Warren East, who has spent the last 12 years as CEO of ARM, has announced that he will retire on July 1. During his time in charge, East has overseen ARM’s processor design powerhouse through some of its most explosive growth, thanks to lucrative deals with companies like Apple, AMD, and Qualcomm.
Apple has today announced that it has updated its 13- and 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro to add faster processors and lower prices. The 13-inch model now starts at $1,499 with 128GB of flash storage, rising to $1,699 for a new 2.6GHz processor and 256GB of flash.
The 15-inch model now offers a faster 2.4GHz quad-core processor as standard, while the top-of-the-line model gets a new 2.7GHz quad-core processor and 16GB of memory.
If you haven’t already installed Apple’s latest EFI firmware for your 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro, you may want to avoid it for a little while. Users on the Apple Support Communities forum are reporting that the update causes reduced frame rates and processor slowdowns when using graphically-intensive applications.
The iPhone 5 is a cutting-edge device with a lot of impressive new technology, from Apple’s incredibly fast new A6 chip to impressive new in-cell touch display technology and a brand new Lightning dock connector. It’s a certainty that Apple will use some of this technology in the fourth-generation iPad, which is likely due in March of next year. Here’s what the iPhone 5 tells us about what the iPad 4 will be.
Apple has issued a press release this morning confirming that iPhone 5 pre-orders topped two million units during its first 24 hours of availability. That’s more than double the record held by the handset’s predecessor, the iPhone 4S, and Apple has warned that while the majority of pre-orders will be delivered on launch day, September 21, “many” are scheduled to be delivered in October.
You don’t need to watch the Apple keynote — you already know there’s a new iPhone coming, it’ll be called the “iPhone 5,” and will be accompanied by a new iPod touch and a new version of iTunes. You also know now that the device will be packing an A6 processor and LTE connectivity, thanks to the latest pictures of its logic board.
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.
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.
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.
Early benchmark tests conducted on Apple’s new iPad have confirmed that the third-generation tablet is the first iOS device to get 1GB of RAM, double the amount packed into its predecessor. Its new A5X processor, however, clocks in at the same speed as the A5 chip.
