MacBook

MIDI Player (App Store link) is a $6.99 app for the iPhone and iPod touch that plays MIDI files.

Description:

iPhone Midi Player plays MIDI files on the device (hear “In the Stone” in video)

Features:

• Built in synthesizer
• Download Midis from the internet
• Edit Tracks
• Mix View

via iPhoneMidi

Apple has quietly updated its 13″ MacBook, and now it’s actually a pretty killer box for the price:

For the same $999 you now get that newer generation 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo processor with faster 1,066MHz frontside bus, 2GB of 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory standard (up from 1GB), and integrated NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics.

Whitey is still stuck with DDR2 SDRAM though, not the speedier DDR3 found in the unibodies. Disk drive and other specs (including Firewire 400) appear to be the same. Getting ready for Snow Leopard’s OpenCL GPU support are we Apple?

Bluetooth received a bump from 2.0 to 2.1 as well.

If you can get beyond the 13″ screen, Apple’s 13″ MacBook is now a nice little mobile music/audio machine. (Up to 1920 by 1200 pixels on an external display,)

You an also bump this up to 4GB ram & 250GB hard drive for $1,299.

You can get the details here.

There’s an online petition asking Apple to save the FireWire port on Mac laptops.

More than 6,000 people have already signed the petition.

Here’s the text of the petition:

To: Apple Inc.

We all love your products, Apple Inc.! But your recently refreshed line of consumer notebooks lacks the possibility to plug in digital audio and video equipment as well as fast mass storage devices. Therefore, we pledge to purchase a new MacBook or MacBook Air if you, the inventor of FireWire technology, would be so kind to bring back FireWire ports to those products.

You can sign the petition here.

Apple pissed off a lot of musicians today, by introducing a new line of sexy MacBooks with no FIreWire ports. 

Here’s the port lineup for the new MacBooks:

• MagSafe power port
• Gigabit Ethernet port
• Two USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps)
• Mini DisplayPort
• Audio line in
• Audio line out
• Kensington lock slot

This video, by abre ojos, is third in an ongoing series of live sound & visual improvisations using a modular synthesizer, Dave Smith Evolver, Nord Micro Modular and Quartz Composer on a Macbook Pro.

Artists comment:

abre ojos is a term mentioned in a book called 1606 – An Epic Adventure by Evan McHugh. 1606 is about the multiple discoveries and voyages to Australia before the “official discovery” by Captain James Cook in 1788. “Abre Ojos” was a constant saying by the Spanish and Portuguese sailors while navigating the dangerous reef infested waters surrounding Australia’s coastline meaning “Watch Out” or “Open Your Eyes” there is danger all around.