Computerworld: Apple’s new iMac looks great, even faster; in a month of testing, it never crashed

Friday, July 1, 2011 · 12:25 pm · 31 Comments

“The new iMac still looks great, and it’s even faster,”Michael deAgonia reports for Computerworld. “Apple left unchanged the minimalist aluminum-and-glass design while switching to Intel’s Sandy Bridge processors, AMD graphics chips and adding the new Thunderbolt port for high-speed connections with peripherals.”

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“All of the changes Apple made to the lineup match the company’s past practice of beefing up hardware while leaving prices intact, yielding a thoroughly modern all-in-one computer, with a sharp, bright screen that’s perfect for editing movies, organizing/editing photos, watching streaming video or making your own presentations,” deAgonia reports. “Best of all, the iMacs come with Apple’s iLife suite of apps — iMovie, iPhoto, GarageBand, iDVD and iWeb. I still haven’t found any software quite as intuitive — or as easy to use — on the Windows side that beats the iLife suite.”

“The best way to describe the benefits of Thunderbolt is to compare its theoretical speed with current standards: USB 2.0 tops out at 480Mbps, FireWire 800 tops out at 800Mbps, USB 3.0 hits 5Gbps and Thunderbolt maxxes out at a theoretical 10,240Mbps, or 10Gbps. For every connection, there are two bidirectional channels that carry data over a 10Gbps pipe — each way — which means you can transfer a lot of data fast,” deAgonia reports. “You can connect a wide variety of peripherals to a Thunderbolt port, from hard drives to displays, daisy-chaining up to six peripherals per port. In fact, it’s possible to take a 27-in. iMac and flank it with two 30-in. displays, streaming multiple 1080p hi-def videos from connected RAID enclosures, without hiccups in the data stream.”

deAgonia reports, “Thunderbolt performance aside, this iMac performs very well under everyday, and even extenuating, circumstances. In a month’s worth of use, the iMac I tested never crashed… Apple has delivered a solid update to what was already a popular and successful line. The Sandy Bridge chips add a speed boost, Thunderbolt offers the promise of peripheral heaven in a few months, and the iMac design itself remains current. It’s equally at home in the boardroom or the living room, and the range of sizes, prices and build-to-order options means it should be easy for most buyers to get exactly the machine they want.”

Much more in the full review – recommended – here.

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Apple’s OS X 10.7 Lion: Sneak Preview

Friday, July 1, 2011 · 11:15 am · 37 Comments

“The first major update to Apple’s Mac operating system in some five years is nearly ready, and what has been removed is as significant as its improvements,” Liam Proven reports for The Register.

“Mac OS X 10.7, known informally as Lion, continues the trend of removing ‘legacy’ components and technologies from OS X with a zeal that would leave Microsoft quivering in terror,” Proven reports.

MacDailyNews Take: It’s formally known as “Lion,” and it’s “OS X,” no “Mac,” at least according to no less an authority than Apple.

“Several components have received iOS-inspired makeovers: Mail and Address Book have new, very iPad-like user interfaces, while the Launchpad is an iOS-style easy app launcher that reminded us of the Dashboard in Ubuntu’s controversial Unity desktop,” Proven writes. “Dashboard, Exposé and Spaces have merged into Mission Control, offering an instant overview of all running apps and applets on all desktops.”

Proven writes, “Mac OS X 10.7 is an impressive upgrade, well worth the wait. For new users, it’s a shoo-in – especially for Windows-based iOS users. Existing Mac users looking to upgrade face quite a few drawbacks, though. Going completely legacy-free could be an expensive exercise – but it will be worth it if there are Intel-native or Universal versions of all your core applications. If you can, though, it looks worth it.”

Read more in the full article here.

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Apple’s iPad 2: Never wanted one until I got one, now I can’t live without it

Friday, July 1, 2011 · 6:33 pm · 57 Comments

“I’ll be honest, when the iPad was first announced back in January of 2010 I was one of the people who passed it off as being “a big iPod touch” and I decided I didn’t need nor want one,” Sahil Arora writes for RunAroundTech.

MacDailyNews Take: Tsk, tsk, tsk.

“After the launch of the device I started to see more and more evidence of why it is actually so useful but still I wasn’t convinced I need one,” Arora writes. “Fast forward to 2011 when the iPad 2 was announced. At that point I finally was ready to admit that it’s a great capable device and it’s definitely something I should get.”

Arora writes, “as soon as I started using it I was simply put, shocked… If you’re one of those people who is passing on an iPad because you think it’s just a bigger iPod touch or iPhone, don’t. It’s so much more than just that.”

Read more in the full article here.

Related article:
Why I’ll be buying an Apple iPad – along with millions of others – January 27, 2010

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RUMOR: Apple’s iPhone 5 to launch in September, iPad 3 to launch in October

Friday, July 1, 2011 · 2:02 pm · 30 Comments

“Taiwan-based companies included in the supply chain for iPhone 5 and iPad 3 have begun to prepare materials for the production of the two devices, which are likely to make their debuts in September and to hit the market in October, according to industry sources,” Yenting Chen and Joseph Tsai report for DigiTimes.

“The sources pointed out that Apple only plans to launch one model of the new iPhone, while iPad 3 has just recently been added to the production schedule with both set to be produced in small volumes in August and the volume will start picking up in September and October,” Chen and Tsai report.

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“Players within Apple’s upstream supply chain have all recently increased their estimated supply volumes for the second half, indicating that Apple is set to attack with another wave of new devices, before its competitors become strong, the sources noted,” Chen and Tsai report. “Apple is considering designing an even thinner and lighter tablet PC with its panel resolution increasing to 250dpi, the sources added.”

Read more in the full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Fred Mertz" and "Lynn Weiler" for the heads up.]

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Apple’s revolutionary iPad: One of the most successful products ever

Saturday, July 2, 2011 · 5:48 pm · 25 Comments

“Yes, we all know that the iPad is an extremely successful product,” Tim Worstall reports for Forbes.

“It has invented, created, a new niche, a new product line, in computing,” Worstall reports. “We can see the effects of the shipments on the bottom line of Apple: and the reflection in Apple’s share price.”

Worstall reports, “But here’s a number to show quite how successful the iPad is: ‘The iPad now accounts for over one per cent of worldwide web browsing – and in the US, that figure jumps to 2.1 per cent.’ For a product that’s only just over 14 months since first release that is an astonishing share of the global internet market to have captured.”

Read more in the full article here.

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