Apple makes October 14th MacBook event official

***AppleInsider*** · 10-09-2008, 12:18 PM

Apple will hold a special event next Tuesday to introduce new Mac notebooks at its Cupertino-based campus after all.

The event

Invites sent to members of the media Thursday included an image of an aluminum Mac notebook with the tagline: "The spotlight turns to notebooks."

The event is set to take place at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time on Tuesday, October 14th at the Apple Town Hall on the company's Cupertino, Calif.-based campus.

Apple has used the Town Hall venue in recent years as a more intimate setting for its Mac-related product announcements that are timed for release outside larger forums such as the January Macworld Expo and spring Worldwide Developers Conference.

Last July, the company used the Town Hall to introduce aluminum iMacs and showcase new versions of iWork and iLife. In February of 2006, a similar event was held to take the wraps off the now defunct iPod Hi-Fi and Core Duo Mac mini.

This year, the Mac maker is expected to showcase new families of matching, aluminum-clad MacBooks and MacBook Pros that may be priced more aggressively than its existing models.

An invited sent to members of the media | Credit Ars Technica

Potential pricing

A report published Thursday by the Inquisitr claims that some Apple retail stores have been provided with pricing sheets for new MacBook and MacBook Pro models, with prices ranging from $800 to $3100.

The author cited a source who says that the shops "usually" receive these pricing lists 10 days before products hit the market -- a claim that is not necessarily true. Should the price points prove accurate, however, they would imply that Apple is prepared to slash the price of its entry-level MacBook by more than 27 percent.

The current MacBook line is priced between $1099 and $1499, while the MacBook Pro family ranges in cost from $1999 to $2799.

The notebooks

On Thursday, people familiar with the upcoming notebooks confirmed to AppleInsider that an image (below) joins one from July (also below) in serving as an authentic capture of a portion of the next-generation 15-inch MacBook Pro.

An authentic photo of Apple's next-gen MacBook Pro top panel and left-side port makeup.

Another authentic photo showing the MacBook Pros base panel and top shell .

A new family of 13-inch MacBooks are expected to adopt a very similar design. AppleInsider has been following the story on Apple's next-generation notebook plans since April, outlining its expectations in a series of reports, each of which are listed below.

New photos which may reveal part of Apple's next-gen 13-inch MacBook design.

Previous reports on next-gen MacBooks

MacBook, MacBook Pro to get new aluminum designs (April)

Next-gen MacBook Pro casing design revealed, new battery cover (July)

New notebooks will include something other than Intel's Montevina chipset (July)

New MacBooks to follow iPods by several weeks; iMac bumps by mid-November (August)

New MacBooks tracking for mid-October timeframe (September)

First test batches of new MacBooks ship out of China (September)

Next-gen MacBook, MacBook Pro spotted in matching outfits (September)

New photo may reveal more of Apple's next-gen MacBook Pro (October)

Sources: latest MacBook Pro photo is the real deal (Today)

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

jak1502 · 10-09-2008, 12:23 PM

Finally all will be revealed!

killamike · 10-09-2008, 12:26 PM

praise apple!!!! macbooks are finally gonna be out!!!

DimMok · 10-09-2008, 12:29 PM

YES!!! Im so excited I can burst.

mezzkat · 10-09-2008, 12:32 PM

YEAH!!!! It's almost time to order!!!!!!!!!!

bigmc6000 · 10-09-2008, 12:32 PM

I knew I have been working OT for the past 2 months for some reason!

Well, dear 12" PB, begin to enjoy your last days as my primary machine... (Play TAPS here)

robb01 · 10-09-2008, 12:34 PM

It's so close I can feel it

______________________

Shogun · 10-09-2008, 12:36 PM

That lid looks exactly the same... Dunno what I expected. Well, yeah I do. I thought they might switch out the backlit apple and replace it with a shiny one like on the iPhone.

Mr Underhill · 10-09-2008, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jak1502

Finally all will be reviled!

You mean revealed?

Mind you with some of the profanities aimed at Apple lately maybe reviled is the right word.

NewMacMan · 10-09-2008, 12:37 PM

Finally I can switch to the Apple world! And hopefully Apple stock will start upward again. This is going to be awesome.

jaimecham · 10-09-2008, 12:41 PM

So from previous history, how soon after the announcement event are the units available for ordering at stores and online?

