CUPERTINO, Calif., Oct. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple® today updated its popular MacBook® with a new, durable polycarbonate unibody design featuring a brilliant LED-backlit display, a glass Multi-Touch™ trackpad and Apple’s innovative built-in battery for up to seven hours of battery life. Inheriting technology and design features from the MacBook Pro line, the new MacBook is an ideal consumer notebook for students and new Mac® users, and is available for $US999. “The new MacBook includes many of the great features found on the innovative MacBook Pro, such as an LED-backlit display, glass Multi-Touch trackpad and built-in long-life battery,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With the only lineup of notebooks all featuring unibody enclosures, LED-backlit displays and long-life battery technology, there’s never been a better time to switch to a Mac.”

The new MacBook features a unibody, polycarbonate enclosure that makes it lighter and more durable. The new design includes a unique non-skid bottom surface and at just 4.7 pounds, the sleek MacBook slides easily into a backpack or briefcase. MacBook comes standard with a bright, LED-backlit display with the same wide-angle viewing technology used in the MacBook Pro line. The new MacBook has a 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB RAM, a 250GB hard drive, and powerful NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics.

The new MacBook includes Apple’s innovative built-in notebook battery for up to seven hours of wireless productivity on a single charge, and up to 1,000 recharges.* At nearly three times the lifespan of conventional notebook batteries, Apple’s built-in battery results in fewer depleted batteries and less waste. Depleted batteries can be replaced for $US129, which includes installation and environmentally responsible disposal of your old battery.

The energy-efficient MacBook joins the industry’s greenest lineup of notebooks, with every Mac notebook achieving EPEAT Gold** status and meeting Energy Star 5.0 requirements. The entire Mac notebook line now comes standard with energy efficient LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass. Mac notebooks contain no brominated flame retardants, use internal cables and components that are PVC-free and are constructed of recyclable materials.

Every Mac comes with Mac OS® X Snow Leopard®, the world’s most advanced operating system, and iLife®, Apple’s innovative suite of applications for managing photos, making movies and creating and learning to play music. Snow Leopard builds on a decade of OS X innovation and success with hundreds of refinements, new core technologies and out of the box support for Microsoft Exchange. iLife features iPhoto®, to easily organize and manage photos; iMovie® with powerful easy-to-use new features such as Precision Editor, video stabilisation and advanced drag and drop; and GarageBand® which introduces a whole new way to help you learn to play piano and guitar.

Pricing & Availability
The new MacBook is available immediately through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple authorised Resellers.

The new MacBook, for a suggested retail price of $US999 (US), includes:
13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1280 x 800 glossy display;
2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB shared L2 cache;
1066 MHz front-side bus;
2GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
250 GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
a slot-load 8X SuperDrive® with double-layer support (DVD+ / -R DL/DVD+ / -RW/CD-RW);
Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
built-in AirPort Extreme® 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
Gigabit Ethernet port;
built-in iSight® video camera;
two USB 2.0 ports;
one audio line in/out port, supporting optical digital out and analogue in/out;
glass Multi-Touch trackpad;
built-in, 60WHr lithium polymer battery; and
60 Watt MagSafe® Power adaptor.

Build-to-order options for the MacBook include the ability to upgrade to 4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, or 320GB 5400 rpm, 500GB 5400 rpm hard drive, Mini DisplayPort to DVI adaptor, Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI adaptor (for 30-inch DVI display), Mini DisplayPort to VGA adaptor, Apple MagSafe Airline adaptor and the AppleCare Protection Plan.

In their review of June’s upclocked, marked-down MacBook Air, MacWorld noticed some odd benchmark results. Compared to the Late 2008 MacBook Air, clocked at 1.86GHz, the new top-end model, clocked at 2.13GHz, couldn’t quite keep up. This is odd, since the rest of the specs have remained basically static, and the only difference between the processors is clock speed.

Confirming their suspicions, they found the June 2009 1.83GHz Air to be markedly slower than the Late 2008 1.83GHz model, despite nearly identical specs. So, what the hell?

The obvious answer here would be some kind of firmware change, since it doesn’t make sense from a hardware perspective. MacWorld speculates that the newer Airs could have more aggressive thermal management features, which throttle the processor when it gets too hot—a theory somewhat supported by the fact that high-stress benchmarks showed a proportionally greater performance decrease than easier ones.

Another possibility in the same vein: Underutilising faster processors simply gives Apple better power consumption and heat results. Problem is, that doesn’t explain why the matched processors perform differently. Also, Apple’s whole pretense that the new Airs are faster than the old ones would have been a intentional, egregious lie.

