MoonFruit, a free web-building provider, is celebrating its 10th birthday. To kick off the joyous event, the service is giving away 10 new Macbook Pros–one each for 10 days, that is. All you have to do is twitter about it.
Include #moonfruit tag in any tweet, and maybe you’ll be one of the lucky winners. There has already been a victor for day one, by the name of gecko84 from the UK. So who’s next?
We’ve seriously no idea why Apple didn’t just ship all of the June 2009 MacBook Pro units with the SATA 3Gbps specification enabled, but at least it caved to the chorus of complaints and enabled it today via a firmware update. MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.7, as it’s called in Software Update, weighs in at just 3.35MB and requires OS X 10.5.7 to be installed. According to Apple, the update “addresses an issue reported by a small number of customers using drives based on the SATA 3Gbps specification with the June 2009 MacBook Pro.” Of course, it goes on to say that it still doesn’t support the use of drives that can take advantage of such speeds, but at least you have the option now of taking matters into your own hands and upgrading to a non-hamstrung SSD should you choose.
[Via MacRumors]
Filed under: Laptops
MacBook Pro update rights the wrong, enables 3Gbps SATA transfers originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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It’s been one hell of a month, hasn’t it? New Palm phones, new iPhones, a big Kindle, that Natal thing… LL Cool J. Yes, a lot has happened in the past few weeks, and it’s tough to contain all of that activity inside one teensy podcast — but we’ve tried. Join Josh, Paul, and Nilay for another adventurous adventure through time, space, and love as they explore the deeper meanings of the cosmos, the universe, and consumer facing gadgetry. If you don’t love the way you feel after listening to this thing, you may already be a zombie.
Update: We had some issues with the MP3 of the podcast — should be working now. Ping us if you have trouble!
Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Song: Viva La Vida
Hear the podcast
00:02:05 – iPhone 3G S review
00:13:47 – Video: Josh, Jimmy Fallon, and the iPhone 3 Ga-Speed
00:25:54 – MacBook Pro (mid 2009) in-depth impressions
00:41:30 – Nokia N97 hands-on and impressions
00:45:12 – LL Cool J’s hilariously aggressive N97 ad: “don’t call it a comeback”
00:50:20 – WebOS homebrewers say ‘Hello World!’ to Palm Pre
00:58:00 – Pre gets NES emulation in Linux; our thumbs are in for a world of hurt
00:59:18 – Amazon Kindle DX unboxing and hands-on!
01:06:30 – Project Natal basis for new Xbox console coming Fall 2010?
01:06:50 – Like weeds: new Natal Xbox rumor shot down, 3D Xbox rumor pops up to take its place
01:07:35 – Project Natal recognizing retail shelves in 2010, says Ballmer (update: maybe not)
01:09:50 – Johnny Chung Lee joins Project Natal team, puts Wii hacking experience to good use
01:13:17 – Olympus E-P1 ‘digital Pen’ gets official, so does our lust
01:15:25 – Olympus E-P1 video samples posted, camera turns up in ad-within-an-ad Blendtec spot
01:19:00 – Engadget Chinese goes hands-on with the Olympus E-P1
01:20:00 – Adamo redux: Dell teases new thin-and-light laptops in Paris with no specs
Subscribe to the podcast
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (enhanced AAC).
[RSS MP3] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.
[RSS AAC] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator.
[Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace
Download the podcast
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Contact the podcast
1-888-ENGADGET or podcast (at) engadget (dot) com.
