Cody Fink

1547 posts on MacStories since January 2010

Former MacStories contributor.

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The 4th Generation iPad Brings iPad Up to Date with Lightning Connector, Faster A6X Processor

Before the Phil Schiller introduced the brand new iPad mini, he surprised the audience in attendance with the introduction of Apple’s 4th generation iPad during today’s Special Event.

The 4th generation iPad comes in the same chassis as the 3rd generation iPad. It’s been updated with Apple’s new dual-core A6X processor with quad-core graphics, which offers performance that’s twice as fast as the previous generation model. The camera has been updated to a FaceTime HD camera, able to record 720p video and snap 1.2 MB photographs. A Lightning connector has also replaced the old dock connector.

It’s an incremental update that’s big on performance, but not so substantial that purchasers of the 3rd generation iPad should feel the need to upgrade. The launch of the 4th generation iPad is a simple revision to the existing model that neither reduces weight or thickness. It does, however, possibly change Apple’s release cycle by placing the iPad ahead of the holiday shopping season instead of after it. The updated iPad also brings it up to date with Apple’s most current technologies, such as Apple’s new Lightning connector that was introduced with the iPhone 5.

As a buyer’s note, Apple hasn’t replaced the iPad 2 with the 3rd generation iPad. Instead, the iPad 2 remains for sale, while the 4th generation iPad simply succeeds the 3rd generation. If you want a new iPad, you’re still choosing between a model that has a Retina display and doesn’t.

For more coverage, check out our October 23 news hub and follow @macstoriesnet on Twitter.

Apple Announces All New iMacs with an Amazingly Thin Design

During this afternoon’s Apple Special Event at the California Theater in San Jose, California, Phil Schiller announced the availability of all new, incredibly thin iMacs, starting at $1299 for the 21.5-inch base model, and $1799 for the 27-inch base model.

The new iMacs have been completely rebuilt from the ground up. The new iMacs have an edge that’s astoundingly only 5 mm thin, is 40% less in volume, and weighs 80% less than the previous generation models. In engineering the new iMac, Apple uses a proces called friction-stir welding (the same process used to manufacture aircraft wings) to join two pieces of aluminum together to create such a thin enclosure. Apple removed the 2mm air gap between LCD panel and the glass in process called full lamination, making the display 45% thinner. The new display is manufactured with a new technology called the “plasma deposition process,” resulting in 75% less reflection and more accurate colors. On the manufacturing line, each iMac display is calibrated with a spectroradiometer to meet color standards. As done with the MacBook Pros with Retina display, Apple has removed the optical bay from the iMac. Thanks to Apple’s new manufacturing processes, the new iMac’s display uses 50% less power, and the iMac itself meets lower power requirements set by the EPA.

The iMac comes in two sizes; a 21.5-inch model comes with a 1920-by-1080 display, and a 27-inch model comes with a 2560-by-1440 display. Both iMacs have a FaceTime HD camera (720p), dual microphones, left and right speakers, two Thunderbolt ports, four USB 3 ports, a gigabit ethernet port, Intel Core i5 Ivy Bridge processors, up to 3 TB of storage, up to 768 GB of flash storage, and up to 32 GB of memory.

A new option for the 27-inch iMac is Apple’s new Fusion Drive, which combines a 128 GB flash drive with a 1 TB or greater hard drive, creating a fused single volume that Mountain Lion automatically manages for you. OS X is able to figure out which applications and documents you use the most, and automatically move them to flash storage for faster access. Boot time is faster, and for applications like Aperture, Apple’s Fusion Drive is almost as fast as flash storage.

The 21.5-inch iMac will be available next month starting at $1299 with a 2.7 GHz Intel Core i5 quad-core processor, 8 GB of memory, a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 640M for graphics and video, and a 1 TB hard drive for storage. A second configuration at $1499 bumps up the specs to a 2.9 GHz Intel Core i5 quad-core processor and swaps in a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650M.

