mac

I couldn't be at the Tuesday morning Apple launch event for the new MacBook and MacBook Pro systems, but I've had a chance to review the announcements.

Normally I focus on the technology in new products, but this time, I have to say my first impression is dominated by the appearance of these systems. These are some good-looking laptops.

The most dramatic change is the new display surround, black glass that goes right out to the edge of the upper case just like on an iPhone. The lower case also looks significantly cleaner now that the old gray … Read more

As you've perhaps heard elsewhere on Crave, Apple on Tuesday held a pretty broad-reaching laptop event in which it updated its entire line of portable computers.

Sure, there's new tech and spec bumps to talk about, but the really interesting part is that Apple dramatically simplified its line. While the 17-inch model is still around (with a modest upgrade to the included RAM), the real stars are the new MacBook and the 15-inch MacBook Pro, as well as the lust-worthy MacBook Air. If you're in the market for a new OS X portable, you've got some choices to make.

Each laptop is geared toward a certain kind of user. These users, in turn, each likely have a primary feature they want out of a laptop: portability, power, or price. While it'd be nice to have all three, that's unrealistic, though these machines are all fairly close to each other on all three fronts. … Read more

If Tuesday's news of new, more-powerful, Mac laptops wasn't enough to stoke the fires of the Apple faithful, I've got even more to offer.

Tuesday afternoon, the producers of the forthcoming film, MacHeads, released a new trailer. The film is scheduled for a fall release. No word yet on how it will be distributed.

The film, as noted here in January, will take a close look at what Wired writer Leander Kahney has termed the "cult of Mac."

The new trailer doesn't shed much more light on the contents of the film, but for … Read more

Editors' note: As of June 2009, the product reviewed here has been replaced by these updated models.

The MacBook Air started the unibody trend earlier this year, and, thus, it doesn't receive much of an upgrade. Physically, it's the same as the original Air, but Apple squeezes a mini DisplayPort connection under the flap that hides the lone USB port and headphone jack.

As with the MacBook and MacBook Pro refreshes, the new MacBook Air ditches the Intel chipset for Nvidia and features integrated GeForce 9400M graphics. It also increases the front-side bus from 800MHz to 1066MHz, while … Read more

While Macs have long been the preferred computer of the creative class, gamers have generally looked at the machines and said, essentially, thanks but no thanks.

That tech truism could be on the verge of disappearing forever in the wake of Apple's announcement Tuesday that the newest high-end MacBook Pro model will have the graphics processing firepower--thanks to the inclusion of the Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT chip--to finally give hard-core video game players what they want.

"It's more of a gaming machine than the old MacBook Pro," said Mike Schramm, a blogger who writes for both … Read more

Editors' note: As of June 2009, the product highlighted here has been replaced by these updated models.

Of Apple's MacBook Pro lineup, only the two 15-inch models received the complete workup today. By now, you're probably aware of the design changes, which include a new "unibody" chassis, new buttonless multitouch trackpad, the addition of a mini DisplayPort, and the subtraction of the FireWire 400 port. Let's take a closer look at the changes under the hood.

Pricing remains the same, with $1,999 and $2,499 default configurations. Aside from slightly larger hard drives, the … Read more

Shares of Amazon.com sold off sharply Tuesday, and Apple failed to swim against the tide despite rolling out a revamped MacBook line, as the broader markets gave up gains from its stellar performance a day earlier.

Amazon fell 9.93 percent to end the day at $55.86 a share, with little news out on the company. Amazon, however, is set report its third-quarter results on October 22.

Apple, meanwhile, received little love from investors, after rolling out its new MacBook lineup. The computer maker's stock fell 5.6 percent to end the day at $104.08 a … Read more

The announcement Apple made Tuesday was impressive. Steve Jobs and his cronies showed off some of the best notebooks I've seen in quite some time and even after coming down from the initial high of new tech goodness that I get with any product announcement, the impressiveness lingered.

But the real story here isn't that the notebooks sport nicer designs or better components. The real story is that Apple has drawn the line in the sand and told the world that it has tied its future to multitouch technology.

First, multitouch technology in one form or another cropped up on the iPhone, then it moved to the iPod touch, and now it has solidified itself in the entire Mac notebook line. The only products missing are the Apple TV, iMacs, and Cinema Displays, and chances are, the iMacs may be equipped with similar functionality at some time in the future, too.

Of course, Jobs hinted that such a move would become a reality last year. Speaking to The New York Times last year, he hinted that his company was on to something and more Apple products would feature multitouch technology in the future.

"People don't understand that we've invented a new class of interface," he told the Times.… Read more

The big news with Tuesday's MacBook announcement is obviously the new design. Replacing the white or black plastic chassis is an aluminum body built from a single piece of metal. Gone is the mouse button, consumed by a large glass trackpad with multitouch gesture support. The screen stays at 13.3 inches but gets LED backlighting and a piece of glass that runs from edge to edge of the laptop. And a mini DisplayPort makes an appearance, but it kicks the mini FireWire port to the curb in the process.

Less has changed on the inside. The biggest change is the move from the Intel GM965 chipset and integrated GMA X3100 graphics to an Nvidia chipset and integrated GeForce 9400M graphics, which Apple CEO Steve Jobs says is up to five times as fast as the old Intel graphics. The default memory allotment stays at 2GB, but you trade 667MHz DDR2 memory for faster 1066MHz DDR3 memory. You can also upgrade to 4GB of RAM for only $150; previously adding 2GB of RAM cost $200.

Moving in the opposite direction, however, is the CPU offering on the low-end model. The $1,299 MacBook features a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo, down from the 2.4GHz chip in the previous model. The new $1,599 MacBook features a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo chip like the older $1,499 model. Both new models feature a faster 1066MHz frontside bus, up from 800MHz on the old MacBooks. … Read more