MacBook Air - page 31

In what might be a move to clear out current inventory to make room for the upcoming line of Ivy Bridge Macs, Best Buy has slashed prices on all current generation Macs. Every single machine has been reduced in price, and while most discounts aren’t astounding, the extra $100-$200 saved on a new MacBook, iMac, Mac Mini, or Mac Pro, might be enough to entice customers who can’t wait another minute for a new Mac.

These type of discounts usually don’t happen without some involvement by Apple. It’s not uncommon for Apple to notify vendors of expected supply shortages before a transition to a new product line. Apple is expected to release new Macs this summer that utilize Intel’s new Ivy Bridge processors, so buy with caution.  You can purchase the discounted Macs at your local Best Buy, or online.

Here’s a break down of the discounts you’ll find online:

Even as the iPad continues to slowly strangle the life out of the netbook market, HP is determined to rebrand that small, inexpensive laptop category while also breaking away from Intel’s MacBook Air-like ultrabook standard. Calling the new line of laptops “sleekbooks,” HP is repudiating Intel’s ultrabook requirements and cozying up with Intel’s longtime rival AMD.

The new sleekbook devices were announced along with new ultrabook models in HP’s Envy line. The new sleekbooks aim to strike a balance somewhere between Intel’s rigid ultrabook specs and the netbook ideal of minimal, low-cost notebooks.

While we can debate how much the iPad cannibalizes Apple’s MacBook sales, there’s no doubt that the device is continuing to kill of the entire netbook industry. While iPad sales are literally selling as fast as Apple can make them, netbook sales continue to plummet – with the first quarter of this year representing a sixth consecutive quarter in which shipments of the small, inexpensive, and often low quality PC notebooks have declined sharply.

Sources in Apple’s Taiwanese supply chain claim that the Cupertino company is gearing up to launch a cheaper $799 MacBook Air later this year that will decrease the price gap between the next-generation of Windows-powered ultrabooks. Although specifications are not mentioned in the report, sources say the notebook will make its debut during the third quarter.

When Apple introduced the MacBook Air without an optical drive, everyone freaked out. “How on earth will we be able to watch all of our DVDs and listen to our CDs?” cried the internet. And sure, totally disowning physical media with a disk drive-less laptop may have been a little preemptive of Apple back in 2008, but the times have changed since then. We live in a world of digital media and digital software distribution. The success of services like Netflix and the Mac App Store proves that.

With rumors saying that Apple will introduce new and improved Macs in the coming weeks, what can we expect? Faster processors? Solid-state hard drives? Retina displays? While these features certainly seem to be on the table, there’s also the chance that Apple’s next-gen MacBook Pro will sport significant physical changes. Namely, we could finally see the optical drive retire from the MacBook line once and for all.

Oh, man. Today is totally turning into Kickstarter day here on Cult of Mac. The latest accessory from everybody’s favorite crowd-funded idea factory is the Brydge, another keyboard case which will turn your iPad into a miniature MacBook Air-a-like.

This case has a little twist, though. Instead of offering an entire laptop-shaped shell into which you can drop the tablet, it has a clever hinge which holds the iPad and uses it as the entire lid of the clamshell case.

Linus Torvalds is not a huge fan of Apple products. He is, as he describes himself, a socks and sandal kind of guy, a tinkerer. Even so, the Linux creator is absolutely in love with the MacBook Air… and wonders why the hell other laptop makers can’t come out and release an ultrabook that’s worth a damn.

Yesterday, we heard an analyst report suggesting that Apple would effectively kill off the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air lines and merge then into a single, streamlined device known only as the MacBook.

It was an interesting report, but analysts say a lot of things, including sometimes when they are at the bottom of a barrel of bourbon. But now Mactrast is saying that their own unproven source is echoing reports of a MacBook Pro/MacBook Air hybrid… boasting USB 3.0 support and a sexy, lightweight Liquidmetal chassis.

Just as expected, Intel launched its first crop of quad-core Ivy Bridge processors today. This is the chip that will replace the company’s Sandy Bridge CPUs in Apple’s next-generation of Macs. They’re the world’s first processors to use a 22-nanometer manufacturing process and feature Intel’s “Tri-Gate” 3D transistor technology.

The iPhone 4S is hardly a fatty, but it is thicker than many of its Android-powered rivals. However, thanks to in-cell touch technology and other improvements Apple is expected to make to the sixth-generation iPhone, the handset could measure in at just 7.9mm thick — 1.4mm thinner than the iPhone 4S.

We’ve heard plenty of speculation surrounding the future of Apple’s 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pros in recent months, which are soon expected to adopt a new form factor and Intel’s latest Ivy Bridge processors. However, according to one analyst, there may no longer be a MacBook Pro… or a MacBook Air.

