The top stories from this last week in Apple news were, unsurprisingly, our reviews of the new iPad 2 and 13" MacBook Pro with Thunderbolt. We also did a hands-on with Xcode 4, looked at the latest iPad and Smart Cover teardowns, instructed readers on how to use Home Sharing with their iOS devices, and discussed the intricacies of using Bluetooth stereo headphones with a Mac or iPhone. Read on for the full list of top stories:
Ars reviews the iPad 2: big performance gains in a slimmer package: The iPad 2 is an iteration on the original iPad in order to optimize the user experience, both inside and outside. Ars put the device through its paces to see how different it really is in our latest review.
Small and mighty: a review of Apple's new 13" MacBook Pro: With the latest round of MacBook Pro upgrades, Apple finally brings all of its premium portables up-to-date with the latest Intel processors. Ars looks at the 13" MacBook Pro, with some benchmarks of the new 17" MacBook Pro thrown in for good measure.
Xcode 4 hands-on: be sure to RTFM first: Xcode 4 is probably the most significant change to Apple's developer tools since they were released. Ars provides a short overview of the changes, and highly recommends you RTFM if you're going to use this software.
iPad 2 and Smart Cover teardown: my god, it's full of magnets: iFixit has taken apart both the iPad 2 and its Smart Cover accessory. While the iPad 2 is mostly re-arranged iPad 1 components inside, both it and its new cover contain a total of 31 magnets—Juggalos may be interested to know just how they work.
How to set up iTunes Home Sharing to stream to your iOS device: Certain iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad users can now stream all manner of media from their iTunes libraries on a Mac or PC to their devices via Home Sharing. Ars has a quick how-to to get you all set up.
Poll Technica: 20% of iPad 2 buyers upgrading from iPad; will you?: RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky is predicting a big opening weekend and monster sales of the iPad 2 for 2011. Take our latest reader poll and let us know if you plan to get an iPad 2, opt for another tablet, or just not bother with tablets altogether.
Confirmed: some Web apps not seeing iOS 4.3 JavaScript speedup: Apple boasted about significant JavaScript performance improvements in the iOS 4.3 update, but our testing indicates that those improvements only apply to websites and Web-based apps that run in MobileSafari. Some developers suggest the performance differences are a conspiracy against open Web development.
iPad 2 that travels around the world fetches $1,000 in Hong Kong: Were you waiting forever in line for an iPad 2 on launch day? It turns out that many of those waiting were planning to ship iPads to Asia—and for a profit.
Apple Stores accepting old iPad donations for Teach for America: Apple has begun accepting old iPad donations in order to pass them onto Teach for America, which will distribute the devices to teachers in low-income communities.
Using Bluetooth stereo headphones with a Mac or iPhone: Ars digs into the nitty gritty details on using a Bluetooth stereo headphone set with a Mac versus an iPhone, with bonus comments about the Sennheiser MM450 Bluetooth headset.
We hope you have a great weekend, folks! See you next week on Infinite Loop.
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