MacBook Pro

How the Retina MacBook Pro got its EPEAT Gold rating

“It’s important to understand that the manufacturers grade themselves against the EPEAT criteria first, and then EPEAT conducts a review of this grading. That EPEAT review has not yet occurred. They can require the manufacturers to remove any product from the registry if it is not found to conform to the IEEE standard.”

Okay, so Apple gave itself a gold rating. If the Retina MacBook Pro didn’t pass muster before, it certainly can’t pass now — nothing changed. If the gold rating sticks then we call bullshit. Maybe Apple saw the advantages of having the remainder of its product line on EPEAT even if the Retina models don’t make it. Seems odd though if you think that Retina is the future of the product.

EPEAT gives Retina MacBook Pro a Gold rating

The sudden pullout — and subsequent return — of Apple from the EPEAT certification program it helped create increasingly appears to have been a dispute over the status that have been given to the Retina MacBook Pro if it were submitted, as the two 15-models with the high-resolution display may have been threatened with a lower-than-top ranking, a first for the company. The Retina models now appear on the EPEAT website with Gold rankings.

How is that possible?

Retina profits

Rags Srinivasan:

If Apple sees no change in total number of units sold from the current quarter, this ASP bump will still result in a minimum additional profit of $200 million. If you include net new purchases and higher percentage up-sells, this number could easily become $1 billion in additional profit.

∞ Apple MacBooks top all Consumer Reports laptop categories

If you were wondering how good Apple’s MacBook line of portable computers are, the answer is simple — they are the top computer every category on Consumer Reports.

Apple’s 11-inch MacBook Air scored a 62 out of 100 taking the top spot in the small laptop section. Scoring a 56, Gateway came in second while HP came in third with a 49.

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∞ Mac sales up 27 percent in second quarter

Apple’s Mac sales are showing an incredible surge for the second fiscal quarter, according to a new report on Monday.

In a note to clients on Monday, financial analyst Gene Munster said U.S. Mac sales are up 27 percent over last year’s second quarter. Munster based his analysis on data provided by market research firm, NPD.

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∞ Apple's Mac market share grows 18.9% in first quarter

Overall PC shipments fell in the first quarter of 2011 in the United States, but Apple gained.

In fact, Apple’s market share gains were the highest among the top companies, according to a new report from market research firm, Gartner.

Apple shipped 1.25 million Macs in the first quarter of 2010 and 1.49 million in the first quarter of 2011. The company’s market share grew from 7.3 percent in 2010 to 9.3 percent in 2011.

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