This would be my first Mac too!

bubba451 · 10-09-2008, 12:42 PM

G5 PowerBooks, here we come!

samurai1999 · 10-09-2008, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jak1502

Finally all will be reviled!

Very biblical!!

Dr. X · 10-09-2008, 12:43 PM

What time? 10:00 AM?

Shogun · 10-09-2008, 12:43 PM

I don't get why all the excitement...

I'm looking at the photos on the other page and these laptops look pretty much the same as the last gen. What am I missing?

ChrisNH · 10-09-2008, 12:45 PM

I have no firm evidence to back this up; just a gut feel. But the aggressive price-points, the wholly-new aluminum body, perhaps colors, the 'I-can-have-my-cake-and-eat-it-too' Windows capability, and just the sheer 'Mac-is-back' feeling will conspire to make this debut one for the ages. I think there will be more converts from PC to Mac with this unveiling than ever before. The iPod/iPhone platforms are actually buoying the popularity of the Mac, which is kind of like a restaurant doing better with their meals because the desserts are so good.

I'm an iMac owner who also uses (and loathes) the PC/Vista platform. This will be my very first Mac notebook, and I can't wait to get it. No putting it on a credit card for me; I've been squirreling away $$$ since early this year--heheh--the wife is clueless--which will turn from paper into aluminum in one, quick transaction.

MyopiaRocks · 10-09-2008, 12:46 PM

"HALLELUJAH!"

PS: That's a social.

PPS: Time to help out the economy; spend, baby, spend!

Dr. X · 10-09-2008, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bubba451

G5 PowerBooks, here we come!

Hahaha, nice.

kerryn · 10-09-2008, 12:48 PM

From all the leaks, the designs look very evolutionary to me.

Perhaps Apple will put in revolutionary internals just as far better graphics and hardware (in GPU?) accelerated .H264 encoding and decoding?

NewMacMan · 10-09-2008, 12:49 PM

Judging by the size of the track-pad, I would say we're going to be getting multiple-hand-gesture MacBooks! Isn't it bigger than the current ones?

fft · 10-09-2008, 12:51 PM

Can't wait to see what are the specs, and if apple really removes the FW from the macbooks, several industries rely on that, Video and Audio, and safe, reliable and fast storage... not
the crappy usb protocol with it's variable speed...

CS

Tony1 · 10-09-2008, 12:52 PM

'bout time.......Yaaaaaay

MyopiaRocks · 10-09-2008, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewMacMan

Judging by the size of the track-pad, I would say we're going to be getting multiple-hand-gesture MacBooks! Isn't it bigger than the current ones?

Will the "multiple-hand gestures" work with Parallels and Fusion? If I'm using vista can I give it the finger (and various other gestures I probably can't get away with alluding to in this forum)?

samurai1999 · 10-09-2008, 12:54 PM

I hope they announce an Atom-based Netbook - I'd buy one!

Also, if they announced a Nahalem-based Single-Socket Desktop, I'd buy that (after Nahalem is actually released, obviously)

Animal Farm · 10-09-2008, 12:57 PM

Finally!

Virgil-TB2 · 10-09-2008, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewMacMan

Judging by the size of the track-pad, I would say we're going to be getting multiple-hand-gesture MacBooks! Isn't it bigger than the current ones?

Assuming the leaked photo is correct, the trackpad looks about the same size and dimension as the current MacBook Air one. The flanges and screw holes kind of imply that it wouldn't be glass either. Almost certainly you can expect a MacBook Air like trackpad with the extra functionality that eliminates the need for mice. Anything extra is not so far indicated by any rumour I have heard and would be a bonus if it happens at all.

solipsism · 10-09-2008, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaimecham

So from previous history, how soon after the announcement event are the units available for ordering at stores and online?

This would be my first Mac too!

Based on their hsitory, if they aren't available in the stores that day, they will most likely be available for pre-order with direct shipments happening from China and arriving with a week. two at the most. But things change, and we have no idea if they are having any issues with these new machines.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MyopiaRocks

Will the "multiple-hand gestures" work with Parallels and Fusion? If I'm using vista can I give it the finger (and various other gestures I probably can't get away with alluding to in this forum)?

