The Price $299 for 15-inch MacBook Pro, $319 for the 17-inch MacBook Pro, $159 for the 13-inch MacBook, $274 for 15-inch PowerBook G4 and $179 for 12-inch PowerBook G4.

The Verdict: BookEndz does exactly what it advertises it does well. Slide your laptop onto the tray—which is exactly form-fitted for your size laptop—and flip the lever up. The two ends will dock neatly into your laptop's ports in a manner similar to the 2001 Spaceport scene, but without the Blue Danube playing in the background. It's very nice. To de-dock, just turn the lever the other way and all your ports will come ripping out of its sockets like Phil Hartman in the SNL all-drug Olympics.

But what you want to know is if it's worth it for yourself to pay $299 to automate the 60-second activity of finding all your cables and plugging it in. The answer? Maybe. If you're like us and you dock and de-dock your laptop multiple times a day, it's slightly easier to justify the price. If you're only occasionally going to be plugging in your monitor or USB cables, or going to replace your laptop with a newer model in the next couple years, then stick with what you have.

Nevertheless, this is as smooth an implementation of a laptop dock as we've seen. [BookEndz]

While there's no immediate way to tell if Nvidia is in fact lying (which would be a massively boneheaded move), as the Inquirer alleged, we'll know in the coming months. Reports of massive chip failures and an even larger hit to Nvidia's financials than the $150-$200 million it already took would make it super obvious. Hopefully the Inquirer was just being bombastic and British. [Ars Technica]

The root of the problem is the substrate/bumping material, which Nvidia themselves had characterized as "weak." The G84 and G86 chipsets use the same application-specific integrated circuit, which the Inquirer has been told had no changes made to it during its life cycle—besides, Nvidia wouldn't change the assembly process or materials for a single batch, according to engineers. So Nvidia's official claim, that the weak materials were only used for a single batch, doesn't hold so much water. And as the Inquirer points out, their fix, to run the fan more to offseat the heat issue simply covers up the problem while it drains your battery.

If this is all true, Nvidia better have more than $200 million set aside for fixes. [The Inquirer

Apparently that hole will eventually be filled with a latch for removing the new MBP battery. And the reason the bottom piece appeared so small (when compared to the screen) is that it's missing the battery, which makes up a major portion of the footprint. The whole argument makes a lot of sense, and it completely lines up with what the original source blog had reported.

So there it is, the new 15" MacBook Pro. Hmm...we like Apple's pictures better. [AppleInsider]

Other reported differences that we can't see are the new Air-like keyboard and wider battery. It's also noted that the screw pattern on the case's bottom does not match the configuration of the MacBook Air, so at least the photo is not illegitimate in that particular way.

But, uhh, am I the only one wondering why the top case is 1/3 larger than the bottom case? Could these be differently-sized models? Or...differently-sized knockoffs?

Who knows, but feel free to guess away in the comments. Just know that's it's all probably fake. [Apple.Pro via Macrumors]

The Price: $75 for the MacBook and MacBook Air versions (both silver and black), $86 for the upcoming MacBook Pro version.

The Verdict: It works great. Moshi's own temperature measurements for the MacBook listed a 6 degree Celsius drop in temperature between using the Zefyr and not using the Zefyr after an hour's worth of video playback. We didn't have a MacBook to test it on, so we tested it on the even hotter MacBook pro, and got similar results. Temperatures on the enclosure bottom were up to about 36 degrees Celsius without the Zefyr, and around 32 degrees with it.

The best part of the Zefyr is that it looks great and only lifts up the back part of your laptop. This tilts your MacBook at a comfortable angle for typing while on a desk, but might not be terribly secure when it's on your lap. Seventy-five bones might be a bit steep for a laptop cooler, but it's probably one of the best ones we've used yet, and it goes well visually with your laptop. [Moshi]

The Price: $250 as tested (320GB, 16MB cache and freefall sensor)

The Verdict...

I swapped out my stock Seagate 5400RPM 120GB drive from my MacBook Pro. Running some benchmarks, here's the before and after between the Seagate and the WD Scorpio Black.

