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News & Opinion
HP Chairman Ray Lane Uses a MacBook Air at Home
MacDailyNews says that Hewlett-Packard Co. executive
chairman Ray Lane has his reputation on the line as he tries to get the first-tier
computer maker back on track, citing a report by Reuters' Poornima Gupta and Sarah
McBride which includes a photo of Lane getting his HP hands really
dirty using his Apple MacBook Air at home.
Link: HP Chairman Ray
Lane Uses His Apple MacBook Air at Home
Apple Considering Universal Adapter to Charge
MacBooks and iDevices Simultaneously
AppleInsider's Neil Hughes reports:
"Apple has shown interest in building a new universal power adapter
compatible with different DC voltage levels, allowing portable devices
like a MacBook Pro, iPhone and iPad to be charged at the same time with
just one wall plug."
Publisher's note: We covered the PlugBug here a few weeks ago, a $35
device that replaces the AC plug on your MagSafe power adapter while
adding a 10 Watt USB port for charging your iDevice. It would be even
nicer if Apple built that into its power adapters, but until then, you
have an option. dk
Link: Apple Considering
Universal Power Adapter to Simultaneously Charge MacBook,
iPhone
Rumor Roundup
MacBook Air with AMD Processor 'Almost
Happened'
SemiAccurate's Charlie Demerjian reports that in one of those "could
have been a contender" moments, SemiAccurate has learned that Apple had
an AMD
Llano-based MacBook Air on the verge of production that was
canceled last spring or so - but it was really really close to
production.
Demerjian suggests that the very mild late 2011 MacBook Pro refresh
was because it was "plan B," with plan A having been a low power Llano
CPU in an thinner MacBook Air shell, which would have been "a really
tasty machine." Why? Because instead of awful graphics with
questionable drivers, you would get many times the GPU power at the
cost of a bit of CPU power - and he can't think of anyone who wouldn't
make that tradeoff (at least anyone not employed by Intel).
Demerjian further maintains that Intel didn't so much win this round
of rivalry as AMD having kicked the ball over their own goal line
unable to guarantee steady and reliable volume of Llano parts, and the
premium versions that Apple always scoops up are in particularly short
supply, although he says "multiple sources" have been telling
SemiAccurate that supply was only one of the reasons Apple decided
against running with a Llano Air, and in retrospect, it was a really
wise choice.
Link: Apple MacBook Air
with AMD Processor Dead - How Things Almost Happened
15" AMD-Powered MacBook Air Dropped at Last
Minute
AppleInsider Staff report that Apple is said to have developed a
MacBook Air running Advanced Micro Devices' Fusion Llano processor last
spring, but scrapped it at the last minute because of production
issues.
Link: Apple Reportedly
Prepped AMD-Powered MacBook Air, Dropped It at Last Minute
Why Apple Rejected AMD Llano in the MacBook
Air
Ars Technica's Chris Foresman notes that unnamed sources speaking to
SemiAccurate contend that Apple had AMD Llano-based MacBook Air
prototypes "on the verge of production" but ultimately decided on
Intel's ultra-low voltage Sandy Bridge processors instead. Assuming
it's true that Apple was tinkering with Llano processors for the Air,
he thinks it's worth considering why the company ultimately opted for
Intel over AMD.
Foresman thinks there's nothing extraordinary about Apple
experimenting with alternate sourced processors, noting that Apple
reportedly has MacBook Air prototypes with ARM-based processors under
study as well, but he suggests that what is surprising is the
SemiAccurate article's assertion that the Llano-based Air was Apple's
"plan A" allegedly scrapped sometime last spring due to AMD's inability
to ship processors in volume. However, he also notes that while Llano
also offers IGPU performance easily outdistancing that of Intel's
integrated HD3000 graphics, Llano's CPU performance doesn't measure up
to that of Sandy Bridge, and its GPU is hampered by a lack of direct
access to high-speed RAM.
