Retail traffic shows lower iPhone, higher Mac sales

Recent monitoring of 25 hours of foot traffic at Apple Stores may suggest some unexpected figures for Apple’s Q2 2009 results, claims Piper Jaffray. The research firm fanned out to regular and flagship stores across the US, and noted a weighted average of 22 iPhones being sold per day. The figure is said to indicate a 15 percent drop from Q1, and numbers substantially below the November average of 28 and the July and August averages of 95.

While suggesting sales of only 3.7 million iPhones for the quarter, it is thought that Apple may still be able to meet a target of 4.4 million when sales outside of the US are taken into account. The company may have no problems however meeting Mac expectations, as a weighted average of 28 Macs sold per day is said to be well beyond current modeling. The discrepancy is attributed to the March refresh of Mac desktops, and may hint at quarterly sales of 2.2 million rather than the 2.1 million suggested by the Street.

Piper has also begun its first monitoring of iPod sales at Apple Stores, noting that it does not have any figures to compare a weighted average of 44 against. Nevertheless, the firm suggests that the average is consistent with Street predictions of 10 million in iPod sales during Q2. Piper’s price target for Apple stock remains at $180.

source:macnn

Mac Pro: The perfect workstation

By Tom Yager | InfoWorld

With more than double the memory throughput of an eight-core, 3GHz Xserve, the massively parallel Nehalem-based Mac Pro is built to rock your world.

Since 2006, Apple has been doing Intel the favor of building desktops, workstations, and notebooks that make Intel x86 processors look like works of genius. It seems only fair that Intel has returned the gift by custom-engineering an x86 architecture with RISC-like attributes just for Apple’s most demanding customers.

Intel completely rearchitected its x86 CPU beyond the core. Most PC users won’t notice, but the Nehalem Xeon processor really lets OS X Leopard off its leash. With all 16 logical processors (two CPUs with four cores each and two thread contexts per core) overcommitted with burn-in compute and memory workloads, the “Nehalem” Mac Pro has the headroom to run a full plate of Mac GUI applications with the accustomed responsiveness. The Mac Pro feels like a new machine.

Frankly, the Nehalem Mac Pro feels like a RISC workstation. The Leopard 10.5.6 OS that ships with the Nehalem Mac Pro is custom-tuned for Nehalem’s parallel-friendly redesign and Mac Pro’s remarkable power management, so don’t let its OS X install disc get mixed in with your others. When Snow Leopard ships, this same machine will be born again with a full 64-bit kernel and new tools, frameworks, and language features that put pervasive parallelism front and center, right where workstation users need it. If you want the full heart-stopping Snow Leopard experience, the Nehalem Mac Pro is where you’ll find it.

Click to read more ...

Quad-Core Mac Pros to Support 16GB Memory Expansion. really!

Other World Computer is selling 4GB SDRAM memory sticks for the Quad-Core Nehalem Mac Pros that were announced in March. A MacRumors reader emailed the company to confirm that they were in fact successfully tested on the Quad-Core machines.

Apple specifies that the Quad-Core Mac Pros only support up to 2GB memory sticks in either of its four memory slots, which suggests that the limit is 8GB. OWC is offering the ability to increase that limit to 16GB.

This kind of discovery could ensure that the Quad-Cores will be maximized at full capacity. Apple has been known to under-advertise the maximum RAM capacities for their machines.

Nehalem Mac Pro: The Mac reborn

By Tom Yager, Infoworld

This isn’t merely the ultimate Mac, but an impossibly idealistic concept for a fast, green, silent, rugged, expandable, and affordable top-end workstation, made real.

You can’t tell from the outside that Apple’s new two-socket, eight-core Mac Pro, based on Intel’s new Nehalem Xeon CPU, is much changed from the two-socket, quad-core Mac Pro that preceded it. The only giveaway? One front panel FireWire port has been upped from 400Mbps to 800Mbps.

If Apple hewed to PC tradition, that port, and the swapped-in Nehalem guts, would be the headline changes to the platform. Nehalem Mac Pro could get my attention, and the attention of the top echelon of Mac users, with that alone. What completely blows me away is that Nehalem Mac Pro is a reengineering of the entire Mac Pro platform, the 2006 edition of which set a bar for build quality that nothing in its price class can touch.

Apple used Nehalem as an occasion to build the ideally fast and modern Mac, but it didn’t stop there. In the new Mac Pro, Apple also created a computing platform that satisfies a combination of criteria that buyers only dream of demanding: Toxin-free, recyclable, quiet, low power, rugged, transportable, field-repairable, upgradable without tools, broadly configurable, internally and externally expandable, and the kicker, affordable.

