Apple close to unveiling all-new MacBook line

[AppleInsider]

An initiative on the part of Apple to retain and redesign its low-cost polycarbonate MacBook line due to ongoing economic uncertainties is now believed to be closer to fruition than once thought, AppleInsider has been told.

The new models, which appear as if they could make their debut alongside a family of more versatile iMacs in the coming weeks, are expected to arrive as the most affordable notebook offerings in the Mac maker's history.

Together, the pair of refreshes should round out Apple's 2009 personal computer offerings and propel the company into the holiday shopping season with its most cost-effective lineup of Mac hardware to date.

As is the case with the upcoming iMac makeover, little is known about the revised industrial design of the new MacBook models, other than hints towards a thinner, sleeker enclosure that will embrace Apple's cutting-edge internal battery technology.

That said, one person familiar with pre-production units indicated to AppleInsider several weeks ago that models awaiting certification were seen in white polycarbonate shells, consistent with the sole $999 model currently available from the Cupertino-based company.

Since then, reports have surfaced to indicated that these models have made their way to manufacturing in some capacity.

Both the iMac and MacBook share accolades as the best selling desktop and notebook, respectively, in Apple's history. The iMac last saw a facelift in August of 2007, while the MacBook design has grown a bit longer in the tooth, having gone without visual tweaks since May of 2006.

An assessment of Apple's portable computing lineup for Q2CY10 based on information presently available to AppleInsider.

The new MacBook line will also serve as one of the final pieces in the construction of Apple's sub-$1000 portable computing lineup, due to culminate sometime in the first quarter of 2010 with the introduction of the firm's much-anticipated tablet device.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[Mr. K]

I'm sorry, this just keeps bugging me:

How exactly is $999 in the sub-$1K category? It's a dollar less. Apply sales tax and it's over the magic threshold.

EDIT: Wait a minute. First post? That never happens to me. Must be the gremlins or something...

[teckstud]

Su much for the ridiculous notion that the iTab would cease the lowly MacBook. Looks like this will be the real Apple netbook, price yet determined.
I think the iTab will kill the MBAir.

[Undo Redo]

This could be great. I'm ready to buy a new netbook when Win7 comes out. A MacBook at $700-800 might tempt me. I have an older MacBook but am not inclined to replace it at current prices.

[GreenMnM]

How is the iPhone a portable computing device if the iPod touch isn't? Shouldn't it be included in this graphic?

[Winter]

I'm looking forward to seeing what they unveil. I sort of liked how last year, they had both polycarbonate and aluminum MacBooks (the latter prior to adding the SD slot and changing it to a Pro).

Having a few regular MacBook options is a positive.

[CdnBook]

Apple, please update the MacBook Pro too... with the new mobile i7 Clarksfield quad-core (with hyperthreading and turbo boost).

Hey, if HP can do it... http://www.hp.com/united-states/camp...nvy/index.html ...for well under $2K, why can't Apple?

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by Winter

I'm looking forward to seeing what they unveil. I sort of liked how last year, they had both polycarbonate and aluminum MacBooks (the latter prior to adding the SD slot and changing it to a Pro).

Don't forget firewire was added or should I say returned.

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by GreenMnM

How is the iPhone a portable computing device if the iPod touch isn't? Shouldn't it be included in this graphic?

It's primarily a gaming device -haven't you heard?

[QUOTE]"Originally, we weren't exactly sure how to market the Touch," Jobs told the New York Times. "Was it an iPhone without the phone? Was it a pocket computer? What happened was, what customers told us was, they started to see it as a game machine."[/QUOTE]

Believe that and I have a bridge to sell you that goes to Brooklyn.

[superkaratemonkeydeathcar]

@GreenMnM: Correct. The 'touch is a portable computer and should be included.

[alectheking]

How do you think they are going to unleash the new iMac's and Macbooks? I think last time the iMac's were updated they just appeared on Apples website and emails flooded our inbox telling us, but that was just internal changes. Its interesting to see with no event planned yet and christmas closing in.

[bigmc6000]

Didn't Apple get the memo? Bernanke said the recession is over! Time to jack those prices back up!

*sarcasm*

[solipsism]

If all the next Mac desktops have SD card slots I think that will be an indictation that Apple is planning to obsolesce optical drives from their notebooks and move their OS install disks to SD cheap read-only SD cards.

