Apple is once again waiting for the go signal from Intel before announcing another update for its Mac Pro workstations.

The revamped Mac Pro will use Intel's new Penryn processor and will be the first architectural overhaul to the Mac Pro line since Apple announced the Intel-based Power Mac last year.

According to AppleInsider, Apple's contribution on hardware manufacturing is essentially complete. The Cupertino-based company is merely waiting on when Intel can deliver enough of its new 45-nanometer CPUs, specifically the Hi-k Xeons.

The new Mac Pro line will feature two quad-core "Harpertown" Intel processors with front-side bus speeds of 1.6 GHz and 12MB of L2 cache. The new 45-nm Xeons, which feature clock speeds of up to 3.2GHz, will reportedly arrive starting mid-November.

While the new iPod touch was definitely an attention-grabber with its iPhone-style touch screen, this very same innovation proved to be the source of early teething problems for this Apple gadget. This is with regard to recent reports that the new iPod's screen was (quite literally) lackluster - some users pointed out that the screen "Looks like a negative," in certain parts.
 
Is this some inherent design flaw with the new product? Not exactly, explained an engineer going by the online moniker drvelocity. According to the tech, what we're looking at may be a case of poor quality controls over at Apple's production facilities. Here reads drvelocity's technical assessment of the screen problem:

I'm an engineer with experience in the LCD industry and after seeing enough photos of the Ipod Touch I feel that I can make a pretty accurate assessment of the "black level" situation. It appears to me that it's a problem with the anti-reflective coating. The good news is this is most likely a temporary situation due to quality control issues.

The tech further indicated that an anti-reflective (AR) coating is a layer installed in the display's glass to prevent light from the LED reflecting back down into the display. Without it, the display distorts, creating the black areas that were spotted in some iPods.

drvelocity explained that the problem was most probably caused by the iPod touch's factory being forced to rush the the unit off the production line due to very heavy time pressure. What followed was a reduction in quality control, and the release of some sub-par iPod units lacking an AR coating.

The good news is that the tech also noted that this appears to be a temporary problem -  Apple should able to stabilize its QC soon. Now, in case you're among the guys who was unfortunate enough to get a damaged iPod touch, be sure to contact the company asap.

It seems sacrilegious, but someone was bound to break open the new iPod Touch sooner or later. So it's sooner rather than later as the guys from iFixit breaks open their brand spanking new - though not for very long - iPod Touch. At first glance it's like an iPhone, only not as fat. But what's the difference on the inside?

From their expert handling of the device they discovered some differences between it and the iPhone's hardware. One thing iPod Touch owners should be very happy about is the increased size of the battery. Because of the lack of a mic or a speaker that the iPhone required, the iPod Touch's battery is by far the larger.

Apple also seems to have gone for a more elegant, hassle free design for the iPod Touch's internal structure. Although this might be more efficient for manufacturing and processing, it might present some problems with repairing as many of the parts are connected in such a way as to fiddling or replacing an individual part might be difficult.

The guys also discovered that the front of the iPod Touch is made of glass, or at the least, a material that doesn't scratch easily. They used a key to scratch it and, lo and behold, it's still as smooth as a... well, an unscratched iPod Touch screen. The screen of their iPod Video wasn't as lucky.

They also found that the processors of the iPod Touch and the iPhone are very similar so the reports that they are able to run the same programs may indeed be true. There's a large chance we'll be seeing programs to transfer apps between the two devices pretty soon.

For more pictures of the naked iPod Touch, head on over to the full article!

AppleInsider reports that Apple seems to be moving quickly to address an iPhone screen issue reported by a few iPhone users on the Cupertino-based company's support forums. This is the second known hardware issue that has affected the iPhone since its release.

The issue reportedly occurs without warning and makes affected handsets permanently lose touch input responsiveness across a half-inch strip on either the top or bottom of the phone screen. The problem seems to be hardware-based, as according to AppleInsider the 1.0.1 update doesn't resolve the issue. Resetting the iPhone also does nothing, as does Apple's recommended water-only cleaning method.

Apple hasn't publicly acknowledged the issue yet, but most of those who had their iPhones affected by the issue have gotten direct replacements. AppleInsider reports that other affected owners have taken their units to Apple stores where they have been told to send their units to Apple for a 3-day repair. In the meantime, those who sent their iPhones in for repairs were offered a US$29 iPhone rental.

The Mac Mini is by far the smallest desktop computer from Apple. It's been said that it's being targetted at those interested in a low budget personal computer.

While news regarding the product has died down a bit, Steve Jobs has assured the public that it is still very much alive and will be released with a faster processor.

There are two models currently available at the Apple store, the 1.83 GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo (US$ 599) and the 2 GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo (US$ 799). The lower priced Mac is packaged with 1 GB of ram and an 80GB hard drive, while the higher end unit will also ship with 1GB of RAM and a significantly larger 120GB hard drive. All the units are not pre-packaged with a monitor, keyboard, or mouse but you can order these in addition to your system.

All in all, both packages look like very attractive alternatives to low cost systems. After looking over the specs, this blogger finds himself wishing that Steve Jobs would create a high-end system designed for gaming while retaining the form factor of the Mac Mini. That would just be sublime.

