MacBook Pro with Retina display review (13-inch, late 2012)

DNP MacBook Pro with Retina display review 13inch, late 2012

Look down the aisles at any Apple launch event, across the laps of dozens of journalists liveblogging or in some other way documenting the goings-on, and it’s inevitable that you’ll see MacBooks. A lot of MacBooks. And, since many of those laps are irrevocably linked to owners who spend their days jetting around the globe to other companies’ events, those laptops are quite often the travel-friendly MacBook Air. So, while we were excited to see a thinner, lighter 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display unveiled earlier this year, many of us were left asking one question: “Where’s the 13-inch version?”

Now, a little over four months later, here it is. Why the wait from one to the next? That’s for Apple to know and us to speculate about (supply chain concerns? engineering issues?), but the important thing is that it’s available now and it is, in many ways, an uncompromised, slightly smaller rendition of the 15-inch version that came before. It’s thinner and it’s lighter than the current 13-inch Pro but promises better internals and the same battery life as the 13-inch Air. Perfect portions of portability and performance? Let’s find out.

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MacBook Pro with Retina display review (13-inch, late 2012) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Oct 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple Q4 2012 earnings: $36 billion in revenue, $8.2 billion net profit

Apple Q4 2012 earnings

Just a day after introducing the iPad mini, a revised iMac, a 4th-generation iPad and a retooled Mac mini, the company is outing its Q4 2012 earnings — and it looks as if it has narrowly fell short of Wall Street estimates. Revenue was pegged at $36 billion (compared to estimates of $35.08 billion), with net profit at $8.2 billion. For the sake of comparison, the outfit’s fourth quarter of 2011 saw $28.27 billion in revenue alongside $6.62 billion net profit — at the time, those comically large numbers were actually not up to Wall Street’s comical expectations. If you’re looking for a quarter-over-quarter comparison, the company’s Q3 2012 report showed $35 billion in total revenue, with $8.8 billion in net profits.

The company is guiding for $52 billion in revenues for Q1 2013, while announcing that it sold 26.9 million iPhones (up from 17.01 million a year ago), 14 million iPads (up from 11.12 million) and 5 million Macs (up from 4.89 million) in this quarter. As for the waning iPod business? Predictably, it sold just 5.3 million of those, representing a 19 percent drop from the year-ago quarter. Naturally, the company is expecting its next earnings report to be the one that blows everyone away, with holiday sales — combined with a slew of new kit — to propel things leading into 2013. Apple also announced that shareholders that hold stock as of November 12th will pick up a $2.65 / share dividend.

As for other specifics, we’re told that gross margin was 40.0 percent compared to 40.3 percent in the year-ago quarter, while international sales accounted for 60 percent of the quarter’s revenue. Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO, proudly boasted: “We’re pleased to have generated over $41 billion in net income and over $50 billion in operating cash flow in fiscal 2012. Looking ahead to the first fiscal quarter of 2013, we expect revenue of about $52 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $11.75.” As for the outfit’s current stash of on-hand cash? $121.3 billion. Yeah. The financial results call will get going at 5PM ET, and we’ll be liveblogging it right here!

Continue reading Apple Q4 2012 earnings: $36 billion in revenue, $8.2 billion net profit

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Apple Q4 2012 earnings: $36 billion in revenue, $8.2 billion net profit originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Oct 2012 16:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Skype 6.0 lands with Microsoft and Facebook account integration, Retina support

Skype 6.0 lands with Microsoft and Facebook account integration, Retina support

You’re probably saying to yourself, “didn’t Skype just get a Windows 8-friendly refresh?” Why yes, yes it did. But Skype 6.0 here isn’t limited to Windows RT slates, instead it’s designed for more traditional Windows systems and even has a similarly numbered OS X counter part. There’s a number of notable changes here, including the ability to sign in directly with your Facebook or Microsoft account. (If you’ve got a Live Messenger, Hotmail or Outlook.com account, then you’ve got a Microsoft account.) The most visible changes, however, will be the “flattened” Don’t-call-it-Metro-friendly UI on Windows and the addition of Retina display support on OS X. There’s a few other minor changes, including some additional localizations, which you can read about at the source. And heck, since you’re already there, might as well download Skype too.

