MacBook

2011 MacBook Pros – Possibly the coolest ever?

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So the rumors about the new MacBook Pros releasing tomorrow night are definitely super interesting to me.

Let’s first recap how and why there is so much anticipation for this MacBook Pro release, unlike the other speed bump/innards update releases over the past two years.

1. It is now 2011. Apple first introduced the unibody MacBook Pros in late 2008, which makes three years already. And Apple loves to refresh its hardware designs every three years or so (discounting the fateful Aluminum Powerbook/MacBook Pro design). Which makes this year a perfect timing for new MacBook Pro designs. As with all Apple redesigns, it’s a big deal.

2. The release of the redesigned MacBook Air last year (I bought one myself, it’s that good). With the new MacBook Airs there is a very apparent new MacBook design philosophy – the focus on using SSDs, and not just any SSD, but the Toshiba Blade X-gale series that first appeared on the MacBook Airs, because they are much much smaller than a standard 1.8″ or 2.5″ traditional SSDs, and also because they are stock parts, they make way more sense for Apple to use them then to solder flash memory onto the logic boards themselves. And Apple publicly said that the Air will be the basic building block upon which future MacBook designs will be derived from, much like how the original Air inspired the Unibody MacBook Pro series.

3. The iMac refresh last year brought some interesting hardware configurations, namely, that Apple has a build-to-order configuration for a SSD and traditional HDD combination in an iMac, rather than have just a SSD as an option. This configuration allows one to install OS X and all apps onto the SSD and use the HDD for data. Having the OS and apps on the SSD will basically result in super speeding up boot times, application launch times, system response times, and the such, you get what I mean here. Basically it gives you a feeling of a much faster system than you actually own.

4. And that finally Apple probably has to switch to Core i3/i5/i7 series for their 13-inchers, for the Core 2 Duo chips will be out of production soon (or already is).

Macrumors (sourcing from Macgeneration, a french site) released the following rumored specs and info about the new MacBook Pro earlier today;

– no more white MacBook (Apple goes back to two lines of 13″ inchers)
– 16 GB SSD mSATA drives on all models to store the system
– Core i3 and third USB port on the 13″ model
– Matte screen option on the higher-end 13″
– Option to replace the SuperDrive with a SSD on the 15 and 17″ models
– HD screens on all models : 1440×900 on the 13″, 1680×1050 on the 15″
– 200 to 300 grams lighter : 1.8 kg for the 13″, 2.3 kg for the 15″, 2.65 kg for the 17″
– Better battery life : 12 hours on the 13″, 10 hours on the 15″
– 8 GB of RAM on the 17″

This seem to fit in with much of the changes in design philosophy brought about by the updated MacBook Air and the iMac refresh, for it makes use of 16GB of SSD for the system to basically boost overall system response speeds. Core i3 for the 13″ MacBook Pro makes complete sense with Sandy Bridge being good enough. Though personally I’m still hoping for some kind of miracle where Apple will put in a more decent-than-stock integrated/dedicated graphics on the 13″ MacBook Pro.

Matte screen options for the 13″ will finally appease the bunch of silly users who keep insisting that matte screens are better (when they are not) and who had to buy the 15″ because there wasn’t a matte screen option for the 13″, until now.

The screen resolution change isn’t a surprise, Apple switched the resolution starting from the updated 13″ MacBook Air last year, and it makes no business sense for them to keep using a lower resolution screen for the MacBook Pro lines.

And really, besides the introduction of SSD in every model and the increase of screen resolution, the most important part must be the decrease in weight of the whole MacBook Pro lines. With the unibody series the MacBook Pro line was already almost some of the lightest notebooks in its categories (all the more cool when you realised that competitors are achieving comparable weight using cheap filmsy lightweight plastic that breaks when you knock your laptop against your knee). If the 1.8kg weight for the 13″ MacBook Pro is real, there is just simply going to be no competition.

I am really excited, shouldn’t you be too? Especially you, you, you, you, you, you, and you, since you are already planning to buy your first Mac in the next two months.

This is really exciting.

P.S. And then there’s Light Peak. Shall not comment on it until we see it tomorrow.

P.S. again. It seems that new last minute-rumors have appeared to dispel some of the more cooler rumors including case redesigns and weight reduction. Check it out here. If true, will be much less ambitious and exciting than originally hoped for.

P.S., yet again. Cool my arse. The rumor mill could have never been more wrong. The 13″ers are totally lousier upgrades compared to the previous generation, which has better graphics and longer battery life (10 hours vs the current 7 hours)

MacBook and MacBook Pro pricings are now at their lowest in their entire history in Singapore. Cheapest MacBooks and MacBook Pros ever!

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With the release of the latest MacBook (the white one, in case some of you still can’t tell the differences between the MacBook and the MacBook Pro lines), the prices for the MacBooks and the MacBook Pros are officially at their lowest for as long as I could remember.

