Apple Update Macbooks and Cinema Display

Apple have updated a whole bunch of their products, including their Macbooks, Macbook Air and Macbook Pro lines. They have also updated their 24 inch display, which now includes an integrated isight camera. The machines now use Apple's new unibody manufacturing technique, which uses a solid piece of aluminum that then has sections removed. There is also a black bezel surrounding the screen and a buttonless, glass, multi-touch trackpad. Apple have made it substantially simpler to change out hard drives. The drive is now stored in a compartment with the battery, meaning it can be removed without having to use any screwdrivers. The MacBook Pros are available immediately, with models priced from $1,999 to $2,499 for stock units and the high-end Macbook Pro with a 2.8 GHz processor for $2,799.

Macbook Air Ivolution Case From Vaja

Vaja's have just announced their latest product, the leather ivolution case for the Macbook Air. Vaja are a manufacturer whose products I've found to be of the highest quality. Their cases not only look the part, but they are manufactured of the finest materials and to the highest standards. If you own a MacBook Air then this case may definitely fit the bill, you can even personalize it. For more information visit Vaja

Apple MacBook Air's Compared

Ars Technica have produced an Article which compares the Macbook Air SSD with the MacBook Air HDD. The review/article raises some interesting questions about both variants and challenges the claims Apple are making about the units power longevity and the differences between SSD and HDD equipped tech. The 64GB SDD version can be had for and additional $1300 instead of the traditional 80GB ATA hard drive. Their SSD version also came a slightly faster processor which was running at 1.8 GHz instead of the base 1.66 GHz. Ars Technica concluded that the SDD version is just not worth bothering with yet. Oh and about the battery life, they figured it was about 2.5 hours instead of the promised 5 hours. I'd like to see some more reviews like this, to see if that figure's an anomaly, or par for the course...

MacBook Air Start Shipping

Many early purchasers of the MacBook Air are reporting that Apple have informed them that their units are on their way to them. By the time you read this several of these unit will no doubt have been configured and put through their paces. It'll be interesting to hear about the first impressions of these early adopters. Does the wireless RemoteDisk facility work? It remains to be seen.

Macbook Air and the Pied Piper...

Most of you have read about the story of the Pied Piper of Hamlin and although the lessons taught in this tale tend to escape most folks these days, it can't be one that's ignored. Apple is very much like the pied piper in that lots of Apple fans follow all too blindly and in adulation of all that is Apple. They hear the note of the piper but overlook the obvious. It's interesting that nearly every time Apple has announced a new product in the last few years, I've been less than impressed. I don't hate Apple and I certainly like using Apple products - I am a designer after all. The latest innovation from Apple is the ultralight, ultrathin laptop called the Macbook Air, and it's certainly impressive all things considered. The Air is thin, extremely thin, it also looks nice too. The good things are its portability (if you're only going short distances), and the gestural capabilities on the touch pad. However there are a few issues. No optical drive, a less than friendly USB port, non-removable battery pack and the lack of Ethernet and FireWire are damning. Stop designing stuff with batteries you can't get to or replace easily. The touchpad features are nice, as is the portability, but realistically speaking, all the extra components you're going to have to carry around with you are going to make you want to shout. Sorry, Steve and crew but as nice as it looks and as rich as you're going to get with the sale of this unit to the masses, it fails to impress me. Then again, who am I to say? I guess I must be deaf to the call of the Pied Piper.