MacBook Euro price cuts; Final Cut 2; Mac speaker fix [updated]

Latest MacBooks may bring stronger LCDs

Italians who received news of the spring 2007 MacBook update directly from Apple may have also been tipped off as to a change in the 13.3-inch displays used for the systems.

In its announcement, Apple Italy listed a 250cd/m2 brightness figure for the top 2.16GHz black model. The company has previously refrained from mentioning the display's specifications in the past, suggesting that the brightness was a selling point for at least the top system.

Europe as a whole also saw the price of the systems drop despite the change, with each system dipping 70 Euros to 1,049, 1,249, and 1,449 Euros respectively.

Final Cut Studio 2 shipping delayed

Apple has given signs that its Final Cut Studio 2 video editing tools will slip past their intended May release window.

Visitors to Apple's online Apple Store who place new orders are told that both the full version and its two upgrades will ship within 2-3 weeks, putting deliveries into early June. And despite showing an intended release date of May 15th, Amazon as of this writing is currently listing a 1-3 week shipping timeframe for new buyers.

No explanation has been given by Apple for the delay.

Update: Apple on Wednesday began shipping new license copies of Final Cut Studio 2. However, upgrade packages still reflect estimated ship times of 2 to 3 weeks.

Apple vows to fix speaker issue

Meanwhile, Apple is aware of and intends to fix a problem with the volume of the internal speakers on at least some Macs, including last fall's Core 2 Duo iMacs.

Owners of affected systems have complained that the built-in speakers have become too loud since the Mac OS X 10.4.9 update issued earlier in the year. The problem has become chronic and some customers have complained that Apple has taken a dismissive approach until today, denying that the patch was the root of the problem until the company privately admitted this month that its next software update should provide a cure.

"Not all Apple users enjoy being blown away by their systems nor are they from the generation that believes “loud” is the norm," said one report. "There has been no explanation as to why Apple took the direction it did in regards to this issue."