Apple's Black Friday sales were a resounding success according to two separate accounts, which revealed that most of the company's retail stores sold out of the iPhone 4S on the biggest shopping day of the year.
Apple is said to be preparing an update to its MacBook Air series in the first quarter of 2012 with the addition of a new 15-inch thin-and-light model.
Intel is reportedly planning to release a proprietary connector that will work alongside its Thunderbolt technology to allow for advanced docking stations for the chipmakers' ultrabook design specifications.
Apple resellers have launched their Black Friday deals, offering savings of up to $101 on Mac Book Airs, $250 of MacBook Pros, $128 on iMacs, $39 on Mac minis and $260 on Mac Pros [updated with price changes].
Amazon on Thursday evening launched early Black Friday pricing on three of Apple's most affordable Mac offerings: the 1.60GHz 11" MacBook Air, 2.4GHz dual 13" MacBook Pro, and 2.5GHz 21.5" iMac [updated with price changes].
Apple has begun rolling out its one-day Black Friday sale in limited countries around the world, with discounts adding up to roughly 10 percent off select iPad, iPod and Mac models [updated with U.S. pricing].
Apple's switch to AMD graphics across its entire product line could be short-lived, as a new rumor claims that next-generation MacBook models will once again feature Nvidia graphics processors.
Apple's continued control unibody aluminum chassis supply has reportedly forced Ultrabook makers, hoping to compete with the MacBook Air, to turn to alternative materials such as plastic.
Apple is said to have developed a MacBook Air running Advanced Micro Devices' Fusion Llano processor last spring, but scrapped it at the last minute because of production issues, according to an unverified report.
The latest entry in the thin-and-light Ultrabook lineup is HP's new Folio13, a 13-inch laptop with a 128GB solid-state drive that undercuts Apple's MacBook Air with a starting price of $900.
Shipments of Apple's MacBook will reportedly remain stable in the fourth quarter despite recent hiccups with chassis and hard drive supplies for the portables.
Apple is rumored to have ordered a "small volume" of components for a 15-inch ultra-thin notebook that could appear as early as the second quarter of 2012, a new report claims.
Apple's MacBook Air models now make up 28 percent of the company's notebook shipments, up from just 8 percent in the first half of the year.
Despite double-digit declines in Western Europe's PC market during the third quarter, Mac sales surged nearly 20% to help Apple break into the segment's top 5 vendors for unit shipments.
Apple is set to have another blockbuster quarter for the Mac platform, with the latest sales data showing the company headed toward selling as many as 5.3 million over the holidays.
ARM, the company whose reference designs are used in the chips that power Apple's iPhone and iPad, is expected by industry insiders to carve out a significant presence in the traditional notebook computer market by 2013.
Intel's thin-and-light "Ultrabook" design, inspired in part by the success of Apple's MacBook Air form factor, continues to struggle in the market, prompting PC makers Acer and Asus to reduce orders by 40 percent.
A close look at Apple's supply chain has revealed that the company wields upfront cash payments and a highly-focused logistics ecosystem, largely credited to Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, as "strategic weapons" to secure a significant advantage over its rivals.
Apple is rumored to be planning a complete overhaul for each of its product lineups, including the iPad, iMac, iPhone and MacBook Air, next year, according to sources within the company's supply chain.
Apple is allegedly prepared to add a new thin-and-light 15-inch MacBook to its lineup in the near future, with one report claiming the company has finished development of a crucial test component.
{{ summary }}
Neil Hughes
Sam Oliver
Josh Ong
AppleInsider Staff
Slash Lane
Katie Marsal
Daniel Eran Dilger
Mikey Campbell
