Apple Spruces up Mac Line, Details Upgraded Operating System
Apple made good on its big tease: A new, thinner MacBook Air is on the way, as well as an upgraded operating system.
A week ago, the company sent invitations to reporters and bloggers displaying a large Apple logo opening like a door to reveal the image of a lion. Apple-watchers picked up on the obvious clue: Apple has named previous versions of OS X after large felines - including Snow Leopard, the most recent edition, as well as older iterations, such as Leopard, Tiger and Panther.
So it was today that Apple announced a new version of its operating system, called Mac OS X Lion, that will include a store for Mac software. It's similar to the iTunes store that sells apps for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. It also launched a couple of two new MacBook Air ultralight laptops.
"What would happen if a MacBook met an iPad?" asked CEO Steve Jobs during a press conference this morning at the company's Cupertino, Calif., headquarters. "It's our new MacBook Air and we think it's the future of notebooks."
At .68 inches at its thickest point - it tapers to 11 inches - the unit weighs 2.9 pounds. It features a full-size keyboard and full-size glass trackpad. The new Mac has a 13.3 inch LED backlit display, 1440 x 900 pixels (more pixels than on the 15-inch MacBook Pro), a Core 2 Duo processor, Nvidia GeForce 320m graphics, and a FaceTime camera. Jobs said the unit offers 7 hours of battery life during wireless Web use.
The MacBook Air will not read CDs or DVDs. Similarly, it does not include a hard disk drive. Instead, it uses all flash memory, like the iPhone does.
Although Apple has traditionally spruced up its computers once a year, the company had not released any updates to the MacBook Air since June 2009. Heading into today's announcement, speculation had focused on a smaller version of the existing model. The other widely-speculated move had been the addition of touch screen.
Apple also announced an 11.6 inch version, which weighs in at 2.3 pounds. It includes the same specifications as the larger version, but offers 1366 x 768 resolution. Apple says it will have 5 hours of battery life with wireless Web use.
The new price starts at $999. That's for the 11-inch model with 64GB of memory; $1,199 buys 128GB. The 13-inch unit will list for $1,299 for 128GB, $1,599 for 256Gb. Both units are available starting today./p>
OS X
Apple also offered an early look at its updated operating system - nicknamed "Lion," - which includes a bevy of new or improved features. Among other things, it updates the company's iLife suite of multimedia products. Also, Apple is adding FaceTime video chat. Until now, that feature was found only on the iPhone.
"We've had seven major releases of Mac OS X in the last decade," Jobs said as he offered a preview of the 8th major version of its OS. "I don't think anyone can match that track record." Lion, which Apple plans to ship in summer 2011, will include a Mac App Store with one-click downloads for both free and paid applications. The Mac App Store is going to be available on Snow Leopard 90 days from today.
The latest release of OS X Apple also offers a unified view called "Mission Control" that lets users see everything running on their Mac. A full screen grid pops up with the apps, much like on an iPad or iPhone layout on the home screen, allowing someone to flick through to see different pages of Apps. It also allows for the creation of folders like in iOS, where you grab and hold one app over another to create a folder.
iLife Suite Update
Apple reworked its iLife suite, which includes programs for photo management and movie editing. Photo 11 has some changes. Now there are new full screen modes, with more Facebook enhancements, easier to e-mail photos, new slideshows, and a "big leap in books," according to Jobs. You can also make letterpress cards in iPhoto 11. (The timing comes just as Microsoft has just refreshed its rival collection Windows Live Essentials.) iLife 11 is free with every new Mac and $49 to upgrade from your existing Mac.
One new feature - a map zooming function - lets users click on a push pin and see all their photos from that location. There's also a new "Places" slideshow theme that uses pictures popping up over a map to tell a story.
Another feature lets users flag photos in an album. Selecting and clicking a share button creates an automatic album that can get put into an e-mail. A user can then change the arrangement of the photos directly in the e-mail.
Apple also included a new view in iPhoto called Project View. It's a book shelf that displays your past albums or photos you've made into books or cards.
Your Own Movie Trailer
The company also announced changes to FinalCut Pro. In detailing the tweaks, Jobs said Apple was striving for more sophisticated editing but a simpler implementation "so mere mortals who don't want to learn FinalCut Pro" can use it.
iMovie 11 will now have audio effects. Users also will be able to select scenes and choose "instant replay" from the Clip menu. An instant-replay title will be automatically added to the video. At the same time, you will also be make your own movie trailer, choosing from a menu of templates with features such as titles, fade ins, effects and sounds.
(The face detection function that Mac users can access in iPhoto will now work in iMovie as well)
Just to make sure the media didn't miss his message, Jobs hailed iMovie 11 as "a real breakthrough."
GarageBand
For newbies trying to learn to play a musical instrument, GarageBand includes new lessons as well as a new function that corrects mistakes in when you're playing along with the lesson. Red pops up when you missed notes, yellow where your timing was off. It also keeps a running score of your performance.
FaceTime
FaceTime is coming to the Mac. In the four months since it was unveiled on the iPhone and iPod Touch, Apple has shipped FaceTime out on 19 million devices. But Jobs said that "the No. 1 request we've gotten has been can we do FaceTime calling to the Mac."
In FaceTime for the Mac, the software takes your selected contact from an address list, and then initiates a call to another Mac, iPhone 4, or iPod Touch. (CNET's reporters at the event said their first impression was that the reception was much better than the demo Apple gave at its worldwide developer conference earlier this year.)
Mac Sales
CEO Tim Cook, who shared the stage with Jobs, pointed out that that the Mac grew 27 percent last quarter - 2.5 times the growth in the rest of the PC market. He said this marks the 18th quarter in a row the Mac has outgrown the market. During its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended on Sept. 25, Apple sold more iPad tablets than it did Mac computers.
"That's $22 billion," Cook noted, adding that if it were its own company) the Mac business would be No. 110 on the Fortune 500. "We have no plans to do that," he quipped.
Cook also disclosed that Apple's retail stores now are visited by 75 million people worldwide - half of whom buy Macs in the stores for the first time.