Synaptic has recently announced that they will be pushing a driver update, for free, that will allow mutli-touch trackpad gestures (llike what Apple has had this past year), but it needs to be adopted by the OS and the apps that want to use it, so I imagine that adoption will be slow going. This is one reason why Apple's HW/SW tying is helpful. Pros and Cons.

cddude · 10-09-2008, 01:15 PM

I am so freaking excited! I am a PC user that is sick of Windoze! It makes me sick how Microsoft comes out with an OS and takes 1 or 2 more years to make it actually work right! (Think XP Service Pak 2 and 3, and Vista). I hate having to reboot for EVERYTHING.
I'm a photographer that is growing it into a side profession and my wife and I are going to start a family w/in the next 1-2 yrs and we'll be getting a camcorder prior to that chapter and shooting a lot i'm sure! I'm so looking forward to being able to handle all that much easier on a Mac!
I'm also bursting at the seams with lack of storage space so I've wanted to buy a new external drive but have been holding out for the Mac first so to avoid formatting frustrations.

Now i can kill all birds with one stone, the holiday season! Also, my company has an EPP for Apple and we just recently got bought out by a PC company so I don't know how long it will stick around! Perfect timing for all of this and I'm so glad the wait is OVER!!!

ICD-EVIL · 10-09-2008, 01:15 PM

OMG YESS.... YEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSS!

I'm finally getting a mac!. I've been waiting over a year for this!

Ronbo · 10-09-2008, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jak1502

Finally all will be reviled!

Freudian slip?

Virgil-TB2 · 10-09-2008, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shogun

That lid looks exactly the same... Dunno what I expected. Well, yeah I do. I thought they might switch out the backlit apple and replace it with a shiny one like on the iPhone.

Looks to have more of a rounded edge to me.

The slight vertical crease on the top edge is a bit odd though. If it wasn't confirmed I'd almost say this was a fake invite. This is either a bad scan of a paper invitation or someone in the Apple art department needs new glasses.

Every MacBook I've ever owned (started off) with a flat top surface. I don't like this new "bumpy" model.

dizzy13 · 10-09-2008, 01:22 PM

Now the question is will they be released on the 14th or just announced for a later release date?

tekmoe · 10-09-2008, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dizzy13

Now the question is will they be released on the 14th or just announced for a later release date?

If you have a second please take your guess for the release date on a poll on my blog (trying to make the chart look prettier with more votes

)

Self promoting your own blog...

Way to go buddy.

Tauron · 10-09-2008, 01:27 PM

OMFG FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!

I just came, twice. My ballz are bursting with multiple orgasms due to this news!!!!

cddude · 10-09-2008, 01:29 PM

that's disgusting.

aznkid25 · 10-09-2008, 01:30 PM

Here's an image of the entire invite:

Do you guys see anything special?

parky · 10-09-2008, 01:31 PM

Great News as I am just about to retire my MacBook to my sister in New Zealand.

Perfect timing!

monkeystation · 10-09-2008, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shogun

That lid looks exactly the same... Dunno what I expected. Well, yeah I do. I thought they might switch out the backlit apple and replace it with a shiny one like on the iPhone.

You might still be right, who says the mbp on the picture is the new one? If I look at the other picture off the top shell, it seems like that wasn't designed for the backlit apple, it only has a few holes and if I look at the back of my mbp it doesn't seem like that would give the same light effect.

dizzy13 · 10-09-2008, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tekmoe

Self promoting your own blog...

Way to go buddy.

Yeah, your right, it comes up in google anyway, just thought it was relevant enough to post. I'll remove it.

cddude · 10-09-2008, 01:39 PM

i don't see anything special about the invite... what do you see??

