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Top Apple Rumors, Bricks, Low Price, NVIDIA

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the my-macbook-is-broken dept.

Vigile writes "With the news that Apple will be releasing new MacBook products on October 14th, speculation has begun on what exactly those new products will be. Tips of a manufacturing process involving lasers and a single 'brick' of aluminum are catching on, as is the idea of a sub-$1000 netbook-type device. More interesting might be the persistent rumors of an NVIDIA chipset adoption that would drastically increase gaming ability, allow MacBooks to improve their support for OpenCL and take advantage of the new Adobe CS4 software with GPU acceleration. Will NVIDIA's ailing chipset business get a shot in the arm next week?"

28 of 283 comments (clear)

  1. Hooray for NVIDIA by Drakkenmensch · · Score: 5, Funny

    God knows that gaming graphics is the only reason left why I'm still hanging on to the PC platform...

    1. Re:Hooray for NVIDIA by spazdor · · Score: 5, Insightful

      For the love of God, man, use a comma!

      --
      DRM: Terminator crops for your mind!
    2. Re:Hooray for NVIDIA by spazdor · · Score: 5, Funny

      <shatner>"For, the, love, of, God, man, use, a, comma!"</shatner>

      --
      DRM: Terminator crops for your mind!
  2. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 5, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  3. LEAK! This year's "ONE MORE THING" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Apple will announce that due to the financial crisis, they've been able to purcase Iceland. However, it will be rebranded as iCeland. Steve Jobs was apparently very fond of their homogeneous population.

    1. Re:LEAK! This year's "ONE MORE THING" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      As part of the deal they're also getting England which will of course be re branded to iNgland.

    2. Re:LEAK! This year's "ONE MORE THING" by Gewalt · · Score: 5, Funny

      I don't think I've ever heard Bjork described as "homogenous" before.

      --
      Modding Trolls +1 inciteful since 1999
  4. Or put another way by Ukab+the+Great · · Score: 5, Funny

    Apple will soon be selling pre-bricked laptops.

  5. If they sell a laptop for $800... by argent · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If they sell a laptop for $800, as rumored, then who's going to buy a Mac mini for $600+?

    Of course, they could probably sell the mini for $400 and still make 40% profit. It's basically a laptop with the most expensive part of a laptop (the screen) left out.

    1. Re:If they sell a laptop for $800... by pete-classic · · Score: 5, Insightful

      All I want for Christmas is a Mini with a Blu-ray drive. An integrated screen is a detriment to an HTPC.

      -Peter

    2. Re:If they sell a laptop for $800... by ceoyoyo · · Score: 3, Informative

      There have been rumours of the mini getting cancelled for years. It might finally happen. The notebook market seems to be leaving the desktop market behind anyway.

    3. Re:If they sell a laptop for $800... by ducomputergeek · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I'll still buy mini's. I love the things. I've got 8, mostly still 1.25 and 1.42Ghz G4's that I've picked up off ebay. I have one hooked up to my 32" LCD TV as a media center (basically an Apple TV before there were apple TV's) and then use the others as a cheap rendering grid for Final Cut and Blender. Best part is they take up a shelf on my book case and don't drive up the powerbill that much nor heat the den as bad as the quadcore. (used to heat a bloody 1 bedroom apt with the thing.)

      At work we've bought mini's to replace all the point of sale and desktop units. Worked out well since they already had monitors/touchscreens and keyboards and mice that were all USB.

      --
      "The problem with socialism is eventually you run out of other people's money" - Thatcher.
    4. Re:If they sell a laptop for $800... by TheRaven64 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Apple's laptop sales passed their desktop sales over two years ago. They cater for the 'you can't squeeze as much power as I need into a laptop' market with the Mac Pro. The Mac Mini is for the 'I can't afford a laptop' market, and this is growing steadily smaller. I wouldn't be surprised to see the AppleTV and Mac Mini product lines converge - a small box running OS X under the hood, but only exposing Safari, iPhoto and iTunes at the UI, with the ability to rip CDs, and maybe DVDs too. The only question is whether it would run x86 or ARM. The newer OMAP chips can decode H.264 in realtime, and are a lot cheaper than anything Intel has on offer.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    5. Re:If they sell a laptop for $800... by pete-classic · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I really like having a general purpose computer hooked up to my TV.

      You know you can't add codecs to an AppleTV without voiding the warranty, right? And it doesn't have the horsepower to decode anything good in software anyway. Blech.

      Seems way more important than the color to me. But if you're really hung up on it, buy a skin: http://www.skinit.com/devices/miscellaneous/apple_miscellaneous (You can do "custom" and select all black.)

      -Peter

    6. Re:If they sell a laptop for $800... by jcr · · Score: 3, Informative

      how do you get the minis to work together as a grid?

