Other Sites
PrimateLabs Posts Retina MacBook Pro Benchmarks
Why Touchscreen MacBooks Are "A Crazy, Brain Dead Idea"
Chromebook Pixel Validates Microsoft's Touch Strategy, Could Force Apple's Hand - Bedigian
Chromebook Pixel vs. MacBook Air
Google Laptop Shows Apple A Thing Or Two
Analyzing Apple's MacBook Price Cut
Complete Guide to the Mac App Store
Taiwan PC Industry At A Critical Moment - Wistron Chairman
PrimateLabs Posts Retina MacBook Pro Benchmarks
PrimateLabs' John Poole has posted updated benchmarks for Apple's quietly mildly refreshed their Retina MacBook Pro lineup with faster processors. The 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro now comes with a 2.4 GHz, 2.7 GHz, or a 2.8 GHz quad-core processor. The 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro now comes with a 2.5 GHz, 2.6 GHz, 2.9 GHz, or 3.0 GHz dual-core processor.
15-inch Retina MacBook Pro
Poole notes that 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro models each received a 100 MHz increase in processor speed, which has resulted in between a 3% to 5% increase in performance to each MacBook Pro model according to the Geekbench 2 scores. He says one point to note is that the new mid-range Retina MacBook Pro has the same speed processor as the old high-end Retina MacBook Pro but is actually slightly slower than the old high-end model due to the latter having more cache.
13-inch Retina MacBook Pro
The 13-inch Retina MacBook Pros also get a 100 MHz increase in processor speed, but unlike the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro, which only ships with the new processors, the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro ships with both the old and the new processors. The old processors appear in 13-inch models that start with 128GB of storage, while the new processors appear in 13-inch models that start with 256GB of storage. The new processors bring a 3% to 5% increase in performance according to their Geekbench 2 scores.
Poole observes that with Intel's next-generation Haswell Core i processor family at least four months away, he's not surprised Apple updated the Retina MacBook Pro lineup with the latest Ivy Bridge processors, but was surprised that they didn't update the old MacBook Pro. This could be a strong indication that the current-spec. non-Retina MacBook Pros are the ultimate specification for those models before being discontinued, probably later this year. When Haswell MacBooks are announced could see the old-school MacBook Pros dropped.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.primatelabs.com/blog/2013/02/retina-macbook-pro-benchmarks/
Why Touchscreen MacBooks Are "A Crazy, Brain Dead Idea"
Pixobebo's Kate Mackenzie says touchscreen PCs are useful for kiosks, tennis elbow, shoulder bursitis, and good for the pharmaceutical industry, so why would anyone advocate for a Mac with a touchscreen? "Thats a brain dead idea," says MacKenzie.
She notes that Microsoft's Surface Pro is a notebook with tablet-like characteristics and a touchscreen, being neither notebook nor tablet, despite characteristics of both, and that sales are so anemic Microsoft seems embarrassed to even discuss the Surface.
Touch for a Mac, she contends, is not a good idea. Think Tennis elbow, Shoulder bursitis, Medication. Touch works fine with iPhones and iPads, but a touchscreen Mac requires much more physical effort. Some will perhaos recall that even Steve Jobs declared that in vertical screen orientation, touchscreen body English is terrible. As Kate MacKenzie observes: "Move shoulder, move arm, move wrist, lift up finger, touch screen, going against gravity. Repeat ad nauseam, or until inflammation medication is no longer effective to ward off the growing pain in the aforementioned shoulder and elbow."
She recommends that Apple shun touch for Macs, no matter how good the technology may be, or how many tech pundits clamor for Apple to be "innovate" by copying Microsoft's losing proposition, and instead truly innivatge by redefining the Mac experience by creating a Mac OS X/iOS hybrid of with a built-in keyboard and a touchscreen.
I'll second that - Ed.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://goo.gl/ZACoL
Chromebook Pixel Validates Microsoft's Touch Strategy, Could Force Apple's Hand - Bedigian
Forbes Blogger Louis Bedigian diametrically disagrees with Pixobebo's Kate MacKenzie, calling Microsoft's touch-centricity on Windows 8 "brilliant."
Bedigian contends that Google's, new flagship Chromebook Pixel ultra-powerful laptop is "irrefutable proof" of where the industry is heading, and shows that Microsoft was not merely ahead of its time; it was the company to spark this marvelous evolution, pushing ahead with winning technology that others were too afraid to explore. Now Google is following suit, wholeheartedly validating Microsoft's strategy.