Twitter: @joshuatopolsky @futurepaul @reckless @engadget
Filed under: Podcasts
Engadget Podcast 151 – 06.19.2009 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Let’s be straight here: we’re a little perplexed by the new MacBook Pro line. On one hand, Apple didn’t really make enough changes to warrant a whole new review of the unibody lineup, and minor speed bumps aside, briefly using one of the new machines feels pretty much like using most any recent Mac: it’s OS X on a really nice, albeit extremely glossy screen. On the other hand, after a week in the trenches, it’s clear that all those seemingly minor changes will have a big impact down the line — especially the move to sealed-in batteries across the board, which is a decision with decidedly mixed consequences. What’s more, we think these changes impact the 13-inch and 15-inch models very differently — the $1,199 13-inch configuration might have a shiny new Pro label on it, but even Apple admits that it’s an entry-level consumer machine, and consumers and professionals don’t have the same needs.
So while this isn’t going to be a full-on review, we think just slightly more than just our usual bullet-pointed impressions are in order — and we think it’s important to actually break things down by model. How do Apple’s latest laptops stack up? Read on for more.
Continue reading MacBook Pro (mid 2009) in-depth impressions
Filed under: Laptops
MacBook Pro (mid 2009) in-depth impressions originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Apple might have bumped the 13-inch unibody MacBook to Pro status at WWDC last week, but it looks like all the shuffling around to reduce costs has had an unfortunate side effect: new MacBook Pros that ship with HDDs only have a 1.5GBps SATA enabled, while SSD configs are apparently getting the full 3.0GBps SATA II experience that used to be standard. For most people this won’t make too much difference since traditional hard drives can’t move data that fast, but it’s something to keep in mind if you’re hoping to buy an HDD unit and swap in a speedier SSD, since your max performance will be bottlenecked. We’ve verified that our review units with HDDs all have the slower settings, but we’ve put in a call to Apple to get some more answers on this — stay tuned.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Filed under: Laptops
New MacBook Pros shipped with HDDs only have 1.5Gbps SATA enabled originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple has traditionally held its ground as a premium computer manufacturer, but it might just be getting sucked into a recession-prompted price war.
The company’s recent MacBook price cuts signify its reluctant conformity to the economic downturn. At its Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday, Apple shaved hundreds of dollars off its MacBook models. The high-end, 15-inch MacBook Pros dropped from $2,000 to $1,700. And the price of the unibody MacBook (now renamed the 13-inch MacBook Pro) fell from $1,300 to $1,200. Apple’s most inexpensive MacBook, the lone white model, remains $1,000. (See chart.)
“For a while they’ve been ignoring what’s been happening in the economy,” said Richard Shim, an IDC analyst. “This is an indication that they’re realizing that the first quarter didn’t go as well as it has for them historically. I think this puts them closer in mind about what’s going on in the PC world.”
Still, Apple has avoided making even deeper price cuts, thanks to the juicy profit margins already baked into its products, the availability of cheap components, and the fact that the company also makes money by selling apps and music to iPhone and iPod owners. All of these factors mean that Apple has room to comfortably trim prices even further, if it deems it necessary.
For instance, the company dropped the price of its now low-end smartphone, the iPhone 3G, to just $100 with a two-year contract. But that cut doesn’t cost Apple as much as it might appear, given that the company still gets a carrier subsidy of several hundred dollars for each iPhone.
Apple’s computers have historically been priced well above the average PC. However, Apple’s first quarter of 2009 market-share numbers suggest the company is struggling to compete as a premium brand name in the face of the economic recession. In the first quarter of 2009, Apple’s U.S. notebook market share shrank 0.4 percent compared to the same quarter a year earlier, according to Shim. And in worldwide notebook market share, the company saw 0.3 percent growth compared to the first quarter of 2008, Shim said.
Additionally, Apple is likely hurting from its competitors’ aggressive pricing, cast into relief by Microsoft’s recent Laptop Hunters ad campaign, a BrandIndex survey indicates. The pseudo reality-TV commercials denounce Apple computers as too expensive and even implies Mac users are simple-minded snobs who buy gadgets as a fashion statement. As a result, Microsoft is detracting from Apple’s “value” score by convincing a substantial number of consumers that they get less for their money by buying a Mac, according to the survey.
