through all major carriers. The sale lasts through Jan. 4 both in-store and online, and the prices for the discounted iPhones are already available through at least Best Buy online.
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iPad takes top spot in 2013 tablet market, but MacBooks lose out to Google-powered Chromebooks

Mike Beasley Dec 28 2013 - 5:31 pm PT

31 Comments

Editor’s note: As noted in the graph above, the numbers in this article refer only to the commercial channel, as NPD does not measure direct sales. Some of the language below has been updated to clarify this point.

A new release from the NPD Group indicates that notebooks running Google’s Chrome OS have gained significant ground in the past year, with Google’s free operating system managing to overtake Apple’s entire lineup of MacBooks for the first time. According to the statistics, Chromebooks outsold Apple’s notebooks in the consumer channel at an over five-to-one margin.

Of course, it should be noted that the numbers presented don’t take built-to-order machines into account, instead relying on sales of pre-configured options, but even with custom orders included the numbers indicate a significant shift in consumer notebook selection. Luckily for Apple, the biggest hit seems to be to Microsoft, whose notebooks lost a significant 8% of the market to Google.

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Miss Teen USA spied on via MacBook camera while indicator light was off

Ben Lovejoy Dec 19 2013 - 4:44 am PT

4 Comments

The Washington Post reports that when a high school classmate of Cassidy Wolf (aka Miss Teen USA) spied on her via the iSight camera in her MacBook, he did so using software that allowed him to keep the green indicator light off while viewing.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University were able to replicate the exploit, demonstrated in the above video, but only on MacBook and iMac models released before 2008.

Stephen Checkoway, a computer science professor at Johns Hopkins and a co-author of the study. “Apple went to some amount of effort to make sure that the LED would turn on whenever the camera was taking images,” Checkoway says. The 2008-era Apple products they studied had a “hardware interlock” between the camera and the light to ensure that the camera couldn’t turn on without alerting its owner […]

In a paper called “iSeeYou: Disabling the MacBook Webcam Indicator LED,” Brocker and Checkoway describe how to reprogram the iSight camera’s micro-controller to allow the camera and light to be activated independently. That allows the camera to be turned on while the light stays off.

While this particular exploit appears limited to older Macbooks, it was recently revealed through court papers that the FBI has the ability to do the same thing with a variety of current laptops including Apple products.

Opinion: Will Apple return to a single MacBook range next year?

Ben Lovejoy Dec 2 2013 - 6:22 am PT

108 Comments

Photo: anandtech.com

I guess you could call me something of a fanboy where Apple laptops are concerned. I bought the very first one, the Macintosh Portable, in 1989 (and actually still have it tucked away in a cupboard even now). This was followed by a series of PowerBooks before the MacBooks came along, and I currently have both a MacBook Pro 17 and MacBook Air 11.

The split between the Air and Pro ranges made sense for a whole bunch of reasons up to now. The Air has performed two important roles for Apple. First, the cachet of producing the world’s slimmest notebook further boosted Apple’s style credentials. Even today, after it lost the slimmest notebook crown and has seen the wedge design copied by others, it remains a style icon, getting admiring glances every time you pull it out in a coffee shop …
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Black Friday: The best Apple deals on iPhone, iPad, Macs, & Apps all in one place

Jordan Kahn Nov 29 2013 - 9:48 am PT

4 Comments

It can be hard to keep up with all of the great Apple related deals available this Black Friday weekend, so we thought we’d make it easy for you. Here are all of the best deals available this weekend on Macs, iPhones, iPads, Apple TV, iPods, iTunes gift cards, and a ton of great apps for both iOS and Mac. As always, 9to5Toys is tracking all the best Black Friday deals on other products as well as the latest discounts as they get announced.

Mac |

Best Buy: Retina MacBook Pro up to $200 off, iMac $150 off, MacBook Air $150 off
MacMall: Black Friday Begins Now at MacMall: MacBook Airs $100 off, iPads $40 off, more
B&H: Some of the best deals on Macs if you want AppleCare included.

iPhone |

Best Buy: Best Buy offering iPhone 5s for $75 off all models on AT&T, Sprint and Verizon
Walmart: Walmart will credit YOU $30 to get an iPhone 5c on contract this Black Friday
T-Mobile: T-Mobile, regional carriers offering iPhone 5s and 5c for $0 down on Black Friday

iPad |

Apple iPad Deals: iPad Air w/ $100 Target GC $479, iPad mini $249, iPad 2 $300, more

Apple TV |

Apple TV + HDMI Cable: $72.49 shipped
Apple TV 3rd generation 1080p $85 shipped (Reg. $99)

iPod |

Black Friday iPod Discounts: iPod Touch/iPod Nano $50 off, more

Accessories |

Where to find the best Black Friday deals on iPhones, iPads, Macs, & Apple accessories

iTunes |

Discounted iTunes Gift Cards: Save up to 20% on future apps, music, movies, more. $100 gift card for $85 or $50 gift card for $40.

