
MacBook Pro Retina Display Analysis
I'm in San Francisco until tomorrow morning, but aside from dinner I've been spending as much time with the next-gen MacBook Pro as possible. Apple, as always, has done an excellent job of giving users enough reasons to want this thing. There's the display for those who stare at their computers all day, there's the significant reduction in thickness and weight for those who want portability in a quad-core machine, and there's the significant GPU/SSD spec bump for those who crave performance.
MacBook Pro with Retina Display Comparison | |||||
15-inch Mid 2012 MacBook Pro | MacBook Pro with Retina Display | ||||
Dimensions | 0.95 H x 14.35 W x 9.82" D | 0.71 H x 14.13 W x 9.73" D | |||
Weight | 5.6 lbs (2.54 kg) | 4.46 lbs (2.02 kg) | |||
CPU | Core i7-3615QM | Core i7-3720QM | Core i7-3615QM | ||
L3 Cache | 6MB | 6MB | 6MB | ||
Base CPU Clock | 2.3GHz | 2.6GHz | 2.3GHz | ||
Max CPU Turbo | 3.3GHz | 3.6GHz | 3.3GHz | ||
GPU | Intel HD 4000 + NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M | ||||
GPU Memory | 512MB GDDR5 | 1GB GDDR5 | |||
System Memory | 4GB DDR3-1600 | 8GB DDR3-1600 | 8GB DDR3L-1600 | ||
Primary Storage | 500GB 5400RPM HDD | 750GB 5400RPM HDD | 256GB SSD | ||
Optical Drive | Y | Y | N | ||
Display Size | 15.4-inches | ||||
Display Resolution | 1440 x 900 | 2880 x 1800 | |||
Thunderbolt Ports | 1 | 2 | |||
USB Ports | 2 x USB 3.0 | ||||
Other Ports | 1 x Firewire 800, 1 x Audio Line in, 1 x Audio Line out, SDXC reader, Kensington Lock slot | SDXC reader, HDMI out, headphone out | |||
Battery Capacity | 77.5 Wh | 95 Wh | |||
Price | $1799 | $2199 | $2199 | ||
I've touched on the SSD speed bump already, and I've talked about how Apple is handling DPI scaling in Lion. To recap, Retina Display MBP owners now get a slider under OS X's Display Preferences that allow you to specify desktop resolutions other than 1440 x 900. At 1440 x 900 you don't get any increase in desktop resolution compared to a standard 15-inch MacBook Pro, but everything is ridiculously crisp. If you're like me however and opted for the 1680 x 1050 "high-res" upgrade last generation, this won't do. Thankfully Apple offers 1680 x 1050 and 1920 x 1200 scaling options that trade a bit of image quality and performance for added real estate. The gallery below gives you a look at the five settings.
Even at the non-integer scaled 1680 x 1050 setting, the Retina Display looks a lot better than last year's high-res panel. It looks like Apple actually renders the screen at twice the selected resolution before scaling it to fit the 2880 x 1800 panel (in other words, at 1920 x 1200 Apple is rendering everything at 3840 x 2400 (!) before scaling - this is likely where the perf impact is seen, but I'm trying to find a way to quantify that now). Everything just looks better. I also appreciate how quick it is to switch between resolutions on OS X. When I'm doing a lot of work I prefer the 1920 x 1200 setting, but if I'm in content consumption mode I find myself happier at 1440 x 900 or 1680 x 1050.
Fewer Reflections, Hugely Improved Contrast
In the standard (glossy) MacBook Pro, Apple had a standard LCD arrangement with two sheets of glass plus a third piece of cover glass that gave it the seamless edge-to-edge glass appearance. The MacBook Air and the high-res/matte display on the other hand did not have any cover glass and instead hid the LCD panel behind a bezel. The MacBook Pro with Retina Display uses a similar LCD construction to the MacBook Air/matte-MBP, without a cover glass. Instead the Retina Display's two glass layers are different sizes, which you can sort of see in the cross section below:By removing the cover glass Apple reduces the number of reflections and thus glare, however it's important to point out that this still isn't a matte display. I've never been particularly bothered by glossy screens so I'm really the wrong person to ask whether or not the reduction in reflections makes it usable. Compared to my matte MacBook Pro, the Retina Display is obviously more glossy but at the same time remarkably close. I'll reserve my final judgement until I've used the display in more varied conditions however.
