Google today announced the Chromebook Pixel, a new Chrome OS-based notebook that Google is aiming probably directly at Apple’s MacBook Air, but with 32GB storage for $1300, really Google?
On the hardware front, Google has built in a high-resolution touchscreen display, as well as 32 or 64GB SSD storage, a backlit keyboard, and a dual core 1.8GHz Intel i5 processor. The unit includes a 12.85″ screen with a 2560 x 1700, 239 ppi display — the same range as Apple’s 13″ MacBook Pro with Retina, which has a 227 ppi screen — as well as two USB 2.0 ports, a Mini Display Port connector, and a SD-card reader.
The machine runs Google’s Chrome OS, the web-only operating system that the company introduced almost two years ago. As added perks, the Pixel comes with 1TB of Google Drive cloud storage, but only for three years, and 12 free sessions of GoGo inflight Wi-Fi.
So what’s next? Today we’re excited to announce our newest laptop—the Chromebook Pixel—which brings together the best in hardware, software and design to inspire the next generation of Chromebooks. With the Pixel, we set out to rethink all elements of a computer in order to design the best laptop possible, especially for power users who have fully embraced the cloud. The philosophy of Chrome has always been to minimize the “chrome” of the browser. In much the same way, the goal of the Pixel is to make the pixels disappear, giving people the best web experience.
http://youtu.be/j-XTpdDDXiUThe Pixel comes in two flavors, a $1,300 model that includes 32GB of SSD storage and Wi-Fi connectivity, while the $1,450 option adds built-in LTE and a 64GB SSD. The Wi-Fi only model ships today while the LTE model is expected in 6-7 weeks.
While the Pixel’s hardware is appealing, because it runs the Chrome OS there are not nearly as many apps available for it as comparable Windows or OS X machines. Gadget recommendation site The Wirecutter had this to say:
Maybe someday Chrome OS will really be enough of an operating system to replace Mac OS X or Windows on a productivity machine. But at $1,300, the Chromebook Pixel is just too much machine for the software. If you have the money to spend on the Pixel and you need the kind of hardware it’s packing, you have so many other better options.
As far as what the team at The Tech Show had to say about it here at RKUK Media:
ChromeBooks as they are today are relatively low cost web browser machines made simply to browse the web, mainly as secondary computers as the OS is far from capable when next to Windows, OS X or Linux. Asking $1300 for a weedy 32GB SSD laptop that can only boast a decent display seems rather redundant, probably the most pointless product Google sells.
After an odd introduction by Siri, which wasn’t as funny as the classic Mac and PC, but still pretty good, the keynote was ready to start. The keynote kicks off with a much more witty it seemed Tim Cook who highlighted the usual year on year overview of progress and numbers, then a video showing just how powerful iOS devices and Apple devices in general have been around the world, highlighting those with disabilities such as the blind.
Notebooks
MacBook Air
Phil Schiller came on stage set out to updating the MacBook line, starting with the MacBook Air. The Air updates were spec only, bumping up the processors with new Intel Ivy Bridge, up to 2GHz now of Dual Core i7, turbo boosting up to 3.2GHz, and now 8GB of RAM. Flash storage has also been bumped up to 512GB. USB3 was another addition to the MacBook Air, but added in their own way by integrating the USB3 and USB2 in to their own ports, and the MacBook Air finally get the FaceBook HD camera. The MacBook Air also, at least in the US, gets a price reduction of $100 across the line.
Next were some updates on the MacBook Pro, starting with the Ivy Bridge processors up to 2.7GHz Quad Core i7, up to 8GB of new 1600MHz RAM, and powerful NVidia Graphics up to 1GB graphic memory. Whilst the 13 and 15 inch were noted, no information was noted on the 17 inch, in fact its now gone. Only a 13 or 15 inch MacBook Pro.
With a big introduction of mystery, Phil introduced, not replaced, but introduced the next generation MacBook Pro in an old standard way, on a rotating board, how oldskool Apple. The MacBook Pro is visibly thinner, as thin as the thickest part of the MacBook Air, but with all the performance that makes it Pro. The big update to the next generation MacBook Pro is the display, even with a 0.71 inch thin computer, they’ve still managed to pack a Retina Display with resolution on a 15 inch display of 2800×1800, thats 220ppi! I think its fair to say this is gonna be a massive breakthrough in the computer industry. They showed of Final Cut Pro with a full 1080P pixel video able to be played in the thumbnail whilst editing, this is just incredible. One thing I do find weird is its the first Mac notebook that doesn’t say its name on it, except on the bottom. Spec wise its Pro, whilst there is no disc drive, it does have powerful Quad Core i7 processors up to 2.7GHz, up to 16GB RAM, NVidia graphics at 1GB, and whilst it only supports Flash Storage it does support up to 768GB, and features 7 hours of battery life. Port wise it has 2 Thunderbolts, 2 USB3s (1 on each side), headphone, SD Card slot and an HDMI port. Whilst Ethernet and Firewire 800 weren’t included, Thunderbolt port adapters were noted.
Apple mentioned some features coming in Mountain Lion, whilst we tried to be impressed we have to say this is going to be another sadly stale version of OSX. You can check out all the features in Mountain Lion by checking out Apples Mountain Lion website. Things not previously announced were the new Safari, which copies Google Chrome by combining the search field and the address bar as well as iCloud tabs which shows all tabs open on other Macs or iOS devices on your network. One interesting addition to the keynote was the introduction of “Racer OSX”, which strongly resembled Top Gears The Stig. Playing a racing game, which The Stig .. I mean Racer OSX, beat him at. The most important information was that Mountain Lion will be released in July at the lower price of £19.99, and free to all those who purchase a Mac from 11th June 2012.
