iLounge

By Charles Starrett

Senior Editor, iLounge
Published: Wednesday, February 23, 2011
News Category: Apple

Apple plans to debut its version of Intel’s Light Peak technology, dubbed Thunderbolt, as well as a newly renamed “FaceTime HD” camera on its new MacBook Pros, which it is expected to announce tomorrow. Mac Rumors reports that the details have come from both leaked images of the new laptops and their packaging. Light Peak is a proprietary high-speed I/O interface developed by Intel that is meant to serve as a single universal replacement for current input/output buses such as FireWire, USB, SATA, and PCI Express. Intel is holding a media event tomorrow at which it is expected to discuss the technology, however, past releases have pegged its initial bandwidth limit at 10 Gbit/s. If or when Apple plans to add Light Peak-compatible ports to its portable media devices is currently unknown.

In addition to the Thunderbolt technology, the new laptops’ labels also boast of a “Built-in FaceTime HD camera.” While the fine print related to the claim notes that FaceTime video calling requires a FaceTime-enabled device and a Wi-Fi connection for both caller and recipient, the “HD” moniker is curious in that it suggests Apple may be planning to offer higher-resolution, possibly as high as 720p, video chats between Macs and any other products it makes that are capable of processing the video, displaying the video, and capturing the video at a high enough resolution. While the front-facing cameras of the iPhone 4 and fourth-generation iPod touch are too low a resolution to be considered “HD,” both of the devices’ rear-facing cameras can capture 720p video.

Update: Apple has released version 1.0 of FaceTime for Mac on the Mac App Store for $1, bringing with it support for 720p “FaceTime HD” video calling. Notably, the HD feature is currently restricted to the company’s new line of MacBook Pro computers which were officially released this morning; past hardware, including Mac, iPhone 4, and fourth-generation iPod touch units, is currently not supported despite its capability to capture HD video content.