Bottom of MacBook Pro revealed; more last minute specs

[AppleInsider]

Some new photos reveal even more of Apple's new MacBook Pro casing, including its underside and battery cover. Meanwhile, some last minute specs for the 13-inch MacBook and MacBook Air have hit the web, in addition to confirmation of an $899 24-inch LED Apple display.

Daring Fireball John Gruber has published a lengthy last-minute report from its sources, covering the new MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and new 24-inch Apple display.

MacBook Pro Trackpad

The new 15-inch MacBook Pro has a trackpad similar to the Air’s, in that it is bigger and supports additional multi-touch gestures. Unlike the Air’s, the "new trackpad is made of glass, and is a button itself," according to the report. "You just press and it clicks. This is not like the current software option where you can enable 'Tap to Click' in the trackpad preferences, but instead a glass trackpad that acts as a physical button, with a click you can feel."

MacBook Pro Display

Gruber adds, and AppleInsider can independently confirm, that Apple does not plan to offer a matte-finish display on the new MacBook Pro, meaning customers will be stuck with only one option: glossy.

Separately, AppleInsider has heard that Apple may offer a higher-resolution display on the 15-inch MacBook Pro as a build-to-order option.

MacBook Pro CPU and Graphics

Gruber says CPU clock speeds and prices on the MacBook Pro will remain relatively unchanged at 2.4GHz ($1999) and 2.53GHz ($2499), but confirms Monday evening's report that the systems will employ two NVIDIA graphics chips with Hybrid SLI support. Specifically, each will include a NVIDIA 9400M and a NVIDIA 9600M GT.

MacBook Pro Casing Design

Meanwhile, MacX.cn has posted more photos of the new MacBook Pro's casing, revealing the bottom of the unit with its elongated, latch-release battery cover first detailed by AppleInsider back in July.











17-inch MacBook Pro

The 17-inch MacBook Pro will not see an update at today's event, as was reported by AppleInsider on Monday. Instead, Apple will continue the market the existing 17-inch model until it can fix some issues with a new 17-inch model that has been spotted in its labs.

13-inch MacBook

The new 13-inch MacBooks are said to feature the same trackpad as its larger 15-inch cousins and include NVIDIA's new 9400M graphics chipset. Rumors of a $800 or $900 MacBook are false, however.

Instead, the existing 2.1 GHz white MacBook will remain in Apple's new lineup at a new price of $999. Two new aluminum models will be added:

$1299: 2.0 GHz, 2 GB memory, 160 GB disk
$1499: 2.4 GHz, 2 GB memory, 250 GB disk

Gruber notes that the new $1299 model sports a CPU that is 16 percent slower than existing model, but says Apple will argue that the new NVIDIA graphics chipset will more than make up for the difference.

MacBook Air

Updated MacBook Airs will see no aesthetic or CPU changes, which will remain at 1.6GHz and 1.83GHz. They will, however, include NVIDIA's 9400M graphics chipset and offer larger hard drives: a 120 GB disk in the low-end model and a 128 GB solid-state drive in the high-end model.

A report from Monday suggests the new Airs may not be readily available.

New $899 Apple LED display

In his report, Gruber also confirms a new $899 24-inch Apple LED display, plans of which were first revealed by AppleInsider late Monday evening.

According to our sources, the display resembles the existing aluminum iMacs without the "chin" of aluminum, and features a thinner version of the iMac's stand and black bezel (like the new MacBook Pro and iMac). The display is also said to include a DisplayPort connector and MagSafe adapter.

Live Coverage of Today's Event

AppleInsider will be providing live aggregate coverage of today's announcements. In the meantime, readers can register for the AppleInsider forums (it's quick) and join the discussion.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[cummje]

Macbook = $1499: 2.4 GHz, 2 GB memory, 250 GB disk = Simply too expensive...period. Not buying. Bummer.

[sandau]

i don't think i get the magsafe on the monitor. sounds interesting, but waaay overpriced for a 24" monitor these days, I don't care how pretty it is. You could probably buy two (non displayport) monitors that compete or are better for that price.

we'll wait and see, maybe it has AI built in...

[Lorre]

None of this makes any sense to me, more expensive with lower speed CPU? Is this why I told my neighbour to hold out for 2 months? I'll wait one and a half hours before I believe this but if it's true... It just can't be true this seems like the worst move Apple could make right now...

[brainfragment]

I'm only really interested in the 17" Macbook Pro
I wonder how long it will take them to squash the bugs in the lab...

[sandau]

Originally Posted by Lorre

None of this makes any sense to me, more expensive with lower speed CPU? Is this why I told my neighbour to hold out for 2 months? I'll wait one and a half hours before I believe this but if it's true... It just can't be true this seems like the worst move Apple could make right now...

12 hour battery life and 3g be ok in that package?

[crees!]

From those photos you can see that the edges are indeed tapered like the Air. Maybe not as tapered, but tapered none-the-less.

[Zandros]

This is just not fun anymore. Apple, can't you keep people silent until Jobs is on the stage?

/Adrian

[RichL]

Those photos aren't blurry enough to be real.

[sheppy]

No matte? No buy I'm afraid I do too much photography and video work on the go and shiny surface for me = bad news.

