MacRumors

Following Chipworks' examination of the new A5 chip found in Apple's tweaked Apple TV, AnandTech has performed its own analysis of the device. While many of the A5 chip details have already been covered, AnandTech focuses more on the device as a whole, and interestingly finds that the internal changes have yielded a significant decrease in power consumption compared to its predecessor.

The power savings are nothing short of significant. The previous generation Apple TV wasn’t really a power hog, with platform power maxing out at around 1.6W, but the new model tops out at just a watt. Overall the power savings seem to be around 800mW across the board.

With no change to process technology, I can only assume that the reduction in power consumption came from other architectural or silicon optimizations.

Of course, AnandTech also notes that the power savings are essentially invisible to users given how little power the set-top box used to begin with.

Assuming you’re using the Apple TV for watching video 8 hours a day, every day of the year, you’d save about $0.26 per year on your power bill (assuming $0.11/kWh). You’d break even on the $99 cost of a new Apple TV in about 385 years. Maybe by then we’ll actually have a true replacement to cable TV.

AnandTech also measured Wi-Fi performance on the tweaked Apple TV given that Apple has moved to a new Broadcom Wi-Fi chip and gone back to a one-antenna layout from the two-antenna configuration used in the previous model. Testing revealed that Wi-Fi range and performance is essentially identical between the old and new hardware.

Apple's reasons for introducing a brand-new chip design for the relatively low-volume Apple TV remain unclear, with AnandTech summarizing some of the recent speculation that Apple may be trying to shave costs by stripping out unnecessary components of the A5 or testing the new chip ahead of a broader rollout in other products.

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is reiterating his claims that Apple's low-cost iPhone will have a 4-inch screen, plastic casing, and be available in a range of colors similar to Apple's iPod lineup, sharing a few new details in a report highlighted by AppleInsider. In particular, Kuo shares offers some information on the device's plastic and fiberglass casing.

The new, less expensive iPhone model is said to have a "super-thin plastic casing mixed with glass fiber." The material will make it stronger, thinner and lighter than typical smartphone plastic casings, Kuo said.

He expects the thickness to be between 0.4 and 0.6 millimeters, which is thinner than the average plastic casing at between 0.7 and 1 millimeter.

Kuo had previously suggested the phone would be available in a range of six colors, but is now being more cautious in suggesting "between four and six."

Key Apple supplier Foxconn will manufacture complete phones, he says, while Green Point will make additional casings for phones that will be assembled by Pegatron. The analyst has previous suggested that Apple is looking to diversify suppliers, and that Pegatron would be responsible for assembling the majority of the low-cost iPhones.

Apple's short-lived head of retail, John Browett, said this week that he had learned "humility" and "become a kinder person" as a result of his six-month stay at Apple.

Browett's appointment had raised eyebrows in his native UK due to his pedigree as the boss of Dixons, a UK consumer electronics chain with a reputation for cost-cutting rather than customer service. Despite CEO Tim Cook describing him as "the best [candidate] by far", Browett departed Apple later that year before finding a new role as CEO of a low-cost UK fashion and accessory retailer.

Apple has yet to name a successor to Browett, with the company's retail team currently reporting directly to CEO Tim Cook.

Browett admitted in an interview at the Retail Week Live conference (via The Independent) this week that he "just didn't fit" with Apple's culture.

Apple is a truly fantastic business. The people are great, they've got great products, it's got a great culture and I loved working there, it's a fantastic business. The issue there was that I just didn't fit within the way they run the business. It was one of those things where you're rejected for fit rather than competency.

Browett said that working for Apple had been one of the best things that had happened to him, and that he had learned a lot about how he is and what he's like to work for.

Law360 reports (via 9to5Mac) that a Retina MacBook Pro owner has launched a would-be class action lawsuit against Apple, alleging that the widely reported ghosting issues are the result of defective LG screens and that Apple has been "tricking" customers into buying these by not distinguishing them from models sold with Samsung screens.

Ghost images of previous content have been widely demonstrated on some Retina MacBook Pros, as in the above video. A support thread on apple.com on the issue currently runs to over 7000 posts across almost 500 pages. Apple uses displays manufactured by both Samsung and LG in its Retina laptops, and it has been strongly indicated that the issue affects mostly machines with LG screens. Apple has so far made no statement on the issue beyond a support document in which it describes "image persistence" as a characteristic of IPS displays and gives some advice on minimizing the effects.

The lawsuit has been filed in a Federal court in California by Retina MacBook Pro owner Beau Hodges, who says that Apple should have disclosed the issue and allowed customers to choose between machines with LG and Samsung screens.

The electronics giant must know about the differences between the two versions because it spent a considerable amount of time testing the products during research and development and has been inundated with complaints from customers about the LG screen’s problems, according to the suit.

“The performance disparity between the LG version and the Samsung version is particularly troubling given that Apple represents the MacBook Pro with retina display as a single, unitary product, described as the highest quality notebook display on the market,” the complaint said. “None of Apple’s advertisements or representations discloses that it produces the computers with display screens that exhibit different levels of performance and quality.”

A class action lawsuit is one in which an individual or small number of people file a claim representing a larger group of individuals in similar circumstances.

Samsung tonight announced its flagship iPhone competitor, the Galaxy S 4, at an event at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The new smartphone is set to launch in April on all four major U.S. carriers.

The new phone gets a slight screen size increase to 5" from 4.8", with a 1080p display at 441 pixels per inch (compared to iPhone 5's 326 ppi) that Samsung is calling "Full HD Super AMOLED." The phone also houses 2 GB RAM, a 2600 mAh battery, a micro SD card slot for expanded storage (in addition to the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB variations) and a rear 13-megapixel camera. There is also a front-facing camera that can record 720p video.

