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News & Opinion
Rumor Roundup
Reviews
Tech Trends
News & Opinion
Upgrade Your MacBook with SSD and Hard Drive
AppStorm's Adam Williams notes that SSDs (Solid State Drives) are a
popular upgrade for performance hotrodding even an older Mac laptops,
but unfortunately they are also still prohibitively expensive for users
who want to keep large quantities of data on an internal drive.
Williams has posted guide to help walk you through installing an SSD
in the hard drive bay and the putting a hard drive in the SuperDrive
bay. (He recommends this setup because some users have note problems
waking from sleep when booted from a drive in the SuperDrive bay.)
Link: Upgrade Your
MacBook with a Dual HD/SSD Setup
Some 2010 MacBook Pro Systems Still Freezing After
Video Update
MacFixIt's Topher Kessler notes that when Apple released OS X Lion,
some Mid 2010
MacBook Pro users noticed that their systems began hanging or
crashing after performing seemingly random tasks that involved graphics
manipulation or when waking from sleep. When this happened, the systems
would show a black screen and be unresponsive until the user forced it
to reboot.
After acknowledging that there is indeed an issue with these
machines in a knowledge-base article, Apple released a couple of
software fixes for both OS X
10.7 Lion and 10.6 Snow
Leopard, which installed updated video drivers and OpenCL framework
components. Kessler reports that for many affected MBP users, these
updates successfully addressed the problem - but unfortunately for
others the updates did not completely resolve this issue.
Link: MacBook Pro
Systems Freezing Despite Video Update
Rumor Roundup
Apple to Launch 15" MacBook Air Ultrabook Slayer in
Early 2012
DigiTimes' Aaron Lee and Joseph Tsai report that according to
sources from the upstream supply chain, Apple is fixing to launch a new
MacBook Air series of notebooks with screen sizes of 11.6", 13.3", and
an unprecedented 15" Air in the first quarter of 2012 to better
directly compete against Intel Ultrabooks from various PC brand
vendors.
Lee and Tsai's sources say that related upstream players have
already started pilot production of the MacBook Air models and will add
a 15" model into the product line to expand Apple's reach in the
ultra-thin notebook market.
Commenting on Apple's move, unnamed sources in the retail channels
told DigiTimes that Apple will begin dropping the price of its existing
MacBook Airs before launching its series, and the promotion could
further boost Apple's share in the global notebook market.
The reporters note that for the year-end holidays, several channel
retailers in the US and Europe have dropped their MacBook Air prices to
attract consumers, but suggest that ultrabooks with Windows and
document processing software will remain a more attractive choice for
the enterprise market.
Link: Apple to Launch New
15" MacBook Air Ultrabook Slayer in Q1/12 (subscription
required)
15" MacBook Air 'Makes Sense'
Computerworld's Gregg Keizer reports that analysts are saying that a
larger MacBook Air makes sense given fresh competition in the ultrathin
notebook category from Intel Ultrabooks being rolled out by several PC
vendors, with HP set to launch its first ultrabook, the HP Folio, on
Dec. 7 - a 13.3" machine with prices starting at $900, or $99 under
Apple's cheapest 11.6" MacBook Air.
Keizer speculates that the MacBook Air will presumably include
Intel's newest Ivy Bridge family CPUs, which are projected to double
battery life compared to the current Core chips that power the Air
line, combine the CPU with the graphics processor, and provide a
performance boost as well.
The report also observes that Apple is well-placed to shift sales to
notebooks with solid-state drives (SSD) in the face of a severe hard
disk drive shortage caused by floods inundating key hard drive
component suppliers in Thailand, thanks to Cupertino's contractual
locks on flash memory supplies of the flash memory used in SSDs.
Analyst expert opinion cited affirms that a 15" MacBook Air is a
virtual certainty, but that Apple is not expected to dump its upmarket
MacBook Pro line, which comes in 13", 15", and 17" screen
configurations and incorporates optical drives and more extensive
connectivity compared with the MacBook Airs.
Link: Larger 15-in.
MacBook Air 'Makes Sense' for Apple, Say Analysts
Reviews
13" Core i5 MacBook Pro 'the Best Bloody
Entry-Level Notebook Computer in the World'
The Register's Alistair Dabbs says that with the current model we
have a gently upgraded version of the 13" MacBook Pro that received its
last major update in February - the entry-level model equipped with an
Intel Core i5-2430M processor that's just 0.1 GHz faster at 2.4 GHz and
the machine fitted with a 500 GB hard drive to replace the previous 320
GB unit.
Dabbs observes that design-wise everything is plain and coolly
understated, from the overall flatness of the closed computer to the
consistent black-and-aluminium styling of the screen and keyboard.
On the other hand, he was was disappointed by the meagre two USB
ports, neither of which support USB 3.0, but happy for the chance to
try out the MacBook Pro's Thunderbolt port with Apple's 27" Thunderbolt
Display, which he says was was impressive, to say the least. "...it was
impressive how well an entry-level 13in MacBook Pro could drive its own
1280 x 800-pixel display plus another at 2560 x 1440 pixels from its
diminutive Intel HD Graphics 3000 chipset, without a hint of
slowdown."
Link: Apple MacBook Pro
13in Core i5 Laptop
Tech Trends
Intel Plans Docking Solution with Thunderbolt for
Next Year's Ultrabooks
VR-Zone's LG Nilsson reports that according to information the site
has received, Intel has big plans for Ultrabooks, with the first major
step forward from the fairly unimpressive machines we've seen so far is
the addition of support for docking stations.