Instead, Apple will release an all-new MacBook that combines the qualities of both, while the 17-inch MacBook Pro will be discontinued completely.

Rickshaw, the folks behind my favorite bag ever, has released a new biker-friendly reflective messenger bag which can be used to tote your 13-inch MacBook Air in addition to all your other junk. It is in fact a fancified version of the Zero Messenger I use every day.

Intel has reportedly shifted the announcement of its next-generation Ivy Bridge processor from April 29 to April 23 as PC makers gear up to release their second-generation of ultrabooks in May. But you could see it powering Mac OS X before then, with the new chip expected to replace its predecessor, the Sandy Bridge processor, in Apple’s next MacBook Pro and iMac.

Apple retail stores in London have begun stocking international parts ahead of this summer’s Olympic Games as the company prepares for an “onslaught” of international journalists seeking repairs. Many of the journalists covering the event, which kicks off on July 27, are expected to be carrying Apple notebooks, so international keyboards are expected to be high in demand.

The NoteBookCase for iPad2 is a freaky-deaky Bluetooth keyboard case which turns your iPad into a tiny ten-inch MacBook Pro. Kinda. The case, which looks most authentic with a white iPad inside, adds a keyboard and stand to the iPad within, but it doesn’t stop there.

Want a thinner, lighter and more Air-like MacBook Pro? You’ve only got a couple months or so to wait… provided you want a 15-inch. The 13-inch might take a little longer.

External batteries for our Apple notebooks aren’t cheap, but they’re hugely worthwhile if you’re frequently on the road with little access to a power outlet. But before you shell out $250 for a ready-made solution, why not make your own for less than $60?

Apple is set to begin mass producing its next-generation MacBook Pros next month, according to sources in its supply chain — just in time to receive Intel’s latest Ivy Bridge processors. The 15-inch model will be first to hit the production line in April, with the 13-inch model, which is claimed to be the most popular, following in June.

iMac and MacBook updates tend to happen on a fairly predictable cycle that isn’t determined by Apple so much as it is by the release of suitable new Intel chips. Since Intel leaks info about upcoming chips a lot more than Apple leaks about upcoming products, this makes it a fairly easy thing to predict when updated Apple laptops and desktops are going to come down the pipeline.

Now Intel has gone and leaked a load of dates on when consumers can expect to see the oft-delayed Ivy Bridge quad-core desktop and mobile processors landing on shelves: April 29th. Don’t expect new MacBooks or iMacs until then.

Steve Jobs coined it: the “Post PC Revolution.” But is this revolution actually occurring? Are people flocking en masse to tablets, forever leaving behind their keyboards and mice?

And what about those rumors that we’re going to see a 15-inch Macbook Air this summer? Is Apple on the verge of releasing the first pro-edition of everyone’s favorite paper-thin notebook?

We answer these questions and more in episode 5 of The CultCast, now ready for your listening pleasure.

Subscribe now on iTunes!

Episode 5 of The CultCast just hit iTunes my friends, and this one is sure to give you a pleasant, tingly sensation.

This week we investigate the truth behind overheating new iPads; declare why new retina display MacBooks could be in your hands by summer; and new iPad data plans — why are some users chewing through their monthly caps in less than a week?

All that and so much more on this week’s CultCast. Subscribe now!

The MacBook Air has become increasingly popular since Apple overhauled the ultraportable and introduced an 11-inch model back in October 2010. The company also dropped its price, making it more affordable for the average consumer and paving the way for the death of the white plastic MacBook.

But it seems the MacBook won’t be the Air’s only victim. According to one accessory vendor, the MacBook Pro will be killed of by a 15-inch MacBook Air in April.

This is pretty hard to believe, but if true, it could have a huge impact on the future audience of the MacBook Pro line: Apple could have dropped NVIDIA as the supplier of the next-gen MacBook Pro’s discrete GPUs, and will instead go with Intel integrated graphics. Huh?

There have been some crazy rumors flying around lately regarding the iPad 3, but now we have a new one that is all about the MacBook Air. According Digitimes (which has a fairly poor track record with Apple rumors), Apple is considering launching a 14-inch MacBook Air specifically for Asian markets, that may enter production fairly soon. Apparently, 14-inch screens are more popular in Asia than they are in other parts of the globe, which is how the publication is justifying the rumor.

Dell attempted today to rebrand itself as an end-to-end enterprise IT vendor amid slowing consumer PC sales. The company appears to be following in the footsteps of IBM, which sold its PC business to Lenovo, and HP, which came close to selling off its personal systems division last summer.

Dell won’t be getting out of the PC business completely, at least not yet. The company will continue to produce its XPS line of computers, which it cites as a success. It will, however, move away from less profitable markets including PC peripherals.