We've taken a good look at the handy Buyer's Guide over at MacRumors and given you some background and our own recommendations for safe shopping. Enjoy, and try not to throw too many elbows out there. And don't worry! If you hate all things Apple, we've got you covered here.

iPod Shuffle

Whether a major revamp or a new selection of colors, Apple has updated Shuffle twice a year, like clockwork, every year since 2006. A new generation should debut in February, and given our issues with the current Shuffle's form factor it's probably best to hold out a few more months. Recommendation: WAIT

iPod Nano

This was just updated in September, the fourth year in a row that their only refresh has been in the fall. You should be fine to buy for now; expect new models to show up again in another nine months. Recommendation: BUY

iPod Classic

Same story as the Nano. You're fine for now, if you absolutely need 160GB of storage from a PMP. Since it's unlikely that you or anyone does, just get an Touch or (or even a Zune HD) instead. Recommendation: DON'T BUY, unless you somehow need to watch TV show made since 1995 on that teeny-tiny screen

iPhone

Even if it hadn't already been 200 days since the last update, there are also plenty of rumors out there about a 5MP camera coming in June. Hold off until then if you can. Recommendation: WAIT

iPod Touch

The iPod Touch has been on the same product cycle as the Classic and Nano since its 2007 debut, but the first generation model also received a memory upgrade five months after its initial release. The 5MP camera rumor applies here, as well, so it's best to see what happens. Recommendation: WAIT

Mac Mini

Apple's no-frills desktop just got a spec increase and added a server model in late October. It shouldn't be getting any more updates any time soon, which is a shame, because it's still not a very competitive product for the price. Check out the Acer AspireRevo R3610 as a more than viable alternative. Recommendation: DON'T BUY unless you insist on Apple, even when it flies in the face of all logic

Mac Pro

While it hasn't gotten an official refresh since March, Apple did just add a 3.33GHz Quad Core processor option on Dec. 4tth. There should still be another upgrade this spring worth waiting for, especially with rumors that the Mac Pro is about to get a Core i7-980X processor. Recommendation: WAIT

iMac

The iMac was updated at the same time as the Mini, but widely reported display problems make us cautious. Roll the dice if you want, but it's probably best to see if and when these issues are resolved. Which as of today, they're clearly still not. Recommendation: WAIT

Cinema Display

Apple added a 24" model in 2008, but the rest of the Cinema Display line hasn't seen a spec change since fall of 2006. There's no indication that new models are in the offing, so if you want that 30-inch screen you should be all right. Keep in mind, though, that the 27" iMac screen has 90% of the resolution of the 30-inch Cinema, making it a solid replacement once they get the bugs sorted out. Recommendation: CAUTIOUS BUY

MacBook

Apple's basic laptop model was just updated with multitouch, an LED display and a unibody form on October 20th, and it's not likely to be revamped again any time soon. If you'd prefer a more powerful notebook it might be worth waiting to see if the MacBook Pro gets a price drop in a few months. Recommendation: BUY, if you definitely don't want a MacBook Pro

MacBook Pro

The MacBook Pro line gets a refresh every 200 days, on average, and we're just about there now. More importantly, there have been rumors that Apple's going to upgrade to Intel's new Core i5 and i7 processors as soon as early January. You can hold off until then, right? Recommendation: WAIT

MacBook Air

It's hard to say about the MacBook Air; it's a newer product, so there's less precedent to work with. We do know that the light-as-a-feather notebook last got an upgrade in June, and we can speculate Apple may wait until a ULV i5 or i7 processor is available before ushering in next-generation models. It's worth waiting to see if those processors get announced at CES next week. Recommendation: WAIT

(If you'd like to see this post in non-gallery form, just click here.)

Apple iPhone 3GS ($199) -> Motorola Droid ($199)
When the iPhone was released, it was a generation, at least, beyond the entire smartphone market. Now, many manufacturers have worked hard to catch up. And while the iPhone is still my personal favorite, I understand wanting a phone on the Verizon network rather than AT&T. Besides, the Droid hardware is fantastic, and its software, Android 2.0, feels far more like a full-featured OS than the original. Just as we said in our full review, "It's this simple: If you don't buy an iPhone, buy a Droid."