He thinks that with both Microsoft and Google now pushing ahead with touch, Apple will inevitably follow suit and much sooner than it may have if its competitors had waited, and be forced to release a touchable MacBook within the next 18 months.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://goo.gl/c7rpt
Chromebook Pixel vs. MacBook Air
GizMag's Will Shanklin thinks Google's new Chromebook Pixel is bumping heads with several of Apple's MacBooks, so he takes a look at how the Pixel shaped up specs-wise with the 13-inch MacBook Air.
Some highlights:
• The MacBook is larger in every dimension including thickness at its thickest point, but about 12 percent lighter than the Chromebook Pixel.
• The Chromebook Pixel's multitouch 12.85-inch display has about the same pixel density as Apples 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display and is much sharper than the MacBook Air's 1,440 x 900 screen which does not support touch.
• Both machines are powered by dual-core 1.8GHz Intel Core i5 chips and integrated Intel graphics and come with 4 GB of RAM.
• The Cloud-centric Chromebook Pixel comes with only 32 GB or 64 GB of SSD storage, the latter in a more expensive LTE-capable model. Apple doesn't support wireless data with its laptops.
In summary, however, Shanklin thinks OS X blows the Chrome OS into the weeds, and while there may be a niche market for a $1300 (or more) Chromebook, it isn;t a large one yet.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://goo.gl/fCey4
Google Laptop Shows Apple A Thing Or Two
CNET's Brooke Crothers says Google's Chromebook Pixel has two killer features that MacBooks don't, and maybe it's time for Apple to rethink the MacBook concept.
The features: a touchscreen and 4G - just what Google is offering on the Chromebook Pixel, and in a package that comes close to matching the MacBook's aesthetics.
Thing is, some of us don't give a hoot about either. The appeal of the horrible ergonomics of reaching over a laptop keyboard to paw at a vertical oriented display eludes your editor, and I've never missed 4G on my current laptops and don't anticipate I will in the foreseeable future.
That makes us Luddites in Mr. Crothers' estimation, but I flinch not from my touchscreen contention, and remain to be convinced that there's any benefit for me in LTE support in a laptop.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://goo.gl/diLbk
Analyzing Apple's MacBook Price Cut
Forbes Contributor Louis Bedigian says he was puzzled as to why Apple lowered the price of the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display just four months after its release, but notes that there have been signs that the smaller Pro machines are selling poorly. And while he thinks the Retina MacBook Pro is easily the most desirable 13-inch Mac laptop to date, the high price and lack of discrete graphics and quad-core CPUs make it a tough sell versus either the more powerful 15-inch Retina Pro or the more affordable 13-inch MacBook Air (not to mention the old-school non-Retina MacBook Pros which still appeal to some of us - Ed.)
Bedigian observes that consumers don't seem to be overwhelmingly interested in spending $2,199 on a 15-inch rMBP, or $1,699 fro the 13-inch iteration - now reduced to $1,499.
Funny about that. One explanation may be found in checking out what you can get in a Lenovo, Dell, Acer, or Asus PC laptop for half those proce points or less. - Ed.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://goo.gl/7ZkHZ
Complete Guide to the Mac App Store
Mac.Tuts+'s Jordan Merrick says:
The Mac App Store is just like the App Store for iOS, it makes it incredibly easy to browse, search for and install apps and games for your Mac. Today we'll discuss the features of the Mac App Store, how it works and how you can get the most from it.
You can check it out at:
http://goo.gl/Jl2Tm
Taiwan PC Industry At A Critical Moment - Wistron Chairman
Digitimes' Aaron Lee and Joseph Tsai cite Wistron chairman Simon Lin telling Digitimes in a recent interview that with the PC Industry is having trouble achieving growth, transformation has become a new trend among the industry players, Dell's privatization being just a start, with PC brand vendors seemingly driving faster and faster on a steep, narrow, winding mountain road. According to Mr. Lin, if Taiwan's PC supply chain players fail to keep up, they may be left behind or fall off the cliff at a sharp turn trying to catch up. However, he believes such crises may create new opportunities for the Taiwan players.
First-tier PC brand vendor Dell is expected to accelerate its transformation process in the future and if Taiwan players continue placing their focus solely on hardware manufacturing, they will only face even more difficulties trying to increase their profits in the future, Lin said.
For the full interview summary, see:
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20130208PD205.html
Tags: News ď Tech-Industry ď
