Apple’s New 24-inch LED-Backlit Widescreen Cinema Display

Along with the new line of Mac notebooks launched recently, Apple unveiled its new LED Cinema Display with its 24-inch LED-backlit widescreen display. It comes with a built-in iSight video camera, mic and speakers. The encasement is thin, an elegant aluminum and glass structure. It will be available in November.

The display is designed for the new MacBook family, and includes a MagSafe charger, three USB 2.0 ports and the new Mini DisplayPort, which makes it easier for MacBook users to connect and power their notebooks quickly, even while using their peripherals.

“The new LED Cinema Display is the most advanced display that Apple has ever made,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, in the press release. “It is a perfect fit for our sleek new line of aluminum MacBooks with its 24-inch LED-backlit screen, aluminum and glass enclosure, integrated camera, mic and speakers, MagSafe charger, three USB ports and Mini DisplayPort.”

The new display has a 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution which uses LED-backlit technology in the 24-inch glossy widescreen. The aluminum stand provides an adjustable hinge, and the built-in iSight video camera mic and speakers make it perfect for video conferencing with iChat. Of course it also provides a perfect delivery for listening to music or watching a film.

Environmentalists will be happy to know that this new LED Cinema Display is the greenest display Apple has made to date. It is made with mercury-free LED technology, arsenic-free glass and highly recyclable materials. The LED Cinema Display also meets the stringent Energy Star 4.0 requirements, and achieves EPEAT Gold status. There are no brominated flame retardants, and all internal cables and components are PVC-free. Even its foam packaging has been reduced by 44%.

This new Mini DisplayPort is part of the next-generation DisplayPort industry standard, and delivers a pure digital signal which can drive up to a 30-inch widescreen display. The Mini DisplayPort is only 10% the size of a full DVI connector, which is perfect for the elegant, thinner design of the entire new Macbook line. There are available adapters for using the MacBook’s Mini DisplayPort with any older generation VGA, DVI/HDMI and Dual-Link DVI displays as well.

The LED Cinema Display requires a MacBook, MacBook Air or MacBook Pro with a new Mini Display Port.

Apple Refreshes The Whole MacBook Family

The much anticipated redesigns were presented today at the “Spotlight Turns to Notebooks” event in Cupertino. All of the Mac notebooks have received attention. MacDaily News also reports that Apple has “dramatically” lowered the entry price “for advanced notebook features including all-metal enclosures and pro-performance notebook graphics by $700 to make them far more affordable.” That is a great thing, given the economic times we’re facing.

The new MacBook and the 15-inch MacBook Pro are both thinner, more durable and really quite beautifully designed. They have precision unibody enclosures crafted from a single block of aluminum.

“Apple has invented a whole new way of building notebooks from a single block of aluminum. And, just as important, they are the industry’s greenest notebooks,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “The new MacBooks offer incredible features our users will love - like their stunning all-metal design, great 3D graphics and LED backlit displays - at prices up to £350 less than before.”

Jonathan Ives, Apple’s award-winning senior vice president of Industrial Design, was also there. (Hurrah for Jonathan!) “Traditionally notebooks are made from multiple parts. With the new MacBook, we’ve replaced all of those parts with just one part - the unibody,” he said. “The MacBook’s unibody enclosure is made from a single block of aluminum, making the new MacBook fundamentally thinner, stronger and more robust with a fit and finish that we’ve never even dreamed of before.”

The predictions made about the NVIDIA graphics turned out to be accurate. The entire MacBook family will now include state of the art NVIDIA graphics. Specifically, they will feature the new NVIDIA GEForce 9400M, a 3D integrated graphics processor which features 16 parallel processing cores, and which can deliver up to five times the 3D graphics performance of any previous MacBook and MacBook Air. This was a collaboration between Apple and NVIDIA, so this chip is brand new, and makes its market debut in this new line of MacBooks.

Those new large glass Multi-Touch trackpads which were predicted are now a reality. This glass MultiTouch trackpad on the MacBook and 15-inch MacBook Pro offer nearly 40% more tracking area and support more Multi-Touch gestures. The ability to use more gestures more easily will allow users to activate Expose or switch from one application to another with the touch of a fingertip. The entire trackpad surface serves as a button as well.

The MacBook line will also have instant-on LED-backlit displays which use up to 30% less energy than the predessors. Jonny Evans of MacWorld UK writes, ” It also eliminated the mercury found in industry-standard fluorescent tube backlights…. Every display in the new MacBook line uses completely arsenic-free glass.”

Speaking of environmental issues, MacDaily News writes, “The entire new MacBook family meets stringent Energy Star 4.0, EPEAT Gold and RoHS environmental standards, and leads the industry in the elimination of toxic chemicals by containing no brominated flame retardants, using only PVC-free internal cables and components, and using energy efficient LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass.”

Here are all the stats:

Pricing and availability The new MacBook, 15-inch MacBook Pro and 17-inch MacBook Pro are now shipping and the new MacBook Air will be available in early November. An updated 13-inch white MacBook featuring 2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processors, a 120GB 5400 rpm hard drive and a slot-load 8X SuperDrive(R) is now available for £719.

The 2.0 GHz, 13-inch aluminum MacBook, for a suggested retail price of £949, includes:
- 13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1280 x 800 glossy display;
- 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB shared L2 cache;
- 1066 MHz front-side bus;
- 2GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
- NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
- 160GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
- a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+/-R DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
- Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
- built-in AirPort Extreme(R) 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
- Gigabit Ethernet port;
- built-in iSight video camera;
- two USB 2.0 ports;
- one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
- glass Multi-Touch trackpad;
- 60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 2.4 GHz aluminum MacBook, for a suggested retail price of £1,149, includes:
-13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1280 x 800 glossy display;
- 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB shared L2 cache;
- 1066 MHz front-side bus;
- 2GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
- NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
- 250GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
- a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+/-R DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW) optical drive; - Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
- built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
- Gigabit Ethernet port;
- built-in iSight video camera;
- two USB 2.0 ports;
- one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
- glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;
- 60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 2.4 GHz, 15-inch aluminum MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of £1,399, includes:
- 15.4-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1440 x 900 glossy display;
- 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB shared L2 cache;
- 1066 MHz front-side bus;
- 2GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
- NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
- NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT discrete graphics with 256MB GDDR3 video memory;
- 250GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
- a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+/-R DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
- Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
- built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
- Gigabit Ethernet port;
- built-in iSight video camera;
- two USB 2.0 ports;
- one FireWire 800 port;
- ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
- one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
- glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;
- 85 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 2.53 GHz aluminum MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of £1,749, includes:
- 15.4-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1440 x 900 glossy display;
- 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 6MB shared L2 cache;
- 1066 MHz front-side bus;
- 4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM;
- NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
- NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT discrete graphics with 512MB GDDR3 video memory;
- 320GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
- a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+/-R DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
- Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
- built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
- Gigabit Ethernet port;
- built-in iSight video camera;
- two USB 2.0 ports;
- one FireWire 800 port;
- ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
- one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
- glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;
- 85 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 2.5GHz 17-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of £1,949, includes:
- 17-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1920 x 1200 glossy display
- 2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 6MB shared L2 cache;
- 800 MHz front-side bus;
- 4GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM;
- NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics with 512MB with GDDR3 video memory;
- 320GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
- a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+/-R DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
- DVI output port for video output (VGA adapter included);
- built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
- Gigabit Ethernet port;
- built-in iSight video camera;
- three USB 2.0 ports;
- one FireWire 800 port and one FireWire 400 port;
- ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
- one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
- Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;
- 85 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 1.6 GHz MacBook Air, for a suggested retail price of £1,299, includes:
- 13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit high resolution 1280 x 800 glossy display;
- 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 6MB shared L2 cache;
- 1066 MHz front-side bus;
- 2GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM;
- NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
- 120GB serial ATA hard drive running at 4200 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
- Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
- built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
- built-in iSight video camera;
- one USB 2.0 port;
- one headphone port;
- Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;
- 45 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 1.86 GHz MacBook Air, for a suggested retail price of £1,799, includes:
- 13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1280 x 800 glossy display;
- 1.86 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 6MB shared L2 cache;
- 1066 MHz front-side bus;
- 2GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM;
- NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
- 128GB solid state drive;
- Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
- built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
- built-in iSight video camera;
- one USB 2.0 port;
- one headphone port;
- Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;
- 45 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

