mac

Is Apple's new MacBook Pro a gaming machine?

While Macs have long been the preferred computer of the creative class, gamers have generally looked at the machines and said, essentially, thanks but no thanks.

That tech truism could be on the verge of disappearing forever in the wake of Apple's announcement Tuesday that the newest high-end MacBook Pro model will have the graphics processing firepower--thanks to the inclusion of the Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT chip--to finally give hard-core video game players what they want.

"It's more of a gaming machine than the old MacBook Pro," said Mike Schramm, a blogger who writes for both … Read more

New MacBook Pro lineup vs. old lineup

Editors' note: As of June 2009, the product highlighted here has been replaced by these updated models.

Of Apple's MacBook Pro lineup, only the two 15-inch models received the complete workup today. By now, you're probably aware of the design changes, which include a new "unibody" chassis, new buttonless multitouch trackpad, the addition of a mini DisplayPort, and the subtraction of the FireWire 400 port. Let's take a closer look at the changes under the hood.

Pricing remains the same, with $1,999 and $2,499 default configurations. Aside from slightly larger hard drives, the … Read more

Tech stocks give up some gains

Shares of Amazon.com sold off sharply Tuesday, and Apple failed to swim against the tide despite rolling out a revamped MacBook line, as the broader markets gave up gains from its stellar performance a day earlier.

Amazon fell 9.93 percent to end the day at $55.86 a share, with little news out on the company. Amazon, however, is set report its third-quarter results on October 22.

Apple, meanwhile, received little love from investors, after rolling out its new MacBook lineup. The computer maker's stock fell 5.6 percent to end the day at $104.08 a … Read more

The key to Apple's future: Multitouch

The announcement Apple made Tuesday was impressive. Steve Jobs and his cronies showed off some of the best notebooks I've seen in quite some time and even after coming down from the initial high of new tech goodness that I get with any product announcement, the impressiveness lingered.

But the real story here isn't that the notebooks sport nicer designs or better components. The real story is that Apple has drawn the line in the sand and told the world that it has tied its future to multitouch technology.

First, multitouch technology in one form or another cropped up on the iPhone, then it moved to the iPod touch, and now it has solidified itself in the entire Mac notebook line. The only products missing are the Apple TV, iMacs, and Cinema Displays, and chances are, the iMacs may be equipped with similar functionality at some time in the future, too.

Of course, Jobs hinted that such a move would become a reality last year. Speaking to The New York Times last year, he hinted that his company was on to something and more Apple products would feature multitouch technology in the future.

"People don't understand that we've invented a new class of interface," he told the Times.… Read more

New MacBook lineup vs. old MacBook lineup

The big news with Tuesday's MacBook announcement is obviously the new design. Replacing the white or black plastic chassis is an aluminum body built from a single piece of metal. Gone is the mouse button, consumed by a large glass trackpad with multitouch gesture support. The screen stays at 13.3 inches but gets LED backlighting and a piece of glass that runs from edge to edge of the laptop. And a mini DisplayPort makes an appearance, but it kicks the mini FireWire port to the curb in the process.

Less has changed on the inside. The biggest change is the move from the Intel GM965 chipset and integrated GMA X3100 graphics to an Nvidia chipset and integrated GeForce 9400M graphics, which Apple CEO Steve Jobs says is up to five times as fast as the old Intel graphics. The default memory allotment stays at 2GB, but you trade 667MHz DDR2 memory for faster 1066MHz DDR3 memory. You can also upgrade to 4GB of RAM for only $150; previously adding 2GB of RAM cost $200.

Moving in the opposite direction, however, is the CPU offering on the low-end model. The $1,299 MacBook features a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo, down from the 2.4GHz chip in the previous model. The new $1,599 MacBook features a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo chip like the older $1,499 model. Both new models feature a faster 1066MHz frontside bus, up from 800MHz on the old MacBooks. … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 830: One more thing: one less button

Steve Jobs delivers: he delivers one fewer button, an all-new proprietary display port, annoyingly glossy screens, and a paltry $100 price drop on the new MacBook. Huzzah. We do have some other news to talk about today, luckily, like Microsoft sticking with Windows 7 as the official name of Windows 7, and Joost deciding it might be time to get in the online streaming game. Good ideas, all. Listen now: Download today's podcast Episode 830

Apple notebook event: Live blog at 10 a.m. PDT Tuesday http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10064559-1.html http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/13/mr-blurrycam-reveals-the-updated-macbook-pro-899-laptop-model/… Read more

Live blog: Apple notebook event

CUPERTINO, Calif.--At Apple's headquarters here at 10 a.m. PDT on Tuesday, the company held an event focused on its laptops. A redesigned MacBook and MacBook Pro were announced, as well as upgraded graphics. And as expected, Apple is releasing its first sub-$1,000 notebook. Here is how it all unfolded.

9:57 a.m.: We're here, and the event should start momentarily.

10 a.m.: Steve Jobs enters, wearing the standard outfit. He says he's going to cover the "State of the Mac." Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook takes the stage to … Read more

Microsoft: It's a scary world out there without us

Reading through Ina Fried's excellent interview with Microsoft's Brad Brooks, I can't help but wonder how Microsoft cornered the market on chutzpah. Microsoft has become so dominant in markets like the desktop that its best argument for consumers and enterprises avoiding the Mac and open source is, "But it will cost you so much money to leave Windows."

Now there's a ringing endorsement. Brooks doesn't argue that his product is better. He doesn't argue that Windows is competitive with the Mac. He argues, rather, that consumers are fools for not understanding just … Read more

Migrating and resizing a Boot Camp partition

Monday, I wrote about the process of upgrading the hard disk on my Apple MacBook Pro, and the as-yet unsolved problem of migrating the 20GB Boot Camp partition on the old hard disk--along with its Windows Vista installation--to a 32GB partition on the new drive. (See "Another new hard disk...and an unsolved problem.")

Well, it's all working now. As I've always said about the Mac, most things are either easy or impossible...and this one turned out to be easy.

My thanks to my friend EDN senior technical editor Brian Dipert who provided half of … Read more