MacRumors

iFixit has already performed one of its traditional high-quality teardowns on the new 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro, noting that while those looking to repair their machines face many of the same challenges seen with the 15-inch model, there are a few changes that improve accessibility somewhat.

One of the most interesting changes relative to the larger model is a battery layout that leaves the area underneath the trackpad free of battery cells. In place of battery cells in that location, Apple has elected to mount the 13-inch model's flash storage, a move that allows access to the trackpad for replacement if necessary.

Another one of iFixit's major criticisms of the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro design was the glued-in battery cells that were found to be extremely difficult and time-consuming to remove without puncturing the cells. In the new 13-inch model, two of the six battery cells are housed in a metal tray that includes no adhesive, while the remaining four cells still required roughly 15 minutes of work to pry loose from the case.

The teardown of the 13-inch model otherwise yields few surprises compared to the larger 15-inch model, and the similar challenges of soldered RAM, proprietary screws, integrated display, and glued-in battery have led iFixit to award the 13-inch model a repairability score of 2 out of 10, one point higher than the 15-inch model.

Apple has posted a new television ad for the 13" MacBook Pro with Retina Display. The spot showcases a number of different Apple apps including Mail, Final Cut Pro, Aperture, and iTunes. The new machine is aimed at "the pro in all of us."

Introducing the new 13" MacBook Pro.

With the stunning Retina display.

For the pro in all of us.

Colocation data center Macminicolo has already gotten its hands on the new Mac mini, putting all three stock models through benchmarking tests and sharing initial impressions of the machines.

Geekbench results, which focus strictly on processor and memory performance, show a marginal increase in performance for the entry-level machine compared to the previous generation, with more substantial gains coming in the higher-end models tapping into quad-core Ivy Bridge processors. Early impressions of the latest models include:

- Don’t look now, but the new Mac minis are getting comparable to the last gen Xserve and 2010 Mac Pros as far as benchmarks. Tech progress marches on.
- All Mac minis now come standard with 4GB of RAM. Thank goodness. As of last week, the base Mac mini had 2GB of RAM and that was brutal with Mountain Lion.
- The Mac mini can officially be upgraded to 16GB now. It’s been possible for over a year, but it had to be done after ordering. Now, Apple offers the 16GB of RAM.
- The base mini is still i5, but the middle and high end minis are quad core i7 Ivy Bridge processors. That middle mini is the most interesting. Many customers prefer the quad core for things like an Xcode build server or for plenty of cores to spread between virtual machines. That $799 Mac mini is going to be very popular.
- The machines now come with 1600MHz DDR3 Memory. Seriously, 16GB of 1600MHz RAM in such a small machine. It’s really quite amazing.

Another colocation center, Mac Mini Vault, has also taken a look at the new Mac mini, noting that their machine arrived running a custom Build 12B2080 of OS X 10.8.1. The company also performed a quick teardown of the machine, noting that Apple has tweaked the fan design since last year's model and also made some changes to the wireless antennas.

MarketWatch reports that sites specializing in gadget resales saw tremendous spikes in iPad interest yesterday, with resale submissions rising 700-1000% as Apple was announcing the fourth-generation iPad and the new iPad mini.

Some 140,000 devices were put up for sale on Gazelle.com Tuesday – a 700% spike from the day before, says Anthony Scarsella, chief gadget officer at the site. Half of that increase occurred in the hours just before the announcement, he says – and the most common model put up for sale was the “new iPad” released just six months ago. Another resale site, NextWorth.com , reported that trade-ins for iPads rose over 1,000% on Tuesday.

Despite the fact that the new models are not launching until November 2, with cellular-capable models coming several weeks later, it seems that users already moving to unload their current devices in order to purchase the new latest models. According to the report, nearly 70% of resale submissions are for the third-generation iPad, with the 32 GB Wi-Fi model currently registering as the most popular resale at Gazelle.

For third-generation Wi-Fi iPads in "flawless" condition, Gazelle is currently offering $250/$300/$350 for the various capacities, giving consumers a substantial amount of money toward the purchase of one of the new models. Gazelle's offers are locked in for 30 days, allowing consumers submitting their resales now time to get at least a Wi-Fi model of either the fourth-generation iPad or new iPad mini before having to send back their current device. The flood of new offers is, however, likely to drive resale offer prices down as the sites seek to balance their stocks.

Note: Gazelle is presently an advertiser on MacRumors.

Earlier this month, we pointed to a new iPhone 5 Flash Lightning Dock from iPhone5mod.com, one of the first unauthorized Lightning-equipped products to surface on the market. At the time, iPhone5mod told us that it was using genuine Lightning connectors sourced from Apple's supplier, but noted that it also had cracked versions that were working properly.

The company is now pressing forward with its efforts to release accessories based on these unofficial Lightning connectors to the public, introducing a new Lightning to USB cable.

iPhone5mod's cable is priced at $9.90, nearly 50% less than the official $19 cable from Apple. Shipping for iPhone5mod's cable starts at $4 per item to the United States.

iPhone5mod tells us that orders will begin shipping on November 3.

The company has also introduced its own version of Apple's cabled Lightning to 30-pin Adapter. iPhone5mod's version is priced at $19.90 plus $4 shipping to the U.S., compared to Apple's $39 price tag.

Finally, iPhone5mod is launching what it calls a Lightning 3-in-1 Starter Kit Set, bundling a USB cable, 30-pin adapter, and a Lightning dock for $39.90 plus $7 shipping to the U.S.

Both items are currently being quoted 10-14 days processing time plus international shipment, which can take a fair amount of time at the cheapest rates.

A chip-level teardown of Apple's official Lightning cable has revealed that while the connector does require several chips to handle the dynamic assignment of the eight contact pins, it does not appear to contain any true authentication features to prevent unauthorized connections from being made. At best, a Texas Instruments chip found in the connector provides only basic security in the form of a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) to ensure data integrity.

Apple is reportedly keeping tight control over official Lightning connectors, and has yet to officially certify any third-party accessory company to manufacture Lightning products. Apple will be holding a conference with members of its MFi Program early next month to provide details on Lightning integration.

With pricing on Apple's new iPad mini starting at $329, some observers were disappointed that the company was unwilling or unable to launch the device at closer to $249 or even $299. With competing 7-inch Android tablets selling for closer to $199, some have felt that Apple has left too much of a pricing gap when consumers weigh their tablets purchasing decisions.

Reuters reports, however, that Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller was quick to defend the iPad mini's pricing yesterday based on what the company has seen with the full-size iPad.

"The iPad is far and away the most successful product in its category. The most affordable product we've made so far was $399 and people were choosing that over those devices," Schiller said.

"And now you can get a device that's even more affordable at $329 in this great new form, and I think a lot of customers are going to be very excited about that," Schiller said.

Several of Apple's tablet competitors, including Amazon and Google, are selling their products roughly at cost, preferring to make money on content, advertising, or other means associated with usage of their tablets. Apple, however, employs the opposite strategy in focusing on the hardware as its primary profit generator, making it difficult to match competitors on price. Still, many had hoped that Apple would be able to come a bit closer to its competitors' pricing.

AT&T today announced financial results for the third quarter of 2012, revealing that the carrier activated 4.7 million iPhones during the quarter, an increase of one million over the previous quarter as sales were buoyed by the iPhone 5 launch near the end of the period.

AT&T did not specifically break down iPhone 5 sales numbers, but did note that its overall postpaid sales numbers were impacted by "inventory constraints" on the device as Apple has struggled to keep up with demand.

Notably, the 4.7 million iPhone activations represented roughly 77% of AT&T's total smartphone sales of 6.1 million during the quarter, showing that Apple continues to dominate AT&T's smartphone customer base. And with smartphones overall rising to account for 81% of AT&T's sales on a postpaid basis, the iPhone represented 62% of AT&T's sales of all phones (smartphones and feature phones) to those customers.

