The magnetic MagSafe connectors Apple uses on its MacBook laptops was first introduced in 2006 and it has become a signature design element used across all Apple notebooks, but MagSafe technology is about much more than just aesthetics, of course. Rather than using cable and port combinations with male and female connectors that can wear down or pull a notebook computer off a desk when a cable is accidentally stepped on, Apple’s solution marries the power cable and MacBook charger port using small magnets that hold the connector in place. New patents uncovered by Patently Apple reveal that Apple is working on expanding its use of magnets across several product lines, and we may soon be introduced to a variety of new magnet-driven features in Apple’s upcoming MacBook and iOS device lines. Read on for more.

Newly published documentation surrounding multiple Apple patents describes a variety of functionality involving coded magnets that Apple is currently investigating. An example of one solution covered by Apple’s patent applications is a connector that might replace the company’s current 30-pin dock connector.

Connections would be made just as they are now with Apple’s MagSafe cable, but the magnets contained in both cables and in devices would be coded with information that could be transmitted when the magnets come in contact with one another. This would allow different accessories to utilize a single connector port on Apple’s iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or MacBook. “The magnets create a universal port that detects the coded magnet ‘signature’ of a particular cable type and reconfigures itself accordingly,” according to Apple’s patent application, allowing pins within the MagSafe-like connector to pass different kinds of data depending on the type of device being connected.

Another use case at the front and center of Apple’s patent involves a new stylus technology for the iPad. Apple’s proposed stylus has a design that includes coded magnets positioned at or near the tip of the device. Beyond performing functions typical of a standard stylus, Apple’s design would allow the pen to be placed in a dock connected to the iPad — or iPhone, iPod or MacBook — in order to exchange data with the tablet.

The magnets could also provide a layer of security according to Apple’s patent application. Because the magnetic coding in each stylus would be unique, an iPad could be configured to only function only when touched by a paired stylus. The iPad would also be able to exchange other types of data wirelessly with a stylus using the technology described in Apple’s patent.

Coded magnets could potentially introduce a whole new range of capabilities to Apple’s mobile devices that extends far beyond the use cases described here. Apple also makes references to wireless battery charging solutions that employ magnets, for example. Whether or not Apple will build its coded magnet technology into future devices remains to be seen, however.

Read

When counting tablets as personal computers, Apple will soon overtake Hewlett-Packard as the world’s top PC vendor. Based on a Fortune poll of 42 analysts, iPad sales could hit the 14 million mark in the fourth quarter, a big bump over the 11.12 million sold in the third quarter. Apple previously sold 4.89 million Macs, with holiday sales estimated to exceed 5 million units. When combined, both iPad and Mac sales are expected to be over 20 million units during the holiday quarter, which would be enough to push Apple past HP. The estimated sales would give the Cupertino-based company a 17.6% market share versus HP’s 13%. Asymco’s Horace Dediu noted that Apple has never held the top spot; the company’s market share peaked at 15.8% thanks to the Apple II in 1984. Last quarter, Apple surprised Wall Street when the company announced lower-than-expected earnings, however Apple is expected to crush estimates when it announces its December-quarter earnings on January 24th.

Read

Apple may currently be prepping a huge display upgrade for its MacBook Pro line of notebook computers that would be on par with the bump from its iPhone 3GS display to the Retina Display on the iPhone 4. Citing sources from within Apple’s component supplier chain, DigiTimes on Wednesday reported that Apple will add new display panels to its MacBook Pro laptops in 2012 that pack a resolution of 2,880 x 1,800 pixels. The new displays would quadruple the resolution of the current 1,440 x 900-pixel screen on the 15-inch MacBook Pro, just as the 960 x 640-pixel Retina Display on the iPhone 4 quadrupled the iPhone 3GS’s 480 x 320-pixel panel. The report notes that both Acer and ASUS are planning high-end ultrabooks with upgraded 1920 x 1080-pixel displays next year as well, up from the 1,366 x 768-pixel displays used on early ultrabook models.

Read

Details surrounding Apple’s Black Friday sale have reportedly been revealed and as has been the case in the past, the discounts afforded are minimal. 9to5Mac on Wednesday published what appear to be images of a pamphlet outlining all of the deals Apple has in store this coming Friday, November 25th. Sale items this year include the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and iMac, all available for $101 off retail pricing. Discounts on Apple’s iPad 2 will range from $41 for the less expensive models to $61 for the high-end tablets, and Apple is lowering the iPod nano’s price by $11 during its one-day sale. The iPod touch will also see discounts ranging from $21 to $41 depending on capacity, and Apple Stores will offer sale pricing on a host of accessories. Two images of the leaked pamphlet follow below.

Read

Apple reportedly plans to launch a slightly thicker (0.7mm) iPad in March with a dual-backlit display and a new high-resolution screen. It may be shown off in January if it’s ready in time, iLounge reports. In addition, iLounge cites its “most reliable source” in stating that Apple will likely launch the iPhone 5 next summer. In contrast to a number of rumors, the site says that the iPhone 5 does not have a tear-drop design. Instead, it will be 8mm longer than the current model and will sport a metal case as well as a 4-inch display. Lastly, Apple’s MacBook Pro line will be updated in 2012 and the new models will be thinner than the current generation notebooks, the report claims.

