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News & Opinion
Rumor Roundup
Troubleshooting
Tech Trends
Products & Services
Software
News & Opinion
MacBook Airs Go Head-to-Head with 8 Ultrabooks and
Finish on Top
The Register's Cliff Joseph notes that Intel's tight definition of
the Ultrabook spec ensures certain attributes you can more or less take
for granted, such as a minimum of 5 hour battery life, maximum
thickness of 18mm for 13" screen models, and, of course, Intel Core
processors. However, he observes that there's still a fair amount of
wiggle room for manufacturers to experiment with - for example, HP's
glass-clad Spectre pushing the size and weight limits on one hand, with
Dell opting for carbon-fibre to streamline its XPS 13 on the other.
However, Joseph observes that the company inspired the Ultrabook class
with its MacBook Air models offers worthy alternatives in the
ultraportable laptop category.
Among ten machines profiled in the feature article, the 13" Apple
MacBook Air is awarded a 85% rating, and the 11" MacBook Air a whopping
90% rating, with Apple's 11-incher finishing top dog among the 10
laptops, and the 13" MacBook Air matching the best of the PC Ultrabook
competition
The Ultrabook contenders and their respective ratings are:
- Acer Aspire S3-951: 75%
- Apple MacBook Air
11": 90%
- Apple MacBook Air
13": 85%
- Asus ZenBook UX31E: 85%
- Asus ZenBook UX21E: 85%
- Dell XPS 13: 80%
- HP Envy 14 Spectre: 80%
- Lenovo IdeaPad U300s: 75%
- Samsung Series 5 NP530U3B 13": 80%
- Toshiba Portegé Z830-10N: 75%
Link: Ten...
Ultrabooks
How to Boost Your MacBook Pro's Performance
ZDNet's Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has posted some tips on how to make
your MacBook Pro even faster. He notes that because the MacBook Pro is
a portable system, you can't crack it open and replace the CPU or
graphics, so upgrade options are limited, but there is still potential
to give this already fast machine a significant performance bump,
including maxing out the RAM ("the single best performance upgrade that
you can carry out"), replacing the hard drive with a much faster SSD,
and a special upgrade for the Late 2011 13" MacBook
Pro (Apple's most popular MacBook model) that Kingsley-Hughes says
is unique in that both the hard drive and optical drive SATA ports both
support high-speed SATA III, meaning you can replace both the hard
drive and the optical drive with SSDs and configure them into an
ultra-fast RAID configuration.
Link: How to Boost Your
MacBook Pro Performance
Retina Resolution Screens Already Available but
Costly
Cnet's Josh Lowensohn and Brooke Crothers report that super
high-resolution 13.3" and 15.4" so-called "Retina Display" panels are
already available in the OEM supply channel, but cost substantially
more than the standard resolution screens used in current Apple
notebooks.
It's being widely rumored of late that Retina Display resolution
will be a marquee feature of the MacBook Pro redesign anticipated for
launch sometime in the next six weeks. However, Lowensohn and Crothers
observe that the high-res screens are projected by NPD DisplaySearch
Senior Analyst Richard Shim to cost nearly $100 more than the panels
Apple currently uses in MacBooks - 15.4" OEM units about $160 as
opposed to $68 for current model panels and $134 for 13.3" model,
compared to $69 for the current 13.3" displays Apple uses in its
MacBook Pros.
Link: Retina MacBook
Screens: Already Here - and Pricey
New MacBook Pro CPU Benchmarked?
The Geekbench benchmarking site has posted a reference, to a
'MacBook9,1' with a quad-core Intel Core i7-3820QM Ivy Bridge processor
operating at 2.7 GHz and running Mac OS X 10.8 (Build 12A211). It has
8 GB of 1600 MHz DDR 3 - possibly referring to the new 15" MacBook
Pro.
Link: MacBook9,1
Liquidmetal MacBook Pros Not Likely This Year
The Inquisitr proposes that the anticipated MacBook Pro 2012
redesign may include Liquidmetal construction that would
replace the aluminum unibody design Apple uses for all of its current
MacBook models.
SlashGear's Chris Burns recently reported that he'd received a tip from an
anonymous source claiming to have seen Liquidmetal technology being
used in an Apple device much larger than an iPhone, and says that while
a vague tip, anonymous to boot, wouldn't normally be something he'd
cover, "the possibility that this could be the next big MacBook Pro
feature is just too perfect not to consider."
