At least two generations of MacBook Pros have come to market with faulty nVidia chips that caused many to suffer a premature death. Further, the Mac maker and to a lesser extent chip giant have backstopped these losses with extended warranties, repairs and replacements. Why would anyone think these two are anything but the bestest of buds?

Apple’s recent product line and price adjustments, as well as an encore performance of last year’s aggressive “Buy a Mac for College, Get a Free iPod touch” back-to-school promotion, are said to be driving a sustained return to positive unit volume growth.

I’ve always admired the guy, but this series of quips and quotes have only deepened my appreciation for his art. Also, chalk up another cultural milestone for Twitter as the design guru’s comments were broadcast live.

One of the big surprises at this year’s Worldwide Developer Conference was the remaking and repricing of the MacBook Pro line — a welcome set of changes aimed at bolstering sales of the company’s most popular products. With that out of the way, it makes sense that the company will turns its attention to rejiggering its consumer desktop and portable product lines, as well.

The system requirements are fairly steep to support H.264 hardware acceleration or play in Apple’s OpenCL sandbox. As you might expect, the great majority of Mac users won’t be able to take advantage of either of these breakthrough technologies.

Good news for Apple from Europe. The continent, and United Kingdom in particular, continues to positively color the story of Apple’s performance in the recession.

You’re in a hotel that charges $15 per client for Internet access and there are three of you using notebooks. What to do? Pay $45—about what fast residential broadband costs per month—or find a way to share the wealth (bits are after all free)?

The last time the rumor mill was sure the mothership was preparing to cut prices, the Cupertino, CA-based Mac maker trimmed the tag on just one product—the entry-level MacBook by just $100. Since then the company’s also begun offering an $899 iMac, though only to institutional education buyers. Thereupon, is the time finally right for cheaper Macs for the masses?

The investment banking firm Piper Jaffray performed a survey of 25 Apple retail stores last week and concluded that second quarter sales for Apple might not be so bad after all.

While others retrench staff and cut back on research (for companies like Dell there was very little to begin with), Apple is succeeding in this downturn in the same way it thrived through the last one — by investing, inventing and innovating its way forward. Sounds like a textbook response, but how many companies are actually putting their investment in the future first?