The squeaky wheel gets the grease - or in this case, it's the smashing sledgehammer that gets the MacBook replacement, in the latest update regarding Michael and his love-hate relationship with Apple's customer care service. Yes, folks, his youtube'd hijinks with his allegedly moisture-damaged Macbook and a sledgehammer has finally reached a happy ending, with Apple sending him a brand new model as a replacement for the one he smashed to bits.

For those of us not in the know, here's what happened: Michael sent in his MacBook to Apple, requesting to have it repaired under extended warranty. Apple sent it back, saying that they've detected spill damage on the MacBook, thereby rendering the warranty void. Irate at this - he swears that he never spilled anything on the thing - Michael does the level-headed thing and goes at the defenseless piece of hardware with a sledgehammer, not stopping until the MacBook has been reduced to small bite-sized pieces. All this, with a camera recording every wince-inducing second of it.

After more than 100,000 Youtube views, 48,000 Consumerist views and 1500 diggs later, Apple finally sent in a replacement, one that's a completely brand new model of the one Michael sent to MacBook heaven. They also sent in, along with the replacement, a small reminder that if anyone had a dispute about any judgment call the company makes on a damaged product, a simple call or a letter would have sufficed - one certainly doesn't need to go to the extremes that Michael did.

Certainly good news that a company like Apple is willing to go the extra mile to ensure customer happiness. What's next, though? Someone smashing a certain faulty console on video? We can only wonder.

It seems Other World Computing's ModBook, an Apple MacBook converted into a slate style tablet PC, is getting closer and closer to shipping. According to the jkOnTheRun blog, shipping dates have been emailed to those who ordered ModBooks. The ModBooks will reportedly start shipping in "very limited quantities" in early June, and all orders are expected to ship by the end of July.

Some of the components initially listed for the ModBooks are also being upgraded at no extra cost. This includes upping the pressure sensitivity levels of the active digitizer from 256 to 512 levels, a perfect upgrade for artists. Consumers can now also get a 7200 rpm drive in the ModBook, choose to put a second drive in place of the optical drive, and get 3GB of memory.

If you're interested in getting your own ModBook, you better start saving up. The "fast" ModBook model with a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo and 80GB 5400RPM SATA hard drive will set you back US$ 2,279. The "faster" model with the 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo and 120GB 5400RPM SATA hard drive carries with it a whopping US$ 2,579 price tag. Orders can be placed here.

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.

Apple lawsuits, like Apple rumors, are a dime a dozen. Included in the long list of Apple's legal battles are the Apple vs. Apple (The Beatle's Apple) case, the lawsuit over MP3-related patent, the Cisco and iPhone brouhaha and clearly if we enumerate every legal battle the Steve Jobs camp has faced and has been facing, we will run out of space. Now, here is another lawsuit to add to Apple's already long list of legal woes.

A San Diego filing by private citizens Dave Gatley and Fred Greaves accused the Cupertino-based company of deceptive advertising, unfair competition, and misrepresentation with regards to the MacBook and MacBook Pro's - specifically their screens/displays. The plaintiffs said that the Apple products' screens aren't nearly as good as they were advertised to be. Part of the lawsuit goes something like this:

Apple withheld its knowledge that its MacBook-series laptops did not actually display "millions of colors" allowing the user to "[e]njoy a nuanced view simply unavailable on other portables."...Plaintiffs suffered injury in fact and have lost money or property as a result of Apple's violations. Specifically, plaintiffs paid more for their computers than the computers were worth and that they otherwise would have paid but for Apple's violations.

Will Apple settle? Will this lawsuit be junked? Well, only time would tell. You could check out the lawsuit in PDF format by clicking on our read link below.

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.

Two juicy morsels of Apple tidbits comes our way today. According to an AppleInsider report, the next MacBook update won't deliver much in terms of new features. Apparently, Apple's 13-inch wonder won't be benefited with an LED-backlit display until a successive revision later this year. Also, it's unlikely that it would be enjoying the enhancements presented during Intel's Santa Rosa launch.

As for the MacBook Pro update, Apple is said to be focusing on boosting the grade of the MacBook Pro line. Enhanced set of features from Santa Rosa are also expected. If this happens, expect faster front-side bus speeds (800MHz) and second-generation mobile processors.

Now to the other juicy Apple bit - the ultra thin portable department to be exact. Apparently the company is hard at work to produce a sleek design for their MacBook ultra portable for it to cater to the Japanese market. AppleInsider adds that Apple is building the model around an ultra-thin, 13-inch LED backlit display. Here's what AppleInsider knows about the ultra-thin contraption so far:

• 13-inch ultra-thin, LED-back lit display
• No optical disc drive
• On-board NAND flash for faster application launching and boot times
• Built-in iSight webcam
• Thinner and lighter than existing MacBook offerings
• AirPort Extreme 802.11n enabled
• MagSafe power adapter
• Target launch late '07, early '08

 

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.

Intel's Centrino Pro (codename Santa Rosa) has just been released yesterday and already, companies Lenovo and LG, as well as other lesser known PC vendors, have laptop offerings carrying the fourth-generation Centrino platform.

Apple consumers are now wondering when they will see this technology in their MacBooks. Gadget site Gizmodo reports that one of its chain partner revealed that a new model of MacBook is coming out next week.

It is believed that Apple will eventually shift to Centrino Pro as well but we wonder if that they will be able to do so in seven days. It should be remembered that it took them three months after Core 2 Duo was released to shift platforms.

As you know, Apple will be holding its annual conference - WWDC - this June and if they are indeed making the shift, it is highly possible that they will announce it during the said event. After all, the initial shift to Intel was announced in WWDC 2006. Apple will change platforms, there's no question about that. The only vague thing here is when.

Just so you know, Santa Rosa Centrino Pro features an updated mobile Core 2 Duo microprocessor. The Front Side Bus speed of the chipset has been increased to 800 MHz but it can also be altered to save power.