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A global shortage of traditional, spinning hard disk drives (HDDs) has, coincidentally, come at a time when Apple’s flash-based solid-state MacBook Air is one of Apple’s most popular products. The large success of the redesigned netbook has come with “fortuitous timing” in the face of HDD shortages according to Evercore analyst Rob Chira. Chira believes that Apple is largely insulated from the ongoing component constraints that were caused by flooding in Thailand.

The MacBook Air only features NAND flash for storage, primarily relying on solid-state hard drives as opposed to the more traditional spinning hard disks. NAND memory has been completely unaffected by the floods in Thailand, events that have since put over 600,000 people out of work.

In addition to his previous statement, Chira also believes that the ongoing hard-drive shortage will create an influx of MacBook Air copycat Windows-based devices also using solid-state drives in 2012. Specifically, Chira sees PC makers gravitating towards Intel’s ultrabook design specification, which aims to capitalize on the popularity of Apple’s thin-and-light MacBook Air concept.

However, Chira expects Apple to counter this by refreshing its Air lineup in the first half of 2012 and also believes that Apple’s hoard of money will also allow it to leverage “some unique NAND engineering/supply vs. vanilla (solid-state drives).”

Recent rumors have also hinted at the possibility of Apple adding a 15″ model to its MacBook Air lineup in the early parts of 2012 and that the company is supposedly looking to expand its lineup as the ultraportable notebooks now represent 28% of Apple’s notebook shipments.

As far as Chira is concerned, Apple is in a strong position concerning Macs featuring traditional hard drives as well. He believes that Apple was the fastest hardware maker to react with hard-drive suppliers, putting the company in an advantageous position in the chain of supply.

This opinion also comes a matter of days after AppleInsider reported that build-to-order iMacs with 2TB hard drives had an estimated shipping time of 5 to 7 weeks. The shortage of high-capacity drives for Apple’s all-in-one machine could also be the first sign that the company is indeed being hit by the global shortage as well.

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, recently expressed concern about the hard drive shortage during his company’s quarterly earnings conference back in October. While Cook was “certain” there would be an industry-wide shortage of hard-disk drives, Cook said he was “not sure” at the time of exactly how the situation would affect Apple.

Source: Apple Insider – Apple’s MacBook Air has ‘fortuitous timing’ in face of hard drive shortage

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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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Not long after its release, Apple has already issued the first maintenance update to OS X Lion. The update, known as OS X Lion 10.7.1, is available now via Software Update and Apple’s download pages though you should be prompted by your Apple computer to update the next time you turn it on.

According to Apple, “The 10.7.1 update is recommended for all users running OS X Lion and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability and compatibility of your Mac.” Fixes to OS X Lion found in 10.7.1 include:

• Addresses an issue that may cause the system to become unresponsive when playing a video in Safari.
• Resolves an issue that may cause system audio to stop working when using HDMI or optical audio ouput.
• Improves the reliability of WiFi connections.
• Resolves an issue that prevents transfer of your data, settings and compatible applications to a new Mac running OS X Lion.

All the information on the OS X Lion update 10.7.1 can be found on the website http://support.apple.com/vb/HT4764 so you should head on over there if you have any questions or you want more information about the update itself.

In addition to that, Apple has also released a separate version of 10.7.1 that is specific to the most recent MacBook Air and Mac Mini. This update included the same features as the original 10.7.1 update but also adds specific fixes only designed for these devices. These new fixes include:

• Resolves an issue where MacBook Air may boot up when MagSafe Adapter is attached.
• Resolves an issue causing intermittent display flickering on MacBook Air.
• Resolves an issue that causes the SD card slot in Mac Mini to run at reduced speed with SD and SDHC media.

To top it all off, Apple has also released a separate OS X Lion Update 10.7.1 (Server) update for any system with Lion Server components installed. This fix improves the reliability of the Apple File Service. In addition to that, a unique OS X Lion 10.7.1 Update for Mac Mini 2011 (Server) update, including all of the OS X Lion 10.7.1, Lion Server and specific Mac Mini changes has also been released.

Source: Mac Rumors – Apple Releases OS X 10.7.1 with Fixes for Video in Safari, Audio Out, Wi-Fi and more

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Sales of Apple’s new Thunderbolt MacBook Air have resulted in some locations running out due to increasingly high demand. This seems to be due, in part, to consumers being quick to embrace the refreshed thin and light notebook.

Recent reports from multiple analysts have indicated that the new MacBook Air has seen a very strong demand in the U.S. Demand has been so high that analysts have reported stock-outages of certain models in different locations.

According to analyst Brian White of Ticonderoga Securities, “Overall, we sense a bit more of a preference for the higher-end 11-inch models but the 13-inch also seems to be popular. Netting this out, the MacBook Air has truly redefined the laptop computing market, in our view, and we expect this momentum to continue.”

Many of Apple’s own resellers do not have the MacBook Air in stock, which is just further evidence of the high demand. These new MacBook Airs, with the second generation Sandy Bridge processors and new high-speed Thunderbolt port, were released last month. Like older models, these new ones start at $999, however, the discontinuation of the white MacBook makes the 11.6-inch MacBook Air the only sub-$1,000 notebook.

White attributed a lot of the MacBook Air’s success to the timing of its release. He also noted that this device will keep Apple in the minds of consumers even without a new iPhone available at the moment. White also believes that Apple will have the best technical back-to-school lineup this season and for the holidays. “In our view, successful Apple launches are key in driving the halo effect that drives incremental demand for other Apple products.”

Even though the new MacBook Air has found immediate success, White expects adoption of the new Thunderbolt connector to take more time. The $49 price tag of the Thunderbolt connector cable combined with the lack of available accessories seem to be barriers to the adoption of the technology at the present time. However, White expects that to change over time.

Source: Apple Insider – Strong sales of Apple’s new Thunderbolt MacBook Airs result in stock-outs

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Apple is holding back its latest refresh of its Mac notebook, citing that it is waiting on the new version of its operating system to be released in July before letting the new notebook loose on the public.

This bit of tasty information came from sources quoted by AppleInsider who said that the new MacBook Air models, which will be featuring Intel Sandy Bridge processors as well as the Thunderbolt expansion port, have been ready for quite some time but Apple does not want to release them with the old Mac OS X 10.6 operating system released back in 2009.

The MacRumors.com Buyer’s Guide, which tracks all the intervals by which Apple refreshes its hardware, is in support of this decision. The Buyer’s Guide shows that all the portable Mac products are reaching the end of their typical sales cycle. That is all products aside from the MacBook Pro which was updated earlier this year.

Mac OS X 10.7 Lion is supposed to debut in July and is far more than your traditional operating system. It connects users to the iCloud, the new storage service from Apple. iCloud represents a big new direction for Apple, who sees it as a way of bringing together all the different desktop and mobile platforms.

Apple overcame the issue of hardware releases not syncing up with OS X release dates by bundling CPU Drop-in discs with the new Macs. The computers came with an older version of the OS preinstalled, while the disc contained the new OS and allowed you to manually upgrade your device.

However, Mac OS X 10.7 Lion will only be available for download through the Mac App Store which is installed on all Macs running the current Mac OS release. OS X Lion will not be available on  a DVD in any way which will make it unavailable through traditional retail chains.

It should, theoretically, still be possible for Apple to bundle a voucher code that would permit users to upgrade for free through the App Store. However, Apple is traditionally against registration keys like the ones found on Windows computers.

OS X retail releases have never used them and retail releases for the iWork productivity suite has dropped the need for registration keys completely. The Mac App Store also prevents the need to register your software by using digital rights management to tie the software to your computer.

So, if you are looking forward to the latest installment to either Mac OS X Lion, the new Mac notebook or both, you are going to have to wait a little while longer. But, hey, think of it this way, at least you get them both at the same time.

Source: PC World – Apple Delays MacBook Update, Waits for Lion

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If you are a fan of Apple computers, then it will do you well to know that you can have an ultra-portable MacBook or one that is filled with all the most up-to-date technology. The only problem is that you can’t have both. But if internet rumors are anything to believe, you just may be able to have both pretty soon.

The latest rumors from parts suppliers in Asia indicate that Apple is all set to begin mass production of MacBook Airs equipped with Thunderbolt and Sandy Bridge late next month. These new MacBook Airs are also supposed to hit store shelves June.

This news comes from Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst from Concord Securities, who also gave his interpretation of the Air production to AppleInsider. Aside from being pretty consistent with the rumor mill, a new refresh of the Air in the summer makes sense. Being extremely lightweight and fairly inexpensive, it is highly regarded by students and June is the time when a lot of people do back-to-school shopping.

Kou did not, unfortunately, give any information on pricing, but it wouldn’t surprise anybody if this new MacBook Air shared a similar price to the current MacBook Air, which starts at $1,000 for the base 11-inch model and runs up to $1,600 for a fully loaded 13-inch version.

Other things, such as storage capacity and graphics, were also not volunteered but many are speculating slight bumps in both categories as SSD drive prices have been dropping. If Apple can manage to squeeze a 128GB SSD drive into the base 11-inch Air with an i5 processor and Thunderbolt, then other ultra-portable laptop creators are going to have some serious competition.

Source: CNET – Thunderbolt, Sandy Bridged MacBook Airs in June?

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An Xbitlabs report that surfaced back in November provided quotes from Jen-Hsun Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, about the company’s permanent exit from the chipset business. The quotes are as follows:

“We are not building any more chipsets; we are building SoCs now. We are building Tegra SoCs, and so we are going to take integration to a new level. The chipset business has not grown largely this year because we have not really been expanding the sales of it.”

The fact that NVIDIA had exited the chipset business due to ongoing litigation with Intel over licensing is not news. However, there had been rumors that the issue would be settled. The above quote came before reports of a possible settlement between Intel and NVIDIA in December. That particular settlement discussion led to speculation that NVIDIA’s comeback to the market of chipsets could help boost processor speeds in future MacBook Air devices as well as MacBooks in general.

Huang, on the other hand, had this in particular to say about Apple’s business, “The second thing is the MCP89, the latest generation of Intel chipset that we built was just a really wonderful piece of engineering and the work that we did with Apple was great, and they are going to continue to use that for some time.”

The chip mentioned above, the MCP89, is the chipset that has been used in older MacBooks as well as the all new MacBook Air. Apple’s use of this particular chip from NVIDIA limits their choice of processors to the last generation Core 2 Duo.

This tradeoff gives Apple the ability to incorporate the faster integrated graphics cards from NVIDIA in their low-end devices. According to Huan, Apple plans on continuing to use these older chipsets for quite some time.

High-end MacBooks are essentially unaffected due to the fact that they have the privilege of incorporating not only the latest Intel processors but also the discrete graphics cards from third party manufacturers. This tradeoff in particular is only going to affect Apple’s low-end devices.

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There have been lots of Apple rumors circulating this week, but this time, they aren’t rumors about the iPhone 4. This time, the rumors are about Apple’s computers. While some say Apple is preparing to overhaul its entire computer line, including the MacBook Air and Mac Pro, others are saying a new iMac is in the works. Let’s take a look at some of the information floating around various Apple gossip and tech sites:

Of course, rumors of a new iMac have Apple fans speculating on what the new computer could offer. The rumored new features include: