Apple has been rumored to release an updated line of MacBooks, most notably the new MacBook Pro, which is expected to take on the thin design of the MacBook Air. On Monday, Chinese forum Weiphone released an image of what appeared to be a specs sticker on the back of a 13.3 inch MacBook Pro box. The image revealed only minor additions to the MacBook Pro line, such as the new 2.5GHz Ivy Bridge processor as well as the new Intel HD Graphics 4000 GPU. The specs also reveal that Apple is adding USB 3.0 for faster charging and data transfers as well as Bluetooth 4.0.

Although there were rumors that the MacBook Pro would be receiving the popular Retina Display, it appears that it will remain at the same 1280×800 resolution. Hard Drive and SuperDrive remain unchanged as well. It is likely that Apple is adding features very slowly so as not to cause any major changes to the operation of the battery in the Macbook. Adding a Retina Display could lower the battery life drastically, as would the addition of more RAM, and a faster HardDrive or SuperDrive.

The authenticity of the image remains unknown, although WWDC 2012 could bring hardware releases alongside a suite of software offerings, such as iOS 6 and perhaps another preview of OS X Mountain Lion. It is unclear if Apple will still be introducing a thinner 17 inch model, as the image only specifies the 13.3 inch model, but remains unknown until final announcement by Apple.

{via MacRumors}

On Monday, a report from Bloomberg suggested that Apple is expected to release a thinner Macbook Pro at this year’s upcoming WWDC 2012. Rumors that Apple would be discontinuing the 17” Macbook Pro and introducing a thinner model have been on the web for quite some time, but no credible sources have produced any solid information as to when the public would see the new Macbooks.

According to the report, the new thinner models of the Macbook Pro would be adopting a number of features from the current Macbook Air, including the flash storage in order to give it a faster startup time and help to extend the battery life. The Macbook Pro line has not had a redesign since 2008, but has received upgraded internals, including the new i5 and i7 chips from Intel.

Bloomberg also mentioned that Apple may announce the release date for the latest OS X Mountain Lion that the company issued a developer preview of earlier this year. Apple has focused its attention on making its products as portable as possible, first with the iPhone, followed by the iPad, and did the same with the Mac starting with the Macbook Air. Apple’s WWDC conference, when the thinner Macbook Pro is expected to be announced is going to be held from June 11-15 in San Francisco.

{via MacRumors}

A recent report from ElectricPig claimed that according to a Mac accessory manufacturer Apple Inc. (AAPL) could release a new 15 inch Macbook Air as early as this April.

And what is coming? If you take our source’s word for it, a 15-inch MacBook Air with ports on both sides, no optical drive and no ethernet cable.

While our source wasn’t certain that this would completely destroy the Pro (he also stated that Apple might hold on to the 17-inch model, which would make sense for the sizeable audience of professional editors out there), he was fairly sure that the shakeup will happen in April. To that end, our source’s company’s got its manufacturers on standby to be able to make and ship a new product lineup inside of 90 days.

The source has been rumored to be involved in MacBook Air docking solutions. Rumors about a new MacBook Air model have been around for quite some time. AAPL is also expected to update the processor inside the MacBook Air with the new Ivy Bridge processors. 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro models are expected to shed some weight and thickness and feature the same thin-form factor of the MacBook Air.

Chip availability has been a reason for concern with the MacBooks shipping on time, with Apple unable to finalize their line until Intel provides the new Ivy Bridge platform. It is also unclear as to whether Apple will run traditional mobile chips as found in the current MacBook Pro or ultra low power chip.

If Apple releases a 15 inch Macbook Air in April, the Cupertino company could be looking at boost in sales. The design of Apple’s MacBook line up has stayed virtually unchanged for the past two generations, aside from a minor update to include the Thunderbolt port.

A civil suit against Google, Apple, and many other tech giants originally introduced more than 5 years ago, may continue to further processing. U.S District Judge has ruled that the case has grounds to continue because “they still have an antitrust claim” according to Bloomberg.

[Judge] Koh didn’t take issue with the allegations about the agreements between individual companies, Joseph Saveri, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in an interview after the hearing. Instead, Koh has questions about “how it ties together,” or claims of an over-arching conspiracy between all the companies, he said.

The five year old case, according to the lawsuit, emerged and is still running strong on the grounds that “no solicitation” agreements appeared in 2005 between Apple, Adobe, Google, Intel, Intuit, Lucasfilm, and Pixar. These agreements prevented companies from contacting employees at other companies in order to steal or “poach” that particular employee for their own company’s benefit.

However, the agreement still allows employees to apply for other positions on their own. The Justice Department investigated the agreements in 2010 and eventually came to an agreement, with companies assuring that none of the company’s would enter into a no-solicitation agreements for five years. This new civil-suit is a class-action civil suit filed by employees who suggested that they were harmed by anti-competitive actions of defendant companies.

There are no dates or times as to when the case will resume in court or when action will be taken against the companies, however, this case brings to light the risks of tech giants attempting to poach employees.

{via Mac Rumors}

A teardown of Apple’s Thunderbolt cable from iFixIt revealed why Apple placed a hefty pricetag of $50 on the cable. Usually, Apple’s cables range anywhere from $19 to $29 and are on the cheaper end of price, but the latest creation, the Thunderbolt cable is much more than meets the eye.

