MacConnection is somehow able to sell the base model MacBook Air for $900, reports 9to5Mac.

That makes for $100 off the retail price, which is pretty unheard of for an Apple product.

Making it even more appealing is the free next day shipping and $50 off AppleCare.

If you've been looking for an reasonably priced way to pick up an Apple computer, it won't get much better than this. We use this same computer with slightly better internals and love it.

Then go pick one up at MacConnection >

Please follow SAI: Tools on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Apple's MacBook Pro will see a "radical redesign" before the end of the year, a source tells Apple Insider.

Apple will aim to bring some of the characteristics of the MacBook Air to the Pro.

We'll supposedly see an ultra-thin enclosure and the optical drive will vanish. No more spinning hard disks, either. The new MacBook Pro will reportedly sport flash-based storage, meaning extended battery life and speedier read/write speeds.

In short, it will be exactly like the MacBook Air. Just a little better in every category.

We've long heard rumors that Apple could introduce a 15-inch MacBook Air (it's currently offered in only 11" or 13"), so we're open to the possibility that this is just a bigger, souped-up Air.

Now click here to learn how to get a ton of cash for your old iPad >

Please follow SAI: Tools on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Apple is supposedly at work on a 14-inch MacBook Air, reports DigiTimes.

Where a 15-inch model could be considered the standard in the US, Asian countries seem to prefer a 14-inch form factor. Globally, 14-inch laptops have approxmiately 20-25% of the market share, but if you focus only on Asia, this number jumps to 35-40%.

If Apple wants to continue its climb towards becoming a $1 trillion company, it'll need to aim at other countries in a big way.

If the rumors of a 14-inch MacBook Air are true, this could be exactly what the company intends to do.

Please follow SAI: Tools on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Apple was reportedly working on a 15-inch MacBook Air as long ago as November 2011, and a new source backs this up.

ElectricPig reports that an anonymous vendor at the UK showcase for Mac accessories, curiously named "CU Exposed," has said that Apple will likely launch a 15-inch MacBook Air this April.

It's a strong move that will make the MacBook Pro less appealing to the average user thanks to the slimmer profile and lower price tag.

And when was the last time you actually used a CD or DVD? If optical media is still part of your game plan, a $20-$30 external drive will have you covered in a snap.

Whatever Apple's plans for the future, expect more streamlined and lightweight devices.

Please follow SAI: Tools on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

The Apple Investor is a daily report from SAI. Sign up here to receive it by email.

AAPL Reaching Highs Into Earnings   
The futures markets are taking on the jobs miss. Apple will report calendar first quarter earnings on Tuesday, April 24 at 5:00pm ET. Investors will be looking for the new iPad adoption; iPhone penetration, especially in China and emerging markets; market share growth of the Mac business; the evolution of Apple TV; and platforms such as Siri, iAd, iBooks and Ping. Shares of Apple trade at 12.2x Enterprise Value / Trailing Twelve Months Free Cash Flow (including long-term marketable securities).

iOS Fragmentation Versus Android Fragmentation, There's No Comparison (pxldot)
Industrial and graphic designer Chris Sauve recently did an interesting study on platform fragmentation. "iOS 5 captured approximately 75% of all iOS users in the same amount of time it took Gingerbread to get 4% of all Android users," he says. "Even more astounding is that 15 weeks after launch iOS 4 was at 70% and iOS 5 was at 60% while Ice Cream Sandwich got to just 1% share at the same age." Sauve continues that "iOS devices have, on average, reached 10% version share 300 times faster than Android versions, 30% share 19 times faster, and 50% share 7 times faster." Check out the post for the pretty charts.

Apple's TV Called The 'iPanel' To Launch This Year, Says Analyst (Barron's)
Jefferies & Co.’s Peter Misek was the latest analyst to raise his price target on Apple stock to $800 from $699. He has "increased confidence" the company will introduce a television set, leading him to raised his fiscal (September) 2013 estimate to $214 billion, well above the Street consensus of $187 billion. Additionally, he believes "the iTV could be called 'iPanel' as it is far more than a TV." The “iTV” name is owned by the U.K. company of the same name, which has global rights, "and won’t sell them based on recent checks." With billions on the balance sheet, if anyone could convince them to sell, it would be Apple.

