Major product updates from Apple

Following Apple’s announcement of their most profitable quarter ever, they announced a whole range of new products just in time for the upcoming holiday season.

iMac

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The all-in-one iMac is updated with a new enclosure as well as internals. You will immediately notice the screen is bigger compared to the previous generation. The iMac now comes in two new sizes, 21.5 and 27-inch displays. The most obvious change is the screen size. The 21.5-inch version features a high resolution 1920-by-1080 pixel display (which is full HD), and the 27-inch features a staggering 2560-by-1440 pixel display.

Internally, the iMac is refreshed with a faster processor, topping off with Quad Core i5 and i7 chips for as a custom option for the 27.5-incher. The graphics card, RAM and hard disk is also upgraded. And now, the iMac ships with wireless keyboard and the new Magic Mouse as standard.

The iMac is available in Singapore at the Apple Store on 28 October for the Core 2 Duo version, starting from S$1,788 and the i5 and i7 iMacs will begin shipping in November.

Mac mini

macminiThe Mac mini also saw an update. It looks the same as the previous generation’s and comes in 3 configurations. First is a 2.26GHz Interl Core 2 Duo with 160 Gb hard disk, the second is a 2.53GHz with a 320Gb hard disk but the last one is a nice surprise.

Apple configured a new Mac mini with Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server loaded inside. This incarnation of the Mac Mini will not include a DVD drive, but instead houses 2 × 500 Gb hard disks as server storage. The entire line of Mac minis are available from the Apple Store now from S$948.

Macbook

macbook-unibody The Macbook also saw a much needed update. It now sports an entirely new unibody polycarbonate enclosure. Like her bigger Pro cousin, the Macbook now comes with a built-in rechargeable battery, which boasts up to seven hours of wireless productivity with each charge. It comes in one flavor, clocking in at 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and only at S$1588 if you add any additional extras.

The new Macbook will be available in Singapore from the Apple Store at the end of October from S$1,588.  Do note that the Macbook, unlike the Macbook Pros and iMacs, does not have a SD card slot.

Other updates

The Magic Mouse is a refresh to the Mighty Mouse. The name change is due to legal reasons, but “magic” is also a much better descriptor. It is the world’s first Multi-Touch mouse which can recognize gestures very similar to the trackpads on their laptop range. This means you can two-fingers swipe to advance through pages on your browser and you can use one finger to scroll and pan through your documents just by touching any part of the surface.

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We will be posting an in-depth review of the Magic Mouse very soon. Stay tuned, but if you are interested in a new mouse for your mac, the Magic Mouse should set you back about S$98 and is available end of October.

The Airport Extreme and Time Capsule also saw a minor but significant update. With the approval of the 802.11n standard, the new wireless stations now come standard with dual-band support. Under the hood, the antenna used is improved and now boasts 50% better Wi-Fi performance and up to 25% better range than the previous generation.

Overall, this update is a significant one and in my opinion, there’s never been a better time to get a new Mac. We will be posting a buying guide very soon, so check back here soon for some buying tips this holiday season.

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Rumour Tuesday – new Macs, mouse and keyboard

I think Mac fans live and feed on rumours to sustain our insatiable appetite to be the first to know about new product launches, features etc. Many times, such rumours originates from factories in China where most of the products are manufactured – like how we knew about cameras appearing in the recently released iPod nanos because some leaks from certain iPod nano case manufacturer.

Another good source is from Federal Communications Commission (FCC) filings that regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable – thus companies that produce products that has such features – like say a BlueTooth mouse and keyboard, they need to be submitted and as such filings are available to the public, they will quickly be spotted by the eager eyes from sites like Engadget and AppleInsiders. These two filings are supposedly for the MightyMouse replacement that again will push the boundaries of mouse-technology.

See more details at AppleInsider

See more details at AppleInsider

Also running through the Interweb are Google ads that supposedly leaked the release of new iMacs, MacBooks and Mac minis. As these are pretty hazy thin in rumour land, do keep a look out for the upcoming festive period if you are planning to make a purchase soon as both the iMacs and MacBooks are nearing the end of their product cycle.

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Updates for new Mac Desktops and more

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It has been coming for a while but Apple released new updates across the whole Mac Desktop family, starting from the smallest Mac mini to the powerful Mac Pro. In between there are updates to the iMac, Airport Extreme Base Station, Time Capsule and also a new Apple Keyboard.

Faster. Greener. Still mini.

The “star buy” (for me at least) must be the new Mac mini – coming in at a low S$988. Sporting new 2.0GHz (upgradable to 2.26GHz) Core 2 Duo processor, DDR3 SDRAM from 1GB to 4GB (BTO), SATA HD ranging from 120GB to 320GB and the new NVIDIA GeForce 9400M that first appeared in the new iMacs. As shown in the rumor photo, the Mac mini comes with 5 USB 2 ports, 1 Firewire 800 port, Mini DisplayPort and mini-DVI output to support up to two external displays.

The Mac mini is definitely good for families looking for an entry level Mac suitable not just for its computing features, but also as a good media centre beside your new LCD TV. Definitely something I’m looking at for my new house even though there are much lost opportunities to make Mac mini a kick ass computer for your TV.

The newer and cheaper iMac

The updated iMac is now available in 4 basic configurations – ranging from S$1,948 for a 20-inch model right up to S$3,488 for a 24-inch 3.06GHz model. As it is, the entry iMac is more than sufficient for most users who wants to have a machine fast enough to handle most basic requirements to do photo and video editing, productivity work and non-productivity work like surfing and social networking.

