News - Apple

As with any Apple event, there's plenty of rumor and speculation to go around. The lead-up to Tuesday's event in which "the spotlight turns to notebooks," according to the event invitation, has been no different.

The Mac maker has invited journalists down to its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters to get a look at its new round of notebooks Tuesday morning. But what exactly Apple CEO Steve Jobs will unveil is anyone's guess.

We have a few clues in the form of purported "spy shots," or leaked photos, of the redesigned notebooks that have made the rounds on blogs, but of course those should be regarded with skepticism. Still, the consensus is that we'll see a major redesign to the MacBook lineup which is more than 2 years old.

There could be some interesting interior changes too. On Sunday, a new round of rumors cropped up that Apple may be switching to Nvidia's graphics chipset, while maintaining Intel CPUs.

It's been rumored for months that the lower-end MacBook will take on aluminum casing, which would make sense since it's already used for the MacBook Pro, but we could also see a move to LED (light-emitting diode) backlighting as Apple has already has done with the MacBook Air.

Both new chipsets and new casing could increase the cost of building the MacBook and MacBook Pro. But on the other end of the spectrum, Apple might be showing off a lower-priced option, too.

There has been a lot of chatter lately that Apple will offer a notebook for $800. The prevailing opinion is that it would be a completely new model, not a price-reduction to a current product--possibly an under-featured version of the current MacBook model, sans the optical drive or less RAM, smaller hard drive, and fewer ports while retaining the look of the current MacBook as well. But it's just a guess. That price tag, though, would put Apple in the same price range as a wide variety of notebooks from every other major PC maker.

Though we're clearly in the midst of an economic meltdown, it would be odd timing for a company that has never felt the need to compete on price with the likes of Dell and Hewlett-Packard, a practice that arguably hasn't been hurting Apple.

Apple's prices on the MacBook, for which it charges $1,099 for the current base model, aren't drastically different than similarly featured notebooks from Dell (like the XPS 1330 series) or HP (like the Pavilion dv3500t series), though market leaders Dell and HP have traditionally offered more customizable options than Apple, and often for cheaper. For example, HP charges $75 to upgrade 4GB of memory from 2GB. Apple charges $200.

Steadily gaining market share
Despite that, Apple has continued to outgrow those two in sales. It increased sales by 38 percent in the U.S. during the second quarter of this year, compared with U.S. leader Dell's 11.5 percent growth, and HP's 6 percent, according to IDC.

And while Apple still lags far behind those two in market share, it's steadily making gains.

For those reasons, a cheaper notebook at this point doesn't make a whole lot of sense, since people have clearly been willing to shell out for Apple's current notebook lineup at $1,099 and up.

At the same time, there is a precedent here for Apple offering a lower-end, less-expensive alternative model in a product category. Take the iPod. Apple started with the first iPod in 2001 at $399 for 5GB; the company then expanded the line to include the 4GB iPod Mini three years later at $250; then in 2005 a $199 2GB Nano came along, as well as the $79 Shuffle.

The company knows what it's doing when it comes to filling in those price gaps, said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at NPD Group.

"They have the experience of how to manage that and do it in a sort of competitive market," said Baker. But he still questions the timing. "Eventually they have to (offer a lower-end model notebook), but I don't see the evidence that they need to find new buyers now that aren't willing to spend over $1,000."

If Apple did decide to make a notebook for less than $1,000 for the first time, it would be a bigger deal for the company itself than for the market. The rest of the industry made the leap over a year ago, many already selling 15-inch notebooks for around $500. So while something like this would definitely grab its competitors' attention, and could be a major motivating factor for people unsure about switching to a Mac to finally make the leap, it's not like buyers haven't already had the option of getting a sub-$1,000 nicely configured laptop elsewhere.

"If they do it, it will be interesting to hear why they're doing it," said Richard Shim, notebook and desktop analyst at IDC. "At the very least it's a no-lose situation (for Apple) from purely a market standpoint, from gaining share."

Despite the tanking economy, Apple's new MacBooks due to be unveiled Tuesday are creating some buzz (see Techmeme) and propping up Apple's stock price. The latest alleged pictures in the wild are of the new aluminum case (above) of the forthcoming systems posted on MacX.cn.

