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Howdy, I'm MG Siegler. I’m a general partner at CrunchFund and a columnist for TechCrunch. This is where I collect things.

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Big, Small, Optimal

A subtle, but potentially important detail from Mark Gurman’s report on the Retina MacBook Pro:

Unlike Mac display settings of today, these Retina Display settings will not be marked with numbers/resolution sizes, but with descriptions such as big, small, or optimal, according to these software-based findings. The long-awaited “resolution independence” is upon us.

The death of the spec continues.

Tags tech apple macbook pro

The Thin, Retina MacBook Pro

Mark Gurman of 9to5 Mac first reported this morning that a forthcoming 15-inch MacBook Pro refresh would feature a new, thinner design (though not quite MacBook Air-thin), USB 3.0, and, most importantly, a “Retina” display. Bloomberg has since corroborated the news.

I’ve got nothing specifically on this, but it sounds about right to me. As I wrote back in November of last year:

Maybe it’s time to separate the Pro line by doing something like a super high resolution screen and maybe insane battery life (10+ hours). 

Or maybe the 15-inch thin MacBook is meant to be a hybrid of a Pro and an Air. Maybe it has more ports, better battery life, and a higher price — but loses the optical drive. It’s dead anyway. 

No word on the battery life, but that would be icing on the cake at this point. It’s all about that screen. 

The 13-inch MacBook Air is the best computer I’ve ever owned. But a, say, 2880x1800 resolution MacBook Pro would probably be impossible to pass up. Especially if they got it under 5 pounds (the current 15-inch MacBook Pro is 5.6 pounds).

Tags tech apple macbook pro

A 2880x1800 Resolution MacBook Pro?

No clue if the timing (Q2) that DigiTimes is reporting is correct, but the idea sounds about right.

As previously discussed, the MacBook Air has become so good that it’s going to continue to eat into MacBook Pro sales. Apple needs something to differentiate the Pro — especially if there is a 15-inch Air. That something could well be a laptop with a “Retina” display. 

It’s important to note that when you typically hear about higher resolution screens, it generally means smaller elements on that screen. But if these screens are double the resolution of current models, Apple could do what they did with the iPhone (and soon iPad) screen, leaving the scale the same while greatly increasing the pixel density.

The drool is already dripping on keyboards of Photoshop and Final Cut users.

Tags tech macbook pro macbook air apple

The 15-Inch Air

There is a lot of talk out there right now about the supposed 15-inch MacBook Air. I haven’t heard anything specific besides the usual whispers of new product numbers floating around out there. It seems pretty likely that something is coming. 

What’s a bit odd about this talk is Apple’s entire MacBook line. Namely, there is no actual MacBook anymore, just the Air and the Pro. If the Air gains a 15-inch model, the line between those two blurs even more.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see some sort of consolidation. Just pure speculation here, but maybe the Air becomes simply the “MacBook” and the focus is on the 11, 13, and new 15-inch models. Meanwhile, the MacBook Pro drops the 13-inch model and focuses on the 15, and 17-inch models.

The current Air models are more than fast enough for most consumers. And I’m not sure why anyone would buy a 13-inch Pro unless they really want that optical drive. 

Maybe it’s time to separate the Pro line by doing something like a super high resolution screen and maybe insane battery life (10+ hours). 

Or maybe the 15-inch thin MacBook is meant to be a hybrid of a Pro and an Air. Maybe it has more ports, better battery life, and a higher price — but loses the optical drive. It’s dead anyway. 

I’ve talked to a lot of people who want a 15-inch screen on their Air. I’m sort of the opposite. At first I thought the 13-inch Air would be too small for everyday work (I was moving from a 15-inch Pro). Now it’s my main machine for everything. And I actually think I might prefer the 11-inch size if it didn’t mean taking a 2-hour hit on battery life dropping down from the 13. 

Battery life matters more to me now than anything else. Each of the last two MacBook Air models has been more than fast enough for what I need from a computer. Give me one with a full 10 hour battery and I’d be tempted, no matter the screen size.

Tags tech apple macbook macbook air macbook pro

Apple Finishing Up Work on an Ultra-Thin 15" Mac Notebook

What’s most interesting here is that the 13-inch MacBook Air and the 15-inch MacBook Pro have the exact same resolution: 1440x900. This is why I had no problem replacing my Pro with an Air.

Does a 15-inch Air go closer to the 17-inch Pro’s 1920x1200 resolution? Or maybe it does 1680x1050? If so, why would anyone buy the 15-inch Pro? What about the 13-inch Pro? For the optical drive? Please.

To me, the 13-inch Air seems like the perfect size for my needs right now. But I would be tempted by a 15-inch if the battery life was even better. Right now the 13-inch Air gets 7 hours while the 11-inch gets 5. Could a 15-inch Air get 9 hours?