Until these benchmarks are replicated and examined, we’ll have to remain a little bit sceptical. But if they can be, then Apple’s got some splainin’ to do, I think. [MacWorld via MacRumors]

The issue has been examined at length in the MacRumors forums, where dozens of users are sharing their experiences, benchmarks and varying levels of disappointment. Here are the kinds of numbers they’re finding with faster SSDs (excerpted):

Older 13″ MBA, 13″ MB, 17″ MBP (and old versions of 13″/15″ MBP):

Sequential READ = 225 MB/sec
Sequential WRITE = 180 MB/sec

New 13″ MBP, 15″ MBP

Sequential READ = 115 MB/sec
Sequential WRITE = 95 MB/sec

This sounds terrible: the potential read speeds on the new MacBook Pros have essentially been cut in half. In real-world scenarios, though—particularly Apple-sanctioned real-world scenarios—the speed differences shouldn’t matter much; since the MBPs ship HDDs that aren’t quite fast enough to max out a 1.5Gb interface, the issue will go unnoticed by most users.

The problem, though, is with upgrades: there are SSDs on the market that can reach and pass the 1.5GB/s threshold, and in the near future they’ll become much more common, and cheaper. There’s speculation that this could be remedied with a firmware update, but many are saying this is unlikely; after all, reverting to an older firmware wouldn’t have saved Apple any money, while reverting to cheaper hardware would have. [MacRumors —Thanks, James, Serrada and Kim!]

Apple stores have discounted nearly every MacBook in stock, and while the markdowns aren’t huge, they’re worth a look: MacBook Airs have been discounted anywhere from $US400 to $US800, which means the previous base model is now $US100 cheaper than the most affordable new version. The 2.66GHz 17-inch MacBook Pro is discounted by $US500, bringing it below the new model’s $US2500 starting price. 13-inch unibodies get $US100-$300 markdowns, which, given the latest units’ advantages, might not be worth it.

You’ll want to stop by or call your local store on this one, since these offers depend on remaining inventory, and might not hold in every location. [AppleInsider via Ars]

According to a fresh Knowledge Base article, a properly formatted SD card can be used to boot OS X from the internal slot. As (vaguely) described, this could be a valuable backup and restoration tool, or a convenient way to maintain a semi-portable install of your OS. In proper giveth/taketh fashion, Apple states in the same posting that, despite being the clear, inevitable replacement for the SDHC standard, SDXC card’s won’t be supported, meaning storage will effectively be capped at 32GB.

If Apple really wanted to make this useful, they’d extend Boot Camp to support external storage devices; a feat which is currently only manageable through complex and unwieldy hacks. On this, the article is tellingly silent. [Ars—SDXC tip from Richard L.]

iPhone 3GS
• iPhone 3GS Complete Feature Guide
• iPhone 3G vs. iPhone 3GS Comparison Chart
• iPhone 3GS Video Walkthrough
• iPhone 3GS Gets Voice Control

iPhone Pricing Issues: The Untold Story
• iPhone 3G Owners Will Have To Pay $US200 Extra To Get iPhone 3GS Early
• Old 16GB iPhone 3G to Sell for $US149
• The Not-So-New $US99 8GB iPhone

iPhone OS and Apps
• iPhone 3.0: The Whole Story
• “Find My iPhone” Is a Relief to Us Forgetful Types
• App Roundup: iPhone 3.0

New MacBook Pros
• New Amazingly Priced 15-Inch MacBook Pros
• All-New, Low-Priced 13-Inch MacBook Pro, Plus Great Price Reductions for MacBook Air

Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Safari
• Mac OSX Snow Leopard: The Whole Story (Including $US29 Upgrade Price!)
• Safari 4 Available, Dubbed “World’s Fastest Browser”

The Whole Damn Keynote
• Wish You’da Been There, Elbow To Elbow With Bloggers, Feeling Chen’s Hot Breath On Your Neck? Watch This, and Imagine

iPhone Rumours
The biggest batch of rumours had to do with the phone, and man were some of them off base:

• “iPhone Video” name? NOPE

• “iPhone 3GS” name? YEP

• Video shooting? YEP

• iPhone matte black finish? NOPE

• iPhone front camera and videoconferencing? NOPE

• $US99 iPhone? YEP

• Glowing Apple logo? NOPE

• Autofocus 3-megapixel camera? YEP

• Magnetometer/compass? YEP

• OLED screen? NOPE

• iPhone Speed and Memory Boost? YEP

• aluminium “unibody” iPhone? NOPE

• Verizon iPhone or some other Apple phone? NOPE

• iPhone Nano, whatever that is? NOPE

Other Apple Rumours:
It was easy to dismiss the tablet rumour early on, but there were other speculations that were a little easier to swallow:

• Apple tablet? NOPE

• 13-Inch MacBook Pro? YEP

• Marble look-and-feel for Snow Leopard? NOPE

• 64GB iPod Touch? NOPE

• Steve Jobs appearance? NOPE

(Note: If I left any out, go ahead and throw them into comments. There’s no way I can verify that I got ‘em all above.)