What we see here is that the Scorpio is much faster for sequential reading and writing (dealing with big files and stuff organized physically close on your hard drive) but actually slightly slower for some random reading and writing (dealing with smaller chunks of data floating more freely on your hard drive).

But isn't the WD model supposed to be faster? Sure. But it's also over twice the size of my old Seagate. Such a test supports the classic ideology that an OS should be stored on a smaller drive quarantined from your other data to keep running quickly. Laptops rarely have that luxury.

That said, I haven't noticed anything running slower since the upgrade, but have noticed a few things running faster (that I don't think can be contributed to hard drive placebo effects). My 500+ site RSS reader loads quicker. And within Final Cut Pro, scrubbing the timeline is completely effortless.

Potential downsides: The drive makes an almost inaudible whir and seems to vibrate ever so slightly more than the old Seagate. This could have to do with the drive or the fact that my hands are less precise than the army of deft children's fingers piecing together Macbook Pros. As for battery life, WD claims it sucks no more power than their 5400 drives, but I can't test the theory with my aging lithium ions.

Final Verdict: Overall, for $250 (or less), it seems like a no-brainer upgrade to store more media...given how much this fancy machine cost me in the first place.

[Western Digital]

While a new 15" MacBook Pro with 200GB hard drive will run you $2,000 from Apple, ExperCom's version with a 120GB SSD will only cost $649 more at $2649. That's only a $50 price premium over the drive's $600 pricepoint, so not nearly as bad as those beefed-up TiVos of yore. A 13" MacBook with 60GB SSD will cost $1649...meaning that SSD laptops with functional hard drives will soon be getting downright buyable.

ExperCom will also transfer files off of existing systems you want to upgrade. That'll run you $599 (60GB) or $899 (120GB) for the full hardware and service. [ExperCom via TUAW]

Apparently, the Centrino 2 launch will be rolling, with some chipsets hitting in July and others following later. One of the other problems is with FCC certification of the sets with 802.11n, so that wireless N support "may see a slower ramp as Montevina can only be shipped with support 802.11 a/b/g for now."

If you recall the Santa Rosa launch last year, new MacBook Pros shipped about a month after the chipset debuted, pointing toward an August launch for new Centrino 2-based notebooks. [TGDaily]

Why would we need this? Because we go through multiple batteries in a day of liveblogging, and this is the perfect thing to charge up more than one battery at night without having to wake up multiple times in the middle of the night to swap them out from your laptop. At $69, it's fantastic, and even better than the NewerTech chargers since it charges pretty much every recent Apple laptop. [Fastmac]

Editor's note: nothing to be surprised about here. Even if he was using a MacBook for his presentation, who cares? Macs run Windows just like any other PC laptop, and also PowerPoint for Mac OS X. Probably Ballmer doesn't give a damn about what computer is running his presentation, as long as it runs Microsoft's software. —JD

If you've got a MacBook, iBook or Powerbook made after 2005, you too can join the effort to tell people about quakes after it already happened, or maybe even act as a warning system. "Even just a few seconds of warning may be enough time for people to take cover and automated systems could slow trains and divert traffic from vulnerable bridges." And if you think that your constant table bumping from your activities at your computer will trigger The Big One over at EarthquakeHQ, "the Quake Catcher Network's software will analyze shakes sensed by a computer's accelerometer and report only big movements to the central server, ignoring the vibrations from a passing truck, a bump to a table, or even a minor earthquake." [Stanford via Technology Review]

Granted, it comes with Windows XP and all the Adobe software—Photoshop, Dreamweaver, etc.—you could ever want, but this thing still makes Blam's sorry, battered MBP look like a supermodel. If you think real beauty's on the inside and are still interested, get clicking, 'cause there's only a couple hours left on the auction.
[eBay, Thanks Caleb!]

The case is essentially just two large pieces of white acrylic separated by chrome spacers that are reminiscent of Mac Pro grating. Fun factoid: the acrylic is actually just recycled shower wall.

Apparently the most difficult proposition was mounting the motherboard with all of the drives attached. The modder explains:

The tolerances inside the slim drive are so tight, even the slightest deformation of the case will have a detrimental effect (i.e. I broke one!).