Nehalem certainly deserves its due. It is thoroughly modernized with on-chip memory controllers, three-level cache, and a point-to-point bus design. The 1066MHz DDR3 RAM is the fastest memory yet made. Based on Apple’s numbers, it looks like Nehalem packs 50 to 90 percent more firepower into the Mac Pro chassis compared to prior and current top configurations. The arrival of Intel’s world-class architecture couldn’t be more timely. Nehalem Mac Pro is a hand-in-glove fit for the full 64-bit Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6) that will put Mac Pro on par with two-processor RISC Unix workstations.

I’m embarking on a full review, with performance testing, of the top-end Nehalem Mac Pro now, but I got an early look at a more basic Mac Pro config expressly so that I could share some of the more remarkable aspects of the platform. Some of the enhancements are new, and some continue along the path set by the original Mac Pro, but in combination, they afford owners a unique level of flexibility and investment protection. And they mark the new Mac Pro as wildly different.

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Review: Apple's newest 24-in. iMac 'a sight to behold'

March 20, 2009 (Computerworld) Earlier this month, Apple completed a round of hardware updates to its Mac Pro, iMac and Mac mini lines, offering up modest speed boosts, some pricing tweaks and — most importantly — the Nvidia 9400M chipset for graphics.

Best of all for iMac fans, Apple also made the 24-in. version of its popular all-in-one configuration a more tempting proposition by making it less expensive. Smart move in the middle of a recession.

For those who’ve waited almost a year for an iMac update, the latest round of changes has made all of Apple’s computers Snow Leopard-worthy, putting in place hardware that can best handle Mac OS X 10.6, due out later this year. More about the Snow Leopard implications in a minute.

With the Mac mini taking up the low-end of the Mac market and the Mac Pro on the pricey side of things, Apple’s flagship iMac line sits in the middle. There are four iMacs, starting with a 20-in. version that sells for $1,199 and extending all the way to the top-of-the-line 24-in. model that costs $2,199.

I’m focused on the least-expensive 24-in. version, which now sells for $1,499 — $300 less than the cheapest 24-in. iMac used to cost. That extra screen real estate at a suddenly cheaper price point should be a real draw for buyers looking to get the most for the least.

Apple sent over for review the basic 24-in. iMac, though there’s not much basic about this particular model. It runs on the same 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo processor used by the previous iMac at this price point. (It’s also the same chip that’s in the entry-level 20-in. model.) But hard drive space has been doubled to 640GB; memory has gone from 2GB of 800MHz DDR2 RAM to 4 gigs of 1066MHz DDR3 RAM; and the graphics subsystem gets the new integrated Nvidia 9400M. Like other recent Apple products, it has no FireWire 400 port, relying instead on FireWire 800 for peripheral connections and for use in Target Disk Mode……

For the complete article, hit the link below.

source[computerworld]

Apple Nehalem-based Mac Pro in-depth impressions

Engadget has just released their in-depth impressions of the Mac Pro:

“All in all, we’ve come to realize that this is a pro-level machine for a reason. It’s just marginally faster than much cheaper consumer-level rigs at doing consumer-level things, and it’s downright lousy at gaming. In fact, we had to force the resolution to 1,600 x 1,200 and turn anti-aliasing off entirely to get Call of Duty 4 to become playable. The newest Mac Pro has proven once again that it serves a clearly defined niche, and unless you’ll be firing up Aperture, Final Cut Pro or similar on a regular basis, you should probably pass. ‘Course, you could also slap that ATI card in here along with four 2TB HDDs to create a powerhouse that can’t be replicated in any other current Mac form, but we’d propose that it’s just not worth the cost. If you’re looking to game, there are far cheaper ways to do it. If you’re looking to handle web surfing and typical Office tasks, the same is true here. If you’re a pro looking to cut down those render times and give yourself lots of room for expansion, this might be your machine. We’d stop by an Apple store to give it a whirl first, though.”

For the complete read, hit the link below.

source[engadget]

Apple Mac Pro MB535LL/A Desktop

Updated Apple Mac Pro Benchmarks

Since more of the new Mac Pros have been delivered, it seems some of the early benchmarks underestimated the 2.26GHz Mac Pro’s performance in single threaded tasks. The latest numbers show that the new 2.26GHz 8-Core machines appear to have both single-threaded and multi-threaded performance equal to or better than the previous generation 2.8GHz 8-Core machines. Another set of benchmarks are also compiled in this graph by Tesselator.

