MacBook

From 9to5Toys.com:

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This evening, Apple began offering refurbished Retina MacBook Pros at the online Apple Store at significant 15% discounts, yielding savings of over $500 on high end models (below). 15-inch Retina MacBooks normally retail at $2200 but we’ve seen them as low as $2,000 (which is also the EDU discount price).

Apple refurbished products are packaged and look like new and come with the same one year of AppleCare. See all of the best prices on Apple Products on our Apple product pages.

Thanks Jason!
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[slideshow]

Talk about good timing. A few days before Sandy hit our town, Hyper sent me its new MacBook + iOS charging external battery device, the Hyperjuice MBP2-100.

Hyper has made external MacBook/Air/Pro batteries for years, and if you’ve ever been to an Apple (or any big technology) keynote event, many of the live bloggers have their rigs hooked up to them. HyperJuice’s latest line, dubbed the “MBP2 series”, expands on the capabilities of the big power batteries…

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Apple’s Black Friday sales started going live online earlier today in a number of Apple Stores around the world, including: Australia, New Zealand, Germany, United Kingdom, and more. Now, Apple’s deals for the United States and Canada are live with the expected $100 in savings on MacBooks and smaller savings for iPads, iPods, and select accessories.

While Apple’s deals are in line with what we expected from previous years, most of these products can be found even cheaper through third-party retailers today. We have put together a list of all the Black Friday prices on the U.S. Apple Store below. Next to each item, you’ll also find the lowest price that we could find from third parties—most of which provided an even better deal than Apple:

-iPad with Retina display | From $458 (Save $41)
Best Price: BestBuy from $439
-iPad 2 | From $368 (Save $31)
Best Price: BestBuy from $339
Alternative Best Price option: eBay Daily Deals from $339 (16GB WiFi)
-iPod touch | From $268 (Save $31)
Best Price: Best Buy from $294+$50 gift card
-iPod touch 4th generation | From $178  (Save $21 )
Best Price: Best Buy from $194 +$50 gift card
-iPod nano | From $138 (Save $11)
Best Price: Best Buy from $144 + $20 gift card

-MacBook Pro with Retina Display | From $1,598 (Save $101)
Best Price: Amazon from $1,593
-MacBook Pro | From $1,098 (Save $101)
Best Price: Amazon from $1,024
-MacBook Air | From $898 (Save $101)
Best Price: Amazon from $893

Check our Apple Product pages for the lowest prices across the board as well as 9to5Toys.com for the latest updates. More Apple comparisons coming, below:
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Seth Weintraub and Danny DeSilva contributed to this post.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been posting links to a mysterious Apple refurbished store that appeared on eBay about a month ago and has been hiding in plain sight ever since. Labeled only “Refurbished Outlet” with hidden corporate information and nothing in the way of contact information or a traceable backend, the store gets impressive 99.7-percent positive reviews from buyers. But, there is no information on where devices are coming from.

We thought Apple might be testing the waters to sell refurbished products directly to customers through eBay, and it seems that’s exactly what is happening. We discovered that this is in fact an Apple-run Store within eBay. It is in trial, and it could open the door to much bigger things. No one would go on the record at eBay, however.

Aside from the image fonts above, which are an uncharacteristic wreck, there are many telltale signs of Apple’s direct involvement. Just like Apple’s own refurbished products, the “refurbished outlet” products all have the following:

• Full one-year warranty
• Returned to like-new condition
• iPads/iPods include a new battery
• Received complete burn-in testing
• Original OS re-installed
• Repackaged with manual and cable
• Final quality inspection by Apple

The prices on the products are also identical to the Apple Store’s refurbished prices across the board (below)
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Apple just updated its website following the iPad mini media event with some new videos for the device as well as specs and updated product pages for the new 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro and other products. You can also now view a video of the keynote speech via a link from the Apple.com homepage.

Apple also put its store back online with many of the new products it just unveiled, and it appears to have tweaked its online store with a slightly new design.
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We had many of the details for the 13.3-inch Retina MacBook Pro ahead of today’s unveiling, but Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Philip Schiller just confirmed the device’s specs and pricing. As we told you earlier, the new 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro comes in two base configurations (with a third 2.9GHz dual-core i7 upgrade option available) and gets many of the enhancements that the 15-inch version received. Schiller noted that the device is 20 percent thinner than the previous generation 13-inch MacBook, and it includes a 2,560-by1,600 Retina display with 29 percent higher color contrast and 75 percent reduced reflection.

Apple also announced that the device would start at $1,699 for the base configuration, and it will start shipping today. Apple also showed a second configuration would be offered for $1,999. Both options below are configurable to a 2.9GHz dual-core Intel Core i7.

• 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz) with 3MB shared L3 cache
• 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz) with 3MB shared L3 cache

Some of the device’s specs—that Apple is now listing on its website— are below:
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Had you heard? Apple’s got a ‘little’ event going on at the newly-decorated California Theatre tomorrow where they will FINALLY showcase the iPad Mini, new Mac Minis, a Retina 13-inch MacBook Pro as well as software like iBooks 3.0 and iTunes 11.

First, the bad news: We’ve heard that the some of the iMacs that we found earlier have been pushed so far back that they might not warrant inclusion at the event this week. That doesn’t mean they are cancelled but because there have been some issues with the products and the including them is a “gameday decision”. We’re obviously hoping they make the docket.