Pretty great idea. Excellent execution. [macmod via technabob]

CeBit 2008 - Village Tronic will show ViDock Gfx, an extraordinary graphics docking solution for portable computers. Hanover, March 4th 2008 - Village Tronic is proud to announce during the CeBit fair will that ViDock Gfx, the first product of a new family of graphics docking solutions for notebooks, will begin delivery early in Q2 this year. The ViDock family of graphics docking solutions is aimed at the professional user that wants to use a single portable computer both on the road and with a large display area made up of multiple screens in the office. ViDock Gfx allows IT managers and finance professionals to view large quantities of data across multiple screens. Creative professionals can take advantage of ViDock's powerful multi-display support to experience the final work on one screen while viewing edit commands on another. Home users and gamers can use ViDock to turn their notebook into a high performance graphics platform, with full HDTV support. ViDock Gfx takes advantage of the fast connection offered by ExpressCard technology, the latest standard from PCMCIA for notebook expansion, to deliver an uncompromised user experience in term of speed, responsiveness, 3D acceleration and resolution support. Combined with DVI Dual Link and Dual DVI video output, all the displays currently in the market can be supported, including the 30" ones at 2560x1600. The operating system compatibility ensures support for Windows Vista, Windows XP and Mac OS X. Aero accelerated user interface for Vista is supported. ViDock will be on the market bundled with the valuable software application "VTMultiDisplay" that improves the user experience when working with multiple screens. Village Tronic is an international, Multi-Display company and since 1996 is the world market leader for independent graphics cards for Motorola based Work Stations. In 2004 Village Tronic ignited the Multi-Display-Revolution for Notebook workstations with the introduction of VTBook for the Windows, Macintosh & Linux platforms. For further information about Village Tronic and its products, please visit the company's web site: http://www.villagetronic.com. EMail: press@villagetronic.com

[Village Tronic via Impress]

Reasonably, summer wouldn't be a bad time to expect them to come through, especially with the even more efficient Montevina chipset to offset Blu-ray's battery-killing nature. But, Apple's official support for Blu-ray has been completely non-existent despite its exceedingly long rumor half-life.

On the other hand, Blu-ray's victory logically means we'll see them populating more computers in (sorta) short order, now that the risk of shipping machines with $300 drink holders is gone. [AppleInsider]

• 24-inch Aluminum Mac for $1,899 (original price $2,299)
• 20-inch Aluminum Mac for $1,249 ($1,499)
• Previous generation iMac 17-inch for $849 ($1,199)
• Previous generation iMac 20-inch for $1,099 ($1,499)
• Previous generation iMac 24-inch for $1,399 ($1,999)

• MacBook Pro 15 2.2GHz $1,499 ($1,999)
• MacBook Pro 15 2.33GHz $1,499 ($1,649)
• MacBook Pro 15 2.4GHz $1,649 ($2,499)
• MacBook Pro 17 2.33GHz $1,899 ($2,799)
• MacBook Pro 17 (with 1,950 pixels high resolution display) 2.5GHz $2,349 ($3,049)
• MacBook Pro 17 2.6GHz $2,349 ($3,049)

[Apple Store]

Multi-Touch Trackpad
After a month of getting used to the Multi-Touch touchpad on the MacBook Air, I have to say that the Pro's touchpad is not quite as good in comparison. Comparatively, the Pro's touchpad is slightly narrower in width and a whole half of an inch shorter in height. (It's identical to the touchpad on the last Gen MBP's pad.) My initial thoughts were that the smaller touchpad would make using Multi-Touch more difficult, but that wasn't exactly the case.

Initially, in iPhoto, Multi-Touch on the smaller pad was more difficult, but after a few minutes we realized we were trying to use fingers in the same fashion as we did on the Air, where we had more room to gesture. For example, on the Air we skipped through photos with our fingers vertically but because of the Pro's size it's not comfortable to do this. So we placed our three fingers horizontally and it worked perfectly.

We came to the same conclusion with the rotate function. Instead of trying to move our rotate finger from the top of the touchpad to the bottom, we realized that by simply doing the rotate movement with more of a flick, iPhoto and Preview correctly rotated our photo to the next layout.