Meanwhile, Engadget posted a nice video showing the internals of the Mac Pro including the new CPU and Memory drawer which can easily slide out of the chassis.

source[macrumors]

New iMac Has Impressive Speedmark Score of 308

This is how Macworld sums up the new iMac line that was just introduced this month:

“It may sound trite to say that the new iMacs are the fastest iMacs we’ve seen—every new iMac is faster than the previous generation—but there are significant speed gains in this new generation. Let’s start with the fastest iMac, the 3.06GHz 24-inch iMac; it posted an overall Speedmark score that was 24 points (8 percent) higher than the previous 24-inch iMac with the same 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo processor (then available as a build-to-order model). The new entry-level iMac, a 2.66GHz 20-inch model, had a Speedmark score that was 26 points higher (11 percent) than the previous entry-level model, a 2.4GHz 20-inch iMac.

The new 2.66GHz 24-inch iMac doesn’t simply offer a bigger screen, more RAM (4GB versus 2GB), and a larger hard drive (640GB versus 320GB) than the entry-level 2.66GHz 20-inch iMac, which has the same processor speed. For the extra $300, you get a performance boost, too—the 2.66GHz 24-inch iMac posted a Speedmark score that was 14 points (5 percent) higher than the 2.66GHz 20-inch model.

There’s a $400 difference between the high-end 3.06GHz iMac and the 2.93GHz iMac. Looking at the Speedmark score, there’s only an 11-point difference (4 percent) between the two iMacs. But the key difference between the two is the graphics card; the 3.06GHz iMac has a 512MB Nvidia GeForce GT 130, while the 2.93GHz iMac has a 256MB Nvidia GeForce GT 120. The 3.06GHz iMac posted 7 more frames per second (11 percent) than the 2.93GHz iMac in our Call of Duty frame rate test.”

source[macworld]

Western Digital 2TB Caviar Green Review

The Green Monster gets bigger (and quieter)! says PCper(spective):

“We are taking a break from SSD previews to bring you a retail edition review of the Western Digital 2TB Caviar Green. PCPer reviews are typically on the bleeding edge of fast and nimble hardware, but we must occasionally take a step over to the other side of the storage spectrum. Today we will size up three efficient yet very high capacity hard disk drives.

WD20EADS Caviar Green Overview

Western Digital GP series drives include a number of fairly new features to aid in the greater capacities available. Here I will translate the marketing speak into something more readable:

• IntelliPower™ — GP drives consume less power with slower spindle speeds, performance drop is offset by larger caches and higher platter densities;
• IntelliSeek™ — Seek speeds can change ‘on the fly’, since the heads do not always need to be moved at full speed to make it to the data before it rotates past;
• NoTouch™ ramp load technology — Previously called “IntelliPark”. Drive heads take an ‘exit ramp’ off of the platters instead of landing on the platters when the drive is spun down. You know how the most damage is done to your engine when you start it on a cold morning? This tech means the drive heads do not have to break stiction each and every time the drive spins up. The heads are able to leave the ramp and float onto the spinning disk;
• StableTrac™ — The spindle is supported at both ends instead of only at the bottom, keeping the platters more stable during reads and writes. Note: This tech is only used in the 2TB EADS models and early 1TB / 750GB EACS models;
• Native Command Queuing (NCQ) — The drive can reorder groups of reads/writes to minimize overall head movement, and therefore increase effective access time. Beware - this is only effective with an AHCI-enabled SATA controller;
• Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (PMR) — Bits are aligned vertically instead of horizontally to get more packed onto each platter. Think dominoes (the game, not the food);
• Low power spin-up — Lower RPM’s mean less power when trying to get to target speed. These drives also accelerate slower during spin-up as to draw even less power.”

For the full review, hit the source link below.

source[pcperspective]

Mac Mini 2009 Edition

Macworld has just published the review of the new Mac Mini 2009 model. Here is portion of the article:

 “When we reviewed the previous Mac mini iteration, we lamented the 11 months it took Apple to release that update—a period so lengthy that many people wondered if Apple would discontinue the line. So you can imagine the speculation that’s occurred in the 19 months since. Last week, Apple finally gave the company’s least-expensive computer another refresh, and that update brought the Mac mini line its most significant upgrades yet.

On the outside, the newest Mac mini models look all but identical to their predecessors, using the exact same aluminum-and-white, 6.5- by 6.5- by 2-inch enclosure. As with previous minis, the computer’s tiny shipping container hints at the lack of included peripherals: you provide the keyboard, mouse, and display. The only items in the box other than the Mac mini itself are the power adapter and cable, a mini-DVI-to-DVI video adapter, software DVDs (for Mac OS X and iLife ‘09), and documentation. Missing this time around is an Apple Remote, now a $19 option. “

For the complete review, hit the source link below.

source[macworld]