512 Pixels

Apple kbase article HT3920:

Apple will support Microsoft Windows 7 (Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate) with Boot Camp in Mac OS X Snow Leopard before the end of the year. This support will require a software update to Boot Camp.

This marks the first time not all Intel-based Macs will be included in a Boot Camp update. The following models will not be supported:

iMac (17-inch, Early 2006)

iMac (17-inch, Late 2006)

iMac (20-inch, Early 2006)

iMac (20-inch, Late 2006)

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2006)

MacBook Pro (17-inch, Late 2006)

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2006)

MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2006)

Mac Pro (Mid 2006, Intel Xeon Dual-core 2.66GHz or 3GHz)

Update: According to Gizmodo, installing Windows 7 via Boot Camp works, but you’ve got to hunt down some drivers.

Apple kbase article HT2300:

They’re pronounced the same, but, technically speaking, there is a distinct difference between a disc and a disk.

I love it.

[ via MacUser]

Macrumors:

As usual, iFixit has been quick to dissect Apple’s updated MacBook, offering an extensive gallery of photos documenting the process.

A few notes of interest:

- There is no external indicator of battery charge state.

- There is no infrared port, meaning that the new model is incompatible with Apple Remotes.

- The integrated battery offers only 9% more capacity than on previous models (60 watt-hours vs. 55), but Apple claims an increase in battery life to 7 hours from the previous 5 hours, suggesting that the new model is more energy efficient. The new battery is significantly lighter than in the previous generation, offering a power-to-weight ratio that is 23.5% better.

- The hard drive is more difficult to replace than on previous models, but certainly can be done.

- The apparently increased rigidity in the latest model appears to come the use of an aluminum sheet (covered with a rubberized coating on the exterior) for the bottom case and other structural supports within the body of the machine.

- The Bluetooth antenna is routed into the display housing, likely improving range compared to previous models that placed the antenna in the body of the machine above the optical drive.

The lack of an IR port is the most puzzling to me.

The Consumerist has posted a letter that supposedly made the rounds within AT&T regarding net neutrality and what stance AT&T has on the subject. It’s disgusting and terrifying all at once.

…are the days of the never-ending palm rest cracks over?

The problem affected almost every single MacBook, since the very first models back in 2006, and up until today, Apple didn’t make any real adjustments to the design of the machine to resolve the issue — but today, that seems to have changed.

From looking over Apple’s photos of the new machine, I feel safe saying the issue will no longer be a problem. The new MacBooks are built like the unibody machines — from a single chunk of material (in this case, white plastic).

There is now a thin rubber gasket around the inside of the lid, not the hard plastic ridges found on older models that would add pressure to the palm rests. Additionally, that front edge that used to crack is where the top case and bottom case meet, making it inherently weak — the plastic should be much thicker along that edge, since the unibody does away with such design problems.

From a service standpoint, I hope the issues is resolved. On all the unibody machines, the internal components are built into the top case, meaning a top case replacement requires removing all the components and moving them to the new enclosure — not fun.

Holy cow.

From MacJournals’ live-tweeting of today’s earnings call:

Apple is clearly working on some big things: R&D expenditures for the year of $1.333B are right around 10% of gross margin.

Apple’s PR Machine:

Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2009 fourth quarter ended September 26, 2009. The Company posted revenue of $9.87 billion and a net quarterly profit of $1.67 billion, or $1.82 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $7.9 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.14 billion, or $1.26 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 36.6 percent, up from 34.7 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 46 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

[….]

Apple sold 3.05 million Macintosh computers during the quarter, representing a 17 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 10.2 million iPods during the quarter, representing an eight percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 7.4 million iPhones in the quarter, representing seven percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter.

“We are thrilled to have sold more Macs and iPhones than in any previous quarter,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We’ve got a very strong lineup for the holiday season and some really great new products in the pipeline for 2010.”

Giddy-up.

Boy Genius Report:

Have we mentioned this phone flies? It’s the Android device to beat, and easily the most impressive. From what we’ve been told, Google had a direct hand in the Motorola Droid. Something to the point of almost dictating every move Motorola made when designing and making the phone. Interesting, huh?

Hit the link for photos of the device.

Nifty.

Apple’s Time Capsule is a pretty slick device — it’s a router, a wireless access point and a backup drive. However, a growing number of reports show that the devices may be failing early.

The Apple Time Capsule Memorial Register is a site dedicated to tracking the issue by capturing info on failed devices.

By having users record their Time Capsule’s serial number, capacity, purchase and death date, the site has built a database of almost 400 dead devices, with an average lifespan of 17 month, 6 days.

Of course, a sample of 385 devices isn’t that big — most people who have a failed Time Capsule won’t know to go online and add their information — but it does show a trend of early failure.

Apple warranties Time Capsules (as well as other accessories) for one year from date of purchase, unless it was purchased with a computer with AppleCare.

Steve Jobs, in the Smithsonian Oral and Video Histories collection:

As you’ve pointed out I’ve helped with more computers in more schools than anybody else in the world and I absolutely convinced that is by no means the most important thing. The most important thing is a person. A person who incites your curiosity and feeds your curiosity; and machines cannot do that in the same way that people can. The elements of discovery are all around you. You don’t need a computer. Here - why does that fall? You know why? Nobody in the entire world knows why that falls. We can describe it pretty accurately but no one knows why. I don’t need a computer to get a kid interested in that, to spend a week playing with gravity and trying to understand that and come up with reasons why.

As computers take a more central role in the classroom, teachers have to be better and more engaging to compete with the technology. I sure hope schools remember this, and keep their focus on hiring good teachers, not buying the latest technology.