MacRumors

Following the release of the Mac Pro, a quick teardown by Other World Computing (OWC) revealed that the tower's Intel Xeon E5 processor was socketed and removable, theoretically allowing for future upgrades. All CPUs in the Mac Pro were found to use the same LGA 2011 socket standardized on the Mac Pro's motherboard.

Today OWC confirmed that the Mac Pro's processor is indeed upgradeable, successfully replacing the default Intel E5–1650 V2 6-core 3.50Ghz processor with an Intel E5–2667 V2 8-core 3.30GHz processor with 25MB of L3 cache, an option not offered by Apple. The upgraded processor gave OWC's machine a 30 percent multi-processor performance boost, outperforming Apple's standard 8-core option with a Geekbench score of 27004 vs. 24429.

With a replaceable CPU, customers can purchase more affordable lower-configuration Mac Pros that can be updated in the future as processor prices drop. Prices for multi-core processors today remain high, with the CPU OWC used from Intel priced at $2000. Apple's own CPU upgrade options range in price from $500 to $3500. Based on the 3.7Ghz quad-core Intel Xeon E5 with 10MB of L3 cache, pricing from Apple is as follows:

- 3.5GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon E5 with 12MB of L3 cache: +$500
- 3.0GHz 8-core Intel Xeon E5 with 25MB of L3 cache: +$2000
- 2.7GHz 12-core Intel Xeon E5 with 30MB of L3 cache: +$3500

The upgradeable CPU in the Mac Pro is a deviation from standard practice for Apple, with most consumer-oriented Macs featuring soldered processors. Along with a removable CPU, Mac Pro buyers are also able to upgrade memory and other components. In a recent teardown, iFixit gave the Mac Pro a repairability score of 8 out of 10, highlighting the easily accessible internal components and the non-proprietary screws.

Apple's Mac Pro is currently available exclusively through the online Apple Store. Due to low supply and high demand, new orders are not expected to ship until February or later, but customers who placed orders shortly after the computer went on sale have begun receiving units.

Corning has announced a new shaped Gorilla Glass product to offer glass solutions for curved devices like smart watches. Corning is one of Apple's main suppliers for the glass in the iPhone and iPad, and, with Apple rumored to have a smart watch production the works, Corning's new product would make for a logical source component for the new device.

Product design continues to drive the consumer electronics industry. More than half of the top 10 smartphone manufacturers already market devices that incorporate cover glass with subtle curves, and the demand for even more-dramatic form factors is increasing. Corning’s 3D-forming technology meets this demand and expands the design possibilities for industrial designers.

The relationship with GTOC allows Corning to provide a “one-roof” solution. “We can now take Gorilla Glass all the way from flat sheet to a finished 3D-shaped product in Asia, expediting turnaround times and minimizing logistical complexity,” said James R. Steiner, senior vice president and general manager, Corning Specialty Materials. "That’s a win for Corning and our customers."

Apple has used curved glass in some of its products in the past, most notably in a previous generation iPod nano. There have been a number of rumors about Apple developing curved glass iPhones, most recently in November when Bloomberg said Apple would release 4.7" and 5.5" iPhones next fall with slightly curved screens.

As it was during last year's Consumer Electronics Show, wearable technology, in the form of a variety of smart watches, fitness trackers and even smart glasses, will be a major focus of CES 2014, which is slated to begin next week.

This year, CES will feature an all new TechZone exhibit called "WristRevolution," featuring smart watches (both already released and upcoming) from a wide array of companies highlighted by PCWorld, including Kronoz, Cookoo, Sonostar, Metawatch, Archos, Burg, and Pine. Major companies like Qualcomm and Sony will also exhibit smart watches, as will seasoned veteran Pebble.

Some of the watches, like the Cookoo, offer notifications and more bundled in a standard watch style design, while other products, like the Sonostar, carry a more futuristic wraparound design. Some, like the Kronoz, allow users to answer calls directly on their wrists, and others, like the Pine, also include biometric sensors for measuring heart rate.

