With the iPhone picking up quite nicely for both fans and non-fans, what's Apple got in store for us in the near future? A recently filed document at the United States Patent Application office indicates that the company may be taking another look at its laptop lines. The patent in question is for a back-lit touch pad.

The list reproduced below enumerates the first three claims of Apple's new patent:

1. An illuminated input device, the illuminated input device comprising: an object sensing mechanism capable of sensing a user input over an input surface; and a visual feedback system configured to illuminate the input surface in association with a user input.
2. The input device as recited in claim 1 further including a controller that is operatively coupled to the object sensing mechanism and the visual feedback system, the controller monitoring signals generated at the object sensing mechanism, the controller selectively controlling the illumination provided by the visual feedback system
3. The input device as recited in claim 1 wherein the object sensing mechanism includes a touch panel capable of sensing touches in localized areas of the input surface, and wherein the visual feedback system includes a light panel capable of emitting light in localized areas of the input surface.
   

If we're reading this properly, the back-light system is designed to react according to the user's input - line 3 further implies that the lights will only be isolated to the portion of the pad being touched by the user. Better yet, perhaps even leaving an illuminated trail of where your finger's been on the pad.

Of course, this is speculation on our part, but it does hint at what possible new innovations Apple has planned in the upcoming months. Stay tuned in case we pick up more info.

 

The Apple community is buzzing with the announcement of the new MacBook Pro Software Update 1.0 which, strangely enough, doesn't carry a lot of details from Apple except for the description that it fixes bugs and optimizes processes. It's recommended for 2.2/2.4Ghz models which have OS X 10.4.9 or higher installed.

The MacBook Pro Software Update 1.0 is driven by the Intel Core Duo chip which runs at 2.2/2.4Ghz tops. It packs 4GB of DDR-2 clocked at 667Mhz. The Frontside bus is at 800Mhz to round up the uber hardware chops.

That means, in a nutshell, that you can pretty much do everything you want with this baby. Whether you love 3D games, video editing or sound encoding, the MacBook Pro with Software Update 1.0 should deliver sweeter goods than ever.

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.

When it comes to RAM, ever since DDR came out, more isn't always better. What matters is that you have more "banks." If this blogger just lost you with that previous sentence, here, let me explain: Two 512MB DIMM of SDRAM will outperform a single 1GB DIMM since each DIMM can have up to four banks. Having two 512MB DIMMS (8 banks) means better performance than just one 1GB DIMM (4 banks).

How does that factoid relate to Apple? Well, RAM ArsTechnica Reports that RAM reseller Other World Computing did some research and it was revealed that an unmatched 3GB RAM in an Apple MacBook Core Duo and MacBook Core 2 Duo notebook (one 2GB and one 1GB), is for the most part, more beneficial than a matched pair.

Check out Other World Computing's tests by following the Read link below. Let us know what you think. If game performance is all that matters to you, be sure to check out the results of their Halo test. This test just means that sometimes more RAM is better.

It seems that as of Wednesday evening, MacBooks combined to occupy 4 out of the top 5 slots on Amazon's list of top selling computers. Don't believe us? Check out the screencap on the right.

Apple Insider reports that the sales of the slightly dated MacBook got a jolt when Amazon started offering instant discounts and rebates which consequently cut the costs of some models by more then US$ 200.

While Amazon is no longer offering their US$ 100 rebate on previous generation MacBooks (they probably already made enough money from that promo), they do have alternate instant savings offerings that reduce the cost (US$ 1499) by US$ 100.99 to only US$ 1399.

As for the currently generation models, Amazon is offering a US$ 100 mail-in-rebate for each of those models. For example, the news 2.16 GHz black MacBook, sees a price of only US$ 1394 after the rebate. What's amusing is that makes the new MacBook actually cheaper the the previous gen black MacBook.

If you're looking for Mac laptops for design projects or what-not, the recent promotion might be a good thing to take advantage of.

 

AppleInsider reports that Apple's MacBook consumer notebooks have just been given an upgrade. According to Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, the new MacBook is faster and has more memory and storage than ever before thanks to faster Intel Core 2 Duo processors, 1GB of memory and larger hard drives in all the MacBook models.

If you're worried about size, don't be. The new MacBooks are still just an inch thick. They also feature built-in 802.11n wireless networking which allows for up to five times the performance and twice the range of 802.11g. The new line also includes a built-in iSight camera, an Apple SafeMag Power Adapter and iLife '06. For more details on the new MacBooks' specs, click on the "via" link below.

