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For all of those who were concerned about the lack of DVD, battery life, etc. on the MacBook Air I can tell you that I have been using the computer very successfully with no issues for a month now.

While I am sure that I will be bored of this machine in a few months it's a non-issue compared to the alternatives: the burden of a pretty giant MacBook, or switching to Windows.

The only problems I have run into are the same things that I have experienced with every Apple laptop; the fact that 'sleep' doesn't always … Read more

Apple refreshed its MacBook and MacBook Pro product lines last week. I was hoping for more significant improvements, but the changes were minimal.

The updated models come with new Intel processors, larger hard disks, more main memory, and more graphics memory.

The new Penryn processor was expected to improve battery life, but I noticed something when I compared the specs for the old MacBook Pro to those of the new model. The new machine's stated battery life has dropped from six hours to just five. However, Apple now refers to five hours of "wireless productivity," whereas the … Read more

Yeah, this is exactly what we'd want to do: Shell out a couple grand to get a MacBook Air for its sleek, minimalist design, then immediately send it off to get an atrocious custom job that would stick 8,000 Swarovski crystals on it for hundreds of dollars more, as seen on Engadget.

Moreover, as if the aesthetic offense weren't enough--and trust us, it is--this special treatment would reportedly add a half-pound to the Air's weight and 1/8th of an inch to its thickness, alterations that would seem to defeat the purpose of the ultra-thin laptop … Read more

Some conflicting accounts coming out of the Web-o-sphere on Tuesday about Apple's revamped MacBook Pro laptops. At the heart of the controversy are reports that the new 15- and 17-inch Pro models have taken a nosedive on battery life, despite the inclusion of allegedly power-saving Intel Penryn processors.

Both Ars Technica and Gizmodo pointed out that Apple's own numbers on how long the battery should last in a 17-inch MacBook Pro have changed with the new models--going from more than 5 hours to only 4.5 hours.

There are actually a couple of different things going on here, … Read more

Apple is betting that the iPhone's breakthrough in the way we interact with mobile phones will transfer over to notebooks.

The new MacBook Pros and MacBooks introduced Tuesday aren't all that much different from the ones that were on sale yesterday. Sure, they've got Intel's new Penryn chips, and more potent configurations, but for the most part, it's the same laptop. That is, with one notable exception.

Apple brought the gesture-recognition technology first introduced on the MacBook Air over to the new MacBook Pro systems, which will likely ship in much larger volumes than the … Read more

Historically, no company in the tech industry has performed nearly as well as Apple at creating an immense amount of anticipation for its products. After all, do we really care when Sony releases its next HDTV or Dell announces a refresh to its notebook line?

And while every other company in the world gets a free pass when they quietly refresh a product line, Apple doesn't. Why is that, you ask? Simple really -- Steve Jobs has created one of the most fantastic promotion campaigns the world has ever seen and Apple is easily the very best at "selling" a product before it's even available in stores.

But lately, Apple has tried something different. Instead of amazing us with fantastic new designs (aside from the MacBook Air) and extremely important updates, the company has followed a plan where it would quietly announce a new update each Tuesday. Just over the past month, Apple has dropped the price of its iPod Shuffle, announced the release of the Apple TV Take 2 and today, refreshed its MacBook and MacBook Pro lines.

And while some may be happy to see Apple doing just that, I can't help but wonder why anyone cares. Beyond that, what happened to innovation and groundbreaking updates? Has Steve Jobs and company slowed down the innovation to focus on something else?… Read more

Apple updated its MacBook and MacBook Pro lineups today with Intel's Penryn processors, while bringing multitouch trackpads to MacBook Pros.

The MacBook Pro is available with Core 2 Duo (Penryn) processors at up to 2.6GHz and up to 6MB of cache memory. Storage options have been revised to include up to a 300GB hard drive. In addition, Apple has added Nvidia's GeForce 8600M GT graphics processor with up to 512MB of video memory. The 17-inch model now gives you the option to upgrade the LCD to an LED-backlit unit for $100. That feature is still standard on … Read more

If you were thinking about buying a MacBook Pro this week, I'd wait just a little longer.

Once again, rumors of the imminent introduction of a new MacBook Pro are all over the Web Monday. Inventory model numbers that are purportedly those of new MacBook Pro notebooks were discovered over the weekend by AppleInsider, just weeks after similar evidence was discovered inside Best Buy's inventory tracking computers. AppleInsider later noted that the new model numbers it discovered actually look an awful lot like the model numbers used for MacBooks, however, so things are a bit up in the … Read more

ZDNet's Larry Dignan provides a great counterpoint to the recent "angst" over Apple.

Despite the year to date stock chart (right) Apple's business isn't exactly limping along. Sure you can worry about the iPhone not selling 10 million units, or iPod profit margins and even whether the MacBook Air is that big of a deal. But what's the point? Until proven otherwise most of us would love to have Apple's business.

The Macalope has given Dignan a hard time in the past, but this piece is eminently reasonable, raising the issues and providing … Read more