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News & Opinion
MacBook Airs with Thunderbolt and Sandy Bridge to
Debut with Lion in July?
9 to 5 Mac's Mark Gurman deduces that diminishing MacBook Air supplies at global
retailers - most recently at major Apple reseller BestBuy.com - means
an update of Apple's smallest laptops is imminent, and that the
scuttlebutt he's hearing is that Apple is gearing up to launch a new
revision of the ultra-thin notebooks in mid-July.
Late 2001 11.6" and 13.3" MacBook Air. 2011 version to look the
same?
Gurman also reports that according to insider intelligence from a
person who has seen the new MacBook Air, exterior changes (if any) were
so subtle as to be unnoticeable except for a Thunderbolt logo
displacing the current model's Mini Display port logo, so significant
changes will all be internal, notably a switch from 2008 vintage Core 2
Duo Intel processors to Sandy Bridge Core "i" silicon (likely Core i7
and Core i5 at clock speeds of 1.7 to 1.8 GHz with turbo boost of 2.7
to 2.9 GHz), and a thermal footprint of 17 watts across the board, plus
the addition of the Thunderbolt ultra high speed data interface.
Presumably, release of these new machine is being held up until
mid-July so they can ship with OS X
10.7 Lion preinstalled, and rumors are suggesting Thursday, July 14
as a likely date, handily preceding Apple's next financial results
conference call slated for Tuesday, July 19. Gurman notes that Apple
typically releases new products during the days leading up to financial
results announcements.
On the other hand, if Apple were to stick to its traditional product
launch day of Tuesday, the new Air would be July 12th or possibly the
19th.
Link: New MacBook Airs
with OS X Lion, Thunderbolt and Sandy Bridge in Mid-July?
White MacBook Supply Severely Constrained
AppleInsider's Neil Hughes notes that availability of Apple's $999
white MacBook is getting
sparse, with major Apple authorized resellers completely sold out. He
suggests this is not necessarily a sign that the MacBook will be
discontinued, but possibly signaling a forthcoming update to the
entry-level notebook, which hasn't been refreshed since May of 2010,
when it got Nvidia GeForce 320M graphics and an Intel 2.4 GHz Core 2
Duo processor.
Hughes muses that with the 11.6" MacBook Air selling
strongly in the $999 price slot, Apple could opt to lower the price of
the white MacBook, noting that is a strategy that's paid off handsomely
for Apple in its iPhone business with continuation of the iPhone 3G and
3Gs after replacement models were introduced.
Editor's note: I'm more of a mind that the white MacBook is set for
termination, with the 11.6" MacBook Air taking over Apple's entry-level
laptop slot exclusively. cm
Publisher's note: I'm more inclined to believe that the white
MacBook will remain in the line for those who want or need a built-in
optical drive, perhaps disappearing in a year or two when most software
comes via download and the need for a SuperDrive becomes vastly
reduced. dk
Link: Supply of Apple's
White MacBook Severely Constrained Ahead of Lion Debut
Is Apple Preparing to Kill Off the White
MacBook?
Cult of Mac's Ed Sutherland raises the question whether the white
MacBook will end along with OS X
10.6 Snow Leopard, noting what some Apple-watchers are deeming
unusually constrained availability of the $999 MacBook in the US,
Europe, and online, and with the popularity of the $999 MacBook Air as
the favorite entry-level notebook Mac, it's being conjectured that
Apple may be fixing to simply discontinue the plastic MacBook line.
Editor's note: There has arguably been redundancy in the currently
crowded lower-price segment of Apple's notebook lineup since the
redesigned MacBook Airs were released last October, and frankly I've
been surprised that the white MacBook has survived this long. If I were
shopping in that price range (which I may well be in the near future),
the 11.6" MacBook Air would be my unhesitating choice, and if, as
widely rumored, Apple drops its price to $899 with the forthcoming
refresh, it will be well-nigh irresistible. Maybe there could be a
future for the white MacBook if its price dropped to $799 and it stuck
with Core 2 Duo power, but I'm skeptical as to that being the way Apple
would want to go.
There seems little logic in Apple selling three different 13"
laptops, and with the 13" MacBook Pro being
a strong seller (IMHO the most attractive Pro package as well as the
best value), and the 13"
MacBook Air obviously sticking around, the machine on the bubble is
the 13" white MacBook, with the imminent OS X 10.7 Lion release
being the cue for Apple to burst the bubble. cm
Link: Apple Might Be
Preparing to Kill Off the White MacBook
What if Apple Released a $799 MacBook Air?
BetaNews' Joe Wilcox suggests that with a MacBook Air refresh
rumored to be imminent and Apple evidently poised to make the
thin-and-light laptop its flagship portable, why not grab some market
share while they're at it by lowering the Air's price to a point where
mere mortals could afford to buy one?