Witness the unveiling of next generation tech wearables. The all-new WristRevolution TechZone at the 2014 CES is where style, sensors and connectivity intersect. From customizable and downloadable watch faces to internet-connectivity and app-based programs, the standard wristwatch transforms into a GPS, music player, health monitor, alert and message indicator and more. The WristRevolution TechZone will showcase the latest developments and discoveries for the next wave of advancement for this pocket-sized tech.

Smart watches have soared in popularity over the course of 2013, following the release of the Pebble Smart Watch and an onslaught of rumors about Apple's smart "iWatch," inspiring companies like Samsung to launch their own smart watch offerings.

Along with smart watches, wearable activity trackers like the Fitbit, the Jawbone UP, and the Nike FuelBand are expected to be a popular exhibition category at CES. The show will see old favorites from companies like Fitbit and Basis, showing off their newest offerings the Fitbit Force and the Carbon Steel Basis Tracker, respectively, as well as newer devices like the Lifeband Touch from LG.

Spurred by the popularity of Google Glass, several companies will show off smart glasses, with Epson, Vuzix, GlassUp, and more exhibiting various smart eyewear products. GlassUp, like Google Glass, is designed to allow wearers to view incoming notifications like emails, text messages, app updates, and more, but it is far more simple than Google Glass, lacking key features like a camera.

Wearables that don't fall into other categories, like the MYO armband, will be exhibited as well. First introduced last year, the MYO armband is designed to detect motion and muscle movements, allowing its users to control a Mac, PC, or other device through gestures. The Kiwi Move, a small motion-tracking dongle, works similarly to an activity tracker but can be worn anywhere, while the Lumo is a back brace designed to sense and correct posture. Intel has also promised to unveil some non-specific "innovative wearables" during CES.

Wearable technology will also veer into some radical new arenas at CES, with i4c debuting VOYCE, a wearable monitor designed for dogs. The collar, which includes a number of biometric sensors, measures vital signs.

In addition to the above mentioned products, many other wearable surprises are expected to debut at CES this year, skyrocketing wearable technology to a new level of popularity. CES 2014 will take place from Tuesday, January 7 to Friday, January 10 in Las Vegas.

Apple has begun shipping custom configured Mac Pro units to customers according to MacRumors Forum members, some two weeks after stock configurations began arriving just before Christmas.

According to several posters on the MacRumors forums, a number of custom configured models have seen their order status change to "Preparing for Shipping", which typically happens one day before an actual shipment. A couple have even seen their machines actually ship, with some expected to arrive as soon as today.

Stock configurations ordered early on launch day have been shipping more consistently, while custom orders have seen longer delays.

Separately, Electronista reported earlier this week that Apple may not have sufficient Mac Pro units to stock its Apple Stores until March or April. Currently, customers are being advised to order units online and they will ship when available -- estimated ship times for the Mac Pro are currently targeted to February.

Apple's in-demand new Mac Pro will not be available to in store customers until as late as March or April. The information was supplied to us by an Apple Australia business sales specialist who also advised that they are being told to direct customers to the online channel as it the only way that customers can currently secure a new Mac Pro -- the advice also applies to those who may have already placed an order on a unit in store. Apple's online store is still showing that Mac Pros ordered now will not ship until sometime in February at the earliest. The only Mac Pro units to have reached some Apple Stores are demonstrator units and this is not expected to change for some months.

Mac Pro models still show an "available to ship" estimate of February on the U.S. Apple Online Store, while Mac Pro units appear to be out-of-stock at all Apple Retail Stores.

Update: One customer whose build-to-order Mac Pro shipped on December 31 has received the order today.

Over the past year, T-Mobile US has been shaking up the U.S. carrier market with its "Un-carrier" plans, the addition of the iPhone to its device lineup, and a frequent device upgrade program, enticing several other major carriers to make changes to their own services to align with T-Mobile's offerings.

