March 13, 2010

Apple Releases New MacBook, Mac mini and iMac Models, along with New Remote and Mouse

Today was a busy for Apple. Just one day after announcing their most profitable quarter ever, Apple has released a slew of updated products. Here’s the list:

MacBook

  • New design made from the same white polycarbonate
  • LED backlit display
  • Glass multi-touch trackpad
  • 7 hour built-in battery
  • Non-skid bottom
  • 4.7 punds
  • 2.26 GHz Core 2 Duo with 2GB RAM and a 250GB Hard Drive and the same 9400M integrated graphics

“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 is on sale now for $999.

Mac mini

The Entry level model ($599):

  • 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 2GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, and the same NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics
  • 5 USB 2.0 ports
  • FireWire 800
  • SuperDrive

Top Model ($799):

  • 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive.

New Server Model:

  • Runs Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard Server
  • Two 500GB Hard drives (one replaces the optical drive)

Apple today also announced that the Mac mini, the world’s most energy efficient desktop, is now faster, offers more storage and comes standard with double the memory. Starting at $599, the entry level Mac mini features a faster 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 2GB of DDR3 1066 MHz memory, a 160GB hard drive, five USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 800, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics and a SuperDrive. The $799 Mac mini features a 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB of memory and a larger 320GB hard drive. Apple now offers a $999 Mac mini that is specially configured with Mac OS® X Snow Leopard® Server. Mac mini with Snow Leopard Server features two 500GB hard drives for a total of 1TB of server storage in the tiny 6.5-inch square by 2-inch tall Mac mini enclosure.

The new Mac minis ship now at $599 for the entry level model, $799 for the faster model, and $99 for the server model.

iMac

Now feature LED 16:9 aspect ratio displays in 21.5 and 27-inch models.

21.5-inch Model:

  • 1920X1080 display
  • 3.06GHz  or 3.33 GHz Core 2 Duo with 4GB RAM, and a 500GB or 1TB Hard drive
  • Same NVIDIA GeForce 9400M or ATI Radeon HD 4670
  • SD Card Slot

27-inch Model:

  • 2560X1440 display
  • 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo or 2.66GHz Intel Core i5 quad-core processor (upgradable to Core i7)
  • 4GB Ram and 1TB drive with ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics
  • SD Card Slot

Apple today unveiled an all new iMac line featuring brilliant LED-backlit 21.5 and 27-inch widescreen displays in a new edge-to-edge glass design and seamless all aluminum enclosure. The new iMac line, starting at $1,199, is the fastest ever with Intel Core 2 Duo processors starting at 3.06 GHz, and Core i5 and i7 quad-core processors for up to twice the performance. Every new iMac ships with a wireless keyboard and the all new wireless Magic Mouse, the world’s first mouse with Multi-Touch technology pioneered by Apple on the iPhone, iPod touch and Mac notebook trackpad.

The new iMac ship within 1-3 business days and cost $1199 for the base model, $1499 for the higher 21.5-inch model, $1699 for the lower end 27-inch model, and $1999 for the high end quad-core model.

Magic Mouse

Apple released this brand new mouse, where the entire surface of the mouse is a multi-touch enabled, much the same as the iPhone, iPod touch or glass trackpads on the MacBooks. This mouse ships with the new iMacs or can be bought for $69

“Apple is the Multi-Touch leader, pioneering the use of this innovative technology in iPhone, iPod touch and Mac notebook trackpads,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Apple’s Multi-Touch technology allows us to offer an easy to use mouse in a simple and elegant design.”

The gesture commands that work on this mouse are very similar to the gestures one can use to navigate their system on the glass trackpads features on the MacBook and MacBook Pro line of computers.
This new Apple Remote is compatible with any Mac made since 2005 that has an infrared sensor, it can also be used to control an iPod or iPhone connected to a universal dock. This new remote has a circular navigation wheel similar to an iPod clickwheel and two separate buttons for the menu and play/pause, it will ship in 2-4 weeks and costs $19.
The Airport Extreme and Time Capsules also received updates offering 50% better wireless performance with 25% increase in range due to a redesigned antenna. Also, the Time Capsule now backs up 60% faster when used in conjunction with Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.
How did I do on some of my predictions? Well, the new iMac is entirely aluminum and looks very similar to the 24-inch LED Cinema Displays. So I got that right. To my amazement though, Apple did manage to shoehorn a quad-core processor into the new iMacs.
The new remote and mouse were almost sure bets, but something didn’t seem quite right to me. Glad to be wrong there!

Apple Quietly Updates AirPort Extreme Base Station and Time Capsule

Not to be lost in the flurry of news surrounding the iMac, Mac Mini and Mac Pro update, Apple has also quietly gone ahead and updated the AirPort Extreme Base Station and Time Capsule. Both units now feature simultaneous 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz dual-band networking for increased performance and range. A new ‘Guest Network’ feature also allows the setting up of a secondary network for friends and visitors… You can allow users on the secondary access to internet-only, which will save you from divulging your WiFi password.

The revamped AirPort Extreme Base Station is available for $179, while the Time Capsule comes in at $299 for the 500GB model and $499 for the 1TB.

[ Source ]

Time Capsule Not Using a Server-Grade Hard Drive?

Time Capsule Not Using Server-Grade Hard Drive?Victor Cajiao has posted that it doesn’t appear that Apple’s Time Capsule is using Server-Grade hard drives. It appears that the 1 TB option contains an Hitachi Deskstar 7K100.

The manufacturer’s data sheet for the drive doesn’t refer to having a Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) – something that you would expect to be proudly referred to if the drive was indeed server-grade.

Can anyone add some light on this? Is Steve Jobs guilty of false advertising?

Time Capsule De-Constructed: There is a Fan After All!

Time Capsule De-Constructednakedmac recently posted these photos of a de-constructed Time Capsule. I was waiting for photos like this to come out… and sure enough here they are!

I found it very interesting to find that there IS a fan to cool down the unit.

Be sure to check out these photos in nakdemac’s flickr. Very interesting stuff indeed.

Question to all of you out there… What would you like to see ME de-construct!? :)  

What Was the BIGGEST Announcement of Macworld 2008?

The Biggest Announcement of Macworld 2008?

Lots of good stuff happened at this years Macworld. There was Time Capsule, new iPhone and iPod updates, iTunes movie rentals, Apple TV 2.0 and of course the new MacBook Air.

In your opinion, what was the biggest announcement at Macworld 2008?

Cast Your Vote Here >

Live from Macworld: Time Capsule Launched

Time Capsule Launched at Macworld

‘The Steve’ is on stage and has already announced one new product called ‘Time Capsule’.

This fills a need for laptop users that are tired of plugging in and running Time Machine on external hard drives.

Basically Time Capsule is a full Airport Extreme base station with a server grade internal hard drive. Woohoo! It will be available in 2 versions, a 500GB version for $299USD and a 1TB version for $499.

Special thanks to MacRumorsLive for the photo.