News for Tuesday, 28 August 2007

The market for DVD burners is now more than mature, and technical limits have been reached and pushed beyond original expectations. For notebook-dedicated models it implies that such optical units do not cost a lot anymore, and OEM can easily find them for USD35.
Combo drives are only marginally cheaper, and should only represent 20% of the optical drive market in 2007. For Apple, it is a bit different, as Cupertino is using optical drive with a 9.5mm thickness for its entry level MacBook, instead of the other standard 11.5mm used by most notebook PC makers. Thinner drives are more expensive but the difference between combo and DVD burner units is also reduced. So no more Combo-based entry level model for the next MacBook revision?

The G5 was an excellent processor, but to satisfy Apple's needs for faster CPU, IBM had to push it beyond its limits. As a consequence, Apple had to adopt a liquid-based cooling device for the high-model.
According to a report from a reader from XLR8YourMac, lifetime of this liquid cooling device might become a major issue for Apple and users in a near future. He reports that among the 17 Power Mac G5 2.7GHz units he has in his lab, ALL have their cooling system leaking, leading to the death of the motherboard and processor.
Those units have been purchased at once, and been used in similar conditions. With such a failure rate, one can conclude that at least one series of those Power Mac G5 2.7GHz was faulty. Despite the facts, Apple REFUSED to offer any compensation or special deal to repair or exchange faulty units with Power Mac G5/Mac Pro!! It looks like Apple is actively looking for having another class action targeting one of its hardware.
Owners of Power Mac G5 with liquid-based cooling system should routinely check integrity of the unit by removing the cover and looking for corrosive points or crystals as the first signs of leaks.

The Refurb Store is offering numerous products, and especially:
- MacBook:
* Core 2 @ 1.83 GHz Combo: 849€ (VAT included)
* Core 2 @ 2.0 GHz SuperDrive: 999€ (VAT included)
* Core 2 @ 2.2 GHz SuperDrive: 1059€ (VAT included)
* Core 2 @ 2.0 GHz SuperDrive black: 1199€ (VAT included)
Core Duo-based MacBook are not so interesting in comparison
MacBook Pro:
* Core Duo @ 2.0 GHz: 1499€ (VAT included)
Mac Mini:
* Core Duo 1.66 GHz: 459€ (VAT included)
* Core Duo 1.83 GHz: 489€ (VAT included)
Direct link to the Refurb Store
First sign for a future revision of the MacBook?

UniquePhones, the company behind the website iPhoneunlocking, delays the release of the iPhone SIM unlock application after receiving letters from AT&T lawyers. The delay will be used to ensure that such patch is not illegal (originating from reverse engineering) even though it breaks an exclusivity agreement between Apple and AT&T. One legal point could prevent UniquePhones to sell this patch, but not to release it publicly.
Another company preparing its own application to unlock iPhone SIM, iphonesimfree, might have also received similar letters from AT&T lawyers, even though it did not communicate about it.
[update]
One of our valuable readers, Dana, sent us a link related to on-going actions driven by Apple and AT&T to block distribution of instructions/software for unlocking the iPhone so it can be used with other carriers: http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/08/27/dmca/index.php