Going beyond recent moves to uncouple device and service costs as T-Mobile has done, AT&T today announced that it is offering up to $450 in credits for customers switching to the carrier from T-Mobile. The offer consists of two parts: up to $250 for trading in their current smartphone as part of the carrier's usual trade-in plan and an additional $200 for transferring their wireless service to AT&T.

Beginning Jan. 3, under the limited-time offer, T-Mobile customers who switch to AT&T can trade-in their current smartphone for a promotion card of up to $250, which can be used toward AT&T products and services. Trade-in values will vary based on make, model and age of the smartphone, but many of the latest and most popular smartphones will qualify for a value of $250. T-Mobile customers can receive an additional $200 credit per line when they transfer their wireless service to AT&T and choose an AT&T NextSM plan, buy a device at full retail price or activate a device they currently own.

Last month, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson noted that the long-standing U.S. wireless business model of carriers providing device subsidies in exchange for service contracts is no longer economically feasible. By uncoupling device costs from service, carriers believe they can offer customers more flexibility when it comes to deciding about device upgrades while still allowing customers to spread out their significant hardware costs through payment plans.

Following last year's series of Un-carrier announcements from T-Mobile, the company is set to announce the next stage of its program next week at CES. Details have yet to surface, but hints and rumors have suggested that the carrier may be making some changes to encourage family plan users to switch carriers, perhaps through subsidizing early termination fees imposed by other carriers.

The future of T-Mobile does, however, remain up in the air, as parent company Deutsche Telekom has been looking to exit the U.S. market. Following a failed attempt by AT&T to acquire T-Mobile US in 2011, Sprint has been reported to be mulling its own offer for T-Mobile that could allow the combined carrier to rival the much larger Verizon and AT&T.

Update: In an email to Re/code, T-Mobile CEO John Legere calls AT&T's new offer a "desperate move".

“This is a desperate move by AT&T on the heels of what must have been a terrible Q4 and holiday for them,” Legere said in an e-mail to Re/code. “Consumers won’t be fooled… nothing has changed, customers will still feel the same old pain that AT&T is famous for. Just wait until CES to hear what pain points we are eliminating next. The competition is going to be toast!” [...]

“We used AT&T’s cash to build a far superior network and added ‘un-carrier’ moves to take tons of their customers – and now they want to bribe them back,” Legere said. “I’m flattered that we have made them so uncomfortable!”

Update 2: T-Mobile has published a similar version of Legere's statement.

Next week's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) will feature a promotional iBeacon-based scavenger hunt, according to a press release issued today by the Consumer Electronics Association.

Attendees to the conference will be able to use the CES Mobile apps for iOS and Android to explore various areas of the show, collecting badges for each iBeacon that is encountered. The first three players to collect all of the iBeacon badges will be rewarded with prizes that include tablets, fitness bands, and more.

For the CES scavenger hunt, the Consumer Electronics Association is teaming up with several companies, including Radius Networks, which provides an iBeacon platform for mobile apps.

"This is one of the coolest proximity-aware apps we have worked on," said Marc Wallace, CEO and cofounder of Radius Networks. "This is also one of the first, tangible applications that leverages iBeacon technology. And it is a great example of how iBeacon technology is not just about advertising as it is about bringing new and innovative solutions to the marketplace. We are very excited to be a part of it."

First introduced in mid–2013 at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference, iBeacons are low-energy transmitters designed to interact with iOS devices that support Bluetooth LE. Physical beacons are able to send notifications to iPhones and iPads when within 100 feet of a device, offering up an array of location-based information like product details, maps, and more.

Thus far, iBeacon technology has been implemented in Apple retail locations to provide additional product information to visiting customers with the Apple Store app installed. It's also been used in a collaboration between Macy's and Shopkick, installed in a cafe to provide on-site Newsstand publications, and Major League Baseball has plans to integrate the technology into various stadiums in the future.

Apple today released an Environmental Report [PDF] on its newly introduced Mac Pro, detailing the greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency, and material efficiency of the company’s professional workstation.