What you gain:
• Physical keyboard
• Fewer dropped calls
• Memory slot expansion

What you lose:
• iTunes integration
• Decent built-in media player

iPod Touch ($199, 8GB) -> Zune HD ($219, 16GB)
I know, I know. Why buy a Zune? If you're heavily invested in iTunes albums, the answer is, no reason. But for those who are willing to break from the Apple music infrastructure, the Zune HD is actually an awesome PMP. The aluminum case is very sharp, with an OLED screen that's richer than any iPod (though slightly worse in the sun). The Zune software, coupled with optional unlimited download subscription packages, is every bit as hip and convenient as Cover Flow and iTunes, provided you run Windows. Oh, also, you don't need to drop $300 to get a decent amount of storage and you get HD TV-Out and a not-so-bad TV interface to boot. So when you're sick of the little screen, you can go as big as you'd like.

What you gain:
• 8GB more storage (base model)
• HD Radio
• Unlimited music subscription with free MP3s
• HD TV-Out and an on-screen TV interface

What you lose:
• iTunes integration
• About a billion apps

iPod Nano ($180, 16GB) -> Flip Ultra HD ($150)
The obvious contender to the iPod Nano used to be the Zune 16. But now? You can't even get that model of Zune. And with a built-in camcorder, be it a bit on the crappy side, the Nano truly is a unique contender in its space. However, I ask you this: Don't you already have an MP3 player? Seriously, it's not possible that you don't. OK then, just buy the Flip Ultra HD, the best bang for your buck pocket camcorder on the market. And use your old iPod because it probably still works fine.

What you gain:
• HD video

What you lose:
• I mean, it's not an iPod, or any kind of media player, obviously

iPod Shuffle ($80, 4GB) -> Sansa Clip+ ($70, 8GB)
The new Shuffle is basically nonexistent, a device that, while remarkable in terms of minimalist design, may be a tad difficult to wield when you just want to play that one song you want to hear. Enter the Sansa Clip+, an chunky but still tiny MP3 player lauded by audiophiles (if such a thing is possible) that supports up to 16GB of MicroSD expansion. Save even more money by buying the 2GB version (just $40) and sticking in a spare MicroSD. And as we said in our review, the Clip+ is "the best low-end mp3 player on the market, without question."

What you gain:
• Sound quality
• MicroSD expansion
• An actual screen
• Voice recorder
• The freedom to choose any headphones

What you lose:
• iTunes
• Trash-talking Voice Over function

Apple TV ($229, 160GB) -> Asus O!Play ($99)
No matter what direction you go, you're pretty much always better off not buying an Apple TV. It's basically a closed box that hates supporting not only external codecs but external drives, too, and you can forget about navigating to files on your own network—even ones stored on your precious Time Capsule. The $99 Asus O!Play is our favorite budget way to play media in any codec under the sun, from files on a Mac or PC formatted drive or streamed from pretty much any NAS drive. As for watching movies on demand, chances are, your cable box already does that. Need more options? The LG BD390 is an excellent Wi-Fi-equipped Blu-ray player with Netflix and Vudu video, and DivX support. And heck, I'd even recommend the $199 Xbox 360 as a Netflix/DivX machine with Windows Media Center Extender capabilities. Basically, you can't go wrong here. Everything is better than Apple TV, unless you have a library full of purchased iTunes music and movies, and if you do, you probably have Apple TV already, so go enjoy it.

What you gain:
• Mega codec support
• Ability to stream your video files from computers and NAS drives
• Cash in your pocket

What you lose:
• The iTunes video ball and chain

MacBook ($999) -> Dell Studio 14z ($750)
As Mark Spoonauer said in our best Windows laptop roundup, "Think of it as the poor man's MacBook-with better specs." No, the Dell Studio 14z doesn't run OS X, but the Core 2 Duo laptop weighs .3lbs lighter than a MacBook while offering 1GB more RAM (base), 70GB more storage, a backlit keyboard and nicer built-in speakers.

