Apple has begun its “Back to School” promotion, offering education users App Store Gift Cards if they buy a new Mac or, new this year, an iPhone or iPad. As with last year’s campaign, picking up a new Mac or MacBook nets those headed off to college $100 in credit to spend on software in
Apple could further slim its MacBook Air and Pro range by combining ports, a new patent application suggests, developing hybrid USB and SD card reader ports that save notebook space without sacrificing connectivity. The newly published patent, simply titled “combined input port“, describes a single connector that, thanks to offset pins inside, could work with
Apple is apparently gathering up new MacBook Airs which appear to be displaying Wi-Fi issues
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According to reports from Apple employees and the assorted hordes of the internet, we’re not the only ones having trouble with the Wi-Fi on the new MacBook Air. So, are we just holding it wrong
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We can’t lie: we were hoping for a Retina MacBook Air last year when Apple rolled out the thinner, faster MacBook Pros with their pixel-packed displays and optical drive-free chassis. The Air, sadly, got left out of that particular party, but when we reviewed it we found a perfectly fine machine. This year, then, would surely be the year of major updates to Apple’s venerable thin-and-light machine?
As it turns out, no, it wouldn’t be. From the outside, the mid-2013 MacBook Air refresh is again a very minor one indeed, with no new display and (virtually) no exterior modifications. On the inside, though, bigger changes are afoot. New, faster SSDs and a selection of power-sipping Haswell CPUs from Intel have created a device that’s all but identical to its predecessor yet is, in many ways, vastly improved. Is this wedge-like, 13-inch paradox worth your $1,099, and can it really live up to Apple’s promised 12-hour battery life? Let’s find out.
This year’s WWDC keynote revealed both the next generation in Apple’s mobile operating system and their change of name re-track of their desktop-based OS X. With iOS 7, Jony Ive’s look and feel are rather apparent with a top-to-bottom adjustment to the operating system along with some pointed connections to the desktop side of things.
As expected, this year’s WWDC was all about the software, and certainly there was plenty to talk about on that front, what with the unveiling of of iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks. We did get a little bit to whet the appetite of hardware lovers, however — mainly a sneak peak of the cool new cylindrical Mac Pro and a refresh to Apple’s popular MacBook Air line. We managed to snag a few pictures of the forthcoming tiny desktop workstation, and now we’ve got our hot little hands on the new ultraportable. From an aesthetic standpoint, there’s not too much to write home about — nothing, really. This is the same Air you know and, possibly, love. It’s tapered thin, brushed aluminum shell, with all those standard ports (original Thunderbolt, included). And the display, while sharp, is no Retina — you’ll have to keep waiting on that front.
Odds are Apple opted not to swap in the higher-res screen in order to not sacrifice the laptop’s battery life — and certainly the company’s got some bragging rights on that front, with a reported bump from five to nine hours on the 11-inch and from seven to 12 on the 13-inch. We’ll be reporting back on that fact in the near future — once we have a good half a day to try it out. That bump comes thanks to new innards — specifically the inclusion of those new Haswell chips. Apple has also promised that the new CPU has given the systems a nice pep in their performance step, as well. We ran the Air through some benchmarks to see if it’s all it’s cracked up to be. Check those out after the break.
Filed under: Apple
In Apple’s 2013 developers conference main keynote, the company showed a select few bits and pieces in the hardware realm. While no new mobile devices were unleashed, the desktop environment was given a bit of a bump with a MacBook Air refresh as well as a total re-thinking of the way the Mac Pro exists:
Earlier this morning, there are two different events that have captured the attention of millions of people around the globe – at least from the tech perspective. First, there is E3 in Los Angeles that can be said to be the mecca of all video game news and releases on an annual basis, and for fans of the bitten fruit, you would have overcome your gaming cravings to tune in to what Tim Cook has to say at WWDC 2013 in San Francisco. Well, it seems that your patience to see what new hardware has Apple cooked up this time around has paid off, with Cupertino announcing that there is a new MacBook Air model in the market to keep up with the times.
Needless to say, the MacBook Air has been long overdue for a revision, and Phil Schiller, Apple’s head of marketing, took up the responsibility to unveil a couple of newer models. These will not be immediately available, although you will be able to place an order for them this coming Monday, with prices starting at the usual $999 point. Needless to say, you won’t find too many folks picking up the soon-to-be-obsolete MacBook Air between today and next Monday, as this is the chance to exercise patience and experience the proverb, “good things come to those who wait.”
Just what kind of hardware improvements will the new generation MacBook Air models bring? We are looking at an all day battery life, fourth generation Intel Core processors with faster graphics, 802.11ac Wi-Fi and flash storage which has been touted to be up to 45% faster compared to its previous generation. The 13″ MacBook Air will start from a new lower price of $1,099, which would certainly make it more accessible to the masses as Apple does their bit to fend off the growing Ultrabook market that runs on Windows 8.
We are looking at 9 and 12 hours of battery life for the 11″ and 13″ MacBook Air models, respectively, with support for next generation 802.11ac Wi-Fi thrown in alongside the new Intel HD Graphics 5000 chipset which allows the MacBook Air to enjoy up to 40% faster performance for gaming and graphics intensive apps. Other hardware specifications include dual microphones, a FaceTime HD camera, a high-speed Thunderbolt port and a couple of USB 3.0 ports, with dual display support and video mirroring thrown in for good measure.
Press Release
[ MacBook Air (2013) announced at WWDC 2013 copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
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