Scott was introduced to announce iOS 6, with an additional few banta against Android including how a terrible 7% of Android users actually have the latest version. Followed by an overview of how iOS 5 has been doing. Then the big guns, the release of iOS6 with allegedly 200 new features.
Siri
Siri can now do so much more, Siri can find a restaurant, sports information from Football, Pretend Football (American Football), Rugby and more. You can also FINALLY launch apps using Siri. It also integrates with applications like Yelp and OpenTable to find and reserve dinner at a restaurant for example. It also works with movies to find information about them, where shown and even to watch one. Local Search now finally works outside of the US. Social integration also works within Siri too, post to social via Siri. Apple have also gone one step ahead by asking car manufacturers, 9 of which say they will, to build in a Siri button with their cars. Many more countries were announced too, including multi-languages for multilingual countries. Siri is also now available for the iPad.
FaceBook
Apple have now, as they did with Twitter, integrated FaceBook in to the OS. Allowing you to share everything you could with Twitter, to FaceBook. You can also post general statuses, like now with Twitter, in the Notification Centre. Also integrated with Siri. FaceBook is also integrated with the Stores where you can Like content, and Content and Calendaring can also be synced across. The same similar integration is in Mountain Lion too.
Phone
Apple have gone oldskool again with this feature, by introducing a feature that was in Nokia Symbian phones and is in Blackberrys, where when you receive a phone call you can set a reminder or instant message back to the caller.
Do Not Disturb
Do Not Disturb does what it says on the tin, prevents notifications, phone calls and more from alerting to your phone, which also has levels of customisation by setting “only” lists. They will also allow calls previously unallowed if they call you twice or more in under 3 minutes, i.e. emergency.
FaceTime
FaceTime will be the same old FaceTime, but now finally available over 3G, as well as unification of Phone Number and Apple ID.
Safari
Features previously announced like iCloud tabs coming to iOS, as well as Offline Reading List, where you can add stories to read later, but now it will download and cache it to read offline. Finally you can now upload photos from Safari on standard websites with standard upload controls. Full Screen support in landscape is also now available.
Photo Stream
An update was announced for Photo Stream too, you can now share Photo Streams with other iCloud accounts, which will share between yours and their iOS, Mac and PCs, comments and like also available.
Mail
Some new features of Mail were announced too. VIP Messaging was announced too, delivered mails from VIPs will get same notifications as Messages. Improvements also allowed to insert media easier and quickly. You can also open protected Office documents now too.
Passbook
A new app in iOS, Passbook allows you to collect boarding passes and tickets in to one application, allows you to have synchronised tickets too. Could this be Apple’s answer to NFC, or maybe a preview of an NFC upcoming iPhone.
Guided Access
Apple made some immense improvements to Accessibility features on iOS. New features include Single App Mode, meaning Home button doesn’t leave the app and controls are temporarily disabled, this is great not only for accessibility, but for tests, museums etc.
Maps
This was a major update from Apple. Maps has been completely re-written, completely abolishing Google’s services, but by the looks of things, its the best decision they ever made. The graphics look rich and graphic and very impressive. Local Search in the new Maps has over 100 Million business listings, Yelp integrations for businesses too. A Traffic service has also been introduced in the new Maps too, including updates on traffic too, even with anonymous updates from users. But one of the biggest features was Turn-by-Turn navigation is now finally available in iOS. Siri integration also included. Another feature introduced was a feature called Flyover, this is very impressive, it allows a completely 3D view of everywhere around the world, images recorded with aeroplanes and more, really really impressive, Google could learn a few from this.
Other features will later be announced in the “Fall” when iOS6 is finally released, a beta was released. Next iPhone definitely expecting in the “fall”.
Summary from Tim Cook, then the keynote ends. But whilst the keynote was going ahead, Apple did secretly update the Mac Pro, Apples beasty computer which hasn’t seen an update in a couple of years, with some pretty insane performance upgrades.
Mac Pro
The Mac Pro has been updated too and what a beast it has become, you can check out the specs yourself, but bare in mind the Mac Pro can be customised all the way up to 3.06 GHz 12-Core Processing Power, 8 RAM slots in the top model delivering up to 64GB of RAM, 4TB of Hard Drive space or 2TB of SSD space on RAID, up to 2GB of ATI Graphics, and dual disc drives. Incredible performance is now back in the hands of the Mac Pro. On the graphics side of things, the Mac Pro can out to up to 6 displays all with resolutions of 2560, 1440 resolution. A server addition has been released as well with similar spec configs. This is just insane and the best way for you to check out and geek out is on the Mac Pro website.
NOTE: This works for MacBook Air 11 and 13 inch (all generations) AND the Mac Mini generations without a disc drive.
Upon purchasing a MacBook Air, review coming soon, I thought it would be useful, for those who don’t know where to find them, to post the links to the dedicated software for Windows PCs to use Remote Disc, and how to do in for other Macs.
Apple have today surprised us all … OK not all of us, but anyway, have updated their MacBook Pro lines spec wise now with some pretty nice offerings for the same price, lets have a look!
13 inch
The 13 inch Macbook Pro saw a pretty cool spec update.
The machine remains a purely Dual Core system but now supporting i5 standard with i7 on the top range model. The MacBook Pro now features the Intel HD Graphics 3000, 4GB DDR3 of RAM standard with 500GB standard on the base model and 750GB on the second.
You can now configure the 13 inch MacBook Pro up to 2.8GHz Intel Core i7 (dual), 8GB DDR3 RAM, 750GB is the max HDD, but you can add up to 512GB of SSD if you want to spend alot.
