Halloween Costume Contest: Monday!

In honor of Halloween, we’ve put together a special *iPhone 4/4S (AT&T) bundle*. *Save $15* when you purchase a (scary) Monster ScreenClean Kit, Panasonic RP-HJE240-S1 earphones in silver (for protection against vampires and werewolves, of course) and a (blood) red Hammerhead Aura Case for iPhone 4/4S (AT&T). *Just $20.99 + $4.99 shipping!*

This week Apple updated the MacBook Pro line with increases in processor speed, hard drive capacity and graphics processing power, with prices carrying over from the previous generation. Here is an overview of the updates to the base models of the 13″, 15″ and 17″ MacBook Pro:

“*13-inch MacBook Pro*”:http://www.smalldog.com/category/Apple/MacBook_Pro_13in/
The entry-level 13″ MacBook Pro, priced at $1199.99, now has a 2.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor (up from 2.3GHz) and a 500GB 5400-rpm hard drive (up from 320GB). The $1499.99 13″ MacBook Pro’s dual-core i7 processor now runs at 2.8GHz (up from 2.7GHz) and the 5400-rpm hard drive now starts at 750GB (up from 500GB). The graphics (Intel HD Graphics 3000) of these 13″ MacBook Pro base models remain unchanged.

“*15-inch MacBook Pro*”:http://www.smalldog.com/category/Apple/MacBook_Pro_15in/
The entry-level 15″ MacBook Pro, priced at $1799.99, now sports a 2.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor (up from 2.0GHz), while the $2199.99 model now has a 2.4GHz quad-core i7 processor (up from 2.2GHz). The hard drives on the base models of the 15″ MacBook Pro remain at 500GB 5400-rpm and 750GB 5400-rpm, respectively. Graphics have been updated on both base models: integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000 and discrete AMD Radeon HD 6750M (up from 6490M) on the entry-level model and integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000 and discrete AMD Radeon HD 6770M (up from 6750M) on the 2.4GHz model.

“*17-inch MacBook Pro*”:http://www.smalldog.com/category/Apple/MacBook_Pro_17in/
The base model 17″ MacBook Pro, priced at $2499.99, now includes a 2.4GHz quad-core Intel i7 processor (up from 2.2GHz) as well as integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000 and discrete AMD Radeon HD 6770M (up from 6750M). Standard hard drive capacity remains 750GB 5400-rpm.

As with the previous generation, all MacBook Pro base models come with 4GB RAM (upgradable to 8GB).

We have stock on most base models online and in our “*retail stores*”:http://www.smalldog.com/retail and will be receiving more soon. Call to purchase or reserve yours today. “*Custom configurations*”:http://www.smalldog.com/returns#CTO are available for all MacBook Pro models and generally ship in 7-10 business days.

Previous-generation models have come down in price. We still have a small number of 13″ and 15″ models available, but they won’t be around for long.

Apple has tweaked its polyurethane Smart Cover for iPad 2 line, increasing the vibrancy of the colors and replacing the gray liners that were featured on the previous generation with liners that match the cover. Apple has added a “*dark gray polyurethane Smart Cover*”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/79339/apple-polyurethane-smart-cover-for-ipad-2-dark-grey-w-dark-grey-liner/at_kb to the line as part of the update. The new polyurethane Smart Cover for iPad 2 is also available in “*blue*”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/79332/apple-polyurethane-smart-cover-for-ipad-2-blue-w-blue-liner/at_kb, “*green*”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/79333/apple-polyurethane-smart-cover-for-ipad-2-green-w-green-liner/at_kb, “*pink*”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/79331/apple-polyurethane-smart-cover-for-ipad-2-pink-2-w-pink-liner/at_kb and “*light gray*”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/79340/apple-polyurethane-smart-cover-for-ipad-2-light-grey-w-light-grey-liner/at_kb.

The Smart Cover has a magnetic closure that automatically wakes up and puts the iPad to sleep when opened and closed as well as folds to function as a stand with positions for typing and watching video.

The “*orange polyurethane Smart Cover*”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/77953/apple-polyurethane-smart-cover-for-ipad-2-orange-w-grey-liner/at_kb (with gray liner) has been discontinued. At publication, we still have a small number available, but they’re going fast!

This week’s Mac Treat is a two-parter. “*A while back,*”:http://blog.smalldog.com/kibbles/kb738/ I wrote about how to type accent characters on your iOS device. Well, for those of you using Lion, the same steps you take on your iPhone (or the like) are now applicable.

*To produce an accent on your Mac using 10.7,* press and (briefly) hold the letter that needs the accent mark. Your accent character choices will then appear, and you can navigate to the one you need.

However, I must admit, it took me a little while to get used to this on my Mac. Why? Well, let’s just say that sometimes I can be a little dramatic in my correspondence…I mean, sometimes “noooooooooooooooo!” just gets the point across better than a simple “no.”

If you want to preserve your right to exaggeration, you can turn this feature off by doing the following:

Open Terminal and type:
defaults write -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false

Then restart your computer. Your letter repetition will be reactivated for your melodramatic pleasure.

Apple Apple has released firmware updates for early-2011 iMac and MacBook Pro models and mid-2011 Mac mini and MacBook Air models.

“*Click here*”:http://blog.smalldog.com/article/apple-releases-firmware-updates-for-imac-mac-mini-macbook-air-macbook-pro/ to read about these updates on our “*blog*”:http://blog.smalldog.com/.

While you’re there you can also read about software updates released this week for “*iPhoto ’11*”:http://blog.smalldog.com/article/apple-releases-iphoto-921/ and “*Thunderbolt*”:http://blog.smalldog.com/article/apple-releases-thunderbolt-software-update-os-x-lion/.

We have a few items left in the private special we are offering to Small Dog Electronics newsletter subscribers.

The details of this exclusive deal are __still__ so hush-hush that we can’t tell you about them here! “**Visit our website to see what we’re offering**”:http://www.smalldog.com/secretsale our valued readers.

Please note that all orders must be placed by phone. This offer is good until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, November 6th!