According to the report, the Mac Pro uses power-efficient components that utilize less than half the allowable energy limit of the ENERGY STAR requirements for computers. It also uses 68 percent less power in idle mode than the previous generation Mac Pro, released in 2010.

Because one of the largest portions of product-related greenhouse gas emissions results from actual use, energy efficiency is a key part of each product’s design. Apple products use power-efficient components and software that can intelligently power them down during periods of inactivity. The result is that Mac Pro is energy efficient right out of the box.

Apple states that the Mac Pro's "ultracompact product and packaging designs" are at the forefront of the industry in terms of material efficiency and that its component makeup contains large amounts of aluminum and copper, which are desired by recyclers. The Mac Pro contains 3660 grams of aluminum and steel, 715 grams of copper, and 270 grams of plastics and uses 74 percent less aluminum than the previous Mac Pro.

Mac Pro packaging has also become more efficient, with current retail packaging using 82 percent less volume than packaging for the previous generation Mac Pro, which also allows for three times more units to fit in a single airline shipping container.

Finally, Apple clarifies that all of its products, including the Mac Pro, comply with and exceed the European Directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment, avoiding hazardous substances like brominated flame retardants and offering PVC-free internal cables and a PVC-free AC power cord in most regions.

Apple maintains detailed reports on its environmental responsibility, producing progress reports on its environmental impact each year. Recently, the company hired former EPA chief Lisa Jackson to head its environmental and sustainability efforts and it has also made efforts to create data centers that use 100 percent renewable energy.

The Mac Pro is the first Mac in many years to be manufactured in the United States, providing more than 2,000 jobs across 20 states. The computer is produced in Austin, Texas, in partnership with Flextronics.

Apple's iPhone was the only smartphone to gain mobile web traffic share in North America during the holidays, according to a new report from analytics firm Chitika, suggesting that the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c were popular with consumers over the holiday season.

The iPhone saw a 1.8 percent jump in web traffic from the period between December 20 and December 29, while other smartphone manufacturers experienced no gains or a slight loss in traffic share. Overall, the iPhone has a 54.3 percent share of total mobile web traffic, far above its closest competitor Samsung, which has a 23.7 percent share.

Despite its minor share loss, the iPad remains the most popular tablet, comprising 76.1 percent of all mobile web traffic in North America. Apple's closest competitor, Amazon, has a 9.4 percent share, while Microsoft and Samsung come in at 2.3 and 5.9 percent.

Mobile web traffic usage numbers have changed little over the course of the last year, with iOS devices continuing to dominate Android devices. In a report from late 2012, Chitika noted that iOS had an overall usage share of 67 percent, while Android had a 33 percent share.

Apple's mobile web traffic dominance was also confirmed by a recent report from IBM, indicating the majority of online shopping from mobile devices during the Christmas holiday was done by iOS users rather than Android users. 23 percent of total online sales on Christmas in the U.S. were made from iOS devices, while just 4.6 percent were made from Android devices.

To gather its data, Chitika used its Chitika network ad impressions, analyzing data from millions of smartphone and tablet users in both the United States and Canada. An ad impression was measured each time an individual user loaded a page containing Chitika ad code, giving an impression of overall web usage rather than a measurement of unique users.

While Apple's long-rumored "iWatch" may be one of the products to look for in 2014, several rumors have suggested that the device is unlikely to launch until the latter half of the year as the company works to address technical challenges.

A new report from DigiTimes claims that one of those issues involves surface finish treatments for the body of the device, with both Apple and Qualcomm searching for ways to improve the look of chassis parts made using metal injection molding (MIM) methods.

Several wearable devices such as Apple's iWatch and Qualcomm's Toq are reportedly seeing less than 50% yield rates due to difficulties applying surface treatments on their metal injection molded (MIM) chassis, according to sources from the upstream supply chain. [...]

MIM-made components used to be used inside products, but as the components are now becoming part of the external design, surface treatments have become an important process for the look of products.

