Apple

Apple updates laptops

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

It’s not a full refresh of the line, but small improvements and a pricing revision that makes Apple laptops even more interesting.

The changes I find more interesting are:

  • Faster processors and 8 GB of supported RAM.
  • All the Pro laptops use integrated battery (good battery life but not user-replaceable).
  • The aluminium 13″ Macbook moves to the Pro line: it gets a FireWire port, and the plastic one is the only Macbook now. The base price is 1199 USD.
  • The Macbook Air is now cheaper: 1499 USD the base model (with 120 GB HD) and 1799 USD with 128 GB SSD.

More info: Apple

MacMall - Your #1 Apple Superstore!

Nvidia GeForce 9400M benchmarks (Crysis, Call of Duty 4, Spore, Warhammer Online…)

Thursday, October 16th, 2008


MacBook now up to 2.4 GHz

There is a lot of interest about the graphics card of the new aluminium Macbook, but there is little information available at the moment. I will try to summarize here the available benchmarks:

3DMark 06

  • Notebookcheck estimates a score of 2000 at default settings. No info about how the estimation was calculated. 3DMark scores of other cards.
  • At the review of the new Macbook, PC Magazine publishes scores of 2344 at 1024×768, AA/AF off, and 2044 at 1280×800, 0x/4x.

Games

In addition, AnandTech publishes a comparison of current integrated graphics, including the GeForce 9400, but the desktop version. The difference in performance between the desktop and Macbook versions of the GeForce 9400 is unknown.

Did you find more benchmarks? Post a comment and tell us.

Review: new Macbook (PC Magazine)

Wednesday, October 15th, 2008

PC Magazine is first publishing a review of the new Apple Macbook.

Apple Macbook Review

A score of 3.5/5 is not bad, but it is nothing spectacular either…

You can also find a mini-review at Laptop Magazine.

Apple launches the new Macbook and Macbook Pro

Wednesday, October 15th, 2008

As expected, the new Macbook and Macbook Pro were launched at the Apple keynote yesterday. The Macbook has experienced the most important changes, now becoming a miniature Macbook Pro:

New Macbook and Macbook Pro

Left: Macbook Pro (15.4″); right: Macbook (13.3″). Source: Engadget.

The new 13.3″ Macbook has an aluminium finish and a Nvidia GeForce 9400M GS graphics card with 256 MB DDR3 memory. At the moment there are no published benchmarks for this card, but it is likely close in performance to the 9300M GS (Macbook Air has got this card, too). The weight has been reduced from 2.3 to 2 kg, the screen is LED-retroiluminated and the platform has been upgraded to Intel Centrino 2. But it does not have FireWire port, now. The new Macbook is available from 1299 $.

Both the Macbook and Macbook Pro have lost the button of the trackpad: now the whole surface of the trackpad can be used as a button, programming different areas for different actions.

An interesting novelty in the Macbook Pro is the simultaneous presence of two graphics cards: the same GeForce 9400M GS as in the Macbook, and a 9600M GT. Switching between cards enables you to choose high performance or long battery life. You have to log out to switch cards. The new Macbook Pro is available from 1999 $.

More info about the new laptops: Macbook specifications, Macbook Pro specifications, Macbook pictures, Macbook Pro pictures, Macbook vídeo.

They are already available at the Apple Store:


Apple Store


Apple Online Store

Laptop reviews: HP Pavilion dv5t, Asus M70sa, more Toshiba Satellite and others

Sunday, June 15th, 2008

Here you have the laptop review I have found during the week:

Macbook Air: order it NOW

Wednesday, January 16th, 2008

OK, you already know that: Apple has released the Macbook Air, claimed to be world’s thinnest laptop. It has a 13.3″ screen and weights 3 pounds: compare it with a Sony Vaio TZ: 11.1″ screen and 2.6 pounds. You can look at some pictures and get additional info, among others, at Notebook Review and Laptop Magazine.

About the specs: from the specs the processor looks like an Intel Core 2 Duo L7500 (1,6 GHz), that can be upgraded to L7700 (1,8 GHz); it has 2 GB RAM, 80 GB PATA hard drive (4200 rpm, can be upgraded to a 64 GB SSD) and Intel GMA X3100 graphics card. Apple claims a battery life of 5 h. Additional details at Apple.

Pricing: 1799 USD the standard model. It’s not expensive, considering the price of other ultraportables. Shipping is expected in about 2 weeks, I think but you can pre-order it RIGHT NOW. You know where:


Apple Online Store


Apple news: Microsoft Office 2008 and 8-core Mac Pro available at Apple Store

Wednesday, January 9th, 2008

January is a very exciting month for Apple fans: some interesting releases have been shown at CES, and Macworld Expo is around the corner. The latest releases are already available at Apple Store: Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac and the renewed Mac Pro, now with 8-core processing power in the standard configuration and RAM up to 32 GB!


Apple Online Store


Apple Store

Apple ultraportable in January?

Tuesday, November 13th, 2007

The rumored ultraportable from Apple could be presented at Macworld, on January 15th.

It seems that the ultraportable would be a 13.3″ laptop, like the current Macbook line, but much thinner and lighter, lowering he weight down to about 1,7 kg (compared with Macbook’s 2,3 kg). It has also been said that it would sport a SSD instead of a conventional hard disk, and that it would lack an optical drive.

More info: news at LaptopLogic and News.com.

Think about it: last week rumors were about a tablet PC from Apple. It is likely that is the same laptop.