What you gain:
• More storage
• More RAM
• Backlit keyboard
• Less weight

What you lose:
• OS X
• Optical drive
• Flash card reader

MacBook Pro ($1200) -> HP Envy ($1700)
I'm not sure anyone should actually choose the 13-inch Envy (full review) over the 13-inch MacBook Pro (full review), but the Envy is the closest knock-off on the market. For the $500 Envy premium, you do shed .8lbs off the MacBook Pro, coming in at just 3.7lbs (which is crazy-light for a laptop of this size). And you'll score an extra GB of RAM along with a more powerful, discrete Radeon HD 4330 graphics. But we're still talking about $500 extra for a computer that, ultimately, doesn't feel as solid as a unibody Mac. Plus, if you really want to run Win 7, that plays just fine on the MBP, too. As for the MBP 15, there's really no ideal alternative. And if you were considering the 15-inch Envy, think again.

What you gain:
• More overall power
• Less weight
• Prettier screen

What you lose:
• OS X
• Optical drive
• Frame rigidity

iMac ($1200, 21.5-inch) -> HP TouchSmart 600 ($1,050, 23-inch)
The latest iMac (full review) is a beautiful machine, no doubt. But there are alternatives to this famed all-in-one. Our favorite is the HP TouchSmart 600 (full review), which is sort of the souped-up Civic to Apple's classic Porsche. Both will do a quarter mile in the same time—with Core 2 Duo processors—but the TouchSmart has the shiny detailing and LED underlighting of a street racer, while sprucing up the package with a decent touch display coupled with special Twitter, Facebook and even recipe box apps designed for the system. Especially as a kitchen computer, the HP TouchSmart is a valid alternative to the iMac.

What you gain:
• Larger, touchscreen
• Glitzy accents with customizable LED underlighting
• Clever apps
• HDMI input for home theater fun

What you lose:
• OS X
• Understated design

MacBook Air ($1500) -> Dell Adamo XPS ($2000)
There's only one laptop on the market that can confidently purge alongside the MacBook Air, and that's the Dell Adamo XPS. While the price premium seems absurd at first, keep in mind that the Adamo XPS, at about half the thickness of the Air, is loaded with a 128GB flash drive and 4GB of RAM stock (while the MacBook Air will run $1800 in a similar SSD configuration and maxed at 2GB of RAM). If you're considering an Air, you want a computer that says "I'm good at spending money." And the Adamo XPS will most certainly fulfill that need.

What you gain:
• 1 USB port
• Ethernet jack
• 2GB of RAM
• A clasp that opens from the heat of your finger

What you lose:
• OS X
• About $500

Mac Mini ($600) -> Acer AspireRevo R3610 ($330)
If I had the choice between a Mac Mini (full review) and the AspireRevo R3610—spending someone else's money—I would still choose the Revo for its HTPC prowess. The Mac Mini has always been a promising system falling just short of its potential in terms of both price and performance. Meanwhile, the absurdly cheap Revo, equipped with Ion tech that's more than happy to handle 1080p video outputted to your TV through HDMI (as opposed to Apple's need for funky wiring and/or hard-to-find specialized adapters), is kind enough to include 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD, HDMI, eSATA, VGA, 6 USB ports, card reader, wireless-N and a wireless keyboard and mouse for roughly half the price of a Mini. The only thing the Revo isn't optimal for is browsing Flash pages, that is, until we finally see an update that makes Ions and Flash play well together.

What you gain:
• HDMI out
• 1 USB port
• eSATA port
• Wireless keyboard and mouse
• Like $300

What you lose:
• OS X
• FireWire

Time Capsule (1TB, $299) -> D-Link DIR-685 (Expandable, $215)
The convenience of a Time Capsule, a combination wireless router and NAS, is tough to beat because it's so unique. But I wouldn't call the task impossible. The D-Link DIR-685 (full review) is a wireless-N router with a range that's competitive with Apple's own AirPort Extreme. You choose your storage capacity by sticking in your own 2.5-inch drive. Oh, plus it's a photo frame, BitTorrent downloader, iTunes server, FTP server, network file sharing with user management and even a UPnP streamer to video players. The only thing it isn't? Time Machine compliant. I know, I know. If you're willing to part with the built-in router, however, then another excellent choice is the Iomega Ix2-200 NAS (full review)—and that is Time Machine capable.