If you're looking to get one for yourself, all three MacBook models are already available. At a suggested retail price (SRP) of US$ 1,099, the 2.0 GHz, 13-inch white MacBook is the cheapest of the bunch. The 2.16 GHz, 13-inch white MacBook has an SRP of US$1,299 while the 2.16 GHz, 13-inch black MacBook has a suggested price tag of US$ 1,499.

Click the Read link below to see the full specs of the new MacBook models.

Apple grabbed 9.9% of the laptop market last March besting Compaq which only posted an 8.5% showing. This feat has put the company at fourth place in NPDs list of highest selling vendors of retail notebooks.

The companies that were ahead of Apple are Gateway(13%), Hewlett-Packard (23.9%) and Toshiba (26.2%). Apple's sales posting is up from its February sales but lower than their figures from January which was at 10.1%. The company has been posting good numbers as of late because their desktop sales have also put them on the top five list of NPD. They took a respectable 7.7% of the market in that respect.

This should not be any surprise, since Apple really has established itself in the notebook field. Will their upcoming new releases be enough for them to claim the top spot on the ranking? We will have to wait and see.

 

Now that Intel's anticipated "Santa Rosa" Centrino Pro notebook Platform is out, adopters of the said platform  should be able to experience better battery life, faster Core 2 Duo processors and chipsets, improved graphics, stronger wireless signals, and an option to turbo-speed boot time and software application loading. As others have said, they had us at better battery life.

Santa Rosa notebooks are expected to emerge in a variety of prices, designs, and sizes, ranging from media centric 17-inch screen laptops to energy saving ultra-light notebook PCs.

Amusingly, Apple zealots also number among those eagerly awaiting intel's new platform. It is widely believed that the first Apple notebook design to incorporate Santa Rosa features should be Apple's rumored update (AppleInsider thinks the alleged update is likely) to its 15-inch MacBook Pro, which should arrive during the second quarter of this year.

The update should have a faster 800MHz frontside bus, a second generation Core 2 Duo mobile processor, which ranges up to 2.4 GHz with 4MB of L2 cache. Yes, much is in store for Mac folks, all thanks to Intel.

We've previously reported on the Santa Rosa "adoption" of Apple as a rumor, however, as more reports are coming in, it seems that it is something that's already expected.

The Danish government through the Consumer Complaint Board is applying pressure to Apple to have the California-based company cough up some compensation for owners of the iBook G4 who experienced trouble because of design flaws in the laptop.

Frederik Navne, lawyer for the CCB, describes the model's flaw as "it is a bit like a person dying a little bit every time he breathes because the cells break down." Thousands of customer testimonies claim that their iBook abruptly powered down after an average of a year's use, then never booted back up.

The CCB points to the problem as that of a defective logic chip's breakdown. According to independent electronics examiner Delta, the chip has flawed solders that deteriorate with activity. Once the solders wear out, power is unable to pass and what's left of the computer is a blank screen of death with a noisy fan.

Denmark now demands that the company admit that the product is defective in and out of the country and apply measures to correct it in the soonest possible time.

Last month's Puff the Flammable MacBook might have been an extreme case, maybe not even related. Still, Reuters reports that Apple recently acknowledged that some of the notebook PC batteries in their MacBook/Pros "may have performance problems," but "the issues are not a safety risk," they insist.

Said issues include not charging when the computer's plugged into an outlet. Strangely enough, that had been a common complaint about laptop batteries - Apple mobile PCs and otherwise - over the past year.

So enough with the bellyaching, solutions, solutions. Apple has released Battery Update 1.2, specified for Intel laptops. It should hopefully improve battery life and "reduce swelling." Swelling batteries: that's always a bad sign. In addition, Reuters notes that the battery replacement program continues and also applies to out-of-warranty MacBook/Pros as well, if and only if:

• Battery is not recognized causing an Â?XÂ? to appear in the battery icon in the Finder menu bar.
• Battery will not charge when computer is plugged into AC power.
• Battery exhibits low charge capacity/runtime when using a fully charged battery with a battery cycle count (as shown in System Profiler) of less than 300.
• Battery pack is visibly deformed.

For those with Intel Core Duo MacBook/Pros, the repair/replace program "extends repair coverage on the battery for up to two years from the date of purchase of the computer." Presuming your hapless battery qualifies, hit the Read link for details.

Of course, if your MacBook/Pro has suffered the fate of Puff, then it's definitely too late for an Update or Replacement. Just hope the house didn't go up with the battery.