Category: Apple

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Apple and iPhone ringtones, ARGGGH!

This is really getting old fast! As I wrote yesterday, I was happy with the latest iPhone 1.1.1 update. Since I don’t have a hacked iPhone I was free to put the update one without fear of losing the ability to use the phone. However, what I wasn’t expecting (I don’t know why) was that Apple would once again wipe out my custom ringtones! Yep, Apple clearly wants to OWN and CONTROL adding ringtones to the iPhone.

 

I get it, ringtones are big business

I know, I know, ringtones are a potentially huge source of revenue. There are issues with the record labels wanting ANOTHER cut of the song you already bought because they view ringtones as a different use. I’m not going to argue this no matter how ridiculous I think it is because I won’t win. It defy’s all logic in my mind that if I can put a song on my iPhone and play the whole song through the built-in speakers that I would have to pay the full price of the song AGAIN just to hear a small portion of it on the same iPhone when the phone rings!

Although I don’t want to continue this losing argument I will give you some more food for thought as to why Apple’s approach doesn’t make sense to me: Let’s take the iPod for example. It’s an MP3 player and Apple sells music, videos, TV shows and movies through the iTunes store. However, if you never bought a single thing from iTunes, you would still be able to rip your own CDs and convert your own videos to a compatible format and put them on the iPod. Heck, iTunes evens facilitates this FREE of charge. Let’s say you’re a musician and you record your own music. You can even do so with Apple’s own Garageband software that comes with all new Macs and put that music on your iPod too. Because the iPod is so free in this respect, Apple has sold millions of units. Now imagine if Apple started selling iPods that ONLY allowed content from the iTunes store. How many iPods would they sell then? So if I can put my own music and movies and sounds on the iPod or the iPhone and Apple doesn’t care, why would they care about where the sound comes from that I hear when the phone rings? If I record myself saying "ring ring" (which I didn’t, I’m just making a point), clearly I have ALL RIGHTS to that sound and there is nothing in the technology that should stop me from making that sound my ringtone. As a matter of fact, I could do this with my Treo and I could with my RAZR without too much effort. Before yesterday, I could even do this with my iPhone thanks to the help of iToner. Yet, Apple seems hell bent on taking away this basic ability away in favor of their own very limited (only a very small fraction of songs available from iTunes are ringtonable. Only 500,000+ songs out of the over 6 million songs available) paid ringtone service. Under the current model let’s say you bought an Earth, Wind and Fire CD years ago and you ripped it into iTunes. Let’s say you wanted to make a ringtone out of “In The Stone”. You’d have to go to the iTunes store and buy the “In The Stone” track AGAIN. Then you’d have to spend another 99¢ to convert part of it to a ringtone. So technically you would have bought the song 3 times.

 

I’m not cheap…

It’s not a matter of the cost of a ringtone. In fact as far as ringtone businesses go, Apple’s is actually cheaper than the other guys (Sprint, Verizon, etc.). They’re even fairer in their approach in that you get the whole song, you get to pick which portion of the song that you want to use as the ringtone and the ringtone doesn’t expire after so many weeks/months of use. The problem is not price, it’s selection! Even if I wanted to give up this "cat and mouse game" and just say "screw it" and buy the 3 or 4 ringtones I wanted to use, none of the ones I want are available as ringtones on iTunes. If Apple had the songs or sounds that I wanted to use, it would actually be CHEAPER for me to just buy them from iTunes than paying the $15 for iToner. So it’s not the money.

Let’s say I was a musician and wanted to use my own music as a ringtone. The way it works now, I would first have to cut a deal with Apple and HOPE that they approved my music for sale on the iTunes store as an independent label (wish me luck, espcially if you’ve heard me sing). Then I would have to buy MY OWN track from them for 99¢ or 1.29¢ and then buy the right to convert it to a ringtone for an additonal 99¢ and it’s my own song!

Apple needs to abandon this monopolistic approach on the iPhone if they want to continue to build good will and continue to have loyal customers. If you build the best iPhone ringtone service, you’ll get your fair share of the business from those out there who buy ringtones. You don’t have to block every attempt from your CUSTOMERS to spin their own.