What you gain:
• Swappable storage
• Tons of advanced networking features
• BitTorrent downloading
• Media flexibility
• Digital photo frame

What you lose:
• Time Machine support (if this is a problem, check out Iomega's alternative)

Mac Pro ($2,500) -> Hackintosh (far less $$$)
There is one reason you want to buy a Mac Pro, and that's for OS X. So I'm not going to waste time by pretending there's any suitable alternative by someone like Dell or HP. Your best bet is to build a Hackintosh, a custom PC with a bootlegged OS X. Just keep in mind, you won't be able to build this system like any old Windows PC—you'll need to follow a guide with pretested hardware to construct something you can be sure will work. Luckily, such a guide is available, built by our friends from Lifehacker (see it here).

What you gain:
• Literally, thousands of dollars
• Gaudy case mods

What you lose:
• Peace of mind (there's always the slight chance of Hackintosh deactivation)
• Easy component upgrades

You can also add four 2-terabyte hard drives from the factory, for $550 a pop ($350 to upgrade the default drive to 2TB). Unfortunately, this is not an architectural change, just a speed bump. [AppleStore—Thanks Michael Fisher]

BTW, if you hate the gallery format as much as the Grinch hated Christmas, click here.

Magic Mouse: It's a bit too expensive for stocking stuffer territory, but we've called the nipple-less design the best mouse Apple has ever made. And if you can't appreciate touch-sensitive scrolling, you have no soul (or, at least not one that we can see). $70 [Apple]

Buffy Gelaskins: Loving Apple will only half-fill one's necessary geek quotient. Your loved one will do well filling the other half with Buffy, now that Dark Horse comics has teamed up with Gelaskins re-stickable case skins for the iPhone and MacBooks. $15 iPhone, $30 MacBook. [Dark Horse]

iMac (27-inch i7): You simply won't find a more striking desktop on the market, but maybe more importantly, benchmarks on Apple latest top-tier iMac are currently challenging far more expensive Mac Pros. Plus, the line has just seen a refresh, so it's a good time to buy. $2200+ [Apple]

BookArc Stand: No, it's not the gift for everyone. But if you know a guy who just docks his MacBook anyway, the BookArc Stand is a far more elegant solution than sitting a laptop on a desk (especially since the laptop should run cooler given the increased surface area for airflow). [BookArc]

Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree (T-Shirt): Who says the apple doesn't fall far from the tree? This t-shirt, that's who. $18. [Go Ape Shirts]

Apple Tablet IOU: Apple fanboys love Apple's products. But true Apple fanboys—those who take commitment and fanaticism to the next level—could never be pleased with what Apple currently has on the table. They need the Next Big Thing. We're about 1000% certain that Apple will release a tablet some time in 2010. Promise your loved ones that you'll camp overnight and drop the cash so they get the Apple Tablet first. Of course, they'll still bitch about it, anticipating version 2.0. Price Unknown, Costs Some Dignity

DON'T BUY MacBook Pro: There has simply never been a worse time to buy a new MacBook Pro. With Core i5/i7 tech inevitably waiting to make its way into Apple's premium laptops, your hard-earned cash will almost certainly buy a vastly more powerful, more future-proof machine less than a month after Christmas. The same can probably be said about Mac Pros, too. Oh, and that 27-inch iMac we keep raving about? What a glorious alternative to the aging, 30-inch Apple Cinema Display! [Apple]

Wall of Sound iPod Dock: There are iPod docks, and there are iPod docks. This is most definitely the latter, a handcrafted, 3x4-foot, 225lb, 125W beast. And one day, when Apple inevitably tweaks the iPod port, this behemoth will be useless—feeding into the general regret and dissatisfaction critical to Apple fandom. [Wall of Sound]

Don't forget to recommend your own favorite Apple gear in comments-include pics and pricing if possible.

All Giz Wants is our annual round-up of favorite gift ideas, including amazing attainable objects and a few far-out fantasies. We'll be popping guides catered to different interests several times per day for the next week, so keep checking back.

And I'm not sure that the solution is just a refresh away.

The Mac Pro was once the only viable option for a OS X lover in need of serious horsepower for tasks like editing media. Now, with the new iMac? I think it's straight up stupid to buy a Mac Pro.

