Apple is gearing up to unleash a wild bunch of new iMacs with the "brushed Metal" look popularized by the company. It'll come up big - literally - with a display planned to be larger than current 24 inch models.

The early word is that it'll ship shortly after the company's Worldwide Developer's Conference (WWDC). Pricing is set to be the same or very close to the current iMac roster on retail shelves. In addition, Apple will also get rid of the 17 inch version and will instead go to the more cost-efficient 20 inch model.

The Santa Rosa chipset will be utilized to power the new iMacs, and this means the thing should probably be as reliable as any of its predecessors ever were.

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.

 

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.

 

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.

Shedding some light into this mysterious device Apple's been cooking up in the Mac kitchen is AppleRecon. Now they've been seriously investigating into the rumors surrounding a 12-inch Macintosh puppy that is so elusive, that it even has lots of names: MacBook Pro 12", MacBook Mini, or MacBook Duo. Whatever you can call it, however, it's been getting some renewed hype and a whole lot of claimed features. It's sure to hold Duos now, since Apple's move to the Intel side.

But AppleRecon screened the truths from the rumors, and came up with the specifications that surround the little monster.

• CPU: 2 GHz Core 2 Duo (AppleRecon doesn't think it can go any higher than 2.5 GHz)
• RAM: 1 GB standard, 3 GB fully stocked
• Storage: (confirmed Flash-assisted storage with an unreleased Intel chipset - 256 to 512 MB) 80 GB standard, 200 GB tops
• Video: ATI Radeon X1900 with 256 MB memory (we're really doubtful something this small could hold an X1900)
  
• Battery Life: 6 hours, lithium polymer technology style (we'd give it a 4-hour estimate)
  
• Optical Drive: slot-loading SuperDrive, dual layer
• GPS: Not confirmed, though AppleRecon hopes this will come with one
• Weight: Around 3.5 pounds, battery and optical drive attached
• Miscellaneous: iSight, Bluetooth, 802.11b/g/n, Firewire 400/800, USB2.0, 10/100/1000 Ethernet, audio in/out, mini-DVI, (confirmed LED backlight display, 12-inch screen, 1280x800)...like the Mac Book extras
• Price: US$1799 for standard specifications
  
• Release date: Probably June 2007

This list could use a little more tweaking. Compared to the "MacBook Thin" specs we heard of last time, who knows what the "confirmed" specs are and what will eventually roll out (if at all). All we can really do now is wait and speculate some more...

Good news!!! Previously a rumor, AppleInsider confirms that the Wi-Fi card in your Apple Intel-based Core 2 Duo iMac IS 802.11n ready! This means your stylish, spankin' Apple desktop can enjoy all the benefits of next-generation Wi-Fi connection! The catch? You owe Apple five bucks (or US$ 4.99, to be exact). Either that or get the new AirPort Extreme Base Station, itself 802.11n-enabled. Do that however, and you'll owe Steve Jobs ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY NINE BUCKS for the AirPort and the 802.11n. Take your pick.

Yes, Virginia. Apple has been quietly shipping your iMacs to you with such advanced capabilities, without telling you about it. To enable it, though, will require a patch that will begin shipping next month when the new AirPort comes out. But why the nominal five dollar fee? (But the cheapskate in this writer replies: Nominal my butt!)

AppleInsider offers an explanation from iLounge editor Jeremy Horwitz, based on talks with Apple reps. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act prohibits companies from selling products without advertising their features, and there are financial/accounting penalties for doing so. 802.11n was unadvertised, but as AppleInsider confirmed, it's there, in the box, and all ready but for one measly patch.

The five dollars (or five dollars from the US$ 179 of Uncle Sam's notes) might be part of that accounting penalty - to balance the books, so to speak. If it didn't collect the additional fee for the unadvertised next-gen Wi-Fi feature, Apple could be held liable for improper accounting, Horwitz says.

Hey, no one wants an Enron - even over five dollars a patch.

Apple Computer's new Core 2 Duo MacBook is such a big hit that orders for the month of November were somewhere around 300,000 units, according to Chinese newspaper Commercial Times. Apple's Taiwanese manufacturing partner Asustek Computer was expected to churn out 300,000 units this month and the paper also reported Apple will ship, more or less, another 30,000 Macbooks in December.

Analysts are expecting the sales of the mucho hot Core 2 Duo Macbooks to hover between 1.6 million and 1.8 million during last quarter of 2006. Earlier this year, Credit Suisse analyst said the company is expected to sell approximately a total of 2,908,000 MacBooks by the end of March 2007.

Financial analyst company American Technology Research (ATR) says Apple is right for the picking if your shopping for stocks. Historically, the company's value skyrockets after its annual MacWorld Expo held at the start of the year. But ATR thinks the ship will launch even before.

According to ATR, Apple's stocks will continue to float thanks to the Mac and iPod record-setting sales during the September Quarter which is predicted to continue into the holiday shopping season. Included in Apples catalog of winners for the next quarter are the MacBook notebooks and the new MacBook Pro running on Intel's Core 2 Duo processors.

Fifth-generation iPod video sales aren't slacking off, either. Apple's aggressive pricing, improved battery life, higher video resolution, movie content and video games are some of the factors that continue to fuel the iCraze. "We believe improved video battery life, higher video resolution, movie content, and video games are helping drive sales," ATR said. "Nanos continue to rebound helped by lower price points, 24-hour battery life, multiple colors, and scratch-resistant casing."

Then there's the new entry-level iPod shuffle. The $79 iBargain could be the top selling iPod this quarter says ATR. All in all ATR forecasts Apple's last quarter fortune to be around US$6.1 billion in revenues from the estimated sales of14 million iPods and 1.8 million Macs.

What happens after year 2006? ATR says Apple will continue to be a crunchy investment with the launch of its Mac OS X Leopard, iTV, movie content partners beyond Disney, new iPod features including widescreen and wireless Bluetooth capability, and cell phones.

We really won't want to bother you with a lot of technical stuff concerning the 2.33GHz MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo latest update, but we thought you might want to know some of the highlights of the update. Thanks to bcavanau, we learned that there have been lots of improvements that'll make a lot of MacBook Pro users happy.

Apple made sure that it was still consistent with the old  model though, with some features hardly changed such as the case (except that it comes with a new FW800 Port) and with far less noise. Here's a quick rundown of stuff you may find in the upgrade:

• Hard drive (120GB) is Fujitsu MHW2120BH
• DVD Drive (6X-DVD-DL) is Matshita UJ-857D
• Airport reception seems to be consistent with previous model
• ATI X1600 Core clock is 418.50 and Memory clock is 450.00
• Screenshots of the About Window and the Hardware Overview in Mac OS X

The Atheros AR5008 802.11n chipset runs up to 650% faster and five times farther than 802.11g. This is a draft 802.11n wireless card found in the MacBook Pro. Other users found a different draft in the iMacs, which means Apple may intend to use another faster wireless card for the upcoming iTV. If this is likely, then we're going to be hearing from Apple soon enough, so keep reading for more news.