sandy

Apple's MacBook Air is getting cheaper at retailers, following earlier discounts on the MacBook Pro. This would almost lead you to think that resellers are making room for new models. Well, actually that does appear to be the case for the MacBook Air.

Best Buy now lists the low-end 11.6-inch MacBook Air "on sale" for $938.99, while Mac Connection has it for $948.49. That model comes with the Intel 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo Processor, 2GB Memory, and a 64GB flash drive. Apple sells this configuration for $999.

Meanwhile, MacMall now lists the same model for $938.94. (Note as of Tuesday night there had been an "instant discount" of $28.17, dropping it to $910.77 at MacMall, but that extra discount had been discontinued as of this morning.) … Read more

The ides of July are almost upon us. And that can mean only thing: the arrival of OS X Lion with the refreshed MacBook Air in tow. At least, that's what two Apple enthusiast sites are reporting.

9to5Mac says that a "few overseas sources" tell them that "Apple Retail stores are planning 'overnights' on July 13th." Overnights typically entail a refresh of Apple store displays and training on new products.

And AppleInsider is hearing similar chatter, citing a "bulletin" posted to Apple's internal retail news network "advising store management to perform RAM upgrades to certain Mac models on the showroom floors by Sunday, July 10th at the latest." The deduction: this is needed to ready those models for upgrades to Lion.

Apple is already on the record with statements about a July release. At its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June, the company announced that it would be releasing Lion as a $29.99 update to users in July. The OS has already reached gold master status, according to reports.

OS X Lion will bring plenty of enhancements and tweaks, including iCloud services built into the software, iOS-style Launchpad to house apps, full-screen apps and previewing Preview PDFs full-screen, Mission Control that comes up with a three-finger swipe, automatic tracking of document version history, and a resume feature that picks up where the user left off, among other new features. … Read more

Apple's upcoming refresh of the MacBook Air will get more than just new Intel processors. A Japanese report says the flash drives will get updated storage tech too.

Apple's flash drives--also referred to as solid-state drives or SSDs--in the upcoming MacBook Air will use a technology called "Toggle Mode Double Data Rate NAND Flash" 2.0 (Toggle DDR 2.0) according to Macotakara, a Japanese-language Apple enthusiast Web site.

The standard is supported by Toshiba and Samsung. Both companies currently supply flash drives for the MacBook Air.

Here's how Toshiba describes the technology: "Toggle … Read more

Samsung's 11.6-inch ultraportable has been refreshed with more competitive pricing and Intel Sandy Bridge processors. The refresh presages a similar update from Apple for its MacBook Air, though it remains to be seen if Apple can match Samsung's more aggressive pricing.

Like Apple, Samsung offers 13.3-inch and 11.6-inch ultraslim, ultralight, aluminum-clad laptops. But Samsung is trying to distinguish itself by keeping ahead of Apple on the performance curve.

Samsung's first 11.6-inch Series 9 model (NP900X1A-A01US) used Intel power-efficient "Nehalem" class Core i series processors and graphics silicon. The newest 11.6-inch offering bumps up to Intel's latest Sandy Bridge power-efficient chips.

That puts Samsung two generations ahead of Apple--at the moment, at least. Apple's current MacBook Air models house Intel's older Core 2 Duo chip and Nvidia graphics.

Samsung has also upped the size of the largest solid-state drive offering to 128GB, matching the 11.6-inch MacBook Air.

And it trumps the Air in price, to boot. An 11.6-inch Air with a 128GB solid-state drive, 4GB of memory, and a 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo processor is priced at $1,399. Samsung's Sandy Bridge-based model with a similar configuration (see chart below) is priced at $1,249. … Read more

The Sony Vaio Z not only bests the Air on portability but--perish the thought--may be showing Apple a thing or two about ultrathin laptop design.

Sony's latest Z series, based on published specifications, easily beats the current MacBook Air on raw specs (not surprising since the current Air was released last year). But that's not all. Depending on how far Apple goes with the impending Air update, Sony may have just slipped past Apple in avant-garde design.

First, a quick comparison between the Z and Air (including some projected Air updates).

13.3-inch Vaio Z:

As of Sunday night, all 2010 model MacBook Airs have become unavailable for shipping on Best Buy's site, sometimes an indication of an imminent Apple model update, according to Mac enthusiast site 9to5Mac.

Indeed, a quick peek at the Best Buy site shows the models that were refreshed in October of last year--four models in all--are "not available for shipping". (The only MBA that is listed as available is, oddly enough, an old model announced way back in October of 2008. So, it is not in line to be updated anyway.)

Low stock of multiple models is &… Read more

The decibel level gets higher every day for chatter about the imminent arrival of the updated MacBook Air.

The latest report from Taipei-based DigiTimes says the MacBook Air supply chain will go into high gear in July as Apple ramps up production, supporting earlier speculation from analysts.

Apple's smallest and lightest laptop is also expected to become its most popular this year. Total MacBook shipments for 2011 have been upped from 13 million to 15 million because of the Air's projected popularity, the report said.

Raw production numbers aside, the Air will likely become--if it hasn't already--Apple's flagship laptop, as it embodies Apple's design direction with all of its best-selling products. In short, a small, minimalist industrial design aesthetic, not unlike like the iPad. … Read more

Hardly a week goes by without some widely disseminated rumor about an Apple product winding its way around the Internet. Typically it's about future versions of the iPhone or iPad, but with the impending release of Apple's OS X Lion operating system update, there's been a surge in rumors about the MacBook Air laptop, the small form factor Mac Mini, and even the full-size Mac Pro desktop.

As we've always cautioned, these rumors are usually based more on wishful thinking than on hard fact (although in recent years, supplier leaks have become an invaluable resource for … Read more

Apple is getting ready to unveil new Mac Pros and Mac Minis with more Intel hardware inside, sources tell my colleague Brian Tong.

The new computers will be powered by Intel's Sandy Bridge processor architecture and will ship by the beginning of August, the sources say. The gadgets will also feature Thunderbolt data ports, Intel's high-speed connector technology, and Mac OS X Lion, the source said.

It's unknown whether cosmetic changes are in the works, and no other information about specifications or configurations was available.

The update would be in keeping with changes Apple made its line of iMacs in May, when it added Intel's second-generation quad-core Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs (former code-named Sandy Bridge) as well as Thunderbolt data ports. They also match updates Apple made to the MacBook Pro line earlier this year.

Thunderbolt debuted with the updated MacBook Pros and offers a new, bidirectional data port designed to simplify external device connections to laptop and desktop computers. The standard supports both data and video throughput simultaneously with the appropriate connectors. … Read more