The original 13″ aluminum unibody MacBook Pro form factor, which debuted as a plain MacBook in October 2008, is getting a bit long in the tooth. But sometimes they get things right on the first try. I would argue that the 13″ aluminum unibody is one of the best, if not the best, all-round Apple laptop design(s) ever. If it ain’t broke, why fix it?

With my current MacBook closing in on its third birthday, it occurred to me the other day that it might be prudent to check out the condition of the battery. Happily, there are several utilities for doing that, and I downloaded a couple of freeware examples to check out their comparative usefulness, as well as that of the MacBook battery.

Hex doesn’t simply release new bags and sleeves, they release new lines of bags and sleeves. Such is the case with their Fleet Collection, a 12-piece laptop and tablet accessory line making its debut at CES 2012. Each Fleet bag features charcoal and white pinstripe canvas fabrication, custom-printed lining and contrasting tan genuine leather zipper pulls and leatherette trim detailing.

All current iMac, Mac Mini, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air models use Sandy Bridge processors. Currently, Intel is working on Ivy Bridge, the successor to Sandy Bridge, which is designed to be faster and use less power. While Ivy Bridge isn’t scheduled to be released until Q2 2012, there is already information being released, both officially and unofficially.

Rumors have been pointing to a higher resolution display in the iPad 3, set to arrive in spring of 2012. Now, word is surfacing the technology will propagate to the Apple’s Mac computers, as well. Reports from DigiTimes say Apple may have plans to incorporate into their MacBook Pros Retina Display-like resolutions of 2,880 x 1,800 (261ppi), starting at the very first few months of the Q2 in 2012.

Electronic retailers such as Best-Buy and Amazon got an early start this Black Friday, offering better deals than Apple’s Black Friday discounts. Amazon is offering up to $150 off Apple computers such as the 1.60GHz 11″ MacBook Air 64GB, for example, and Best Buy also has their share of Apple products on sale, including the iMac, iPad 2 and Apple TV. You’ve got just a couple hours left before Black Friday 2011 has passed you by, so get those orders in now to get significant savings on Apple products.

We’ve seen a few leaks this week on Apple’s annual one-day-only Black Friday sales event. The savings on Apple products were accurately slight, but as in years past, Apple is offering significant savings on compatible third-party products. Save over $100 on Bowers & Wilkins speaker docks and various laptop bags, and you can get fun accessories like the Parrot AR.Drone for under $250.00.

If you’re looking for the perfect bag to carry your MacBook and all of its gear, then look no further than the Incase Nylon Sling Sleeve for Macbook Air. It’s a bag that has everything you want and need in a notebook bag. There’s a handle, shoulder strap, two front pockets and a pocket for papers. In short, it’s about as close to perfect as notebook bags come.

Black Friday is tomorrow, and Apple will be joining the big retailers for a Black Friday sale extravaganza. According to reports, Apple will be offering great deals and big discounts on products ranging from iMacs, MacBook Air / MacBook Pro, iPod nano / iPod touch to iPads. To give you an idea of what Apple has in store for this year’s Black Friday sales event, we’re looking at $101 off on Macs, iMacs, the MacBook Air, and the MacBook Pros; $41-$61 off on a new iPad 2; $11 off on a 16GB and 32GB iPod nano, and $21-$41 off on an iPod touch.

The advantage of AMD’s Llano is that while its processor ends up being a little less powerful, it makes up for it by having much stronger graphics, which is more important when playing games or working with video. While Intel has powerful processors, it has weak integrated graphics, and Apple was likely trying to improve on this by switching to AMD. However, this deal fell through when AMD wasn’t able to guarantee enough supply of their Llano processors to Apple.