apple

The current enigma of the Retina MacBook Pro

It's hard to imagine, but Apple's MacBook lineup has been turned on its head. As of right now, the highest-priced MacBooks are a technological generation behind the least expensive MacBooks, making for shopping confusion if you're about to invest in a new system from Apple.

The cause of the confusion is this. At WWDC 2013, Apple introduced laptops updated to the latest generation of Intel Core i-series processors. These fourth-gen chips are also known by the code name Haswell, and they promise improved performance, better integrated graphics, and greatly boosted battery life. These CPUs were launched earlier … Read more

Apple's latest ad: Not enough crazy?

Here's to the warm and cuddly ones.

It doesn't quite make one's smaller hairs salute, does it?

In recent years, Apple has tried various advertising routes, yet its default is still the tender, the human and the ever so slightly safe.

On Monday, in conjunction with its WWDC 2013 stage extravaganza, the company released an ad that echoed a huge amount of warmth and yet somehow offered a chilling relief to what used to be.

I was watching a presentation given recently by Apple's most experienced advertising creative director, Lee Clow.

In it, Clow explained how, … Read more

Apple eyes better iPad gaming with joystick controller patent

Apple is eyeing a better way to play on its toys.

Dubbed "Clickable and tactile buttons for a touch surface," a patent published Tuesday by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office envisions a gamepad and joystick for iOS devices.

Mobile gaming is a surging area of growth, something puttting console makers ill at ease. Last year an NPD Group report found that games for mobile devices account for almost half of all game downloads.

The patent describes accessories that simply stick on the touchscreen of an iPad display and engage the touch-sensitive areas with buttons and a … Read more

The Mac that Thunderbolt built: The newly compact Mac Pro

Call it the era of the extroverted computer.

In the old days of personal computing, expansion meant using vacancies inside a computer chassis where you could plug in graphics cards and hard drives. But now, because of Apple's fondness for Intel's high-speed Thunderbolt data port, expansion means hooking up devices outside the chassis.

Connecting external devices has long been just about the only way to bring new hardware to laptops. But at its WWDC 2013 show on Monday, Apple showed that the sealed-box philosophy of the laptop is coming even to Apple's highest-end, most expandable machine, the … Read more

Mountain Lion Macs will run Mavericks -- report

If you're running a Mac with Mountain Lion on it, you shouldn't have any trouble running Apple's latest operating system.

All Macs that are currently capable of running Mountain Lion will be able to run OS X Mavericks, people who claim to have knowledge of the software told AppleInsider in a story published Tuesday. This means that iMacs from mid-2007 and later, MacBooks and MacBook Airs dating back to 2008, and MacBook Pros from 2007 will work just fine.

It's important to note, however, that the information AppleInsider reported on is only for the developer preview … Read more

Apple's new products won't cheer investors, says analyst

Apple tried to wow the world on Monday with a host of new products and services. But investors aren't likely to get all abuzz, says J.P. Morgan's Mark Moskowitz.

At its WWDC keynote on Monday, Apple served up peeks at iOS 7, iTunes Radio, a new version of Mac OS X, new MacBook Airs, and the next Mac Pro. Many of these updates will certainly appeal to Apple users. But that doesn't necessarily translate into a higher stock price or stronger sales growth.

"We do not expect investors to cheer the latest software and services … Read more

iOS 7 tells Apple users to 'get excited' again, says analyst

The updates that Apple showed off in iOS 7 could prove to be the most important ones since the iPhone debuted in 2007, at least in the opinion of Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster.

To kick off Day 1 of its Worldwide Developers Conference this week, Apple revealed a whole new look for its iOS interface and icons, along with a slew of new features and enhancements. Some of the early takes on the new UI have been decidedly mixed. But Munster feels the revamp is cause for Apple users and investors to get excited about both current and upcoming … Read more

Apple's quest for perfection and enduring beauty

Product introductions are usually predictable, orchestrated events. Company executives in jeans stalk a football stadium-sized stage and let their products do the talking: "This is our great new product, here are the specs, and now we'll demo some of the features. It's better than anything else on the market, and it's available soon for this price in these configurations. It's really amazing."

Apple execs did their fair share of stalking the stage Monday with well-rehearsed, Steve Jobsian product intro panache, demoing alternately what they described as "incredible" and "stunning" products … Read more

Apple's high-res wallpaper suggests Retina iMac, monitor

The release of a 5,120x2880-pixel wallpaper image indicates that Apple could bring high-resolution Retina displays to its iMac line of desktop all-in-one computers and external monitors.

The 3.3MB "OSX_hero_2x" image shows the blue and green ocean wave that's featured in the upcoming OS X Mavericks version of Apple's operating system. Its width and height are exactly double that of of the 2,560x1,440-pixel screen on the current 27-inch iMac.

Marvin Scharle of German Web site design firm Conclurer flagged the high-res Mavericks wallpaper on Twitter.

As Apple has spread its Retina displays across … Read more