Digital Trends
Speculation and rumor has been building for months that Apple would be launching new desktop systems…and today the news has dropped, and Apple updating both it’s consumer-oriented Mac mini and iMac desktop systems, along with its Xeon processor-equipped Mac Pros aimed at high-end computing and media production professionals.
Rumors are that Apple will be showing its new OS at next month’s Macworld, and that it has a few surprises up its sleeve.
The word is that Snow Leopard, as it’s currently known, will ship earlier than expected, well before Microsoft releases Windows 7. But the bigger surprises will not be on obvious view.
The Guardian reports that Snow Leopard is likely to contain a pair of technologies that will speed up software without needing any hardware changes. The first, called Grand Central, will make better use of the Intel processors the current range of Macs are sporting.
According to the French newspaper Libération, a researcher at the CNRS research center has studied emissions from as Mac Pro computer and discovered that they contain the hazardous chemical benzene.
Although not in sufficient quantities to cause any immediate danger, the researcher said there was sufficient quantity to cause irritation in his eyes and throat, and prolonged benzene exposure could increase the risk of cancer.
All this comes as Apple has been touting the fact that its products are much greener, but customers have evidently been reporting strange smells from their Mac Pros. Apple is investigating the claims.
In an unusual move, Apple has preempted itself at next week’s Macworld Expo in San Francisco by announcing updates to its most powerful computer offerings: the top-of-the-line Mac Pro desktop, and its rack-based Xserve servers. And for folks who appreciate raw power, the new machines do not disappoint, offering eight processor cores on two Intel Xeon 5400 series CPUs running at up to 3.2 GHz, and a new architecture designed to offer up to twice the performance of their predecessors.
At its annual World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) today, Apple Computer finally transitioned its computer product line away from PowerPC processors to Intel-based systems, introducing the new high-end Mac Pro Xeon-based desktop systems along with revamped Xserve one-unit servers.
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