All 13 inch models come with the Intel HD Graphics 3000 and 7 hours of battery!
15 inch and 17 inch
The 15 and 17 inch models have an interesting update in the fact that Intel’s Quad Core i7 is now standard across the board, with 2.2GHz on the base 15 inch, and 2.4GHz on the others standard.
The base 15 inch model also features a dedicated AMD Radeon HD 6750M featuring 512MB of dedicated graphics or to save on power you can use the Intel HD Graphics 3000. 4GB DDR3 RAM standard across the board again.
Graphics go up a notch on the top 15 inch and the 17 inch using the new AMD Radeon HD 6770M with 1GB dedicated graphics, and again you can optionally use the Intel HD Graphics 3000 to save on some power.
The 15 and 17 inch model can be configured up to 2.5GHz Intel Core i7 (quad), 8GB DDR3 RAM, 750GB HDD with 5200RPM or 7200RPM for an extra £40, and same SSD options at the 13. And the overpriced display options.
Apple has always been about the Macintosh, even if the iOS and iPod world maybe what they are more known for, I always feel that the Mac will always be Apple, but I’ve also felt Apple is shying away from the Mac. Whilst OS X Lion is good, it still feels like the “Mac” is leaving OS X, whilst some of iOS elements in Lion make it more useful and better to use, I do feel like the whole iOS meets OSX isn’t a good thing, but if anyone is gonna manage to persuade otherwise it will be Apple. Suppose we’ll all see.
One thing that I don’t quite understand is the real, sometimes major, timeframe between Mac updates. For example, the Mac Pro hasn’t had an update in an entire year, which for a Pro computer that supposed to have the best ever things a computer can, is quite rubbish really, but it seems that that maybe changing and Apple could be re-inventing the Mac product line.
Apple recently got rid of the entry level “MacBook” line, but according to Japanese site Macotakarabriefly reports that Apple is planning to introduce an entirely new Mac product to its lineup. According to a rough translation provided with the original Japanese version, the product is said to be “absolutely different from current products” and potentially set for introduction by the end of the year.
According to anonymous source in Asian supplier company, Apple seems to be preparing project to release new Mac line-up which is absolutely different from current products until end of this year.
Though this source does not told in detail, this new Mac line seems to be clearly different products from current ones, so new product name could be given.
Macotakara has a mixed track record when it comes to Apple rumors. The site made news last December with its rendering of the iPad 2 case showing off a new, larger speaker that did in fact appear in the shipping version a few months later. The site also correctly reported on the iPad 2 media event and launch timeframe and introduction of Final Cut Pro X and third-party Thunderbolt devices. The site was incorrect, however, in its claim of Toggle DDR 2.0 memory for the MacBook Air.
Ah Apple, love em or hate them you can’t ignore them, and today Apple made a team of updates all at once. Mac OS X Lionfinally got released for the bargain price of £20.99, Apple unleashed new MacBook Airs and Mac Mini updates, stopped selling the white MacBook, released a new 64-bit capable version of iTunes for Lion, and released new Cinema Display. Toadd to that Apple have record revenue, Apple is one tasty fruit to bite off at the moment.
OSX Lion
I’m writing this blog using Mac OSX Lion, so that says something I suppose, the OS is very smooth for a release version, don’t get me wrong, Apple have prepared very highly for this release, its got its own version of Safari andiTunes, a heap of iLife updates were released recently that amongst other things fixed bugs on Lion, all supporting the full screen mode of course, so Lion is a solid update right?
Well, you could say that, I mean, I have no real problems so far. I got a notification saying that Camouflage wasn’t compatible with Lion, which is odd because it still works after clicking out that warning. The OS itself does feel very smooth, been playing around with a few of the visible updates and yes, there isn’t many, but its twenty quid for godsake. But both my Macs have been performing better since the update, so what can I say eh!
It may seem unrelated but Adobe Flash performs far better on my lower spec MacBook than it did in Snow Leopard and that could be due to new frameworks and codecs in Lion which Adobe blamed for Adobe Flash “issues”.
But this isn’t a review, just a first impression, and my first impressions are, go for it, its smooth, no problems to note, although scrolling might be a shock at first, but if you’re old fashioned you can toggle it back to normal in System Preferences.
MacBook Air
Apple today also announced an update to the MacBook Air line, and quite a solid update it is too, now starting at $999 (£849) just like the white MacBook, which … hang on a minute, where’s it gone? Yep, the MacBook Air now replaces the white MacBook, but hey, its still a pretty fast machine, minus the Firewire and SuperDrive. The 13 inch model of the MacBook Air now standard with 4GB of memory!
Here’s what they’ve got to offer you.
As you know Apple offer two MacBook Air models in two screen sizes of 11 and 13 inch, here’s what they’ve got to offer you;
11 Inch Model;
Apple MacBook Air 11 inch comes with a FaceTime HD Camera, Thunderbold I/O with support for dual display and video mirroring with video out to 2560×1600. Includes 2 USB Ports, 1 ThunderBolt Port, Magsafe and Audio In/Out port.
Base Model = 1.6GHz (dual-core) Intel Core i5. 2GB RAM, 64GB Flash memory, Intel HD Graphics with 256MB shared
Top Model = 1.6GHz (dual-core) Intel Core i5. 4GB RAM, 128GB Flash memory, Intel HD Graphics with 384MB shared
Apple MacBook Air 13 inch comes with a FaceTime HD Camera, Thunderbold I/O with support for dual display and video mirroring with video out to 2560×1600. Includes 2 USB Ports, 1 ThunderBolt Port, Magsafe and Audio In/Out port as well as an SD Card slot.
