Apple Hardware Topic

Sites including Engadget and Arstechnica indicate that Apple has sent out invitations for a media event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco scheduled for 10:00 AM Pacific Time on January 27th.  Below the invite graphic the tag line reads "Come see our latest creation."

All Things Digital has reported that Apple will be conducting a media event on Wednesday, September 9th in San Francisco. The venue is most likely the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts a setting where Apple has previously announced iPod and iTunes updates.

Distorted-Loop highlights data from a recent Gartner report that Apple maintained its number one computer manufacturer ranking in the Western Europe education market during the first quarter of 2009 (Q1 2009) with 26.4 percent market share. Apple also maintained the top slot in the UK market with 27.3 percent market share.

At the onset of today's notebook event Apple CEO Steve Jobs quickly handed the presentation over to Tim Cook, Apple's Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO).  Cook gave a presentation titled, 'State of the Mac' which provided insight into Mac momentum.  Cook started off by stating that Apple is growing at 2-3 times the market growth rate. He then listed reasons why Apple believes that they are growing at this rate.

Time is running out folks, Apple's Back to School offer will end on September 15th!  So here's the deal.  You're a college student, teacher, or staff member so Apple wants to offer you an amazing deal on a new Mac and iPod.

News on Wall Street today hints that Dell Inc. the second largest PC manufacturer is planning to sell its worldwide manufacturing plants within the next 18 months in an effort to cut costs.

The Justice, an student newspaper of Brandeis University, reports that 60 percent of incoming freshman have come to school with a Mac. This influx of Mac users has raised the school's Mac user base to 40 percent.

In his November 14, 2007 review, Cliff Edwards of BusinessWeek states, "A minimalist redesign, a zippy new OS, and terrific new software make the iMac the all-in-one desktop computer of choice for multimedia lovers."  He gave the iMac a rating of 4.5 out of a possible 5 stars.

In a June 12, 2007 article Eric Bangeman of Ars Technica posted a review of the new Santa Rosa based 17-inch MacBook Pro.  It's a very detailed and extensive review that's a must read for anyone who is considering the 17-inch MacBook Pro.  Bangeman often compares the new model to prior generation 17-inch models so it's a great way how the new model stacks up to older models.

Edward C. Baig states that you don't have to hold back on making the switch.  His column starts off with the following statement:

A nice read with views on Apple's Intel the value offered by the Intel based Macs.  A powerful quote from the article:

"Apple now has personal computing platform that is comparable in cost to most of its competitors but is more functional, more inherently secure, has more plug and play features and, incredibly, more open. All the disadvantages that kept PC users away from the Macs of the past are gone. Both platforms share the same hardware and users can even share data between Mac and Windows applications running in different virtual Windows."

When comparing a Mac against a PC, cost is the most often cited metric used to make the comparison.  In my view, cost is only one variable of the computing equation.  Failure to analyze other variables will lead one down an incomplete analysis.  At a minimum, the comparison should also look at the following:

Two recent polls/surveys have been released by Macworld UK and Macworld.  The Macworld UK article details a poll that asked readers to share their views about people making the Switch.  A few quotes from the article:

A quote from the article:

"Sporting the most powerful Intel chip currently available in Apple's lineup, the 15-inch, 2.16 GHz dual-core MacBook Pro is, simply, a speed demon. There has never been a Mac laptop this fast. It's so fast, it even outpaces professional workstations in several key benchmarks. What's more, with its ability to run both Mac OS X and Windows operating systems, it's two computers in one. There has simply never been a better time to buy an Apple notebook computer."

According to a story from CNEt Apple will be unveiling a new advertising campaign next week focused on the Mac.  The following are quotes from the CNet story:

Macworld has published some recent benchmarks of the new Boot Camp enabled Intel iMac and MacBook Pro running Windows XP Service Pack 2.   The tests had these system go head-to-head with a Dell Inspiron E1705 (Core Duo laptop), HP Compaq nx9420 (Core Duo laptop), and a HP Pavilion a1250n (Media Center Desktop).

Earlier this week, the buzz was centered around Apple's new beta Boot Camp software for OS X Tiger 10.4.6 that allows owners of new Intel Macs to extend the funcionality of the systems to boot into Mac OS X or Windows XP.  Apple also released firmware updates for the entire line of the Intel Macs that provide EFI and BIOS support that should allow the new Intel Macs to boot into adiitional operating systems such as Windows XP, the upcoming Windows Vista, and Linux.  The Intel Macs use a modern booting technology called EFI, Extensible Firmware Interface.  In order to boot Windows XP and Windows Vista, the computer needs to support BIOS, a technology over 20 years old.  Boot Camp bridges the EFI and BIOS gap.

Historically, there has never been a true test to compare Macs with Intel based PCs.  New data and benchmarks demonstrating that the Intel powered MacBook Pros and iMacs run Windows faster than today's PCs dismiss the myths that Macs are slower, behind the technology curve, and are more costly.  The point I'd like to make is that the Intel based Macs were designed and engineered to be Macs that run OS X, not Windows.  The fact that they run Windows XP faster than WinTel machines proves that Apple's hardware engineering, innovation, and quality surpasses its competitors.

With Intel inside, Apple sets bar for home PCs even higher

A nice read on the new Intel powered iMac.  The writer starts off by giving a review of the iMac and his experience with various software installed on the system.  The writer ends by stating: