Apple revamps MacBook, iMac, ‘magic’ mouse
Apple announced several additions to its computer lineup today, with a new MacBook laptop and iMac desktop computer, as well as a mouse with multi-touch capabilities. The news represents a refinement of Apple’s product strategy — rather than a breakthrough on the level of the much-discussed, still-not-announced tablet computer — but that strategy continues to pay off in impressive earnings and by chipping away at the marketshare of Microsoft Windows.
Here are the products, in descending order of how much they interest me:
An improved MacBook — Apple is adding features from its higher-end MacBook Pro line to its affordable (for Apple, anyway) $999 laptop. The MacBook now offers a display backlit by LED technology, a multi-touch trackpad (so you can use two fingers to navigate the screen), and a battery that can run seven hours before charging. It will also be lighter and more durable, the company says, thanks to new polycarbonate casing.
The Magic Mouse — A wireless mouse that works more like a laptop trackpad, where the top of the device is essentially a multi-touch surface. So you would move your fingers across the mouse to scroll, like you would on a laptop. The Magic Mouse is included with the new iMac (see below).
A new set of iMacs — The desktop computers include 21.5- or 27-inch LED screens and Intel Core 2 Duo processors. Pricing starts at $1,199.
The new MacBook and iMac are both on-sale starting today.
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About the Author, Anthony Ha
Anthony is VentureBeat's assistant editor, as well as its reporter on enterprise technology, cloud computing, and tech policy. Before joining VentureBeat in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. You can also follow Anthony on Twitter.