A report published by  Arstechnica, noted that the Thunderbolt cable is a “smart” or “active” cable that contains circuitry and firmware, hence the large sum required to purchase it. iFixIt’s tear down found two Gennum GN2033 chips in the connector, one on each side. Other support chips and resistors were also found for total of 12 chips and many smaller electronic components.

All of these expensive components are required in order for the cable to operate with the high speed that it is built for and ultimately may be the obstacle in the way for widespread Thunderbolt adoption. Gennum’s chip was tested and is described to be a transceiver that allows “reliable data transfer at cutting-edge speeds over low cost, thin-gauge copper cables.”

The Thunderbolt drive shows an 11x improvement over the FireWire 800 and is much more reliable and easily adoptable than other types of drives. The active, or “Smart” cabling in the current Thunderbolt ports found in the iMac and Macbook Pros show that it will be compatible with future Thunderbolt cables.

…the port you’ll find in new MacBook Pros and storage devices can actually take an optical cable when those are cost-effective enough to roll out, because Intel will eventually bake the optical transceivers into the cables themselves.

Intel plans to upgrade to optical cabling in the future and converge older ports and cables to work as one. Apple’s Thunderbolt technology, produced with the help of Intel has the ability to become the next major standard of data transfer cables and could be widely adopted by this time next year.

Currently, the iMac and Macbook Pros are the only hardware in Apple’s lineup to feature Thunderbolt technology. Apple has not yet revealed any future Thunderbolt plans for it’s computers, although it is likely that it will be integrated into the new white Macbook.

Do you think the Tunderbolt cable is worth $50? Have you already bought one? Sound off in the comments below!

Image Credit: Arstechnica

Apple on Tuesday released a Thunderbolt cable for faster data transfers and the latest addition to Apple’s online store will cost you $49. The Thunderbolt cable measures 2 meters and supports the next-generation data port found on Apple’s latest iMacs and MacBook Pros.

The cable can also be used in a Target Disk Mode between two Macs or to make a Thunderbolt-equipped iMac serve as a display for a new MacBook Pro or any other pieces of tech that you own that supports the latest technology in data transfer.

Apple also added a number of RAID systems to their store, ranging anywhere from $1500 to $2000. The systems are as follows:

• The least expensive option is the Promise Pegasus R4 with 4TB of data. It features four 1TB 7200-rpm drives delivering over 500MB/s of disk performance.
• For $1,499, the Pegasus R4 can be doubled to 8TB, operating at the same 500MB/s.
• For more speed, Apple offers the Promise Pegasus R6. It includes six 1TB 7200-rpm hard drives that deliver over 800MB/s of disk performance for $1,499.
• Finally, the R6 can also have twice the storage with the 12TB offering, priced at $1,999.

Thunderbolt was introduced with Apple’s new MacBook Pro model and was a jont project between Apple and Intel. Thunderbolt has the potential to be included into new USB, which has had a grim impact on technology (eg. USB 3.0). It could be used to sync iPhones, iPods, and iPads at faster speeds and could allow the iPad to connect to TVs faster through HDMI support.

Currently, Apple’s Thunderbolt cable and RAID systems are the only products supporting lighting fast transfers.

{via AppleInsider}

Intel created the Thunderbolt I/O technology that currently runs in Apple’s iMac and Macbook Pro lines. While Intel is credited for developing the technology, Apple filed did the trademark work for the  I/O name which created some confusion about who actually owned the trademark. According to a recent report published by Bright Side of the News, Intel now has full rights of the Thunderbolt trademark:

As part of our collaboration with Apple, they did some of the initial trademark filings.  Intel has full rights to the Thunderbolt trademark now and into the future. The Thunderbolt name will be used going forward on all platforms, irrespective of operating system.

Intel created the I/O technology capable of high-speed connectivity of up-to 100Gbps using optical cable and originally called it Light Peak. Apple later suggested Intel to replace the optical connection with copper and allow capability of 10 Watts of power, which eventually led to a name change to Thunderbolt I/O.

The high-speed data transfer technology was introduced earlier this year with Apple’s MacBook Pro notebooks and iMac all-in-one computers, and is will likely be made available in the Macbook Air as well as the Mac Mini.

The more interesting tidbit that has leaked out today though is that Apple may be partnering with AMD, and basing the silicon inside the Apple TV on their Fusion SoC.

Why is this interesting? Well up until now Apple have been tied to Intel for their desktop CPUs. But in the last few months Intel’s strategy of forcing Apple to use its GPUs instead of superior ones from NVIDIA or ATI (part of AMD) has undoubtedly stopped Apple releasing updates to its MacBook Air, and ruffled feathers inside the tech. company.

AMD make some pretty capable equivalents to Intel’s Desktop CPUs, as well as obviously allowing third party GPUs (like their own from ATI) to be part of a computer makers solutions.

It could be that Apple are giving AMD a try out on their Apple TV ‘hobby’, with a view to bigger things in the future…

The irony in all this is that Fusion is exactly the architecture design for CPU / GPU integrated silicon that Intel are forcing on their customers today. And similar to their not very mobile, super power hungry Atom processors.

The difference is that AMDs CPUs are significantly closer to Intels CPU in performance than Intel’s graphics cores are to anything AMD (ATI) or NVIDIA make.

Does the new Apple TV interest you? Let us know your feelings in the comments…