The $2,500 Mac Pro, desperately in need of a refresh, gives you a 2.66GHz Quad-Core Xeon (essentially an i7), 3GB of RAM (triple channel, but seriously?), 640GB hard drive (again, seriously?) and a nominal graphics card. Spend $800 more and you'll get a another processor and 3GB more RAM.

The $2200, 27-inch iMac obviously includes a screen, plus you get a 2.8GHz Quad-Core (i7), 1TB drive, 4GB of RAM and a nominal graphics card.

But beyond those clock speeds, the Mac Pro's i7 processor is the more premium Bloomfield edition, while the iMac uses the Lynnfield. (More on those differences here.)

Still, the bottom line is that the iMac's Lynnfield processor is newer, and it shows in performance.

Macworld benched the new iMacs against the latest Mac Pros. And, you know what? The i7 iMac more than held its own. It basically defeated the 4-core Mac Pro across the board.

And other than a few specific tasks in which the most expensive Mac Pro's 8 cores proved beneficial (Handbrake, Cinebench, etc), the iMac outperformed the competition or kept things close enough not to be relevant, plus it straight-up won in the eyes of Speedmark 6.

Performance-wise, the base Mac Pro makes no sense at all. The 8-core Mac Pro offers a touch more power, sometimes, and other times (in many day to day tasks) even it is outgunned.

Of course, any Mac Pro still allows multiple internal hard drives, three PCI slots, more FireWire ports (four vs one) and more room for RAM expansion (32GB vs 16GB). But once again, even in the worlds of professional media creation, that's a pretty questionable upsell, especially with external storage solutions and the fact that most high, high end media pros (like special effects artists) turn to dedicated render farms to do their heavy number crunching anyway.

With the new iMac, Apple has shrunk the Mac-Pro-needing niche even smaller. And I can't tell anyone with a straight face that a handful of expandability is worth $300-$1100 with no monitor, no matter how deep their pockets are.

Apple needs to reexamine their pricing model. Even with an inevitable processor refresh (i9, anyone?), it's time for a price drop and/or some free with purchase displays. Just because you're a pro doesn't mean you're a sucker.

Supposedly, we'll see them early next year. If so, and if it uses Gulftown, that'd give Apple a small window of exclusivity with the speed demon chip, which wouldn't be the first time Intel's given them access to silicon before anybody else. [HardMac via AppleInsider]

It does provide a bump over the cheaper GT 120, but as Rich Brown says, it only pushes the Mac Pro's gaming performance from "mediocre" to "acceptable." And this is on his $3499 review machine.

Obviously there are way cheaper and more powerful Windows alternatives for gaming, especially if you build your own, but the option for an even awesomer (if pricier) graphics card from Apple, like a Radeon HD 4870 X2, would be nice. We know the Mac Pro isn't built for gamers, but still. Let's hear your best "Macs suck for gaming" comments below anyway. Be clever, people! [Crave]

Mac Mini
The new Mac Mini, available now, is heavily redesigned inside and in the rear, though its body is pretty much identical to the old ones. It comes in two configs ($600 and $800), both based on the 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with Nvidia GeForce 9400M integrated graphics. Adam wants you to note that the $200 step up might not be worth it. [MORE]

iMac
The 24-Inch iMac comes down from $1800 to $1500, pushing the 20-Inch iMac down $300 itself to $1200. Despite having the same look they've had since August 2007 (not a problem for me but some people want new freshness), they also have better specs: The super-sick $2,200 iMac has a 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and a 7200rpm 1TB drive (though you still have to pay extra to max out RAM at 8GB). [MORE]

Mac Pro
The new Mac Pro now starts at $2500, down from $2800, but has Intel's Xeon "Nehalem" quad-core chipset and 1066MHz DDR3 RAM for superfast memory access. It comes standard with the fast Nvidia GeForce GT 120, but you can choose an ATI Radeon HD 4870 for even more graphical juice. It's coming March 9. [MORE]

Jesus points out that Apple's keyboard just got smaller—all except the price that is. The larger one will still sell, for now, too.

