While Apple's new Mac Pro doesn't launch until next month, the machine
continues to occasionally surface in the results database for the
popular Geekbench benchmarking tool. The first appearance
came in June just after the redesigned Mac Pro was teased at Apple's
Worldwide Developers Conference, with that machine running the high-end
12-core 2.7 GHz Xeon E5-2697 v2 from Intel's Ivy Bridge-E family. And in
late September, a second entry appeared sharing details on a Mac Pro running the 8-core 3.0 GHz Xeon E5-1680 v2 chip.
A third Mac Pro entry has now shown up in the Geekbench results database, revealing the 6-core 3.5 GHz Xeon E5-1650 v2
chip that will also be an option in the new Mac Pro. As with the
previously seen machines, this new Mac Pro is running a custom version
of OS X Mavericks, build 13A4023. The machine's appearance leaves only
the entry-level quad-core 3.7 GHz Xeon E5-1620 v2 yet unseen in early
benchmarks.
While both the 6-core and 8-core machines were tested using Geekbench
3.1.2 in 32-bit mode, which allows for direct comparison of their
benchmarks, the 12-core Mac Pro was tested using Geekbench 2.4.3, which
used a different baseline and means that scores can not be directly
compared. But between the 6-core and 8-core machines, the two
unsurprisingly show similar single-core scores of around 3300 in
Geekbench 3, while the newly surfaced 6-core machine sees a lower
multi-core score of 18309 compared to the 24429 seen on the 8-core
version.
The new 8-core Mac Pro had previously shown benchmark scores essentially
on par with that of the highest-end 12-core Mac Pro models from 2010
and 2012, and while this new 6-core machine unsurprisingly falls short
of that level, it does still easily top the fastest 8-core machine seen
in the 2009 and 2010 models.
New Intel Xeon processors are certainly not the only horsepower
improvements included in the new Mac Pro, as all machines will come
standard with dual AMD FirePro graphics chips. And with the Mac Pro able
to tap into those chips for general computation tasks via OpenCL, users
will see significant improvements in real-world performance.
Apple's new Mac Pro launches in December, but the company has yet to
announce a specific date in the month when it will become available.
IHS Suppli has released
its estimate of the component costs involved in building the new iPad
Air, performing a virtual teardown based on information revealed by
Apple and industry knowledge. According to IHS estimates, the component
cost of the iPad Air is between $274 and $361 depending on the model,
with the base model's components actually totaling $42 less than that of
the entry-level third generation iPad last year despite significant
technology improvements to reduce size and weight while improving
performance. IHS iSuppli did not perform a cost analysis on the
fourth-generation iPad, which was released in late 2012.
The estimates from IHS iSuppli cover only the cost of the various
components that make up the device and do not include other costs
involved in product development, manufacturing, and sales, such as
research and development, software, patent licenses, marketing, and
distribution expenditures. The full report has not yet been released but
AllThingsD received early access.
The bill of materials includes $90 for the display, $43 for the
touchscreen components, $18 for the A7 chip manufactured by Samsung,
between $9 and $60 for the Toshiba-made flash memory chips, $10 for the
DRAM chips manufactured by Elpida, and $32 for the cellular data network
chips made by Qualcomm for the LTE-ready versions of the iPad Air.
IHS analyst Andrew Rassweiler also points to the iPad Air's advances when it comes to supporting various LTE frequencies:
With
the iPad Air, Apple appears to have reached a new milestone on the
wireless front: It can support every LTE frequency with a single
combination of chips. “This is something Apple tried to do with the
iPhone 5S and 5C, but it couldn’t quite get there,” Rassweiler says.
“One single model of the iPad Air is able to work with all US wireless
carriers.”
IHS iSuppli reported
last month that iPhone 5s component costs were estimated to begin at
$199, with the cheaper iPhone 5c's costs estimated to be starting at
$173. The iPad Air was released last Friday with adoption rates reportedly outpacing
last year's iPad 4 and iPad mini launches, although Apple has yet to
release official sales numbers for the device's opening weekend.
The full IHS Suppli report should be released tomorrow.
First announced at Apple's September 10 media event alongside the iPhone 5s and its M7 motion coprocessor, the Nike+ Move app has launched in the App Store, allowing iPhone 5s users to get enhanced statistics daily about their physical activity.
The new app was the first introduced to take advantage of the M7
coprocessor and new CoreMotion APIs in iOS 7, allowing it to track more
reliable and accurate movement data in the background, even when the
phone is asleep, while also conserving battery life. The app then takes
all the movement data it gathers and converts it into NikeFuel, the
fitness company's measuring unit for physical activities, and uses it to
motivate a user to keep exercising.
Nike+
Move offers insight into when you move, how you move and where you move
- and lets you challenge your friends to see who moves more.
-Win the day by beating your NikeFuel average and watch your goal ring change from Red to Green.
- See when you are most active throughout the day and how you’re doing compared to yesterday.
- Move more often and win as many hours as you can throughout the day.
- See how you moved through the day with a breakdown of running, walking, and other movement.
- See where you're moving and where you move the most each day.
- Check out how you compare against your Game Center friends or other Nike+ Move users near you.
While Nike+ Move isn't the first app
to integrate the M7 coprocessor, it is the highest profile app to take
advantage of the new processor onboard the iPhone 5s. Apple is planning to take advantage of the M7 in future software updates by leveraging it to improve iPhones' mapping and location services.
Nike+ Move is available only for the iPhone 5s in the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Apple
will build a new 700-employee manufacturing facility in Mesa, Arizona,
to make sapphire glass, according to releases from the State of Arizona
and GT Advanced, a New Hampshire-based materials manufacturing company. Apple purchased
the vacant manufacturing building from First Solar, and has contracted
with GT Advanced to "own and operate furnaces and related equipment" at
the facility.
The State of Arizona reports
[PDF] that the plant will create at least 700 jobs in the first year,
plus an additional 1,300 construction-related jobs. Apple will also be
investing in new renewable energy projects to power the new facility.
Apple provided a statement to Pocket-Lint confirming the facility:
We
are proud to expand our domestic manufacturing initiative with a new
facility in Arizona, creating more than 2,000 jobs in engineering,
manufacturing and construction. This new plant will make components for
Apple products and it will run on 100% renewable energy from day one, as
a result of the work we are doing with SRP to create green energy
sources to power the facility.
Apple uses small pieces of
sapphire glass -- which provides superior durability and scratch
resistance to other forms of glass -- to protect the cameras on the
iPhone and on the home button for the new Touch ID-equipped iPhone 5s, however this would seem to be an expansion of Apple's sapphire glass efforts. A report from earlier this year
suggested that future smartphones may use sapphire, a crystalline form
of aluminum oxide, instead of more traditional forms of glass.
Other reports have suggested that Apple has experimented with sapphire displays but found them infeasible. Additionally, Corning has claimed its Gorilla Glass 3 is a better glass solution than sapphire.
One possible destination for Apple's new sapphire glass production is in a potential smart watch project.
Sapphire is already extensively used in high-end watchmaking and could
be more feasible on a small screen than the larger display on a
smartphone or tablet.
The move is a major expansion of Apple's own production efforts -- in
recent years, Apple has exclusively contracted with third parties to
build and supply components for its products. Many pundits have
speculated that Apple would begin using its $150 billion cash pile to
grow its manufacturing efforts.
The new plant is also noteworthy because it is in the United States. Apple will assemble its first computer
in years in the United States at a Flextronics plant in Austin, Texas.
Apple is prominently featuring the Mac Pro's manufacturing location in
product videos and in the press.
After several leaks hinting at its upcoming release, Apple has pushed an iOS 7-inspired redesign of its Remote app to the App Store.
The new app, which allows control of iTunes and Apple TV products
directly from the iPhone and iPad, has been completely redesigned for
iOS 7 and adds support for iTunes 11.1. The last major update to Remote came nearly a year ago with support for iTunes 11, with a bug fix release coming this past January.
Remote
is designed to be in perfect sync with the new iTunes. It is simpler,
easier, and gives you new ways to browse your library and see upcoming
songs with Up Next. With just a few taps on your iPad, iPhone or iPod
touch, you can add new songs to hear them next from iTunes on a Mac or
PC, or an Apple TV. Choose playlists, songs, and albums as if you were
in front of your computer or Apple TV. Or play them from iCloud with
iTunes Match on Apple TV. Change a song, pick a playlist, or browse your
entire library from anywhere in your home. Control your Apple TV with
the flick of your finger or use the keyboard to quickly tap out a title
instead of clicking letters on the Apple TV screen.
Aside from Remote, iBooks, iTunes U and Find My Friends are still awaiting iOS 7 redesigns.
Remote is a free download from the App Store for the iPhone and iPad. [Direct Link]
After going offline earlier today in advance of today's iPad Air launch, Apple's online stores in the Asia-Pacific region have returned for business.
In line with reports that supplies would be plentiful, all models of the iPad Air are currently listed as shipping within 24 hours in Australia, China (only Wi-Fi models available), Japan, and Singapore, while Apple's Hong Kong store is listing 1-2 week shipping estimates.
All Apple online stores around the world are currently online, but the
company's European stores will be going offline later today in advance
of orders going live in a number of countries there. North America will
follow several hours later, with orders set to go live in the U.S. and
Canada at 12:01 AM Pacific Time.
Apple has begun inserting special entries for some of its own stock iOS
apps and services into search results for users on the iOS App Store, notes MacStories, which first picked up on the addition from a Tweet by Lukas Burgstaller.
The results attempt to steer users searching for apps related to certain
topics toward Apple's built-in offerings, perhaps reminding users that
their needs may already be met without needing to resort to App Store
apps. The special results can be seen with a variety of search terms,
including exact matches for Apple's offerings such as "safari" and
"siri" but also with more general terms such as "SMS" or "movies".
If
you search for common terms like “web”, “SMS”, or “movies” in the iOS 7
App Store you’ll see special search results for Apple apps like Safari,
Messages, and iTunes with a large icon, a description, and a link to
learn more or open an app (such as Safari). These results appear on the
App Store for iOS 7 devices (I wasn’t able to display them on a Mac
using iTunes) and, in my tests, they also worked for queries like
“browser”, “messages”, “cloud”, “internet”, “Siri”, and “text”. I’ve
tried several other queries, but I couldn’t see results for other apps
like Reminders, Calendars, Mail, Photos, Music, or Notes.
Depending
on the app or service showing up as the result, users can either
directly open the app or be directed to pages on Apple's site to learn
more.
MacStories notes that while the new feature is a good way for
Apple to share information with new users who may be unfamiliar with all
of the apps and services included on iOS devices, it could cause
concern for third-party developers who might see it as Apple trying to
discourage users from downloading their apps.