Nilsson says, "this being Intel doing things the Intel
way the company will rely on its Thunderbolt technology as well as an
additional dock connector, at least if the company can sell its plans
to the notebook manufacturers." He is skeptical about Intel's dock
plans as well, saying that from what he's seen, the rather large dock
connector plus a mini DisplayPort connector side-by-side doesn't seem
especially user-friendly, and that Intel's evident plan to run several
different interfaces down the same cable, "looks like a serious design
problem waiting to happen."
Publisher's note: These seem to be exactly the kind of issues
cabling Thunderbolt was designed to avoid. dk
Link: Intel Plans
Docking Solution for Next Year's Ultrabooks Using Thunderbolt
Toshiba Ultrabooks with Ports Galore Coming Next
Week
V3's Daniel Robinson reports that Toshiba is preparing to ship its
first ultrabook models - the Satellite Z830 for consumers and the
Portégé Z830 for business users - both featuring claimed
full-day battery life despite the slimline silhouette of their
magnesium alloy cases, and are powered by Intel's newest Core i3 and
Core i5 processors SSD in lieu of a hard disk drive, and have 13.3"
1366 x 768 displays (the same resolution as the current 11.6" MacBook
Air).
Robinson cites Toshiba senior product manager Tony Alderson claiming
that Toshiba's past experience of building thin and light laptops means
it can deliver a better experience than its Ultrabook rivals, with the
two new models featuring better connectivity and a better battery life
than any model of the same thickness. The report notes that both the
Satellite Z830 and Portégé Z830 weigh less than 1.2kg and
are just 8.3mm thick at the front of the system, broadening to 15.9mm
at the rear, but Toshiba's engineers have managed to pack in a
full-size Ethernet port, a USB 3.0 port, two USB 2.0 ports, HDMI and
VGA outputs, an SD Card reader slot, and audio jacks.
Link: Toshiba Ultrabooks
Coming Next Week
Next Wave of Ultrabook Launches Expected in
January
DigiTimes' Aaron Lee and Joseph Tsai report that PC notebook brand
vendors that have not yet released ultrabooks plan to do so soon, such
as Hewlett-Packard (HP), Samsung, and Dell, as well as players like
Acer, Asustek Computer, Lenovo, and Toshiba that have already launched
their ultrabooks. Lee and Tsai say everyone is eying CES 2012 (Jan.
10-13, 2012) as the perfect stage to showcase their devices with the
total number of ultrabook models that will appear at the show
anticipated to reach as many as 30 to 50, according to sources from
upstream supply chain who also note that due to the IT market lacking
new machines or topics that can draw consumer's attention in the second
half of 2011, ultrabooks are currently the hoped-for vehicle for
boosting consumer demand.
The reporters also observe that since the traditional hard drive
supply is facing
shortages due to the floods in Thailand, some vendors are hoping
ultrabooks, which mostly are adopting solid state drives (SSD) for
storage, will help attract consumers and reduce the negative impact on
balance sheets from the hard drive shortage, which has nearly tripled
drive prices, since ultrabooks have good gross margins.
DigiTimes' market watchers expect Ultrabooks to account for 20-30%
of total notebook shipments in 2012, with Acer president Jim Wong
expecting the segment to account for 25-30% and Intel boosterishly
predicting 40%.
Link: Second Wave of
Ultrabook Launches to Take Place at CES 2012 (subscription
required)
Samsung to Exit the Netbook Market
The Register's Tony Smith reports that netbooks are history as far
as Samsung is concerned, with the company planning to phase them out
next year in favour of 11.6" laptops and Ultrabooks, according to a
report in French-language site Blogeee.net.
An email claimed to have been sent by Samsung to its retail partners
is cited reading: "Following the introduction of our new strategy in
2012, we [will] stop the product range in 10.1in (netbook) in Q1 2012
for the benefit of ultraportable products (11.6 and 12 inches) and
Ultrabooks to be launched in 2012."
Smith observes that if this is accurate, Samsung's decision will
deal a further blow to Intel's attempt to establish its
netbook-oriented Atom processor as chip-of-choice for low-cost,
high-portability PCs.
Publisher's note:
Samsung's website only lists two netbook models, both 10" machines,
so it's not like Samsung has been a major player in the shrinking
netbook market.... dk
Link: Samsung to Exit
the Netbook Market
Netbooks May Disappear
Hardmac's Lionel notes that in 2008, Asus launched the Eee PC, a small, cheap,
7" laptop, and for a few months, this computer and its very many
variations had an enormous success as a second or third machine.
However, he observes that netbooks, as they came to be known, have
been hit hard since the arrival of the tablets, which can serve a
similar role, but with a top-of-the-range product design while the
netbooks often seem like a child's toy.
Consequently, Lionel is not surprised to learn that Samsung has
announced that it will discontinue marketing its netbook product range
in the next months, noting that for now, tablets will continue to
dominate the market for portable computers with screen sizes up to 10".
Beyond that, the winners will be ultrathin notebooks between 11" and
13" - and above that more traditional laptops, or even non-traditional
ones with Apple reportedly poised to release a 15" MacBook Air
"ultraportable".
Link: Netbooks May
Disappear
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