Good news for those of us who felt that the first Apple MacBook Pro 85W MagSafe adapter felt just a bit too bulky for comfort - there's a new model of it out, and it's considerably smaller than its first incarnation.

Let's take a closer look at the adapter that's going to bring the sexy back when charging our MacBook Pros are concerned. For the mere pittance of US$ 79, you'll be able to experience a sleeker, less ginormous charging experience with the redesigned MacBook Pro 85W MagSafe adapter.

Featuring all the good things about the first - a magnetic DC connector that minimizes cable wear and tear, a more than ample maximum cable length, and 85W of charging power - it's still the dependable lifesaver we all depend on to revitalize our MacBook Pros, but in a smaller, neater package.

It's also retained its ability to have its cable wound upon itself, to lessen the chances of an annoying cable tangle happening. Definitely a good buy if you're on the road, or simply want a smaller adapter - and certainly another great boon from Apple to its customers.

Now, if they could only shrink the 3-4 weeks estimated shipping period.

 

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.

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

Apple has updated its line of MacBook Pro notebooks with faster models. These new MacBook Pros come equipped with the latest Core 2 Duo processors from Intel, increased memory of up to 4GB, and some nifty high-speed graphics courtesy of the Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT.

The new models come encased in a one-inch thin lightweight aluminum enclosures and are available in 15- and 17-inch models. The 15-inch models now sport mercury-free LED-backlit displays. The 17-inch model, on the other hand, features an optional 1920-1200 high-resolution display.

The 15-Inch MacBook pros come in two models: a 2.2 GHz model that retails for a suggested price of US$ 1,999 and a 2.4 GHz model that retails for a suggested price of US$ 2,499. The 17-inch 2.4GHz model has a suggested price tag of US$ 2,799. All of these models are now available.

Investment banking firm PiperJaffray analyst Gene Munster recently commented that it is very unlikely for Apple to showcase the iPhone at its upcoming event Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).

In lieu of it, Munster added that the show will be highlighted by new MacBook Pros and quite possibly new iMacs. Munster's basis for this observation is Apple's update history for its products. According to the analyst, professional notebooks are updated every 182 days on the average.

The most recent generation of MacBook Pro was launched around 210 days ago. Likewise, an iMac update is also long overdue as the last time Apple had it was 257 days ago. The average release date for every generation is usually around 168 days.

While the above mentioned products are yet to be confirmed, Apple has promised in the past that a full-featured version of OSX 10.5 Leopard will be demonstrated and handed out at WWDC.

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.

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