Image via The Verge

Samsung has also added a host of software features, including a navigation app called S Voice Drive that works similar to how Siri and Apple Maps do. Other new software features include a translation app, much like Google Translate, "Air Gestures", and new camera modes. The "Air Gestures" allow a user to flick through photos or preview photos without actually touching the phone.

New camera modes include Cinema Mode, which creates still images with moving backgrounds, Drama Burst, which creates animated GIFs, and Sound and Shot mode, which marries audio to a still photo.

Gizmodo was one of several outlets that received hands-on time with the Galaxy S 4 before Samsung's event, and noted the prevailing sentiment that the device feels like more of the same as an evolution of the Galaxy S III rather than a major leap forward.

There has been a ton of hype and build-up to this device, and ultimately, it left us feeling cold. The S IV feels uninspired. There are small spec bumps from the previous generation and there's a ton of software which will largely sit unused. There's just no wow-factor here.

Samsung did not announce a price for the Galaxy S 4.

Update: Samsung announced at its media event that the Galaxy S 4 will ship with Android 4.2.2, the latest version of the operating system software. Apple's Phil Schiller had slammed Android and Samsung in a Reuters interview earlier this week, in part by suggesting that the Galaxy S 4 would ship with an outdated version of Android.

Schiller said the fragmentation, or the number of versions of the Android operating system out in the marketplace, is a problem.

"And that extends to the news we are hearing this week that the Samsung Galaxy S 4 is being rumored to ship with an OS that is nearly a year old," he said. "Customers will have to wait to get an update."

Following Tuesday's seed of the latest beta, Apple today released OS X 10.8.3 to the public. The update brings several enhancements including support for camera redemption of gift cards in the Mac App Store to mirror functionality introduced for the iTunes Store in iTunes 11 last November.

OS X 10.8.3 also adds several enhancements to Apple's Boot Camp solution for booting Windows on Macs, such as Windows 8 support and support for Macs with 3 TB hard drives.

The 10.8.3 update is recommended for all OS X Mountain Lion users and includes features and fixes that improve the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac, including the following:

- The ability to redeem iTunes gift cards in the Mac App Store using your Mac's built-in camera
- Boot Camp support for installing Windows 8
- Boot Camp support for Macs with a 3TB hard drive
- A fix for an issue that may cause Logic Pro to become unresponsive when using certain plug-ins
- A fix for an issue that may cause audio to stutter on 2011 iMacs
- Includes Safari 6.0.3

For detailed information about this update, please visit: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5612

With 13 different beta seeds for developers, OS X 10.8.3 spent three and a half months in testing before seeing a public release. The public version of OS X 10.8.3 is the same 12D78 build provided to developers on Tuesday.

- OS X Mountain Lion Update v10.8.3 (540.46 MB)
- OS X Mountain Lion Update v10.8.3 (Combo) (793.69 MB)

Apple has also released security updates for OS X Lion and Snow Leopard:

- Security Update 2013-001 (Lion) (31.42 MB)
- Security Update 2013-001 Server (Lion) (79.33 MB)

- Security Update 2013-001 (Snow Leopard) (316.63 MB)
- Security Update 2013-001 Server (Snow Leopard) (391.63 MB)

Update: The Mac Observer discovered that Retina MacBook Pro models see a 20+ minute battery life increase in battery life over 10.8.2. Previously, the site had seen a serious decrease in battery life upon updating Retina MBPs from Lion to Mountain Lion. Standard MacBook Pro and Air models did not see any significant gains under 10.8.3.

We decided to also run tests on our 2012 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display (rMBP). We privately tested each beta build of 10.8.3 on both MacBooks as they were released and, starting with build 12D76, we saw a noticeable jump in battery life on the rMBP. Running time went from 398 minutes, which was roughly the same as the public release of 10.8.2, to 421 minutes, a change that persisted with the final build. These are averaged results that we ran three times to confirm.

Apple today released MacBook Pro Retina SMC Update 1.1, addressing an issue with frame rates while playing graphics-heavy games and fixing several other bugs.

About MacBook Pro Retina SMC Update v1.1

This update resolves a rare issue where users may experience slow frame rates when playing graphics-intensive games on the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display. It also includes bug fixes for Power Nap, wake from sleep and fan control.

Retina MacBook Pro owners will no doubt be testing the update to see whether the fan control bug fixes mentioned in the release notes address the widespread complaints with fan speed spikes under relatively low loads.

Apple has listed the 4th-generation iPad and the iPad mini on its Refurbished store for the first time. There is an extremely limited selection currently, but discounts are $30-$40 on the mini, and $50 on 4th-generation iPad models.

Availability is subject to rapid change and interested purchasers should not wait too long to buy. Apple's refurbished units include the same one-year warranty as standard products, as well as a brand new battery and outer shell.

The Wall Street Journal reports that China Mobile -- the largest cellular carrier in the world -- is planning to spend $7 billion on its LTE network this year, paving the way for the company to support the iPhone 5. Until now, China Mobile hasn't sold the iPhone, though more than 15 million iPhones are used on its networks, but at extremely slow data speeds.

However, China Mobile says there has been "no progress" to report in negotiations with Apple.

While China Mobile has been in talks with Apple for years over a potential deal to offer the iPhone, Chief Executive Li Yue said that there had been "no progress" to report. In January, Mr. Xi met Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook in Beijing and discussed cooperation, raising expectations that China Mobile would soon begin offering the iPhone.

China Mobile would be a key partner for Apple, which faces fierce competition from Samsung Electronics and other rivals offering smartphones powered by Google Inc.'s Android operating system.

China has accounted for much of Apple's recent record growth, and Tim Cook has traveled to China several times to meet with China Mobile representatives to make a deal.