However, earlier this month AppleInsider reported that that Dr. Atakan Peker, who
discovered and developed the formulation that later became the
Liquidmetal amorphous (moldable) metal alloy is guessing it would take
hundreds of millions of dollars and over three years for Apple to ready
the technology necessary to mass-produce large products, such as laptop
enclosures, from the material, saying in an interview with Business
Insider that Apple is most likely years away from using the alloy in
large-scale projects, noting that there is "no suitable manufacturing
infrastructure yet to take full advantage of this alloy
technology."
Link: MacBook Pro 2012
Models Could Be Made with Liquidmetal
Rumor Roundup
Next 15" MacBook Pro: Retina Display, Ultrathin
Design, Super-fast USB 3
9 to 5 Mac's Mark Gurman reports that Apple is putting the finishing
touches on an entirely new 15" MacBook Pro - the culmination of years
of research and development in ultrathin mobile computing and
super-high-resolution displays. Gurman says that according to trusted
sources in Apple's supply chain, who have handled prototype components
and casings for the new notebook, the computer is currently undergoing
test production rounds in preparation for release this summer featuring
an ultrathin design, a Retina Display, and super-fast USB 3.
Link: Apple Readies
Revamped 15-inch MacBook Pro: Retina Display, Ultra-thin Design, and
Super-fast USB 3
Barclays Capital Analyst Predicts New MacBooks and
iMacs in June
SlashGear's Michael Crider cites Barclays Capital analyst Ben
Reitzes predicting (backed by the authority of several billion dollars
worth of guided investments) that Apple will update its MacBook Air,
MacBook Pro, and iMac lines as soon as next month, with Intel Intel Ivy
Bridge CPUs for all MacBook laptops and the iMac, and new versions of
both OS X and iOS before fall.
Reitzes also thinks a smaller model iPad would make sense for the
fall, especially in the education market, where the high price of entry
for Apple's current 9.7" tablets is too steep for many potential
customers. Crider quotes Reitzes commenting: "We do not feel that a
smaller, lower priced tablet will dilute the quality of the iPad brand
and iOS ecosystem either, despite prior comments by the company."
Link: Barclays Capital
Analyst Predicts New MacBooks and iMacs in June, 7-inch iPad for
Fall
Piper Jaffray Analyst Expects MacBook Refresh in
June Quarter
From AppleInsider Staff is a report that Piper Jaffray's veteran
Apple-watcher analyst Gene Munster expects Apple refresh to its MacBook
Pro, iMac, and possibly MacBook Air lines during the June quarter but
contends that the biggest-news Apple product rollout to come in the
next six months will be a new iPhone he expects to launch in
October.
The article cites Munster observing that it's been more than a year
since the MacBook and iMac lines saw a "meaningful refresh", and he
anticipates sales rebounding from a dip they've been in lately
following release of new MacBooks and iMacs that he predicts to come
"sometime before June" - rather than at the Worldwide Developer's
Conference in the middle of that month, as certain other commentators
have been speculating, and with the MacBook Pro in particular being
overdue for its first major redesign in going on four years, to be
powered by Intel's new Ivy Bridge processors in a new slimmer form
factor.
An iMac refresh is expected to be more modest in scope.
Link: Analyst Expects
MacBook Refresh by June, Next-gen iPhone by October
Genesys Logic Lands USB 3.0 Card Reader Controller
Chips for MacBook Air
DigiTimes' Josephine Lien and Steve Shen say that IC design house
Genesys Logic has reportedly received USB 3.0 card reader controller
chip orders new MacBook Air notebooks projected for release in the
second half of 2012, according to industry sources.
Lien and Shen note that Genesys Logic's line of USB 3.0 solutions
includes bridge controller chips, hub controllers, and card reader
controller ICs, with current major clients including Kingston
Technology and Seagate Technology, and that the company is planning to
to further expand its product lineup to include USB 3.0 flash drive
controller chips in 2012, expecting shipments of USB 3.0 controller
chips increase significantly in 2012, thanks partly to Intel's Ivy
Bridge processors.
