Apple may have told us that the new MacBook, Mac mini and iMac updates finalize their holiday 2009 line-up, but that doesn’t mean they’re not thinking ahead. Digging through the configuration files in the 10.6.2 update of OS X 10C531, Spanish site Applesana.es have spotted two references to new MacBook Pro notebooks, and believe that they might bring with them quadcore processors and ATI Radeon 4500-series graphics.
Sony have admitted that certain models of VAIO notebook may be affected by the notorious NVIDIA “bump” material issue, which can see the GPU overheat and eventually break completely. The nine model types on Sony’s list join the existing roll-call of faulty notebooks, which includes machines from Apple, HP and Dell. In response, Sony are offering free repairs for affected VAIOs, and to extend the standard warranty (on the GPU alone) from the regular 12 months to four years in total.
Fall-out from the NVIDIA overheating graphics debacle has reportedly reached a peak, with Apple telling the company that they will not be using their products “for three to four years”. Discussions between the two companies were said to have become significantly heated, after NVIDIA executives were deemed arrogant in their negotiations for graphics chipsets in Apple’s upcoming Nehalem notebooks and iMacs.
Last year’s NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT substrate problem is still causing headaches for Apple, who have announced they will be extending warranty support for those MacBook Pro owners affected. The issue, in which overheating of the GPU causes display distortion or failure, can only be addressed by replacing the notebook’s logic board.
Warranty details after the cut
Apple have released a firmware update – version 1.0 – for 17-inch unibody MacBook Pro owners, which is intended to fix the display errors some users have observed. Apple have not detailed exactly what the update does, only suggested that all owners should install it.
As busy weeks go, this one has certainly been something to write home about (or at least a Week in Review about), with CeBIT, PMA and an Apple mega-announcement all taking place. ASUS arguably stole the former show in Germany, with the Eee PC 1008HA “Shell” once again proving that netbooks needn’t be the ugly cousins to expensive ultraportable notebooks. For our full CeBIT 2009 coverage, hit the tag.
When the MacBook Air first launched, nobody could deny it was physically impressive. Well under an inch thick, it was a visual delight to anybody who saw it. Ironically, any disappointment was saved for the owners themselves: the payoff for those market-besting dimensions was underpowered components and the tendency to overheat. Now, Apple have freshly inflated the Air with new technology, in fact just about everything down to the memory is new. Second time around, have they created the ultimate ultraportable?
Apple has publicly blamed NVIDIA for graphics hardware failures in some MacBook Pro models, after initially customers were informed that their computers would not be affected. The news is the latest blow to NVIDIA, whose GPU problem has caused multiple laptops to overheat. According to Apple, NVIDIA assured them back in July that the issue would not impact on MacBooks; however the company’s own investigation turned up NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics processors being inaccurately reported as integrated Intel chips.
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