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Skype 6.0 lands with Microsoft and Facebook account integration, Retina support originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 19:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple’s Oct. 23rd event roundup: iPad mini, 4th gen iPad, new iMac, 13-inch Retina MBP and more

Apple teased that it had “a little more to show” us prior to today’s San Francisco event, but it’s clear now that the phrasing was humble at best. Not only has the much-anticipated, rumored and leaked 7.9-inch iPad mini been officially revealed, but so has a smattering of new and refreshed offerings across its range of gizmos. The standard iPad is seeing its fastest refresh yet (about six months) to a Lighting port and A6X-packing fourth-generation model, and the iMac has ditched its optical drive to go Air-thin in its Ivy Bridge-driven seventh-generation. Mobile power users should be especially be pleased, too, as a 13-inch variant of the MacBook Pro with a 2,560 x 1,600 Retina Display is now a reality. Lest we forgot that the iBooks app and iBooks Author have both been updated — right on cue with that book-like iPad Mini. Hop past the break for a full listing of all the news and all of our on-scene coverage that came out of today’s event.

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Apple’s Oct. 23rd event roundup: iPad mini, 4th gen iPad, new iMac, 13-inch Retina MBP and more originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Oct 2012 19:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple confirms Fusion Drive in iMac models

Apple has just announced an awesomely impressive and super thin iMac lineup. One of the more important specs here is regarding the Fusion Drive under the hood. For those that need more storage, but want the speed and performance of a solid state drive without the cost. That is where the Fusion Drive comes in. More details below.

What is a fusion drive? This is an all-in-one solution for old fashion hard drives, as well as SSD. This gives you from 1 to 3TB of space, and a 128GB solid state drive in one easy to use solution. This enables extremely fast performance, without hindering the users space options.

“Fusion Drive is an innovative new storage option that gives customers the performance of flash storage and the capacity of a hard drive. It combines 128GB of flash with a standard 1TB or 3TB hard drive to create a single storage volume that intelligently manages files to optimize read and write performance. Fusion Drive adapts to the way you use your iMac and automatically moves the files and apps you use most often to flash storage to enable faster performance and quicker access.”

As you can see above. Apple’s new Fusion Drives fuses together the best of both worlds for an easy all-in-one solution. What’s even better is all of this happens automatically. With Mac OSX it will automatically recognize the most used apps and move them to the Fusion Drives SSD for faster performance. The performance jump having the OS on a SSD is a massive improvement, and using a fusion drive to achieve the best of both worlds is an awesome and welcomed edition. More details following soon so stay tuned.


Apple confirms Fusion Drive in iMac models is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


Apple announces all new 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro

We had a feeling this was coming, but this afternoon Apple has just confirmed the all new 13-inch MacBook Pro complete with a 2650 x 1600 Retina Display. The 13-inch Pro is Apple’s most popular MacBook Pro to date, and today it’s getting completely improved. It’s thinner, lighter, faster, and of course has that Retina Display.

Earlier this month we mentioned the 13-inch model was on track for this year, but now it’s official. While the news is just dropping we have a few quick specs to share with everyone. This 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro comes with a 13-inch 2560 x 1600 truly impressive HD display. Being the second highest resolution laptop available. Apple’s 15-inch being the first.

Compared to the previous 13-inch MBP, the Retina MBP is just .75-inches thick, 20% thinner than the previous generation. It’s an entire pound lighter than last years, being just 3.75 lbs. You’ll get USB 20, USB 3.0, HDMI out, Magsafe, SD card reader, and 7 hours of battery life. All while being thinner, lighter, but way more pixels.

