MacBook Pro to go quad core

If you know the power of a Core i7 processor, then it would be insane to have that same power engineered into a more energy-efficient chip fit for laptops. This January, Intel announced its Arrandale laptop chips and knowing the relationship between the two companies, Apple will probably be one of the first, if not the first one to hold a timed exclusivity to these chips.

And hot damn are they purportedly fast.

MacBookPro 6,1 is an unreleased revision of the MacBook Pro, and has been referenced for some time now. It runs a special build of Snow Leopard and the benchmarks presented compare favorably to Apple's most powerful offering, the Mac Pro.

It is said to be running at 2.66GHz, and the performance is looking swell.

Hopefully this is real, so if you've been itching to buy a MacBook Pro, wait a little longer. It's during these times when Apple revises their hardware.

Apple's advertising disproved... sorta.

As announced recently, Apple has released the new rebranded, bumped up and priced down MacBook Pro's. The main thing about the MacBook Pro's aside from the SD card slot is the presence of the non-user-removable battery. While some will just hate the design choice, others will welcome it due to the fact that it purportedly delivers 2-3 hours more than the normal laptop battery with the same specs.

But is the "enhanced battery life" just a bunch of baloney? Apple news site MacRumors reports that hardware analysis site Anandtech has put the battery to the test to prove (or disprove) Apple's claims... at least in the "wireless productivity" front.

After surfing the web under Wi-Fi using the new 15-inch MacBook Pro, AnandTech has sort of disproved Apple's claims- in a good way.

They actually got to churn out 8.14 hours instead of the advertised 7 out of the 15-inch MacBook Pro, which is pretty amazing. 7 hours out of a laptop is already pretty darn good, but 8?

Obviously, this depends on user activity, which is usually varied. Thing is that most users will probably appreciate the battery life when browsing under Wi-Fi, because that's probably what most people would do with a Wi-Fi capable laptop.

Anandtech explains that the laptop uses a battery that utilizes the extra space the notebook is capable of giving. Basically, instead of using the usual cylindrical batteries that come with the usual notebook, Apple has made the batteries flat rectangles so that they are bigger (and thus provide more battery life) without sacrificing the portability. The catch, again, is that they are not user-removable. But for 8 hours and 1000 charge cycles? I'd take that.

13-year old wins Apple promo; people start acting like one

13-year old Connor Mulcahey won Apple's "Billionth App" promo by downloading the app Bump. This app is able to switch contact information to another contact. Apple awarded him with 10000 dollar iTunes credit, an iPod touch, a 17" MacBook Pro and a Time Capsule, effectively making the prizes worth about 15000-17000 US dollars.

Obviously, other people feel left out and have started to throw fits. Honestly, it's funnier to read what they say than looking at the Apple counter.

A sampler:

"this sucks"

"I wonder if the kid even knew there was a contest"

"THE CONTEST WAS NOT FAIR"

MacWorld '09: Fall Out Boy shows you how to play guitar

So the rumors were true.

Last night, Philippine time, Phil Shiller made his MacWorld appearance to unveil several things that matched the rumors.

Unfortunately, the stream of the keynote isn't going as smoothly as keynotes past, but I'm just gonna outline every major announcement over here.

1) iLife '09

So the iLife suite is pretty much a big selling point since it comes built-in to every Mac. And since this is a suite, there are singular applications that run in an integrated, seamless environment, and they are:

a) iPhoto

The photo management tool gets new features- face detection, geotagging, online sharing, better editing tools and themed slideshows. 

With Faces (or face detection), you can get a photo, select the face you want to track and type the name of the person with the face. After that, iPhoto automatically detects whether the person is in a picture the next time you import photos from your camera.

With Places (geotagging), you can "tag" the location of the picture you took using a GPS-enabled cameraphone (ahem, iPhone) or a GPS-enabled camera. iPhoto will group your pictures according to the place you went to. If you live in America, you can also use this feature to print out books that also track the location of your vacation (called Travel Places).

Then there's online sharing which lets you directly upload your pictures to Facebook or Flickr in one click.

Additionally, themed slideshows are (finally) there, and all you have to do is view your pics as a slideshow and show them off on-screen with an accompanying theme.

Bottom line, amateur photographers who don't want to shell out more cash to buy Adobe Lightroom or Apple Aperture can get by with iPhoto even better, especially with better editing tools.

b) iMovie 

I've criticized iMovie '08 for being hard to use, and preferred iMovie HD. Now, even though it kind of keeps the same interface, it adds in new features that will most likely satiate the fickle ones- like me.

Precision editing, advanced drag-and-drop, more themes, video stabilization, green-screen effects, new effects, and a full screen browser make up for the lackluster '08 edition.

I can't wait to get my hands on it, because I'm still quite skeptical.

c) GarageBand

Ever wanted to learn all those crazy riffs for all those crazy songs from the crazy ones who made them popular? Well, you can now get Sting to teach you Roxanne, or Patrick Stump with I Don't Care when you purchase Artist Lessons. This is a pretty good gimmick that'll get guitarists, pianists and girls (mostly girls) screaming, and an interesting experiment. There's a huge chance of it sinking under, you see, but who knows.