AT&T sold 6.1 million smartphones in the third quarter, 1.3 million more than in the third quarter a year ago. Smartphones represented 81 percent of postpaid device sales. At the end of the quarter, 63.8 percent, or 44.5 million, of AT&T's postpaid subscribers had smartphones, up from 52.6 percent, or 36.1 million, a year earlier and up 1.4 milion from the second quarter. [...]

In the quarter, the company activated 4.7 million iPhones, with 18 percent new to AT&T. The company also had its best-ever sales quarter for Android and Windows smartphones.

Verizon last week also announced healthy iPhone sales for the third quarter, although it too was impacted by supply constraints on the iPhone 5. Sprint will be the third and final major U.S. iPhone carrier to report earnings tomorrow morning, with Apple releasing its official numbers after the close of trading tomorrow.

Apple has posted the Jony Ive introduction video for the iPad mini. As is typical for Apple product launch events, the video gives a behind-the-scenes look at the development the iPad mini. Both Jony Ive and iPad product marketing head Michael Tchao make appearances.

If all that we had done was take the original iPad and just reduce it, all that you would be aware of was everything that was just missing. There is inherent loss in just reducing a product in size.

What we did, was we went back to the very beginning and we took the time to design a product that was a concentration of, and not a reduction of, the original. We felt strongly that 7.9 inches was exactly the right display size, but it became clear that we had to reduce the width of the borders. So, you can still pick it up and easily use it with one hand.

Apple has also posted a new television ad for the iPad mini that features colorful Smart Covers dancing around the screen. The ad is reminiscent of the 'Colors' iMac ad from 1999 that featured spinning iMacs set to the Rolling Stones song "She's A Rainbow".

Apple has posted a video of the iPad mini media event on its website. The video is also available on the Apple Keynotes Podcast on the iTunes Store. [Podcast links: Keynotes, Keynotes in HD, Keynotes in 1080p HD]

Other iPad mini special event highlights:

- Apple Introduces New 7.9-Inch iPad Mini Starting at $329
- Apple Announces Fourth-Generation iPad with Lightning Connector, New A6X Chip
- Apple Announces Lighter, Thinner iMac Models with Fusion Drive
- Apple Introduces 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display
- Apple Introduces New Mac Mini With Faster Processors and Quad-Core Option

- First Impressions and Hands On with iPad Mini
- Hands On with Apple's New 13-Inch Retina MacBook Pro

- Some Apple Retail Stores Offering 30-Day Window to Exchange iPads for New Model
- Apple's New 'Fusion Drive' Not a Typical Hybrid Drive
- iPad Mini Supports Siri, iPad 2 Still Doesn't
- Apple Devices to Support Many New International LTE Networks In Coming Months
- 21.5" iMac Has No User-Upgradable RAM; 27" Has Four Accessible RAM Slots
- Apple Announces Updated iBooks App With Continuous Scrolling
- Apple Updates iBooks Author with New Templates and Remote Update Feature

Today, Apple released a major update to Final Cut Pro X that was promised back in April. The initial launch of Final Cut Pro X was met with significant criticism due to a lack of many features found in earlier versions of the software. Apple responded to the concerns with promises of updates.

In April, Apple even revealed many features that could be expected in Final Cut Pro X in 2012. These included Multichannel Audio Editing Tools, Dual Viewers, MXF Plug-in Support and RED camera support.

That version update was released today and includes a number of long awaited features:

➜ Click here to read rest of article...

Amongst the many new products Apple introduced today, they also announced a new storage option called Fusion Drive. Apple's website describes how the drive works:

With Fusion Drive in your iMac, disk-intensive tasks — from booting up to launching apps to importing photos — are faster and more efficient. That’s because frequently used items are kept at the ready on speedy flash storage, while infrequently accessed items go to the hard drive. The file transfers take place in the background, so you won’t even notice.

Some thought the drive might be Apple's implementation of a Hybrid drive which uses SSD as a caching system, but it appears that Apple's system is distinct. The MacObserver digs into some details and clarifies:

To be clear, this is not a caching concept, at least not in the current use of the word. Cache would imply that the data on the SSD is duplicated, and it's not. If you have a 1TB mechanical drive paired with the 128GB SSD, you have a 1.12 TB storage platform. This truly is the fusion of all the space on two separate disks.

