World of Apple

Ars Technica has received their 24-inch LED Cinema Display after it shipped yesterday and has written up a quick post giving an initial impression.

Last week it was reported that the brand new 24-inch LED Cinema Display was available to order on the online Apple Store, this week Ars Technica reveals that their order has shipped.

The email which was received on the 25th November indicates that the new display will arrive with Ars today (26th November), in line with Apple’s original promise of shipping the displays “sometime in November”.

Apple has now begun accepting orders of its brand new 24-inch LED Cinema Display from online Apple stores around the world. The 24-inch LED Cinema Display is available in the US for $899 (£649).

Last week it was revealed that Apple had discontinued the 23-inch Cinema Display.

The 24-inch LED Cinema Display which features an iSight camera, speakers, and Mini DisplayPort is expected to ship in 7-10 days.

Mac Rumors is noting that Apple may finally be ready to ship both the In-Ear iPod headphones as well as the newly released 24-inch Cinema Display.

According to Mac Rumors’ sources Apple today end-of-life’d the 23-inch Cinema Display as well as the old In-Ear headphones. As Mac Rumors writes, this is generally a good indication of newly shipping products.

During the iPod Special Event in September Apple stated that he In-Ear headphones would ship during October.

Dennis Sellers of MacsimumNews has gone out on a limb today and predicted that both the iMac and the long stagnant Mac mini will see an update on November 10th (a Monday). But also goes onto state that a Mac Pro update will come at Macworld in January, not the normal destination for a pro orientated product release.

Sellers who makes no mention of sources goes onto to explain that Apple will want to ship new Pro desktops that will work with a new line of Cinema Displays that will feature the Mini DisplayPort connection. Adding that Apple will release new Cinema Displays at sizes of 20, 24 and 30-inches. This would be in addition to the current 23-inch model.

Finally Sellers leaves us hanging by noting that this is not all that Apple will announce at Macworld which runs from 5 - 9 January 2009.

With the introduction of multiple products it is easy to be overwhelmed, here a just a few notes of interest regarding the new products which weren’t mentioned in yesterdays event.

MacBook and MacBook Pro

Apple has published a support document which details how users can switch between using the integrated GPU in the MacBook Pro or the dedicated.

The change which requires the user to log out and back in again should offer better battery life when the user opts to use the integrated NVIDIA GPU (9400M). Currently it is unknown whether removing or plugging in the MagSafe automatically makes this switch.

Macworld is reporting that the new MacBook and MacBook Pros support the iPhone headset, the microphone works as an input and the clicker works as expected as well.

If you click the button on your iPhone headphones, iTunes pauses. Click again, and the music resumes. A double-click advances one track, and a triple-click moves back a track—just like on the iPhone.

Also unclear is the memory limit on the new notebooks, officially Apple lists 4GB as the memory ceiling. But the new NVIDIA chipset support DDR3 memory which is being used in the notebooks which technically supports 4GB sticks, creating a theoretical ceiling of 8GB.

24-inch Cinema Display

Apple lists the speaker system on the display to be 2.1, suggesting the presence of a subwoofer.

Apple offers adapters to use the new notebooks on other displays but not the other way around. Only the current MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air notebooks can drive the 24-inch Cinema Display.

Despite DisplayPorts ability to pipe audio and video Apple requires the USB to be plugged in to enable the speakers.

As World of Apple was unable to provide extensive coverage first hand we’ve collated a collections of links to get the extra post-event facts.

• Ars Technica up close and personal with the MacBook Pro.
• Ars Technica looks at the MacBook/Pro’s removable hard drive.
• Photo gallery of the new 24-inch Cinema Display from Engadget.
• Photo gallery of the new MacBook from Engadget.
• Engadget gets hands-on with the MacBook Pro.
• Ars Technica’s Jacqui Cheng offers some answers about Apple’s new buttonless trackpad.

As expected Apple today announced a brand new MacBook Pro. The new MacBook and 15-inch MacBook Pro both have a precision unibody enclosure crafted from a single block of aluminum, resulting in thinner, more durable and incredibly beautiful designs.

In addition, every member of the new MacBook family includes state of the art NVIDIA graphics, brilliant instant-on LED-backlit displays and new large glass Multi-Touch trackpads that offer almost 40 percent more tracking area and support more Multi-Touch gestures. The entire new MacBook family meets stringent Energy Star 4.0, EPEAT Gold and RoHS environmental standards, and leads the industry in the elimination of toxic chemicals by containing no brominated flame retardants, using only PVC-free internal cables and components, and using energy efficient LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass.

“Apple has invented a whole new way of building notebooks from a single block of aluminum. And, just as important, they are the industry’s greenest notebooks,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “The new MacBooks offer incredible features our users will love —like their stunning all-metal design, great 3D graphics and LED backlit displays—at prices up to $700 less than before.”
“Traditionally notebooks are made from multiple parts. With the new MacBook, we’ve replaced all of those parts with just one part—the unibody,” said Jonathan Ive, Apple’s senior vice president of Industrial Design. “The MacBook’s unibody enclosure is made from a single block of aluminum, making the new MacBook fundamentally thinner, stronger and more robust with a fit and finish that we’ve never even dreamed of before.”

The new MacBook line features the powerful new NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, a revolutionary new 3D integrated graphics processor that features 16 parallel processing cores and delivers up to five times the 3D graphics performance than the previous MacBook and MacBook Air.

The new MacBook, 15-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air include a next generation, industry-standard Mini DisplayPort to connect with the new Apple LED Cinema Display featuring a 24-inch LED-backlit widescreen display.