Colbie's teaching me how to play "Bubbly"!

Additionally if your guitar supports it, you can wire it onto your computer and make it sound like those legendary guitars your dad keeps talking to you about. Let's get that oomph into the music.

d) iWeb

The only update that's probably meant for everyone to care about is iWeb's Facebook features which let your Facebook friends know whether an iWeb website has been updated.

 Unfortunately, one would require MobileMe for that one.

e) iDVD

Actually nothing much new here, just more themes since iDVD is excellent already in its own right.

2) iWork '09

Because of versatile export tools, excellent themes and speed, I prefer iWork '08 to the Mac version of Microsoft Office. While Microsoft Office on Windows is still better (except for PowerPoint, Keynote pwns it regardless of version), there are some welcome changes to this suite of applications.

a) Pages

This is Apple's answer to Microsoft Word. While I loved the previous version, this version adds even more options to the fray like a full-screen view, better outlining, mail merge (with Numbers), more gorgeous templates and a better way to type mathematical equations (using MathType or EndNote).

b) Numbers

Microsoft Excel's extremely young brother. While Numbers was a decent alternative to Excel, it didn't really compare. This new version, fortunately, adds some more functions that make it more user-friendly, even if it still doesn't compare to Excel.

Your charts can now be categorized and hidden so that you can work better with a more compact view of looking at things, for example.

c) Keynote

Now this is a program I enjoy tinkering with. Significantly more beautiful and better than PowerPoint, Keynote once again blazes ahead of the pack with even more stunning effects and actions.

Magic Move, for example, operates quite a bit like Flash's keyframes. In one slide, you can place an object in one side, and in the other slide, you can place the same object in another side. Once Magic Move is activated, the object will automatically animate. This is a great way to save time (and for animating a set of scattered cards).

Then there's the ability to use your iPhone or iPod touch as a remote control. I've always wanted that, and now it's available through a separate app in the App Store!

d) iWork.com

Now in public beta, iWork.com promises to be a glorified Google Docs and Spreadsheets, meaning that you can work on a presentation, document or spreadsheet on your computer, transfer that file online and work on that thing on your PC through a browser. You can invite other people so they can collaborate on comment on your work.

Additionally, iWork.com also promises to be able to send copies of the same document to friends regardless of operating system because it can convert and send the files in Microsoft Office or iWork formats.

No need for exporting and sending and waiting for the other person to respond.

I'm not sure whether you'll need MobileMe for this, though, but it would be cool if you didn't. And let's hope there aren't any severe bugs this time, OK, Apple?

3) It's all in the box.

iWork '09 and iLife '09 will strictly need Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard). Fortunately, Apple is selling a box set that is of extremely high value for money (how surprising!) which includes Leopard, iWork and iLife. For 169 dollars, it's a fricking bargain.

4) iTunes without condoms.

What is DRM? It's a stupid way of stripping the rights of consumers while protecting the rights of copyright owners. iTunes has had that for years and now, it suddenly doesn't.

With 4 major labels and thousands of independents agreeing, iTunes is finally making the shift to being DRM-free, meaning that you can buy that track and burn it not 3, not 4, but infinite times. You can also put that song into your Zune, or your Creative Zen without having to actually re-encode it.

This will really grant Apple the status of biggest music retailer ever.

Still, how about existing purchased songs? Well, for 30 cents per track, you can get a DRM-free version of the same track with a 256kbps bit rate.

iPhone and iPod touch owners in America can also get on the act, now even without Wi-Fi.

5) A 17-inch MacBook Pro that sips, sips, sips juice

Not just a bigger screen.

There was a product that was noticeably ignored last year in the Notebook event. While its younger brothers were re-designed, the 17" MacBook Pro was left in the dust. Apple makes amends this time and introduces a little twist: an 8-hour unremovable battery that's environmentally-friendly, lasts 1000 charge cycles and jives with the Pro's demands. Holy sh*t.

And if your eyes are good enough, the color gamut of the screen has been increased greatly (60%) as well. Most likely for the pro video editors and graphic designers.

Other than that, the redesign introduces the 17-incher to the MiniDisplayPort, the unibody, the dual video cards and the gorgeous LED backlit screen (and yes, an optional matte finish for 50 more). And yes, it costs the same as the last-generation 17" MacBook Pro.

Here's the commercial:

And here's how the unbelievable 8-hour battery came to be:

(thanks goes to the user applejuicevideos for being such a fast uploader)

6) Tony Bennett

Ending the whole keynote was world-renowned singer Tony Bennett. But I didn't see that performance either.

I can't really muse about 'how the keynote was so underwhelming' because I couldn't really watch it properly for some reason, but I gotta say, just the promise of a more precise iMovie sells for me.

Say hello to the redesigned MacBooks

Here's chronological coverage from the keynote:

No death jokes today, but there's a "State of the Mac" address by this guy Tim Cook. Basically, he's saying that the Mac has been selling better than ever and he's stating many of the obvious (and a few too proud claims) reasons of this. I won't enumerate them because the notebooks are supposed to be our focus today... and this keynote ain't exactly cooperating.

