Tuesday February 26, 2008

- Bargains at the Refurb store - Lionel - 16:41:43

Following the release of new Macbook and Macbook Pros and their (lower)prices, the Refurb store has significantly decreased the price of some configurations, which make those who do not need the most powerful machine happy:
-- MacBook Core 2 2 GHz at 779 €
-- MacBook Pro 15 "Santa rosa 2.2 GHz at 1269 € ...


@ The Refurb Store

[translation by xrissley]

- New MacBooks and MacBook Pros - bad_duck - 16:38:07

The Apple Store has reopened, the menu:

New MacBook:
-- 2.1 GHz, 1 GB of RAM, 120 GB drive, Combo @ 999 Euros
-- 2.4 GHz, 2 GB of RAM, 160 GB disk, Superdrive @ 1199 Euros
-- Like the previous model, but black and a disc of 250 GB @ 1399 Euros

New MacBook Pro, all have 2 GB of RAM, a Superdrive (8x), as well as the new features of the (multi-gesture) MBA trackpad:
-- 15" 2.4 GHz, 200 GB drive, NVidia GeForce 8600 GT 128 MB @ 1799 Euros
-- 15" 2.5 GHz, 250 GB drive, NVidia GeForce 8600 GT 256 MB @ 2199 Euros
-- 17" 2.5 GHz, 250 GB drive, NVidia GeForce 8600 GT 256 MB @ 2499 Euros

PS: The price drop is the result of a decrease in the rate of exchange between the dollar and the euro.
@ Apple

[Edit]: On the Apple Store US, the MacBook Pro comes with with 256, 512 and 512 MB of VRAM unlike the Apple Store En (respec. 128, 256 and 256 MB), it must be a bug that should be corrected quickly.

[Update] Note that the iPod Shuffle 2 Go are also available.

[translation by xrissley]

- 6-core Xeon's by year's end. - Lionel - 12:41:35

Source : Dailytech

If you think the 8 core Mac Pro's are still insufficient for your needs, stop worrying, Intel will bring what you need: a 6 core CPU (which makes 12 cores in a dual-cpu configuration, as in the Mac Pro for example)
While the Nehalem platform will be completed later, and in order to keep AMD behind, Intel will announce in the second quarter of this year some new Xeon Penryn CPU's. These will feature 6 cores each, and the cores will be connected by a shared 16 Mb L3-cache.

Apparently Intel still has some difficulties with these 3 times 2 cores, because they're limited to a 1066 MHz FSB speed, while the latest Mac Pro's are already reaching 1600 MHz.
Multiple versions will be available. Their frequencies are still unknown, but since the TDP will be maximum 130W, we expect them to reach up to (definitely) no more than 3.2 GHz.

[translation by xavier]

- Apple Store US closed - Lionel - 12:19:06

It is off and running !!!!

We have quasi-confirmation of what we announced previously via some news concerning the model numbers....

[12:25] UPDATE: European Stores are closed as well.

[translation by crispin]

- More on the Geforce 9xxx series - Lionel - 11:18:19

Source: Digitimes

With the GeForce 9600 GT, NVidia has taken up a much-desired place in the mid-range video cards. The progress does not stop there, Nvidia will release the 9800 GT in April, and the GX2. These cards are expected at this time to replace the 8800 GT that we are just beginning to appreciate in our Mac Pro. It was difficult for Apple to get the 8800 out, it appeared just a few months ago.
With a little luck and a lot of trickery it may be possible to flash the new cards with an amended 8800 ROM.

[translation by jeremy]

- Specifications of the new portables? - Lionel - 11:18:10

We have just received this anonymously:

Macbook - 13" 2.1GHz / 1Go / 120Go / CoMoo / White
Macbook - 13" 2.4GHz / 2Go / 160Go / Super / White
Macbook - 13" 2.4GHz / 2Go / 250Go / Super / Black

Macbook Pro - 15" 2.4GHz / 2Go / 200Go 5400RPM / 256Mo Vram
Macbook Pro - 15" 2.5GHz / 2Go / 250Go 5400RPM / 512Mo Vram
Macbook Pro - 17" 2.5GHz / 2Go / 250Go 5400RPM / 512Mo Vram

We have no idea if they are good specifications, but consider them as a base of discussion while waiting for the probable closing of the Apple Store in the next hour or so.

[translation by crispin]

- Microsoft stops spending on HD-DVD - Lionel - 11:14:12

Following the abandonment of HD-DVD by Toshiba in favour of Blu-ray, Microsoft has announced the immediate end of selling HD-DVD readers for the Xbox 360.
A posteriori, the company will certainly have lost money, but much less than if they had decided to market this as an internal reader inside the console.
Rumours have it that there will be a new reader - this time a Blu-ray - sometime this summer.

It remains amazing the speed the the HD-DVD is disappearing, as if industry wants at all costs to bring an end to this nightmare.

[translation by crispin]

- Flash a Geforce 8800 PC - Lionel - 10:12:29

The EEPROM video cards on the Mac have 128 KB memory, twice the size of ROM memory on PC cards. Until now, it was impossible to flash a Geforce PC without replacing the memory chip, which is very complex.
Fortunately, NVidia has thought of us, at least in the first version of the reference 8800 GT, which has a 128 KB ROM.
We have managed to retrieve the ROM of a 8800 GT Mac, and then insert it into the PC card.
The detailed procedure is available in the following article:

http://www.macbidouille.com/articles/242/
Attention, this card will be compatible with the Mac Pro Rev. 2, just like the original.

[translation by jeremy]

- A 500GB 2,5'' disk - Lionel - 10:03:49

Fujitsu recently resumed ownership of the biggest 2.5" drive by announcing a capacity of 500 GB. Available in May, unfortunately it cannot be put into Mac portables since it is too thick (12.5 mm). However, we can use it as an external drive where it will the perfect companion for a MacBook Air, for example.

[translation by jeremy]