Hasta La Gadget!

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.

Filed under: Laptops, Apple

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Historically, Apple hasn’t been one to offer sneak peeks of anything. That changed today with the next-generation Mac Pro — likely a function of the fact that teasing such a machine couldn’t possibly weaken sales of a desktop that hasn’t been updated in a technological eternity. Waiting just outside of the concourse walls was one of the prototype cylinders, and it’s perhaps the sexiest workstation this world has ever seen. All we know for now is that it’ll make its debut “later this year,” boasting four USB sockets, six Thunderbolt 2 ports, a full-size HDMI connector, a 3.5mm headphone port and a pair of gigabit Ethernet ports. And yes, it’s almost certainly a fingerprint magnet. Have a gander at the eye candy below (plus a vid after the break), and our apologies for the clear case surrounding it. We attempted to remove it, and we’re now being forced to type this post with just a single hand.

Follow all of our WWDC 2013 coverage at our event hub.

Myriam Joire contributed to this report.

Filed under: Desktops, Apple

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After reaching what could have been the tenth big cat iteration of OS X, Apple has announced a new series. It’ll be basing the next versions of its computer operating system on California, with the first iteration known as Mac OS X Mavericks.

Follow our liveblog for all of the latest news from WWDC 2013.

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Developer conferences have taken a turn in recent years, becoming as much an opportunity for companies to interact with the dev community as a platform for launching hardware outside larger all-industry shows. This year’s WWDC, however, has been all about the software thus far. Apple has, as anticipated, given the world its first glimpse of its latest desktop operating system. The Mountain Lion followup shifts away from the big cat naming, to a California-themed release: Mavericks, paying homage to the giant wave surfing spot.

The first new feature is finder tabs: a browser-like system based in windows. Just add a tab by clicking plus in a window. You can also finally take the Finder full-screen. Also new, tagging. You can tag files based on location and other details, making them much searchable. There’s a tagging sidebar that’ll let you view them all in one handy place. Multiple Displays got a big cheer as well, letting you view menus across screens, viewing different apps in full screen mode on each display. You can independently pan on displays as well, and AirPlay connected HDTVs work a full, connected display. Apple showed off the new functionality to big cheers in the developer-packed room.

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From the initial preview to its final release, Mountain Lion took a journey that lasted over five months and saw 269 builds of the update before finally going gold in July of 2012. In fact, it was more than a month after its big WWDC keynote that Apple finally got OS X 10.8 out the door. But, things may be a little different this time around. Bug reports are starting to pop up in Cupertino’s Radar system with the operating system build number 13A451. The first half, “13A,” strongly suggests platform in question is OS X 10.9, since Mountain Lion was 12A, Lion was 11A, and so on, and so forth. The second half implies that this is the 451st build of the (not so) mysterious OS known only at 13A. That means that there have already been almost twice as many internal releases of 10.9 (presumably Cougar or Cloud Leopard… or maybe Scottish Fold?) as there were of 10.8 at the time of its release. This could indicate that Apple is preparing a substantial overhaul of its desktop OS, or it could just be that the company wants to ensure it avoids the usual flood of issues that accompany upgrades to the operating system. Either way, with WWDC right around the corner we’re sure the mystery will be solved soon enough.

Filed under: Software, Apple

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Source: Apple Insider