Apple Seeing Lower Than Expected Mac Sales Due To Late Refresh (AppleInsider)
Apple is seeing a decrease in year-to-year Mac sales due to a later than usual refresh cycle for its popular MacBook Pro line of notebooks, but analysts expect iPhone and iPad sales to offset the drop. Morgan Stanley says that although the U.S. retail market improved in March, Apple's shipment growth atrophied, falling 4% sequentially due to a lack of new hardware. Huberty notes Apple refreshed its major notebook line this time last year, which is in line with the release model the company has traditionally followed. The lines of computers aren't rumored to be out until June.

Apple Becoming A More Viable Option In The Enterprise (WSJ)
Apple is seeing a bump in the number of businesses issuing Macs to their employees but the actual number of workers per company who are issued the computers is still a small percentage of the overall enterprise market. According to CBS Interactive CTO Peter Yared, the cost of rolling out an enterprise Mac solution is becoming a more viable option. About 100-150 Macs are being brought in to select CBS brands each quarter to replace older Windows PCs for roughly 2,500 employees. The halo effect might be in force at some smaller startup companies, though cost structure is making the Mac more attractive for large multi-nationals.

High School Students Keeping Apple In Business, 34% Own An iPhone (MacRumors)
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster issued a report earlier this week, his latest semi-annual survey of U.S. teenagers. The results of the extensive survey of 5,600 U.S. high school students show that 34% of surveyed students now own an iPhone, an all-time high in the survey and double the percentage seen just a year ago. Furthermore, 40% of surveyed students indicated that they intend to purchase an iPhone within the next six months.

Apple Expanding Customer Reach With Rural Wireless Carriers (MacRumors)
Apple plans to expand its customer reach. The iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 will launch on a number of small, regional CDMA wireless networks in the U.S. later this month. The soft launch expands Apple's original foray into regional carrier partnerships which began last October with C Spire in Southeastern United States. Now at least four additional regional CDMA carriers across the U.S. have announced plans to carry the iPhone including: nTelos, Alaska Communications, Appalachian Wireless, and Cellcom.

Ways To Backdoor Apple Stock, Play The Supply Chain (Business Insider)
For those who want "exposure" to Apple, but are afraid of buying into a stock on a parabolic run, Credit Suisse presents the Apple Supply Chain Basket. The list is comprised of companies with a high two-year correlation to Apple and also a meaningful supply chain relationship to Apple. Some on the list, like Toyota, we don't really get, but it's still interesting. Of course, if Apple implodes, probably a lot of these Apple-related stocks will be in trouble as well. And earlier too.

Apple Ready To Fight The DoJ On Publishing Model (BusinessWeek)
Apple and two publishers are preparing to fight the U.S. Justice Department in court if necessary over pricing agreements for digital books. Rumor has it Apple has been siting out of the settlement talks. The DoJ is seeking an antitrust settlement that would allow Amazon and other retailers to return to a wholesale model, where retailers decide what to charge customers. A settlement could also void so-called most-favored nation clauses in Apple’s contracts that require book sellers to provide the maker of the iPad with the lowest prices they offer competitors.

Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

In an interview with Linux creator Linus Torvalds, TechCrunch's Scott Merrill asks about Torvalds's taste in computer hardware.

Here's what Torvalds had to say:

"I have to admit being a bit baffled by how nobody else seems to have done what Apple did with the Macbook Air – even several years after the first release, the other notebook vendors continue to push those ugly and *clunky* things. Yes, there are vendors that have tried to emulate it, but usually pretty badly. I don’t think I’m unusual in preferring my laptop to be thin and light.

"...I think one of the things that made Apple able to do this was how focused they’ve been able to stay. They really have rather few SKU’s compared to most big computer manufacturers, and I think that is what has allowed them to focus on those particular SKU’s and make them be better than the average machine out there.

"Sure, they have *some* variation (different amounts of memory etc), but compare the Apple offerings to the wild and crazy world of HP or Lenovo or Toshiba. Other hardware manufacturers tend to not put all their eggs in a single (or a few) baskets, and even then they tend to hedge their bets and go for fairly safe and boring on most offerings (and then they sometimes make the mistake of going way crazy for the “designer” models to overcompensate for their boring bread-and-butter).

