MacBook Pro Update Imminent?

I've been eagerly anticipating the release of a new MacBook Pro. In my opinion the Pro range is overdue a significant update, with the MacBook Air receiving most of the attention over the past few years.

We have already had a few false starts, but with the recent release of Intel's Ivy Bridge architecture and some interesting GeekBench scores appearing online, I think this could finally be it!

The GeekBench score shown below popped up online recently and appears to show an unreleased MacBookPro version (v9,1) running an Intel Core i7 3820QM (which happens to be an Ivy Bridge part), as well as an unreleased build of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. This leads me to believe that this is an internal test unit, which someone may have accidentally (on purposes) uploaded GeekBench scores for.

So what else can we tell from the GeekBench scores? Unfortunately not a lot. We know that the i7 3820QM is a 45-watt chip and therefore would likely be positioned for a 15" or 17" model. We can also see that it has 8GB RAM, which is a great starting point. What we can't tell is if this version includes a new form factor, integrated Apple SSD or a Retina Display, therefore there is still plenty for Apple to announce.

It should also be noted that GeekBench scores have also appeared for an unreleased version of the iMac, which I would expect to get a similar Ivy Bridge update.

Based on the fact that we are less than one month away from WWDC (11th June), I now predict that the new MacBook Pro and iMac will be announced during the keynote, alongside an updated version of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion and a sneak peak of iOS 6.0. If this turns out to be true, WWDC is gearing up to be an impressive event!

OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion - DP3

Today Apple released OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion - Developer Preview 3 (wow, that's a mouthful). It's available now to all Mac developers and like previous builds is downloaded through the Mac App Store (using a Redeem Code).

As reported by MacRumors, there is still a long list of known bugs:

• On systems with FileVault enabled, canceling the restart to the Mountain Lion Developer Preview 3 Installer may leave your system unable to present a password dialog at boot time. You can repair the problem by holding down command-R to boot to the Recovery OS and then using Disk Utility to unlock and Repair your volume. 
• Installing OS X 10.8 over 10.7.2 or earlier with FileVault turned on may fail.
• Pre-Lion FileVault user accounts are not supported in this Developer Preview.
• Some Apple menu items such as Restart may not work when a sandboxed app is in the foreground.
• iTunes no longer syncs Notes.
• Mail's photo browser cannot access the iPhoto library.
• Back to My Mac doesn't work for the first 5 minutes after rebooting.
• DVD Player may not launch after inserting a DVD on some systems.
• Most help topics are unavailable in this Developer Preview.
• Migration from a Time Machine backup that excludes "System" may yield an unusable system.
• Brightness settings may change unexpectedly after reboot.
• Display brightness may be dim after sleep or reboot.
• If Mail is hidden at logout time, it may not be correctly relaunched during a subsequent login but will appear to be running.
• Java applets may not work in Safari.
• QuickTime screen recordings may produce corrupted videos or cause an exception when run on machines with NVIDIA graphics

Unfortunately, due to the developer NDA I can't go into more detail, however as we move towards WWDC 2012 (6th June), you can expect a steady flow of leaked information. Watch this space. 

The New iPad Review

Last week Apple released the new iPad. Although I haven't bought one personally, we do have plenty in the office (the are used for work) and therefore I thought I would post a short review.

Positives

The first and most obvious new feature is the display. Rocking a 2048x1536 resolution (264ppi) the quality is unsurprisingly breathtaking! The improved sharpness is most noticeable when opening an ebook or playing a high definition video, however as Apple have also improved the colour saturation, all images receive a welcome pop of colour (whilst still retaining a natural look). Overall the new display makes the device a pleasure to use, with the only limitation being older applications and websites that don't currently have high resolution images. However I'm sure developers all around the world are frantically updating their content.

The second positive is the battery life. With the new display, faster graphics and 4G technology, you would have expected the new iPad to have a shorter battery life. Thankfully this is not the case and on paper it retains the 9 hours you have come to expect from the iPad 2. This is achieved by increasing the battery to 42.5-watt-hour (nearly double the iPad 2), without increasing the size of the battery itself (an impressive achievement).

The display and battery are the main two features I like, with the new graphics currently going unnoticed (until developers learn to take advantage of them), the new front camera being mostly redundant (for me) and 4G technology not being available in the UK.

Challenges

With every positive, there are often a few negatives. This seems to be the case with the new battery. From my early testing it would appear the new iPad has a significantly longer charging time (get used to an overnight charge), which in itself is not a major problem. However, I have also noticed that when using demanding apps whilst plugged in to the mains, the new iPad still continues to lose charge. For example, I had the new iPad plugged in all day (at 100%), while playing a graphical screen saver (for testing only), after a few hours the iPad was reporting just 2% battery life remaining. Is this a bug or a hardware limitation, at this point I'm not sure, but you certainly want to keep this in mind if you plan on having a long gaming session. Hopefully if enough people notice the challenge Apple will be forced to provide some clarification. 

