Do you own a MacBook (Pro, Air, or original model) and wish you could close its lid without putting it to sleep? A new, free OS X tool by the name of NoSleep allows for just that. With it, you can carry your MacBook around or just close the lid for whatever reason without putting the system to sleep so it can continue processing whatever it’s working on. But it comes with a warning…

“Which side are you on?” goes the old union song by Florence Patton Reece. The Chinese language Commercial Times Yang Wen Xin reports that Apple has issued a similar ultimatum to Pegatron, a Taiwanese manufacturer of Apple’s signature product, the Macbook Air, leaning on them them to make a choice between between continuing as an Air producer or building the ASUS Zenbook Ultrabook. Apple is citing a “high similarity” between the two products.

Now that the white, plastic MacBook has reached End of Life status and its production and sale to educational institutions is no more, Apple has chosen another MacBook model to take its place. Instead of going with an existing MacBook Air or Pro models, Apple has decided to create a 13-inch Air model specifically designed and targeted for sale to educational institutions.

CNET’s Dan Ackerman relates that in a recent poll of most-anticipated 2012 laptops, a purely hypothetical product beat out every high-profile system previewed at January’s CES in Las Vegas; namely, a 15″ version of Apple’s MacBook Air that polled the clear winner in a survey of CNET readers, garnering 40 percent of the total vote. This makes Ackerman of a mind that a 15″ version of the Air is virtually a lock.

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.

Age of Enigma is coming soon to iPad, but wouldn’t rather play it now on your Mac? If you can’t make up your mind, try out Zombie Area, which is now available for both Mac and iOS Devices. The other announcements today are all Mac only, and include a couple of bundles, some special sales, and an app that can add 3D sound to your Macintosh.