Apps |

Black Friday App Store sale guide: The best deals on iPhone, iPad, and Mac apps

Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Elements 12 combo: $70 shipped

Adobe launches Black Friday deals up to 60% off on Photoshop, Lightroom, and more

VMWare sitewide Black Friday sale, VMWare Fusion 6: $38.99 new or $32.49 for an upgrade

Hyper offers up to 50% off battery packs, Wi-Fi USB drives & more for your MacBook, iPhone & iPad

Jordan Kahn Nov 28 2013 - 1:41 pm PT

0 Comments

There are a ton of great Black Friday deals this year, but if you’re looking for an external battery pack for your MacBook, there aren’t many options other than Hyper. We’ve reviewed various models of the HyperJuice Battery Packs in the past, and today the company let us know it’s offering everything in its online store up for up to 50% off.

That includes its colorful dual USB HyperJuice Battery Packs, its WiFi connected iUSBport camera accessories and hard drives, and much more. Some of the notables (pictured above) include: $50 off HyperJuice MacBook batteries, $60 off USB battery packs, $100 off the iUSBportCAMERA, and $60 off the HyperJuice Battery + iPad stand. iUSBportCAMERA will let you wirelessly tether from most DSLRs to iOS devices, while the iUSBport mini will allow you to wirelessly connect to your MicroSDXC or use it as a USB flash drive.

Hyper has long been just about the only company on the market offering portable external battery packs for MacBooks. Apple doesn’t let third-party accessory makers use the MagSafe adapter, so Hyper’s DIY kit for modding your cable is the reason it’s still the only one with portable MacBook batteries. Good news: There is also an option to order a premodified MagSafe cable directly from Hyper. You can of course use the batteries for many other devices too thanks to built-in USB ports. Read about our experience with it here.

These are just some of the most notable deals available through Hyper for Black Friday:

HyperJuice Battery Packs
HyperJuice² Battery Pack for MacBook (100Wh) – Now $249.95 ($50 off MSRP $299.95)
HyperJuice^1.5 Battery Pack for MacBook (60Wh) – Now $139.95 ($30 off MSRP $169.95)
HyperJuice^1.5 Battery Pack for MacBook (100Wh) – Now $199.95 ($50 off MSRP $249.95)
HyperJuice^1.5 Battery Pack for MacBook (150Wh) – Now $299.95 ($50 off MSRP $349.95)
HyperJuice^1.5 Battery Pack for MacBook (222Wh) – Now $399.95 ($50 off MSRP $449.95)
HyperJuice Micro 3600mAh Dual USB Battery Pack – Now $39.95 ($30 off MSRP $69.95)
HyperJuice Mini 7200mAh Dual USB Battery Pack – Now $59.95 ($40 off MSRP $99.95)
HyperJuice Stand 11000mAh USB Battery Pack – Now $69.95 ($60 off MSRP $129.95)
HyperJuice Plug 10400mAh Dual USB Battery Pack – Now $79.95 ($50 off MSRP $129.95)
HyperJuice Plug 15600mAh Dual USB Battery Pack – Now $99.95 ($60 off MSRP $159.95)

HyperDrive Storage Products
iUSBportCAMERA DSLR Wireless Tether to iDevice – Now $199.95 ($100 off MSRP $299.95)
iUSBport Mini Wireless USB Flash Drive for iDevice – Now $79.95 ($10 off MSRP $89.95)
iUSBport Wireless USB Hub for iPad, iPhone, Android – Now $89.95 ($10 off MSRP $99.95)
HyperDrive UDMA2 Memory Card Backup Device & Photo Viewer – Now 10% off all models
HyperDrive Hard Drive for iPad – Now 10% off all models

HyperShield Apple Accessories
HyperShield Back Covers for iPad (various styles and colors) – $4.99 (Usual $19.95-$39.95)
HyperShield Stylus (various styles and colors) – $4.99-$7.99 (Usual $9.95-$19.95)
ThinShield World’s Thinnest & Lightest iPhone 5/5s Case – $9.95 (50% off MSRP $19.95)

