Apple may have accidentally leaked new MacBook Pro 2016

Apple gave the world its first-ever peek inside Jony Ive’s super-secret design studio last night on 60 Minutes, but eagle-eyed Apple fans think the company may have revealed more than it intended.

During a very brief shot, taken during Apple’s weekly leadership meeting, a MacBook is seen in the background behind Apple’s general counsel Bruce Sewell that some speculate could be the upcoming 15-inch MacBook Pro.

See for yourself below:

The MacBook display behind Sewell looks larger than the new 12-inch MacBook. The body isn’t as thick as the current 15-inch MacBook Pro model, and the bezel’s margins look thinner than any model we’ve seen. It also sports a Jupiter wallpaper that Apple’s been using to promote the iPad Pro.

It is an out-of-focus shot, though, so the most likely explanation is that it’s simply a regular space gray MacBook.

It’s highly unlikely Apple just had a concept model 15-inch MacBook Pro lying around before the Charlie Rose interview, which would have been heavily controlled by Apple PR. The entire conference room is actually full of Apple’s current products. Everything from the Mac Pro to AirPort Express can be seen briefly in the background of the group interview.

Apple is currently planning to release a new MacBook Pro in mid-2016, with rumors claiming reveal dates as early as March or as late next spring’s Worldwide Developers Conference.

How to hack the new MacBook’s power chime onto the MacBook Air and Pro.

You know how the iPhone and iPad plays a little chime when you plug it in? The new MacBook also does that. But sadly, the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro remain completely silent when they connect to juice — which can make it hard to tell when you’ve accidentally knocked the MagSafe loose.

If you’ve got a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air, though, it’s easy to hack in the new MacBook’s power-charging sound. Here’s how.

This tip comes from the always excellent OS X Daily, which notes that enabling a power chime sound effect when plugging in a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air is as easy as unplugging your device, loading up the Terminal app, and pasting this in:

defaults write com.apple.PowerChime ChimeOnAllHardware -bool true; open /System/Library/CoreServices/PowerChime.app &

Plug your MacBook Pro or Air back in and voila! There’s the chime.

As for turning it back off again if you don’t like it, just turn the “true” in the above command to “false.”

If you need more details, head over to OS X Daily for the full run-through.

Add Up To 128GB To Your Macbook Air with Nifty MiniDrive.

The MacBook Air is a beautiful, light, and powerful device. However, for many users, the MacBook Air’s storage options come up a little short. Today’s MacTrast Deal – The Nifty MiniDrive – will allow you to add up to 128GB of extra storage without a bulky hard drive!

Get the Nifty Macbook MiniDrive – Conveniently Add Up to 128GB of Storage to Your Macbook without a Bulky Hard Drive

Finally, you can add storage to your 13″ MacBook Air without an eye-sore drive tainting your Apple aesthetic. Nifty comes with 4GB of storage, but also lets you slip in your personal micro-SD card to add up to 128GB of space. Nifty blends with your Mac’s color, texture, and shape so seamlessly, you may just forget it’s there.

“…when using standard SD cards and adapters, the end protrudes about a third of an inch out of the side of the computer…The Nifty MiniDrive fixes that…” – TechCrunch

FEATURES

• Sits completely flush inside your MacBook Air’s SD card slot
• Perfectly matches the finish of your MacBook Air
• Crafted with robust engineering plastic
• Ensures reliable connection with your MacBook Air every time
• Works with all brands, sizes, and specifications of micro-SD card (up to 128GB)
• Requires no installation, Internet or technical expertise

COMPATIBILITY

• 13″ MacBook Air (2010 model and up)

SPECS

• 4GB micro-SD: fits more than 550 songs, 800 photos, 2 movies

Includes:

• 1 Nifty MiniDrive 13″ Air (silver)
• 1 Nifty Removal Tool (for removing MiniDrive from MacBook)
• 1 4GB micro-SD card pre-inserted into MiniDrive

SHIPPING

• Free shipping

Intel’s New 3D NAND Technology Allows for Greater Than 10TB Solid-State Drives.

