Isaiah's Tech

Today's the day! It's July 20, 2011 and Apple has released Mac OS X Lion for you Apple users. The new OS has a bunch of new features like Launchpad, Mission Control, and new multitouch gestures. You can check out everything you need to know about it on Apple and go and download it right now via the Mac App Store.

That's certainly not all from Apple. They have also unveiled their slew of refreshes including the MacBook Air, a new 27-inch display, and the new Mac Mini. We'll start talking about the new MacBook Air first which, of course, comes in 11.6 (1,366 x 768 resolution) and 13-inch (1,440 x 900 resolution) models. The smaller model starts at $999 and that'll get you a Core i5 CPU, 2GB of RAM, and a 64GB SSD. There's also a $1,199 model which doubles the RAM and doubles your storage. The 13-inch models starts at $1,299 and features a Core i5 CPU, 4GB of RAM, and a 128GB SSD. If you want to double your storage then there's a $1,599 model waiting for you. All of the MacBook Air models have integrated Intel HD graphics, webcams, two USB ports, a Thunderbolt port, a backlit keyboard, and the new OS X Lion. Oh yeah, the white MacBook is dead.

Alright, Apple has just outed and released their latest 27-inch Thunderbolt Display which packs a 2,560 x 1,440 resolution. The monitor is LED-backlit, has a webcam, three USB 2.0 ports, Thunderbolt, an Ethernet, and a 2.1-speaker. This one will cost you $999 and will be shipping within the next 60 days so you'll have to be a bit patient if you order this one today.

Last, but not least, is the new and updated Mac Mini. This one starts at $599 and packs a Core i5 CPU, 2GB of RAM, and a 500GB HDD. For $799 you get a speedier Core i5 CPU, 4GB of RAM, and a 500GB HDD. For $999 you can get the Core i7 with the Lion Server and it also has 4GB of RAM and dual 500GB HDDs inside. Of course, all of the models are customizable.

New MacBook Air: Redmond Pie
Apple Releases New 27-Inch Display: This Is My Next
Mac Mini Refresh: Slash Gear

Steve Jobs came out to, obviously, a standing ovation and huge applause. Of course, today is all about software so don't expect a new iPhone to be announced today. It's all about Mac OS X Lion, iOS 5, and iCloud. Apple decided to start things off with Lion which has 250 new features, according to them. However, there are 10 key features to their new OS: Multitouch gestures, Full Screen apps, Mission Control (unified Expose and Spaces), Mac App Store, Launchpad (iOS Springboard), Resume (when you launch an app it'll start from where you were last), Autosave, Versions (saving all versions of a document), AirDrop (P2P file sharing - like HomeGroup on Windows), and a "new" Mail version (looks a whole lot like the iOS version). If you want to get one, it'll be available only through the Mac App Store. The OS (4GB download) will cost you just $29, when it's available next month - July. Definitely worth it.

Next up is iOS 5. iOS apparently has 44% of the market share while Android is only at 28%. There are 90,000 apps solely for the iPad and, of course, Android doesn't come close to that number. Anyways, back to the major release that they have in store for us in the near future. The next iOS has over 200 new features and, again, 10 major ones. They are: Notification Center (new and improved Notifications thanks to Peter Hajas who created MobileNotifier for jailbroken devices - it's just like Android), Newsstand, Twitter (integration as rumoured), Safari (Reader, Reading List, Tabbed Browsing), Reminders (to-do list), Camera (a lot more like the Camera+ app), Mail (iPad only), PC Free (finally, wireless syncing and OTA updates), Game Center, and iMessage (new messaging service for iOS users - think BBM for the iPhone). The last one is huge and could put a huge dent in RIM. Looks like it's a BBM killer unless RIM can do something quick. Anyways, all of that is coming this Fall - along with the next iPhone, of course.

iCloud time. "iCloud stores your content, and wirelessly pushes it to all your devices" and it's "integrated with your apps, so everything happens automatically." The core apps for iCloud are now contacts, calendar, mail, App Store (if you purchase an app on your iPhone then it'll be free when you re-download it on your iPad), iBooks, Backup, Documents, Photo Stream, and iTunes. The worst part about Photo Stream is that it only saves your last 1,000 photos and only does so for 30 days. Interesting. iTunes in iCloud will work exactly like the App Store does. Purchased songs will be free to download on another device. Yes, there's nine of them now. It's definitely replacing MobileMe; and it's free. You can get iCloud right now (devs only) and it'll store 5GB of storage.

Oh, there's one more thing; a small thing. It's called iTunes Match. This will cost $24.99 a year and it'll scan the songs you have and will upgrade it to 256k AAC DRM free. Not useful for me but maybe for you. And that's it! This Fall will definitely be exciting.

[This Is My Next]

Apple looks like they're going to be starting WWDC 2011 this year on June 6th which is a Monday. Usually, this is where the company unveils the next iPhone but recent rumours suggest that this might not be the case this time around. It says that we'll be joining them "for a preview of the future of iOS and Mac OS X" so we should get another look at Lion as well as iOS 5 - hopefully, release dates on both. We're still crossing our fingers for the next-generation iPhone to be announced.

[Engadget]

Here's an interesting one coming from DigiTimes. They have just mentioned that Apple plans to upgrade the MacBook Pro and the iMac line-up sometime in the first half of 2011. Apparently, there'll be four different sizes for the MacBook Pro. Currently, there's 13, 15, and 17-inch models so what will the new one be? It's unknown right now but I'm thinking an 11 or even a 14-inch model could get squeezed in there, but those are just my guesses (of course, a 12-inch model is also possible). The website also mentions that there'll be a new size for the iMac. That size is also unknown so we'll have to wait for that; Crunch Gear is guessing that it'll be a 24-incher.

All of these models are going to have a touchscreen display because they'll all come pre-installed with the new Mac OS X Lion which is the start to bring together the desktop Mac OS X with iOS so it'll have some touch capabilities if that's your thing.

[Crunch Gear]

At Apple's "Back to the Mac" event today, they introduced something that we knew was coming. Yes, the MacBook Air is now official and there are two models! The first model will be just 0.68-inches thick and 2.9 pounds so it's definitely portable. It's sporting the good ol' unibody construction so it'll be quite durable. The first model they introduced features a 13.3-inch LED-backlit display (1,440 x 900 resolution), a 1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, Nvidia GeForce 320m GPU, a full-sized keyboard, a multitouch trackpad, a built-in webcam (for FaceTime / iChat), 2GB of RAM, WiFi 802.11n support, and, of course, doesn't have an optical drive. It has instant-on connectivity along with 7 hours of real-time battery life and 30 days of standby.

Apple also went on to introduce the 11.6-inch MacBook Air and this one's just 2.3 pounds. It has a smaller footprint with the same unibody design so this one's even more portable. The specs are just about the exact same for this notebook except the LED-backlit display sports a smaller 1,366 x 768 resolution, the C2D CPU inside is clocked at just 1.4GHz, and the battery will last just 5 hours in the real world (still 30 days of standby time though). They're both available right now! Prices are below, those are flash storage options by the way. No hard drives inside of these.

They've also given us a sneak peek at their next version of Max OS X and it'll be called Lion. "Mac OS X meets the iPad" they say. This new version will have multitouch capabilities (on screen), the App Store, a Launchpad (gives you a grid of all of your apps - like the iPad), and things that you'd naturally find in iOS. It really brings the best of both worlds (including Expose and Spaces), so this is actually looking pretty good right now. Look out for touchscreen MacBook's and iMac's next year. Mac OS X Lion will be available in the Summer of next year. And in 90 days the App Store for Mac will be available, yes, on Snow Leopard!

At the event Apple also introduced iLife 11, but you can always read about that somewhere else because it wasn't all that exciting to be honest. iLife 11 is available right now and comes free with every new Mac; you'll also be able to upgrade for $49 if you're interested. Furthermore, they've also introduced FaceTime for the Mac, so that's a pretty big step. FaceTime should be integrated with iChat which would make a bit more sense, but it's not. It's available right now in beta form.

[Engadget]

There's been word lately that Apple is running out of their all-in-one PC, the iMac, supply because there's a refresh coming. Of course, this new refresh should bring Core i3 / i5 / i7 CPU options and what we heard last week. On these new iMac's there could also be USB 3.0 ports along with FireWire 1600 / 3200. The iMac is also rumoured to be gaining a touchscreen display - could that mean a new update to the OS too?

[Slash Gear, Engadget]

There's a new rumour going around about Apple's all in one PC, the iMac. What's expected is that the iMac will get a touchscreen display but that's not all. The rumour states that it'll actually have Mac OS X on it along with a "touch interface for iOS." This rumour likely started because a lot of people believe that Apple plan to fuse the two operating system's together or they'll work in harmony or something like that. We'll see what happens. Oh yes, this iMac should actually be unveiled in the next 60 days so start saving up.

[9 to 5 Mac]

There's a rumour going around that Apple is going to be announcing Safari 5 and even Mac OS X 10.6.4 at WWDC on Monday. Safari 5 is said to "render Javascript up to 25% faster [than Safari 4] bringing it in line with recent improvements to Chrome and Opera." Safari will also bring a new "Reader" feature which will "view articles on the web in a single, clutter-free page." It'll also have a Bing search options, maybe the first of search engine switches from the Apple camp - since Google is their number one enemy right now. Right now there's no word on if Safari will support extensions so that means I'll still be sticking with Chrome.

Surprisingly, the Mac OS X 10.6.4 won't be anything too significant and it doesn't mention adding touchscreen support right now. Other improvements are listed below - thanks to 9 to 5 Mac.