I also think that Apple may have two sizes of the MacBook now that the aluminium MB has gone pro. Basically back to the days of the 12” and 14” iBook, but with 13” and 15” versions that use TN displays and last generation Intel C2Ds. I assume these will be plastic as well. I predict this as they seem to have saturated their current demographic pretty well at this point.

Apple Mac Special event on Tuesday, October 13th again this year?

Originally Posted by Mr. K

I'm sorry, this just keeps bugging me:

How exactly is $999 in the sub-$1K category? It's a dollar less. Apply sales tax and it's over the magic threshold.

EDIT: Wait a minute. First post? That never happens to me. Must be the gremlins or something...

It’s technically under $1000, none of the other machines priced at $999 are used too. I would like to see stats for $99x and up, too, since Apple has a 92% domination of the $1000 and up PCs. I wonder how they would fair then since having a list price of three digits is certainly a magic pricepoint for consumers.

[Bruce Young]

I'm hoping the diminutive Mac Mini gets a power performance improvement as well.
Apple - don't let you true lowest-cost computer languish!
(yes, unlikely they read AppleInsider for development direction... I have sent via official 'Apple Feedback' page

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by Bruce Young

I'm hoping the diminutive Mac Mini gets a power performance improvement as well.
Apple - don't let you true lowest-cost computer languish!
(yes, unlikely they read AppleInsider for development direction... I have sent via official 'Apple Feedback' page

That would be great, but I wonder how committed Apple is to the Mac Mini updates. It wasn’t too long ago that AI kept predicting the demise the Mini because it failed to get any update for the longest time. It may be that buyers of the Mini don’t care about such things so Apple can get away with not updating it.

Persoanlly, I’d love to see a double-decker sized Mini that competes more with the devices running Windows Home Server. Time Capsule is alright, but it can’t compete with the RAIDed, robust OS that is in the Home Servers.

[FuturePastNow]

They'll shave a few millimeters off the thickness, give it the new battery design and clicky trackpad, and an SD slot. And no more Firewire port, y'all made them put it back on the aluminum Macbook so they're going to make you buy that if you want FW.

[charlituna]

Originally Posted by teckstud

It's primarily a gaming device -haven't you heard?

[QUOTE]"Originally, we weren't exactly sure how to market the Touch," Jobs told the New York Times. "Was it an iPhone without the phone? Was it a pocket computer? What happened was, what customers told us was, they started to see it as a game machine."

Believe that and I have a bridge to sell you that goes to Brooklyn.[/QUOTE]

actually they probably do have details to back it up. they have sales in the app store for one thing. sales which might also have linked in the types of devices associated with the apple id being used so they know that those games and such are being bought by touch users. and that the other apps are more often bought by phone users

Originally Posted by alectheking

Its interesting to see with no event planned yet and christmas closing in.

they gave the date for the Sept event like one week before it happened. so a lack of a date really means nothing. in fact this is why they cut going to Macworld. so they could save the costs of signing into said event and use it to have local announcements on their timetable. which by the by to the folks going 'but they always do the updates after the holidays', Macworld is why that happened. if they were going to pay that much to be there they wanted something to draw a crowd. now that they don't have that issue we could get an announcement this afternoon that the new machines will be available tomorrow. they could do it in an "Eyes Only Streaming Video Bulletin"

Originally Posted by Mr. K

How exactly is $999 in the sub-$1K category? It's a dollar less.

classic sales tactic. $99.99 is under $100 dollars. it's a psych thing. there were studies that showed that folks would rather have that 99 than the 3 digits in $100 (same for $999 over $1000). who knows. but yeah it is good for a laugh.

[macshark]

The new MacBook enclosure design may be based on the design of the iPhone 3G/3GS: more rounded corners, a thin metal "highlight" frame and the same type of black/white plastic that is used for the rear cover of the iPhone.

It is probably too soon for Arrandale based MacBooks (Intel release date is rumored to be 1Q'10 which leads to a Jan'10 MacBook Pro launch) but I hope I am wrong...

[anantksundaram]

The legend under the timeline graphic says "An assessment of Apple's portable computing lineup for Q2CY10 based on information presently available to AppleInsider."

Shouldn't it be Q2FY10?

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by macshark

The new enclosure design may be based on the design of the iPhone 3G/3GS: more rounded corners, a thin metal "highlight" frame and the same type of black/white plastic that is used for the rear cover of the iPhone.