10-09-2008, 12:18 PM	#1
*AppleInsider* Kasper's Automated Slave Join Date: Nov 1997 Posts: 6,581	Apple makes October 14th MacBook event official Apple will hold a special event next Tuesday to introduce new Mac notebooks at its Cupertino-based campus after all. The event Invites sent to members of the media Thursday included an image of an aluminum Mac notebook with the tagline: "The spotlight turns to notebooks." The event is set to take place at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time on Tuesday, October 14th at the Apple Town Hall on the company's Cupertino, Calif.-based campus. Apple has used the Town Hall venue in recent years as a more intimate setting for its Mac-related product announcements that are timed for release outside larger forums such as the January Macworld Expo and spring Worldwide Developers Conference. Last July, the company used the Town Hall to introduce aluminum iMacs and showcase new versions of iWork and iLife. In February of 2006, a similar event was held to take the wraps off the now defunct iPod Hi-Fi and Core Duo Mac mini. This year, the Mac maker is expected to showcase new families of matching, aluminum-clad MacBooks and MacBook Pros that may be priced more aggressively than its existing models. An invited sent to members of the media \| Credit Ars Technica Potential pricing A report published Thursday by the Inquisitr claims that some Apple retail stores have been provided with pricing sheets for new MacBook and MacBook Pro models, with prices ranging from $800 to $3100. The author cited a source who says that the shops "usually" receive these pricing lists 10 days before products hit the market -- a claim that is not necessarily true. Should the price points prove accurate, however, they would imply that Apple is prepared to slash the price of its entry-level MacBook by more than 27 percent. The current MacBook line is priced between $1099 and $1499, while the MacBook Pro family ranges in cost from $1999 to $2799. The notebooks On Thursday, people familiar with the upcoming notebooks confirmed to AppleInsider that an image (below) joins one from July (also below) in serving as an authentic capture of a portion of the next-generation 15-inch MacBook Pro. An authentic photo of Apple's next-gen MacBook Pro top panel and left-side port makeup. Another authentic photo showing the MacBook Pros base panel and top shell . A new family of 13-inch MacBooks are expected to adopt a very similar design. AppleInsider has been following the story on Apple's next-generation notebook plans since April, outlining its expectations in a series of reports, each of which are listed below. New photos which may reveal part of Apple's next-gen 13-inch MacBook design. Previous reports on next-gen MacBooks MacBook, MacBook Pro to get new aluminum designs (April) Next-gen MacBook Pro casing design revealed, new battery cover (July) New notebooks will include something other than Intel's Montevina chipset (July) New MacBooks to follow iPods by several weeks; iMac bumps by mid-November (August) New MacBooks tracking for mid-October timeframe (September) First test batches of new MacBooks ship out of China (September) Next-gen MacBook, MacBook Pro spotted in matching outfits (September) New photo may reveal more of Apple's next-gen MacBook Pro (October) Sources: latest MacBook Pro photo is the real deal (Today) [ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

10-09-2008, 12:23 PM	#2
jak1502 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 6	Finally all will be revealed! Last edited by jak1502; 10-09-2008 at 01:37 PM..

10-09-2008, 12:34 PM	#7
robb01 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 148	It's so close I can feel it ______________________ iPhone, iPod

10-09-2008, 12:36 PM	#8
Shogun Registered User Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 81	Design Change? That lid looks exactly the same... Dunno what I expected. Well, yeah I do. I thought they might switch out the backlit apple and replace it with a shiny one like on the iPhone.

10-09-2008, 12:43 PM	#15
Shogun Registered User Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 81	Why the Excitement? I don't get why all the excitement... I'm looking at the photos on the other page and these laptops look pretty much the same as the last gen. What am I missing?

10-09-2008, 12:26 PM	#3
killamike Registered User Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 26	praise apple!!!! macbooks are finally gonna be out!!!

10-09-2008, 12:29 PM	#4
DimMok Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 172	YES!!! Im so excited I can burst.

10-09-2008, 12:32 PM	#5
mezzkat Registered User Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 9	YEAH!!!! It's almost time to order!!!!!!!!!!

10-09-2008, 12:32 PM	#6
bigmc6000 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 651	I knew I have been working OT for the past 2 months for some reason! Well, dear 12" PB, begin to enjoy your last days as my primary machine... (Play TAPS here)

10-09-2008, 12:37 PM	#10
NewMacMan Registered User Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 40	Finally I can switch to the Apple world! And hopefully Apple stock will start upward again. This is going to be awesome.

10-09-2008, 12:41 PM	#11
jaimecham Registered User Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 4	So from previous history, how soon after the announcement event are the units available for ordering at stores and online? This would be my first Mac too!

10-09-2008, 12:42 PM	#12
bubba451 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 19	G5 PowerBooks, here we come!

10-09-2008, 12:43 PM	#14
Dr. X Registered User Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Iowa Posts: 58	What time? 10:00 AM?