11 minutes later, the Keynote presentation switches slides to reveal "Notebooks". However, Steve wants to talk about new building technologies first- in layman's terms, their new way of manufacturing laptops and computers in general- and for the most part, I wasn't listening. To summarize this, they discovered this new method of being able to put a slab of aluminum and making the laptop through machine from this slab. This is the very method they used to make the ultra-thin MacBook Air, and now, the new MacBook and MacBook Pro.


8 minutes later, Steve finally gets into business.

Yep, they're replacing the crappy MacBook video card by Intel into a sensible nVidia (GEForce 9400M GT) graphics card which is 5 times faster. So now even MacBooks can play WoW, Doom 3, and just games in general.
Plus, the new trackpads are buttonless and made of GLASS. This entire pad is now the button (just push the entire thing anywhere your hand is) and it's powered by multi-touch (the same tech for iPhone). And yep, there are new gestures using 4 fingers. Expose can be used by 4 fingers sliding down or up, and well as app switching by swiping 4 fingers left or right.
The new MacBook Pro
WOW, full glass, black bezel, super-thin LED display, and... is it me or does it look a bit like the MacBook Air?
Well anyway, it's gonna have a graphics card that's 82% the power of the Mac Pro's (GEForce 9400M and GEForce 9400M GT both inside), aforementioned glass trackpads, it'll have connections on one side, and a nice sturdy body (which Steve Jobs let the audience feel and touch and pass around for quite a long time...).

Impressive battery life is abound with 5 hours in 9400M mode and 4 hours in 9400M GT mode. Why have switchable graphics modes? For the games, the video editing, and the graphics work of course! With this thing, you definitely don't need a desktop computer.

And what's this? A "Mini Display Port"? Jobs says that it's the new industry standard for displays so... OK.

And oh! Removable battery and hard drive (and it supports solid-state drives)! Thank God.

It's gonna start at $1999 for 15.4" 2.4GHz 256MB graphics and $2499 for 15.4" 2.53GhZ 320GB drive 512MB graphics. Now shipping so you may see one of these babies tomorrow.

Hey, no Blu-ray?

Upgraded MacBook Air
Now, the MacBook Air has faster graphics, 120GB hard drive or 128GB solid-state drive, a Mini-display port and still at $1799 and $2499. For the first time, it's at least a pretty decent investment now. If you wanna actually buy this model, it's going out November.

24" LED Cinema Display
A nice ultra-thin big-screen monitor that Jobs says is best with the MacBooks. But it's not only a simple monitor, it also has 3 USB ports, MagSafe charger for MacBooks, an iSight camera with microphone and an environment-friendly LED screen that also reduces its footprint. $899 is what you need to pay for this thing.

MacBook
"Best-selling Mac. Ever." said Jobs.

Want a price reduction? You got it. Metal enclosure? You got it. Faster graphics? You effing got it. LED backlit display? Yep.

Behold! Black bezeled LED glass display, aluminum enclosure, nicer graphics by nVidia (GEForce 9400M), glass multi-touch buttonless trackpad, and Mini Display port plus 5 hours of battery life.Cost is $1299 for 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM, $1599 for 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and backlit keyboard. If you want the older MacBook, you can get it for 1000 dollars. Shipping today.

Video
There's always a story inside every part.

MACBOOK PRO and MACBOOK: Never a better time than now

In the past, I've always raved about how amazing Apple's MacBook and MacBook Pro is. And although I've never actually cared for Apple's past power upgrades, this one is actually something to care about. Why? Because not only did they add a lot more oomph to the two models' speed, or add more hard disk space, they included something that customers will really love- a Multi-touch mousepad.

But wait, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. That last one is only applicable for MacBook Pro, but that upgrade is hella sweet. First introduced in MacBook Air, the Multi-touch mousepad uses the same touch screen technology in the iPod touch and iPhone, and take note that the only products you'll ever find these technologies are in Apple products (and maybe the Microsoft Surface as well). As I've raved before in the MacBook Air hands-on post, I loved working with photos using that pad and I practically, instantly missed it when I came back home. And frankly, maybe Apple realized that the MacBook Air won't be very hot after all, and it was a smart move to actually put it in MacBook Pro. Now, the Pro really distances itself from its other brother, the MacBook, and especially blazes it with even faster processing power (2.4Ghz and 2.6Ghz options) and actually usable graphics (nVidia GeForce 8600M GT with 256 or 512 MB memory to be specific).

*UPDATE: Wait a sec, so tapping the trackpad to do a click is already one of them multi-touch gestures? Then the MacBook Pro with Multi-touch models must already be here in the Philippines, because that happened when I tried out the MacBook Pro last Sunday!

And though the newer MacBook isn't really as post-worthy as the new addition in MacBook Pro's arsenal, the choice of having even faster speeds (2.0Ghz and 2.4Ghz for the tech-savvy) is a plus, as well as having 2GB of expandable RAM standard. Plus, you also get to only choose between 120-160GB hard drives, and if you'd like to burn more cash, why not get the fancier black MacBook with 250GB hard drive and faster everything?