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iPhone firmware 1.1.1 update released

As promised Apple released a new feature update for the iPhone. The new features include:

  • iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store
  • Louder Speaker Phone and Receiver Volume
  • Home Button double-click to phone favorites or music controls (hey, that’s a Terry White feature – see below)
  • Space bar double-tap shortcut to intelligently insert period and space
  • Mail attachments are viewable in portrait and landscape
  • Stocks and cities in Stocks and Weather can be reordered
  • Apple Bluetooth Headset battery status in the Status Bar
  • Support for TV Out
  • Preference to turn off EDGE/GPRS roaming internationally
  • New Passcode lock time intervals
  • Adjustable alert volume

These updates are very welcomed. I’m very happy that Apple implemented one of my suggestions! If you remember, I wrote an iPhone Review and has been very well received and ranks in the top five iPhone reviews on Google. In that review I said:

So I’m very happy to know that I helped the iPhone development in some small way 😉

I’m also happy that there is now a preference to turn OFF EDGE/GPRS roaming internationally. There are people who are traveling abroad and coming back home to monstrous roaming bills (some over $1,000) because their using their iPhone’s data capabilities internationally without realizing the outrageously high data roaming charges that some carriers charge. To simply check your email could cost you $5. Viewing a web page or two could cost you another $5-10 without knowing it. So this should help this situation quite a bit.

 

There is still room for more

I’m still very happy with my iPhone, but there is still lots of room for improvement. Most of the things I want should be relatively simple fixes that can be done via software – My Wish list:

1 – Sync Notes
2 – Cut/Copy Paste system wide
3 – Email anything (besides notes, photos URLs) Contacts, maps, directions, etc.
4 – MMS
5 – Consolidated Mail in Box and easier way to jump between accounts
6 – My OWN ringtones
7 – Flash support in Safari
8 – Video and Voice Recording
9 – Color coded or Separate Calendar view
10 – Searchable Contacts
11 – To be able to assign ringtones to groups
12 – Syncing iPhone to Computer over Bluetooth
13 – Voice dialing
14 – Dial-up Networking (use the iPhone as a modem)
15 – iPhones on AT&T corporate plans

Hopefully we’ll see more updates frequently to continue to add new features.

Hackers beware! It appears that the update restores the phone back to its original state from the stand point of needing to be "Activated" again (which it did automatically. No need to walk through the process manually). It doesn’t remove any data including my custom Non-iTunes ringtones, but if you’re not using an AT&T SIM card, you may be hosed!

Apple also posted this video on the new features…

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Amazon strikes back!

It’s no secret that Apple and Steve Jobs dominate the digital music player business and it’s also no secret that the iTunes store pretty much dominates the digital music business. One could even argue that Steve started the digital music revolution with near flawless execution and creating an almost impenetrable fortress with iTunes, the iPod and the iTunes music store. Everyone that tried to compete in this space has failed to make a serious dent in Apple’s armor. This due largely to the iPod being a closed system that only works with a few audio formats and and ONE music store. Most DRM (Digital Rights Managed) solutions from competitors not being compatible also makes them less attractive. However, at the heart of the iPod, it’s an MP3 player! So if you have an MP3 file you’re all set.

Steve even made a very compelling argument against DRM (if you buy an audio CD it doesn’t have DRM protection on it) and EMI blazed the trail by offering tracks that are DRM free on iTunes for $1.29. That’s right for 30¢ more than the standard 99¢/track you can purchase a song in AAC format that is free from DRM protection. This means this track will play on your iPod, your computer and any other device that can play AAC files including competing music players. You could even convert the track into other formats. This is great! However, if you want a song not in the EMI catalog, you’re pretty much out of luck or if you want to play that song on a player that doesn’t support AAC you’ll have to convert it to a different format first. So it would seem that Apple is unstoppable in the music business. Had you asked me this last week I would have said that "Apple is very hard to beat at this music thing. They get it!" That all changed for me yesterday!

I kept seeing the headlines that Amazon.com started selling DRM free tracks and I really didn’t pay much attention to this. After all we’ve seen online music stores come and go and so why would this be any different? Also in the past attempts to unseat Apple, the stores were either not compatible with the iPod or not compatible with the Mac which was a complete turn off for me. Then I saw one more headline about Amazon MP3 and happened to notice something I didn’t notice the first 100 times and that was "in MP3 format!" Woah! Wait a minute! This is game changing! MP3 is the most widely accepted digital music standard. So If I can buy a track that is DRM free in MP3 format then that means it will work on just about anything.

