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Rumors have been circulating recently of Apple revamping a lot of its hardware, namely with the iMac and MacBook devices. These rumors aren’t surprising due to the fact that Apple is pretty consistent in its timeframe of upgrades, so much so that you can practically set your watch by it. But one interesting bit of information that is making its rounds is the fact that Apple could be looking into boosting the processor speed of the next version of iMacs.

As far as looks go, the iMac has stayed pretty consistent since its last redesign in 2012, instead focusing on minor upgrades in processing power that have benefited the device a good deal. It is still up in the air as to when exactly Apple may do a physical redesign again to the already impressively slim all-in-one but a lot of users are keeping their fingers crossed for other enhancements, most notably a higher screen resolution thanks to a Retina display.

However, French blog site MacGeneration recently debuted a report that suggests that Apple is planning on refreshing the iMac lineup as early as next week with speed upgrades. MacGenerations talked about all four iterations of the iMac and the potential upgrades that could be coming to each one.

The $1,499 21.5″ 2.9 GHz iMac could see CPU speeds increase 0.1 GHz to 3.0 while the Turbo Boost feature, which manages individual cores of the processor automatically for increased efficiency in both power and performance, would increase to 3.7 GHz from 3.6. The $1,299 21.5″ 2.7 GHz iMac wouldn’t receive any upgrades at all, at least as far as MacGenerations is concerned.

The $1,799 27″ 3.2 GHz iMac would see processing speeds increase 0.1 GHz as well to 3.3 accompanied with the Turbo Speed increase from 3.6 GHz to 3.7 GHz. The final version of iMac, the $1,999 27″ 3.4 GHz model, would also see a 0.1 GHz increase to 3.5 with the Turbo Speed performance increasing from 3.8 GHz to 3.9 GHz.

However, all of these speed increases are for the basic models. For a small price increase users are already able to increase both processing speed and Turbo Boost when configuring their device. If these reports hold true then it appears as if some Apple fans will be disappointed as no Retina display has been announced for any of the iMac variations.

Rumors of Apple bringing the Retina display to the iMac have been circulating for some time now. Apple released a 5120 x 2880 wallpaper image a year ago that hinted at the Retina display was coming to the iMac as well as Apple’s external models. The MacBook Pro lineup has had Retina displays for quite awhile now, as has the iPhone and iPad, but Apple has yet to bring it to the iMac or the MacBook Air, which is frustrating potential customers.

There is one solitary clue, however, that alludes to this year being the year of the Retina iMac. Code has been discovered in the beta of Apple’s recently-announced OS X 10.10 Yosemite operating system that points to higher-resolution settings for an unknown computer that could very well be the iMac.

Unfortunately for us that is all purely speculative hearsay and nothing has been set in stone. Not everyone is in favor of the iMac getting the Retina display, however. Customers seem to be a little divided on the topic with some thinking that a Retina display on the iMac is awesome while others believe it to be a bit too much. What about you? Are you eager to see the iMac come out with a beautiful Retina display?

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Many reports believe that the Sandy Bridge E server chips, better known as the Xeon E5 series, from Intel are set to debut this week. There are lots of rumors that the chips have been in the distribution channel for a couple weeks now which means that manufacturers using the chips will be able to launch seamlessly with the actual release of the chips. One such company is Apple.

Nobody who “has the chips” has been permitted to release benchmark tests yet as that honor is being restricted to next week. However, the Xeon E5 series will definitely be a much improved version over the ones currently found in Apple’s highly popular MacBook Pro, a device that hasn’t seen an update since the middle of 2010.

Aside from Apple, other companies, like Dell, have already started announcing new products that are based on the new Xeon E5 series which means that Apple could very well be ready with an all new MacBook Pro update in the very near future.

In addition to that, Apple is likely to take advantage of the E5-2600 series 6-core and 8-core chips. These chips would most likely be used in the company’s dual-processor MacBook Pro devices with the E5-1600 series quad-core and 6-core chips focused on Apple’s low-end, single-processor models.

The new processors aren’t the only things coming out that are vital for a brand new MacBook Pro upgrade. However, there have definitely been far fewer specific MacBook Pro rumors over the past couple of months. A recent report did claim that the company is planning to switch to Nvidia graphics in the next update, moving away from Apple’s current AMD partner.

The main thing that will determine if we see a new MacBook Pro update is, of course, whether or not Apple thinks the line is worth keeping in production. Apple was reportedly questioning last year whether to discontinue the model or not, examining if the MacBook Pro should continue offering the professional-level workstation since sales have been down thanks to a shift towards notebooks.