The 27-inch iMac will be available in December starting at $1799 with a 2.9 GHz Intel Core i5 quad-core processor, 8 GB of memory, GeForce GTX 660M for graphics and video, and a 1 TB hard drive for storage. A final configuration at $1999 updates the specs to a 3.2 GHz Intel Core-i5 quad-core processor and swaps in a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX with 1 GB of GDDR5 memory.

As a purchasing note, the 21.5-inch model iMac does not have upgradable memory — the amount of memory chosen at purchase is set. The 27-inch model can be upgraded later with up to 32 GB of memory. (Hat tip MacRumors.)

For more coverage, check out our October 23 news hub and follow @macstoriesnet on Twitter.

Updated at 3:18pm with more information on engineering, model options and pricing.

Apple Announces Updated Mac Minis at their October Event

During this afternoon’s Apple Special Event at the California Theater in San Jose, California, Phil Schiller announced the availability of an updated Mac Mini, starting at $599 for the base model.

The updated Mac Mini comes in multiple configurations for desktop and server. The base configuration features a 2.5 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 4 GB of memory, and a 500 GB hard drive for storage. A second configuration for $799 comes with a 2.3 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, 4 GB of memory, and a 1 TB hard drive for strorage. An updated Mac Mini with OS X Server is also available for $999, which includes a 2.3 GHz quad-core processor, 4 GB of memory, and two 1 TB hard drives(and is preloaded with OS X Server). The Mac Minis can be optionally configured with a 2.6 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, 16 GB of memory, a 256 GB solid-state drive or a 1 TB fusion drive. The Mac Mini with OS X Server can be additionally configured with two 256 GB solid-state drives.

Inside the chassis you’ll find Intel HD Graphics 4000 for graphics and video. All Mac Minis have a Thunderbolt port with support for monitors up to 2560-by-1600 resolution, an HDMI port with support for up to 1920-by-1200 resolution, a Firewire 800 port, four USB 3 ports, an SDXC port, an audio line in minijack, and an audio line out/headphone minijack. For networking and wireless peripheral connections, 802.11n and Bluetooth 4.0 are also available.

Image credit: The Verge

For more coverage, check out our October 23 news hub and follow @macstoriesnet on Twitter.

Updated at 2:42 pm with additional model and pricing information. Corrected Mac Mini with OS X Server storage information.

Apple Announces the New 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display

During this afternoon’s Apple Special Event at the California Theater in San Jose, California, Phil Schiller announced the availability of the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display, starting at $1699 for the base model.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display features a 13.3-inch LED-backlit IPS display supporting a 2560-by-1600 (Retina) resolution (the world’s second highest resolution notebook computer), is lighter at 3.57 pounds (a pound lighter and now Apple’s lightest MacBook Pro), and is thinner in profile at 0.75 inch high (20% thinner than the previous generation). Connections include a Magsafe 2 power port, two Thunderbolt ports (10 Gbps), two USB 3 ports, a HDMI port, a SD card reader, a headphone port, a FaceTime HD camera (720p), and dual microphones. Inside the chassis, Apple starts their base model with an Intel Core i5 dual-core processor, 8 GB of onboard memory, and 128 GB of flash storage. Integrated Intel 4000 graphics is also present for graphics and video. For networking and wireless peripheral connections, Apple’s latest models support 802.11n and Bluetooth 4.0. As with its 15-inch sibling, the new 13-inch model nixes the optical bay (Apple USB SuperDrives can be purchased separately to read, rip, and burn CDs and DVDs).

Configurable up to a dual-core Intel Core i7 processor and 768 GB of flash storage (8 GB is the maximum amount of memory offered by Apple), the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display is offered in two models:

• $1699 for a 2.5 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of onboard memory, and 128 GB flash storage.
• $1999 for a 2.9 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of onboard memory, and 256 GB flash storage.

For more coverage, check out our October 23 news hub and follow @macstoriesnet on Twitter.

Updated at 2:27 pm with additional pricing and model information.

Apple’s Hire of William Stasior May Be for More than Just Search→

Earlier this afternoon, AllThingsD’s Kara Swisher reported that Apple has hired Amazon executive William Stasior, who was in charge of Amazon’s A9, which focuses on product and visual search technologies. Swisher reports that Stasior will be working with the Siri team in his new position at Apple.

What’s more intriguing is what else Stasior might find himself working on — presumably, strengthening Apple’s search and search advertising technology in the wake of its increasing competition with Google.

“Apple’s search and search advertising technology” covers a broad swath of search that could be… well anything. If I was to take a stab at what Apple might specifically want Stasior for, I’d look at one of the products A9 ended up introducing on the App Store. Flow Powered by Amazon is a visual search app that attempts to visually recognize and display relevant information about books, music, video games, and more by simply pointing your smartphone’s camera at the cover or UPC barcode. The app allows people to bring up product details and customer ratings by identifying the product’s packaging (it’s in the same vein as Google Goggles).

Siri would be well suited as not just a voice assistant, but as a visual assistant. Given Apple’s recent foray into books, magazines, and textbooks, using Siri to scan and subscribe to a magazine through your iPhone, get more information on a paperback, or find more novels by an author could be a possibility. I could see Apple offering album ratings for music from iTunes, or displaying rental fees when you scan the cover of a Blu-ray boxset. A9 also powers CloudSearch and Product Search at Amazon — I don’t see the hire being related to search advertising, but rather for product search as it applies to Apple’s digital ecosystems.

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Apple Announces Q4 2012 Conference Call for October 25

Quarter 4 2012 Banner

Quarter 4 2012 Banner

Apple’s fourth quarter earnings report and conference call will take place on October 25th, 2012, according to an Investor Relations update on Apple’s website. At the time of the event, Apple will broadcast the call online.

Apple plans to conduct a conference call to discuss financial results of its fourth fiscal quarter on Thursday, October 25, 2012 at 2:00 p.m. PT / 5:00 p.m. ET.

For the third quarter, ending on July 24th, Apple earned $35 billion in revenue, a net profit of $8.8 billion, with earnings of $9.32 per diluted share. Comparatively, the year ago quarter for Apple’s Q4 2011 conference call brought Apple revenue of $24.98 billion, a net profit of $6.62 million, and earnings of $7.02 per diluted share. For this fiscal quarter, Apple expects revenue of $34 billion and diluted earnings per share of $7.65.

The iPhone 5 was a significant launch this quarter, with over 5 million units sold during the first three days of sale, which does not include the iPhone 5’s launch in 22 additional countries a week later (and 100 more countries by the end of the year). As was the case with the iPhone 4S for Q1 2012, the iPhone 5’s complete sales numbers should be available at the end of the first fiscal quarter for 2013. While the iPhone 5 should prove to be immensely popular, iPod sales will be worth paying attention to as well thanks to refreshed iPod nanos and iPod touches.

We will provide live updates from the conference call on our site’s homepage on October 25th starting at 2 PM PT.

Where Great Animations Make All the Difference→

Where Great Animations Make All the Difference

Ben Johnson of Raizlabs writes,

Animations can make a world of difference in the user experience of a mobile app. Most of the time, we don’t even notice these animations in the same way that we rarely notice the environmental sound effects (by foley artists) that are added to most motion pictures. It is important when building mobile apps to remember that animations can be a powerful tool and can often do more for a user’s experience than the interfaces they inhabit. They Inform, Enable, Welcome, and Delight us. Below are a few examples (from iOS) of great animations that fit into these four categories.

It seems obvious right? The classic instance of where animations can make all the difference could be something as simple as loading a specific splash screen before the content loads so that apps, to the user, appear as if they’re loading quickly (less of a problem nowadays). Today, with gesture driven interfaces being the norm on mobile devices, animations can guide the user through the interface or help them find their way back home. In cases like Mail, animations verify that an action took place (yes — your email was deleted). Ben goes through several examples from lots of popular apps that get it right. It’s also good for pointing out some of the more recent design trends (such as how navigation is revealed in Facebook).

