As we announced couple of days ago, NVidia unveiled a new chipset derived from the GeForce 9400M and dedicated to Intel ATOM CPU. This product should be named “ion” and NVidia already presented impressive design references:
Despite its small size, the motherboard will include:
It will support single and dual core ATOM CPU, and the GeForce chipset will be able to manage all outputs, while providing video streaming hardware decoding.
If the ATOM CPU might be a bit limited to power a Mac mini, we would not be surprised if Apple would use this architecture for the new Apple TV, boosting performance while reducing the volume of the hardware (and manufacturing cost). This reference motherboard might also be used in a ATOM-powered ultra portable MacBook…
From the day we learned that the new SuperDrive in the new MacBook Pro was in SATA format, we started looking for a solution to replace it by a second HD. After looking on the web, and thanks to the help of our partners, we have finally collected the information and tools for such goal; let’s call it “bidouille”. Let’s first thank
Macway that designed a on-demand adaptor for running our preliminary test,
Pearl who directly imported the final adaptor from Germany,
DegriffMac for providing a SuperDrive enclosure, and
Dane Elec for giving us access to the famous Intel SSD X25-M, the fastest SSD currently on the market.
Back to the bidouille: we wanted to set a reversible procedure to install a second HD, but also make it easy to re-install the optical drive in case the notebook needs to be sent back to Apple for repair. So, we decided to install the second HD (here a SSD), in an empty SuperDrive enclosure that needs to be 9.5mm thick.
We then installed the HD and the modified controller:
The SDD is glued to the enclosure by a double-sided tape. Only one SSD can fit in the enclosure despite being 2 mm thinner than a standard 2.5” HD. It was just enough free space for installing wires and cables:
Hereafter is the SuperDrive enclosure containing the SDD once entire closed and ready to be installed in the MacBook Pro.
Once rebooted, the MBP directly recognized the Intel SSD, and we then formatted it, installed a system on it and rebooted from it. We immediately noticed the performance gain even compared with the original Apple SSD, most likely due to the management of NCQ. We will come back with additional details and a step by step procedure to perform such installation, as well as the way we tested the Intel SSD.
Toshiba announced its plan to launch a new series of SSD for Q2 2009. All models will be in 2.5” format with record storage capacity of 512 GB, while 1.8” models will top at 256 GB (compatible wit hthe MacBook Air).
Featuring a new improved controller, the performance levels are dramatically increased to 240 MB/s and 200 MB/s in reading and writing mode respectively.
Prices of such new high-end SSD are not known yet, but depending on competitors’ offers it might quickly go down.
Even if the vast majority of the 2,5" hard drives are 9,5 mm thick, there are models that are 12,5 mm thick. These are primarily disks of large capacity that, from time to time, certain manufacturers produce in order to offer a disk larger than the competitors.
It was impossible to install them in the majority of the Apple portables, however now it will be possible in the MacBook and MacBook Pro unibodies. The only real interest is that it will no longer be necessary to raise the question about the thickness of a disk before buying it to install in one of these machines.
On the other hand, the Superdrive remains at 9,5 mm and this limits the options of change in the case where, one day, you would like to fit a compatible Blu-ray drive.
The state of New York that has a big hole in its budget has decided to raise many taxes in order to make up its deficit. Among these taxes there is one that has already the nickname "the iPod Tax".
It concerns the sale of music and videos online, which will certainly not please Apple.
Note that are on the whole 88 new taxes which will affect the inhabitants of this state.