Base Model = 1.7GHz (dual-core) Intel Core i5. 4GB RAM, 128GB Flash memory, Intel HD Graphics with 384MB shared
Top Model = 1.7GHz (dual-core) Intel Core i5. 4GB RAM, 256GB Flash memory, Intel HD Graphics with 384MB shared
The new Mac Mini update makes the mini desktop tower as it were twice as powerful with the new Sandi Bridge processors and features the all new ThunderBold I/O. The Mac Mini Server also ships with Mac OS X Lion Server. TheMac Mini also features an array of I/O including a Power Port, Gigabit Ethernet, FireWire 800, HDMI, ThunderBolt, 4 USB, SD Card Slot, Audio in and out ports.
The Mac Mini comes in three stock models, the base model, a second higher end model and a server configuration. Here’s what each option has to offer.
Base Model = 2.3GHz (dual-core) Intel Core i5. 2GB RAM, 500GB 5200rpm HDD, Intel HD Graphics with 288MB shared
Top Model = 2.5Ghz (dual-core) Intel Core i5. 4GB RAM, 500GB 5200rpm HDD, ATI Radeon HD 6630M with 256MB graphics
Apple also released a new version of iTunes software for Mac OS X Lion. The update is the first time iTunes has not only been a native cocoa application framework for Mac OSX, something Apple have been touting everyone to adopt since Mac OSX introduction over 10 years ago, but it is finally in 64-bit!
And based on what we’ve seen it actually seems to run quite well too.
You can download iTunes 10.4 as a beta for Snow Leopard and Windows here!
So quite a heap of updates from Apple then. Phew, we finally got through them. Won’t be long till iCloud is upon us and the eventual release of iOS5 and whats happened to the iPhone 5, only time will tell eh!?
Today Apple shocked the crowd … OK they didn’t we saw it coming, but anyway, Apple has updated its MacBook Pro line and from afar you probably can’t tell that they’ve changed it, even though the ports have changed, next to the previous gen still look the same, more on that in a minute.
Contrary to rumour-mill belief, the design of the MacBook Pro has stayed the same, its basically a spec bump, and quite a nice one to say its Apple.
ThunderBolt / Light Peak
There is something quite new and never seen before on the new MacBook Pro line, which is sure going to make it to the iMac and beyond soon no doubt, and thats Light Peak, or as Apple are calling it, ThunderBolt. Now don’t worry, this is not some crazy Pokemon move, no Pikachu is going to come out and attack you, this is the name of a whole new port that set to become an industry standard. The port is … well, literally is the Mini Display Port, all your Mini Display Port display(s) (adapters) will work as usual, but now with Light Peak / ThunderBolt technology you can enjoy a very powerful alternative to USB or Firewire, and with 1GBs/s of transfer rate, compared to USB 2.0 400MBs/s, ThunderBolt is quite electrifying power from one port, pardon the pun. The technology was developed mostly by Intel which has announced that the technology will be (for now, till 2012) exclusive to Apple machines, which could be good or bad really, bad for Windows OEMs, good for Apple, but also bad for Apple as many manufacturers might not bother making hardware for a small marketshare of machines, but hey, Apple are growing in Mac sales every year, so who knows.
Here are the new base specs for the MacBook Pro line all including the new ThunderBolt / Light Peak / Mini Display Port adapters.
13 inch
The new 13 inch MacBook Pro like before has 2 models to chose from, then you can configure onwards. The 13 inch features the same ports as the previous one, but one port has a secret new feature, as well as Magsafe (obviously), Ethernet, 2x USB, Audio in and out, SD Card slot, there’s the Mini Display Port, which actually doubles as the new ThunderBolt port.
First = £999 (or £879.60 on RKUK Media Apple Store*)
Intel HD Graphics 3000 (capable of 320MB of graphics shared with main memory)
Battery capable of typical 7 hours battery life.
Upgraded/Customised to;
RAM: Up to 8GB DDR3 (+£160**)
Hard Drive: Up to 750GB 5400RPM (+£80**) or 512GB SSD (+£960**)
=
15 inch
The new 15 inch MacBook Pro line has 2 base models to choose from, then configure onwards like the others. The 15 inch MacBook Pro is now completely Quad Core i7, no i5 or Dual Core now, just a purely speedy and fast machine, and with up to 1GB of dedicated graphics, a power computer too.
First = £1549 (or £1363.20 on RKUK Media Apple Store*)
Intel HD Graphics 3000 (capable of 320MB of graphics shared with main memory)
AMD Radeon HD 6750M capable of 1GB (1024MB) GDDR5 Dedicated Graphics.
Battery capable of typical 7 hours battery life.
Upgraded/Customised to;
Processor: Up to 2.3GHz Quad Core Intel Core i7 Sandy Bridge (+£200**)
RAM: Up to 8GB DDR3 (+£160**)
Hard Drive: Up to 750GB 5400RPM or 500GB 7200RPM or 512GB SSD (+£880**)
Display: High Res Glossy Display 1680×1050 (+£80) or High Res Antiglare Display 1680×1050 (+£120)
=
17 inch
The new 17 inch MacBook Pro really is the beast of notebook computers with the new Sandy Bridge Intel chipsets, powerful Quad Core processing, masses of video memory all on fantastic hardware fully integrated to Mac OSX, what more do you want eh!
