Apple boosts MacBook Air with faster CPUs and Thunderbolt port

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Coinciding with the Mac OS X 10.7 Lion release, Apple has updated its like of MacBook Air ultra-thin notebooks.

Ranging in base price from, $999.00 for a 1.6 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 CPU, 2 Gb RAM, 64 Gb solid state drive, and 11-inch display to $1699.00* for a 1.8GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7 CPU with 4Gb RAM, 256 GB  solid state drive, and 13-inch display, the faster line also adds the new Thunderbolt high-speed port as well as a backlit keyboard.

Apple MacBook Air

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In addition to the Thunderbolt port, the new line also includes a built-in FaceTime camera, stereo speakers, two USB 2.0 ports, an SD card slot, plus headphone and mic jacks. 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology is also included. Battery life is rated at five hours on a single charge for the 11-inch models, seven hours on the 13-inch display units.

All models are available immediately .. shipped with the new Apple Mac OS X 10.7 Lion operating system.

With the release of the new line of MacBook Air notebooks, Apple has removed the original white MacBook from its product line.

Apple releases new Mac Mini line – With Thunderbolt, Without Optical Drive

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Apple Mac MiniThe first company to eliminate the floppy drive from their computers is continuing its quest to stamp out more physical media. Apple’s new Mac Mini line of compact computers, just like its MacBook Air notebooks, no longer include a built-in CD/DVD drive – a reflection of Apple’s drive to move all software purchases to digital downloads via its Mac App Store.

Other companies such as Adobe also offer a digital download option, plus Amazon has recently opened a Mac digital downloads store which includes products, such as Microsoft Office, Quickbooks Pro, and TurboTax. For situations requiring an actual CD/DVD access, users can use CD/DVD sharing (via another mac with a drive) or separately purchase Apple’s External SuperDrive for $79.00.

MacMini back

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What the new Mac Minis do have is the faster Thunderbolt port for high-speed disk drives as well as external monitors, plus a built-in HDMI port (making it a nice streaming media device), four USB 2.0 ports, one Firewire 800 port, a SDXC card slot, plus a gigabit ethernet port.

Under the hood the new line houses a 2.3 GHz i5 ($599.00), 2.5 GHz i5 ($799.00) or 2.7 GHz i7 ($899.00) Dual-Core Intel Core processors. 2 Gb RAM comes with the 2.3 GHz model with 4GHz standard on the latter two computers. Each can be expanded to 8Gb as a Build-to-order option. A 500 Gb 5400 pm hard drive is standard with a 750 Gb 7200 rpm option available for an additional $150.00.

802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 wireless features are also standard.

All models are available immediately .. shipped with the new Apple Mac OS X 10.7 Lion operating system.

Note: Apple Mac Mini computers are shipped without a keyboard, mouse, or other input devices.

Apple announces new 27-inch Cinema Display with Thunderbolt port

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Apple Thunderbolt DisplayNot to be outdone with the new Apple MacBook Air and Mac Mini, the newly renamed Apple Thunderbolt Display began shipping. Like Apple’s other hardware releases today, the new $999.00 27-inch monitor includes a high-speed Thunderbolt port in addition to:

  • Three self-powered USB 2.0 ports
  • One Firewire 800 port
  • One Gigabit Ethernet port
  • Built-in 49-watt 2.1 speakers
  • Built-in FaceTime HD camera with microphone
  • LED backlit technology for faster and more accurate brightness control
  • Ambient light sensor automatically adjusts the brightness to room environment to save energy

The Apple Thunderbolt Display offers a full 2560 x 1440 maximum resolution (most competing 27-inch displays tap out at 1920 x 1080), the monitor features a wide 178° viewing angle combined with in-plane switching (IPS) for consistent color from any angle.

You can daisy-chain two Thunderbolt Displays to any 15- or 17-inch MacBook Pro or to an iMac for those who require multiple monitor setups. Only one display can be connected to MacBook Air and Mac Mini computers.

The unit also incorportaes a MagSafe connector to power and charge MacBook, MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air notebooks. Built-in Thunderbolt and MagSafe cables are included.

The Apple Store currently lists 6-8 week lead times for the Apple Thunderbolt Display, but can be ordered now in advance.

Adobe rolls out 64-bit Flash 11 beta plug-in

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For those with 64-bit desktop computers, operating systems, and browsers (pretty much everything since 2009) and after repeated delays, Adobe has rolled out a public beta of it’s Flash 11 (technically 11.0.1.60) plug-in for Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows. Available from the company’s Adobe Labs, the offers the faster 64-bit functionality along with the following enhancements.

  • HD surround sound — Deliver full HD videos with 7.1 channel surround sound directly to AIR powered TVs (The Adobe Air 3 Beta was also released today).
  • Stage3D APIs — Create highly interactive visuals to improve collaboration on 3-dimensional models.
  • G.711 audio compression for telephony — Integrate voice/telephony into business apps using G.711 codec.
  • H.264/AVC SW Encoding — Encode higher quality video locally using H.264 video.
  • Socket Progress Events — Build advanced file sharing apps like FTP clients that send large amounts of data.

The Flash 11 Beta plug-in replaces Adobe’s previous 64-bit Flash project, code-named “Square” in which development stopped in November 2010. Note: this is beta software and may not properly run on all systems.

Apple releases iLife ’11 Updates

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Today, Apple released incremental updates to its iLife ’11 suite of consumer media applications: iMovie 9.0.4, iPhoto 9.1.5, and GarageBand 6.0.4. All three apps incorporate the new full-screen capability made possible with the upcoming MacOS X 10.7 Lion and overall stability improvements in addition to the following individual software fixes/enhancements:

iMovie 9.0.4 (614 Mb Update):

  • Adds support for opening projects imported from iMovie for iOS.
  • Fixes an issue where some audio adjustments were not preserved.
  • Addresses a performance issue when using large quantities of video clips with keywords.
  • Resolves issue with slow application launch when working with large iPhoto libraries.

iPhoto 9.1.5 (106 Mb Update):

  • Addresses an issue that could cause the Photos view to scroll incorrectly when Event Titles are displayed.
  • Fixes a problem that could prevent Ken Burns animations from being applied correctly on photos in a saved Classic slideshow.
  • The date range of each event now updates correctly to reflect changes made to photos using the Adjust Time and Date command.
  • Deleting photos from a web album using the contextual menu now removes them from the album without deleting them from the library.
  • Addresses an issue that could prevent a crop adjustment from being removed from a photo when using the Revert to Original command.

GarageBand 6.0.4 (48 Mb Update):

  • Fixes an issue with the GarageBand Lesson Store not completing single or multiple lesson downloads.
  • Corrects issues with some tempo-based effects falling out of sync with main song tempo.
  • Resolves problems with Magic GarageBand project files not opening up correctly in the GarageBand tracks view.

Updates are available from the Apple App Store, via Software Update, and the Apple Support Download page.