Apple has confirmed the acquisition of Swell

On Monday, unconfirmed reports that Apple had acquired Swell, a popular radio and podcast compiler app available for both iPhone and iPad, began circulating from various sources. At the time, Re/Code had noted the deal was worth around $30M and while …

15-Inch Mid 2014 Retina MacBook Pro Benchmark Shows Decent Entry-Level Speed Gains

Apple’s newly refreshed Retina MacBook Pros, released this morning, have already begun showing up in Geekbench benchmarks, offering a look at the performance boost of the updated machines compared to their predecessors.

A GeekBench 3 result for the entry-level 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro indicates that the new machine is eight percent faster than the entry-level 2013 Retina MacBook Pro, and only two percent slower than the mid-level Retina MacBook Pro released in 2013.

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Single-Core performance for the machine came in at 3050, up from 2811 for the similar 2013 model, while Multi-Core performance was also impressive, at 11586 vs. 10730.

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The new Retina MacBook Pros feature upgraded Haswell processors in 2.6 and 2.8 GHz dual-core configurations for the 13-inch versions, and 2.2 and 2.5 GHz quad-core configurations for the 15-inch models, with build-to-order options featuring a 3.0 GHz dual-core processor available for the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro and a 2.8 GHz quad-core processor available for the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro.

All of Apple’s 13-inch Retina MacBook Pros now come with 8 GB of RAM standard (upgradeable to 16 GB), while 15-inch models come with 16 GB standard. The high-end 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro has seen a $100 price cut, and buyers now have the option to upgrade to 1 TB of flash storage on both 13 and 15-inch models.

As noted by John Poole of Primate Labs, with the newly refreshed Haswell Retina MacBook Pros, customers are receiving mid-level performance at an entry-level price.

Though the update brings some decent gains to Apple’s Retina MacBook Pro lineup, the new Haswell processors are largely a stopgap measure designed to hold customers over until Intel’s more powerful and more efficient Broadwell chips are available next year.

Apple’s refreshed Retina MacBook Pros are available today at Apple retail locations and its online store.



Catch Lollapalooza live with Red Bull TV

The Lollapalooza music festival kicks off in Chicago in a few days, but for those that can’t make it, Red Bull has you covered. As part of a partnership, Red Bull will be live streaming the festival to a number of devices this weekend. Any device wit…

Connected Data launches Drobo Mini with SSD drives

Connected Data, the creator of the Drobo line of smart storage solutions, has launched its Drobo Mini with Solid State Disk (SSD) drives. The company says they deliver as much as 80{813a954d5e225a1509f22204ece89c855080ce25555f20805f61bed63cbfde3b} more performance compared to a Mini configured with traditional spinning hard drives.

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Total War: Shogun 2 coming to the Mac on July 31

Feral Interactive says the historical strategy game Total War: Shogun 2 for Mac will be released via Steam on July 31, with the Mac App Store version scheduled for release in early August.

Developed by Creative Assembly and published by SEGA® for Windows, this is the latest installment in the Total War series to be brought to the Mac by Feral, following Rome, Empire and Napoleon. A premium version of the game will be released simultaneously and include all additional content.

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