Foresman reasons that the Intel HD3000 graphics was deemed
satisfactory in performance, and sticking with Intel poised Apple to
benefit from Intel's next-generation Ivy Bridge processors due to ship
in early 2012.
Link: Why Apple Rejected
AMD's Llano in the MacBook Air
Will an AMD Trinity-based MacBook Air See the Light
of Day?
ZDNet's Jason D. O'Grady notes that SemiAccurate's Charlie Demerjian
declared that a MacBook Air with AMD processor was dead, claiming that
an AMD Llamo-based MacBook Air was close to production but never saw
the light of day because AMD dropped the ball on supply volume.
However, O'Grady thinks Demerjian's post creates more questions than
answers, such as why Intel is so passionately executing its Ultrabook
initiative aimed squarely at the MacBook Air's wheelhouse while Intel
is an Apple exclusive partner that supplies CPUs for the Air and all
other Apple systems, deducing that it makes no sense for Intel to be
attacking Apple with MacBook Air clones if something else is not in the
wind, so to speak.
O'Grady observes that while Demerjian mentions only the AMD's
1st-gen Llano fusion processor,
Trinity is the second generation, and nobody actually thought Apple
would use Llano, so why was this post about Llano rather than Trinity?
Could it be a clever decoy staged by Apple to help keep its plans
secret? Or could it be retribution by Intel for Apple testing Trinity
in the MacBook Air?
Link: Will Apple's AMD
Trinity-based MacBook Air See the Light of Day?
Troubled 15" MacBook Air Scrapped for 2010, Coming
in 2012
9 to 5 Mac's Mark Gurman says that had Apple's next-generation of
notebooks announcement in October 2010 played out as planned, today's
MacBook lineup would look a lot different, noting that the late 2010
MacBook Air redesign ushered in an all-new and thinner form-factor, a
higher-resolution display, an incredibly light body, a large
Multi-Touch single-button trackpad, flash SSD storage, and battery life
improvements, all of which, according to Apple, constitute the future
of notebooks.
However, Gurman contends that the new 13" and 11" Airs were not the
only planned elements of the late 2010 MacBook Air story, with unnamed
"reliable sources" claiming that that a groundbreaking 15" MacBook Air
had also been scheduled for a late 2010 release, looking like the
current 13" and 11" MacBook Airs, and built using many of the same
parts. However, Gurman relates, in late testing, the 15" Air, which
used the same hinges as the smaller Airs, were failing to reliably hold
the weight of and stay affixed to the larger screens, so within weeks
of production, Apple determined that a whole new hinge would have to be
designed, and so the 15" Air would be skipped for the current product
cycle.
Gurman says he expects a redesigned 15" MacBook Air to debut running
on Intel's next-generation 22 nm Ivy Bridge processors, which have
better onboard graphics as well as consuming considerably less power,
in early 2012.
Link: Apple Scrapped
Troubled 15-inch MacBook Air for 2010, Rebuilding for 2012
Apple Rumored to Switch Back to Nvidia GPUs for 2012 MacBook
Models
AppleInsider's Slash Lane speculates that Apple's switch to AMD
graphics across its entire product line could be short-lived, with a
new rumor claiming the next-generation MacBook models will once again
feature Nvidia graphics processors beginning next spring, when new
hardware featuring Intel's next-generation Ivy Bridge processors is
anticipated, according to SemiAccurate.
Link: Apple Rumored to
Switch Back to Nvidia GPUs for 2012 MacBook Models
Reviews
2011 MacBook Air 6 Gb/s SSD Upgrade
Bare Feats' rob-ART Morgan asks:
"Are you aware that the 2011 MacBook Air has a six
gigabit-per-second (6 Gb/s) internal storage interface? Yet Apple
chooses to ship it with a 3 Gb/s Samsung or Toshiba flash storage
module. Other World Computing is offering an easy upgrade to a
6 Gb/s flash storage module called the Mercury Aura Pro Express
6G.