Wilcox cites NPD's vice president of industry analysis Stephen Baker
who has strongly advocated Apple releasing a $799 Mac, and Endpoint
Technologies president Roger Kay, who declares, "A $799 Air would be
killer."
Link: What if Apple
Released a $799 MacBook Air?
What Makes the Thunderbolt Cable Lightning
Fast?
iFixit, checking out intelligence from Ars Technica's Chris
Foresman that Apple's $50 Thunderbolt cable (see below) may be an
active cable with chips containing firmware in it, thereby justifying
the stiff price tag, figured there was only one way to find out for
sure, so they "hopped on over to the local Apple Store and donated $50
to the build-Apple-a-new-campus fund."
Back in the lab, iFixit dug into the cable's suspicious-looking
plastic sleeves on each end using a hot X-acto™ knife to dispense
with the hard plastic, then a significant amount of desoldering and
cutting in order remove the metal shielding surrounding the connector
to reveal the hardware underneath, wherein they found two Gennum GN2033
chips in the connector, one on each side flanked by some smaller chips,
and determining that Apple's $50 cable contains a total of 12 large
chips and "tons" of smaller electronic components.
Link: What Makes the
Thunderbolt Cable Lightning Fast
SSDs with Deduplication Can Hose Your Data
ZDNet's Robin Harris says that a post last month in ACM's Queue
raised a scary issue: Block-level deduplication -
used in some popular SSDs - can wipe out your file system. Harris
notes:
"Many file systems - NTFS, most Unix/Linux FSs, ZFS are some - write
critical metadata to multiple blocks in case one copy gets corrupted.
But what if, unbeknownst to you, your SSD de-duplicates that block,
leaving your file system with only 1 copy?
"Yup, corruption of 1 block could wipe out your entire file system.
And since all the copies point to the same corrupted block, there's no
way to recover."
Link: How SSDs Can Hose
Your Data
Apple Updates
Thunderbolt Firmware Update for 2011 iMac and
MacBook Pro Models
Thunderbolt Firmware Update provides Thunderbolt performance and
stability fixes.
File Size: 486 KB
System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.6.8
Publisher's note: Thunderbolt cables and devices became available
for the first time this past week. Until now, there was no way to use
Thunderbolt and discover any glitches. dk
Link: Thunderbolt Firmware
Update
About Apple's Thunderbolt Cable
Apple's Thunderbolt to Thunderbolt cable is a two meter (app. 6.6')
long bus-powered cable that has a Thunderbolt connections on both ends
and can be used for connecting Thunderbolt devices and peripherals to a
Mac which has at least one Thunderbolt port.
A new Apple Knowledge Base article says answers the FAQs:
- What is the maximum bandwidth supported by Thunderbolt to
Thunderbolt cable (2 m)?
- What is the proper way to insert the Thunderbolt cable into my
Thunderbolt-capable device or Mac?
- How do I confirm a Thunderbolt-enabled device is connected to a
Mac?
- Can I use a Thunderbolt cable to connect a Promise, La Cie, or
other third-party storage device that uses Thunderbolt?
- Is there a maximum supported length for using Thunderbolt cables
with Apple products?
- Why is there a black screen when I use a Thunderbolt cable to
connect to an Intel-based iMac that supports Target Display Mode?
- What do I do if my Mac doesn't have a Thunderbolt option in System
Profiler and no connected devices seem to be recognized?
- I've installed all available updates, but no Thunderbolt devices
are recognized when I connect them with a Thunderbolt cable.
- Can I use Target Disk Mode with a Thunderbolt cable and a
third-party storage device that uses Thunderbolt?
- Can I use a Thunderbolt cable with supported versions of Microsoft
Windows on a Thunderbolt-capable Mac with Boot Camp?
Link: About Thunderbolt to Thunderbolt
Cable (2 m)
Tech Trends
13.3" Sony Vaio Z1 Laptop: Lighter, Thinner, More
Powerful, and Pricier than MacBook Air
PR: Sony has unveiled in Europe and the UK a high-end, more
powerful, and even lighter competitor for Apple's hot-selling MacBook
Air, the Vaio Z1.
This thin and
light 13.3" laptop is aimed particularly at enterprise execs and other
power-users who want a subcompact, ultralight laptop without
sacrificing high-end performance, features, and connectivity.
The top-of-the-line Vaio Z1 is powered by a Core i7 processor
running at 2.7 GHz (with Turbo Boost to 3.4 GHz), comes with 8 GB
of 1333 MHz DDR3 RAM, has 256 GB of SSD capacity in a RAID-0
configuration, and a 13.1" screen with 1600 x 900 resolution. A Core i5
model with 4 GB of RAM and a 128 GB SSD is also available, as is
an optional piggyback, thin, flat, lithium polymer "sheet battery" that
can be charged separately from the PC and added without removing the
internal battery battery that doubles battery life from a quoted seven
hours to 14. There are two memory card slots, one for Sony's
proprietary HG Duo format, while the other supports SDXC. There is also
optional 3G, a backlit keyboard (not available on the MacBook Air), an
Apple-style 'buttonless' touchpad, and a 1.3 MP webcam.