So, did we get took? Or did we take home quite a bit? From this tally, out of 19, only 7 came true, but when you factor that in with some unexpected fun, like the Find My Phone remote MobileMe feature, or the voice controls, or the MacBook Pro’s new SD card slot (which is nice, though not an HDMI port), it was a decent haul despite any disappointment. In case you haven’t had enough, here’s the full coverage from WWDC. [WWDC 2009 on Gizmodo]

Speaking of the 3.0 update – it will be released in Australia alongside the rest of the world on June 17, not the June 26 date stated in the original press release. Free for iPhone users (naturally) and $14.95 for iPod Touch owners.

Moving onto those MacBook Pro announcements – the MacBook category has been decimated, with only the white MacBook still available. The Unibody MacBook has morphed into the 13-inch MacBook Pro, which has a starting price of $1,899. The new 15-inch MacBook Pro starts at $2,699, while the MacBook Air is back to $2,399.

Snow Leopard will launch in September – just like the US, although we won’t know pricing details until closer to launch. However, if you do happen to buy a new Mac before Snow Leopard launches, you can upgrade to the new OS for just a $14.95 handling fee.

And that’s pretty much it. Obviously expect to hear more as the networks start trumpeting the 3GS over the next couple of weeks. But in the meantime, is there anything in particular you want answered about the Australian implications of the WWDC announcements?

The 13-inch MBP gets the backlit keyboard, SD card slot and the option to be loaded with up to 8GB of RAM, just like its new big brothers.

Furthermore, the MacBook Air’s base price just got dropped down to $US1,499. It’ll be $US1799 with a 256GB SSD, which is $US700 cheaper than before.

Apple Updates MacBook Pro Family with New Models & Innovative Built-in Battery for Up to 40 Percent Longer Battery Life

SAN FRANCISCO, June 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple® today updated the aluminium unibody MacBook® Pro line to include 13-inch, 15-inch and 17-inch models featuring Apple’s innovative built-in battery for up to 40 percent longer battery life. Each MacBook Pro includes an LED-backlit display with greater colour intensity, the innovative glass Multi-Touch™ trackpad, an illuminated keyboard, an SD card or ExpressCard slot, a FireWire® 800 port and state of the art NVIDIA graphics. Starting at just $1,199, the MacBook Pro line is more affordable than ever, with some models up to $300 less than the previous generation. The industry’s greenest notebook lineup, every Mac® notebook achieves EPEAT* Gold status and meets Energy Star 5.0 requirements, setting a new standard for environmentally friendly notebook design.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090608/SF28883)

“Across the line, all of our new MacBook Pro models now include Apple’s innovative built-in battery for up to seven hours of battery life, while staying just as thin and light as before,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Starting at just $1,199, the aluminium unibody MacBook Pro is more affordable than ever and sets a new standard for environmentally friendly notebook design.”

The new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro models include Apple’s innovative built-in notebook battery for up to seven hours of wireless productivity on a single charge without adding thickness, weight or cost. Using Adaptive Charging and advanced chemistry first introduced with the 17-inch MacBook Pro earlier this year, the built-in battery delivers up to 1,000 recharges before it reaches 80 percent of its original capacity-nearly three times the lifespan of conventional batteries.** The longer battery lifespan equals fewer depleted batteries and less waste.

The new 13-inch MacBook Pro is a significant upgrade at a lower price than the original aluminium MacBook it replaces. With the same sleek and durable design popular with consumers, students and professionals, all 13-inch MacBook Pro models now include a seven hour built-in battery, an SD card slot, a FireWire 800 port, an illuminated keyboard and an improved LED-backlit display with 60 percent greater colour gamut. Featuring the powerful NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics processor, the 13-inch MacBook Pro is available in two models: one with a 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive priced at $1,199, and another with a 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB of RAM and a 250GB hard drive priced at $1,499.

The perfect balance of performance and portability, the 15-inch MacBook Pro now features a seven hour built-in battery, an SD card slot, an improved LED-backlit display with 60 percent greater colour gamut and 4GB of RAM across the line at an entry price $300 less than before. The new 15-inch MacBook Pro is available in three models: a 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo system with a 250GB hard drive and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics for a new entry price of $1,699; a 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo system with a 320GB hard drive, and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M and 9600M GT graphics for $1,999; and a 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo system with a 500GB hard drive, and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M and 9600M GT graphics for $2,299.