[TUAW, 9 to 5 Mac]

A couple more interesting pieces of detail has just been spotted in the code of the iPhone 4 Beta 4. It seems just about certain that the next iPhone that comes out in about a month from now will have an LED flash which isn't too surprising.

That's not all though. Apparently, a future iPod and the next iPad will likely have it as well.

Of course, the next iPod Touch will have a camera.

Last, but not least, it looks like we can expect Apple to release the Mac OS 10.7 sometime in the near future. This means Apple plans to launch the next iteration of the Mac OS within a year from now. It's expected that their latest version will have touch support.

[9 to 5 Mac]

In case you're thinking about putting Apple's OS X on your HP Mini 311 there is good news for you. Well, the good news is that right now those OS X hackers have ported it successfully to said netbook. And, for the most part, it's functional; the whole display, Nvidia Ion graphics, Ethernet port, card reader, Bluetooth, and integrated webcam all work, but there are still some kinks to work out. Apparently, the sound, WiFi, and sleep / resume functions aren't working. I guess you should just stick with running Windows 7 on this netbook for now.

[Liliputing]

This may not be an accurate picture, but we've already heard about possible iMac refreshes. W'eve heard about a possible Blu-ray drive and a 24-inch LED Cinema display. Below is what Wedge Partners thinks.

Wedge sees a redesigned iMac witjh a “thinner, organic design, likely with smoothed or rounded edges. The MacBook redesign “is likely to be limited,” Wedge asserts. Meanwhile, the firm also expects “new, lower price points to drive demand and create a meaningful competitive threat” to coming PCs based on Windows 7 as well as to the booming netbook segment. “We believe these new designs and price points will help Apple achieve a 3 million unit quarter for Macs in [calendar] Q4.”

[9 to 5 Mac]

If you're a Mac user, you've probably had this date marked on your calendar for a while now. If you're out of the loop then I should probably remind you that Apple's Snow Leopard is now available. You can check out reviews from two big names out there. Engadget and Gizmodo.

[The Apple Blog]

The rumoured date was true, Apple will be releasing Snow Leopard this Friday, August 28th. The best part is that you can now pre-order it for as low as $29.99 USD. Check it out what Apple had to say here and you can pre-order it on Apple's website here.

[Mac Rumors, Tech Crunch]

According to the latest rumours, an analyst has said that Apple is going to release two Tablets. One of them will be the one we've all heard about - around a 10-inch display - while the other one will be sporting a 6-inch display. Apparently, this 6-inch tablet could actually be announced at Apple's event on September 9th this year. The rumour also states that the 6-inch tablet could cost as low as $679 USD, while the larger tablet is going to run, basically, a full version of Mac OS X. It's just a rumour, so don't get your hopes up just yet.

[Mac Rumors]

Yup, they just publicly stated that they face "strong competition from well-established companies with differing approaches to the PC market." This is coming as a shock to me, since Microsoft has never announced anything like this before. They also mentioned that they are threated by "variants of Unix, are supplied by competitors such as Apple, Canonical, and Red Hat." So, this time around they admit the Apple threat, but it looks like we'll have to wait a couple more years until they announce that they're threatened by the Google Chrome OS - because it's a little bit too early to call that now.

[The Inquirer, Crunch Gear]

Two days ago, I told you that Mac OS X 10.6 aka Snow Leopard was available for pre-orders on Amazon. Well, the demand is high and it has just claimed the top spot in Amazon's pre-order list. As of right now, UK is going to have to wait their turn for pre-ordering the future OS from Apple because it's still not on Amazon yet.

[Pocket-Lint]

Snow Leopard is Apple's new updated OS. The Mac OS X is now available for pre-orders on Amazon. The prices are as follows: Upgrade for $30 USD, Family Pack Upgrade for $50 USD, Box Set for $170 USD, Family Pack Box Set for $230 USD, and Server for $500 USD.

Amazon also lists the orders to start shipping on September. Check 'em all out on the links above. I can't for a comparison of the final versions of Windows 7 and Snow Leopard.

[Gizmodo]

It's been a while since Microsoft released one of those good ol' advertisements, but here's the latest one. There's not really much to say about this advertisement, but this family was on a budget. For $700 USD, they were looking for a laptop with a big screen, long battery life, and the ability to share pictures. Like the very first PC vs Mac ad, they chose the HP dv7, which I doubt will give them a heck of a lot of battery life. The glossiness is just not a good look either, in my opinion. But, they can always share pictures with Windows Photo Gallery because it's just that good y'know. Check out the ad below. The wife is kind of hot.



[Gizmodo]

Apple has denied many times that they are not working on a netbook, but it looks like Psystar could fulfill some dreams out there. Psystar has just "confirmed" that they are working on a netbook running Mac OS X. Hopefully it will be cheap enough for someone to buy, not like most Apple products. The spec sheet shouldn't be entirely bad, but they haven't been mentioned at all yet. We'll see what happens in the future. The price and the release date has not been mentioned yet, so I'm sorry about that.

[Slash Gear]