By cutting its prices somewhat, Apple may also be seizing the opportunity to strike a blow against the netbook market. In 2008, low-powered, budget netbook PCs saw rapid growth, driven by value-conscious consumers looking for a good deal. Apple has no netbook in its lineup, and has said it has no plans to create a netbook.
Fortunately for Apple, netbook sales are seeing a significant slowdown in 2009. In April, netbook manufacturers Acer, Asus and Micro Star International each reported fewer netbooks were sold than expected. Their netbook shipments for the first quarter of 2009 fell considerably below shipments during the third quarter of 2008. Asus, for example, hoped to ship 1 million Asus Eee PC systems during the first quarter, but only 900,000 units sold.
Thus, Apple’s MacBook price cuts are a strategic move to reclaim growth while the netbook market is shrinking. This move allows Apple to continue to avoid offering a netbook, which is wise, because an Apple netbook would have cannibalized MacBook sales, according to ThinkPanmure analyst Vijay Rakesh. With the reduced MacBook price tags, Rakesh expects Apple to see double-digit growth in notebook marketshare — up to 20 percent — in the third quarter of 2009.
Regardless, Apple’s MacBook price tags are still well above the cost of the average notebook — $860 in the United States, according to Shim. Apple’s cheapest MacBook is anchored at $1,000, and Apple could afford to bring it down even lower if it so chose.
According to Tim Bajarin, principal analyst with Creative Strategies, Apple’s new pricing for its MacBook line and the price drop on its lightweight MacBook Air will not compromise much on its profit margins.
“They are not favoring market share over profitability in a big way,” Bajarin explained. “They have already taken the pricing curve down on the unibody and chipsets, so they are building on those lower costs.”
Will Apple deliver a mobile computer for the average Joe in terms of cost? Perhaps so, in the form of a touchscreen tablet that many Apple enthusiasts are placing their bets on. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster predicts such a device — a blown-up iPod Touch, of sorts — will land as soon as 2010.
See Also:
Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
You know those Microsoft laptop hunter spots? Apple may already have responded with TV spots of their own, but these MacBook Pros strike back at Microsoft better than any ad can: by doing.
Apple did two things simultaneously that are usually contradictory; they lowered the price of their entire MacBook Pro line while at the same time bumping up the specs. The 15-inch version now starts at $1699 and caps out at $2299, down from $1999 and $2499. What’s even nicer is that the 13-inch MacBook—which previously didn’t have a Firewire slot or a “nicer” screen—got absorbed into the MacBook Pro family and is now virtually indistinguishable from the rest of the Pro line.
Two other things changed on the build that make the Pros more appealing to regular consumers. The replaceable battery has been swapped for the same type of lithium-polymer internal battery previously found in the 17-inch MacBook Pro, which boosts battery life at the expense of not being able to be changed out in the field. This, for the large majority of people, is a good thing. The batteries last 1000 charge cycles, which at 200/cycles a year, would last you five years. Even if you go through one charge cycle every day, you’ll still make it about three years before you need to take Apple up on the $129 replacement. (The $129 includes shipping, labor and disposal of the old battery.)
In our test, the 13-inch MacBook Pro got 3:31 of battery compared to the 3:46 of the 15-inch MacBook Pro. We used the same metrics as the previous MacBook Pro test—medium brightness, Wi-Fi on, keyboard backlight on low, H.264 movie—and got about an hour more on each machine. That’s a pretty incredible jump just from a change (non-user replaceable battery) that most people won’t notice.
The other interesting swap is the removal of the ExpressCard slot in favor of an SD card slot. According to Apple, there was only a “single digit” amount of customers that used the ExpressCard, whereas tons of people have digital cameras or other devices that use SD. Again, for the vast majority of mainstream customers, this decision was a smart one. And if you really do need ExpressCard, you can still find it on the 17-inch MacBook Pro—which doesn’t have an SD card slot.