For testing zoom, we did a side-by-side comparison with the Air and found that the Pro's smaller touchpad actually zoomed into the same position as it did using the Air.

Screen
One thing to note though is that the LED matte screen on the version we got was less bright than the glossy screen on the MacBook Air. This might be the matte vs. glossy difference, or it might be that the MacBook Air's screen is just brighter.

Keyboard
The updated keyboard now has the F-key functions, same as the MacBook Air, and we think the additional Dashboard and Expose buttons use the F-keys nicely. We might not actually use buttons for these features but we think it's cool that the buttons are now clearly labeled.

Benchmark
The Penryn MacBook Pro has already been benched and compared to the previous generation MBP, and its clear it's about the same performance, per GHz. With that in mind we tested the new Penryn MBP agaisnt a year old Merom MBP and found a slight increase in speed. Also not surprising.

In a video encoding test, the Penryn MBP exported a 2.5min HD trailer in 11 minutes, where as the older Merom MBP took 13 min. (The basic config on the older machine included a 2.33GHz processor and 2GB of RAM; the Penryn had a 2.6GHz processor and 4GB of RAM, so this test is just a rough guide.) As noted in the temperature section, the Penryn did use much more of its power to accomplish the encoding which produced more heat. If you would like to see the Xbench results and compare it to your own machine you can check them out here.

Temperature
While idling, the Penryn MBP's CPU was running at 127 F—slightly cooler than the Merom MBP which had 133 F. But as for the actual experience, the new Penryn MBP felt much cooler on your lap than the older Merom.

While performing a video encode in iMovie with the new Penryn MBP CPU was operating at a temperature of 170 F; actually warmer than the older Merom MBP at 165 F. The increase in operating temperature during a video encode is likely because the more efficient machine is still doing more work every second at its higher clock rate.

Battery
So why do Apple's battery ratings look the same or lower in comparison to the last generation's Macbook Pro ratings? Simple: They made the tests harder. Again, according to numbers provided by Apple, for this and the last generation's MacBook Pro's battery life, you get about half an hour more due to the Penryn redesign, and half an hour more from the LED backlights. As with the AirBook ratings, your mileage will definitely vary. Downwards. But relative to the older books, these are more miserly.

Conclusion
Overall this MacBook Pro update is nothing amazing. The Multi-Touch touchpad and the Penryn processor are nice upgrades, but not necessarily something that a previous generation MacBook Pro user would feel an urgency to upgrade to. This update is more about efficiency than power gains.

According to Primate Labs, the overall performance in Geekbench is lower on the January 2008's MacBook Pro (with Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 running at 2.4GHz) than the June 2007 model (with Core 2 Duo T7700 at 2.4GHz) because the new machine "has less L2 cache than processor in the old MacBook Pro." However, they say that in theory the new Penryn-based notebook will give you more battery mileage as well as reduced heat at a lower price than the previous generation. [Primate Labs]

Previously (and depreciated):
I just spoke with Apple and found out why the new test numbers are lower when in fact, the actual absolute battery life in these models are higher. It has to do with their testing methodology. Instead of reporting the battery life as the longest of three tests (one test being DVD playback, one test being standard Wi-Fi usage and web browsing, and one test being absolute power saving mode doing just Text Editing), Apple's just reporting the middle test, which approximates average usage much better than the other two. Previously, they reported numbers for the unlikely scenario that you'd just be editing a text document while not connected to the internet. If you ran the same tests in the three models, the newest laptops would actually rate higher than before, says Apple. – Jason Chen

Before that (and depreciated):
The battery life of the new MacBooks and the MacBook Pro 17" has dropped dramatically in the new revision. From being the top battery performer with 5.75 hours, the 2.6GHz MacBook Pro 17" has fallen to 4.5 hours. There are some explanations, but none of them can explain the change because the number don't add up:

First is Apple's new "Wireless Productivity" battery life. According to Apple, this measures the battery life under typical Wi-Fi use, browsing web pages, working with mail and other internet-related applications. It seems like if Apple is now being a lot more conservative and strict in their battery performance tests. But while this may explain the drop, it doesn't seem that simple.

