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New MacBook Airs, Pros put ultrabook makers on notice

The new MacBook Airs and Pros unveiled at WWDC promise to make life harder for ultrabook vendors.

The MacBook Air received several key improvements, including the new Intel Ivy Bridge processor, higher-end graphics, and options for more memory and a larger solid-state drive. But beyond the specs, the new prices will prove appealing to the average consumer.

Prices remained the same for the lower-end 11-inch and 13-inch units but were trimmed by $100 for the higher-end models -- $1,099 for the 11-incher and $1,499 for the 13-incher. In a consumer market where every dollar counts, even that $100 … Read more

New MacBooks, accessories debut at WWDC

Apple's kickoff press conference for its 2012 Worldwide Developers Conference is now history. While the show is arguably aimed at the company's army of iOS and Mac software developers --and there was plenty of new iOS 6 and OS X Mountain Lion news on display -- WWDC was once again used as a launching pad for a variety of new hardware products as well.

In addition to a line of updated MacBook laptops (including a first-ever high-end Retina Display model), Apple also delivered some notable hardware refreshes that it didn't choose to highlight at its press conference: a new AirPort Express router, an updated iPad case, and a very slight upgrade to its Mac Pro desktop.

The new Apple hardware and accessories, in-depth:… Read more

Apple launches new MacBook Pros with Ivy Bridge, from $1,199

Apple today launch its new MacBook Pro line.

Announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference keynote, the new MacBook Pros will boast third-generation Ivy Bridge processors and the Nvidia GeForce GT650M graphics. The line also includes both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 support

Unlike Apple's next-generation MacBook Pro, its 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pros don't come with the Retina display. Instead, the 13-inch version boasts 1,280 x 800 resolution, and comes with the 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor. The 15-inch MacBook Pro offers a larger 1,440 x 900 display and starts … Read more

Mac Pro, MacBook Pro to get big refresh this week, says report

Apple is expected to bump up its Mac Pro and MacBook Pro lineups with beefier processors and more memory.

On the receiving end of "detailed information from reliable sources," 9to5Mac says that Apple will unveil three new editions of the Mac Pro at its Worldwide Developers Conference this week.

The first standard model will offer a 3.2GHz quad-core processor, 6GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive, and an ATI Radeon 5770 graphics chip, while the second one will sport a 2.4GHz 12-core processor and 12GB of RAM with the same size hard drive and graphics chip. … Read more

The ClamBook: A laptop powered by your smartphone

Android phones and iPhones pack pretty powerful processors -- powerful enough, in fact, to deliver laptop-level performance, if only they had big screens and keyboards for your viewing and working pleasure.

Enter the ClamCase ClamBook, a kind of laptop extension for Android and iPhone.

It works like this: Your smartphone sits in a wired dock and drives the ClamBook's screen and keyboard. It's effectively your phone writ large, which could be great for everything from watching movies to playing games to working on documents.

ClamCase isn't sharing a lot of details just yet, but here's what … Read more

Gazing into the WWDC crystal ball: Updated iMacs, MacBook Pros, what else?

During the upcoming WWDC conference in San Francisco, Apple is expected to announce updates to its Mac line of desktop and laptop computers. This may include the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops, Mac Pro desktop, iMac all-in-one, and perhaps even the Mac Mini small form factor desktop.

Rumors, leaks, alleged lists of part numbers, and blurry photos of spec stickers have all surfaced in the past weeks. Some of these sources seem more reliable than others, and Apple prognosticators are wrong at least as often as they are right. The leaked part numbers and spec sheets found here and … Read more

Acer adds a new Ivy Bridge laptop, the Aspire V5

Adding to the growing list of laptops with Intel's new third-generation Core i-series CPUs, Acer has announced the Aspire V5. Not exactly ultrabook-thin, the 14- and 15-inch V5 models are being pitched as thin-and-light on a budget. Acer says they are "great for back-to-school and savvy consumers looking for performance, style, and value."

At 30 percent thinner than Acer's previous budget midsize line, the 14-inch V5 is 0.79 inch thick and weighs 4.6 pounds; the 15-inch model is 0.83 inch and 5 pounds. The design is nondescript, looking a lot like a classic … Read more

Dell's redesigned Inspiron laptops are near-ultrabook thin

Dell is rolling Intel's new Ivy Bridge chips out painfully slowly. First to Alienware laptops, then Latitude, and now the mainstream Inspiron line (with XPS still missing for now).

On the bright side, the new Inspiron designs look great, and having had a chance to play around with a few of these systems, they're nearly ultrabook thin in some cases, but very reasonably priced.

The new 13-, 14-, 15-, and 17-inch Inspiron laptops come in three flavors, the regular R, the thinner Z, and the more upscale SE (or special edition).

Not all screen sizes will be available in each category, so you'll end up with a mix of about a half-dozen base models -- which is better than Dell used to be, but a far cry from, say, the two MacBook Air base models (considering the Air is now Apple's "mainstream" laptop). Of those, only the Inspiron 14z is officially labeled as an ultrabook.

The new designs are thin and modern, with two-tone lids -- most in either either gunmetal gray brushed metal or brightly colored plastic contrasted against a lighter border. The Special Edition models are in "stealth black," with 1080p screens and discrete graphics, AMD in the 15-inch, Nvidia in the 17-inch. Blu-ray and SSD are options in those higher-end SE systems. … Read more

Toshiba shows off Windows 8 prototypes at Computex

We recently got chance to check out some concept laptops and tablets from Toshiba, all built around Windows 8. Today, Toshiba is unveiling those systems at Computex, as a sneak peek at the company's road map for Microsoft's upcoming operating system.

Toshiba describes the system as:

A Windows 8 ultrabook convertible designed in partnership with Intel A touch-screen Windows RT clamshell PC A Windows RT tablet with keyboard dock

Below, check out a few shots we snapped of the systems in question. The versions we saw were nonworking mockups, and there's no guarantee these exact models will … Read more