Time Capsule
The new Time Capsule also looks the same on the outside, but inside it's doubled up its Wi-Fi router power with dual-channel 2.4GHz and 5GHz 802.11n for managing more network traffic. The cooler innovation is "guest networking," which lets you create a virtual Wi-Fi hotspot for guests that is walled off from the rest of your network. [MORE]

Update: According to Apple, the will be available on March 9

The Xeon "Nehalems" is a quad-core 64-bit processor with 8MB of fully shared Level 3 cache, with integrated memory controllers that plug into 1066 MHz DDR3 RAM memory with Error Correction Code, which according to Apple boosts access 2.4 times over the previous version. The base model has dropped from $2,499 from $2,799.

On the graphics front, the new Mac Pros come with Nvidia GeForce GT 120 with 512MB GDDR3 from the factory, which Apple says is almost three times faster than the previous card, which to me sounds like it can go up to 11. If you want more graphic power, you can boost the graphics adding an ATI Radeon HD 4870 with 512MB of GDDR5. According to Apple, that makes the ATI two times as fast as the Nvidia, thanks to a faster processor and memory (see, GDDR5 is better than GDDR3 because five is
more than three).

The cards come with the new Mini DisplayPort in addition to the DVI output, so you can connect them to the Apple LED Cinema Display in addition to any other display out there.

Apple Introduces New Mac Pro

Features Intel 'Nehalem' Xeon Processors & High-Performance Graphics

CUPERTINO, Calif., March 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple® today introduced the new Mac® Pro using Intel "Nehalem" Xeon processors and a next-generation system architecture to deliver up to twice the performance of the previous generation system.* The new Mac Pro starts at $2,499 and features the latest graphics technology and an updated interior that makes expansion even easier than before.

"The new Mac Pro is a significant upgrade and starts at $300 less than before," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "The Mac Pro features an advanced system architecture, new faster processors and our best-ever graphics options to deliver a faster, more powerful system that our professional customers are going to love."

The new Mac Pro includes Intel Xeon processors running at speeds up to 2.93 GHz, each with an integrated memory controller with three channels of 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC memory that delivers up to 2.4 times the memory bandwidth while cutting memory latency up to 40 percent.** Every Mac Pro comes standard with the NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 with 512MB of GDDR3 memory, a high-performance graphics card with nearly three times greater performance when compared to the previous generation system.*** An optional ATI Radeon HD 4870 is available for even more performance. With both a Mini DisplayPort and DVI port, the new Mac Pro provides out-of-the-box support for the 24-inch Apple LED Cinema Display, the 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Display, or other DVI based displays.

An updated interior provides easy access to all components within the Mac Pro for hassle free expansion. The Mac Pro includes four direct-attach cable-free hard drive carriers for installing up to 4TB of internal storage when using 1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA drives. An optional cable-free Mac Pro RAID card delivers performance up to 550MB/s **** and allows the four internal drive bays to be set up in RAID 0, 1, 5, or 0+1 configurations for improved disk performance and redundant data protection.

Continuing Apple's commitment to the environment, the new Mac Pro exceeds Energy Star 4.0 requirements and is leading the industry as an early adopter of the more stringent Energy Star 5.0 requirements which will become effective later this year. The Mac Pro enclosure is made of highly recyclable aluminum and the interior is designed to be more material-efficient. The Mac Pro uses PVC-free internal cables and components and contains no brominated flame retardants. The new Mac Pro achieves EPEAT Gold status.*****
Every Mac includes Leopard®, the world's most advanced operating system which features Time Machine™, an effortless way to automatically back up everything on a Mac; a redesigned Finder™ that lets users quickly browse and share files between multiple Macs; Quick Look, the best way to instantly see files without opening an application; Spaces®, an intuitive feature used to create groups of applications and instantly switch between them; Mail with easy setup and elegant, personalized stationery; and iChat®, the most advanced video chat. Every Mac comes with Apple's innovative iLife® '09 suite of applications for managing photos, making movies and creating and learning to play music. iLife '09 features iPhoto®, which introduces Faces and Places as breakthrough new ways to easily organize and manage your photos; iMovie® with powerful easy-to-use new features such as Precision Editor, video stabilization and advanced drag and drop; and GarageBand® which introduces a whole new way to help you learn to play piano and guitar. Optional Apple professional applications include Aperture™, Final Cut® Express, Final Cut Studio®, Logic® Express, Logic Studio® and Shake®.

