News - Apple

An investigation by Apple shows some MacBook Pros may have faulty Nvidia graphics processors after all, despite Nvidia's earlier assurances to the contrary, the computer maker has announced.

Apple said it will repair at no charge MacBook Pros where the Nvidia GPU has failed, or fails within two years from the purchase date. Problem signs include distorted or scrambled video, or no video on the screen though the computer is turned on. Models that might be affected are 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pros with Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT graphics processors. The computers were made between May 2007 and September 2008.

Apple says some models of MacBook Pros may be affected by an Nvidia graphics chip glitch.

(Credit: Apple )

This past summer, Nvidia acknowledged that a packaging defect had led to a graphics chip problem that affected some notebook computers, including those made by Dell and Hewlett-Packard. The chipmaker said in July it was taking a one-time charge of $150 million to $200 million to cover expenses relating to the glitch.

In a post about the problem, Apple said that back in July "Nvidia assured Apple that Mac computers with these graphics processors were not affected." But the computer maker's own investigation showed some models might be affected.

Nvidia's director of PR and events, Derek Perez, told MacWorld on Friday the company "has worked diligently with Apple." According to Perez:

"Our analysis shows that a failure in an Apple MacBook Pro notebook is remote. However, Apple, like other ... Read more

Apple and eBay were two notable stocks to swim against the tide Friday, staying in positive territory throughout the mid-morning through the market's close. Meanwhile investors watched the Dow Jones Industrial Average take one of its most harrowing rides ever.

As the Dow whiplashed investors with its swings that ranged more than 1,000 points during the day, Apple and eBay took investors on an upward path.

Apple intraday trading

(Credit: Yahoo Finance)

Apple closed up 9.08 percent from Thursday, ending the day at $96.80 a share. It gained most of its traction in the final hour of the trading session and was one of the most actively traded stocks on the Nasdaq.

eBay, meanwhile, initially struggled to stay in positive territory, but succeeded and ended the day up 4.82 percent to close at $16.73 a share. The online auction giant was also one of the most actively traded stocks on the Nasdaq.

eBay intraday trading

(Credit: Yahoo Finance)

The CNET Tech Index also ended up for the day, climbing 19.05 points, or 1.67 percent, to close at 1158.14. The tech-heavy Nasdaq squeaked by with a nominal gain of 4.39 points, or 0.27 percent, to end the day at 1,649.51.

For the Dow, after its wild ride, it closed down 128 points, or 1.49 percent, to 8,451.19.

Market watchers attributed the Dow's wild swings in the final hours of trading to a meeting of ... Read more

The official invite just popped up in our mailboxes for Apple's long-rumored October 14 press event in Cupertino, Calif. The big picture of a laptop and the headline, "The spotlight turns to notebooks," leaves us with a pretty clear idea of what Steve Jobs and company will be talking about. Not mentioned here is the most persistent rumor--that at least one of the new systems will hit a meltdown-friendly price of $800.

Here's the invite itself, for the curiosity seekers out there.

Apple's most cryptic invite ever...

Apple now has a patent for the Dock in Mac OS X, shown here in the controversial left position.

(Credit: Apple)

It took quite awhile, but Apple has finally received a patent on one of the most recognizable features of Mac OS X.

The Dock--the panel that holds launchers for Mac OS X applications--has been deemed patent-worthy by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Apple first applied for the patent in late 1999, and AppleInsider notes the concept itself dates back to Apple CEO Steve Jobs' work at NeXT Computing.

Since there's really not much else to note about this announcement, let's do a quick survey: right Dock? Left Dock? Center Dock? I'm a center Dock man myself, although I have flirted with the left side.

Teenagers like fun, and they continue to see Apple as the best source of music-related fun.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET News)

Apple continues to do well among some of the most fickle and influential consumers of technology: teenagers.

Piper Jaffray does a biannual survey on the purchasing habits of 769 teenagers as they related to devices like cell phones and music players, and released the results of the latest survey Tuesday. Not surprisingly, the market leader in portable digital music players is the market leader among high school students: 84 percent of those surveyed own an iPod, up from 82 percent last year.

The iPhone is also gaining ground, perhaps as a result of the new $199 entry fee to iPhoneland this year. Just 8 percent of teenagers surveyed own an iPhone, but that's up from 6 percent from the last survey in the spring of this year, before the iPhone 3G was released. And 22 percent of those surveyed said they planned on buying an iPhone in the next six months, while 33 percent said they wanted one.

However, as Larry Dignan notes over at ZDNet, those plans and wishes may be very much dependent on the health of their parents' wallet. Even at $199, the monthly fees associated with the iPhone--or really any data-enabled phone--might be considered a luxury in times of economic crisis.

What wasn't noted in the study was the mindshare of the Mac among the high school set. Macs are very popular with college students, ... Read more

Setting the iPhone to emergency call mode allows someone to see incoming text messages even if the passcode lock is turned on.

(Credit: Karl Kraft)

A 12-year-old who uses his iPhone mostly for texting with his girlfriend has discovered what looks like a new vulnerability with the device.

The unnamed boy, son of blogger Karl Kraft, turns on the passcode lock and disables SMS Preview in order to prevent his parents from seeing any messages, Kraft wrote on his blog.

Those settings block the display of incoming text messages and show an alert saying "New Text Message" if an SMS comes through while the phone is locked. However, if the phone is set to emergency call mode the incoming text messages are previewed.

"Thus all I need to do to intercept the messages from his girlfriend is to place the phone in emergency mode and wait 30 seconds for the next sickly sweet message," Kraft writes.

Apple representatives did not return e-mails seeking comment.

A different security hole related to password-protected iPhones was discovered in August, and last month a researcher disclosed that the iPhone captures all the activities of a user in order to enable the cool fading applications effect.

Getting at the iPhone 3G's battery is not as easy as a proposed directive from the E.U. might require.

(Credit: TechRepublic)

The European Union is considering a requirement that all cell phone batteries be easily replaceable, which might cause a problem for Apple's iPhone.

AppleInsider spotted that particular directive in an article in New Electronics, a U.K. trade publication, on the latest set of computer-industry regulations under consideration in Europe. The EU is thinking about enacting a new directive on batteries similar to its RoHS (Reduction of Hazardous Substances) directives from a few years back that forced the computer industry to eliminate harmful chemicals and/or materials from its manufacturing processes.

The "New Batteries Directive" would require manufacturers to make sure their batteries can be easily replaced, either by sliding off the cover or removing a couple of screws. The iPhone and iPod, of course, don't fit that mold; Apple requires owners to send their iPhones and iPods into the company to replace the battery, which is buried under the main circuit board.

It's not clear that the directive--which is very vaguely worded at present--would force drastic changes in the design of the iPhone. As AppleInsider notes, the idea behind the directive is to prevent batteries from ending up in landfills, and if Apple is able to show the E.U. that its battery replacement program prevents that result, that might meet the requirements of the directive.

Still, the proposed wording does require ... Read more

Maybe iPhone users won't have to covet one of those shiny new features in Google's Android operating system after all: Google Maps Street View.

The driver's-eye view is a prominent part of the first Android phone, T-Mobile's G1, which goes on sale October 22. But according to Mac Rumors on Monday, Apple has snuck Street View into the iPhone 2.2 firmware beta release.

Other new features described in the report include the ability to disable the typing autocorrect feature and the inclusion of 461 small icons called Japanese emoji characters.

The iPhone 2.2 firmware beta release is not expected until later this month.

Has Apple really sold its 10 millionth iPhone? That's what several bloggers are saying. But a closer look suggests that it might be a bit too early to pop open the champagne.

(Credit: Apple)

A joint project of AFB and Investor Village's AAPL Sanity has been collecting data about iPhone inventory. Using a Google spreadsheet, the group has been unofficially tracking iPhone production estimates using International Mobile Equipment Identity, or IMEI, numbers that are used to uniquely identify every GSM, UMTS, or iDEN mobile phone.

According to the spreadsheet, AFB is reporting that 9,190,680 iPhone units have been created, which my colleague Jason D. O'Grady at ZDNet estimates could mean that about 7.6 million iPhone 3G have already been sold and more than 10 million iPhones in total.

But O'Grady and others point out that these numbers may be misleading.

The groups gathering the data explicitly point out that these are production estimates, not sales estimates. This means the figures also include Apple Retail Store inventory, store displays, and replacement units, which do not count as sales.

This might explain why Apple has been mum on the whole thing. But this is not to say that the iPhone hasn't been selling well. In fact, market research firm NPD Group said Monday that 30 percent of smartphone buyers this summer left their existing carrier to get an iPhone 3G.

Apple's iPhone 3G apparently created a summertime switch itch: 30 percent of all the smartphone's buyers bailed on their existing carriers in order to purchase the device, according to an NPD Group report released Monday.

AT&T has been the iPhone 3G's exclusive carrier in the U.S. since the smartphone was released in June.

According to the report, which covers June through August, 47 percent of those switching to AT&T to get the iPhone 3G came from Verizon Wireless, 24 percent from T-Mobile, and 19 percent from Sprint.

"While the original iPhone also helped win customers for AT&T, the faster network speeds of the iPhone 3G (have) proven more appealing to customers that already had access to a 3G network," Ross Rubin, NPD director of industry analysis, said in a statement.

By contrast, about 23 percent of consumers overall switched carriers from June through August.

During that same time frame, the smartphones with the highest unit sales were Apple's iPhone 3G, followed by Research In Motion's BlackBerry Curve, RIM's BlackBerry Pearl, and the Palm Centro, according to NPD.

Prior to launching its 3G version, Apple's iPhone accounted for 11 percent of the smartphone market in 2008. But since the 3G's launch, that figure has risen to 17 percent of the market since the start of the year.

"The launch of the lower-priced iPhone 3G was a boon to overall consumer smartphone sales," Rubin said.