As always, Apple chose to deal with the issues of glare and reflections by integrating an extremely bright panel with great black levels. The MacBook Pro's Retina Display is the first IPS based panel Apple has ever used in a MacBook. Viewing angles are much improved, as are black levels:
Brightness appears to be down a bit compared to last year's high-res model, but the improvement in black levels more than makes up for the loss. Contrast ratio takes a huge step forward:
When I'm back in the office I'll take some good shots of the wide viewing angles afforded by the new IPS Retina Display. The old MacBook Pro had a really good display but this just takes it to the next level. The improvement in contrast ratio is the most tangible for me however, aside from the increase in resolution of course.
Application Support for Retina Display
A tremendous benefit of being a provider of both software and hardware for the Mac platform is Apple can obviously sync the introduction of new features in both. Mail, Safari, iPhoto, iMovie and of course, OS X have all been updated to support the new MacBook Pro Retina Display. These applications all look absolutely gorgeous on the new Pro.Third party applications will have to be updated however. What happens if you run an app that hasn't been updated to support the Retina Display? This screenshot comparing Google Chrome (left) to Safari (right) provides the best example:
It's usable, but it's a significant enough difference for me to drop Chrome and use Safari until it gets worked out. And I really like Chrome.
Gaming at 2880 x 1800
You'll notice that OS X doesn't, by default, expose the Retina Display's native 2880 x 1800 resolution anywhere in the standard, user-facing elements of the OS. In fact, 1920 x 1200 is the highest screen "resolution" you can select - a way of appeasing displaced 17-inch MacBook Pro owners. What about 3D games however?The good news is the Retina MBP does nothing to hide its true nature from games. The screenshot above Diablo III was taken at 2880 x 1800. The setting page below shows the full list of resolutions enumerated:
Diablo III is actually quite playable at 2880 x 1800, at least in the earlier levels (I haven't had time to make it far enough in the game to tell how bad it can get). I managed to average 20 fps at 2880 x 1800 in the most stressful scene I have presently unlocked. Obviously things are smoother at lower resolutions. Diablo III exhibited some graphical anomalies at 1920 x 1200, but was fine at other 16:10 resolutions.
Not all games will let you do this however. The Unigine Heaven benchmark for example wouldn't expose any resolutions higher than 1920 x 1200. Portal 2, on the other hand, did:
The console text in Portal 2 illustrates why even games need to be updated for proper Retina Display support:
This is also a great example of why Apple didn't directly expose a 2880 x 1800 display resolution in OS X.
I was pleased when ASUS introduced a 1080p IPS panel in the new Zenbook Prime. I am even happier with the Retina Display in the next-generation MacBook Pro. I still need to clock in more hours on the new panel but it's been amazing thus far. I like it even better than the display on the new iPad, likely because I can appreciate it more in my line of work (I'm not typing 15K word articles on the iPad).
Other Notes
Although I'm still saving a bit for the full review, here are some other thoughts I had during my time with the next-gen MacBook Pro:- The SD card reader works a lot better than its predecessor. In my early 2011 15-inch MacBook Pro there are a number of cards that won't read properly without repeated insertion and/or without applying pressure to the card once it's in the system. The next-gen Pro appears to have fixed this problem for me, at least based on the two cards I'm traveling with now. I have a particularly problematic card back home that I will try as soon as I can.
- Key travel appears to have been reduced a bit, either that or the keys are less springy than on my Sandy Bridge MBP. It's not bad, just different.
- The next-gen Pro chassis is definitely easier to carry around than the old unibody, but it doesn't exactly feel small. I lug around my 15-inch Pro enough that I'd appreciate the difference but don't expect this to feel like a slightly larger MacBook Air. Looking at it another way, the next-gen Pro feels right and makes the old unibody design feel big.
- I really wish the $2199 SKU had the 512GB SSD, or at least offered it as an option - otherwise the spec is near perfect in my mind. Without a standard 2.5" SSD it's going to be difficult to just swap in a larger drive. Other companies may make replacement drives down the road, but if Apple is using Samsung's PM830 controller in here I don't know that I'd want something else.
That's all for now. I've got a lot more testing ahead of me. My flights tomorrow (technically, today) should prove for some good use case testing in an evironment I'm all too familiar with.
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SSD and USB 3.0 Performance of the Retina Display MacBook Pro
Two major upgrades offered to all of Apple's new MacBook lineup are updated SSDs and native USB 3.0 support. The same updated SSD is present across all of Apple's lineup: from the MacBook Air to the next-gen MacBook Pro. Based on the model number in Apple's System Report I'd guess my review sample features a Samsung based drive. Toshiba was a secondary source in the past, and with its announcement of a 6Gbps controller I wouldn't be surprised to find that in systems as well.
Apple claims the new SSD is capable of up to 500MB/s read performance. I ran a few tests using Quick Bench to validate Apple's claims. In general it looks like read speed approaches 500MB/s, while sequential writes are closer to 400MB/s. I don't want to draw any conclusions based on the random data just yet because it's like Quick Bench is using a 100% LBA span for these tests, while I typically run at a more limited LBA span for my random tests.
Note, the SSD in the next-gen MacBook Pro is physically removable similar to the drive in the MacBook Air. The drives aren't interchangeable however and I'm not sure if the two even use the same physical interface.
USB 3.0 performance is much improved over the previous generation MacBook Pro. I used an Apricorn SATA to USB 3.0 adapter to measure copy time to/from a 512GB OCZ Vertex 4 SSD. The performance gap between USB 2.0 and 3.0 is nothing short of significant.
More details on the next-generation MacBook Pro as we make it through our review.
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How the Retina Display MacBook Pro Handles Scaling
Earlier this morning Apple introduced its next-generation MacBook Pro equipped with a Retina Display. The 15.4-inch panel features a native resolution of 2880 x 1800, or exactly double the standard 1440 x 900 resolution of a regular 15-inch MacBook Pro. As we've seen in the past however, an ultra high resolution screen in a small form factor can make for some very difficult to read text. The Retina MBP ships with a version of OS X Lion however that supports a number of scaling modes to take advantage of the ultra high res display.
By default, the Retina MBP ships in a pixel doubled configuration. You get the effective desktop resolution of the standard 15-inch MacBook Pro's 1440 x 900 panel, but with four physical pixels driving every single pixel represented on the screen. This configuration is the best looking, but you don't actually get any more desktop space. Thankfully Apple exposes a handful of predefined scaling options if you do want additional desktop space:
Apple offers five scaled settings including the default pixel doubled option: 1024 x 640, 1280 x 800, 1440 x 900, 1680 x 1050 and 1920 x 1200. Selecting any of these options gives you the effective desktop resolution of the setting, but Apple actually renders the screen at a higher resolution and scales it to fit the 2880 x 1800 panel. As a result of the upscaled rendering, there can be a performance and quality impact. It's also worth noting there's no default option for 2880 x 1800, which is understandable given just how tiny text would be at that resolution. I suspect it won't be long before users figure out how to manually add a zero-scale, 2880 x 1800 option.
The gallery below shows the impact of these scaling options on desktop area as well as how much of the AnandTech front page you can see at each setting.
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Intel Discovers SandForce SF-2281 Controller Can't Do AES-256 Encryption, Offers Return Program
Although SandForce's SF-2281 controller has been shipping for well over a year at this point, it took Intel to discover a bug in the controller that prevents it from properly supporting AES-256 encryption. The bug is at the controller level and can't be fixed with a firmware update. AES-128 encryption works perfectly fine as does the drive's standard, un-encrypted operation mode. If you have an Intel SSD 520 and need AES-256 support, Intel has introduced a return program. If you purchased your 520 on or before July 1, 2012 you can contact Intel for a full refund of purchase price. You have to complete the request by October 1, 2012. If you want a Cherryville/SF-2281 drive with proper AES-256 support you'll have to wait a few months for a new spin of the controller it seems.
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iOS 6 Beta Posted Online for Developers - Update: We Try it Out
Apple just set the iOS 6 beta page live, and we're hurreidly downloading our build 10A5316k install images. Interestingly enough, Apple has decided to call the iPad 2,4 "iPad 2 Wi-Fi Rev A" which is a decidedly more human name, if a bit confusing. The iPhone 4S image weighs in at around 880 MB. As rumored, the beta page doesn't include images for the original iPad WiFi.
We'll update with some impressions and screenshots after getting it installed. iOS 6 includes numerous improvements to Siri, Facebook integration, as well as Apple's own mapping product, and will launch sometime this fall.
I've gotten the iOS 6 beta installed on my iPhone 4S and gave it a quick walk through. First off, the visual theme changes slightly, with the status bar now turning blue when in some contexts like settings. Apple has added a new "tap to tweet" shortcut in the notifications center shade, which is clearly inspired by quicktweet. Also among the notificiations center changes is a new "do not disturb" toggle which disables notifications and adds a small crescent moon icon in the status bar. This can also be scheduled and customized more inside the notificaton settings pane.
Also new on the Settings page is Privacy, where users can grant and revoke app access to contacts, calendars, reminders, and photo API data, in addition to location services like in iOS 5.