Intel and Micron on Thursday announced the availability of new 3D NAND technology that enables high-density flash devices with three times more storage capacity than other NAND technologies in production. 3D NAND technology is also more cost efficient than planar NAND, with faster performance, improved latency and new sleep modes that result in low-power use by cutting power to inactive NAND die.

The advancements pave the way for future Macs and other devices with flash memory to be equipped with greater than 10TB solid-state drives, significantly more storage capacity than the maxed out 1TB PCIe-based flash storage upgrade option that Apple offers for the MacBook Pro, iMac and Mac Pro. As planar NAND faces practical scaling limits, Intel and Micron expect that 3D NAND will shape the future of flash memory.

“Micron and Intel’s collaboration has created an industry-leading solid-state storage technology that offers high density, performance and efficiency and is unmatched by any flash today,” said Brian Shirley, vice president of Memory Technology and Solutions at Micron Technology. “This 3D NAND technology has the potential to create fundamental market shifts. The depth of the impact that flash has had to date—from smartphones to flash-optimized supercomputing—is really just scratching the surface of what’s possible.”

3D NAND has innovative process architecture with a floating gate cell that enables greater performance and increased quality and reliability. Intel and Micron expect that 3D NAND technology, which “stacks flash cells vertically in 32 layers to achieve 256Gb multilevel cell (MLC) and 384Gb triple-level cell (TLC) die,” will result in continued performance gains, cost savings and widespread adoption of flash storage solutions for mobile consumer devices and enterprise deployment.

Intel and Micron claim that the 256Gb MLC version of 3D NAND is being sampled by select partners beginning this week, while the 384Gb TLC design will be sampling later this spring. Both devices are slated to enter full production in the fourth quarter, and both companies are developing separate lines of SSD solutions based on 3D NAND technology that are expected to be available within the next year.

Given that flash storage solutions using 3D NAND are not expected to be available until the end of this year at the earliest, it is unlikely that larger SSDs based on the new technology will be included in any next-generation Macs for the foreseeable future. Apple also recently refreshed the MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro, so those two notebook models in particular are still early in their product cycles.

How an Android user created a hit Apple viral video.

The viral video hit “Apple Engineer Talks,” which mocks the new MacBook, is a scream. I nearly died laughing — along with millions of other people.

The clever parody was crafted by somebody who clearly has a deep knowledge of Apple, so I was surprised to discover its creator is actually an Android user.

Here’s how he did it, and why he didn’t make any money off his wildly successful Apple viral video.

Armando Ferreira is the brains behind “Apple Engineer Talks about the New 2015 Macbook,” which racked up more than 3 million views on YouTube this week.

“I didn’t really think it was going to get that big,” he told Cult of Mac. “I guess I’m happy about it.” Then he starts laughing.

In the age of YouTube, Ferreira’s story is a case study of how to engineer a viral hit. As the video service expands its already massive reach, everyone from indie content creators to Madison Avenue wants to know how to get attention. Ferreira’s story is instructive.

Ferreira is a 34-year-old, self-employed web developer and designer from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., whose business can be found at Web Design Lab.

He makes tech videos for YouTube as a sideline. He started his YouTube channel three years ago, building an audience with a series of Android-versus-iOS videos. His numbers aren’t massive but they are respectable. He has about 130,000 YouTube subscribers, 80,000 on Google+ and several thousand on Twitter. He occasionally guest blogs on The Droid Effect, an Android blog.

A few weeks ago, he watched a parody video poking fun at Canon’s DSLR cameras. The video is a comically subtitled clip of an old TV interview with Spanish comedian Juan Joya Borja, known as El Risitas, or “The Giggles,” for his infectious laugh.

“I was dying laughing,” Ferreira said. “I was crying. I almost died. I thought, ‘This is the new Hitler. One day I’ll use this to make a video myself.’”

Indeed, the clip is fast becoming the new Hitler Reacts meme, and has been used to poke fun at a bunch of things, from Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty to underperforming graphics cards.

Apple could surprise us with 12-inch MacBook Air next week.

