macbook

Apple is readying a MacBook that would extend the ultrathin Air design beyond the 13-inch market segment, according to reports.

Japanese-language site Macotakara says a new 15-inch model has entered the test phase.

It's not clear at this point whether this will be an addition to the MacBook Air series--currently offered in 11- and 13-inch sizes--or a new MacBook Pro.

One tech site claimed back in July that a 15-inch model would be part of the MacBook Pro line. Macrumors, which also supports the MacBook Pro theory, had originally reported about an ultrathin MacBook back in July. … Read more

Even though the vast majority of companies around the globe are still using Windows PCs, Macs are starting to find their way into offices--just not through the traditional means, a new study from Forrester Research has found.

According to the firm, 22 percent of the 590 enterprise IT executives Forrester surveyed say that they're seeing an increase in the number of employees bringing their personal Macs into the office. Further inspection reveals that 3 percent of respondents saw Mac use jump by more than 20 percent in the last year, while 5 percent of respondents said that the increase … Read more

RAM is a high-speed memory workspace that the system uses for running programs, loading operating system components, and performing most of its computing tasks.

If you use programs that take up a lot of RAM, you may see the system slow down while the system makes use of the slow hard drive to manage memory contents, to the point where it may sometimes crawl to a near standstill while tasks are running.

As a result, having ample RAM is great for system performance, so I always recommend to go with as much RAM as you can afford to put in … Read more

The official Steve Jobs biography commissioned by The Man himself dropped online and in stores today, and apparently the guy was kind of a jerk.

Today we dive into some minibytes from the 656-page book that you may not have heard yet--details about Jobs' upbringing and relationship with his father, his obsession with Yo Yo Ma's cello, and how a Cuisinart inspired the first design of the Apple II.

We'll also cover the stories you'll find below in the first half of the show, and talk about Jeff's controversial article about the death of portable gaming consoles like the Nintendo 3DS and the Sony PlayStation Vita.… Read more

MacBook Pro notebooks get a boost, Sprint ends unlimited 4G for non-smartphone devices, and we learn more about the man behind Apple with the release of the official biography of Steve Jobs.

Links from Monday's episode of Loaded:

Apple has refreshed its MacBook Pros with small but noteworthy bumps in speed, storage, and graphics power, and all prices remain the same.

Unveiled this weekend, the upgrades run across the board to include the 13-inch, 15-inch, and 17-inch models.

The entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro now sports a 2.4GHz processor, inching up from 2.3GHz previously, while its hard drive capacity has been upgraded to 500GB from 320GB. The $1,499 13-inch MacBook Pro is now powered by a 2.8GHz processor, from 2.7GHz previously, and the hard drive has been beefed up to 750 gigabytes from 500GB.… Read more

Just when you thought it was safe to buy a new Apple product. New MacBook Pros may be on the way, according to a pair of Apple enthusiast Web sites.

9to5Mac kicked off the speculation last week when it claimed new MacBook Pros may be launching soon.

And Apple Insider is now chiming in, saying the launch date may be later than 9to5Mac's wager on next week.

Apple Insider adds that the shutdown of facilities at Catcher Technology--which makes the aluminum chassis for MacBook Pros--isn't helping matters.

Whatever the timing turns out to be, updates to all … Read more

Apple MacBook Pro shipments might be hobbled by the unexpected closure of some of Catcher Technology's manufacturing plant facilities in Suzhou, China, according to a new report.

According to a Catcher filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday, local authorities in Suzhou over the weekend closed some of Catcher's computer chassis production facilities after local residents complained of "odors" emanating from factories. In the note to investors, Catcher said yesterday that it plans to fix the machines causing the problem, and expects them to be back up and running by the end of this month.

However, … Read more

An issue that has been plaguing some owners of MacBook Pro systems is a black-screen bug where systems will suddenly show a black and unresponsive display after performing specific tasks that may be as simple as moving a window, resizing screen elements, or when waking the system from sleep. The problem may show a kernel panic, but generally just displays the black screen and requires users to press the power button to restart the systems.

This issue was first widely noted when OS X 10.7 was released, but it soon became clear that the problem was present (albeit less … Read more