"So that kind of focus takes guts. I’m not an apple fan, because I think they’ve done some really bad things too, but I have to give them credit for not just having good designers, but the guts to go with it. Jobs clearly had a lot to do with that."

Please follow SAI: Tools on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Apple may release a much cheaper version of the MacBook Air this year to better position itself against the growing market for Ultrabooks, according to one new report.

DigiTimes spoke with sources in Apple's upstream supply chain who suggest that the company is gearing up to release a $799 MacBook Air in the third quarter of 2012.

At the moment, the cheapest version of the MacBook Air is $999.

DigiTimes does not provide details about what the specs on the new model will be. However, the publication notes that other companies like Intel are preparing to push their Ultrabooks more aggressively in the second half of the year, which may force Apple to respond by lowering the price point on the MacBook Air.

Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

HP is under fire for supposedly drawing lots of "inspiration" for its newest computer from -- you guessed it -- the MacBook Air.

Here's what HP's Vice President of Industrial Design, Stacy Wolff, had to say about it, according to Engadget:

"If I put [the keyboard] on a black surface you’d go, 'Oh you didn’t copy.' If I put it on a silver surface, 'Oh you’re copying.' How can that be? You know, it’s a change of color, there’s no intent to mimic or to follow. What you have is a common theme of island style keyboard, use of silver, wedge design. So if I measure things on a macro level, well, you know, maybe you can judge it that way. I don’t."

What do you think? We have some side-by-side comparisons for you to judge for yourself.

HP Spectre

MacBook Air

HP Spectre

Please follow SAI: Tools on Twitter and Facebook.

Rounding out all the recent Mac rumors this week, Mark Gurman of 9to5Mac reports that the next MacBook Air will also get a high resolution "Retina display" screen.

Gurman says the design will be the same as the current MacBook Air. The battery and processor will get an upgrade to support the power-hungry display.

Gurman has more details, so click here >

Please follow SAI: Tools on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Apple's manufacturing partners in China are reportedly struggling to find enough workers to meet the high demand for next generation MacBooks.

DigiTimes reports hearing from its sources that Apple's supply chain is experiencing labor shortages due to "strong orders" for the new MacBooks, which are expected to launch sometime in July.

Some of these manufacturing plants have had no choice but to start outsourcing the production orders just to meet the shipment schedules.

According to the report, MacBook shipments may increase from about 12.8 million in 2011 to as much as 19 million this year.

Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

It's easy to see Apple's influence in Ultrabook design almost everywhere you look, but a new patent might actually give the company some firepower if it ever wants to go after an IP case.

Apple has been awarded a patent on the teardrop wedge shape of its MacBook Air, reports The Verge.

The patent seems rather intentionally vague as well, leaving out the specifics on hinges, feet, or contours.

In short, Apple now has a legal foundation to go after any company producing a wedge-shaped computer.

Click here to see one of the Ultrabooks from Dell that's now in jeopardy.

Please follow SAI: Tools on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

New MacBook Airs will be 60% faster.

They'll also be available with 512 GB of solid state storage.

The Air will also get USB 3.0 and a higher quality HD FaceTime camera.

They're available starting today.

Apple is knocking $100 off of each price point as well -- depending on your configuration, the 11" Airs will go for $999 or $1099 and 13" models will run for $1199 or $1499.

Refresh this page for the latest.

DON'T MISS: Our liveblog of the Apple keynote >

Please follow SAI: Tools on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

The next generation MacBook Pro laptops will be 25% thinner and come with Retina Display, Apple announced at its Worldwide Developers Conference Monday.

The new MacBook Pro will be 0.71 inches, about as thin as the MacBook Air. The display will be 2880 X 1880, or 5.18 million pixels.

The baseline model starts at $2,199 and starts shipping today.

The updated Pro will have a better contrast ratio and reduce glare by a whopping 75%.

The laptop will have a FaceTime HD camera, up to 768 GB of fast flash storage, a quieter fan, an HDMI port and up to 7 hours of battery life.

Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

 Apple has seriously improved its line of MacBook computers.

Here's the breakdown on everything you need to know from the WWDC keynote.

Speed boost for the Airs

New MacBook Airs will have faster processors that give them a 60% speed boost.

Huge storage capabilities

A maxed-out Air will have a 512 GB SSD.

USB 3.0 arrives on the Air

The much-faster alternative to USB 2.0 will be available on the new MacBook Airs.

