Macbook Airs To Come With Retina Display

Following up on yesterday’s MacBook Pro rumors, 9to5mac reports that the next generation MacBook Airs will include Retina Displays. The current tapered design of the MacBook Air will not be seeing any imminent upgrades. Without any external upgrades, Apple looks to focus on the internals of the MacBook Air lineup instead. According to various supply chain sources, Apple plans to implement the newly released Ivy Bridge processors and improved graphics; these upgrades will greatly improve performance and be able to support the high-pixel-density Retina Displays.

It appears that Apple is planning to slowly revamp their entire product line with Retina Displays. While this news is very exciting, it is unrealistic to hypothesize on a launch date for their Air line up. It is common for Apple to slowly announce each of their new products; we will have to wait and see what happens at this year's WWDC. 

Apple iPhone 4S Announced, All You Need To Know

Despite the rumors of a newly redesigned iPhone 5, Apple has announced today its next generation iPhone dubbed the iPhone 4S. Boasting the same exact exterior design as of the iPhone 4, but with all-new interior in terms of specs. The new iPhone 4S has a dual-core A5 processor that's twice as fast with a dual-core GPU that's seven times faster. Another big improvement over the iPhone 4 is a new back facing camera with a faster 8-megapixel illuminated CMOS sensor that lets 73% more light in for better low-light performance, a 5-glass element lens (one more than the iPhone 4), f/2.4 aperture and full 1080p HD video recording. What stays the same is the 3.5" Retina Display and the same old glass form factor.

iOS 5 brings many new features to the iPhone including Siri, an iPhone 4S exclusive intelligent voice assistant that lets you ask your iPhone 4S virtually anything, and it will do as you please. Things like setting an alarm, scheduling a meeting, sending messages, getting weather updates, search for great places to eat and so on. Siri will also put your voice into words for when you need to compose an email without having to type using dictation.

Apple has improved the metal antenna band on the iPhone 4S with a system that intelligently switches the antenna parts for better call quality and reception. Data speeds have also improved with HSPA support for 14.4Mbps download speeds, but it's still not as fast as HSPA+ and LTE. The iPhone 4S will be available for AT&T, Verizon and Sprint in both black and white in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB flavors for $199, $299 and $399, respectively. Pre-orders start on October 7 followed by the release and availability on October 14.

Apple's OS X Lion Up-To-Date Program, Upgrade To Lion For Free

Before you go out and spend $30 on OS X Lion, if you've recently purchased a Mac with Snow Leopard or Snow Leopard Server on it, specifically between June 6, 2011 - July 21, 2011, your copy of the just released OS X Lion will cost you nothing. A free upgrade courtesy of Apple via their online Up-To-Date Program. To take advantage of this, you will need to complete a simple online form to get your OS X Lion or OS X Lion Server code which can be redeemed in the Mac App Store. Head on over to the OS X Lion Up-To-Date Program page to get started.

Apple Updates iMac With Thunderbolt, Faster Everything

There it is, Apple has refreshed the iMac line of desktop computer with better and faster hardware all in the same aluminum enclosure. No new screen sized were added to the new 2011 lineup of iMacs and the 21.5" and 27" are here to stay.  The new 21.5" (1920x1080) iMac starts at $1,199 and packs a 2.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of memory and an AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics card with 512MB of memory.

Apple's new 27" iMac starts at $1,699 and packs a 2560x1440 screen resolution with a 2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i5, 4GB of memory and an AMD Radeon HD 6770M graphics card with 512MB of memory. All the new 2011 iMac now come standard with the new Thunderbolt port, one port on the 21.5" model and two on the 27" model. In addition to all this hardware bump, the new iMacs now have an HD FaceTime camera. 

iLife 11 Up-To-Date Program Is Live

If you just bought a Mac between October 1st and October 19th or even after, you are eligible for Apple's iLife 11 Hardware Up-to-Date Program which allows you to upgrade and purchase iLife 11 for just $6.99 including free shipping instead of the full retail price of $49. This program is mainly done online thru Apple.com where you will need to fill out a very quick and simple form with your Mac's serial number, date of purchase and place.

You can directly visit the iLife 11 Hardware Up-To-Date Program page and order your iLife 11 update here.

Any Macs that are purchased after October 20th will already come with iLife 11 installed. Apple states that if you do not receive iLife 11 already with a Mac that you've purchased after October 20th, you will need to go thru the Up-to-Date program and order yours for $6.99.

Source Apple