HyperThin World Thinnest HDMI Cables
0.8m – $14.95 ($5 off MSRP $19.95)
2.5m – $29.95 ($10 off MSRP $39.95)

Apple’s multi-billion dollar spend on gadgets you’ll never see

Ben Lovejoy Nov 13 2013 - 6:42 am PT

3 Comments

Bloomberg claims to have some info on how Apple plans to spend some of the $10.5B it has set aside for capital expenditure over the next year, saying that the investments will span everything from lasers to robots.

Apple is spending more on the machines that do the behind-the-scenes work of mass producing iPhones, iPads and other gadgets. That includes equipment to polish the new iPhone 5c’s colorful plastic, laser and milling machines to carve the MacBook’s aluminum body, and testing gear for the iPhone and iPad camera lens …
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Apple fixes 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro trackpad/keyboard issues, graphics bug on 15-inch

Mark Gurman Nov 7 2013 - 12:07 pm PT

3 Comments

With the new 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro launch last month, many users have noticed and complained about issues relating to the computer’s keyboard and trackpad becoming unresponsive.

In line with Apple’s promise, a fix has been delivered:

This update is recommended for MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, late 2013) models. This update addresses an issue where the built-in keyboard and Multi-Touch trackpad may become unresponsive.

The solution comes in the form of the MacBook Pro Retina EFI Update 1.3, and this update is available via Software Update in the Mac App Store. Apple has also released an update for the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro to fix issues relating to NVIDIA Graphics chips:

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Latest MacBook Pro 15 gets blazing SSD performance thanks to 4-channel PCIe (updated)

Ben Lovejoy Nov 4 2013 - 5:43 am PT

11 Comments

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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iPad Air teardown: never mind the repairability, feel the tech

Ben Lovejoy Nov 1 2013 - 5:27 am PT

16 Comments

iFixit has done its usual trick of hopping over to Australia to get its hands on an iPad Air in the first time-zone to open its doors for business to bring us a look at the innards of the new device. The device is now on sale in the U.S. too, with supplies expected to be good.

No surprise that the company found little prospect of success for DIY repair, reporting that even opening the casing was a challenge: when you pack that much technology into so small a space, there’s going to be a lot of glue involved.

Some details of what the company found and more photos below the fold …
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Best Buy offering $100 discount on MacBook Airs this weekend, $25 gift card with iPad 4

Mark Gurman Oct 31 2013 - 3:53 pm PT

0 Comments

Alongside the launch of the iPad Air tomorrow, Best Buy is holding some special price promotions for some MacBook and older iPad models. The company says that it will provide $100 discounts on all MacBook Air models on Friday and Saturday. The offer will be available both via the company’s online store and in its chain of physical retail stores. If you don’t absolutely need one of these devices this week it is best to hold tight and watch 9to5Toys (on Twitter too!) as we expect even heavier discounts throughout the holiday season.

The company will also offer a discount on the non-Retina 13-inch MacBook Pro. Currently, the Best Buy Online Store offers the $1499 configuration with 8GB of RAM and a 750GB hard drive for $1349, but the company will take off an extra $150 ($1249) for Friday and Saturday. Like with the MacBook Air deal, this offer is applicable both in-store and online. Keep in mind, that for $50 more, you can get a thinner, lighter Retina 13-inch MacBook Pro, but that will come with substantially less storage and half the RAM.

In addition to the price cuts on Macs, buyers of the fourth-generation iPad with Retina display at Best Buy stores will get a $25 gift card. With the iPad Air coming in at $499, this older iPad model will cost $449 before the gift card. Also, the wireless Jawbone Jambox speaker system will be cut from $149 to $199. The speaker deal will run from Friday until Saturday this weekend, and the iPad 4 deal is already live.

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Apple working on innovative solar charging system for MacBooks, iPads and iPhones

Ben Lovejoy Oct 31 2013 - 6:22 am PT

3 Comments

An innovative approach to solar charging revealed in an Apple patent application published today (via Patently Apple) could make it more practical to power both MacBooks and iOS devices from the sun.

The voltage and power generated by a solar panel varies with the amount of sunlight. To turn the power supply into something that can safely be used by an electronic device, you need a converter or regulator to deliver the correct specs to the device, adding cost and bulk to the panel.

