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MacBook Pro

Apple is against Bluetooth, but why?

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First day with my shiny new iPhone, unlocked to work on Vodafone’s network – so far so good, pretty much loving it. Until I looked at the Bluetooth specs. Basically, this thing is only useful for mono headsets and carkits, and that’s it.

The iPhone has been certified under Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, as can be seen in the BQB documents, but the PICS detail only handset and audio gateway profiles, with required signaling profiles such as RFCOMM, pretty much the bare minimum for a working Bluetooth hands-free system. What about the ton of other profiles, for example, A2DP, FTP, DUN…? Not included. The iPhone uses a CSR BlueCore4 Audioflash, which has 6MB of onboard FLASH memory, and could be upgraded provided that there is a host controller with access to the SPI port on the BC4. It seems that the iPhone uses Open Interface’s BLUEmagic 3.0 stack [PDF], which would imply an external host controller.

Now I’m starting to get confused – you usually choose a FLASH BlueCore if you intend to run software on it, be it CSR’s own stack, or a customized version of it. If you intend to use a host-based system, where the stack is handled by an external processor, you can buy way cheaper BlueCore ROM chips – and we’re talking between $1 and $3 a piece in savings. This may not seem much, but when multiplied it by Apple’s sales, you have a hefty sum. Below is a graphic that illustrates the differences between a host-based HCI system (left) and a standalone or ROM implementation (right):

bt_profile_diagram_hci

The big question still is – why is Apple so Bluetooth-unfriendly? Did they have certification problems and rushed through the bare minimum specs to claim Bluetooth compatibility? This seems strange as the iPhone was certified by CETECOM, which probably is the most experienced lab on Bluetooth certification in the world. Same applies to MacBooks and Mac Pros, they feature a few more profiles like FTP, but not A2DP. Hoping for a firmware update to fix this mess, over and out.


The weirdest MacBook Pro problem so far

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Almost a year since I got a 17″ MacBook Pro, not one of the earlier problem-prone models, so it should have worked out better – half way through the year though, a series of darker spots, like soot smudges, started appearing on various places of the screen. I am waiting for parts to arrive before taking it in and have it fixed, otherwise you can be laptop-less for days or weeks, and now the machine has developed a new symptom. After resuming from sleep, the display is all corrupted, with top third of the display one solid color, and the bottom two thirds another, plus an annoying flicker. If I close the lid, flip it upside down, and open the lid again, the display goes back to normal. The problem can be consistently reproduced, but I really cannot imagine what combination of electrical and/or software problems are causing this.

The Dark Side of the Force has been defeated

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So, my new 17″ MacBook Pro has been delivered today by TNT, curiously one day late, as Apple shipped it with…no address. Still, I’m very happy. I hope the date is not a premonition, as Tuesday 13ths are as unlucky as Friday 13ths in english-speaking countries…but I digress.

The laptop looks fantastic. From the moment you take the box out of the wrapping, you realise you’re in for a different experience – this is my first Mac since I had an SE when I was a kid. The reason for getting it was partly fueled by the ability to dual-boot Windows. Yes, I do most of my developing in Windows, and until they invent decent circuit design software for Mac, I’ll be stuck there. The Dark Side has been defeated…partially.

My first observation: the keyboard is too far back towards the screen. The reason that this may be a problem? If you’re like me, and wear a watch with a titanium strap, when you rest it on the laptop, it makes this most uncomfortable screech, plus it’s likely that the nice aluminium finish will get scratched in the long run, ruining the cool Apple style.

A few hours into it, none of the reported problems with early versions have been noticed. No noises, whines or heat buildup. I have yet to stress it, but I have to say it looks good.

One curious bit of info the TNT driver gave me – he was surprised that the MacBook had been sent from Shanghai, as most Apple hardware he delivers comes from the U.S. Can anyone confirm where the first-gen MBPs were coming from?