The 17-inch MacBook Pro, which includes an eight hour built-in battery, an ExpressCard slot, a brilliant LED-backlit display, 4GB of RAM and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M and 9600M GT graphics, has been updated to include a faster 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and a larger 500GB hard drive for $2,499, which is $300 less than before.

All MacBook Pro systems feature Apple’s revolutionary aluminium unibody design and for the first time can be upgraded with up to 8GB of RAM, and up to a 500GB hard drive or up to a 256GB solid state drive. The 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro models can also be upgraded to a 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor. All MacBook Pro systems include a next generation, industry-standard Mini DisplayPort to connect with the 24-inch Apple LED Cinema Display.

Apple today also updated the incredibly thin and light MacBook Air®, making it more powerful and more affordable. Measuring just 0.16 to 0.76-inches thin and weighing just three pounds, the MacBook Air is available in two models starting with the new entry price of $1,499 for a 1.86 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo system with a 120GB hard drive and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics, and a 2.13 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo system with a 128GB solid state drive and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics for $1,799.

Every Mac notebook achieves EPEAT Gold status and meets Energy Star 5.0 requirements, setting a new standard for environmentally friendly notebook design. Each unibody enclosure is made of highly recyclable aluminium and comes standard with energy efficient LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass. All MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models contain no brominated flame retardants and use internal cables and components that are PVC-free. The built-in battery design results in less waste and depleted batteries can be replaced for $129 or $179, which includes installation and disposal of your old battery in an environmentally responsible manner.

Every MacBook Pro comes with Apple’s innovative iLife® ‘09 featuring iPhoto® for managing photos, iMovie® for making movies and GarageBand® for creating and learning to play music. Every Mac also runs Leopard®, the world’s most advanced operating system, featuring Time Machine®, an effortless way to automatically back up everything on a Mac; Spaces®, an intuitive feature used to create groups of applications and instantly switch between them; Mail with easy setup and elegant, personalised stationery; and iChat®, the most advanced video chat.

Pricing & Availability

The new 13-inch MacBook Pro, 15-inch MacBook Pro, 17-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air are now available through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorised Resellers. Mac OS® X Snow Leopard™ will be shipping in September 2009, and any new Mac system purchased without Snow Leopard from Apple or an Apple Authorised Reseller between June 8, 2009 and the end of the program on December 26, 2009, is eligible for the Mac OS X Snow Leopard Up-To-Date upgrade package available for a product plus shipping and handling fee of $9.95 (US). Users must request their Up-To-Date upgrade within 90 days of purchase or by December 26, 2009, or whichever comes first. For more information please visit www.apple.com/macosx/uptodate.

The 2.26 GHz, 13-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $1,199 (US), includes:

· 13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1280 x 800 glossy display;

· 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB shared L2 cache;

· 1066 MHz front-side bus;

· 2GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 8GB;

· NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;

· 160GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;

· a slot-load 8X SuperDrive® with double-layer support (DVD+/-R DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW) optical drive;

· Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);

· built-in AirPort Extreme® 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;

· Gigabit Ethernet port;

· built-in iSight® video camera;

· two USB 2.0 ports;

· one FireWire 800 port (FireWire 400 compatible);

· SD card slot;

· one audio line in/out port, supporting both optical digital and analog;

· glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;

· built-in, 58WHr lithium polymer battery; and

· 60 Watt MagSafe® Power Adapter.

The 2.53 GHz, 13-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $1,499 (US), includes:

· 13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1280 x 800 glossy display;

· 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB shared L2 cache;

· 1066 MHz front-side bus;

· 4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 8GB;

· NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;

· 250GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;

· a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+/-R DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW) optical drive;

· Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);

· built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;

· Gigabit Ethernet port;

· built-in iSight video camera;

· two USB 2.0 ports;

· one FireWire 800 port (FireWire 400 compatible);

· SD card slot;

· one audio line in/out port, supporting both optical digital and analog;

· glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;

· built-in, 58WHr lithium polymer battery; and

· 60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

Build-to-order options for the MacBook Pro include the ability to upgrade to 8GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, a 250GB 5400 rpm, 320GB 5400 rpm or 500GB 5400 rpm hard drive, a 128GB or 256GB solid state drive, Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adaptor, Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adaptor (for 30-inch DVI display), Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adaptor, Apple Remote, Apple MagSafe Airline Adaptor and the AppleCare® Protection Plan.