Base = £2099 (or £1826.40 on RKUK Media Apple Store*)
Apple today updated the specs on the MacBook Pro line-up, the 13, 15 and 17 inch models all got a spec update which should keep them up to date for the next few months or so. The update includes, as expected, Intel’s new mobile Core i5 and i7 chips as well as some updated NVidia graphics including the NVidia GeForce GT 330M, which, according to NVidia is the next up from the NVidia GeForce 9400M that we’ve seen in more or less all but the Mac Pro for basic graphic configuration. Like the 9400M, the 330M supports up to 256MB of shared graphics on a 2.4GHz system, but can go up to 512MB on a system supporting speeds above 2.66Ghz.
13″ MacBook Pro
If we’re all been perfectly honest, if you’ve recently bought a 13″ MacBook Pro, as in last week for example, I wouldn’t be so disappointed, not much has changed.
The 13″ MacBook Pro is the only MacBook Pro not to feature any of Intel’s new processors, as in the i5 or i7, the MacBook Pro 13″ now comes with either a 2.4GHz or a 2.66Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo.
The 13″ MacBook Pro can be upped to 2.66Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, with now up to 8GB DDR3 RAM (2 RAM slots) and if you more or less want to double the price of the MacBook Pro you can opt for a 512GB SSD, or save more than a grand and go for a 500GB HDD.
Apple are also promising now up to a 10 hour battery from the 13″ MacBook Pro, although the sacrifice of no replaceable battery.
15″ MacBook Pro
The 15″ MacBook Pro has 3 standalone options, 2 in which contain Intel’s Core i5 chip, the top standalone config has the i7. The first model has a 2.4GHz i5 chip with 4GB DDR3 RAM, which can be upped to 8GB DDR3. Like the 13″ you can also double the price by having the option of a new 512GB SSD, or 500GB HDD which unlike the 13″ MacBook Pro you have the option of 5200RPM of 7200RPM.
One rather interesting feature of the 15″ MacBook Pro is you have the option on getting the default Glossy display, but if you want to pay a bit more you can get a “High Res Glossy Widescreen Display”, we’re not quite sure what the difference is between both, but seems odd. And the price has gone up for the Anti-Glare option, now a massive £120 extra, which is actually rather annoying as the extra price is getting ridiculous.
The second option features the same specs, but with a 2.53GHz Intel i5 with the same integrated NVidia GeForce GT 330M as the 13″ MacBook Pro and the 2.4GHz 15″ model.
The last “top” option for the 15″ MacBook Pro goes all out, with a 2.66Ghz Core i7 chip and thanks to the processor spec the GeForce GT 330M will power at 512MB. We’re not sure how using the same chip for graphics is going to be based on performance but we’ll see.
And, whats this we see, the return of Intel Graphics? Intel HD graphics as they are known as are also in the 15″ MacBook Pro supporting the same graphics specs as the NVidia but shared with main memory … yeah I know, confusing.
17″ MacBook Pro
The 17″ MacBook Pro has just one base spec which includes a 2.53GHz Intel Core i5 or a Intel Core i7 at 2.66Ghz. The 17″ also features the up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM, the same options for Hard Drives, up to 500GB HDD (5200RPM or 7200RPM) and up to 512GB SSD. The 17″ MacBook Pro features the NVidia GeForce 330M which supports 512MB of graphics at 2.66GHz config, and 256MB on 2.53GHz, as well as Intel HD graphics shared with the main memory at 256MB.
Overview
Definitely an interesting update especially with the NVidia 330M graphics on all models and the difference in graphics performance based on Intel graphics. We’ll have to see how these go down the lines. All models of the new MacBook Pros are available right now from Apple’s online store. But all-in-all, we still have no sign of Blu-Ray on Macs, maybe next time eh!
To be perfectly honest I can’t believe it either, yes, it is exactly one year since I got my very first Mac, the Aluminium MacBook, now known as the 13” MacBook Pro. I chose the then top spec MacBook, the 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, with 2GB DDR3 RAM, 250GB Hard Drive and the new NVidia chip supporting 256MB of graphics, which today still tops the spec of the lowest spec MacBook Pro, which is nice.
First Year as a Mac User
Of course having a MacBook for a year doesn’t just mean, how has the MacBook been, it means, how has been a Mac user rather than a PC user been? All I’m gonna say is, how the hell do people do it? I mean, how do you live with PCs, just one year with a Mac and guess what, no problems at all, everything just works. No need for virus protection, you can still play loads of games, even though people are sparking incorrect rumours that you can’t, Cider, say no more. It all just ticks.
And another thing, whilst on a PC I spent more time trying to get the computer to work, on a Mac you spend less time doing things that would of taken over a day on a PC, which means you’ve more time to do more things that you enjoy doing. On Windows I spent more time pressing CTRL, ALT, DEL, now I do what I wanted in the first place, love it.
Another new experience, during my first year as a Mac user, a new Mac OSX operating system came out, in question was 10.6 Snow Leopard, which I was actually reluctant whether to get based on my poor experiences with getting Windows Vista 5 seconds after launch, but got it, loved it and everything worked, and I’m not going to lie to you, I was surprised.
Will you ever switch back to Windows
I have to say, this was a tough question as you don’t know what the future will bring, but a few days ago my Dad got a new PC seen as his DELL motherboard went bye-bye, that was a bad purchase that DELL, and he got a HP PC. I had the lovely opportunity of setting it up and, for god-sake why are PCs so stressful to set up. Put it this way, I got my second Mac recently, an iMac, what did I have to do, err… get it out of the box, and turn it on, come on, unless PCs completely change I can’t see me ever going back to alternative nightmare.
Impressions of Mac OSX
Mac OSX is great, I have to say, simply strolling through a computer shop and playing around on a Mac for about 5 minutes doesn’t give them justice, just having a Mac for a month showed me everything I needed to see and proved my reasoning for choosing a Mac in the first place. Put it this way, Windows 7 is just about getting some of the technology found in Mac OS 9, and that was the mid 90s.