Metal injection molding may sound very similar to what Apple is trying to achieve with Liquidmetal alloys, but there are distinct differences between the technologies, with MIM involving powdered metals that are combined with binder materials and placed into molds before being heated to very high temperatures to solidify while Liquidmetal alloys are heated to a molten state before being formed using molds and allowed to cool.

Liquidmetal Technologies argues that its alloys and processes offer significant advantages over MIM, including greater precision in molding shapes while offering higher strength, hardness, elasticity, and corrosion resistance than with typical metals. But while MIM is an established production process, Liquidmetal technology remains under development and its inventors have indicated that it will still be several years before it it can be used to produce major parts for Apple's products.

Apple Stores across Japan have today begun selling different configurations of the Fukubukuro, or "lucky bag", giving customers the chance to purchase a random assortment of products sold at a steep discount, reports Japanese blog Mac Otakara [Google Translate].

This year's lucky bags, which sell for 36,000 yen, or $345, come in four different configurations with certain items appearing in every bag, including a t-shirt commemorating the event, an Incase City Collection Compact Backpack in a special red color, and a Mophie Juice Pack PowerStation Mini with a design to match the grab bag.

Different items between the bundles however differ greatly, with one configuration of the bag offering a 11-inch MacBook Air with a Power Support Air Jacket, an Apple Magic Mouse, and a Beats by Dre Pill Bluetooth speaker, and another variant of the bag offering a Wi-Fi only iPad Air with Smart Cover, Nike+ FuelBand SE, Phillips Hue Starter Kit, and Square Reader.

The other two versions of the lucky bags are highlighted by the inclusion of either a non-Retina iPad Mini or 7th generation iPod nano, with items such as the Jaybirds BlueBuds X Bluetooth headphones, the IZON View remote camera, and a Logicool (known as Logitech in the U.S.) Ultimate Ears Mobile Boombox as well.

Apple's grab bags are sold as is, and returns are not accepted unless a product is found to be defective. Still, the bags have been quick sellers on previous occasions, with many people lining up the night before to get their hands on a bag.

As with past years, Apple's Lucky Bag promotion is limited to customers of Apple retail locations in Japan, though other countries, like China, may see the same traditional Apple Store sales during the new year.

In its lengthy review of the new Mac Pro, AnandTech discovered that the Mac Pro's current support for 4K monitors leaves something to be desired. The reviewer connected the Sharp 32" 4K display that Apple currently offers on the Apple Online Store, expecting that OS X work the same way on that panel as Apple's current Retina MacBook Pro models do.

On those machines, Apple renders the screen at full resolution but then renders text, menu and UI elements at 4x their normal resolution so they are the appropriate physical size for the user. It also offers multiple options to scale UI elements up or down as the user prefers. Instead, using the Sharp panel with the Mac Pro makes text and other on-screen elements -- aside from photos and video -- very small and difficult to read.

I was fully expecting all of this to be available on the Mac Pro when connected to a 32” 4K display. By default, there’s only a single supported scaled resolution: 2560 x 1440. Unfortunately it doesn’t look like Apple is running the same supersampling routines when you pick this resolution, instead you get a 2560 x 1440 desktop scaled up to 3840 x 2160 (rather than a 5120 x 2880 screen scaled down). The result is a bit of a blurry mess.

You can use tools like SwitchResX (or Quartz Debug or the necessary Terminal command) to enable a 1080p HiDPI mode, but then you end up with insanely low point density of around 68 PPI. Unfortunately it doesn’t appear to be possible to define your own HiDPI modes in OS X, you have to rely on those that Apple officially supports. I tried creating a 5120 x 2880 (2560 x 1440 HiDPI) mode but I couldn't get it working under Mavericks. I'm not sure if I was limited by the OS or if Sharp's EDID-specified max resolution of 3840 x 2160 prevented OS X from accepting what I was trying to do.

AnandTech also tried the new Dell UltraSharp 24 Ultra HD display but found that the display is not properly supported by the Mac Pro.