The Apple Watch is expected to be the main attraction at next week’s “Spring Forward” event, but according to a new report, the long-rumored 12-inch Retina MacBook Air could make a surprise appearance at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

The sketchy rumor comes from the Michael Report, which claims its sources inside Apple say the company’s long-awaited update to the MacBook Air will be announced March 9.

“Sources familiar with the matter within Apple have exclusively told The Michael Report that Apple plans to unveil the long-awaited Retina MacBook Air at the same event. The Michael Report has independently verified this information to be highly credible.”

Obviously, we can’t verify the accuracy of the report. The Michael Report unearthed full details of the iPad Air 2 before the product’s announcement in October of last year, however, the publication also whiffed on some iPhone 6 launch details, including the name of the iPhone 6 Plus, and the Nexus 6.

We’re not really expecting any hardware other than the Apple Watch at next week’s event, but Cupertino could surprise us. The last time the MacBook Air line was upgraded was April 2014, which was just a small spec bump, so it’s due for an update.

Hardware leaks of the 12-inch MacBook Air have been scarce, although multiple reports have confirmed that Apple is working on the device. The new Retina MacBook Air will supposedly feature a fan-less design made possible by Intel’s next-gen Broadwell processors. It’s also rumored that the new device will only have one USB-C port and a headphone jack.

Touch ID might be coming soon to MacBooks, Magic Mice and trackpads.

Touch ID has completely changed security on the iPhone, and now Apple’s fingerprint-scanning technology could soon be coming to the Mac.

Apple is planning to bring Touch ID to the upcoming 12-inch MacBook Air, according to sources at Taiwanese Apple blog Apple.Club.tw. In the past, the site successfully leaked the iPad Air 2 logic board, the Touch ID sensor and the iPhone 6 Lightning port, so it has a track record for accuracy. The site claims Apple has big plans for Touch ID in 2015 and wants to put it in everything from MacBook Pros to Magic Mice.

Touch ID will reportedly be integrated into the trackpad of the new MacBook Air and MacBook Pros. Desktop Mac users won’t be left out, according to the rumor: The Apple Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad will get built-in Touch ID technology too.

Along with the additional security, Touch ID will also help Apple pursue Apple Pay more aggressively for online shopping. The rumor site doesn’t mention a timeline for when the new devices will be available.

Apple.Club’s report also throws in an extra rumor that three color options — silver, gold and space gray — will be available for the 12-inch MacBook. The site says the next MacBook Pros will also come in the three colors, but we’re not totally convinced anyone actually wants a gold 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro, so take the rumor with a heavy grain of salt.

Twelve South ParcSlope stand for MacBook provides style and comfort.

One of our favorite accessory design shops  is Twelve South, and they’re our heroes for a couple of reasons. First, they design and manufacture useful and stylish accessories for Apple products only. The second reason? Everything they make is top quality. The latest product to emerge from Charleston, SC is the ParcSlope desktop stand for MacBook (US$49.99). Check out our review, then enter for an opportunity to win a ParcSlope from TUAW and Twelve South.

Specifications

• Dimensions: 2.8″ high x 8.3″ wide x 9.6″ deep (7.1 x 21.1 x 24.3 cm)
• Weight: 2 pounds (.91 kg)
• Angle: 18 degrees

Design

ParcSlope was designed as a hybrid laptop stand instead of the traditional stand that lifts the MacBook off of your desk, requiring you to acquire and use a totally separate keyboard and pointing device. Instead, ParcSlope lifts the back of your MacBook up off of the table, bringing the screen up a bit higher for more comfortable viewing and typing.

Made of solid aluminum, ParcSlope works with any MacBook. It doesn’t matter if you have a current 11-inch MacBook Air or one of the discontinued 17-inch MacBook Pro monsters, it’s going to work for you.

As with all other Twelve South accessories, ParcSlope is designed specifically with Apple products in mind. There are some ridges on the top of the unit that allow for screen clearance when the screen is opened on an 11, 13, or 15-inch MacBook (the 17-incher will be off the top of the ParcSlope, so it doesn’t need a ridge).

There’s a silicone lip holding the MacBook in place, and rubber feet on the bottom to keep your desk or table from being scratched.