Apple’s going over all the details as we speak but options include Intel’s new dual-core i5 or i7, HD 4000 for graphics, WiFi, BT, 8GB Memory, and all models come with SSD flash storage. No old-school slow hard drives here. Stay tuned for more details. Oh and these are shipping TODAY starting at $1699.

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Apple announces all new 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.


Apple announces 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display: 2,560 x 1,600 resolution, Thunderbolt and HDMI starting at $1,699

Apple announces 13inch MacBook Pro with Retina display 2,560 x 1,600 resolution, Thunderbolt and HDMI starting at $1,699

If the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display was feeling lonely up there on its high-resolution pedestal, it needn’t any longer. As expected, Apple just announced a 13-inch version to keep it company. The 2,560 x 1,600 resolution means that 13-inch screen offers a ppi of 232, marginally more than its larger brother’s 226. As well as that lovely new display, there’s a pair of Thunderbolt ports, and a full-size HDMI port to let you make good use of it with, as well as a pair of USB 3s. While this might not be the primary focus of the day, it will definitely be one of the more hotly anticipated reveals from the company’s San Jose event this afternoon. The base model will run you $1,699 and comes with a 2.5GHz i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of flash memory. At the top end you can expect 768GB hard drive, atop a Core i7. And, like last time, to top it all off, all the new goodies come in a slimmer, desire-stoking design — weighing a whole pound less than the 2011 13-incher and at just 0.75-inches thick, 20 percent thinner. Already full of want? Then don’t hang around, as it ships today! In the meantime, keep your retinas locked right here for our hands on.

For more coverage, visit our Apple Special Event hub!

Continue reading Apple announces 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display: 2,560 x 1,600 resolution, Thunderbolt and HDMI starting at $1,699

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Apple announces 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display: 2,560 x 1,600 resolution, Thunderbolt and HDMI starting at $1,699 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Oct 2012 13:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New iMacs, Mac & iPad minis tipped for October 23rd

As mentioned by CNET UK, Apple’s insiders, the birds flying around the Foxconn factory and people involved in the Apple supply chain, we can say there will be plenty of upgrades for the Cupertino based fruity manufacturer. With the new exciting one being smaller iPads.
Apple’s tiniest computer, the humble Mac mini, is rumoured to be getting a much-needed refresh alongside the launch of the fabled iPad mini.
9to5Mac reports the new Mac mini units will come in two sizes, with varying …

Apple says no Java for you, removes plugin from browsers on OS X 10.7 and up

Apple says no Java for you, removes plugin from browsers on OS X 107 and up

Apple has recently released a Mac update for OS X Lion and Mountain Lion that removes its Java plugin from all OS X browsers. If you install the update, you’ll find a region labeled “Missing plug-in” in place of a Java applet; of course, Apple can’t stop you from clicking on it to download a Java plug-in directly from Oracle. The Cupertino-based company had previously halted pre-installing Java in OS X partially due to the exploitable factors of the platform, so this update signifies further distancing from Larry Ellison’s pride and joy.

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Apple says no Java for you, removes plugin from browsers on OS X 10.7 and up originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 19:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Good Old Games now supports Mac, kicks off with approximately 50 games

Good Old Games now supports Mac, kicks off with approximately 50 games

Everyone’s favorite DRM-free digital games distributor, Good Old Games, is now offering support for just over 50 games on Mac OS-based machines. That means that classics like Syndicate and the Wing Commander series are now offered through the service, not to mention new classics like Botanicula and The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. To kick off the launch, GOG’s offering a variety of discounts (including 50 percent off of SimCity 2000 — a no brainer if you ask us), as well as an Apple-flavored commercial that we’ve dropped below the break. If you haven’t already headed over to GOG and started madly purchasing things, we’d suggest watching the tongue-in-cheek trailer, for the chuckles alone.

Continue reading Good Old Games now supports Mac, kicks off with approximately 50 games

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Good Old Games now supports Mac, kicks off with approximately 50 games originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 15:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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