That sounds pretty slick, and a curved bottom does add structural integrity over a flat bottom. I would imagine the battery will also be semi-non-user-replaceable like in the MBPs. It seems to be a success all around.

[DaveyJJ]

Originally Posted by bigmc6000

Didn't Apple get the memo? Bernanke said the recession is over! Time to jack those prices back up!

*sarcasm*

Actually, when I mentioned that in a rather sarcastic, "Socialist" post, Bernanke himself replied and told me he wasn't my friend. And he called me "buddy", but I think in the same sense I dissed him by referring to him as out of touch. Really. How he had time to reply to little old me during his lunches with multi-millionaire business owners is completely beyond me.

Back on topic. I'd welcome a snazzy little new laptop to replace my 11 year old son's dying G4.

[SpamSandwich]

Kasper, I vote to stop saying "Cupertino-based" in every article that talks about Apple. It's not necessary every single time. When's the last time you read an article about GE or Oracle or McDonald's? Location is not necessary to understand the point of the article. Just my hard-earned 2 cents.

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by charlituna

actually they probably do have details to back it up. they have sales in the app store for one thing. sales which might also have linked in the types of devices associated with the apple id being used so they know that those games and such are being bought by touch users. and that the other apps are more often bought by phone users

And what you say has absolutely nothing to do with what SJ actually said. Good try.

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Kasper, I vote to stop saying "Cupertino-based" in every article that talks about Apple. It's not necessary every single time. When's the last time you read an article about GE or Oracle or McDonald's? Location is not necessary to understand the point of the article. Just my hard-earned 2 cents.

That does seem a little mom and pop shop.

[fulldecent]

lower price on macbook and mba... then announcement about new specs on mbp, and changes in the line to meet environmental standards.

[Gazoobee]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Kasper, I vote to stop saying "Cupertino-based" in every article that talks about Apple. It's not necessary every single time. When's the last time you read an article about GE or Oracle or McDonald's? Location is not necessary to understand the point of the article. Just my hard-earned 2 cents.

You've mentioned this a bunch of times now unless I'm mixing you up with someone else. I don't get it. What's your point and why does this bug you so much?

In any given article there are quite a few words and expressions that don't add to the crucial information being imparted. If Apple Insider took out everything but "just the facts" then every article would sound like a bad Jack Webb speech.

It may not be necessary to say "Cupertino-based" but it's not inaccurate and doesn't take anything away from the articles. It also doesn't imply or add anything that isn't true.

I get that you think that Apple is more of a global company now and sure, they are trying to be but it's still fair IMO to say that they are a very locally based California company that *ships* globally. You have to actually live outside of the USA to appreciate how far Apple still has to go before it can really say it's a global concern. Their trying, but it's not really a fait accompli yet.

[addabox]

Originally Posted by teckstud

And what you say has absolutely nothing to do with what SJ actually said. Good try.

What? Jobs said they elected to market the Touch as a gaming machine, because customers told Apple that games were what they wanted.

And someone points out that that was no doubt a result of their sales data showing a strong tendency towards games being most popular on the Touch, and you declare that that has nothing to do with what Jobs said?

Do you just react to things randomly now?

[SpamSandwich]

Originally Posted by Gazoobee

You've mentioned this a bunch of times now unless I'm mixing you up with someone else. I don't get it. What's your point and why does this bug you so much?

In any given article there are quite a few words and expressions that don't add to the crucial information being imparted. If Apple Insider took out everything but "just the facts" then every article would sound like a bad Jack Webb speech.

It may not be necessary to say "Cupertino-based" but it's not inaccurate and doesn't take anything away from the articles. It also doesn't imply or add anything that isn't true.

I get that you think that Apple is more of a global company now and sure, they are trying to be but it's still fair IMO to say that they are a very locally based California company that *ships* globally. You have to actually live outside of the USA to appreciate how far Apple still has to go before it can really say it's a global concern. Their trying, but it's not really a fait accompli yet.

You're mixing me up with someone else.

[SpamSandwich]

Incidentally, just discovered this from Wacom. Fantastic new tool for just about anyone.

[Gazoobee]

Originally Posted by Mr. K

... How exactly is $999 in the sub-$1K category? It's a dollar less. ...

How exactly does a triangle have less corners than a rectangle? A triangle has three and a rectangle has four.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by addabox

What? Jobs said they elected to market the Touch as a gaming machine, because customers told Apple that games were what they wanted.

And someone points out that that was no doubt a result of their sales data showing a strong tendency towards games being most popular on the Touch, and you declare that that has nothing to do with what Jobs said?