Link: Genesys Logic
Reportedly Lands USB 3.0 Card Reader Controller Chips for MacBook
Air (subscription required)
Troubleshooting
Does Your Mac Have Loud or Constantly Running
Fans?
AmSys' Sam Gardener says that if your Mac or MacBook computer's fans
have been running at high speeds even though you're not running many
applications and your machine is properly ventilated, you can run a
quick troubleshooting step.
Gardener includes illustrated instructions on resetting the System
Management Controller (SMC) on various Mac systems.
Link: Does Your Mac Have
Loud Fans or Running Constantly?
Tech Trends
Hybrid Drive Ultrabooks to Undercut Pure SSD
Models in Price and Capacity
The Register's Chris Mellor cites storage industry research firm
TrendFocus saying Ultrabooks will increasingly use hybrid disk drives for
their near-SSD speed, hard drive capacity, and ability to undercut pure
SSD Ultrabook prices, with storage drive industry heavyweight Seagate
predicting that hybrid drives will eventually enter every part of its
product portfolio.
According to Stifel Nicolaus analyst Aaron Rakers, says Mellor,
TrendFocus researchers project Ultrabooks using thin (7mm thick) 2.5"
hybrid drives - hard drives with a flash cache - to get near-SSD speed
while still having much greater capacity than an SSD along with a lower
price, with Seagate's next hybrid hard drive possibly arriving later
this quarter or in the third quarter, with competing products from
WD/Hitachi GST and Toshiba coming by year-end.
Link: Flashy Mutant
Ultrabooks to Shove Pure SSD Chaps Off Cliff
Products & Services
WaterField Designs CitySlicker Case Provides
3-Layer Protection for MacBook Air without Adding Bulk
PR: WaterField Designs has introduced the CitySlicker,
an urban MacBook Air case with an old-world spin that uses modern
materials to provide the utmost protection. Designed to enhance the
Air's lightness without adding bulk, the CitySlicker is compact, even
with accessories. WaterField's design combines three layers of
protection using impact-resistant plastic, high-grade neoprene, and a
padded liner to keep the Air safe from unexpected dings.
"The MacBook Air is unbelievably thin, and we wanted to enhance that
look rather than detract from it," explains Gary Waterfield, company
founder. "The challenge was to design something sleek with hard-case
protection, while keeping it compact, and to create a look that works
on 
weekdays as well as weekends. We added a rugged,
distressed leather flap to complete the 'old-world meets modern' look
we were after."
The CitySlicker MacBook Air Case combines sturdy ballistic nylon
with a distressed, leather flap that snaps into place, giving the
ultra-modern case its old-world twist. The flap covers an accessory
nook with four stretchy pockets to keep items snugly in place. A back,
semi-opaque pocket with a self-locking zipper stows thin items or
accessories. Opt to tuck it under an arm, or to add a handle, a strap,
or both. Available exclusively at sfbags.com in four colors: black,
chocolate, grizzly and camel.
Availability & Pricing
The
CitySlicker for the MacBook Air
- 11" MacBook Air - Price: $129. With handle: $139.
- 13" MacBook Air - Price: $139. With handle: $149.
- With D-rings: +$5.
- With D-rings and Simple Strap: +$12.
- With D-rings and Suspension Shoulder Strap: +$22.
Colors: Black, chocolate, grizzly and camel.
Available now for preorder at sfbags.com. Shipping begins May 28,
2012.
Link: CitySlicker
MacBook Air Case
Software
Free Battery Guard Predicts Battery Life
PR: Battery Guard tells you how long your battery will last -
a fully featured, enhanced replacement for the battery tray icon that
comes with your Mac.
Battery Guard shows the time left on your battery next to its icon.
If you'd rather show the percent charge, you can see that too.
Clicking on the icon opens a panel to quickly see useful information
about your MacBook's battery:
- charge level
- capacity
- original capacity
- time remaining
New in Version 1.1.0
More Useful
Battery Guard is now a complete replacement for the built-in battery
icon. You can now choose between three choices for the status icon:
- just the icon
- the time remaining to empty (or to charge)
- the percentage charged
Start At Login: You can now choose to have this app start when your
computer starts!
System requirements: OS X 10.6 or later
Battery Guard 1.1.0 is freeware.
Link:
Battery Guard
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