Hasta La Gadget!

We just took delivery of Apple’s new MacBook — it’s an interesting revision to the MacBook formula, built using the same unibody techniques as the Aluminum Pros but with white plastic. That means it feels much more solid than the previous plastic MacBooks: there’s zero flex when you pick it up by a corner, and the keyboard is nicely rigid. There’s a price for that heft, though — the battery is now sealed in, although we’re guessing it won’t be too hard to replace if you remove the soft-touch rubber bottom panel. Unlike the Pros, the screen is still set in by a plastic bezel instead of edge-to-edge glass, which means it’s a little less glossy overall — but make no mistake, it can still serve as a mirror in a pinch. Ports are looking pretty dismal — there’s no FireWire, no SD card slot, no dedicated line-in. Instead you get just two USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet, Mini DisplayPort, and a combo headphone / line-in jack. That’s pretty weak in a thousand-dollar machine. We’re going to spend some more time playing with this thing before we dish out a proper review, though — anything you want to know?

Filed under: Laptops

Apple’s new MacBook unboxing and hands-on! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Like a bat out of hell, Apple has just shuttled a new, unibody MacBook in the gadget world’s direction. The new model — which looks like an arctic, glossy version of the familiar 13-inch MacBook Pro line — will be landing in stores today (yes, today), with a familiar price tag: $999. In terms of changes, besides the new, high-test plastic casing (built in the same fashion as the aluminum MacBook Pros) the 13-incher boasts a LED-backlit display, new glass multitouch trackpad, and a built-in, “7 hour” battery. Inside the single SKU will be a 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB of RAM (upgradable to 4GB), an NVIDIA 9400M GPU, 250GB hard drive and the old standby SuperDrive. We had a chance to play around with the laptop, and it’s pretty snazzy for a hunk of plastic. The surface is super slick (AKA super fingerprint friendly), though the base of the laptop utilizes a soft-touch, non-slip surface that’s nice to handle. The display certainly is brighter and better looking than the previous model, though the one on the desk we saw was slightly dimmer than we would prefer — in its defense it was sitting right next to a super bright iMac. As stated, the new model can be picked up right this very second at stores around the globe, and we’ll have a much closer look very soon — so stay tuned! A full spec breakdown is after the break.

Update: Check out our hands-on!

Continue reading MacBook goes unibody, available today

Filed under: Laptops

MacBook goes unibody, available today originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

At the center of today’s minor product explosion, Apple’s refreshed $1000 White MacBook is the only right-fielder: It’s got a rubberized bottom, multitouch trackpad, LED backlighting, the MacBook Pro’s non-replaceable battery, and healthy spec bumps. UPDATED

The multitouch trackpad and LED backlighting feel like necessary catch-up—they’re less like “Pro” perks than they are standard technologies, so it’s good to see them trickle down. Likewise, the spec bumps basically just keep up with inflation: the processor jumps from 2.13GHz to 2.26 GHz, the HDD from 160GB to 250GB, while the 2GB of DDR2 RAM has been swapped for the same amount of slightly faster DDR3 memory. And in the same divisive trade the 13″ MacBook Pro made a few months back, the old removable battery has been switched out for the non-replaceable 7-hour unit.

There was talk of an industrial design overhaul back in August, and that’s what this refresh is really about. The bottom is now entirely rubberized, which seems to serve two purposes: One, to bring something, anything, visually new to Mac’s unwittingly retro baseline laptop; and two, to bring some semblance of durability and friction to the the case, which to anyone who’s watched a marred, scratched polycarb MacBook effortlessly slide off their corduroys onto the tile floor, probably sounds like a great idea.

UPDATE: Brian had a chance to paw the new MacBook for a few minutes. Here’s what he noticed:

• The glass trackpad is the same size as the Pro’s, and noticeably bigger than last gen’s.
• It feels bigger—like, fatter—than the last gen white Macbook
• Small visual cues in the cover have been tweaked to look more like the Pro line
• The uniformly white bezel makes the body look chunky
• Now that the base is just a flat piece of rubber, airflow seems like it could be an issue. [Ed. note: I mean, is rubber a good heatsink? It’s more of an insulator, right?]
• The eight screws in the base complement the finish on the aluminum MacBook well; here, they stand out, and look kinda ugly
• The edges are curvier, but again, the whole think feels chubbier.