In case you’re wondering about the “ParcSlope” name, well – Park Slope is a trendy neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY, and the “Parc” pays respect to Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), where Steve Jobs and other Apple employees had their first look at a graphical user interface for a computer.

Function

My test of the ParcSlope was done with a 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro. Setup of the stand is drop-dead simple; you just put it on the table. You’re done. Plop the MacBook Pro on top, open the screen, and get to work.

There’s some cable management built into ParcSlope as well – there’s a hole in the back of the aluminum through which you can weave your power cable, USB cables, Thunderbolt cables (this is perfect with a second display, by the way), you name it. The cables are held in place by the stand when disconnected from the MacBook.

Since I usually type on a gently angled Apple Wireless Keyboard that’s placed flat onto a desktop, I wasn’t sure how I was going to like the steeper angle provided by the ParcSlope. As it was, the higher placement of both the MacBook’s screen and having my arms and hands a bit higher up actually felt better than typing on a flat MacBook keyboard. Your mileage may vary; you can get a feel for how the ParcSlope holds the MacBook by grabbing something just under 3 inches in height and sticking it under the back edge of the computer.

Conclusion

As usual, Twelve South has knocked another one out of the park (or should I say “parc”?) with the ParcSlope. It’s solid and should last you through the next ten generations of MacBook, and it makes any MacBook a more comfortable and usable member of the Mac family.

Rating: 4 stars out of 4 stars possible

Sexy new renders show the iPad Pro and 12-inch MacBook Air side-by-side.

The Apple Watch might be Cupertino’s most hotly anticipated product, but for my money, the two releases I’m most excited about this year are the 12-inch MacBook Air and the 12-inch iPad Pro. Outside of a few leaked images, though, we still have not seen either of these rumored devices in the flash.

Conceptual designer Martin Hajek is no stranger to turning rumors of upcoming Apple products into blisteringly sexy 3-D renders, and now he’s done it again with a series of renders showing the iPad Pro and 12-inch MacBook Air going head to head. Call it the battle of the 12-inchers, if you will!

One the one hand, you have the 12-inch MacBook Air. Rumored to be the first Retina Display MacBook Air, the device is rumored to be even thinner than previous models, largely thanks to Apple ditching every port (USB, Thunderbolt, even power!) except for a single USB-C connector, which will both charge the device and handle peripherals.

Then there’s the 12-inch iPad Pro. Recent leaks have suggested, oddly enough, that the 12-inch iPad Pro will not only come with a stylus, but have nearly full-sized bezels on the side, a la the original four generations of iPad.

Fantastic work, as always, from Martin Hajek. You can see the rest of his stunning renders here.

New Photos Said to Show Display, Lid of 12-inch MacBook Air.

New photos that are claimed to be of the lid and display assembly of Apple’s much-rumored 12-inch MacBook Air have surfaced on Chinese site iFanr [Google Translate].

The photos depict the claimed display and metal shell from the upcoming 12-inch machine alongside both a 13-inch MacBook Pro and a 9.7-inch iPad, with its sizing appearing to measure up to previously reported dimensions.

Noticeably, there are two differences when compared to the current MacBook Air– with a polished metal Apple logo in the place of the usual backlit logo, perhaps due to the thinness of the device – and the display lacks the gray bezels currently found on the MacBook Air, instead, having an all glass cover, running from edge-to-edge, as seen on Retina MacBook Pro models.

The 12-inch MacBook Air is reported to have roughly the same footprint as the current 11-inch MacBook Air, with the smaller bezels allowing for the larger display. As seen in the photo below, the new Air shows a much smaller footprint than a 13-inch MacBook Pro.

The 12-inch MacBook Air is expected to be powered by Intel’s new Broadwell Core M processors, which will enable a design that is both thinner, and fanless. It is also expected to feature a higher-resolution display, and may possibly do away with all the ports usually found on a MacBook in favor of a single USB Type-C port which is rumored to do dual duty for connectivity as well as charging.

As alway, be warned this is all rumor and conjecture at this point, photos notwithstanding. So, let’s all just sit back and watch how the story develops.