10-09-2008, 12:45 PM	#16
ChrisNH Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 6	I think that this will unleash a mini sea-change I have no firm evidence to back this up; just a gut feel. But the aggressive price-points, the wholly-new aluminum body, perhaps colors, the 'I-can-have-my-cake-and-eat-it-too' Windows capability, and just the sheer 'Mac-is-back' feeling will conspire to make this debut one for the ages. I think there will be more converts from PC to Mac with this unveiling than ever before. The iPod/iPhone platforms are actually buoying the popularity of the Mac, which is kind of like a restaurant doing better with their meals because the desserts are so good. I'm an iMac owner who also uses (and loathes) the PC/Vista platform. This will be my very first Mac notebook, and I can't wait to get it. No putting it on a credit card for me; I've been squirreling away $$$ since early this year--heheh--the wife is clueless--which will turn from paper into aluminum in one, quick transaction.

10-09-2008, 12:46 PM	#17
MyopiaRocks Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Cambridge, MA Posts: 29	As my friend Steve McKenna would say... "HALLELUJAH!" PS: That's a social. PPS: Time to help out the economy; spend, baby, spend! I have seen the future, and it's my mac mini server. I love that little guy...

10-09-2008, 12:48 PM	#19
kerryn Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 44	From all the leaks, the designs look very evolutionary to me. Perhaps Apple will put in revolutionary internals just as far better graphics and hardware (in GPU?) accelerated .H264 encoding and decoding?

10-09-2008, 12:49 PM	#20
NewMacMan Registered User Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 40	Judging by the size of the track-pad, I would say we're going to be getting multiple-hand-gesture MacBooks! Isn't it bigger than the current ones?

10-09-2008, 12:51 PM	#21
fft Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Lisbon, Portugal Posts: 4	Thank you Apple, my powerbook G4 is dying... Can't wait to see what are the specs, and if apple really removes the FW from the macbooks, several industries rely on that, Video and Audio, and safe, reliable and fast storage... not the crappy usb protocol with it's variable speed... CS Working with Mac's since 1990... ups, a lot has changed...

10-09-2008, 12:52 PM	#22
Tony1 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: SoCal Posts: 185	'bout time.......Yaaaaaay -------------------------- "Why join the navy if you can be a pirate?" -Steve Jobs

10-09-2008, 12:54 PM	#24
samurai1999 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 246	I hope they announce an Atom-based Netbook - I'd buy one! Also, if they announced a Nahalem-based Single-Socket Desktop, I'd buy that (after Nahalem is actually released, obviously)

10-09-2008, 12:57 PM	#25
Animal Farm Registered User Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 70	Finally! 20" iMac Core Duo 15" MacBook Pro

10-09-2008, 01:15 PM	#28
cddude Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 7	Woohoo!!! I am so freaking excited! I am a PC user that is sick of Windoze! It makes me sick how Microsoft comes out with an OS and takes 1 or 2 more years to make it actually work right! (Think XP Service Pak 2 and 3, and Vista). I hate having to reboot for EVERYTHING. I'm a photographer that is growing it into a side profession and my wife and I are going to start a family w/in the next 1-2 yrs and we'll be getting a camcorder prior to that chapter and shooting a lot i'm sure! I'm so looking forward to being able to handle all that much easier on a Mac! I'm also bursting at the seams with lack of storage space so I've wanted to buy a new external drive but have been holding out for the Mac first so to avoid formatting frustrations. Now i can kill all birds with one stone, the holiday season! Also, my company has an EPP for Apple and we just recently got bought out by a PC company so I don't know how long it will stick around! Perfect timing for all of this and I'm so glad the wait is OVER!!!

10-09-2008, 01:15 PM	#29
ICD-EVIL Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Location: Columbus, Posts: 66	OMG YESS.... YEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSS! I'm finally getting a mac!. I've been waiting over a year for this!

10-09-2008, 01:22 PM	#32
dizzy13 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Miami Posts: 67	Now the question is will they be released on the 14th or just announced for a later release date? Last edited by dizzy13; 10-09-2008 at 01:36 PM.. Reason: Removed my self promotion

10-09-2008, 01:27 PM	#34
Tauron Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 888	OMFG FINALLY!!!!!!!!!! I just came, twice. My ballz are bursting with multiple orgasms due to this news!!!!

10-09-2008, 01:29 PM	#35
cddude Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 7	re: orgasm that's disgusting.

10-09-2008, 01:30 PM	#36
aznkid25 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 1	Here's an image of the entire invite: Do you guys see anything special?

10-09-2008, 01:31 PM	#37
parky Banned Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 383	Great News as I am just about to retire my MacBook to my sister in New Zealand. Perfect timing!

10-09-2008, 01:39 PM	#40
cddude Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 7	re: invite i don't see anything special about the invite... what do you see??

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