Then we have the improved LED-backlit display, which has a 60% greater color gamut than previous version. What this means to you is that even the 13-inch MacBook Pro will have a quality display even though it’s a few hundred dollars cheaper than the 15-inch. The previous 13-inch MacBook, as you saw in our review, had a screen that was obviously inferior to the Pros, and distorted very noticeably as you stepped away or viewed the screen at an angle. Not anymore. From our tests, the 13 and 15 MacBook Pros looked just about identical, and both had superior color performance compared to older machines we had around.
An even nicer picture is painted by the benchmarks. This is the first time the 15-inch has gone up over 3GHz (the CTO version), and the entire line has the ability to handle 8GB of RAM. We didn’t test this 8GB configuration, but we’re pretty eager to see how much faster it makes us in our daily work.
Both sets of scores are on par with the changes in specs on the new machines. Since the CPUs have been bumped up, the scores have risen to match. It also makes sense that the 2.53GHz 15-inch just about ties the 2.53GHz 13-inch from this year. The only weird drop is in the Integer section of Geekbench, where both machines this year have dropped. A change in Geekbench? A change in 10.5.7? We’re not sure. But these are some good numbers nonetheless.
Although the removable latch has been exchanged for a screwed in panel, you can still get to the hard drive and RAM by removing ten screws and gently lifting off the back. The entire process should take you less than 10 minutes.
The 13-inch MacBook also has one fewer audio port, instead opting for a single audio port that supports digital in and out. If you need simultaneous in and out and don’t want to go up to a 15-inch MacBook Pro, you can use a $29 USB audio adapter instead.
So is there anything bad to say about the new MacBook Pro line? No, not really. It’s cheaper, faster, has more consumer-friendly features and now even has a 13-inch option for people who need slightly more portability. Those people who were waiting for the second-iteration version of a new hardware design (a pretty smart rule to follow with Apple products in general) before upgrading can safely do so now—and get a better deal in the process. [MacBook Pros]
It’s cheaper, faster and has a nicer screen
SD card slot more useful than ExpressCard for vast majority of customers
MacBook Pro line now has a 13-inch option
Built-in battery means increased battery size, and that means about an hour longer battery life
We’ve only just started playing with our new 13-inch MacBook Pro, but the cats at iFixit have different ideas — they’ve already torn one open for your morbid viewing pleasure. Interestingly, battery replacement involves only the removal of a couple tri-wing screws and a sticker, so the situation isn’t totally dire, although we’d obviously prefer if Apple had left well enough alone. Other than that and the addition of FireWire and the SD slot, things seem to be about the same as the original unibody MacBook, but don’t take our word for it — hit the read link and feast your eyes.
Filed under: Laptops
13-inch MacBook Pro gets torn apart originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We’ve got a delicious gallery of pics of the new 13 and 15-inch MacBook Pros.
Just by looking at the 13 and 15-inch models together, you can tell that Apple was pretty much right when they said that they belong in the same family. The construction is almost identical. The only difference is that the 13-inch has one fewer audio jack and no side-board speakers, as been the case for the 13 for years now.
What would you call this? A “fleet” of MacBook Pros? A “catch?” A “murder,” perhaps? In any case, Apple just dropped off the entire line — including the newly-status-bumped 13-inch MacBook Pro — at Engadget HQ, and while we’ll have some in-depth impressions and benchmarks soon, we thought we’d throw up the unboxings and family photos for you right away. We’re sort of struck by how amazingly similar these are in person, but we’re eager to see how the internals stack up — and whether that integrated NVIDIA GeForce 9400M in the 13-inch can handle a professional workload. Anything else you want to know?
Update: We just noticed that the 13-inch has lost its dedicated audio input jack, we’re guessing because of space constraints with the addition of SD and FireWire 800 — but we’re told the new single jack supports both input and output. We’re testing it out, we’ll let you know.
Gallery: MacBook Pro family photos
Filed under: Laptops
Apple’s new MacBook Pro family unboxing and hands-on! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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