The next challenge is related to heat. Having used an iPad 2 for over a year I can't recall it ever getting hot, however after just a couple of hours with the new iPad it is clear the device can get very warm. This was also backed up by Consumer Reports, who ran a heat test against the iPad 2.

 

As you can see from the images, the entire device is warmer, especially around the location of the new A5X chip. With that said, from my experience the iPad is never uncomfortable to use and there is no evidence that this increased heat is outside of Apple's specification. Therefore I personally wouldn't worry, but it is certainly worth noting that this appears to be standard behaviour.

The final disappointment was the front camera. In my opinion, when it comes to a tablet, the front camera is more important then the rear camera. This is because I don't see myself using a device of this size as a primary camera (especially as I have a modern smartphone), however I do see value in video conferencing. For anyone that has used FaceTime, Skype or Cisco WebEX on the iPad, you will know that the experience is really good, only let down by the poor quality of the video. Unfortunately Apple decided not to update the front camera on the new iPad, which means my dreams of HD video conferencing on that amazing display will have to wait for the next revision.

Conclusion

The new iPad is an incredible device and without a doubt the best tablet available today. Therefore if you don't already own a tablet and are in the market for one, then the new iPad should be at the top of your list.

With that said, if you already own an iPad 2, I personally would not feel the need to upgrade to the new iPad. Yes the new display is great, but the old one is still very good and the other new features have yet to show their real value. As a result I think the rule "buy one, skip one" still applies here, just as it does with the iPhone.

The Perfect Mac

It's that time again, approximately every three years I look to replace my primary computer and therefore, like many others, I’m eagerly anticipating Apple's next notebook refresh.

Since the release of Mac OS X in 2000, my computer of choice has always been Apple's 15" notebook, it all started with the PowerBook G4, which was replaced in 2006 by the MacBook Pro. Overall my computing needs are fairly standard (coding, web, office tools, image editing and HD video playback), however I am a big user of virtualisation and therefore a high speed processor and plenty of RAM is a key requirement. In recent years I have also always pushed for solid state drive (SSD), which for anyone who has ever used SSD will know, going back is simply not an option.

With these requirements you could argue that the current generation MacBook Air would be well suited, as in recent years the "low powered" processors have improved massively and the integrated Apple solid state storage is very impressive. Unfortunately the issue (as it stands today) is RAM, as the MacBook Air range has a maximum of 4GB with no option to upgrade (as the chips are soldered to the board). This would be a huge limitation, as running more than one high powered virtual machine would result in significant performance challenges (trust me, I've tried). Another challenge with the MacBook Air is the display size, although I could work with 13", I still feel that 15" is the right size for me, providing a great experience even when not connected to an external display.

To help Apple (just in case they are reading), I have put together my dream notebook specification:

• New "MacBook Air like" Unibody Design
• 15" Retina Display (2880x1800)
• Intel Quad Core i7 Processor (Ivy Bridge)
• 8GB DDR3 RAM
• Graphics capable of outputting to multiple displays
• 256GB+ Solid State Storage
• USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt
• 8+ Hours Battery Life

This is always a controversial topic, but personally I hope Apple decides to remove the optical drive (I have already removed it in my current MacBook Pro) as well as replaces the legacy 2.5" hard drive with the MacBook Air solid state storage format. In my opinion these two changes can only be considered positives, as it should result in a significant size and weight reduction, as well as offer additional options for better battery life. In the event that I ever need an optical drive or broader storage, I am happy to use an external device.

I also hope Apple continue their recent trend by delivering a high resolution (Retina) display for the MacBook range. Although this still feels like a long shot, it was discovered that Apple added a hidden setting in OS X Lion (and Mountain Lion) called "HiDPI", which essentially doubles the number of pixels used for user interface elements. As a result I do believe it's feasible that we will see this feature, which logically means a 15" display would be upgraded to a breathtaking 2880x1800 resolution (220dpi).

Finally, regarding dedicated graphics. In the past I have always added the high-end graphics option (from NVIDIA or AMD), however as I am not a Mac gamer and with Intel finally making some progress on the graphics front with Ivy Bridge, I would be happy to use integrated graphics. The only requirement I would have is that it can deliver smooth 1080p video playback and output to multiple high resolution displays (e.g. Apple 27" Cinema Display).

There you have it, my next notebook! Now all I need is for Apple to design, build and announce it, preferably in the next month or two.

The New iPad Launches

Just in case you missed the news, today Apple officially launched the new iPad. On my cycle in to work this morning (07:00) I took a quick peak at my local Apple Store in Basingstoke, unsurprisingly the queuing had already begun.

It's interesting to see the diverse set of people that are willing to queue for an Apple product launch (especially in a relatively small town like Basingstoke). I overheard most people talking about their experiences of previous Apple launches, so I assume these are mostly die hard fans!

Needless to say I did not wait in line, but I'll definitely be popping back later to check out one of the demo units.