Hasta La Gadget!

Today, we got word that Apple is officially holding an event on October 23, which is most likely when the company will announce the heavily-rumored iPad mini, and possibly a 13-inch Retina-equipped MacBook Pro and new Mac minis. However, the main event is the iPad mini, and it turns out that there might be 24 different models of the new device when it releases.

First off, 24 different models doesn’t means that Apple will offer 24 different configurations of the iPad mini. It means that there will probably be two, three, or even four versions that may come in both WiFi and WiFi+3G variants. Then, each version will have colors to choose from. This will roughly end up to around 24 different models.

The part numbers themselves are quite interesting. You’ll see numbers P101, P103, P105, and P107 in the list. These numbers may correspond to the different capacities of the iPad mini, which would probably be 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB. Then again, they could correspond to the different connectivity options.

Each “P” number also has three different designations called “GOOD”, “BETTER”, and “BEST”. Again, this may refer to capacity size with 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB being likely capacities, or they may correspond to connectivity with there possibly being multiple WiFi+3G models for different cellular networks.

Then, there is either an “A” or “B” next to each model. It’s said this may have something to do with color options with either black or white to choose from. In the end, we’re not sure exactly what the letters, numbers, and words represent, but come next week, we’ll certainly know for sure. Stay tuned!

[via MacRumors]

iPad mini part numbers reveal 24 different models is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

While Apple’s supposed October 23rd event still exists only in the land of leaks and rumors for now, there’s mounting suspicions that it won’t just be a one-trick pony if it becomes real. Both AllThingsD and 9to5Mac claim to know that a 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Retina display is also on the cards for the presentation and would be just what you’d expect: a smaller version of the 15-inch model with four times the screen resolution of its conventional equivalent (2,560 x 1,600 here), all-flash storage and a price premium. There’s not much more to go on beyond talk of a D1 codename versus the 15-inch D2, although we won’t have long to find out if the rumor represents more than just wishful thinking. You might want to hold out on buying that MacBook Air for a week as a precaution.

Filed under: Laptops, Apple

Tips have 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display joining iPad mini at rumored Apple event originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Oct 2012 17:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google faces the challenge of dismantling its unified user accounts, which among other things helps bake its Google+ social network into most aspects of search, under pressure from French regulators. The huge endeavor, backtracking on its integrated privacy policy, will be forced by the French CNIL data protection commissioner, The Guardian reports, with an announcement by the organization expected on Tuesday this week.

Google’s downfall, it’s suggested, is not giving its European users the opportunity to opt-out of the privacy policy changes made back in March. Then, the search giant said that it was doing users a favor by scything away 60 or more individual privacy policies and replacing them with a single, unified agreement that it claimed was easier both to read and, critically, understand.

Unfortunately, regulators didn’t see the changes in the same, positive way, with particular horror at the new data-sharing provisions that allowed information from different Google products to be mashed together. That, Google argued, not only opened the door to useful features for users – such as using location, calendar and traffic data to warn them it they were likely to be late to an appointment – but was not significantly different from what was permitted under the old agreements.

French privacy advocates demanded Google delay the changes while it looked into their legality, but Google denied the request, insisting that there had been no “substantial concerns” raised when it initially mentioned the amended policy approach to lawmakers. That refusal could come back to haunt the company, however, with policy experts suggesting that the selection of the CNIL to head up the data protection inquiry was a deliberate one based on the French commission’s aggressive approach.

Google has declined to comment specifically on the CNIL press conference, saying only that “we are confident that our privacy notices respect the requirements of European data protection laws.” However, the search company is likely to complain far more vocally if forced to reverse its privacy modifications and put back in place the old system.

Google faces forced privacy backtrack after Euro scolding is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Apple is tipped to be readying an imminent iMac update, with a distinctive new physical design that adopts a teardrop-shaped profile. The new all-in-one, according to details and what’s said to be an internal image shared on Chinese forum WeiPhone, is “considerably thinner” than the current model, the tipster claims, with a curved rear panel and tapered edges rather than the crisper lines of today; up front, a more advanced lamination process is believed to be implemented.

That process – where the glass top sheet and the display panel itself are glued together – increases the quality of the picture, as well as reducing some thinness, and would follow similar optical-lamination implementations in Apple’s iPhone and iPad lines. However, issues around extending that lamination system to the larger, 27-inch iMac display may mean that Apple only releases the 21.5-inch model initially, with the bigger version following on later.

Exactly how much the two models will cost is also unclear, though the tipster claims Apple will be hiking prices of the updated iMacs. It’s also unstated whether Apple is using Retina Display panels, which have proliferated among the company’s smaller mobile devices but are yet to show up on 20+ inch models.

As for the electronics themselves, according to the source the image below shows parts of the new iMac’s logic board. iFixit‘s Kyle Wiens has supposedly said that the hardware does bear some resemblance to what Apple is currently using, with the circular silver disc in the upper middle portion of the image looking similar to the WiFi antenna assembly currently hidden behind the plastic Apple logo on the rear of the iMac.

The block circled furthest left is a hard-drive, held in what looks to be a removable caddy arrangement, with the Bluetooth antenna flagged up on the top right edge. Earlier leaks suggested Apple would ditch the optical drive from the iMac, something else that could help reduce the computer’s depth.

It’s possible Apple could use its rumored iPad mini event, believed to be taking place on October 23, to launch the new iMac, with the sources indicating a debut late in October or in early November is likely. Apple is also said to be readying a Retina 13-inch MacBook Pro for the same event.

What remains to be seen is whether Apple will also update its Thunderbolt Display, now over a year old and based on the same aesthetic as the current-gen iMac, at the same time as revealing a new all-in-one. Patchy stock availability of the display has been affecting some retailers since early September.

[via MacRumors]

Thinner iMac with teardrop profile imminent tips board leak is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Many rumors have been floating around over the last several months about an Apple event being held soon for the unveiling of an iPad mini. Exactly, when or if that event will be held is still unconfirmed as far as official invitations being sent out from Apple. Despite the fact, rumors for the next event continue to build.

In fact, we have rumors on rumors with invitations to this rumored Apple event tipped to go out tomorrow. Today another new rumor has surfaced that ties in with the iPad mini event, and this rumor claims there will be a new MacBook Pro unveiled alongside the new smaller iPad. This rumor claims that a new 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Retina Display will be shown at the event as well.

The tip on the 13-inch MacBook Pro with the high-resolution Retina display comes from what 9to5Mac calls consistently re source at high-profile US retailer. The 13-inch MacBook Pro is claimed to have a thinner and lighter enclosure similar to that of the 15-inch MacBook Pro models ever released in June. The source claims that there’ll be two models of the 13-inch notebook unveiled.

The two different configurations will offer different processors and storage options and should be available to purchase soon after introduction. The source also claims that the new Retina display 13-inch MacBook Pro will be sold at a price higher than existing 13-inch units and the current machines will remain available. Last week, rumors are circulating that the 13-inch MacBook Pro with retina display and the iPad mini were delayed due to production issues. However, the MacBook was later tipped to still be coming this year.

[via 9to5Mac]

13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display tipped for iPad mini event is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.