Apple releases Retina display MacBook Pro, unveils iOS 6 and Mountain Lion
At its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco, Apple has announced the immediate arrival of iOS 6 beta, the imminent release of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, and a refresh of the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. But that’s not all! Apple surprised all by announcing a brand new laptop: a next-generation 15-inch MacBook Pro, with a Retina display.
Hardware
The “next-generation” MacBook Pro is 0.71-inches (1.8cm) thick, weighs 4.46 pounds (2kg) — and has a 220 PPI, 2880×1800 15-inch Retina display. The display, apparently, is a wonder to behold, with better contrast, deeper blacks, and a big reduction in glossy glare. Internally, there’s an Ivy Bridge processor (up to 2.7GHz/3.7GHz Turbo), support for 16GB of RAM, and a Kepler-based Nvidia GPU. It can be equipped with flash SSD storage up to 768GB, and there’s SD, USB 3.0, Thunderbolt, and HDMI (an Apple first) for expansion. Apparently, though I struggle to believe it, the new MBP will still have a battery life of 7 hours.
The starting configuration of the new MBP will cost $2200, have a 2.3GHz Core i7 CPU, 8GB of RAM, the GeForce GT 650M, 256GB of SSD storage. We’ll no doubt have a lot more to say about the MBP’s Retina display, but just so you’re aware: 220 PPI at 15 inches perfectly jives with our recent story about high-resolution displays.
The 15-inch MacBook Air has been updated to Ivy Bridge, with support for Core i7 processors up to 2GHz (Turbo Boost to 3.2GHz) and 8GB of RAM. It looks like the 13-inch MBA is limited to Core i5, and 4GB of RAM. The new MacBook Airs will be equipped with a pair of USB 3.0 ports, and the internal SSD will be available in sizes up to 512GB. With Ivy Bridge, the integrated GPU gets bumped up to the Intel HD 4000, which should boost graphics performance of the new MBP by 50% or so.
The old, non-Retina MacBook Pro has received a similar refresh: Ivy Bridge (up to 2.7GHz), up to 8GB of 1600MHz memory, USB 3.0, and Nvidia GeForce GT 650M 1GB (on the 15-inch model; 13-inch is stuck with the Intel HD 4000).
iOS
Moving onto the smartphone and tablet side of things: Despite the rather insane amount of press coverage it has received, the biggest new feature in iOS 6 isn’t Apple’s home-grown Maps app (which replaces Google’s offering) — it’s Facebook integration. Photos, Safari, and Maps now have native Facebook integration, just like Twitter. There is a public API that iOS app developers can use. The iTunes Store will have “Like” buttons. Birthdays and contact details will automatically hop over from Facebook to your phone (and presumably to your Mac, via iCloud). Siri can post to Facebook.
As expected, Siri has been updated. She can now handle sports-related queries, Yelp and OpenTable, and movies. Siri can now also launch apps. The image below apparently shows all of Siri’s capabilities. The “Eyes free” feature refers to Apple working with car manufacturers to add a Siri button to the steering wheel — much like volume or infotainment controls.
iOS 6 also debuts a new phone dialer app, which lets you decline calls with an SMS — and lets you set up a reminder, so you call the person back later. Apparently you can set up a “geo-fence,” which presumably reminds you to call someone as you’re leaving the office/house, or something along those lines.
After two years of being WiFi-only, iOS 6 will finally allow FaceTime video calls to operate over cellular networks. It seems like Apple will also allow you to merge your phone number and Apple ID, so if someone calls your phone, you can pick it up on your iPad or Mac.
Photo Stream, which provides instant syncing of your images to other devices via iCloud, can now be shared with other people. There’s a commenting platform built in, too. It’s probably easier to just use Facebook, though.
There’s a new app, called Passbook, which allows companies to send passes (Starbucks vouchers, United Airlines boarding passes, Amtrak tickets) to your phone. When you need to use a pass, just open the app, click the right tab, and a QR code appears. Changes can be pushed to Passbook; if your gate or boarding time changes, the virtual pass updates.
And finally, we have the new Maps app. Apple is apparently doing all of the cartography itself, starting from scratch. 100 million local points of interest/listings have already been added. There’s Yelp integration, traffic updates (from real-time, crowdsourced data), and turn-by-turn navigation. Siri is integrated, of course.
Apple’s Maps app also includes Flyover, which allows you to… fly over… cities all over the world. Even with Google’s recent Maps updates, Apple’s offering still sounds very compelling — not bad, for a first effort.
The developer beta of iOS 6 will be immediately available to download, with the final release coming in the fall (probably coinciding with the iPhone 5). The iPhone 3GS/4/4S, iPad 2/3, and iPod touch (4th gen and later) will be eligible for the upgrade. iPad 1 owners will unfortunately be left out (though I’m not sure why; it’s newer than the 3GS).
Mountain Lion
There are over 200 new features in Mountain Lion, apparently, with a lot of these revolving around further iCloud integration. One of the coolest features seems to be instant syncing of Pages between OS X and iOS. Reminders, a new app, supports multi-touch gestures. Messages are now synced between desktop and mobile.
Mountain Lion also now has dictation — presumably powered by Siri and requiring an internet connection. Safari has been updated with a faster JavaScript engine, an address box that looks a lot like the Chrome omnibox, and iCloud-syncing tabs. Rather than run you through the entire keynote, though, it’s probably easier if you just read our detailed preview, or hit up the Mountain Lion website.
Apple Macbook Pro
Apple’s official iOS 6 site
Mountain Lion website
Via ExtremeTech