The MacBook Pro 15 battery life, for example, remains unchanged across all CPU speeds even with the new battery test method. Apple sources point out that the use of LED screen backlighting saves about 30 minutes of battery life. But is that enough to compensate against the drop in battery life of the MacBook Pro 17?
[MacBook and MacBook Pro]

Very zen, but what does it mean?

Seems like the LEDs are too expensive for the sub-$2000 MacBooks. But the difference in the answers above (one gives the reason of cost and one doesn't give much of an answer) kind of implies that the lack of multi in the standard is another way to separate the standard from the pro. That's too bad, because like the pinching and zooming on the Air and iPhone, I think non-professional Mac users could get a kick out of using it too. Maybe next round.

The good
• New Core 2 Duo versions across the board, which are supposed to be about 50% faster and more power efficient.
• New GeForce 8600M GT with 512MB.
• Multitouch pad on MacBook Pro.
• New LED option on top of the line 17" screen.

The bad
• No multitouch or LED on MacBooks.
• Multitouch trackpad on MacBook Pro is smaller than Air.
• Apple Remote is now a $19 option.

The Ugly
• Design whores like me will have to wait for the next generation for a new chassis. Clearly, this is a minor bump as we wait for the real things.

CUPERTINO, Calif., Feb. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple(R) today updated its popular MacBook(R) and MacBook Pro notebook lines with the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors, larger hard drives and 2GB of memory standard in most models. In addition, MacBook Pro includes the latest NVIDIA graphics processors, now with up to 512MB of video memory, and Apple's innovative Multi-Touch(TM) trackpad, first introduced in MacBook Air(TM). All Mac(R) notebooks include a built-in iSight(R) video camera for video conferencing on-the-go*, Apple's MagSafe(R) Power Adapter that safely disconnects when under strain and built-in 802.11n wireless networking for up to five times the performance and twice the range of 802.11g.**

The new MacBook Pro features the latest Intel Core 2 Duo technology with up to a 2.6 GHz processor with 6MB of shared L2 cache; up to 4GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory and up to a 300GB hard drive, plus NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics with up to 512MB of video memory. Every MacBook Pro now includes a trackpad with Multi-Touch gesture support for pinch, rotate and swipe, making it more intuitive than ever to zoom and rotate photos in iPhoto(R) or Aperture(TM) 2 or browse web pages in Safari(TM); an illuminated keyboard that makes it ideal for dimly lit environments such as airplanes, studios or conference halls and a built-in ambient light sensor, which automatically adjusts the brightness of the keys as well as the brightness of the display for optimal visibility.

Featuring a gorgeous 13-inch glossy widescreen display, and with prices still starting at just $1,099, the new MacBook lineup comes in three models and includes faster processors and larger hard drives across the line; sleek white 2.1 GHz and 2.4 GHz models with 120GB or 160GB 5400 rpm hard drives and a stunning black 2.4 GHz model with a massive 250GB 5400 rpm hard drive, previously only available as an option. The 2.4 GHz MacBook models ship with 2GB of memory standard, expandable up to 4GB across the line.

Every MacBook and MacBook Pro includes a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing on-the-go; Apple's MagSafe Power Adapter that magnetically connects the power cord and safely disconnects when under strain; the latest generation of 802.11n wireless networking for up to five times the performance and twice the range of 802.11g; built-in 10/100/1000 BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet for high-speed networking; Bluetooth; analog and digital audio inputs and outputs; USB 2.0; FireWire(R) and a built-in SuperDrive(R).

Every Mac in the Apple lineup comes with iLife(R) '08, the most significant update ever to Apple's award-winning suite of digital lifestyle applications, featuring a major new version of iPhoto and a completely reinvented iMovie(R), both seamlessly integrated with the new .Mac Web Gallery for online photo and video sharing***. Every Mac also includes Leopard(R), the sixth major release of the world's most advanced operating system which introduces Time Machine(TM), an effortless way to automatically back up everything on a Mac; a redesigned Finder(TM) that lets users quickly browse and share files between multiple Macs; Quick Look, a new way to instantly see files without opening an application; Spaces, an intuitive new feature used to create groups of applications and instantly switch between them; a brand new desktop with Stacks, a new way to easily access files from the Dock and major enhancements to Mail and iChat(R). .Mac members can use the new Back to My Mac feature to browse and access files on their home computer from a Mac over the Internet while out on the road.