Speaking of Settings, the whole application gets a nice re-organization, with the bluetooth toggle now pulled out of General and placed squarely below Wi-Fi. Facebook also gets integrated as a service, right below Twitter.
The next obvious big feature is Maps, which no longer uses Google's map tiles and instead uses data from TomTom and Apple's in house sources. The interface retains almost all of the previous maps application functionality (minus street view and public transport information) and adds both turn by turn navigation and a 3D perspective view you can change by tapping and dragging with two fingers. iOS 6 maps seems just as performant and fluid as the previous maps application.
MobileSafari also gets an update, though the core WebKit version remains the same. The changes are primarily both in the UI and overall feel. Loading a page, the new mobilesafari seems to update the status bar quicker, and the overscroll background is now the hatched notifications center pattern instead of just grey. JavaScript also gets a nice speed bump on the new version. I've made a table with the details. Interestingly enough, iOS 6's user agent is masquerading as iOS 5.
iOS MobileSafari | |||||||
Location | WebKit Version | HTML5test.com Score | CSS3test.com Score | Sunspider 0.9.1 | |||
iOS 5.1.1 | 534.46 | 324 + 9 | 52% | 2226.1 | |||
iOS 6.0 Beta | 534.46 | 360 + 9 | 57% | 1842.9 | |||
Other minor tweaks include a new dialer and camera application interface. There's also the relevant settings pane under Phone in Settings for configuring your call dismissal messages. The default three are pretty standard "quick text" items.
There's also a toggle under FaceTime now for restricting the service to only using WiFi data (should you choose to not use up cellular data), and a restructured iMessage caller ID tab.
Source: Apple Developer Portal
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Apple Introduces New Smart Covers
Continuing its onslaught of new products and accessories this morning, Apple has silently launched a 3rd variant of its Smart Covers for the iPad. The new Smart Covers now offer full back protection with an option of laser engraving as well.
The new covers are polyurethane and come in a choice of 6 colors. Apart from the full body protection, the covers do not add any new functionality as compared to the older Smart Covers.
The new Smart Covers are compatible with the 2nd and 3rd genration iPads. They are available starting today for a $49 a pop.
Apple Store - New Smart Covers
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Apple Updates Airport Express - New Design
As if this morning's monumental WWDC keynote was not enough, Apple seems to have a few more silent product updates in the pipeline. A quick look at the now updated Apple website, reveals a redesigned Airport Express.
The new design takes after the 2nd generation Apple TV, except for the color, which is in line with the traditional Airport enclosures. The dimensions of the tiny box are exactly the same as the current Apple TV.
The most notable additions to the new Airport Express is support for simultaneous dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi, just like the Airport Extreme. Other usual features include the ability to perform the initial setup via iOS devices and support for AirPlay and Wireless Printing.
On the front, we have a tinier than usual status light, which should blink in the traditional amber and green colors. The ports at the back are a standard affair; power, one WAN port, one LAN port (still not Gigabit), a USB port, a 3.5-mm audio mini-jack for analog or optical digital sound and the reset button.
One of the major gripes I had with the older Airport Express was that it needed to be plugged directly into a power outlet, which made access to the ports rather awkward. Also, the design was prone to falling off the power outlet, unless plugged into a power strip, flat on the floor. I'm glad the new design finally resolves these issues by using a good old power cable.
The new model retains its $99 price tag and is shipping today.
Apple Airport Express: Product Page - Store
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First Shots of the MacBook Pro with Retina Display, Updated: Even More PIcs
Apple has a couple of demo units of the new MacBook Pro with Retina Display outside of the keynote hall at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Check out the gallery below for the shots. Full specs and details here.
Update: Just grabbed more pics.
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iOS 6 Beta Today, Shipping This Fall
Wrapping up our coverage on iOS 6 are the shipping details. A beta is available today, the final version will be shipping this fall. The iPhone 3GS and later are supported, as well as the 2nd/3rd gen iPad and 4th gen iPod Touch.
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Lost Mode in iOS 6
iOS 6 will also feature Lost Mode, allowing you to send a phone number to your missplaced iPhone. Anyone who finds it can just tap the phone number on the screen to immediately call you.
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iOS 6 Maps
Apple has built its own Maps service into iOS 6. Apple did all of the cartography for the maps and the app now supports turn by turn navigation. Siri integration is present as well. All transitions are extremely smooth, the app overall looks very well built.
Apple integrated Yelp reviews for local businesses into its new Maps application. Apple's Flyover integrates high resolution 3D imagery with the new Maps application, similar to what Google and Microsoft have done with their own mapping services.