CUPERTINO, Calif., Oct. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple® today updated its popular MacBook® with a new, durable polycarbonate unibody design featuring a brilliant LED-backlit display, a glass Multi-Touch™ trackpad and Apple’s innovative built-in battery for up to seven hours of battery life. Inheriting technology and design features from the MacBook Pro line, the new MacBook is an ideal consumer notebook for students and new Mac® users, and is available for $999.

“The new MacBook includes many of the great features found on the innovative MacBook Pro, such as an LED-backlit display, glass Multi-Touch trackpad and built-in long-life battery,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With the only lineup of notebooks all featuring unibody enclosures, LED-backlit displays and long-life battery technology, there’s never been a better time to switch to a Mac.”

The new MacBook features a unibody, polycarbonate enclosure that makes it lighter and more durable. The new design includes a unique non-skid bottom surface and at just 4.7 pounds, the sleek MacBook slides easily into a backpack or briefcase. MacBook comes standard with a bright, LED-backlit display with the same wide-angle viewing technology used in the MacBook Pro line. The new MacBook has a 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB RAM, a 250GB hard drive, and powerful NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics.

The new MacBook includes Apple’s innovative built-in notebook battery for up to seven hours of wireless productivity on a single charge, and up to 1,000 recharges.* At nearly three times the lifespan of conventional notebook batteries, Apple’s built-in battery results in fewer depleted batteries and less waste. Depleted batteries can be replaced for $129, which includes installation and environmentally responsible disposal of your old battery.

The energy-efficient MacBook joins the industry’s greenest lineup of notebooks, with every Mac notebook achieving EPEAT Gold** status and meeting Energy Star 5.0 requirements. The entire Mac notebook line now comes standard with energy efficient LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass. Mac notebooks contain no brominated flame retardants, use internal cables and components that are PVC-free and are constructed of recyclable materials.

Every Mac comes with Mac OS® X Snow Leopard®, the world’s most advanced operating system, and iLife®, Apple’s innovative suite of applications for managing photos, making movies and creating and learning to play music. Snow Leopard builds on a decade of OS X innovation and success with hundreds of refinements, new core technologies and out of the box support for Microsoft Exchange. iLife features iPhoto®, to easily organize and manage photos; iMovie® with powerful easy-to-use new features such as Precision Editor, video stabilization and advanced drag and drop; and GarageBand® which introduces a whole new way to help you learn to play piano and guitar.

Pricing & Availability
The new MacBook is available immediately through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers.

The new MacBook, for a suggested retail price of $999 (US), includes:
13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1280 x 800 glossy display;
2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB shared L2 cache;
1066 MHz front-side bus;
2GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
250 GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
a slot-load 8X SuperDrive® with double-layer support (DVD+ / -R DL/DVD+ / -RW/CD-RW);
Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
built-in AirPort Extreme® 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
Gigabit Ethernet port;
built-in iSight® video camera;
two USB 2.0 ports;
one audio line in/out port, supporting optical digital out and analog in/out;
glass Multi-Touch trackpad;
built-in, 60WHr lithium polymer battery; and
60 Watt MagSafe® Power Adapter.

Build-to-order options for the MacBook include the ability to upgrade to 4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, or 320GB 5400 rpm, 500GB 5400 rpm hard drive, Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter, Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter (for 30-inch DVI display), Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter and the AppleCare Protection Plan.

We’re not sure why John Gruber and Dan Lyons are having some sort of megalomaniacal Apple super-pundit standoff, but we’ll sit here and take the spoils: Gruber’s just one-upped Lyons’s earlier vague tease of new Apple gear tomorrow with a pretty specific list of things he’s apparently heard we’ll see, including new iMacs and plastic MacBooks, revved Mac Minis (including one that runs OS X Server), a new multitouch “Magic Mouse” (ha!) and some sort of multitouch desktop trackpad accessory. That pretty much covers every rumor and vague whisper we’ve heard over the past few months, so it’s actually a fairly conservative set of predictions, outside of that trackpad — which itself may or may not be related to this multitouch input device patent from a couple weeks ago. We’ll see what happens tomorrow morning — at this point we’re half expecting a tablet, a pony, and some sort of multitouch waffle maker as well.

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Peripherals

Apple to introduce host of new machines, new multitouch input devices tomorrow? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Product rumors have been fairly quiet on the Apple front recently, but the tech community has begun exchanging whispers about new Macs due in stores soon.

While the world waits for Apple to deliver its highly anticipated touchscreen tablet in early 2010, the nearer future most likely holds upgraded iMacs, Mac Minis, MacBooks and perhaps a new multitouch mouse.