Read

Apple may launch an ultra-thin 15-inch MacBook laptop as early as the second quarter of 2012 according to a new report. Components for the new notebook have already begun shipping, DigiTimes reported on Tuesday, though details are extremely limited for the time being. The site’s nameless sources say that components started moving this month in small volumes, perhaps for test runs of the new computer. As was the case when earlier reports emerged regarding the new laptop, it is unclear if this new model will be added to the high end of Apple’s MacBook Air line or if it will simply be a new, thinner MacBook Pro. Mass shipments are currently scheduled to begin in March according to the report, though firm launch timing is unknown at this time.

Read

Apple on Monday quietly updated its line of MacBook Pro notebook computers with faster processors and more storage. The late-2011 MacBook bump comes a bit later than expected, but it is somewhat in line with various reports. Apple’s low-end $1,199 13-inch MacBook Pro laptop now includes a 2.4GHz dual-core Core i5 processor with 500GB of storage, and $1,499 will now buy a 2.8GHz dual-core Core i7 with a 750GB hard drive. The 15-inch MacBook Pro includes a 2.2GHz quad-core Core i7 and an AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics card for $1,799 or a 2.4GHz quad-core Core i7 and AMD Radeon HD 6770M GPU for $2,199. Atop Apple’s laptop lineup, the base-level 17-inch MacBook pro now includes a 2.4GHz quad-core Core i7 processor and the AMD 6770M for $2,499, and a fully-loaded 17-inch model includes a 2.5GHz quad-core Core i7 CPU and a 512GB solid state drive for $3,849. Apple’s updated MacBook Pro notebooks begin shipping immediately.

Read

Apple is planning to sneak in a modest refresh of its high-end MacBook Pro line later this month according to a new rumor. AppleInsider cites multiple anonymous sources in claiming that Apple’s MacBook Pro line will receive a light bump in late September that delivers marginal speed improvements to the laptops’ Intel Core i-series processors and little else. Intel’s just-announced 2.4GHz, 2.5GHz and 2.7GHz quad-core Core i7 processors are expected to replace the current 2.0GHz, 2.2GHz and 2.3GHz chipsets found in Apple’s current 15 and 17-inch MacBook Pro models, the report says. Apple may also update the current 2.7GHz CPU in the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Intel’s new dual-core 2.8GHz Core i7 chip. If the late-2011 MacBook Pro refresh does occur later this month, AppleInsider says it will take place after September 20th when Apple’s back-to-school promotion is set to end.

Read

Apple has yet to release a MacBook with an integrated 3G modem, but that doesn’t mean the company hasn’t toyed with the idea. A 2007 15-inch MacBook Pro has surfaced on eBay with a built-in 3G antenna and a SIM-card slot. The seller says he or she originally purchased the 3G-capable MacBook Pro “for parts,” from a former Apple engineer and said “it was immediately clear this was no normal MacBook Pro.” The machine’s SIM card slot is still recognized by OS X 10.6.8 Leopard but the seller has been unable to get the data connection working properly, and noted that “it’s entirely possible it never worked.” The high bid for the one-of-a-kind MacBook Pro was $11,211.11 at the time of this writing. Read on for a few more images.

[Via MacRumors]

Read

How’s this for an undocumented feature? Apple’s newer MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro notebooks have a security flaw that can allow hackers to remotely prevent the batteries from charging. Better yet, hackers can exploit the same flaw and remotely cause batteries to explode. Apple laptops’ new “smart” battery technology is intended to provide added control over power management, and it does just that. Unfortunately, it also gives hackers added control because the microcontroller chip that ships in recent Apple laptops can be accessed remotely using a default password shared by each and every notebook. Charlie Miller, the security expert who discovered the vulnerability, plans to showcase the flaw next month at the Black Hat security conference. There, Miller will show that he is able to access the battery controller remotely and cause it to refuse a charge, or even heat up until it catches fire and explodes. “These batteries just aren’t designed with the idea that people will mess with them,” Miller told Forbes last week. “What I’m showing is that it’s possible to use them to do something really bad.” Thankfully, the security expert also intends to showcase a fix for the flaw, which Apple will hopefully implement as soon as possible.

Read

Apple is in the late stages of testing a new ultra-thin 15-inch notebook computer that may or may not be an upcoming new addition to the MacBook Air family. MacRumors on Tuesday reports that the new ultra-thin laptop could either be a MacBook Air, which is currently offered in 11 and 13-inch sizes, or a MacBook Pro, which is currently offered in 13, 15 and 17-inch sizes. No pricing or release timing is being reported at this point, though a launch in the near term is unlikely. Apple refreshed its MacBook Pro lineup this past February and new MacBookAir models launched just this past week.