So I headed over to Amazon MP3 and decided to give this new music store a shot. I was floored not only by how easy it all worked, but also by the PRICE! Amazon’s DRM free MP3 tracks average between 89¢-99¢. I found a track that I wanted (it was 99¢) and I clicked the Buy button expecting the world to explode. I was prompted to download a "downloader" app and low and behold it was for the Mac (it detected my platform automatically). Once I downloaded the downloader, Safari (my browser) fired back up and took me right back to the song I was buying (Party Starter by Will Smith). I bought it and then something else pretty amazing happened. The song downloaded neatly to my Music folder in a newly created Amazon MP3 folder and like iTunes it organized the song by Artist, then Album then Track.

This was all going so well that I decided to go for broke. I opened iTunes and simply dragged the song over to my library and it imported it. Not only did it import it, but it automatically downloaded the Album Art for me. Thanks iTunes! (Note: The downloader is supposed to add the track to iTunes automatically by default. For some reason that didn’t happen for me on this first purchase. I’ll try it again later.)

Amazon only has 2 million tracks as opposed to iTunes’ 6 million tracks. However, the Amazon collection of DRM free tracks is MUCH larger than the EMI collection on iTunes.

Apple should be afraid, very afraid! This is the first SERIOUS competition that they’ve had. The service not only works with their iconic iPods/iPhones, but it’s also CHEAPER! The song I downloaded was in MP3 format which many would argue doesn’t sound as good as AACs from the iTunes store. However, it was sampled at 256kbps which should be very close if not on par to the DRM protected tracks you’d buy from iTunes which are at 128kbps at the same price. The iTunes DRM tracks cost more, but they are sampled at 256kbps in AAC format which probably sound better. So if you’re an audiophile, then the iTunes tracks are probably going to sound a bit better to you. For me, I’d have to weigh the cheaper price and more compatible format of Amazon’s MP3’s. That coupled with
Amazon Unbox service which allows me to rent movies and download them directly to my TiVo HD, iTunes is starting to slip a little (ok a lot) off that pedestal. Yes, there is a new contender Apple and they’re gunning for you! Apple, unless you match Amazon’s price, why would I buy any new music from you? Competition is good! This move by Amazon will benefit us (customers) the most.

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Why I’m not in the market for a new iPod

This is probably the first time since before the 3rd generation iPod (the one with the 4 buttons across the top) that I’m not in the market for a new iPod. My first iPod was the original 5GB iPod back in 2001. I skipped all the upgrades until the 3rd generation iPod for one simple reason. All of the iPods that came after the first generation didn’t solve my biggest issue and that was storage. Apple released a 10GB iPod and a 20GB model and I passed on those because they still wouldn’t hold my entire music collection and provide room for growth. It wasn’t until April 2003 when Apple released the 3rd generation iPod with the dock connector and it came in a 30GB capacity that I decided it was time for a new iPod. That was TWO YEARS of using the same iPod! No battery issues either folks.

I’ve been buying each iPod upgrade since then and even an occasional shuffle, mini and nano along the way. Why? Because each iPod that was introduced after the 3rd generation increased significantly in storage and capabilities. Sure I’d  pass the older ones on to family members and friends. However, when the iPhone came out in June, although it was sorely lacking in capacity, I decided that I was going to try to make due with ONE device. I no longer wanted to carry around my 80GB iPod video AND a cellphone. So I decided that I would forego carrying every song and video I own and judiciously sync playlists of my favorite tracks and clips. It’s not easy and it’s even sometimes frustrating living in only 8GB of iPod storage when I’m used to 80GB’s. I’m usually down to only 500MB of free space on my iPhone at any given time. However, I’d rather do this than carry two devices. So my 80GB iPod lives on an iPod speaker in the recreation area of my home and my iPhone is on my belt whenever I leave the house.

 

The new iPods look great, but…

The new iPod nano, classic and touch look like some pretty nice upgrades. However, when I look at each one I just have no interest in them. Let’s start with the shuffle. The only real difference here is color. I already have a shuffle now (a couple if you count the first generation models) that I don’t use. Then that brings us to the nano. I could see maybe getting a new nano. I have a 4GB nano now that stays in the car 99% of the time connected to my iPod integration kit. I like the nano because it’s the only iPod that works with the Nike+ kit. I haven’t been running as much this year as I did last year and when I do, I just take it out the of the car and use it. Having a new nano that plays video would be a waste for this application. I certainly don’t need video in the car while it’s tucked away and I don’t need video while running either. Since I already have an 80GB iPod that holds my entire iTunes collection with plenty of room left over, the new higher capacity 160GB iPod classic has no appeal to me what so ever. Lastly there’s the iPod touch, which most of you know is basically the iPod from the iPhone and since I already have an iPhone that I love, there is nothing to be gained here either.

