Drexel University Puts MacBooks Into Vending Machines

The traditional vending machine where you go for a bottle of Coke is no more, at least not at Drexel University in Philadelphia. In place of soda and water, they've created a MacBook vending machine (or the MacVending as we call it) that allow students to rent out a 15-inch MacBook Pro if a student were to forget theirs at home. 

Simply scan your student ID and you can take one of the 12 MacBooks for your own for five hours before paying $5 for each additional hour. Of course, there are security measures employed to make sure nobody runs off with one of their $1500 odd dollar laptops. This provides an excellent resource for students, especially when something urgent comes up and you're short a computer. Drexel plans to bring iPad vending machines as well if this new program is well received. 

Phil Schiller Puts Rumors Of A Cheaper iPhone To Rest

Despite both Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal claiming that Apple plans to sell a cheaper version of the iPhone this year, Apple has put these rumors to rest today. When asked to comment about the rumors of a possible lower-cost iPhone release, Apple's Senior VP Phil Schiller officially stated that Apple's sole focus is in creating the best quality products, and that it does not intend to sacrifice the build quality and hardware in order to produce a more competitively priced smartphone for the mass market.

Interviewer Huang Yinlong spoke to Schiller about Apple’s products in China who said that “every product that Apple creates, we consider using only the best technology available. This includes the production pipeline, the Retina display, the unibody design, to provide the best product to the market.”

“At first, non-smartphones were popular in the Chinese market, now cheap smartphones are more popular and non-smartphones are out,” Schiller added later. “Despite the popularity of cheap smartphones, this will never be the future of Apple’s products. In fact, although Apple’s market share of smartphones is just about 20%, we own the 75% of the profit.”

Apple Reducing Thunderbolt Pricing, Adds A Shorter $29 Version

Due to the backlash from avid consumers, Apple has decided to reduce the price of its 2 meter long Thunderbolt cable down from the original set price of $49, to $39. In addition, Apple released a shorter 0.5 meter Thunderbolt cable for $29, which is better suitable for use with external Thunderbolt hard drives and other portable peripherals. High-speed Thunderbolt cables are considerably more expensive than Apple's USB and Lightning cables because they require more processing power using high-quality copper cabling, and a total of four different processing chips on either end.

iPhone 5S To Come In Multiple iPod touch-like Colors?

It is rumored that Apple will launch the next-generation of the iPhone 5, which is believed to be the iPhone 5S, in multiple vibrant colors similar to that of the 5th-generation iPod touch. The addition of up to 8 different color choices seems highly unlikely for Apple to offer in its most expensive handheld device, but at the same time we do think it'll attract even more attention and potential buyers. When you look at what companies like HTC and Nokia have done with their most recent smartphones, the longstanding white and black flavors are certainly becoming dull and unimaginative. Remember that for the first time in years, Apple has introduced anodized aluminum colors for the 5th-generation iPod touch so it's plausible that we could see multiple color options for the next-generation iPhone. These iPhone 5S mockups made by Alex Roessner sure look delicious!

Mac Mini To Be "Made In The USA?"

“Designed in California” now might also be, “Designed and assembled in the United States.” Digitimes is reporting that Foxconn Electronics, who have been known to manufacture Apple’s iPhone, iPod, and iPad line of products, is currently in the process of having Mac mini’s manufactured in the United States. According to the report, “Foxconn has about 15 operating bases in the US” and the recruiting for these facilities will begin in 2013.  

In a recent interview with Brian Williams, Tim Cook noted that, “We’ve been working for years on doing more and more in the United States.” Speculation began soon after the segment that the Mac Pro was going to be the first of Apple’s products being manufactured in the United States due to its relatively low volume of sales. Mac mini shipments are expected to be up more than 40% from last year and could hit upwards of 1.8 million units shipped in 2013.

Apple Assembling The New iMac In The USA

As usual, iFixit has posted its incredibly detailed and in-depth teardown of Apple's new late 2012 iMac. Aside from all the guts and glory, it appears that Apple is now assembling the new 21.5-inch iMac in the USA as the little laser etched string of credit tells us. But why? We're not sure yet. What we do know is that this isn't the first time Apple has assembled iMacs and other products here in the USA, but those were typically assembled in the states due to being either made-to-order or refurbished units.