Ars Technica compares it to an enterprise feature called Automated Tiered Storage.

In a caching solution, like Intel's, files live on the hard disk drive and are temporarily mirrored to the SSD cache as needed. In an enterprise auto-tiering situation, and with Fusion Drive, the data is actually moved from one tier to another, rather than only being temporarily cached there.

The Mac Observer reports that there are two separate drives that appear as one logical partition. As a result, if your Hard Drive fails, it could be replaced with a 3rd party drive and reconfigured as a Fusion Drive.

Meanwhile, they note that all writes take place on the SSD drive, and are later moved to the mechanical drive if needed, resulting in faster initial writes. The Fusion will be available for the new iMac and new Mac mini models announced today.

With Apple's introduction of the fourth-generation iPad today, some recent purchasers of the third-generation model may be feeling somewhat disappointed that their new devices have been supplanted by an unexpectedly short upgrade cycle. CNET reports, however, that those who purchased their iPads within the past 30 days may be able to exchange their devices for new models at their local Apple Stores.

The manager at the Stockton Street store in San Francisco explained that "this specific store" would allow purchasers of the third-generation iPad to exchange their device for the fourth-generation iPad if purchased within the last 30 days. She emphasized that, unless the recently-purchased iPad showed serious signs of wear-and-tear, the usual 14-day return policy would be waived.

"And what about other stores?" You'll have to call and find out. She explained, "We can't speak to other stores' policies -- this is something our store has decided to do."

The report suggests that the extended return window is not an official company policy and thus customers may find spotty adherence to it, but stores generally have some flexibility in allowing returns considering certain circumstances, and with any luck some recent iPad customers may find themselves able to upgrade to the latest model without penalty.

Following the introduction of the new 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro at its media event, Apple invited attendees to spend some time with the machine. Overall, the early hands-on impressions are favorable, with the reduction in thickness and weight making a significant difference for professionals on the go, but the high price tag associated with the Retina display and solid-state storage mean that it likely won't quite be able to inherit the non-Retina model's popularity just yet.

Engadget:

For starters, it's wildly thin. No, not manilla envelope thin, but thin enough to slip into most briefcases and backpacks without the consumer even noticing. Outside of that, it's mostly a shrunken version of the 15-incher let loose over the summer. The unibody design is as tight as ever, with the fit and finish continuing to impress. In my estimation, this is Apple's most deliberate move yet to differentiate the 13-inch MacBook Pro from the 13-inch MacBook Air.

TechCrunch:

It’s clear that Apple wants this new version of its top-performer to take over as a product that redefines the laptop category, and judging by limited hands-on experience, there’s good reason to believe they’ll eventually get their wish, though not just yet. [..]

As for how it performed, it was very much like using the 15-inch rMBP, which is my main machine currently. In the hand, however, it feels significantly lighter, at about a pound lighter than the bigger model. That’s a big difference for a machine you carry around with you all day, and alone might sway some users, price considerations aside.

SlashGear:

Freshly announced today, and falling under our eager fingers straight after Apple’s San Jose launch event, the new notebook follows the successful route of its bigger brother. Gone is the optical drive, in comes the super-high-resolution screen, and wide open pop our wallets.

The screen size may be smaller – and lower resolution, too, at 2560 x 1600, though for an overall higher pixel density of 227ppi – but actually the 13-inch model is slightly thicker, at 0.75-inches. In contrast, the 15-inch Retina version is 0.71-inches thick. You don’t really notice the difference, however, and the advantage in weight, with near a full pound dropped, more than makes up for it.

The Verge:

The resolution settings for the display are just like the larger MacBook Pro — but the maximum allowed resolution is 1680 x 1050, unlike the 1920 x 1080 setting offered on the 15-inch model. Still, 1680 x 1050 is a tremendous option on a display of this size, though at the "best for Retina" setting the screen offers an effective 1280 x 800. If you've been using a 15-inch MacBook Pro for the screen size, the 13-inch just got a ton more attractive.