Read

A personal travel blog titled BirdAbroad recently published a story and photos detailing fake Apple Stores that have started to pop up in China. A few such stores exist in Kunming, the largest city in the Yunnan Province, and employees have faked the real Apple Store atmosphere so well that a number of Chinese residents believe the stores are legitimate outlets. Several of the customers are now furious after hearing the truth. “When I heard the news I rushed here immediately to get the receipt, I am so upset,” a near teary-eyed customer surnamed Wang told Reuters. “With a store this big, it looks so believable who would have thought it was fake?” Wang reportedly bought an iPhone 3G and a 13-inch MacBook Pro last month for a total of $2,170, but was not issued a receipt. “Where’s my receipt, you promised me my receipt last month!” Wang yelled at the store’s employees, before “being whisked away to an upstairs room,” Reuters said. Members of the staff, who are outfitted with blue shirts and Apple name tags, believe that they are real Apple employees. The Wall Street Journal was able to reach one Kungming staff member by phone. “It doesn’t make much of a difference for us whether we’re authorized or not,” the staffer said. “I just care that what I sell every day are authentic Apple products, and that our customers don’t come back to me to complain about the quality of the products.” Apple has yet to respond to the reports. Read on for a few more images of the fake Kunming store taken by BirdAbroad.

[Via Reuters]

Read

Apple’s OS X Lion was downloaded more than 1 million times during its first day of availability, Apple said on Thursday. The Cupertino-based company made the announcement just as Microsoft announced its earnings results for the fiscal fourth quarter — merely a coincidence, we’re sure. Presuming these were paid OS X purchases and upgrades, Apple grossed more than $30 million from Lion in just one day. “Lion is off to a great start, user reviews and industry reaction have been fantastic,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s SVP of Worldwide Product Marketing, in a statement. “Lion is a huge step forward, it’s not only packed with innovative features but it’s incredibly easy for users to update their Macs to the best OS we’ve ever made.” OS X 10.7 Lion is available now in the Mac App Store for $29.99. Apple’s full press release follows below.

Lion Downloads Top One Million in First Day

CUPERTINO, California—July 21, 2011—Apple® today announced that in just one day, over one million users bought and downloaded Mac OS® X Lion, the eighth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system. Available through the Mac® App Store™ for $29.99 (US), users are buying Lion faster than any other OS release in Apple’s history.

“Lion is off to a great start, user reviews and industry reaction have been fantastic,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Lion is a huge step forward, it’s not only packed with innovative features but it’s incredibly easy for users to update their Macs to the best OS we’ve ever made.”

Lion introduces more than 250 new features to the Mac, including Multi-Touch® gestures; system-wide support for full screen apps; Mission Control, an innovative view of everything running on your Mac; the Mac App Store, the best place to find and explore great software; Launchpad, a new home for all your apps; and a completely redesigned Mail app.

Available in 123 countries, the Mac App Store brings the revolutionary App Store experience to the Mac so you can find great new apps, buy them using your iTunes® account, download and install them in just one step. The Mac App Store offers apps in Education, Games, Graphics & Design, Lifestyle, Productivity, Utilities and other categories. Users can browse new and noteworthy apps, find out what’s hot, see staff favorites, search categories and look up top charts for paid and free apps, as well as user ratings and reviews. The Mac App Store is built right into Lion and available for Snow Leopard® users through Software Update as part of Mac OS X version 10.6.8.

Apple news site MacRumors on Friday discovered images of a new LED Display on Apple’s website. While the OS X Lion wallpaper could have meant that these are simply new product shots as opposed to an updated model we’re looking at, the URL of the image features the recently revealed part number “MC914.” This part number corresponds with a number seen in a recent leak that identified multiple forthcoming refreshed Apple products. The new LED Display will be nearly identical to the current model, though it will include a Thunderbolt I/O port for connectivity to Mac computers. Apple’s upcoming mid-2011 MacBook, MacBook Air and Mac mini refreshes are all expected to include new Thunderbolt ports as well.

[Via MacRumors]

Read

Brooklyn-based artist Kyle McDonald finds himself in hot water after secretly photographing Apple Store customers while they shopping for computers. “I thought maybe we could see ourselves doing this we would think more about our computers and how we’re using them,” McDonald told Mashable. Without the staff’s knowledge, the 25-year-old installed software on computers at two Apple Store locations in New York that used their integrated webcams to capture photos every 60 seconds. The software then automatically sent the photos to McDonald. The electronic artist published his project on his site and a dedicated Tumblr blog, and eyebrows were raised soon after. Mashable reports that McDonald was soon approached by the U.S. Secret Service, and his personal computers have been confiscated as part of the investigation into alleged computer fraud. McDonald says he did get Apple Store security guards’ permission to take photos in the stores, and he also asked permission while photographing patrons — with his handheld camera. McDonald makes no mention of gaining Apple’s permission to install software on display computers that secretly snaps photos and sends them to McDonald behind the scenes. A video of McDonald’s project can be viewed below.

Read