Please follow SAI: Tools on Twitter and Facebook.

Apple unveiled a new fleet of MacBook laptops today, updating the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and unveiling a brand new MacBook Pro with a Retina display.

So, which one should you buy?

It comes down to what's most important to you. We'll do our best to walk you through the perks of each one.

The MacBook Air

Price: $999 to $1,199

Advantages: Lightweight, long battery life, very thin, very fast and very cheap.

Disadvantages: Lacks a discrete graphics chip and has a less-powerful processor than the MacBook Pro.

You should buy this MacBook Air if: you don't need a lot of processing power — like editing video or playing games.

You won't get more bang for your buck than with the MacBook Air. It does just about everything you need it to do, and it's pretty cheap. It's zippy thanks to a solid-state hard drive, and turns on and off instantly.

The flip side is that because it doesn't have a discrete graphics chip, it won't be able to run games or do graphics-intensive processes as fast as the MacBook Pro.

The MacBook Pro, sans Retina display with discrete graphics chip

Price: $1,799

Advantages: Packs a serious punch with a faster processor, a discrete graphics chip and a bigger hard drive (if you don't buy the solid-state hard drive).

Disadvantages: Without a solid state drive, it will feel slower, and it's more bulky than the MacBook Air.

You should buy this MacBook Pro if: You absolutely can't afford the MacBook Pro with the new Retina display, but have to have a lot of processing power, and don't care about having a solid-state hard drive.

Skip over the cheaper MacBook Pro, because if you aren't buying a discrete graphics card, that defeats the point of buying a MacBook Pro.

This package will give you a machine that will be faster with graphics-intensive processes, like games and video editing. It'll be an all-around better device, but if you don't upgrade to a solid-state hard drive, you'll sacrifice some of the zippy feel of the MacBook Air.

It will also feel a little more bulky than the MacBook Air.

If you don't need the Retina display, but still want a 15-inch MacBook Pro with a decently-sized solid-state hard drive, it's going to run you about as much as the base-level MacBook Pro with a Retina display, so you might as well stick with the new MacBook Pro.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro with a decently-sized solid-state hard drive will also run you about $1,899 — which is just $300 shy of the new MacBook Pro with a Retina display. So you might as well save up the extra $300 and upgrade to the new MacBook Pro.

The MacBook Pro, with Retina display

Price: $2,199

Advantages: Has all the processing power of the MacBook Pro, with a stunning high-resolution display, and all the advantages of a sleek MacBook Air.

Disadvantages: It's the most expensive.

You should buy this MacBook Pro if: You can afford it. This is as good as it comes.

When it comes to specifications, the MacBook Pro is the best laptop Apple has to offer. It has all the processing guts of the MacBook Pro with a discrete graphics chip, with the aesthetic appeal of the MacBook Air.

This is an excellent travel computer, and you'll be able to grind through games like Diablo 3 without the problems the MacBook Air would face while trying to run something that graphic-intensive.

The downside, though, is the price tag, and the upgrades are going to make it even more expensive. But if you have the cash, you should buy the MacBook Pro with a Retina display.

Please follow SAI: Tools on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Apple aired a new commercial for the redesigned MacBook Pro with Retina Display during the NBA Finals on Tuesday.

Unlike the recent Siri commercials featuring celebrities, this one is back to basics for Apple. It's just a stark shot of the computer in action loading up a series of beautiful images in Final Cut Pro. Halfway through the advertisement, someone introduces the product as the "radical new MacBook Pro with Retina Display."

For more details about the new laptop, check out our roundup of all the changes Apple announced for its MacBook line at the Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday.

via The Verge

Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Click here to read more >>

Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

If you buy a new Macbook Air don't install Chrome on it right away -- unless you love the beach ball.

Google has admitted that the browser was freezing the PC, reports Gizmodo.

A couple of days ago, Gizmodo wrote that it had brought some brand new MacBook Airs and that they were crashing and freezing like crazy. They got an outpouring of comments from others having the same problem.

Chrome was the cause, CNet's Topher Kessler, reported, and late yesterday, Google fessed up and sent a statement to Gizmodo confirming. But it still did a little finger-pointing at Apple.