The reviewer calls OS X's 4K display support "a bit like the wild west at this point", though he anticipates Apple will fix things with both software updates and its own displays in the future -- but urges early adopters to be aware of what they're getting into.

I am disappointed that Apple didn’t enable any HiDPI modes on the 32” Sharp display. While I found 3840 x 2160 a great resolution for video work, for everything else it made on-screen menus and text a bit too small. I would love to see a 2560 x 1440 HiDPI option (rendering offscreen at 5120 x 2880 and but scaling down to 3840 x 2160 for display) but it looks like I may have to wait for Apple’s own display before I get something like that.

It's been two years since Apple has updated its standalone display lineup, and the company is expected to come out with new models sooner rather than later. However, there are no concrete rumors suggesting when such an update might happen.

Anandtech today published its comprehensive review of the Mac Pro, including a price comparison between the Mac Pro and similar systems from competitors HP and Lenovo.

When comparing the entry-level 3.7GHz quad-core Mac Pro with dual AMD FirePro D300s to both the similarly specced HP Z420 and the Lenovo ThinkStation S30, Anandtech found the Mac Pro to be competitively priced at $3248 (priced with AppleCare) vs. $4490 for the HP and $4373 for the Lenovo.

While there are some important distinctions between the computers, such as the fact that the HP system only offers a single FirePro W7000 and supports more displays, the pricing experiment suggests that Apple's pricing is in line with other Ivy Bridge EP systems.

As I learned last time, there are typically some hefty discounts associated with workstation orders so take this pricing with a grain of salt. I also had to fudge the HP numbers a bit as I can only get a single FirePro W7000 in the Z420 configuration - I just doubled the W7000 adder in order to simulate what a theoretical dual GPU version would cost. There are other imbalances between the comparison (HP supports more displays, Apple features more Thunderbolt 2 ports, FirePro W7000 features ECC GDDR5, etc…), but the point here is to see if Apple's pricing is out of touch with reality. It's not.

While Apple's pricing is competitive with similar PCs from HP and Lenovo, AnandTech found that building a comparative PC from individual parts was far less expensive, at least for lower-end systems. Pricing out an option with an Ivy Bridge E Core i7 PC with 12GB of RAM, two FirePro W7000 GPUs, and a fast SATA SSD came to $2730, a good bit less than the approximately $3499 a similar lower-end Mac Pro would cost from Apple.

AnandTech did not price out a higher-end DIY system, but earlier this month, FutureLooks attempted to build a PC equal to the top-of-the-line 12-core Mac Pro with 64GB of RAM, 1TB of flash storage, and Dual AMD FirePro D700 GPUs. Using similar parts (several Mac Pro parts – like the FirePro GPUs – were built exclusively for Apple) a PC equivalent to the high-end Mac Pro was actually priced at $11530.54, far above Apple's asking price of $9599 for its professional workstation.

AnandTech's full review, which includes benchmarks comparing the Mac Pro to previous Mac Pros and other offerings from Apple as well as comments on 4K displays, is well worth reading.

Yesterday, it was reported that the National Security Agency was able to capture live data from compromised iPhones including live camera, GPS, cell tower location and more.

Apple has now issued a statement denying that it ever cooperated with the NSA, according to AllThingsD.

Apple has never worked with the NSA to create a backdoor in any of our products, including iPhone. Additionally, we have been unaware of this alleged NSA program targeting our products. We care deeply about our customers’ privacy and security. Our team is continuously working to make our products even more secure, and we make it easy for customers to keep their software up to date with the latest advancements. Whenever we hear about attempts to undermine Apple’s industry-leading security, we thoroughly investigate and take appropriate steps to protect our customers. We will continue to use our resources to stay ahead of malicious hackers and defend our customers from security attacks, regardless of who’s behind them.

According to yesterday's report, the NSA could install special software onto iPhones as part of a program called DROPOUTJEEP, that provides significant access to user data and other relevant information. The leaked documents describing the program were from 2008, so it is unknown how effective the NSA's current iPhone efforts are.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.