Prices
The 2.1 GHz, 13-inch white MacBook $1,099 (US)
The 2.4 GHz, 13-inch white MacBook $1,299 (US)
The 2.4 GHz, 13-inch black MacBook $1,499 (US)
The 2.4 GHz, 15-inch MacBook Pro $1,999 (US)
The 2.5 GHz, 15-inch MacBook Pro $2,499 (US)
The 2.5 GHz, 17-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $2,799 (US)

According to AppleInsider, the new MacBook Pros will have Intel Core 2 Duo Penryn mobile processors running up to 2.6 GHz, a MacBook Air-style multi-touch trackpad and prices that are exactly $1,999, $2,499 and $2,799.

However, I'd guess that we won't see new external designs, just new guts. If anything new was coming out of Jobs and Ive's kitchen, we would have been subjected to a boomtastic special Apple event. No? [AppleInsider]

Apparently the date was finalized after Apple pulled out of the National Association of Broadcasters show, which means they might save the Final Cut Pro server announcement (if there is one) for the Feb 26 event as well. Remember, no one can confirm what Apple's announcing until they announce it, but this is what we know so far. [9to5Mac]

After a few seconds of internet browsing, the browser hangs up and you get a problem loading page/lost connection message (both Firefox and Safari). The problem is, Airport is still connected to the network. If you click the airport icon at the top of the screen, airport status changes from "Airport Scanning" to "Airport on," then the internet works again. Only to go back into scan mode a few seconds later and repeat the cycle. There are MULTIPLE discussions on Apple's support forums, but no solutions.

A sample discussion thread can be found here. We wouldn't point this out if we haven't experienced it ourselves—both at home and at the luxurious hobo-stained Imperial Palace we stayed at during CES. Have you noticed this? We'd notice that one machine using Leopard would drop out while another one on Tiger sitting two feet away would stay up. You? Throw up a comment.

Because the MacBook Air's coolest feature—other than its anorexia—is the multitouch trackpad, and Jobs knows it will probably pop up in a MacBook Pro refresh in just a few months. It's a simple formula:

Multitouch trackpad + green components + PowerBook-like black keyboard + redesigned case = dream machine.

Let's not forget Penryn chips, either, which mean more speed and less power suckage. Actually, since the inevitable MBP update is now at least a few months out, we'll probably see it launch with Intel's Montevina platform, the successor to Santa Rosa which is expected in May.

Though these are all reasons to wait for the next wave of MacBook Pros, I can't help but worry that a smaller MBP may never come. Apple likes to keep things nice and differentiated. I want a tight little beast of a machine, but there's already a small MacBook and now here comes the Air, with its feather-light weight and fairy specs. This reminds me of the iPod crisis last fall: Apple, why can't you give us one machine that does it all?

iPhone: A-
By measure of size of the market, it could be considered that the iPhone is Apple's most important product launch since the Mac. Within six months of launching, the iPhone came and overtook Windows Mobile in US marketshare. The UI turned out brilliant, and the keyboard and lack of 3G turned out to be pretty minor problems. (Important and fresh as it is, missing features and the initial $599 price caused us to recommend people wait to buy it.)

There were some problems outside the product, though. The price drop from $599 to $399 had early adopters very unhappy, and Jobs' peace offering of a $100 dollar rebate earned criticism too. (Even from Woz) iPhone hackers met resistance as Apple's firmwares setup obstacles to installing apps. And I still have a bricked iPhone here that ate it after firmware 1.1.1 killed iPhones unlocked using the iPhone Dev Team's AnySIM program. Apple's official fix, "Buy a new one", didn't sit well with anyone, but it's clear they weren't going to go out of their way to work with hacks. Especially those that threatened their revenue sharing agreement they set up with AT&T. We kicked and screamed for 3rd party programs; Jobs eventually wrote another letter revealing that the iPhone would get a public SDK, with security safeguards, come February. Even before then, unofficial app developers have patched so many of the phone's shortcomings, such as MMS, location awareness on the maps and custom ringtones. For the record, and against my cautious "wait to buy" verdict, I've been using the iPhone on and off since launch and loving it in spite of its flaws. 31% of Giz readers are doing the same, according to a recent poll.