What the Apple patent describes is building the necessary power management circuitry into the MacBook, iPad or iPhone so that it can accept whatever power the panel supplies. This potentially allows for cheaper and more portable panels …
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Opinion: What can we expect from the elusive Apple Television?

Ben Lovejoy Oct 28 2013 - 11:20 am PT

59 Comments

All concept visuals: martinhajek.com

Having recently speculated on what Apple might have planned in the way of 4K displays, I thought I’d build on that to think about what it might have in store on the television front.

If you didn’t read my 4K piece, the tl;dr version is I think Apple will launch a 4K Thunderbolt Display in about a year’s time, once it has a new generation of MacBook Pro models able to drive one (or preferably two) at a decent frame-rate.

The question then is: what form might the long-rumored Apple Television take? After all, plug an upgraded Apple TV box into an Apple 4K display and you’d have an Apple Television right there. Why would we need anything more … ?
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Thinner, lighter, FASTER: Early benchmarks show 50-65% improvement in MacBook Pro’s Iris graphics

Seth Weintraub Oct 26 2013 - 6:51 am PT

7 Comments

Macworld’s benchmarks

…less expensive, better battery life too

Apple’s relentless improvement iterations continue unabated. Macworld’s early benchmarks on Apple’s new base model 13″MacBook Pro with built in Intel Iris Graphics are in and show huge speed gains in graphics performance:

The most impressive improvements in the new laptops came courtesy of the new Iris graphics. Compared to the HD 4000 graphics in the early 2013 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro, the Iris graphics posted between 45 and 50 percent higher frame rates in Cinebench r15’s OpenGL tests and the Unigine Valley Benchmark. Unigen’s Heaven benchmark showed the new systems with about 65 percent improvement in frame rates over the earlier model.

Iris Graphics also support displays up to 4K at 24Hz, a first for Apple’s entry level Pro laptops.

CPU performance improvement is slight but the Intel Haswell architecture adds a few hours of (Apple’s estimated) battery life while the machine actually got thinner and lighter. Meanwhile, Apple loaded up faster 802.11ac Wifi and speedy Samsung PCIe SSDs up to 1TB and Thunderbolt 2.0.

Price? Dropped $100 to $1299. (we are already seeing discounts/tax advantages in our Products section).
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New Haswell MacBook Pro teardowns beautiful but prove almost non-repairable by mortals

Ben Lovejoy Oct 25 2013 - 5:16 am PT

23 Comments

MacBook Pro 13

Teardowns of the new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro models reveal lots of shiny technology, but with the machines following the construction lead of the MacBook Air, it’s no surprise to see IFixIt giving both models low scores for repairability. The extreme difficulty in removing both battery and trackpad mean both models get even worse scores than the Air, at just 1 out of 10.

As with the Air, RAM is soldered directly to the logic board, so if you think you may need more in the future, take a deep breath and pay Apple’s price for the 16GB upgrade as there is no way to upgrade it later. IFixIt also draws particular attention to the difficulty of replacing the battery,

The lithium-polymer battery is glued rather than screwed into the case, which increases the chances that it’ll break during disassembly. The battery also covers the trackpad cable, which tremendously increases the chance that the user will shear the cable in the battery removal process.

More details and photos below the fold …
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Report: New MacBook Pros on sale Oct 24/25, iPads Oct 30/31, Mac Pro Nov 15

Ben Lovejoy Oct 15 2013 - 4:26 am PT

32 Comments

Image: techbeat.com

French site MacG, which has an imperfect track-record, claims to have been given the dates on which the new MacBook Pros, iPads and Mac Pro will go on sale. The claimed dates are:

MacBook Pro on October 24th or 25th
iPad 5 and iPad Mini 2 on October 30th or 31st
Mac Pro on November 15th

With Apple’s media event scheduled for 22nd October, this would put the MacBook Pros on sale very quickly indeed, just two or three days later.

However, the iPad and Mac Pro dates do not make as much sense. Apple has typically launched its new iPad models on Fridays (or Saturday for the original version), making it unlikely that the new tablets would hit store shelves on a Wednesday or Thursday (as the MacGeneration report claims).

As for the Mac Pro, that machine is a built-to-order computer, so perhaps it would be difficult to pinpoint an actual launch date for that product. MacG also happened to have claimed that Apple’s event would occur today, so that does not add much credibility to these new claims.

Below is what we’re expecting to see for each product …
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