According to AppleInsider.com, the new higher end MacBook Pro will include a mini-DVI connector and a single FireWire 800 connector.

Overall the changes don't look major other than the shift to aluminum and the rumored substitution of Intel's chip set of Nvidia's graphics chip set, as reported by AppleInsider.

An investigation by Apple shows some MacBook Pros may have faulty Nvidia graphics processors after all, despite Nvidia's earlier assurances to the contrary, the computer maker has announced.

Apple said it will repair at no charge MacBook Pros where the Nvidia GPU has failed, or fails within two years from the purchase date. Problem signs include distorted or scrambled video, or no video on the screen though the computer is turned on. Models that might be affected are 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pros with Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT graphics processors. The computers were made between May 2007 and September 2008.

Apple says some models of MacBook Pros may be affected by an Nvidia graphics chip glitch.

(Credit: Apple )

This past summer, Nvidia acknowledged that a packaging defect had led to a graphics chip problem that affected some notebook computers, including those made by Dell and Hewlett-Packard. The chipmaker said in July it was taking a one-time charge of $150 million to $200 million to cover expenses relating to the glitch.

In a post about the problem, Apple said that back in July "Nvidia assured Apple that Mac computers with these graphics processors were not affected." But the computer maker's own investigation showed some models might be affected.

Nvidia's director of PR and events, Derek Perez, told MacWorld on Friday the company "has worked diligently with Apple." According to Perez:

"Our analysis shows that a failure in an Apple MacBook Pro notebook is remote. However, Apple, like other OEMs, decides on their own how to handle their warranty and repair programs, based upon their own quality standards. Regardless, we stand by our products, thus the reason why we set aside such a large reserve, and we have and will continue to work closely with Apple and their customers."

Apple and eBay were two notable stocks to swim against the tide Friday, staying in positive territory throughout the mid-morning through the market's close. Meanwhile investors watched the Dow Jones Industrial Average take one of its most harrowing rides ever.

As the Dow whiplashed investors with its swings that ranged more than 1,000 points during the day, Apple and eBay took investors on an upward path.

Apple intraday trading

(Credit: Yahoo Finance)

Apple closed up 9.08 percent from Thursday, ending the day at $96.80 a share. It gained most of its traction in the final hour of the trading session and was one of the most actively traded stocks on the Nasdaq.

eBay, meanwhile, initially struggled to stay in positive territory, but succeeded and ended the day up 4.82 percent to close at $16.73 a share. The online auction giant was also one of the most actively traded stocks on the Nasdaq.

eBay intraday trading

(Credit: Yahoo Finance)

The CNET Tech Index also ended up for the day, climbing 19.05 points, or 1.67 percent, to close at 1158.14. The tech-heavy Nasdaq squeaked by with a nominal gain of 4.39 points, or 0.27 percent, to end the day at 1,649.51.

For the Dow, after its wild ride, it closed down 128 points, or 1.49 percent, to 8,451.19.

Market watchers attributed the Dow's wild swings in the final hours of trading to a meeting of the Group of Seven nations (G7), which met in Washington to attempt to develop a solution to the credit crunch, according to a report in MarketWatch.

Dow Jones Industrial Average intraday trading

(Credit: Yahoo Finance)

The S&P 500 also closed down for the day, with a 10.70 point drop, or 1.18 percent, to 899.22.

(Credit: Susan Dove/ CNET News)

The official invite just popped up in our mailboxes for Apple's long-rumored October 14 press event in Cupertino, Calif. The big picture of a laptop and the headline, "The spotlight turns to notebooks," leaves us with a pretty clear idea of what Steve Jobs and company will be talking about. Not mentioned here is the most persistent rumor--that at least one of the new systems will hit a meltdown-friendly price of $800.

Here's the invite itself, for the curiosity seekers out there.

Apple's most cryptic invite ever...

Apple now has a patent for the Dock in Mac OS X, shown here in the controversial left position.

(Credit: Apple)

It took quite awhile, but Apple has finally received a patent on one of the most recognizable features of Mac OS X.

The Dock--the panel that holds launchers for Mac OS X applications--has been deemed patent-worthy by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Apple first applied for the patent in late 1999, and AppleInsider notes the concept itself dates back to Apple CEO Steve Jobs' work at NeXT Computing.