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Some Brief Thoughts on Apple’s New EarPods

Apple's EarPods in their packaging

Apple’s EarPods in their packaging

They’re the most comfortable pair of earbuds I’ve owned. I feel like the EarPods were shaped just for my ears. The buttons on the remote are fatter and have a satisfying click. There’s some bass where there really wasn’t any before. Mids and highs sound balanced, even if detail found in more expensive in-ear headphones is lacking. Comparatively to Apple’s old buds they’re much better. Personally I think they look sharp — it’s like having two tiny spaceships dock with your aural receptors.

The EarPods’ design gives it a unique benefit over traditional earbuds: they block more outside noise and are similar to in-ear headphones in this manner, which provide complete noise isolation by the means of fitted plugs. My ears are small, and I’ve had consistently bad luck with in-ear headphones, the smallest plugs always being too large and uncomfortable. Plus, I’m not one who sits still — noise from brushing the headphone cable bothers me. With the exception of maybe the old stocky earbuds that came with the iPod video, Apple’s earbuds have been the most comfortable for me. The new EarPods don’t leave my ears sore after a few hours of wearing them while writing, doing chores, or whatever. A good in-ear pair of headphones (even a pair of $99 Shures from Best Buy) will likely be much more impressive sounding for discerning music lovers, but I’ll take comfort over the omg-my-ears-feel-stuffed-and-my-head-is-going-to-split-open feeling. Everyone’s ears are different (e.g. they fit loosely in Gabe’s ears.)

I’m not a fan of how Apple wraps their cable at the plug and (now at) each stem of the EarPods. The small gray sleeve wrapping around the rubber cable still feels thin and will eventually tear as they have with all my older Apple earbuds, whereas the latest Apple Dock Connector to USB Cables have thick textured end sleeves that feel tough and durable.

Apple’s EarPods are convenient, add extra thump to bass and drums in your music, and come bundled with a new iPhone 5, iPod touch, or iPod nano. Are they worth $29 by themselves? When my current pair wears out or if I lose them, I’ll buy a new pair (I haven’t worn anything else that’s as comfortable). Although you should probably listen to the technology savants from The Wirecutter if you want to save some money or equip yourself with better sounding buds. My choice simply comes down to comfort and having headphones for when I’m traveling, need my hands free during a private call, and for when I need to tune out or not disturb someone else from something.

Windows Users Get the Bare Minimum for iCloud→

Windows Users Get the Bare Minimum for iCloud

Andrew Cunningham for Ars Technica:

iCloud for Windows remains an effort aimed mostly at iOS users who also have Windows PCs. Between the new Control Panel and iCloud.com, it’s possible for these people to keep their mail, calendars, contacts, reminders, notes, and iWork documents accessible, but it works less well alongside Macs, especially since neither the Windows control panel nor the Web portal allow you to access documents and data created in applications that aren’t Pages, Numbers, or Keynote.

Despite having a Windows box, iCloud has never been something I wanted to use on it. Just as Apple maintains iTunes for Windows, they maintain some semblance of support for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch customers by giving Windows users a basic iCloud implementation that, at least in style, mirrors the iCloud pane in System Preferences.

Obviously you can’t open a document with a .pages extension in Windows, but there weird restrictions with e-mail, calendars, and tasks for example, which requires Outlook 2007 or 2010. Syncing bookmarks still requires Internet Explorer. With iCloud data being buried in iCloud > Storage & Backup > Manage Store in the iOS Settings app, there’s really no need for home (i.e. not enterprise) Windows users to even consider installing iCloud onto their Windows machines unless Calendar and e-mail syncing is a must. Even your iOS device can be backed up to iCloud, obviating the need for iTunes unless you have slow upstream bandwidth with your home Internet connection.

Although… As everything on iOS is mirrored into Photo Stream as of iOS 5, Windows users can take advantage of one fringe benefit — Photo Stream photos can be dumped into any folder of your choice, making Dropbox a suitable location if you’d like to have your photos on all of your devices. (Mac users wanting to move photos from iPhoto to Dropbox may want to check out Federico’s guide.)

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