The operating system is clean, simple, you don’t need an instruction manual to use it, you don’t have to ‘end’ your use of the computer by clicking a button marked ‘Start’, its secure, fast and just works, and since Snow Leopard I’m seeing a new way Mac OSX is going to rule Windows in the future and thats 64-bit, a Mac can run a 32-bit and a 64-bit application side-by-side, try doing that in Windows eh!
Do I recommend Mac OSX?
Is that question a joke, of course I do, put it this way, when you own a Mac you actually dread using a PC, you laugh at people in computer shops who think its a good idea to purchase a PC. No, back to seriousness now, I recommend Mac OSX, or well, just any Mac to anyone who is having a stressful time with a Windows PC, or anyone who had a PC and is thinking of a new computer, make it a Mac, it will be the best computer decision you’ve ever made.
Would you say, you’ve become a Mac Fan-Boy?
I’d say no, I’ve less become a Mac fan-boy, just more of a Microsoft Windows hater, yeh I think I’ll leave it at that. Having said that Linux is rubbish as well, and Chrome OS is pointless, so yeh probably, but it was unintentional.
Summary
When I first purchased my first Mac, my MacBook last year, I didn’t know what the expect, I was leaving behind my utter stress and annoyance with Windows Vista, and what did I find a manufacturer (Apple) more known for their iPod music players, but actually their best productions were their original, their fantastic computers, why, well Apple makes both the hardware and software, together making a perfect computer. I’ve purchased Apple Care for the MacBook, so I’ll be very interested in seeing how long it lasts, got an iMac as well now, so I think you can truly call me a full-on Mac user.
Aluminium MacBook 13.3” 2.4Ghz (Feb 2009) Rating:
Would of been a 5/5 if I’d of got a boofed up MacBook Pro, but specs aside this thing has been perfect.
I’m going to arrange this blog out a bit as there’s quite a lot to add. Expect, College … kinda again! Well, you’ve read the title, anyway!
Longest Day Ever = Adventure
Tuesday, the day after my day off from College due to not really the weather, more the heating, was here, and by god had it snowed alot! According to pretty much all news channels including ours (ho ho ho ho) its the most snow since the 70s, now unfortunately I can’t back this up but lets believe them because, well, there is a lot, most I’ve seen. Annoying to me was the fact that Dewsbury College on the website was open as usual, so I had the challenge of getting to College relying on public transport, Woo! Anyway when I got to College I noticed a bit of DeJa Vu from last year, only me and this time two more people were their and guess what, they decided last minute to close, IDIOTS!!! Let me explain. I wouldn’t be calling them idiots if I got home safely on the bus back, which arrived about 5 minutes after getting to the stop, yes I know, it was on time! So, got on the bus, I was still rather stressed that for whatever reason I had forgot me headphones, Damn Crows, anyway. So, the bus was going as coming, a bit slower than usual but moving, then we got to the halfway spot (Heckmondwike) and the bus driver came, “We’re stopping from here, we’re off t depot” (yes I meant the T by itself) so I was stuck in Heckmondwike, around 2 – 3 miles to where I wanted to be, according to a sign post, anyway. Well, I was pretty tired and annoyed, so I went to pay a visit to my Grandmas, if she didn’t live in Heckmondwike I would of either committed suicide or … well I haven’t actually thought that far, but ya know what I mean. Arrived on my Grandmas street fearing that they’d gone out but thank God (even though I’m atheist) they were in. Stayed their for around 2½ hours expecting it to get better, the weather by the way, but it didn’t so I went back out and risked it, and luckily one of the not many buses that were still running, because some drivers hadn’t turned up and the other reason been the weather itself, arrived, caught it and finally got home, all this had happened and it was only about 2:30PM when I got home, over a days events happened in half a day, phew! So, got in and that was that really. Had a nap, or so was planned, at 7;30PM as I was shattered, woke up at 11:30PM, yeh, just a small nap, I’m telling ya my iPhone has been terrible alarm wise recently, might as Susan Boyle to it, trust me that’ll wake me up “I dreamed a dream ….-” WAKING UP!!!!.
Wednesday (today)
I checked the useless Dewsbury College site last night and it was confirmed it is closed today, so this morning I didn’t wake up in the morning, if that makes sense, so today is kinda as Thursday in a way, which is another advantage, tomorrow even if they re-open as they are planning, its my day off anyway, so yeh quite a nice comeback week this isn’t it! So, unless ought happens, College only on Friday, I can deal with that! Bring on next week eh!
Mac mini or the iMac Ben?
Now in case you don’t know, March will be my ‘Year on a Mac’ as it were after the purchase of my MacBook Aluminium last year, this year I was planning to get a Mac mini, but I’ve been having a look at Apple’s site, (the lower price RKUK one) and it turns out if I want the 2.6Ghz Mac mini (2.53 configured) it would work out as £110 less than the first iMac, OK lets think about this. For an extra, call it £100 I can get an actual full blown computer with 21.5″ screen, bigger hard drive (320GB to iMacs 500GB), bigger processor (2.6Ghz to iMacs 3.06Ghz), wireless Apple Keyboard and new Magic Mouse (which come to nearly £100 themselves) and more ports (OK one, the SD Card Reader). So, yeh in the week off in March this year, its iMac purchase time, cannot wait!!! Plus seen as I already have a 21.5″ HP 1080p monitor due to my plan to get a Mac mini (which I’ve been using with my MacBook) I’ll also have dual monitors, oh yes. Also the Mac mini can only be upped to 500GB Hard Drive (iMac accepts 2TB), 4GB RAM (Both Come With / iMac can take up to 16GB) do I need to continue! Full specs of the iMac are at
http://www.apple.com/uk/imac/specs.html however that will show the standard prices rather than the RKUK Discount Price, see RKUK Media > RKUK > RKUK Promos for that link, UK Only!