Since there's really not much else to note about this announcement, let's do a quick survey: right Dock? Left Dock? Center Dock? I'm a center Dock man myself, although I have flirted with the left side.

Teenagers like fun, and they continue to see Apple as the best source of music-related fun.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET News)

Apple continues to do well among some of the most fickle and influential consumers of technology: teenagers.

Piper Jaffray does a biannual survey on the purchasing habits of 769 teenagers as they related to devices like cell phones and music players, and released the results of the latest survey Tuesday. Not surprisingly, the market leader in portable digital music players is the market leader among high school students: 84 percent of those surveyed own an iPod, up from 82 percent last year.

The iPhone is also gaining ground, perhaps as a result of the new $199 entry fee to iPhoneland this year. Just 8 percent of teenagers surveyed own an iPhone, but that's up from 6 percent from the last survey in the spring of this year, before the iPhone 3G was released. And 22 percent of those surveyed said they planned on buying an iPhone in the next six months, while 33 percent said they wanted one.

However, as Larry Dignan notes over at ZDNet, those plans and wishes may be very much dependent on the health of their parents' wallet. Even at $199, the monthly fees associated with the iPhone--or really any data-enabled phone--might be considered a luxury in times of economic crisis.

What wasn't noted in the study was the mindshare of the Mac among the high school set. Macs are very popular with college students, but Piper did not release any data on how the Mac is doing among younger students.

Setting the iPhone to emergency call mode allows someone to see incoming text messages even if the passcode lock is turned on.

(Credit: Karl Kraft)

A 12-year-old who uses his iPhone mostly for texting with his girlfriend has discovered what looks like a new vulnerability with the device.

The unnamed boy, son of blogger Karl Kraft, turns on the passcode lock and disables SMS Preview in order to prevent his parents from seeing any messages, Kraft wrote on his blog.

Those settings block the display of incoming text messages and show an alert saying "New Text Message" if an SMS comes through while the phone is locked. However, if the phone is set to emergency call mode the incoming text messages are previewed.

"Thus all I need to do to intercept the messages from his girlfriend is to place the phone in emergency mode and wait 30 seconds for the next sickly sweet message," Kraft writes.

Apple representatives did not return e-mails seeking comment.

A different security hole related to password-protected iPhones was discovered in August, and last month a researcher disclosed that the iPhone captures all the activities of a user in order to enable the cool fading applications effect.

Getting at the iPhone 3G's battery is not as easy as a proposed directive from the E.U. might require.

(Credit: TechRepublic)

The European Union is considering a requirement that all cell phone batteries be easily replaceable, which might cause a problem for Apple's iPhone.

AppleInsider spotted that particular directive in an article in New Electronics, a U.K. trade publication, on the latest set of computer-industry regulations under consideration in Europe. The EU is thinking about enacting a new directive on batteries similar to its RoHS (Reduction of Hazardous Substances) directives from a few years back that forced the computer industry to eliminate harmful chemicals and/or materials from its manufacturing processes.

The "New Batteries Directive" would require manufacturers to make sure their batteries can be easily replaced, either by sliding off the cover or removing a couple of screws. The iPhone and iPod, of course, don't fit that mold; Apple requires owners to send their iPhones and iPods into the company to replace the battery, which is buried under the main circuit board.

It's not clear that the directive--which is very vaguely worded at present--would force drastic changes in the design of the iPhone. As AppleInsider notes, the idea behind the directive is to prevent batteries from ending up in landfills, and if Apple is able to show the E.U. that its battery replacement program prevents that result, that might meet the requirements of the directive.

Still, the proposed wording does require that cell phone batteries be designed in such a way as to be "readily removed," according to New Electronics. As these teardown photos from our friends at Tech Republic show, that's not the case with the iPhone.

Maybe iPhone users won't have to covet one of those shiny new features in Google's Android operating system after all: Google Maps Street View.

The driver's-eye view is a prominent part of the first Android phone, T-Mobile's G1, which goes on sale October 22. But according to Mac Rumors on Monday, Apple has snuck Street View into the iPhone 2.2 firmware beta release.

Other new features described in the report include the ability to disable the typing autocorrect feature and the inclusion of 461 small icons called Japanese emoji characters.

The iPhone 2.2 firmware beta release is not expected until later this month.