Here, we round up all the Mac-related rumors that have surfaced in the past month and rate their probability. Eager to buy a new Mac? Wait a little longer: Any Tuesday now (Apple traditionally rolls out product upgrades on Tuesdays), you’ll most likely see a slew of brand new Macs in the Apple Store.

Thinner, groovier iMacs
On average, Apple refreshes its iMacs every seven months, and the last batch of iMacs were released in March. History suggests that new iMacs should arrive any day now.

What’s new about them? Financial publication Barron’s cites research firm Wedge Partners, who claims the new iMacs will sport a “thinner, organic design, likely with smoothed or rounded edges.” That’s reasonable to believe: The current aluminum form factor hasn’t been changed for about two years. The previous white iMac lasted two years before receiving the aluminum makeover. So a new design for the next iMac would make sense. Also, a thinner, rounder design upgrade would be consistent with the look of the new aluminum MacBook Pros.

Corroborating the claim of thinner iMacs, a purported foreign Apple advertisement for a new iMac emerged on Google.nl, stating “iMac: Ultra Thin 20 & 24 inch models. From only €1099. Apple Store.”

As for the new iMac’s innards, there have been conflicting reports claiming the iMacs will feature a quad-core processor, an upgrade from their current dual-core brains, while other publications claim the iMac will continue using dual-cores. We’re undecided on who’s right, but what’s obvious is the new iMacs should be speedier in performance. French blog Mac4Ever claims the new iMacs will include SD card readers, just like those featured in the MacBook Pros. Apple does enjoy consistency across its product lines, so that sounds plausible.

Multitouch mouse
The iMac is rumored to be shipping with an extra bonus: a new multitouch mouse, which will presumably sport a touch-sensitive housing to do away with the roller ball on the current Mighty Mouse. Sources told AppleInsider that the new mouse would apply the multipoint touch detection technology seen in the iPhone and the iPod Touch.

A new iMac is the perfect opportunity for Apple to roll out a new mouse. Wired.com believes a multitouch mouse should function similarly to the unibody MacBook trackpads, which detect multitouch gestures. On new MacBooks, tapping the trackpad with two fingers triggers a right-click function, for example; this rumored multitouch mouse might copy this behavior. Also, for a mouse, we would expect a multitouch gesture to replace scrolling in different directions, and perhaps there will be special gestures that trigger Exposé commands as well.

New White MacBooks
Remember the MacBook? You know, that lone white notebook in the Mac family. Rumors say the MacBook will soon receive a design overhaul and be joined by additional models. Not much is known, other than that the new MacBooks will reportedly be thinner and lighter, and the internal architecture will be reworked. Financial blog Barron’s cites research firm Wedge Partners, who claims the MacBook redesign “is likely to be limited.” That’s vague, but we think many of us would consider thinner and lighter to be a “limited” redesign (i.e., not mindblowingly exciting).

Several reports say the new MacBook will be released simultaneously with the new iMac. The MacBook was also alluded to in the purported Apple advertisement that may have been accidentally leaked: “MacBook: Thinner, lighter and faster! Free delivery. Order today.”

Of course we believe new MacBooks are imminent: Apple would not neglect its most affordable notebook, which has been a hot seller, especially among students.

Mac Mini
Last and definitely least, there have been scarce rumors about a new Mac Mini also launching with the iMac and MacBook. Apple’s treatment toward the Mac Mini has been inconsistent with its other products: The company waited 600 days before releasing the current Mac Mini, and the upgrade was only minor; it introduced no changes to form factor. Mac Mini customer feedback suggests the device is being used for niche applications including cheap server setups, digital music servers for audiophiles and replacements for Windows PCs.

We’d guess Apple will deliver another mini upgrade for the Mac Mini, perhaps increasing its storage and adding a slight bump to performance. The purported Apple ad also includes the Mac Mini, suggesting it will drop in price: “Faster and more affordable than ever. From only €499. Order immediately.” A price drop is believable: It suggests the Mac Mini isn’t a big seller, which we would expect, and if that’s the case, we wouldn’t expect a significant upgrade.

See Also:

• White MacBook Outperforms Pricier Unibody Model
• Rumor: Apple Preparing Design Refresh for MacBook
• Rumor: Apple to Ship Multitouch Mice With New iMacs Soon
• The Mac Mini: Apple’s Red-Headed Stepchild
• How Do You Love the Mac Mini? Let Us Count the Ways

Photo: Crouching Donkey/Flickr