The premium model boast the highest speed available across all Macs – a whopping 3.06GHz quick. With its beautiful 24-inch screen and the powerful NVIDIA GeForece GT 130 (or ATI Radeon HD 4850) with 512MB GDDR3 memory, this is more than sufficient for professionals to do their creative work without having to purchase the workhouse Mac Pro.

The new iMacs are also equipped with the new Apple Keyboard which is without the Numeric Keypad, giving you back more space on your desktop. This is packed with two USB 2 ports on the side giving you a maximum of 6 USB 2 ports. It is also has a FireWire 800 port, iSight, Mini DisplayPort to allow you to connect to the new Apple LED Cinema Displays. Whether removing the Numeric Keypad to save space will sit well with users, we will have to wait and see.

Beauty outside, Beast inside

Last but not least, is the Mac Pro – the powerful workhorse used by those who requires raw power. The new Mac Pro is running the new Intel Quad-Core Xeon “Nehalem” Processors … what a mouthful. Even though numerically the processors seem “slower” than those for the iMac, each being Quad-Core, means you get twice the processing power in one chip. For a low price of S$3,988 you get one 2.66GHz (upgradable to 2.93GHz) Quad-Core processor, 640GB hard drive and 3GB of RAM, upgradable to 8GB in total.

If you seriously new more processing horses, you can opt for the 8-core Mac Pro that starts from S$5,288. You get two 2.26GHz Quad-Core (upgradable to two 2.93GHz processor), 6GB of memory with the option to upsize all the way to 32GB of memory. The graphics option is mind blogging too – from one NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 with 512MB up to 4, yes you read that correct, 4 NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 graphics chip.

As the beauty of the Mac Pro is its expandability, with 4 SATA Drive Bay, you can get up to 4 TBs of HD space. That is ALOT of HD space. With its new internal redesign, getting access to these bays and slots makes it easy for one to upgrade the Mac Pro yourself.

However, for all the money you spend on the Mac Pro, it doesn’t come with an AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi card – a S$78 option. Weird.

Basically the Mac Pro is something you’d want to have if you are filming and editing a Hollywood blockbuster – one that can give you much raw processing power.

macpro-extremeJust for the fun of it. You can built-to-order, a Mac Pro with two 30″ Apple Cinema HD Display and the bestest of the bestest options for a nice total of S$29,120.71. Do let me know if you are considering that option.

Also mentioned in the beginning, the AirPort Extreme Base Station (S$268) and the Time Capsule (S$448, basically an AirPort Extreme Base Station with storage) were also updated. Now it has simultaneous dual-band Wi-Fi – 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands – that will allow better usage of the wireless bandwidth for devices that can tap the higher band but not neglecting the slower devices.

There is also an option to have a separate network for your guest that can only be accessed with a password for your visitors so that they can tap onto the Internet but with no access to your own network. Apple sure make us friendly and generous people. Too bad the Time Capsule were not updated with the higher 1.5TB capacity hard drives.

There is also a new feature that allows you to remotely access your Time Capsule or external Harddisk connected to the Airport Extreme via Internet when you access it with MobileMe.

“Say you’re traveling and you need a file on your Time Capsule back at home. If you’re a MobileMe member using a Mac with Mac OS X Leopard, no problem,” Apple says. “You can now access all the files on your Time Capsule drive over the Internet. Simply register your Time Capsule with your MobileMe account, and its drive appears in the Finder sidebar of your Mac just like any other attached drive. It’s like having your own personal file server wherever you go.”

Read more at the AppleInsider

Slimmer and smaller keyboards

Bucking the trends of having keyboards with more keys and more functions, Apple’s new Keyboard is much more compact as it removed the Numeric Keypad from itself. It comes with two USB 2.0 ports on the sides for you to attached a mouse and can be used for plugging your iPhone or your external storage device. It is available at S$78.

Buried beneath these updates to the Mac Desktops, Apple also slipped in updates to the 15″ MacBook Pro with new 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processors, upgradable to 2.93GHz.

All in all, these updates across the whole Mac product line will benefit everyone, from students, to families to professionals who wants a machine that give them maximum value for every buck they spend.

I for one, is looking forward to getting a new Airport Extreme to replace my DLink router and the Mac mini to replace my now obsolete QuickSilver PowerMac that served me well since 2000.

Will you be getting any new Macs soon?

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Mac mini … yes, no…maybe?

Image and then a video of a possible look at the rumored new Mac mini that is stacked with 5 USB 2 ports, a Firewire 800 port, mini DVI and Mini DisplayPort. The rumored specs of the new Mac mini is a 2GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB of DDR3 ram and SATA HD…

macmini

And a video to go with that…

Whichever it is, many are looking forward to new hardware from Apple in the coming months…keep a look out for them.

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Macworld 2009 – My very last minute prediction

Just gonna make one – no new Mac mini, but a MacTV – putting the Mac into the AppleTV.

It will have at least 1 TB harddisk, with an option for an optical drive or a second harddisk, with mini Display Port, HDMI port, component video port and a mini DVI port. There will also be Firewire 800 and USB 2.0 support and 802.11n WIFI and BlueTooth built-in.

There will be a new Media Server software that will replace Front Row that can manage and edit media – a part iLife, part Front Row hybrid application.

There will also be an update to the Remote software for the iPhone that can control the new Media Server software, but also comes with a remote Touch Pad to serve as a mouse, and a full-screen keyboard so that you don’t need to BYOKAM.

Lastly, when you press Comd+Ctrl+SpaceBar+Z, a rainbow will form just on top of the Mac TV to give it a nice glow.

That’s my last minute Macworld 2009 prediction.

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MacWorld 2009 – rumors rumors rumors

We know that Jobs won’t be there (to give the keynote), but there is still a Macworld in January to look forward to. Here are some news and rumors about Macworld 2009 that I’m keeping track.

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