"Why would you want to upgrade? With the 4 GB RAM "hard wired" limit
on the MacBook Air, you will force numerous virtual memory swaps if you
have a lot of apps launched and running. Also certain Pro Apps need
gobs of RAM to function efficiently. If they don't have access to it,
they will use the flash storage for scratch area.
"Is it easy to install? Yes...."
Morgan reports substantial speed gains with the OWC Mercury Aura Pro
Express 6 Gb/s flash storage module, as well as OS-independent
intelligent block management, intelligent wear leveling, intelligent
read disturb management, intelligent recycling, redundant array of
independent silicon elements, and advanced ECC protection - much more
sophisticated than the OS dependent TRIM support in the Apple factory
flash module.
Link: Supercharged Storage: 2011 MacBook
Air 6Gb/s Upgrade
Tech Trends
Intel: Windows 8, Touch-Based Ultrabooks to Be a
Major Focus in 2012
Cnet's Brooke Crothers reports that Intel CEO Paul Otellini told the
Intel Capital Global Summit conference at Huntington Beach, California,
that touch-based ultrabooks running Windows 8 are to be a major focus
for the chipmaker in 2012, saying that to lure mainstream laptop
buyers, Intel and its partners need to get the cost of touch technology
under control, which Otellini pegs as entry level price points starting
at $699 to $799, noting that the iPad and the iPhone have made touch a
paradigm," he said.
"Starting with Windows 8, you have a mainstream operating system
incorporating touch," Crothers quotes Mr. Otellini noting. "Our view is
that in the ultrabook lines, touch is a pretty critical enabler. When
users see that new Windows interface, they're going to want to touch
it. If the screen does nothing, you have disappointed [the]
consumer."
Link: Otellini: Windows
8, Touch-Based Ultrabooks a Pair
Touchscreen Ultrabooks and Tablets Waiting for
Windows 8
Riffing on a Cnet blog by Brooke Crothers (above), Hardmac's Lionel
notes that at a recent conference, Intel CEO Paul Otellini indicated a
return of focus to the tablet market now that the Ultrabook has failed
to take off, saying that Intel is in holding pattern until Microsoft
releases Windows 8 with full touchscreen support in 2012, and
suggesting that Ultrabooks running Windows 8 will have keyboards and
also touchscreens.
Link: Ultrabooks and
Tablets: Intel Waiting for Windows 8 to Start Again
AMD Struggles to Reinvent Itself, May Go ARM
The San Jose Mercury News reports:
"Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] was hoping to
profit from a bigger share of the PC chip market after its longtime
nemesis, Intel, suffered a string of antitrust regulatory rebukes in
recent years.
"But it hasn't quite worked out that way."
"Although AMD has been vague about its plans, the company is widely
expected to push hard to get its chips into smartphones and tablets.
Those markets not only are dominated by other companies, but its
gargantuan arch-rival is trying to elbow its way into them, too -
potentially moving the war with Intel onto a new battleground."
"AMD's failure to get its chips into smartphones and tablets
reportedly was behind its board's decision in January this year to oust
CEO Dirk Meyer, who had been in the job since 2008, and to replace him
in August with Rory Read, former CEO of PC and tablet maker
Lenovo."
"Some analysts believe AMD may fire back at Intel by adopting a chip
design long anathema to both companies. The design, licensed to various
chipmakers by British firm ARM, currently dominates smartphones and
tablets.
"AMD might make chips based on both the x86 and ARM designs, some
experts have speculated. But if it switches exclusively to ARM, it
would leave Intel essentially alone in the x86 business...."
Publisher's note: It's unlikely that AMD would so completely
reinvent itself that it would abandon the x86 market, as it is the #2
player in that market. There's also no good reason for AMD not to enter
the AMD market, which is growing by leaps and bounds with the
popularity of smartphones and tablets. Expect a future where AMD plays
a role in both markets. dk
Link:
AMD Struggles to Reinvent Itself, Fight Intel
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