Rumors of new, extra-wireless Time Capsule and Airport units popped onto our radar earlier this morning, following a serious markdown of the existing Time Capsule model. This came just after a picture of the purported new Mac Mini's packaging—a product update that is not only long-overdue, but that has been the subject of a veritable slew of leaks in the last few weeks. All this comes on the heals of a weakly-sourced (but tantalizingly plausible) rumor of a March product update.

Moving on the the heftier products, MacRumors posted a "last minute" spec leak a few hours ago, which details incremental upgrades and price adjustments for the Mac Mini, iMac and Mac Pro. None of purported upgrades are going to blow your socks off, but a Nehalem-based Mac Pro and $100-cheaper, better-equipped Mac Mini would be more than welcome. At posting time the store is still down, but we'll let you know if any of this materializes. —Thanks, Chang (and the other 235 of you, too)!

Never trust them.

The rumor doesn't have any details as to what could happen, so if true, we can only speculate for now.

The Mac Pro and Mac Mini are long due for a redesign. As part of PowerPC-to-Intel migration, all the computers kept their old designs during the first phase of the transition to the new hardware architecture. The idea was to maintain a sense of continuity. Then, as the Intel-based Macs proved to be a success, Apple started to change external designs. The Mac Pro and the Mac Mini are the only two computers that have not had a external redesign yet. [World of Apple]

At first glance, it's just like a current Mac Pro, but with some extra/updated ports. A closer look reveals a new surface perforation (a product of Apple's new unibody construction process) and also what I find most notable about the design—two slot loading drives that mimic Apple's laptops while finalizing the minimalist, utilitarian styling of the Mac Pro.

So are these changes alone enough for you? For me, it's enough. But then again, I've sorta become a laptop guy anyway.

The construction worker, who refused to give his real name, says that he destroyed nine full pallets of equipment, including MacBooks, Mac Pros, and even innocent Mighty Mice (Mighty Mouses?). He also claims that he tested some of the machines, and that many powered up, proving at the least that their batteries could be salvaged, if not screens and other parts.

Problem is, there's no evidence that any of this stuff was in working order, and the article quotes a secondhand account from another construction worker on Apple's motivations for crushing the computers. That's not exactly the most reliable source. And while, let's be honest, Apple's green campaign is an infuriating example of "greenwashing" and as smug as anything they've ever done, I'm not prepared to accuse Apple of destroying equipment in working order without any hard evidence, on the word of somebody who won't give his real name. Just my two cents. [APC Mag]

The mod takes a lot of soldering, fitting, and cooling, but none of it is particularly complicated and a bigger case would probably simplify matters. The finished product is a fully-functional desktop version of the MacBook, and probably has a better cooling system. It's a great mod, I love that he started out with something broken and finished with an operational and even enviable system. [Wolph Bite]

The researcher says that after first alerting Apple to the issue, "I got the same answer each time, our skate launcher warning: 'Our engineers are working on the problem.'" (I'm assuming "skate launcher" is a Google Translate cock-up. Giz France editor says "Skate Launcher warning = the guy from the CNRS lab who tried to warn Apple.") Since publishing the report, Apple has promised "to resolve the problem in eight days."

I wouldn't chuck your Mac Pro out the window yet, but if you're particularly digging that new car smell, I'd probably cut back on huffing it, until this is sorted out. [Liberation via Giz France]

At first sight, this looked like a perfect working reproduction of a Mac Pro made of Lego, so I was ready to call it the best Lego computer in the history of best Lego computers. Then, when I learnt that it houses one full PC running Mac OS X and a Mac Mini, I felt something happening, this tingling sensation, this turgidity that made me feel a bit dizzy. And when I finally saw the Steve Jobs minifig standing there and took a closer look at it, nerdgasm finally ensued:

Made out of 2,588 Lego bricks, the Mac Pro was designed in Lego Digital Designer 2.0 for the MacMod Challenge 2008. The Hackintosh is a plain PC with a Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4Ghz CPU running Mac OS X, while the Mac Mini is a Core Duo 1.66Ghz. And the Steve Jobs minifig doesn't have any CPU, because he runs on mercurial power, tofu, and puppies' blood, like the real one.

