Archive for the ‘MacBook’ Category

15-inch Core i5 MacBook Pro torn asunder: no alarms and no surprises

By now, the fine folks at iFixit have probably seen the insides of more MacBooks than they care to count, but the guilty pleasure of ripping those aluminum cases to shreds keeps them (and us) coming back for more. This week, while we gave our new 15-inch MacBook Pro a thorough review, they were busy tearing theirs apart and admiring the juicy insides. Aside from the obvious processor upgrade, not much has changed since 2009 except the odd antenna and tri-wing screw, but it appears that the AirPort / Bluetooth assembly now resembles that of the 13-inch unibody MacBook. You will also find nice hi-res shots of the brand-new Intel BD82HM55 Platform Controller Hub — also known as Intel’s HM55 Express chipset — at the source link.

15-inch Core i5 MacBook Pro torn asunder: no alarms and no surprises originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 03:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted: April 16th, 2010
at 8:32am by Sean Hollister

Topics: 15 inch, Apple, HM55 Express, Hm55Express, IfixitTeardown, MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacbookPro, iFixit, ifixit teardown, intel, teardown

Florida Jocks Get Free MacBook Pros

As part of a new program with Apple, the University of South Florida is giving each of its 460 student athletes free MacBook Pros to keep up with their studies on the road.

In addition to handing out notebooks to jocks, the university is adding new materials to iTunes U, a page in the iTunes Store hosting educational content, such as video podcasts and digitized lectures.

The university declined to comment on the cost of the program, but a spokesman told Fortune that the cost of the notebooks for the spring semester was in the “six figures” — even after a special Apple discount.

To me, this program seems excessive, and I’d imagine the non-athletes are pissed. Which college student, jock or not, doesn’t already own a notebook?

Far more interesting is the pilot program at Abilene University, in which the school is handing out free iPhones to its entire freshman class to transform the classroom experience using web apps.

Press release [USF]

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Photo: *.*/Flickr

Posted: December 9th, 2009
at 6:57pm by Brian X. Chen

Topics: Apple, MacBook, MacBook Pro, Notebooks, Sports, athletes, education, mac, schools

Video: Apple Legend Jonathan Ive Talks Design

In the video above, Apple’s senior vice president of industrial design Jonathan Ive offers a rare glimpse into his design process. He discusses the latest line of aluminum products; the iMac, the MacBook family, the iPhone and the iPod Nano each make appearances.

Watching the clip, you’ll understand why Apple seems obsessed with looks. Ive talks about gadget design like an artist would speak about his paintings. He’s one heck of a passionate guy.

See Also:

Design According to Ive

Posted: October 29th, 2009
at 8:22pm by Brian X. Chen

Topics: Apple, Industrial Design, Jonathan Ive, MacBook, Media Players, Notebooks, Phones, Videos, iMac, iPhone, ipod

Mac OS 10.6.2 Leaks New Core i5/i7 MacBook Pros? [Rumor]

It’d be the most obvious leak in history, but the 10C531 build of OS 10.6.2 references the “MacBook Pro 6.1 and the MacBook Pro 6.1b.” All current MacBook Pros are strictly “5″ status.

Of course, this appears to be confirmation of the obvious, that Apple will be updating their MacBook Pro line to include Core i5/i7 chips following the white MacBook’s Pro-level spec bump last week. (Apple will need to adopt these new chipsets to stay competitive.) Now we just need an answer to the far more important question: When? [Foro Applesana via AppleInsider]

Posted: October 26th, 2009
at 8:54am by Mark Wilson

Topics: Apple, Core i7 macbook pro, MacBook, MacBook Pro, core i5, core i7, i5, i7, rumor

Unibody MacBook (late 2009) review

We’ll just come out and say it: we’re totally underwhelmed by the new plastic MacBook. Hell, we were underwhelmed by the old plastic MacBook back in June, when we reviewed the refreshed unibody MacBook Pros — we said we were “honestly left wondering” why the $999 plastic model continued to exist when the $1,199 13-inch Pro was obviously superior. So when we heard the first whispers that Apple was working on a total overhaul of its low-end MacBook, we naturally assumed that it would either gain in features or drop in price — but neither one of those things happened. The new plastic MacBook remains priced at $999 in its only configuration, and while it’s been updated with the same unibody construction as the Pros, it’s also lost some features along the way. So… what’s going on here? Did Apple just blow a huge opportunity to totally re-think its low-end formula, or is there more to the MacBook than the spec sheets and price tags say? Read on to find out.

Gallery: New MacBook unboxing and hands-on!