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Apple’s Latest 2011 MacBook Pro Refresh & Using SATA Revision 3.0 6Gb/s Drives

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011 | Author: OWC Larry

As we mentioned last Monday, Apple has released new “speed bumped” MacBook Pro 13″, 15″, and 17″ model laptops. These units all show 6Gb/s link capability for both the main drive bay and the optical bay. Right out of the gate all of these models are proving 100% reliable for use of a SATA Revision 3.0 hard drive or OWC 6G SSD installed into the main drive bay.

Just like the Early 2011 models, while we continue to see reliability with 6Gb/s in the optical bay of the 13″ model - the optical bays of the 15″ and 17″ models remain too unstable for 6Gb/s drive use. Although still unstable in the 15″ and 17″, the optical bay SATA signal has improved considerably and we are looking into possibilities that might make 6Gb/s in this bay reliable. Article Continues…

Unboxing the 17-inch October 2011 MacBook Pro

Wednesday, October 26th, 2011 | Author: OWC Michael

Unboxing the 13-inch October 2011 MacBook Pro

Tuesday, October 25th, 2011 | Author: OWC Michael

Unboxing the 15-inch October 2011 MacBook Pro

Monday, October 24th, 2011 | Author: OWC Michael

Speed-Bumped MacBook Pros Released

Monday, October 24th, 2011 | Author: OWC Chris S.

Apple released some updated MacBook Pros today. There’s not much new about them, except that they’re sporting some faster processors. The 13” model now has the option of a dual-core 2.8GHz Core i7 or a 2.4GHz Core i5 dualie. The 15” model has stock options of quad-core i7 processors in 2.2GHz and 2.4GHz, with a 2.5GHz option available as a custom configuration. The 17” model now comes stock with the aforementioned 2.4GHz i7 quad-core processor, but also has a 2.5GHz option available.

Other than the processor boost, a faster graphics card on the 15” and 17” models, and  a small bump in stock hard drive size on the 13” to a minimum of 500GB, the specs on these MacBook Pros are effectively the same as the models that came out earlier this year.

That means that all the upgrades, compatibility, and installation videos for the Early 2011 MacBook Pros should be equally as valid for the Late 2011 models.

As for the other issues that have popped up around the 2011 Macbook Pros, we’ll be checking those when the new ‘Books come in tomorrow, and will post our findings as we get them.

 

The Day After The iPhone 4S Announcement

Wednesday, October 5th, 2011 | Author: OWC Grant

After getting a good night’s sleep to truly absorb the 4S, my take is that it’s a brand new model that doesn’t just offer incremental updates.

It does everything the iPhone 4 did plus a variety of things better:

  • A dual core A5 processor versus the iPhone 4 A4 single core processor. The end result being twice the speed and up to 7x the graphics performance.
  • Supports speeds up to 14.4Mb/s while the iPhone 4 supports speeds up to 7.2Mb/s. That’s good news for AT&T Mobility HSPA+ network users.
  • Intelligently switches between antennas for improved call quality…and no more “antennagate” issues
  • Offers far superior camera performance with 8 megapixel resolution versus the previous model’s 5MP spec. The optics in general were improved as well to offer up to 30% sharper images.
  • 1080p verus 720p video resolution and lastly…
  • it runs on both GSM & CDMA networks….thus making it a true take anywhere “World Phone”

For a side by side “tale of the tape”, our friends at Engadget offer a nice chart. As I hope you’ll agree with me then, even if you too have to “sleep with it’, with the improved performance, the iPhone 4S deserves to be recognized for its own merits as a very good new model.

For one last feel good, for those of you planning on buying the 4S, the physical dimensions and control features are exactly the same. So your existing iPhone 4 case will work. But if you need one or want to upgrade, we offer a wide variety of cases and other cool accessories from which to choose.

Apple Event Unleashes iOS5 and iPhone 4S

Tuesday, October 4th, 2011 | Author: OWC Chris S.

Many around the OWC offices have been waiting with bated breath for today’s iPhone announcement. Like most Apple announcements, there have been a lot of rumors swirling around this event: the iPhone 5, iPhones on Sprint, iPod Touch spec bumps, iOS5’s “Assistant” feature, and even the cancellation of the iPod Shuffle and/or Classic.

Well, now we’ve got the goods on what’s new, what’s coming, and what were just fantastic pipe dreams, So without any further ado, let’s take a look at what’s we saw.

This keynote started out similar to most others, with new CEO Tim Cook talking about Apple’s forward momentum, including bits about the new Apple Stores in Asia, Lion’s adoption rate compared to Windows 7, overall growth in the Mac market, iPod’s dominance in the PMP market, and iTunes remaining the number one music store in the world.

Cook then gave us a few numbers showing the increasing dominance of the iPhone and iPad in the market. We heard about how 5% of the world’s mobile phones are an iPhone, 74% of tablets sold are iPads and that over 250 million iOS have been devices sold.

This was vaguely interesting information if you’re an Apple shareholder, an “industry” reporter, or someone who just wants to sit there and go “Woooo!!!! We’re Number One!!!!” But the reason we most people tuned in to the various webcasts and liveblogs (bringing many of them down in the process) was for the new hardware and software that we’d learn about today. Article Continues…

Unboxing the 27″ Apple Thunderbolt Display 2011

Monday, September 26th, 2011 | Author: OWC Michael

It is here at last! Our first Apple Thunderbolt Display (27-inch) we snapped a few photos for your unboxing enjoyment before we sent this along for testing.