…More!
OK, I’ll admit it, I don’t have much more to talk about, but I’m just too overexcited about getting an iMac, which lets be honest kicks the behind to the Mac mini, Woo, finally something to look forward too. Also in March I’ll be getting me a copy of the English version of Soul Silver which is released March 14th in North America (meaning English) if its not in Europe by end of March I’m importing a copy. Based on my gameplay of the Japanese one, apart from a few emulator issues (which everyones getting) I’m extreemly impressed plus the second generation was always my favourite even though I loved Team Galactic, and if Mars was human she’s be pretty … ya know what I mean.
Anyway, adding more Selection DVDs this week, Galactic Battle episodes are now been added to RKUK Media although you’ll have to refer to the Dailymotion links as their embed player doesn’t seem to be working, typical, or go to dailymotion.com/RKUKPokemonVids
But thats all for now, E-Ya Later with probably more weather news!
Welcome to the eve of Christmas Eve, oh yes, its almost Christmas, as in its only 2 days as of writing this, but to be honest I’m actually not looking forward to Christmas this year, I’m not saying I’m a Scrooge, although I do hate snow, which the weather has definitely been delivering rather worldwide in that department. Basically I’m not getting ought for Christmas, I think everyone gets to that age of where Christmas is basically like the 25th November or something just more decretive.
What are you getting for Christmas then?
Well, nothing really, my main present if you would call it that is Apple Care for my MacBook, which whilst is good meaning I will be covered till March 2011, which is awesome, y know its always best to have something that you can actually carry around with you, and carrying a disc and a box with you kinda isn’t really that good.
Did you want something for Christmas but couldn’t?
I’ve been wanting a Wii for quite a while, although based on the fact that my sister has one and I’m yet to see a game better than Wii Sports for the Wii kinda makes it less tempting, although the new black one would be nice! Everything else kinda isn’t out yet!
If those else were out what are they?
What a poorly laid out question, anyway. Basically next year I’m planning on getting things as soon as they come out. Basically the next iPhone, which will be Vodafone for me when the new one comes out for June/July time. Since 1997 I’ve been a constant fan of Pokémon and Heart Gold and Soul Silver are to be released in March in North America, basically meaning, in English, so I’ll be ordering a copy of that. The good thing about Nintendo games (apart from TV consoles) is they have no regions to there’s no PAL and NTSC to worry about.
And lastly, something I think I’ve already mentioned is a Mac Mini, the main reason I haven’t got one yet is based on how much I’ve got for it at the moment, probably get it just before my birthday then get some money for my birthday which I will then spend to improve the Mini, so woo! I had a close look at the Mac Mini when I recently went to the Apple Store and whilst its surprisingly heavy, still love it completely.
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Life in General
Well seen as my last blog was 21st, nothing much can actually happen in two days especially when its the holiday season, basically I’ve got all my Christmas presents, all sorted now which is good, the only thing I haven’t rapped up is my Mums as its so small, but yeh!
Trip to Apple Store, Bacon Fries and more!
Lastly, yesterday I went to the Apple Store, well more precisely to Meadowhall in which has an Apple Store, I went with Rob, which after an unexpected visit with Ben ended up being a visit to the Apple Store with Rob, Ben and his GF. Whilst this wasn’t really ideal as only me and Rob care about Apple gear and understand how much better an Apple Store is rather than going to lets say, Comet or something, so the time in the Apple Store was alot less than was planned originally. So I had a look at the new massive 27″ iMac, which is massive! Also had a look at the new white MacBook, which really is the same as the previous one but thinner. Then I had a look at my future baby, the Mac Mini, to be my second Mac, well whilst having a tour of the Mac Mini was a lot quicker than the other two based on its actual size that was kinda over quickly, so yeh!
A cold wintery end to the day!
Due to the fact we had more joining us in the journey, we had more hassle, lets be honest was expected, so apart from finding multiple places that sell Bacon Fries, which is absolutely awesome, had 3 packs in one day and loved it! But one thing that I did find annoying, well based on the fact we ended up getting there when we actually would of preferred to get home, that was the first annoyance, baring in mind we set of at around 11:30AM, and we got there in mids hours of 4PM and based on the fact there was no late traffic, just based on hassle with extra people. But asiding that, when we eventually got to leaving, got train back, FINE, then we caught a bus to get home, go figure, then suddenly to find out that we were going to Dewsbury!!! OK, its freezing, we’re hours later than expected, its getting dark and we’re heading further away from home, so yeh I was not impressed. So, when we arrived in Dewsbury after an insaine phone call Rob had about buses, we found out Rob was coming to get his GF. So, completely and utterly pissed off I was about that, why? One, I would of 100% of gone home if I knew that we were going for that reason, Two, all I could do was stand around while Ben and Rob comforted their GFs, I’m sorry but anyone else would say “F*** it” and gone home on the next bus before them. So, when the time arrived when we were all going home we did and I had the most boring bus journey of my life, then when we got home, we stood in the minus temperatures as they continued with what they were doing at Dewsbury, and I just couldn’t stand any longer of it so I went home! And ya know the worst thing about this, they’ll read this and call me unreasonable, unbef***inglievable
Summary
So, a day with the potential to be my favourite day in December ended being the worst, thanks guys! Although I do now have alot of Bacon Fries stockests. Ooo, and I didn’t mention the Magic Mouse at Apple Store, I found it awesome, guess some people have weird hands!