To take a look at these truly magnificent machines, see: http://www.apple.com/uk/ where it is the lead story.

“The Spotlight Turns To Notebooks”

Seth Weintraub of Apple Ink is beating his chest about the fact that his predictions were right. Apple DID finally send out invitations on Thursday of last week for an event to take place this Tuesday. And based on the invitation, which says “The spotlight turns to notebooks”, it would appear that all those predictions about the new portable Macs were right.

Predictions are still being made about the pricing of the new Macs. Pipe Jaffray predicts they will start lower, at $899 (U.S.). The Inquisitr goes lower, saying they’ll start at $799. Given these economic times, a lower priced notebook would certainly be welcome.

Another guess, and this one belongs to Weintraub, is that the motherboards will now be NVIDIA based, with the top of the line Intel Centrino 2 chips. Design changes have also been guessed at, with the most frequent guess being that Apple will shift to aluminum MacBooks, or a combined plastic/aluminum two-tone look. All the models will be thinner.

Weintraub states that no matter what the exact changes will be, one thing is for certain. That is that they will inherit the sexiness of the MacBook Air. We’ll all know by Tuesday, 10 a.m. Cupertino Time, and will be writing about the news here. So stay tuned!

Senior VP at Symantec Uses a MacBook Pro

Rory Reid of CNET UK reports, “I sat down with Rowan Trollope, senior vice president of consumer products at Symantec. He spoke very eloquently about the merits of Norton AntiVirus 2009 and how Symantec was trying desperately to change the negative image of Norton as a resource-hogging, user-bothering nuisance.”

Reid tried the new software and agreed that it was “pretty good”. But he writes, “…during our meeting, I couldn’t ignore the fact he was using an Apple MacBook Pro. For all his hyperbole about how incredibly safe Norton keeps Windows PCs, it appeared Trollope was ducking the virus threat completely — by using a Mac.”

Trollope’s explanation about his choice of a Mac was that he prefers the “ease of use” offered by the platform, and that he likes the computer’s “elegance”. Reid writes, “I’m assuming he’s referring to OS X’s spangly graphical user interface, and not the Mac’s innate ability to dodge malware.” He continues, “It does make you wonder — if the guy responsible for pimping AV software prefers Macs, maybe we should too.”

Windows Is Industrial, Mac Is Something More

Dan Lyons of Newsweek asks, “ Remember how AOL used to be cool, but then became the service used only by people who didn’t know any better? Microsoft is heading down that path.”

He quotes a Microsoft exec who says, “You fly business class today, and it’s nothing but Macs.” Astonishingly, one of those Mac users is the Microsoft exec himself.

If it is true that Microsoft has lost its “cool” factor, and that it is used because of IT department preference, then lots of users are with Windows because they must be, not because they want to be.

CNET’s Matt Asay joins the discussion. He states that Apple’s Mac computers have been gaining share. He continues, saying “there’s something very different about using a Mac. It’s a beautiful piece of hardware, complemented nicely by an inviting, rock-solid operating system with seamless integration into the services - iPod, iPhone, iLife (Apple’s creative productivity suite) - that people desire.”

His conclusion? That “Windows is IT. It’s Industrial and it’s useful. The Mac is something more, and that is why more and more people choose to buy it.”

Next Page »