 

Take a very good look at the keyboard pictured above this article, and see if you can spot if it's a fake or not. Allegedly, it's the super-slim, brushed-aluminum keyboard that's rumored to be bundled with Apple's latest iMac computer.

While it does fit the much-speculated features, that being absurdly thin and sleek (as well as having that distinct Apple look of simplicity and elegance), the fact that 'Photoshop' is practically screaming out from the photo's exif data isn't helping its authenticity much. Still, it's quite pretty, isn't it?

Fake or not, though, it seems that someone in the Rhapsody Apple forum in Hong Kong is more than willing to sell you one of these suspicious beauties for HK $1200 a pop (that's US$ 153.40). Potential buyers should perhaps exhibit some self-control, though, as the new iMac itself could be blasting onto store shelves as early as August 7th, so it's not really that long a wait.

We'll also see if this is the real deal by then. Updates as we get them!

 

If you've ever wondered how long it will take you to replace your iPhone's battery after all that email reading, map browsing, film strip watching and music listening, you're definitely not alone. Tick-tocking its way into the news is the fact that PC Magazine took their best leap forward and gave an admittedly unscientific, "best guess" as to when your iPhone's battery pack would begin to degrade: 675 days.

Of course, it's a mixture of mathematical computations, factual statements from Apple and more than a share of speculation on PC Mag's part. Apple said that an iPhone's battery would hold only 80% the original amount of charge after 400 times of charging, clocked at about 4 hours via five volts of USB supply.

And coupled with the 30 hours of iPhone use from a single charge, PC Mag estimates that 34 hours (1.5 days per charge approximated) over an optimistic 450 days of good battery life would amount to 675 days of battery life all-in-all (or 599.85 days at 1.333 days per charge, to be mathematically accurate).

Just don't panic if you try they little countdown tool provided at the Read link below. After all, it's just a best guess and your use of the iPhone could drive your own battery life to last phenomenally different from what PC Mag indicates.

For those who have already gotten a new Mac Book Pro and have found the heat generated by the system a bit excessive, you may want to see this. A poster on the MacRumors forums Nikhsub took apart a week-old MacBook Pro after reading some news on the horrible application of the thermal paste on the units chips.

After opening the unit, he discovered that the GPU, CPU, and Northbridge were indeed overly slathered by thermal paste. For those who don't know the recommended amount, lets just say that a small pea-sized dab would be good enough for a processor chip. Check out the amount that was found on the unit that Nikhsub purchased.

   

He also found the heat pipe cooler heatsinks covered with thermal paste (third image). This shouldn't have been lathered with the stuff in the first place! So after cleaning up everything that needed to be cleaned and reapplying a thin coat of thermal paste, the unit was found to be running a full 20 degrees lower then before the clean up. Here are a few pics of the board and heatsinks cleaned up.

   

Nicksub may have done a cool job of cleaning his Mac Book Pro but if your system is running hot, you may want to have an Apple specialist open it up and check it out for you.

About a month ago, Apple made it known to their users that they would be using LED-backlighting in their future displays as part of the company's move to become environmentally friendly. The MacBook Pro's (MBP) corresponding update was expected to arrive this month. Now, for the MBP owners wondering how big a difference the new backlights are as compared to previous MacBook Pro models, we're informing you of a recently concluded test that should shed some light on the matter.

The guys over at Engadget have just gotten their hands on the 3rd-gen MBP, which sports the new LED backlight, and decided to do a brief visual comparison with its older kin, an 8-month old 2nd-generation MBP running on traditional cold cathode fluorescent tube (CCFL) backlights. The CCFL MBP's on the left, while the LED MBP's on the right (both set to full brightness):

  

Further notes in the comparison state that the new LED backlight featured crisper whites, although the screens weren't that much brighter. Another interesting detail the testers state is that at half-brightness, the LED MBP was dimmer. Needless to say, the new LED backlight should also beef up your laptop's battery life, although we haven't confirmed by how much yet.

Online site Gizmodo recently scored an interview with an Apple representative who gave insights about the updated line of MacBook Pro that comes with LED-backlit displays. Take note that only the 15-inch models will come with the said display while the 17-inch one comes with 1900-1200 high resolution display.

When asked why the LED displays are not available for both versions, the representative refused to comment. Intriguingly, it has been speculated by some sources before that Blu-ray might be coming to Apple's newest baby. Another concern is that whether the fonts for the Intel Centrino Pro-equipped MacBook Pro will be too small.

The representative commented that "the Custom to Order option for the higher-res screen is geared toward the pro users who need it in the field." Despite these, Apple clarified that the brightness and color range for the new displays will be similar to the previous generation.

Other important details include:

• Battery Life save by the LED Backlighting: 30 minutes to an hour vs. the older models (Including savings from Santa Rosa, so there's no way to distinguish the improvements individually)
• Full brightness warmup: instantly at full brightness, unlike traditional LCDs
• Glossy and Matte finish in all screen sizes and variants
• Hard Drive configs: TK on the perpendicular configs. 200GB at 4200 RPM for the 15-inch, and 250GB at 4200RPM at the 17-inch [I'd rather have the faster drives that are slightly smaller, regardless of impact on battery and storage
• Speakers on the 17-inch have been improved low frequency response