Anyway, thats all for now, probably next blog will be next year so err. Happy 2009 and Merry Christmas from me and all the team at RKUK Media, E-Ya Later
In a way we all knew this was coming, if your a Apple fan you would have known about the recent, store not open, then open, then not, which says to me, we’ve new products we’re just planning where to put them … and I was right. Just have a look at these beasts that have arrived.
New iMacs
Just look at the size of that beast, oh yes, gone are the 20″ and 24″ iMacs that have dominated the Mac desktop we all love, now there’s a 21.5″ and a massive 27″, yes I said 27 inch!!!
The 21.5″ version of the iMac has a full-HD display supporting 1920×1080, but unfortunately none of the new Apple desktop updates include Blu-Ray yet. The 27″ beast has screen resolution of a beasty size too, supporting 2560×1440 which is huge!
So, they’re a bit bigger nothing else, right? Wrong! OK, well appearance aside and if only one was in a room you could probably mistake an old 20″ for the new 21.5″, but you could never mistake the 27″ for obvious reasons! Appearance wise they’ve only two differences, the back of the iMacs is now metal instead of plastic, and the glass surrounding for the displays now goes all the way to the edge rather than making a oval-like rectangle, that alone will be the only thing that will probably set them apart.
Now I mentioned earlier that they were beasts and the beastiality just keeps on coming, all iMacs now come standard with 4GB DDR3 RAM, 3.06Ghz processors … oh, erm, apart from one, the top-range iMac debuts with Intel i5 and i7 Quad Core which can be configured up to 2.8Ghz, nice! They can be upped now to 2TB of storage, or a 256GB SSD, and a wopping 16GB DDR3 RAM, which means they are screamers like hell, and before you give us beef about “Well PCs only can use up to 3.5GB of RAM”, yeh, PCs not Macs, as you know Macs are 64-bit. Yes I know you can get 64-bit versions of Windows but hell is compatibility bad. And it seems that Apple are leaving NVIDIA for a while and back to supporting ATI graphics, the new iMacs, apart from the base with the NVIDIA 9400M, they all have ATI graphics cards either at 256MB or 512MB, which can only be a good thing.
So, thats the main big guy, literally, to all the updates, the all new iMac with the all new awesome display. Apple iMac
All new Magic Mouse & Apple Mouse
I know what you’re thinking, nice piece of aluminium, but no thats a mouse, and a very interesting one indeed it is, you remember, waaay back it seems now when Apple introduced the new trackpads for the Aluminium MacBook, well now its in a mouse, a mouse with no buttons what so ever, just … that. It’s pretty amazing and you have to watch the tour video, it needs to be seen to be believed. Basically it clicks when your hand clicks, it scrolls when your fingers scroll, it zooms if you pinch in and out on the mouse, its almost freeky, but my god do I want one, if your also wanting the beasty iMac, the Magic Mouse and Wireless Keyboard we’re all used to comes with it as default. Oh, and Apple Mouse is the new name for the Apple Mighty Mouse after they lost the legal battle, the wired version is the only one still selling as the Magic Mouse is only in wireless form over Bluetooth. Apple Magic Mouse
Mac Mini Spec Bumps
Remember the time when Apple seemed to have forgotten about the Mac Mini and it was nearly a year untouched, y’know it probably was a year or so, well good news to know they’re focusing on it alot now, the Mac Mini is now a mini powerhouse, with this update everything is X2, oh yes!
Their is for a start now 3 Mac Mini standard configs, a 2.26Ghz 160GB version, a 2.53Ghz 320GB version, both of these can be configured with upto 4GB DDR3, 500GB of hard drive.
But here’s a first for a Mac Mini, the 3rd config is a Snow Leopard Server version which is priced the same as the MacBook, and features the top configs and comes with Snow Leopard Server, and you can config server tools, but one thing which is interesting is how a MacBook Air Superdrive works in a Mac Mini, hmm, well thats because the server version of the Mac Mini doesn’t have a disc drive so that may soon be a standard configuration in the future if a disc drive is required, unless you’ve got one hanging around obviously!
Find out more in the links below; Apple Mac Mini / Apple Mac Mini Server
New MacBook
Yes, its still plastic, Yes, you can still replace the battery, Yes, its white, so whats new, well let me tell you! The MacBook believe it or not still uses the unibody enclosure method but with plastic. The battery is still replaceable but still performs amazingly with reported 7 hours of life, pretty much double the previous 2005 model. Its also a lot thinner, has the new trackpad, making the MacBook Air the only Mac now with a button click mouse.
It also now comes with 250GB of storage for £799, yes for some reason its gone up in the UK but still the good ol’ $999 in the US, how annoying, and the annoying stuff doesn’t stop their, no firewire! Arrgghhh it’s happening again!
On a good note its finally got DDR3 RAM, up to 4GB, and 500GB of Hard Drive, the rest spec wise is the same, but the new design is a pretty sleek add on. Just a pity you’ve now got the same ports as the old aluminium MacBook, well, actually no, you don’t have audio-in, but you still have audio-out, but whats going on there!
New Remote Design …
There’s always one isn’t their, what the hell is that, it looks pretty much disgusting, sorry Apple but that does nothing for me, in fact I’ll be going on E-Bay and getting the old design if I need a remote thank you, ughh! The new remote is compatible with all Macs from 2005 or later, basically every MacBook ever, Intel Desktops. New Apple Remote
Sorry we had to end on that awful ending to what started beasty and awesome, I’m sorry but what is that remote! Anyway E-Ya Later.
The 13 inch Macbook Pro saw a pretty cool spec update.
ThunderBolt / Light Peak