What do you think? Would you want a new MacBook Pro with the Xeon E5 series chip or do you think it’s time for Apple to retire the trusted device in lieu of something a little more fresh?

Source: MacRumors – Mac Pro Update Now Possible with New Xeon E5 Chips Next Week

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Apple recently released some firmware updates on Wednesday for the latest Mac Mini and MacBook Pro model computers. This firmware update was released to address issues with Lion Internet Recovery as well as Thunderbolt connectivity on both the Mac Mini and MacBook Pro.

Just like the most recent MacBook Air update, which took place on Monday, EFI Firmware Update 1.3, which is for mid-2011 Mac Mini models, offers increased stability enhancements for Lion Internet Recovery as well as an issue fix involving Apple Thunderbolt Display compatibility and performance in Thunderbolt Target Disk Mode.

The MacBook Pro’s patch, known as EFI Firmware Update 2.2, provides similar fixes. However, unlike the MacBook Air, the MacBook Pro doesn’t ship with Internet Recovery. The good news is that this update appears to enable the use of Internet Recovery on the device. Internet Recovery allows you to get support and re-install Lion via the internet without a physical Lion Recovery partition in the event of a hard drive crash.

If you want to update your MacBook Pro or Mac Mini computer, all you have to do is download the firmware update from Apple’s support website. After you do that, you will want to have your MacBook Pro or Mac Mini connected to a power source. Your computer will then reboot to a gray screen in order to install the update. You will then be able to track the progress using a status bar at the bottom of the screen.

Source: Computer World – Apple provides firmware updates for MacBook Pros, Mac minis

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Hey, all you Apple junkies, guess what?! Apple has just unveiled their new Apple MacBook Pro family! Aren’t you excited!? Well, I’m sure you are excited but I am also sure that you knew this day was coming. Apple has a tendency to revamp their stuff periodically and this time they are turning their attention to the MacBook Pro. Now compared to Apple’s latest attempt at revamping the MacBook Pro, there are a ton of updates, and serious ones at that.

The rumor about all three of the new models getting the new Sandy Bridge Core i5 and i7 Processors from Intel is most definitely true. These laptops will also be getting AMD Radeon HD 6000M graphics, so say goodby to NVIDIA. FaceTime HD Cameras as well as some extremely fast Thunderbolt I/O transfer speeds are also included in Apple’s new MacBook Pro family.

The new family includes two new 13-inch models, two 15.4-inch models and one 17-inch model. These new models are pretty much identical to the previous ones, aesthetically speaking. They still have the same aluminum body that everybody seems so attached to. The only visible difference is the addition of the Thunderbolt connector which promises up to 10Gbps data transfer speeds and is based on Intel’s highly anticipated Light Peak technology. One other major addition is the new FaceTime HD camera which offers triple the resolution of the previous iSight MacBook Pro cameras and supports full HD video calling.

Here are some more details on the three different models:

13-inch MacBook Pro – Both models are available with either Core i5 or Core i7 processors with the lower end models starting at $1,199 and featuring a 2.4GHz dual-core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive. If that doesn’t quite do it for you, then you can upgrade to the next level that comes with a 2.7GHz dual-core Core i7 processor and a 500GB hard drive, but this one will cost you a little more with a $1,499 price tag. No AMD graphics are available on these models but you may get Intel’s ne HD 3000 integrated graphics, which is now more powerful than ever.

15-inch MacBook Pro – The Core i7 processor is your only option on the 15-inch models but you also get AMD Radeon HD 6000M graphics. If you go with the $1,799 model, you can expect to pay for a 2.0GHz quad-core Core i7 processor, AMD Radeon HD6490M graphics with 1GB of VRAM and a 500GB hard drive. The higher-end $2,199 model gets you a faster 2.2GHz Core i7 chip, AMD Radeon 6750M graphics and a 750GB hard drive. You can also get 128GB, 256GB or 512GB options and it appears that the graphics switching will remain the same as in the previous models, automatically switching between GPU and IGP based on what you’re doing.

17-inch MacBook Pro – The patriarch of the family is the powerful 17-inch model. The 17-inch model has the same specs as the 15-inch one for the most part, but for $2,499 you get the same 2.2GHz Core i7 processor, AMD Radeon 6750M graphics and a 750GB hard drive. You can also deck this laptop out with some of those other hard drive options listed with the 15-inch model.

You can order any of these models on Apple’s store right now so I know you all are excited about that!

Source: Engadget – Apple refreshes MacBook Pros with Sandy Bridge processors, AMD graphics, Thunderbolt I/O tech, and HD cameras