Google's explanation is filled with technical gobbledygook speak, but it comes down to this. There's a conflict between Chrome, Chrome extensions and the graphics chips used in the new Macbook Air PCs.

That conflict is "causing a kernel panic on Mac hardware," as Google put it. In other words, it is causing the Mac to freeze. Google has issued a temporary fix by disabling some features that make Chrome run faster and promises a full fix soon.

But Kessler points out that this is also Apple's problem. The kernel shouldn't get into a panic at all and Apple needs to step up, too, and fix that part.

Please follow SAI: Tools on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

First, I'd like to thank all the readers who commented on our post. Some of the criticisms made me cringe, such as being called a "link-baiting whore," while other remarks were more insightful and worth taking seriously. But whether the comments were for or against the post, I'm humbled that so many people took the time to participate in such a lively discussion. Because of that, we want to explain our reasoning further. 

To start, I want to point out that I looked at the value of the MacBook Pro with Retina from the perspective of what is best for the average computer user. Professional designers, developers, photographers, graphic artists and video editors do not need me to tell them whether Apple's latest concoction is right for them. Such sophisticated users are capable of deciding for themselves which system to buy.

Click here to read more >>

Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

I've had Apple's new Mac operating system, Mountain Lion, for a full day now on my MacBook Air. 

Overall, I'm liking it.

What I'm not liking is how my Air (purchased in late 2010) isn't compatible with some key new features. Most notably: AirPlay mirroring, which lets you "mirror" your MacBook's screen on your Apple TV. Apple says the feature only works in MacBook Airs purchased in mid-2011 or later.

In addition to displaying PowerPoints and websites on your TV, AirPlay Mirroring lets you use services like Hulu and HBO GO, which aren't available on Apple TV, by running them in your Mac's browser. I don't have cable, so I was super pumped for this feature when Apple first announced Mountain Lion back in February.

Boy was I bummed yesterday when I found out I couldn't use it.

Apparently, I'm not alone in my frustration. As BuzzFeed's Matt Buchanan points out, there are a lot of negative reviews of Mountain Lion in the Mac App Store from frustrated MacBook Air owners like yours truly.

I spent some time today trying to track down the reason why Apple won't let my MacBook use AirPlay mirroring. After all, my MacBook Air came out less than a year before the mid-2011 model. The internal hardware isn't that different.

What's the deal?

There seems to be two competing theories out there. The first is that this is part of Apple's alleged "planned obsolescence," or stripping out software features from older devices in order to provoke people into buying a new hardware. A lot of Apple critics accuse the company of this all the time.

There's also a technical explanation, as explained in this excellent feature from a few days ago on Cult Of Mac. Apple likely didn't include AirPlay mirroring in the 2010 MacBook Air because its graphics card isn't powerful enough to crunch what's on your screen and push it to your Apple TV. The 2011 MacBook Air's graphics card is powerful enough.

The Cult Of Mac article also says if Apple were to allow AirPlay mirroring on the 2010 MacBook Air, it would have to suck some power from the processor, causing the device to heat up and possibly slow down other apps. Apple probably decided that wasn't good for users. I spoke to another hardware expert, and he backs up what Cult of Mac says in its article.

I suspect there's truth in both theories.

One of the big themes in Mountain Lion is making the desktop more iPhone and iPad-like. And like iOS 6, the soon-to-be released operating system on iPhones and iPads, not all of Mountain Lion's hot new features are available on older devices. A good example of this is how Apple only allows you to use Siri on the iPhone 4S, even though it's been proven that the iPhone 4 hardware can handle it.

That makes sense for the iPhone, as it only costs $200. That's not a lot to ask for every two years or so. But I dropped ~$1,300 on my MacBook Air and it isn't even two years old yet. And it's already becoming obsolete.

And that really aggravates me. 

By the way, Cult Of Mac's piece comes from someone who knows a thing or two about AirPlay on Mac: the CEO of AirParrot. AirParrot is a third-party app that lets you mirror your Mac's screen on Apple TV. I've used the trial version of AirParrot (the full version costs $10) before, and it works pretty well on my Air.

The only thing keeping me from purchasing it was the promise of AirPlay mirroring in Mountain Lion. Since Apple won't help me out, I'm going to take the plunge.

Anyway, if you think I'm full of it, or missed some sort of technical detail, please let me know in the comments.

Please follow SAI: Tools on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »