July 1 - 4:55pm EDT   Apple and NVIDIA may be engaged in a fierce dispute that could exclude NVIDIA graphics chips from future Macs, according to sources reportedly aware of the talks. They claim to SemiAccurate that Apple views NVIDIA's proposals for renewed deals as "arrogance" and that much of the argument centers on the overheating material that triggered widespread failures in all GeForce 8400M and 8600M mobile graphics chips. The Mac firm has had to extend MacBook Pro warranties for up to three years and may be skeptical of NVIDIA's insistence that newer models aren't at risk of the same problem. [full story]

June 24 - 8:55am EDT   Apple has released a minor update to its flagship video editing suite, Final Cut Pro. The v6.0.6 patch addresses problems with real-time playback on early 2009 models of the Mac Pro and Xserve. Specifically, the hardware and software should now be better at handling complex sequences and/or formats which consume a lot of bandwidth. The update is a 19.15MB download, and requires Mac OS X 10.5.5. [full story]

June 9 - 10:20pm EDT   Confirming earlier reports, EVGA on Tuesday launched the GeForce GTX 285 Mac Edition graphics card which offers similar features to the Windows variant. The accessory supports single or dual displays with resolutions up to 2560x1600, while providing 1GB of DDR3 memory and 240 processing cores. EVGA has designed the component for improved graphics-intensive operations such as gaming, motion graphics, 3D modeling, rendering and animation. Users can connect the displays to two dual-link DVI-I ports. [full story]

June 9 - 6:30pm EDT   HighPoint has released the RocketRAID eSATA controller, specifically designed for the Mac Pro. The device is used to manage disk drives and provides additional disk cache. The controller features PCI-Express x4 bus speed, enabling transfer rates of up to 1000MB per second. RocketRAID eSATA also has integrated boot support allowing the controller to boot a Mac Pro system from a single drive or RAID configuration. The controller is also capable of supporting almost every type of eSATA hard disk configuration, such as Silicon Image Port Multipliers and eSATA drive kits. [full story]

May 27 - 12:20pm EDT   Apple has won four new patents from the US Patent and Trademark Office, covering a range of technologies. Among these are ones for riser card housing in the Mac Pro, and a Mac OS-related concept called Computer system with graphical user interface including drawer-like windows. Important however is one for a touchpad surface, covering the multi-touch trackpad in the MacBook Air, and in a minor fashion the iPhone touchscreen. [full story]

April 29 - 8:05pm EDT   NVIDIA is working on a high-end video card for the Mac Pro, the GeForce GTX 285 Mac Edition, according to AppleInsider. The company has not yet disclosed complete details, but the component will be manufactured by EVGA and offer two dual-link DVI ports instead of a Mini DisplayPort. The GTX 285 allegedly will match the performance of its Windows variant, which features 240 processor cores and 1GB of GDDR3 memory with the standard configuration. [full story]

April 20 - 10:10am EDT   NVIDIA this morning remedied the absence of a pro video card for the new Mac Pro by launching the Quadro FX 4800 for Mac. Very similar to the Windows version, the Apple-friendly model has 192 graphics cores and a large 1.5GB of onboard memory that helps it antialias 3D visuals even with high detail or at high resolution. Unique to the Mac version is native support both for the expected Mac side as well as Windows when in Boot Camp. [full story]

April 8 - 4:55pm EDT   MCE is now shipping its 8X Blu-ray Recordable Drive, which supports burning to Blu-ray, DVD and CD media. The burner writes to BD-R media on systems with Mac OS 10.5.2 and higher, and using Roxio's Toast 10 software, supports burning HD content that can be viewed on dedicated Blu-ray movie players. It is designed for use in Mac Pro and Power Mac systems, with one version being designed specifically for the 2009 Mac Pro. An external model supports both USB 2.0 and eSATA connections. [full story]

April 3 - 11:55am EDT   Some Mac Pro owners may find themselves unable to properly view HD-quality video bought or rented from the iTunes Store, an account alleges. In the wake the iTunes 8.1 update, at least one user is said to have discovered that his Mac Pro will no longer play HDCP-encoded iTunes videos over DVI output, despite previously having support with a GeForce 7300GT video card attached to a Samsung T240 monitor. The issue is also said to be linked to a firmware update for the 7300GT, which may have disabled HDCP on the device without notice. [full story]

March 30 - 4:30pm EDT   Intel this afternoon finally made its Nehalem-based Xeon processors available to a wider audience. First introduced in the Mac Pro, the single-socket Xeon 3500 (not used by Apple) and the dual-socket Xeon 5500 share the same roots as Core i7 and drop the old northbridge system controller and system bus in favor of a point-to-point architecture known as the QuickPath Interface that talks directly to memory and peripherals. The memory controller is now built-in and can talk to three memory channels, improving bandwidth even as it drops lag. [full story]

March 13 - 4:05pm EDT   Trans International has announced it is carrying RAM modules for the 2009 Mac Pro, making them the second independent carrier to provide an alternative to Apple's factory options. They join OWC in offering 1066MHz DDR3 PC8500 72-bit memory upgrades for the new Nehalem-chip Mac Pro models introduced last week. The new RAM chips meet all the JADEC & RoHS standards and conform to Apple’s thermal, mechanical and electrical design specifications, and the thermal EEPROM is installed. [full story]

March 12 - 3:00pm EDT   OWC is now offering Mac Pro RAM upgrades up to 32GB. The new RAM sets are said to be selling at a substantial discount over Apple's factory-installed RAM offerings, up to a maximum of $1,620 in savings. The 1066MHz DDR3 ECC memory upgrades -- for the new Nehalem-based Mac Pros introduced last week -- meet Apple Design Specifications, are fully RoHS and JEDEC compliant, and carry a lifetime warranty. [full story]

March 10 - 5:05pm EDT   Current refurbished Mac models at the Apple store include iMacs, MacBooks, Mac Pros and more. Two Mac models are being offered at $849: the 2.1GHz white MacBook, and the 20-inch 2.4GHz iMac. Four unibody MacBooks are being offered starting at $1099, the 2.0GHz model with 2GB of memory and 160GB hard drive; the same configuration with a 128GB SSD instead of a 250GB hard drive is priced at $1699; the 2.4GHz MacBook with 2GB of memory and 250GB hard drive is priced at $1399 and the same configuration with a 128GB SSD is $1899. MacBook Pros start at $1699 for the 2.4GHz model with 2GB of memory and a 250GB hard drive and top off at $2799 for the 2.8GHz model with 4GB ... [full story]

March 3 - 3:25pm EST   Analyst Shaw Wu of Kaufman Bros. has rated Apple a buy in response to today's refresh of the desktop Mac line. New Mac Pros, iMacs and Mac minis were all announced, with upgraded CPUs and graphics cards. Wu says he is pleased with the earlier-than-expected refresh, and positive on the price drop for the base 24-inch iMac, now $1,500 instead of $1,800. The analyst is disappointed in the entry-level iMac's cost -- which remains at $1,200 -- and prices for the new Minis, which still start at $600. More aggressive cuts would be better in light of the global recession, he suggests. [full story]

March 3 - 9:15am EST   Apple on Tuesday morning updated the Mac Pro Mac Pro based on Intel's Nehalem architecture. The first-ever Mac to use the technology now supports triple-channel, DDR3 ECC memory and builds a memory controller directly into an updated, faster line of Xeon processors. Doing so gives about 2.4 times more memory bandwidth and reduces memory lag by about 40 percent, according to Apple. The new systems also have an updated interior that provides much easier access to RAM slots as well as space for a RAID card that doesn't require cables to link with hard drives in the four bays above. [full story]