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iOS 6 Passbook Organizes your Boarding Passes, Store Cards, Ticket Stubs
A new feature of iOS 6 is an app called Passbook that lets you keep all of your boarding passes, ticket stubs and even store cards in one common location. Check out the gallery below for shots of Passbook in action. The passes are live, so things like gate changes and time changes are automatically updated. Passes can be grouped as well (e.g. multiple boarding passes are grouped together).
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iOS 6 Safari
A feature we discussed earlier today on the Mac, iCloud tabs are enabled via iOS 6. Using iCloud tabs you can view all open Safari tabs across all of your iCloud devices (Mac and iDevices).
There's now a photo upload tool supported by the browser:
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iOS 6 Enables FaceTime over Cellular
FaceTime in iOS 6 will work over both WiFi and Cellular networks. Enough said.
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iOS 6 Improves Call Handling
iOS 6 now allows you to elegantly reject calls with a tool to the right of the standard slide to reply widget. You can now have your phone automatically remind you to call someone back either based on time or location. You can also reject a phone call and have your phone automatically respond with a message to the caller.
iOS 6 also supports a do not disturb mode that you can turn on to avoid being woken up in the middle of the night by text messages, calls and push notifications. iOS 6 also exposes fine grained control over what calls/notfications to let through even in DND mode.
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Facebook Integration in iOS 6
Facebook in iOS 6 is more heavily integrated. You can now like apps in the app store and see what your friends like. You can now update to Facebook (and Twitter) directly from the notifications menu. Shared contact information from your friends in Facebook now auto populates in your address book on your phone.
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Siri in iOS 6
Apple is going through its demo of Siri in iOS 6. Siri is getting significant updates, Apple is now demonstrating Siri's extensive knowledge of sports statistics. Player stats, league standings and results from games across basketball, hockey, soccer, baseball and football are all included.
Siri now includes more details about restaurants including average prices for meals. There's also integration with Yelp (reviews present in Siri) and OpenTable to make reservations.
Siri now knows about movies. You can ask it about actors and directors.
Siri can now launch apps and games.
A number of car makers will be including support for Eyes Free operation with Siri. A button on supported vehicles will activate Siri on a car-docked iPhone without turning on the display. The manufacturers pictured below plan to deploy support for Eyes Free within the next 12 months.
Siri in iOS 6 will come to the new iPad, as well as support all of the languages featured below:
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Mountain Lion Shipping in July, $19.99 for upgrades from Snow Leopard and Lion
Apple will be shipping Mountain Lion next month. The upgrade will cost Snow Leopard and Lion owners only $19.99. The fee upgrades all of your personal Macs. Macs shipping today get a free upgrade to Mountain Lion when it ships.
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Mountain Lion Power Nap: Connected Standby
Mountain Lion now features connected standby via a feature Apple calls Power Nap. Even while sleeping your Mac will now fetch new emails, tweets, etc.. as well as download updates while it's plugged in. Power Nap is only supported on the 2nd generation MacBook Air or the new MacBook Pro with Retina Display.
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.xxx Operator Looks to Snag .adult, .porn, .sex Web Domains
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China Preparing for First Manned Space Docking in June
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Sprint Cuts Stake in Clearwire
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WWDC: Apple Announces iOS 6, Shows Off In-house Maps App
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"Water-World" Discovered Only 41 Light Years From Earth
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6/8/2012 Daily Hardware Reviews
DailyTech's roundup of hardware reviews from around the web for Friday
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Apple's Case Against Motorola/Google Dismissed "With Prejudice"
Frustrated judge takes issue with parties inability to agree, unwillingness to license
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Canon Unveils New EOS Rebel T4i DSLR With Articulating Touch Screen
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Apple Agrees to Scant $2.25 Million Fine over 4G Claim in Australia
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Android Malware "DDSpy" Pretends to be Gmail, Steals Phone Logs
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HTC Sees Poor Sales in Europe, But Stronger Than Expected Chinese Sales
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Samsung Plans 20 nm, 14 nm Lines for Smartphone Chips
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LinkedIn Passwords Stolen, Posted Online; Lack of Security the Cause
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RIM Terminates Its Most Popular PlayBook SKU, Saves 32, 64 GB Models
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Virtually Every Ultrabook Appears to Violate New Apple Patent
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Apple Looks to Kill Samsung's Galaxy S III and the Rest of Its Family
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2013 Chevy Volt's Battery Range Boosted to 38 Miles, Now Rated at 98 MPGe
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BMW Patent Shows Seven-Speed Manual Transmission in the Works
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Virgin Mobile to Offer Prepaid iPhone Starting June 29
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