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Macworld predictions roundup

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We are 5 days away from the holy mecca of all Mac fans – Macworld Expo. As usual, there are many last minute rumors flooding the Mac rumors sites. Will do a listing of all the rumors listed on Macrumors.com so far.

Basically, we have the following;

1. iWork and iMovie to become online apps
2. iPhone nano
3. Cheaper MacBook
4. Smaller iPod Shuffle
5. Updated iMac and Mac mini

So, the usual question: how true are these rumors?

Firstly, the possibility of iWork and iMovie becoming web apps is high. However, it is highly impossible that desktop versions of the apps will be totally gone. It is almost impossible to recreate web versions of the desktop apps while retaining all functions that the current desktop apps have, and if iWork’09 have lesser functions than iWork’08 had, we all know how well that will turn out. Anyone remember the iMovie’08 fiasco?

Secondly, iPhone nano. So yeah. You have the usual case makers revealing the possible existence of a nano-ized version of the iPhone. So what? Who cares? If it’s cheaper than the iPhone then maybe you will have a few people who are interested, but right now I think more people are really interested in getting the next iPhone software update from Apple in order to get more functionality out of their current iPhones.

Next, the cheaper MacBook. So drop the white MacBook entirely and lower the price of the entry Aluminum model. That will rock with me. Possibility of such an action happening at Macworld 2009 is low though.

Next, the smaller iPod Shuffle. Possible. Just not at Macworld 2009.

Lastly, the updated Mac Mini and iMac. This is almost a definite YES. 3 almost definite updates;

i. MiniDisplay port. Apple’s new standards-based almost-proprietary-for-now port will make its way to all Macs.

ii. Nvidia 9400. Obviously.

iii. New CPUs. You know which ones I’m talking about.

I can’t wait for 6th Jan!!!

Mac booth at NUS laptop sales attracts sales personnel from Acer, Fujitsu, Toshiba

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Reporting live from the NUS laptop sales at NUS Multi-Purpose Sports Hall 1, the Mac booth has attracted, among the many Mac faithful and new switchers, the sales personnel from other booths, with some of them essentially pledging their interest to purchase a brand new Mac with, ironically, possibly their paycheck earn from the sales of Acer, Fujitsu and Toshiba laptops.

Edited: Lenovo staff’s photo added as well.

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National University of Singapore Matriculation Fair Laptop Sales for Mac

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I will be selling Macs at the NUS Matriculation Fair from this friday, 25th July till 31st July, at the Multi-Purpose Sports Hall from 9 am till 5pm. Those of you entering NUS soon do look for me if you have any questions regarding Macs or if you want to purchase a MacBook/Air/Pro for your Uni life.

I’ll be easy to spot. I’ll be wearing white/blue hair color during that week.

Twitter me for details on the prices if you want to know.

The fair will end on the 31st1st, followed by another month of sales in Yusok Ishak House from the 4th, which I will be in charge of as well.

Edit: For those of you who came in here looking for information for the NUS Matriculation Fair 2009, read in these following posts, why I quit the sales after the first day;

Why school-based Mac User Groups are a terrible idea

Words of idiocy from idiots

Letter to Apple Singapore Educational Sale Dept

Freezing MacBook Keyboards… Just in time for the Christmas Season

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More second-tier reporting here.

Ars Technica has reported that owners of Apple’s Intel-based MacBooks and MacBooks Pros have found their keyboards freezing spontaneously, and suggested that the problem might have been Leopard.

While most Mac fans probably can get such news elsewhere, second-tier reporting here does help some of the fellows who don’t read other Mac blogs to get their Mac news, so yeah I will continue the second-tier Mac news reporting. 😛

So guys, any freezing problems for you people?

Seagate HDDs the cause of your dead MacBooks/MacBook Pros

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As this article reports, and I have been saying the same thing for the past 2 years, the Seagate laptop HDDs that are used in the first generation MacBooks and several other earlier Apple laptops/desktops are problem-ridden and generally die despite careful use.

While the article singles out Apple, the fact is that other manufacturers are using the same Seagate HDDs as well, and have experienced similar failures. Seagate refuses to acknowledge the problem, and as such Apple probably has no obligation to issue a mass product recall.

Do note that these drives are generally found only on the first generation MacBooks, which means if yours is a second, third, or lucky you, fourth generation MacBook, they are likely to come equipped with a Fujitsu or a Toshiba HDD instead.

If you own a MacBook or any other Apple laptop, it’s a good idea to check your HDD manufacturer, and do frequent backups. Even better, buy a replacement HDD from Hitachi or Toshiba, you’ll get much more capacity than the original 60GBs on the first generation MacBook, and changing the HDD on the MacBook doesn’t void your warranty as well.