Do you just react to things randomly now?

Lets not forget that Apple put out an iPod Touch advert last year, I think with the 2G Touch introduction, that focused completely on iPod Touch games. If my timeline is correct that would have been only about 3 months worth of games on the App Store, yet even then they saw reason to focus on Touch gaming as a selling point.

[JupiterOne]

Originally Posted by solipsism

Lets not forget that Apple put out an iPod Touch advert last year, I think with the 2G Touch introduction, that focused completely on iPod Touch games. If my timeline is correct that would have been only about 3 months worth of games on the App Store, yet even then they saw reason to focus on Touch gaming as a selling point.

Yeah, isn't that when they started calling it the "The funnest iPod ever."

[xwiredtva]

MacBook Plastic will continue on but will gain a model and drop the current down a hundred. If your gonna compete with Low-Priced books' they can by reducing price on the current and intro it's replacement selling both at the same time.... Then at the next update slide the current down one, and intro the new spec'd unit.

I don't think we'll see the plastic job go away. It's profitable, recyclable and sells well.

I'd like to see the return of the Sub 20" iMac with a lower price point. maybe, MAYBE even remove the top end Mini (making it all options) and sliding down an 18" iMac.

iMac's gone unibody, slimmer case on the sides, less or no chin.

[commun5]

Lets have more speculation about how Apple can differentiate the new MacBook line from the MacBook Pros.

So far we have lower tech display and last generation Intel Core 2s. I guess you can add onboard Intel graphics vs. separate graphics card.

What else?

By the way, I think the iTablet is an Apple corporate feint. The Touch and the iPhone are the tablets. No one has yet provided a compelling use for the tablet, and looking at the Microsoft Courier prototype just reinforces that conclusion.

[paxman]

Originally Posted by Gazoobee

You've mentioned this a bunch of times now unless I'm mixing you up with someone else. I don't get it. What's your point and why does this bug you so much?

In any given article there are quite a few words and expressions that don't add to the crucial information being imparted. If Apple Insider took out everything but "just the facts" then every article would sound like a bad Jack Webb speech.

It may not be necessary to say "Cupertino-based" but it's not inaccurate and doesn't take anything away from the articles. It also doesn't imply or add anything that isn't true.

I get that you think that Apple is more of a global company now and sure, they are trying to be but it's still fair IMO to say that they are a very locally based California company that *ships* globally. You have to actually live outside of the USA to appreciate how far Apple still has to go before it can really say it's a global concern. Their trying, but it's not really a fait accompli yet.

Its me. Or I'm one of them (there have been several). Last time I complained I swore never to mention it again and I haven't. And I'm not going to mention that the term tcbc, or tcbem (even worse) bugs the crap out of me here. I'd like to see only 'Apple', or 'the company', or even 'your beloved electronics maker', but then again, I'm not complaining . Kasper did write back once to explain that this is every journalist's bane, to avoid repeating terms, expressions, names etc over and over. If it irritates you as it does yours truly, imagine how it irritates the journalist. To be honest, I have managed to ignore it and let it ride even though it still jumps off the page at me. 8-(

[Rokken]

If they keep the basic design of the current MacBook, could they bring BlackBook back? It's far better than the white one IMO.

[cdyates]

Give me a 15" or bigger screen option (16 or 17 even better), discreet graphics, and core 2 duo, then we can talk for 1k.

[cdyates]

Originally Posted by Rokken

If they keep the basic design of the current MacBook, could they bring BlackBook back? It's far better than the white one IMO.

Yeah, I liked the black one. I'm over the white plastic.

[MacTripper]

New affordable Mac lineup sounds right for the holidays, as people by far are holding off any major purchase, but the holidays seem to loosen things a bit.

Now Apple just needs to pay attention to the fact that A LOT of people prefer MATTE screens over reflective/glossy ones which just hide what your trying to see on the screen most of the time.

A choice of either matte or glossy in these new models would do Apple wonders catering to all their customers needs and not just going for the flashy impulsive sale.

[Undo Redo]

Originally Posted by commun5

Lets have more speculation about how Apple can differentiate the new MacBook line from the MacBook Pros.

So far we have lower tech display and last generation Intel Core 2s. I guess you can add onboard Intel graphics vs. separate graphics card.

What else?

Remove the optical drive and Firewire. But then you just have a MacBook Air for $1800.