And now the good news:
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15″ Retina MacBook Pro above, 13″ Retina MacBook Pro below (note no speaker and port/keyboard alignment):

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Another visit to WeiPhone.com forum thread [Google translation] (via MacRumors) from last week yields some additional new pictures of the upcoming 13-inch MacBook Pro. You can see different placement of the side jacks as they relate to the keyboard and lack of speaker.

There’s nothing unexpected but it does seem to confirm a few things:

• 2 Thunderbolt ports like 15-inch Retina and unlike 13-inch Pros
• The Windows screens seem to confirm the 2560×1600 pixel display
• HDMI port like Retina 15, unlike Pro 13.

We expect to see the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro at the October 23rd event with a base price in the $1599-1699 area. More pictures below:

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Alongside the new mini/iPads, Mac Minis, and iMacs, Apple will reveal a 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display on Oct. 23. We have now received pricing information on the base model and the “best” model. We believe the entry model 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro will cost roughly $1,699 at launch, based on wholesale prices we received, while the higher spec model will cost $200 to $300 more.

The base model Retina MacBook Pro retails for $2,199 in the United States, so the 13-inch varieties would create a more inexpensive option for those who also prefer a smaller device. We expect these to be available shortly after launch, but we can probably expect some supply constraints as we saw with the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro. We also expect initial supply constraints on some of the new iMacs.

It sounds like the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro will have a 2,560-by-1,600-pixel display (the same as a 30-inch Cinema Display), with the effective area being the same as the 1,280-by-800 screens as the current MacBook Pros when used in pixel-doubled Retina mode. We do not yet have other specs on the Retina Pro configuration, but we will update as that information comes in.

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Earlier, we posted new iPad SKUs showing Apple is likely launching 24 new models of the device. It is still to be determined whether the four variants in the SKUs include updated iPad 3 models with Lightning connectors or four iPad mini variants. Today, we also get a hint at what looks like updated 21-inch and 27-inch iMac models from the same SKUs.

Listed as “D7” and “D8” in the SKUs above, we see two refreshed models. They are presumably for the 21-inch and 27-inch variants that Apple currently sells. We have recently heard reports that Apple is planning to introduce new iMacs alongside what reports claimed were images of the refreshed iMacs’ internals.

There have also been rumors that Apple will begin selling the refreshed iMacs on Oct. 24—one day after the rumored date of the iPad mini launch event. We are not sure Apple will begin shipping any of the new models on Oct. 24, but we have heard at least some varieties will not ship at launch. However, the SKUs above are pretty good evidence that refreshed models are on the way. We will have more on that in the near future.
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We were initially skeptical about reports of a 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro, but we are obviously believers now that we have received word from very reliable sources that they are due in just over a week. Why were we skeptical?

Apple already has an incredible form factor in the 13-inch MacBook Air. So, why not simply give it a Retina Display?
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Alongside the smaller iPad, Apple will debut a 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display, according to a consistently reliable source at a high-profile U.S. retailer.

This new 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Retina Display is said to pick up the thinner and lighter enclosure of the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display that was released in June.

The new 13-inch MacBook Pro will be sold in two configurations, with differing processors and storage, and will be available for purchase soon after introduction.

Like with the 15-inch MacBook Pro lines, the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display will be sold (at a higher price) in addition to the current non-Retina display model. That computer was updated with faster processors and USB 3.0 in June.

The current 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display is codenamed D2, and its smaller sibling is in fact, as predicted this morning, dubbed D1 internally.

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MacRumors points to a WeiPhone.com forum thread [Google translation] this morning that purports to show details of a new iMac. The poster’s brother-in-law apparently works in the factory that builds the new Macs, and he snapped the above picture on his cell phone. The design was verified by iFixit to be similar to the internals of a current iMac with the plastic radio-transparent circle on the rear.

On the iMac, the poster says:

• It should be announced this month or next month (likely at the Oct. 23th announement)
• The design is of”epoch-making significance”
• From side to side you “almost cannot see the new iMac’s thickness” and it is compared to a drop of water and “tetragonal” elements. Still has iMac ‘chin’ below display
• It appears that the display is a “very pretty special glass glued directly” (perhaps like Retina MBP) to the machine rather than a separate display assembly
• The 21-inch might be ready before the 27-inch

The more expensive iMac and redesigned screen might hint at Retina. However, strangely, the poster does not mention anything related to this.

The 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro:

• Codenamed D1 (Which fits with Product D2 for the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro)
• Is seeing delays due to thermal issues

Interestingly, the poster mentions the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro, aside from being produced in Mexico, will see a silent update for screen blur and cooling improvements.

In another post, the poster talks about trouble with the glue and Foxconn.

 My uncle told me the newly launched products will have a lot of problem. This is because Tim Cook changed the way Steve Jobs used to do things which is having multiple suppliers. The problem with one sole supplier. Obvious example Foxconn!

Now a lot of more capable supplier is under Foxconn, other smaller supplier just can\’t cope with the demand. The new iMac is using a special \”glue\” to glue the display to the frame and is facing very strict quality control.

Products from Foxconn is having a lot of issues. In this case, after the glue dried, there will be minor air gaps. Apple had no choice but to use Foxconn because most of the capable manufacturer is now all under Foxconn. Therefore defects of the iPhone 5 is not that hard to understand(because Foxconn makes them all).

The full translated post is below (thanks, Tham!):
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