Acer has just announced that it’s going to ditch netbooks and focus on Ultrabooks, citing that making cheap tat isn’t getting it anywhere. Ultrabooks could well be its saviour, but it’s completely insane that it’s taken Intel to tell manufacturers how to make them. Read more
A slimline 15-inch MacBook Pro (or souped up MacBook Air depending on who you believe), has been churning through the rumour mill for months. And having failed to materialise when Apple tarted up its MacBook Pro lineup last month, now sources close to suppliers in the Far East are claiming the size zero effort will be hitting shelves in March 2012. Read on for all the details.
Apple’s 2011 line-up has largely been focused on slightly rejigging older products, the iPad 2 being the slimline exception. But now, if sources close to Apple’s supply chain are to be believed, 2012 will see Cupertino completely revamp almost its entire range, with a new-look iPad 3, redesigned iPhone and sleek new version of both the iMac and MacBook Air. Read on for all the details.
Disappointed that Apple’s slimline redesign of the MacBook Pro didn’t materialise last week as part of the updates to its top-end laptop range? Well, fret not. Because new information has leaked out regarding a super slim 15-inch Apple laptop, that could well bring together the MacBook Pro’s grunt with the MacBook Air’s looks.
The internet, or rather the corner of it dedicated to Apple speculation, has gone gaga this afternoon as MacRumours reveals a white headphone jack, snaffled from Chinese repair site Luna Commerce. It seems to add more weight to the rumours of a white iPod touch coming out of Cupertino soon. But could it also pave the way for a white MacBook Air?
Asus is not the only kid on the block planning an Ultrabook release this September. According to a report from industry insider DigiTimes, Acer has moved up the release of its slender notebook and now plans to go head-to-head with the Asus UX21 next month. The 2011 MacBook Air will be put to the test next month when two new challengers step into the octagon.
Intel is getting serious about its Ultrabook concept. We heard last week that it has developed a list of Ultrabook materials for manufacturers to help them undercut the MacBook Air on price and saw the extremely Apple-like Acer Aspire 3951 Ultrabook leaked yesterday. Now Intel Capital, the company’s investment group, has announced a $300m Ultrabook fund to invest in technologies destined for the new class of laptops.
In a statement, Intel said the fund is designed to help companies “building hardware and software technologies focused on enhancing how people interact with Ultrabooks, achieving all-day usage through longer battery life, enabling innovative physical designs and improved storage capacity”.
In other words, it’s a big stash of cash to compete with Apple’s research might. It’s a good move and we’re excited to see how that investment encourages laptop makers to get creative with Ultrabooks. After all, there’s more to life than the MacBook Air, right?
Out now | £NA | Intel
![Create your own Lion recovery USB thumb drive [free]](http://cdn.electricpig.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/lion_recovery_disk-150x150.jpg)
Enjoying that fresh new MacBook Air or upgraded an existing Mac to OS X Lion, but in desperate need of a recovery disc for a fresh installation? Fear not, Apple has just published support documentation which includes the “Lion Recovery Disk Assistant”. All you’ll need is an external hard drive or a USB thumb drive with 1GB of free space.