Today Apple also updated MacBook Air and the 17-inch MacBook Pro. MacBook Air, measuring only 0.16-inches at its thinnest point, 0.76-inches at its maximum height and weighing just three pounds, now includes new NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics and a faster architecture to provide robust support for 3D games and enhanced performance. Starting at $1,799, MacBook Air is available with a 120GB 4200 rpm hard drive, a 50 percent increase from the previous generation, or a new 128GB solid state drive. The updated 17-inch MacBook Pro keeps its original aluminum design, and now comes standard with a high resolution 1920 x 1200 LED-backlit display and a larger 320GB hard drive or an optional 128GB solid state drive.

The new MacBook, 15-inch MacBook Pro and 17-inch MacBook Pro are now shipping and the new MacBook Air will be available in early November.

An updated 13-inch white MacBook featuring 2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processors, a 120GB 5400 rpm hard drive and a slot-load 8X SuperDrive is now available for $999 (US).

The 2.0 GHz, 13-inch aluminum MacBook, for a suggested retail price of $1,299 (US), includes:

13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1280 x 800 glossy display;
2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB shared L2 cache;
1066 MHz front-side bus;
2GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
160GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
built-in AirPort Extreme® 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
Gigabit Ethernet port;
built-in iSight video camera;
two USB 2.0 ports;
one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
glass Multi-Touch trackpad; and
60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 2.4 GHz aluminum MacBook, for a suggested retail price of $1,599 (US), includes:

13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1280 x 800 glossy display;
2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB shared L2 cache;
1066 MHz front-side bus;
2GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
250GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
Gigabit Ethernet port;
built-in iSight video camera;
two USB 2.0 ports;
one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard; and
60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.
Build-to-order options for the MacBook include the ability to upgrade to 4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, a 250GB 5400 rpm, 320GB 5400 rpm hard drive, a 128GB solid state drive, Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter, Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter (for 30-inch DVI display), Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter, Apple USB Modem, Apple Remote, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter and the AppleCare® Protection Plan.

The 2.4 GHz, 15-inch aluminum MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $1,999 (US), includes:

15.4-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1440 x 900 glossy display;
2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB shared L2 cache;
1066 MHz front-side bus;
2GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT discrete graphics with 256MB GDDR3 video memory;
250GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
Gigabit Ethernet port;
built-in iSight video camera;
two USB 2.0 ports;
one FireWire® 800 port;
ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard; and
85 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 2.53 GHz aluminum MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $2,499 (US), includes:

15.4-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1440 x 900 glossy display;
2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 6MB shared L2 cache;
1066 MHz front-side bus;
4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM;
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT discrete graphics with 512MB GDDR3 video memory;
320GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
Gigabit Ethernet port;
built-in iSight video camera;
two USB 2.0 ports;
one FireWire 800 port;
ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard; and
85 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.
Build-to-order options for the MacBook Pro include a 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, the ability to upgrade to 4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, 250GB 7200 rpm, 320GB 5400 rpm or a 320GB 7200 rpm hard drive, a 128GB solid state drive, Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter, Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter (for 30-inch DVI display), Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter, Apple USB Modem, Apple Remote, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter and the AppleCare Protection Plan.

The 1.6 GHz MacBook Air, for a suggested retail price of $1,799 (US), includes:

13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit high resolution 1280 x 800 glossy display;
1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 6MB shared L2 cache;
1066 MHz front-side bus;
2GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM;
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
120GB serial ATA hard drive running at 4200 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
built-in iSight video camera;
one USB 2.0 port;
one headphone port;
Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard; and
45 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 1.86 GHz MacBook Air, for a suggested retail price of $2,499 (US), includes:

13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1280 x 800 glossy display;
1.86 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 6MB shared L2 cache;
1066 MHz front-side bus;
2GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM;
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
128GB solid state drive;
Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
built-in iSight video camera;
one USB 2.0 port;
one headphone port;
Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard; and
45 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

During today’s special event Apple unveiled the LED Cinema Display featuring a stunning 24-inch LED-backlit widescreen display with built-in iSight video camera, mic and speakers in an elegant, thin aluminum and glass enclosure. Designed for the new MacBook family, the LED Cinema Display includes an integrated MagSafe charger, three USB 2.0 ports and the new Mini DisplayPort, making it easy for MacBook users to quickly connect and power their notebooks as well as use their favorite peripherals.

“The new LED Cinema Display is the most advanced display that Apple has ever made,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. ‘It is a perfect fit for our sleek new line of aluminum MacBooks with its 24-inch LED-backlit screen, aluminum and glass enclosure, integrated camera, mic and speakers, MagSafe charger, three USB ports and Mini DisplayPort.”

The 24-inch glossy, widescreen display with 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution uses LED-backlit technology to provide instant full-screen brightness and great power efficiency. Part of the next-generation DisplayPort industry standard, the new Mini DisplayPort delivers a pure digital signal that can drive up to a 30-inch widescreen display. The Mini DisplayPort is ultra-compact at just 10 percent the size of a full DVI connector, perfect for the sleek design of the new MacBook family. Adapters are available for using the MacBook’s Mini DisplayPort with older generation VGA, DVI/HDMI and Dual-Link DVI displays.

The new LED Cinema Display will be available in November for $899 (US).

Mac Rumors is reporting that those interested in buying a Apple Cinema Display should wait until Macworld 2009 in January. The rumour site has heard from a source of unknown reliability that Apple is preparing Apple Cinema Display refreshes.

The new Cinema Displays are expected to incorporate LED backlighting, completing Steve Jobs’ promise of a greener Apple.

Mac Rumors adds that a 30-inch LED display is currently available from Samsung but is priced at $4735, considerably higher than the price of the current 30-inch Apple display.

Apple has not updated its line of Cinema Displays significantly since June 2004.

Macworld 2009 runs from January 5th - 9th 2009.