An
optional media dock connects to the laptop via an optical cable through
a proprietary Intel Light Peak interface with a USB 3.0 style port that
can also be used to attach regular USB devices when the Vaio Z is not
docked (Light Peak is known as Thunderbolt in its DisplayPort variant
used by Apple) optical system, and can support a discrete AMD Radeon HD
6650M graphics card with 1 GB of VRAM and a DVD or Blu-ray drive
as well as having HDMI and VGA outputs able to support up to four
monitors in total, including the laptop's own display, plus Ethernet
and USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports.
All in a
machine that weighs 1.15 or 1.175 kg (considerably lighter than the
1.32 Kg 11.6" MacBook Air) and is just 16.65mm thick, with a chassis
made of carbon fibre.
Carbon fibre provides a better strength-to-weight ratio than
aluminum or magnesium without compromising ruggedness, but it's
nosebleed-inducingly expensive.
The Vaio Z, which can currently be pre-ordered in the UK, sells
there for roughly the equivalent of $1,835 (the dock adds another $512
or so). The Vaio Z is currently available only in black, but blue,
gold, and graphite options are reportedly to come. No word yet on North
American availability or prices.
Vaio Z Features in Summary
- Thin, ultralight 13.1" notebook PC with innovative new Power Media
Dock
- 33.2cm (13.1") VAIO Z Series: less than 1.2 kg and 16.65mm slim
with carbon fibre construction and smart battery concept
- Business-class power with latest standard voltage Intel Core i7
processors and fast SSD storage
- High-resolution (1600x900) antireflective VAIO Display Premium
- Optional sheet battery gives up to 14 hr stamina with quick
charge
- Power Media Dock 2 with quad video monitor support, AMD Radeon HD
graphics, optical drive and extra ports including HDMI out
- Quick Boot gets you working in seconds
Publisher's note: The Vaio Z is notable for being the first
non-Apple computer to ship with Thunderbolt - and the first not to use
the standard Thunderbolt connector. Bucking standards is something of a
Sony tradition - its Beta videocassette lost
out to VHS, its i.Link unpowered version of FireWire with a nonstandard
connector appears to be obsolete, and its Memory Stick is finally
giving way to SD memory cards. Let's hope its version of Thunderbolt
doesn't confuse the market. dk
Products & Services
500 GB USB 3.0/USB 2.0 LaCie Porsche Design Mobile
P'9220 Hard Drive
PR: The LaCie Porsche Design P'9220 mobile
hard drive is more than just a place to store your files - it's a
collaboration between one of the most renowned design firms in the
world and LaCie. With the P'9220, Porsche Design and La Cie have
combined speed, design, and technology to result in a different breed
of mobile drive.
Porsche Design Form, LaCie Function
LaCie first partnered with Porsche Design in 2003 to produce one of
the most iconic and enduringly popular external hard drives on the
market. Since then the two companies have worked closely to create
products that blend flawless functionality and pure design. The luxury
brand and the leading technology company complement each other, with
technical influence from LaCie, together with an exclusive and timeless
shape presented by Porsche Design.
With the P'9220's USB 3.0 interface, you'll be able
to transfer files faster than ever before-a 700 MB video file in just
under 7 seconds. You can back up your photos, exchange audio and video
files with your friends, or make sure that
Your important files are kept safe. And with capacities up to 1 TB,
you've got the storage capacity to hold all of your files.
Safe, Strong, and Aluminum
Porsche Design is known worldwide for their sophisticated, timeless
creations, and the P'9220 is no exception. With 3mm of strong aluminum
casing surrounding the drive inside, you can be sure that your data is
solidly protected. LaCie and Porsche Design worked together to combine
form and function-resulting in a mobile drive that looks great (and
works great)-no matter where you take it.
User-friendly Software Suite Included
- Automatic Backup: Easy setup and automatic worry-free backup for
both PC and Mac computers.
- Password Protection: With LaCie Private-Public software built-in,
it's easy to make sure that your files are secure and protected, no
matter where you go.
- Secure Online Storage: 10 GB of Wuala Online Storage included for
one year to securely store and share your data online.
- 40% Energy Savings: Automatic Eco mode lowers the power consumption
by up to 40% when not in use, increasing the battery life of your
notebook or laptop.
Price
- Starting at $104.99 with USB 3.0
- Starting at $99.99 with USB 2.0 only
Publisher's note: At this point, no Macs have built-in USB 3.0
support and the use of third-party USB 3.0 cards requires special
drivers. However, USB 3.0 is backward compatible with USB 2.0, so
buying the USB 3.0 version for just $5 more is a forward-looking
choice. dk
Link: LaCie Mobile
P'9220 Hard Drive
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