uninteresting :: nerd

Tested using iBench. The short story: the new base-model Late 2008 Aluminum Macbook performs about the same as the Late 2006 Macbook Pro.

Macbook

Out: Macbook Air

• 1.6ghz core 2 duo, 2gb ram, 80gb hard drive
• bought for $1500 in March, sold for $1350 in Oct. → depreciation of about $21/mo. try that with a pc.

In: Macbook Aluminum

• 2.0 core 2 duo, 2gb ram, 120gb hard drive
• nvidia geforce 9400M = decent gaming performance
• 1.5 lbs heavier than the air…still highly portable

…to the Toshiba Portege M750, also released today.

the news in a nutshell:

• the macbook has gone aluminum & glass, and looks like a smaller macbook pro.
• all notebooks are built using a new manufacturing process that carves them out of a single block of aluminum. (making of video)
• a new 24″ monitor ‘accessory’ for the macbook.

If you’re not taking advantage of the free content on iTunes Store, you’re really missing out. Podcasts are great, but less well-known is iTunes U. Check it out: [Apple - Education - iTunes U - Introduction]

• iPhone 3G was the No. 1 US smartphone based on units sales from June through August, outselling the Blackberry Curve, Blackberry Pearl, and Palm Centro
• 17% share of the overall US smartphone market
• #2 amongst all phones, behind Motorola’s RAZR V3
• 30% switched from other mobile carriers to join AT&T
• Two independent Apple analysts issued a report suggesting that Apple has more than surpassed its self-imposed goal of selling more than 10 million iPhones during the 2008 calendar year

[From AppleInsider | iPhone 3G now the second best-selling US mobile handset]