Leopard OS: A
Leopard finally shipped into our desktops and hearts. After two Worldwide Developer Conferences and several months of iPhone-induced delays, Leopard launched. It was an understated occasion in the best possible way for Apple. Bugs were squashed with a patch issued about two weeks later, and although there are some quirky new features, Leopard's best trait is an overall streamlining of daily use: quickly turning emails into to-do or calendar items with a few clicks; Quick Look's ability to scan large amounts of media quickly; etc. Compare that to Vista, which PC World just dubbed the biggest disappointment of the year, while Dell reissued XP sales. A quiet launch is a good launch, although Apple did report 2 million in sales in the first weekend. (Relatively speaking, Leopard had a better adoption rate than Vista, but by absolutes, the much bigger Windows user base ended up snatching 20 million copies of Vista in the first month.) If you actually think Vista is better, more power to you: OS X's Boot Camp was upgraded this year to support Vista in case you forgot. Game over, man, game over.

iPods: A-
For a while, almost every major competitor (Creative, SanDisk, Zune) has had a product ladder that trumped the Apple model they targeted with features, like stronger format support, built-in FM tuners, video playback or price. This year Apple fought back with the iPod touch's UI and superior screen-to-surface-area ratio borrowed from the iPhone. It also introduced the video-capable nano, one we initially called "fat" but later recognized as having the same fine lines as any Italian automobile: Contoured and sharp at the same time, ultimately the nicest feeling in one's tight jeans. The classic is there to satiate those who prefer to carry their entire music collection at once, but I resent its title given that it does not come in white. The shuffle was designed for gyms, junior family members and Xmas stockings, and only Apple could spin the lack of an LCD—something quickly becoming standard in the premium-cheapo MP3 players arena—as an asset and namesake.

As its been, the iPod continues to be the focal point of Apple's mainstream power, with plenty of Windows-indoctrinated iPod owners dipping their toes into the Mac water and finding out they appreciate iPod-like computers and cellphones. Lack of advanced codec support for DivX and the like continues to be an ignorant stance on how users are finding content these days. (This would not be as much as of issue if the video store was more fully stocked, hint hint.)

Computers: A
The Mac product line has been updating much quicker than in the PowerPC days, with updates coming weeks behind Windows machine counterparts. The 15-inch MacBook Pro got a noteworthy midyear update to LED backlighting and Santa Rosa chips, and the iMac got a new glass face and a beautiful aluminum case stamped from a single piece of metal. Both are outstanding models and values, with the MacBook Pro earning PC World's title of fastest Vista notebook ever, and consumer reports rating them higher than all other notebooks.

The Mac mini and the MacBook standard got some minor speed bumps, but no breathtaking updates. The powerful Mac Pro desktops seem to be destined for workplace use, as the mainstream's love for all-in-ones and notebooks grows quarter after quarter. (In Q3, notebook sales were up 34% from 2006; a full 62% of sales were notebooks.) There is a place in my heart for a 12-inch notebook to replace the G4-powered PowerBook, but this could be rectified by the announcement of the long rumored ultralight MacBook in Macworld '08. Crossing my fingers. Also, to be fair, these notebooks need to all start packing LED backlighting, flash SSD drives and 3G connections to stay competitive in 2008. Card readers wouldn't hurt either.