And talking about the Steve Jobs minifig, remember we are still running our Go Miniman Go video contest, with the chance of winning priceless vintage Lego sets, shrink-wrapped, still in their boxes (if a new Lego Windmill can go for $1,700, imagine how many thousands a Galaxy Explorer or the original Yellow Castle will cost).

If you want to participate, check the contest rules here.

When we first heard about EFiX—a simple USB dongle that'll let you magically install Leopard on your PC—it sounded too fantastic to be true. Well, I used it to turn my gaming PC into a Mac Pro over the weekend, and I'm somewhat amazed to say this, but it works perfectly.

I grabbed all the updates straight from Apple—including 10.5.5 last night, so you don't have to wait for a hacked patch like you would running a typical Hackintosh—installed a whole bunch of software and have been using it for several days. It runs beautifully, just like a real Mac Pro.

The Process

There are, of course, rules you have to adhere to, as there tends to be when using black magic. The major one with EFiX, and its only real "catch," is that you have to use the supported hardware, not a very long list indeed. But outside of the Gigabyte motherboard requirement (reportedly some Asus boards using a P45 chipset also work), it's actually fairly generic. I just happened to have everything on the list.

If you've got the hardware, the whole process is simple, so that even if you've never cracked your desktop before, you could still get this done with a quick search online for the requisite know-how. I plugged the EFiX dongle into a USB header on my motherboard—not, as you might have assumed, to a USB port on the outside. That's really it for getting your hands dirty, though. I restarted my computer, selected EFiX as the boot device—it was listed under hard drives, actually—and was greeted with a drive selector. After selecting the Leopard disc, it started installing without a hitch.

Okay, there was a slight hitch. My video card, an Nvidia 8800GT, isn't supported by the firmware EFiX ships with. EFiX already has the update on the site, but its updater is only coded for 32-bit Windows. If, like me, you run Vista 64-bit, you will have to install Vista 32-bit on the drive you intend to put Leopard on, just to update the stupid firmware.

After I did that, everything was peachy. The only slight inconsistency is that my 8800GT shows up as a 256MB card, when it's actually a 512MB card, and my 1066MHz RAM is only running at 800MHz apparently. But that's sorta trivial.

The Numbers

Here are some benchmarks compared to some numbers Adam over at Lifehacker ran for his Hacktinosh vs. a MacBook Pro and Mac Pro. Obviously, my hardware is newer—a 3GHz E8400 Wolfdale Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM (running at the slower 800MHz, rather than 1066MHz) and an Nvidia 8800 GT (with the OS only recognizing half of the memory). The total guts of my computer cost just under $800 when I put it together in May, hard drive included. (Mac Pros start at $2,300.)

Day to Day

One thing to keep in mind is that EFiX has to interlope every time you want to boot to Leopard, so a cold boot takes at least two minutes, between booting to EFiX, picking Leopard, then loading it up. And when you go into Windows, EFiX will show up as an attached USB drive. These aren't dealbreakers—once you're up, performance is great. Overall, the experience is really incredible for how smooth and seamless it is. Updates, installing software, everything is just like a real Mac. The best way to put it is this: I've got a Mac Pro now.

I occasionally feel like Windows is running just a smidge more slowly, but benchmarks compared to before I installed EFiX don't support that creeping feeling, so I chalk it up to paranoia.

Is the dongle worth $170 $155 (EFiX USA originally quoted me $170)? That's a personal question. Do you wanna go through the usually more complicated—but free—Hackintosh process? Perhaps the best way to look at it is this: If you've already got the supported hardware, it's like buying a Mac for $155, since you can still have your trusty PC just a restart away on the same machine. Also, even as simplified as it is, you still need to know what you're doing. There's no official tech support, though there is a very active forum that provides helpful answers to queries.

Updated: EFiX USA is handing all of the distribution in the US for E-FiX.com, who actually doesn't do any of that. They were selling units on eBay but their main site looks like it's up now. So far in our dealings with the company (who sent us EFiX to review) we haven't had any reason to think they're scamming anyone, but it's understandable if you wanna approach this with caution. [EFiX, EFiX USA]