      With this

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
  6. Mac vs. PC vs. Xbox 360 vs. PS3 by tepples · · Score: 3, Insightful

    God knows that gaming graphics is the only reason left why I'm still hanging on to the PC platform...

    Are first-person shooters and indie games the only reason left why you haven't already moved to the Xbox 360 or PS3 platform?

    1. Re:Mac vs. PC vs. Xbox 360 vs. PS3 by BlowHole666 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Well not too many MMOs are played on an Xbox 360 or PS3. Probably the only semi-big name game that is on a console is the Final Fantasy one. Age of Conan "Claims" they will make a game for the Xbox 360. So if you are an MMO fan and you play games like DAoC, WOW, Warhammer, EVE you are stuck with a PC/mac rather then a console.

      --
      I smoked pot once. But I DID NOT inhale. Will you hire me?
    2. Re:Mac vs. PC vs. Xbox 360 vs. PS3 by Synn · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I own a PS3 and I still prefer PCs for shooters and gaming. I just like the interface better.

      Though maybe that would change if I just forced myself to play them on consoles more.

    3. Re:Mac vs. PC vs. Xbox 360 vs. PS3 by hendrix2k · · Score: 5, Funny

      One need only follow this simple chart.

  7. FYI by ArcherB · · Score: 5, Informative

    OpenCL is NOT a typo.

    See HERE:

    OpenCL (Open Computing Language) is a language for programming heterogeneous data and task parallel computing across GPUs and CPUs. It was created by Apple in cooperation with others, and is based on C99.

    The purpose is to recall OpenGL and OpenAL, which are open industry standards for 3D graphics and computer audio respectively, to extend the power of the GPU beyond graphics (GPGPU).

    Apple has proposed OpenCL for Khronos Group where on June 16th 2008 Compute Working Group was formed for the standardization work.

    OpenCL is scheduled to be introduced in Mac OS 10.6 ('Snow Leopard').According to the press release:

    Snow Leopard further extends support for modern hardware with Open Computing Language (OpenCL), which lets any application tap into the vast gigaflops of GPU computing power previously available only to graphics applications. OpenCL is based on the C programming language and has been proposed as an open standard.

    --
    There is no "I disagree" mod for a reason. Flamebait, Troll, and Overrated are not substitutes.
    1. Re:FYI by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 3, Informative

      OpenCL is NOT a typo.

      See HERE

      Please update the fine summary to include the above informative link.

      --
      Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
  8. Re:OpenCL? by aredubya74 · · Score: 3, Informative

    You can browse /., but not Wikipedia? "OpenCL (Open Computing Language) is a language for programming heterogeneous data and task parallel computing across GPUs and CPUs. It was created by Apple in cooperation with others, and is based on C99."

    --

    RW

  9. Re:I'll buy apple... by MacColossus · · Score: 4, Funny

    SNOW Leopard comes out next year. Start saving your pennies. :-) http://www.apple.com/macosx/snowleopard/

  10. Shot in the arm? by ArhcAngel · · Score: 5, Insightful

    " Will NVIDIA's ailing chipset business get a shot in the arm next week?"

    They'll need it since they just got a swift kick in the a@@

    --
    "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
  11. Re:I'll buy apple... by jazuki · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'll buy apple... ...when leopard freezes over!

    SNOW Leopard comes out next year. Start saving your pennies. :-)
    http://www.apple.com/macosx/snowleopard/

    Are you trying to explain the joke? Or announcing you didn't get it? ;)

  12. Stamping, drawing, etc. by Animats · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Right. Nobody makes mass-produced items by machining them out of solid metal. It's too slow, and you waste too much metal. That's what die-casting, drawing, and stamping are for. Laptop cases are thin enough that die-casting is probably overkill. Drawing or stamping is more likely, followed by a punching step. There might be a role for a laser if very small holes have to be made or some surface engraving is desired.

    The NextCube case was a magnesium casting, which was sort of silly for a desktop device.

    A cute idea for the case modding crowd would be industrial origami. This little-known technology works much better than you'd expect. It's a fun experience to take a flat, prepunched plate and hand-fold it into an electrical outlet box.

  13. Re:Ick... BLOB by not+already+in+use · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yeah, it will totally suck to have your graphics hardware properly supported under Linux. Considering you're dual booting Linux along side one of the most locked-down proprietary consumer platforms available while at the same time complaining about a binary driver on the Linux side is.... Ironic.

    --
    Similes are like metaphors
  14. Whippersnappers! by Jabbrwokk · · Score: 4, Funny

    Keyboard AND Mouse? Duke Nukem 3D? That's not old-school! Why you young pups, I remember when mouselook was just a crazy gleam in a programmer's eye. You think aiming sucks with an analog stick? Try using the freaking number pad.

    And I remember REAL old-school first person shooters, the ones where we ran around the backyard pointing sticks at each other going "pew pew" and arguing over who got hit first.

    I guess I should add "get off my lawn."