TV, Hollywood and Music Industry Cooperation: D
Jobs wrote that open letter to the music industry asking for a stop to DRM. EMI and Jobs broke the news that they'd be doing DRM-free music on iTunes initially but competitors like Amazon caught up while iTunes started to stall. The movie list on iTunes continues to be not so great, even if it did just pick up Trading Places (Mortimer!). I'm not sure this problem is Apple's fault. The powers that be in old guard media just don't want all that power of distribution to aggregate in iTunes. ITunes is my favorite program for media loading to a portable, but Matt Buchanan, Giz writer, explains it best here:

When you open up the iTunes store, "shaky" is probably not the first word that springs to mind as a description for its relationship with content providers. But anyone searching for their favorite video content is going to find some holes. The NBC flameout was just the loudest rumble, causing iTunes to lose a lot of its most popular TV content while NBC pushed this video Netflix and Amazon and some other sites, while co-founding its own free video service, Hulu, with Fox . Don't forget Universal Music gave iTunes the finger as well on a long-term contract, and now supplies non-DRM music to iTunes competitors Wal-Mart and Amazon. It may even go on its own there too. This is a problem when you're talking about a provider responsible for 40 percent of iTunes' video downloads and the largest catalog of music on the planet. The iTunes/iPod monopoly fear is also why movie prices might shoot up and long-rumored rentals are total vapor. Something's gotta give, and so far no one's blinking.

Apple TV: C
Apple didn't try very hard here. The execution is solid, but underwhelming. Its foot is in the living-room door, but as Jobs described Apple TV at All Things D, it's a hobby for the company clearly focused on its computers and its portable phone and music players. The YouTube addition announced at All Things D as an honor to Mossberg's event was nice. How about we go to a full-on Mac mini DVR hybrid and get an OS X machine with an extended Front Row menu capability for couch surfing.

Rumor Control: C
The new game: When Apple C&D's a publication, you can call it proof that the photo belongs to them, and that the device is at least a prototype, like in the case of the leaked iPod nano shots. At least Apple must be satisfied that Think Secret is dead (RIP), but its not like they were responsible for the major body of Apple leaks and rumors in 2007. (See Media Control section below.) This year, Apple brought many rumors to life; in 2008, we have rumors of ultralight laptops and multitouch Macs, and the second coming of the iPhone. What I want in 2008 is a left-field product no one has even thought of before, announced at a keynote, previously unleaked. Boom.

Keynote Reality Distortion Field: B The January Macworld iPhone announcements were epic. The fact that the phone remained unleaked alone was a miracle. Even the malfunctions were decent: Jobs used a frozen slide as an opportunity to tell some stories about pranks that he and Woz pulled off in their younger years, making the event more personal. At the end, Steve thanked families of Apple for understanding late nights at work without knowing what was being built. After it was done, there were no demos of iPhones, just a prototype taunting us in 360 degrees as it rotated in its glass case. At WWDC, iMac and iPod launches later in the year, forementioned product leaks and reinterative presentations on Leopard took the steam out of most events. Steve's boom count was lower than at previous events, too, and stock prices dropped (a bit) afterwards as Wall Street was left without much significant new product to get excited about.

Media Control: N/A
Some think that Apple coverage in the papers and blogs seem blown out of proportion to other tech coverage. It has even been suggested by the occasional chemically unbalanced Zune fan that I give Steve Jobs blowjobs. All that venom, found in the comments of this site and in emails, have made me a little afraid to express my appreciation for the work the Cupertino kids do. If anything, we expect a lot more from them, and are unforgiving when they fuck up. (Again, I bring up our iPhone recommendation.) So I find that integrity for a gadget journo in 2007 meant delivering honest Apple verdicts at the risk of appearing a shill. (There is nothing more frightening for a tech hardware journalist than this.) But at least we were not alone. The mainstream big hitters like Pogue and Mossy have always loved Apple's work. But this year, PC Magazine's crusty John Dvorak proved that even the toughest critics have warmed this year. I recall that Consumer Reports ranked the 15 and 17-MacBook Pros best in class in a recent buyer's guide (although not the standard MacBooks) and PC World's tested a MacBook Pro to be the fastest machine running Vista at the time they went to press. Time's iPhone "Gadget of the Year" magazine cover made me want to freaking barf, but its not untrue. Apple has had the best year in recent history and I hope they meet the high expectations we've formed for them in 2008. Regarding the Think Secret settlement announced this week, if they start offering buckets of cash to this publication to stop rumor mongering, it isn't going to get them very far.

Final Grade: A

[Gizmodo's Year-End Report Cards 2008]