So Apple if you want some more "i" cash out of me, bring on the iPhone 2.0 with 16GB of storage (or more) and 3g support. When you bring out that device, I’d be first in line (well probably not, I hate lines!, but you know what I mean).

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iPhone early adopters get your $100 credit FAST

Today Apple released the details on getting your $100 Apple Store Credit if you bought AND activated an iPhone before August 22nd. I have to admit that I was expecting Apple to make it harder than this. I was expecting to download a PDF, fill it out, mail it in and wait 4-8 weeks for a snail mail certificate. Apple could teach the world how to do rebates! Go to the link above on your computer and you basically enter your iPhone phone number and serial number. You then get a SMS text message on your iPhone with your code. You input your code on the same page you were on above and a couple seconds later your rebate certificate is there in your browser (on your computer) for you to print!

Kudos Apple, the whole process took about 15 seconds and now I have two $100 store credits (for our two iPhones) in my hands!

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Adobe keynote at Photoshop World

Terry White & Lesa Snider-King introduce the Histograms

Terry White and Lesa Snider-King introducing the Histograms

 

I had a blast at Photoshop World – Vegas last week and while I still going through all the material and shots that I took, I thought I would share with you the Adobe keynote address by Adobe’s SVP Johnny L. The keynote was great and you’ll see Johnny L introduce the new Photoshop brand as well as some never before seen technology. However, you’ve got to check out the humorous intro that Scott Kelby did which shows us what Photoshop would be like on the iPhone.

See the video here.

Johnny L rolling out the New Photoshop Brand

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Good Apple, bad Apple

Steve Jobs did a very cool thing today! In this open letter, Steve has promised that all early adopter iPhone buyers would receive a $100 refund (store credit) due to the public outcry over the recent iPhone $200 price drop. Like I said yesterday, I wasn’t too upset over the price drop as this kind of thing happens in the tech world, especially to those of us who live on the bleeding edge. I gotta say though, this is pretty cool to know that I’ve got $100 coming back which was totally unexpected and goes a long way towards making me even happier that I own Apple products and stock. Apple didn’t have to do this (even with people complaining), but they did. Prices drop/items go on sale all the time on other things we buy and yes sometimes only a couple of months after we bought them, however we don’t usually expect any kind of refund.

 

Apple also did a very uncool thing today! It seems that the new iTunes 7.4 (which features Apples iPhone ringtone maker utility) will remove the custom ringtones that you may have already put on your iPhone. Actually upon further study, it doesn’t actually remove the ringtones, but it simply rewrites the index file upon each sync to make the iPhone not look at any other ringtones than the ones that iTunes puts there. I understand that Apple wants to sell ringtones. Hey, it’s America and if you got a legal product that people want to buy, more power to you. However, I don’t have any desire to buy ringtones and I had a perfect solution for putting ringtones on my iPhone with iToner. So it’s a bit unfair to take that ability away in favor of an Apple ONLY monopolistic solution. While it’s true that I could simply put the ringtones back on after each data sync with iTunes, I would also have to reassign them to the contacts that I’ve designated to ring a certain way when they call.

Luckily the folks over at Ambrosia Software are hard at work figuring out a way around this in a update to iToner. I also got wind of this before I downloaded iTunes 7.4 so I’m good for now. I just think it’s wrong for Apple to try to “control” the iPhone in this manner. It’s almost as bad as if they made it so that you could only put music on your iPod that you bought from the iTunes music store. No one would go for that and no one should have to be limited to ringtones purchased from iTunes either.

If you have custom ringtones and want to keep them intact, don’t go to iTunes 7.4 just yet.

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New iPods, iPhone price drop and more

iPod touch

Besides dropping the price of the iPhone (read below), the big news today is the brand new iPod Touch. I gotta admit, that while I predicted Apple would come out with an iPod that was everything that the iPhone was without the phone, I didn’t think that they would actually have the guts to do it. Apple will sell boat loads of these. While the iPhone appeals to many (including yours truly), there are millions that won’t buy it. Some of those millions would love to have a touch/wide screen iPod that also has Wi-Fi and internet surfing capabilities. Does this mean that the iPhone is a failure? Absolutely not! It means that Apple is smart enough to try to sell the right product mix to EVERYONE! If I was stuck in a contract or for whatever reason (such as AT&T) didn’t want an iPhone or was happy with my existing phone, I would definitely want an iPod Touch.

With the iPod Touch you basically get an iPod that looks very much like the iPhone. You get a gorgeous 3.5" touch screen, 8GB or 16GB of storage (which the iPhone sorely needs), Wi-Fi, Safari, YouTube, and Wi-Fi music downloads from the iTunes store.

How is this different from the iPhone?

The obvious one is that there is no phone and therefore no EDGE data network. So you can only surf the web and use YouTube when you’re in a Wi-Fi covered area. There’s also no Bluetooth, not that you’d need it since there is no Bluetooth syncing yet. No camera, no Widgets, no SMS texting and no Google Maps.

Where’s Mail ?

The one BIG thing that is mysteriously missing from the iPod Touch is email? Granted if you have access to webmail, you can check your email with Safari, but it would be nice to have the Mail app that comes with the iPhone. I guess Apple had to draw the line somewhere and to entice you to move up to iPhone, Mail was that line.

Although the iPod touch is missing some of the iPhone goodies, it’s still a great iPod for those that want their music, videos and do a little surfing while waiting in a line somewhere. Hey Apple, are we ever gonna see games again on these touch screen iPods/iPhones?

 

Apple drops the iPhone 8GB price by $200 bones

You knew the day would come when Apple would drop the price of the iPhone. However, you probably didn’t think it would happen in just over two months and by $200. Yeah, that’s one is kind of a shocker and I’m sure there are some $600 iPhone owners out there that are a bit steamed at the moment. However, I’m not one of them. Why? Is it that I have this unlimited fountain of money? Nope, I just don’t get ticked about money I’ve spent months ago for a product that I’ve been enjoying. Sure, if I had just bought an iPhone this past week, I’d be marching down to the Apple store for a refund. However, I’m just not going to sweat money I spent on bleeding edge technology 65 days ago. Ouch! OK, I’m over it.

Now the real question is, how much is the 4GB model? Apple says they will sell the 4GB model while supplies last (read – they don’t have many left), but they didn’t say at what price. Does that mean that the 4GB model is now $299? If so, that would be a steal  for someone that could get by with 4GB of storage. NOTE: A quick call to my Apple store and yes the 4GB model is $299 while supplies last. So if you want one at that price, don’t hesitate.

iPod Classic

Apple kept the award winning iPod interface intact. They realize that everyone doesn’t want a touch screen (you know who you are). So if you still want the very easy to use without looking at it click wheel, you can get an iPod Classic. You might also note that Apple did away with the “white” color and now uses a grey to match the rest of their new products. Also if your music/video collection didn’t fit on the previous iPods, there’s now a 160GB version! Wow! Is that a music store in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

iPod nano gets phat (fat too)

Woah! Now you too can watch videos on your iPod nano. Basically Apple is allowing video (and photo) playback on any iPod with a screen. I’m not sold on the design though. It looks like someone took a regular iPod and squished it in Photoshop. The nano was very popular because it was just so darn small and thin. The new nano (aka fatty as some are calling it), kind of loses some of that sleekness. However, it is still very thin since it doesn’t have a hard drive. iPod case manufacturers, get your pencils out. You now have a new market to go after.

iPod shuffle

Not a lot of news here. Apple refreshed the line with some new colors. Quite honestly I couldn’t tell you what the old colors were. I do own the original second generation shuffle in silver and since I got my iPhone I haven’t used it. So I haven’t been keeping up with what’s going on in the iPod shuffle world.

 

iPod/iPhone pricing

Here’s a break down of what the iPods and iPhones cost. I still don’t get why you’d buy a 8GB nano for $199 when you can get an 80GB Classic for only $50 more, but hey, Apple sells a ton of nanos.

  Capacity/Price Capacity/Price
iPod Touch 8GB $299 16GB $399
iPod Classic 80GB $249 160GB $349
iPod nano 4GB $149 8GB $199
iPod shuffle 1GB $79  
iPhone 8GB $399 4GB $299

 

iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store & Custom iPhone Ringtone Maker

OK, where do I begin here? I think it’s very cool that you’ll now be able to buy a song right on your iPod and listen to it right away. That makes total sense to me and it’s hot! However, I just don’t get the whole "buying ringtones" thing. I’m not just talking about Apple, I’m talking about the market as a whole which brings in MILLIONS of dollars every year. It’s only natural that Apple would want their fair cut of this growing pie.

Don’t get me wrong, I totally love custom ringtones. I have some on my iPhone right now and had them on my Treo and RAZR before that. However, in each of those cases I made them myself out of songs that I already bought. I just don’t understand the business model of selling "ringtones" specifically. A quick sanity check over at Sprint.com reveals ringtones that they are currently selling (Beyoncé just started blaring "Me, Myself and I" – I hate when sites play music that I didn’t click on. I love Beyoncé, but that’s besides the point) for $2.50 each! How can this be? I can go to iTunes and buy the WHOLE SONG for .99¢ and play it back on several devices and even burn it to an Audio CD. Yet, Apple (and others) expect me to pay MORE for a 30 second version that only plays on my phone? Help me understand this. Apple’s price is a little better than Sprint’s. Here’s the deal. You buy the song you want (out of only 1 Million of the millions of iTunes songs. So you might not even get the one you want), and then you pay another 99¢ for the ability to customize it down to the 30 seconds you want to be a ringtone on your iPhone. Granted you still get to keep the full song and use it anyway you want just as before, but to use it as an iPhone ringtone, you pay $1.98.

No thanks! I’ll continue to use iToner and put my own ringtones on my iPhone (unless of course Apple breaks this ability with an iPhone software update and then I would be ticked off).

 

Apple and Starbucks

Apple just got all chummy with Starbucks in an exclusive deal that you will be able to go to a Starbucks location with your Wi-Fi enabled iPod touch/iPhone and download music from the iTunes store without paying a Wi-Fi charge to Starbucks. OK, whatever.

If you really want to get my attention, let me surf on my iPhone free of charge while I’m in a Starbucks. I don’t even drink coffee, never mind.

Buh-bye iPod Hi-Fi

Looks like sales of the iPod Hi-Fi were disappointing enough that Apple quietly removed the iPod Hi-Fi from its online store. I’ll kind of miss the Storm Trooper. Oh well. Bose and all the others win this round.

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New iPhone Ringtone App for Mac

As many of you know I had found an app (iphoneringtonemaker.com) for adding custom ringtones to the iPhone. While the app works great! It is currently Windows only. The great folks over at Ambrosia Software have just released a new app that allows you to add your own ringtones to the iPhone and it’s a Mac app. It’s called iToner. iToner is a no frills app that does one thing and one thing well. It lets you put your own .mp3s, .AACs, etc. on your iPhone to be used as ringtones.

The app itself look just like the iPhone interface. You simply launch it and drag your audio files into and hit the sync button. That’s it! They are then on your phone without the need for any special hacking, jailbreaking, passwords or other secret backdoors. It even recognized the ringtones that I had added previously with the other app.

While this app is great, I’m not sure if it will be needed much longer. The rumor is that Apple is going to launch a ringtone service during their announcements on September 5th. However, Apple’s solution will likely be a pay per ringtone solution whereas apps like iToner let you use your existing tunes. My hope is that Apple releases their own solution, but doesn’t wipe out or disable the ringtones I’ve already put on there. In other words I hope we’re not "forced" to use their paid service.

iToner is $15 and while there are free solutions out there, none are as easy to use as iToner or as elegant. My biggest ask for the next version is the ability to allow you to trim the songs to just the portion you want to use as a ringtone right in the app. You can download it today and run it in trial mode for 30 days fully functional. That way we can wait and see what happens on the 5th and if we still need it or can still use it, great! Otherwise, you wouldn’t have to buy it only to find out that it’s no longer usable after Apple rolls out their service. So you have nothing to lose. Go download it now and give it a spin.

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It’s the little things

The original 85W MagSafe adapter on the left and the NEW 85W MagSafe adapter on the right.

 

If you have a MacBook Pro, one thing you’ve probably noticed is how freakin’ big the AC adapter was. Apple has quietly addressed this and made a NEW 85W MagSafe Power Adapter (Part# MA938LL/A) available. I ordered mine immediately when I found out about it as my notebook bag is already heavy enough. Anything I can do to lighten the load is worth it. This new adapter is on par with the MacBook adapter which is a 60W MagSafe Power Adapter. Although the MacBook adapter will power a MacBook Pro, it doesn’t provide enough juice to charge the battery. So you really want the 85W adapter if you have a MacBook Pro. The 85W adapter will work with either the MacBook Pro or MacBook.

Now if only the folks over at iGo could figure out a way to make a MagSafe tip for their universal adapters (or get Apple to license the technology to them), I’d be in heaven.