The MacBook is here and it's awesome

13.3" Wide screen at 1280 x 800 resolution. Glossy.

1.83 or 2.0 GHz Intel Core Duo processor

512MB memory (2x256MB SODIMMs)

60 or 80 GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive. Build to order up to 120GB.

Combo drive or Dual-layer SuperDrive (no SuperDrive in 15.4" MacBook Pro)

Full-size keyboard, Scrolling Trackpad, AirPort Extreme wireless networking (802.11b/g), Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, Gigabit Ethernet, two USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire port, and optical digital and analog audio in/out.

Built in iSight, FrontRow, iLife '06

MagSafe power connector and magnetic latch

Intel GMA 950 graphics with 64Mb of shared memory

2.0 GHz model available in Black or White. Need to spend $200 more for the black, but do get an 80 GB HD standard. You can get an 80GB drive in white for $50 more.

Starting at $1,099.00 USD. $1,299.00 for 2.0 (white) and $1,499.00 for 2.0 (black)

Up to 6 hours of Battery life with wireless fatures turned off. 3.5 with normal use.

Specs are almost identical to the MacBook Pros save the graphics and screen size. MacBook Pro is 0.4 lbs heavier and 0.8 inches thinner and obviously larger.

No Express Card expansion slot like the MacBook Pro

Already available at Apple Retail Stores and with ship times of 1-5 days via the online store.

How they compare to PCs.

I question the decision for the "glossy" display, which is now also a BTO option on the 15" and 17" MacBook Pros.

The 15" MacBook Pros also saw a speed bump, The1.83GHz model has been upgraded to 2.0GHz, and the 2.0GHz model is now 2.16GHz.

Also not thrilled about integrated graphics, although these model now support monitor spanning.

Another concern is the new "integrated" low profile keyboard. It looks great, but is built-in as part of the MacBook's enclosure. The means is you damage a key you might be needing a whole new bottom casing.

Hard drives are user replaceable with no cables. Just plug right in and easily accessed from under the battery which is also where you install memory.

The "Zen" Lawsuit

Creative Technology has files suit against Apple and has requested an injunction and damages

They allege that Apple has infringed upon patents they have related to their Zen line of MP3 players

The patent is for an invention that "provides an efficient user interface for a small portable music player." and was issued to Creative on August 9, 2005.

They also filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission and claim that Apple violated a tariff act by importing IPods and iPod Nanos that infringe on their patent.

I guess if you can't beat 'em, sue 'em.

Some flaws still exist after Security update

Tom Ferris, the independent security researcher who identified several flaws in OS X, Safari and QuickTime says Apple fixed most but not all of the issues he identified previously.

Flaws still exist in Safari, QuickTime and iTunes. He says he will give Apple a week to respond to him before he goes public with the info on his web site.

www.security-protocols.com

He claims he wants to give Mac users the information so they can "mitigate" the issues until Apple releases a fix.

He also claims to have already discover variants to some of the issues that were corrected in the last update. He will provide Apple with that info as well

Now there is no iPhone

SoftBank released a statement Monday saying they are not working with Apple on an iPod phone

The claim the initial reports of their CIOs statements were not true and simply "guess work".

iLife '06 Apps Updated

iDVD 6.02, which addresses issues with burning some 16:9 projects and improves overall stability

iWeb 1.1, which adds comment and search support for blogs and podcasts. Addresses a variety of usability and performance issues and offers image management fixes to improve site load performance.

iPhoto 6.03, fixes issues with Photocasting of Smart Albums, sharing iPhoto libraries, and creating calendars and books as well as a number of other minor issues.

iMovie HD 6.03, addresses issues with PAL audio and displaying iLife Sound Effects automatically in its iLife Media Browser. It also improves overall stability and address a number of other minor issues.

New Intel Mac Firmware

Apple today posted new firmware for Intel-based Macs, iMac Core Duo, MacBook Pro and Mac Mini. The SMC Firmware Update addresses intermittent boot issues.

Why a GB is not a GB

Listener Scott wants to know why his 60GB hard disk is only 55.77 GB in the Finder.

The hard drive industry uses the decimal definition of of a kilobyte 1 Kb = 1,000 Bytes, while the computer industry use the binary definition 1 Kb = 1024 bytes

There is also reserved space used for file system and partition
accounting information. Which is why CDs and DVD don't have their full space available for your data.

Select BootCamp volume with your remote

To select your Mac boot drive with the Apple Remote press the remotes “Menu” button just after you hear the startup chime of your Mac.

When the startup drive selections appear use the “forward/backward” buttons to select the corresponding volume and then press “play” to boot from that volume.

Keyboard not responsive in XP under Bootcamp

Play comment from Nick

It appears that the problem is related to the 'AppleCDEject' process, which watches for the proprietary Apple eject key to be pressed. Launching the Windows Process Manager and killing the process by that name as soon as Windows starts up will usually prevent the keyboard from becoming unrecognized.

The 64-bit question. Has Apple moved backward

Listener Hetoreyn was wondering if the G5 Power PC chips 64 are bit? And if so isn't the move to 32-bit Intel a step back

64-bit allows access to larger memory chunks and handling of larger file sizes. Most 32-bit were limited to 2 GB (but actually up to 4GB). 64-bit allows up to expands that limit up to 16 exabytes, although current G5s that a limit of 16 GB.

OS and software must be rewritten to take advantage of 64-bit addressing

In general the advantages of 64-bit are when dealing with large files and processor intensive tasks like handling large graphics files, video and
audio encoding, etc.

What applications have VoiceOver support

Hank, a blind PC user, wants a MAc and GarageBand, but wondered about VO support.

I know apps like Mail, Safari, Preview, TextEdit and Terminal have VO support.

My Interview on Mac Tips Daily

Here is my interview with Jonathan at Mac Tips Daily

Mac Tips Daily