If so, what’s the weight trade-off? The 13-inch Air is just a sliver under 3 pounds currently. The 15-inch Pro is 5.6 pounds. The 13-inch Pro is 4.5 pounds. Could a 15-inch Air be 4 pounds?

Or. What about this:

What if a 15-inch Air replaces the 13-inch Pro in Apple’s line-up? Apple keeps the high-end 15-inch and 17-inch Pro for actual pros, but realizes the most others will be fine given how powerful the Air is now. 

This would make Apple’s notebook offerings look like this:

Portability:

  • 11-inch Air
  • 13-inch Air

Portability/Power:

  • 15-inch Air

Power:

  • 15-inch Pro
  • 17-inch Pro

If they do that, maybe the Air eventually does get renamed to simply “MacBook”. 

Tags tech apple macbook macbook air macbook pro

Early Benchmarks Reveal New MacBook Air Rivaling High-End 2010 MacBook Pro

Sounds about right to me. Laptopmag.com has the full results.

Since last October, anyone who has asked for my advice about which Mac to buy, I’ve said MacBook Air. Most follow up with, “really — over the MacBook Pro?” Yes, most people I know don’t need a Pro. I certainly haven’t since last October.

And with the new MacBook Airs, as these numbers show, you really don’t. 

Tags tech macbook air macbook pro

MBP Gets Thunderstruck!

So it looks like the MacBook Pros will be keeping the optical drives. And they’ll weigh in at 2.04 kg, which is 4.5 lbs — the same weight of the current 13” MBP. In fact, by these specs, they’ll be the exact same size.

They are getting spec bumps and this new “Thunderbolt” high-speed input (the artist formerly known as “Light Peak”). But it has a lame old 5400 rpm standard hard drive.

Unless I’m missing something, I’m still not seeing any really compelling reason to get one of these over a MacBook Air (besides video production, obviously, but why wouldn’t you use a 17”?). The 13” Air is 2.9 pounds. 

The unstated x-factor may be battery life. The current 13” MBP gets up to 10 hours. If they can stretch that to 12 hours, it could be worth it. That would be a full 5 hours beyond the the 13” Air. 

It’s also not clear if “HD” FaceTime is different from the current variety. The current iSight cameras are capable of 1280x1024 but often limited to 640x480.

Tags tech apple macbook pro macbook air

About Those MacBook Pro Batteries…

So, I bought a new 15-inch MacBook Pro. Intel i7, the new high-res screen, and an SSD. Ever since last year I’ve been waiting to get one of the new sealed battery MacBooks to benefit from the huge battery life. This one promised 8-9 hours.

Over the past few weeks, based on my regular usage (web surfing, a little iTunes, some chat, etc) I was seeing only about 3.5-4 hours of battery life. That’s awful. Well, maybe not awful for a Dell, but awful for a brand new Mac that’s supposed to do the 8-9 hours.

I thought one of two things: either Apple is fudging the numbers more than usual — or I have a defective battery. After some online research, I came across a tool called gfxCardStatus. If you have a new MacBook Pro with graphics switching, you have to get this right now.

Basically, it seems like there is a major problem with battery drain caused by the graphic card switching. The problem may be related to the fact that the switching is occurring way too often, when simple programs that don’t need the NVIDIA board think that they do. With this gfxCardStatus tool, you can see exactly what is going on — and more importantly, stop it.

With it, you can set which graphics card you want your computer to use. When I set it to the Intel card, I’m all of a sudden in the 6 to 7 hour battery range. Considering Apple’s 8-9 hour target is with WiFi turned off, this seems about right.

I haven’t tried with with only the NVIDIA card turned on, but from my understanding, it should be only slightly worse. Again, the issue seems to be the constant switching, not the cards themselves. 

I imagine Apple will have to fix this in a future firmware upgrade. Based on my research, I’m hardly alone with this problem — graphic switching is giving these machines less than half their stated battery life. 

Tags apple macbook pro battery

10 Hours

Of all the things that impress me about the iPad so far, definitely one of the biggest is its battery life.

Most of the time when companies (including Apple) claim a certain battery life, actual product usage never comes close to that because those are under optimal conditions using minimal settings. For example, I have one of the new MacBook Pros which Apple says will get 8 to 9 hours of battery life on one charge. In reality, using it as I normally would (screen about 60% brightness, two browsers open), I’m seeing more like 5 to 6 hours (still great for a laptop, IMO).

With the iPad, Apple claimed it would get 10 hours of usage on a single charge. In my usage this past week, that’s absolutely true. In fact, it might even get more than that.

Other reviewers noted this early-on too, but I had to see it to believe it. Now I have. And now I do. It’s awesome.

Tags ipad macbook pro battery apple

Maybe the ultimate first-world dilemma: do I go for the 10-hour battery life the 13-inch offers, or the i5/i7 performance the 15-inch offers?

Maybe the ultimate first-world dilemma: do I go for the 10-hour battery life the 13-inch offers, or the i5/i7 performance the 15-inch offers?

Tags apple macbook pro