[Lorre]

Originally Posted by sandau

12 hour battery life and 3g be ok in that package?

No doubt they'll be amazing machines (they better be at that price) but what Apple needs is an Alu MacBook with simple of the shelf components at $899 or $799. Think the current MacBook but with new case and newer chips. These new machines will make Apple even more niche and exclusive than it already is. No matter how "do-want!" these machines will be, not a lot of people are gonna spend twice as much just to get a Mac.

I'm talking from the point of view of switching people to OSX here, but apparently, that's not a priority for Apple (if the rumours are true)

[nace33]

I don't doubt the authenticity of some of these rumors but I have to question the price. I really have to question the price on the 24 inch display. If it is indeed going to cost that much, then I think there must be more to it (i.e. dock for macbook).

If the rumor sites nailed it then Apple isn't going to be getting any of my $$$ till the next round

[Zauner]

To me all this revealed information makes up for a "black tuesday".

I was waiting for half a year for this event in hope to find a new machine to replace my 2,16 MBP.

All I dreamed of was to get HDMI Output, better battery life, a NON-GLOSSY DISPLAY (as this was the main reason why I switched two years ago). All that wrapped in a timeless alluminium casing.

Not too much dreaming, I though.....*uargh*...now we'll be getting a foldable imac?????

I even planned to purchase a Macbook Air...as I was sure we would get a 160 GB harddrive...

[Macd-to-death]

is it just me, or are these models more expensive? on the existing macbook system, you can spec the White macbook at 2.4GHz, 250G memory and 2GB of RAM, and it comes in below $1399. I love the new look, but I am holding out a hope that these prices are wrong...

[masklinn]

Horribly misleading reporting

confirms Monday evening's report that the systems will employ two NVIDIA graphics chips with Hybrid SLI support. Specifically, each will include a NVIDIA 9400M and a NVIDIA 9600M GT.

Let's make this clear, because many people are confused by all the bungling. Gruber can be excused, he's not a hardware guy, but you guys cannot.

• The 9600M GT is the discrete GPU. It's a real 9600M GT chip
• There will be no 9400M chip in the macbook pros. Nor in the macbooks by the way.
• But both will be using the MCP79 chip from nvidia, which replaces Intel's north&south bridges, and the MCP79 sports an IGP (Integrated Graphic Processor) rumored to be roughly equivalent to a 9300M or 9400M (note that we won't know if it's for sure until the tests)

This MCP79 would potentially enable the usage of HybridPower on the MBP (shut down the discrete GPU when e.g. on the desktop to reduce system power draw). It probably won't allow the usage of Geforce Boost (SLI between the GPU and the IGP) as the difference in power between a 9600M and something in the 9300M-9400 range is probably too high to allow it, but you never know.

Originally Posted by Zauner

All I dreamed of was to get HDMI Output

Video out has a nontrivial (read: high) chance of being DisplayPort.

Think HDMI, except better and created for computer screens instead of stupid TVs (and it handles higher resolutions too, HDMI 1.2 over Type A [regular] or Type C [mini] connectors can only drive screens up to 1920*1200 [~1080p] which is lower than the resolution of Apple's 30" ACD, while DisplayPort works up to 2560x1600/30bpp@60fps)

[ladytonya]

Anybody know of anywhere to get live info during the conference? While all the speculation is fun (well, maybe not), I want to hear from the man himself. I know there won't be an actual live feed of the conference, although that would be cool, is there somewhere to get realtime updates of what is being said?

[sc54321]

I don't see how these changes turns any spotlight to apple notebooks... or helps to set apple apart from competitors. All this talk about this event being a "product transition" or delivery of "state-of-the-art new products" that competitors "just aren't going to be able to match" seem way off the mark.

[amac4me]

Originally Posted by Macd-to-death

is it just me, or are these models more expensive? on the existing macbook system, you can spec the White macbook at 2.4GHz, 250G memory and 2GB of RAM, and it comes in below $1399. I love the new look, but I am holding out a hope that these prices are wrong...

Yeah it looks that way. Given the economic backdrop I'm not sure if these things will sell very well as many people are likely to clamp down on spending.

But who knows! Just put it on a credit card!

[rune66]

What a disappointment. No matté and that stupid Mighty Mouse concept of one huge trackpad button. What is Apple thinking?!?!?

Apple design has also become more and more like PC's. Look at Leopard, almost square corners all over.

Sigh.

[Dogcow]

There better be Matte. I have a rather large order planned for my company early next year, but if they aren't matte then we aren't buying them.

Can someone explain to me why glossy is so popular these days?

[tundraboy]

If these rumors are true then they are underwhelming and disappointing and Apple may just have opted out of the current tech mini-rally. And no matter how you frame it, you cannot explain away a 2.0GHz chip on a $1300 machine without sounding mealy-mouthed. If these rumors are true then it seems Jobs has forgotten the painful lesson of those insanely overpriced Macs that hobbled the platform's acceptance in the 80s.

[Tauron]

one word for you all: fornication

[Lorre]

Actually these sound like they'll be Cube Notebooks

[backtomac]

Originally Posted by Lorre

None of this makes any sense to me, more expensive with lower speed CPU? Is this why I told my neighbour to hold out for 2 months? I'll wait one and a half hours before I believe this but if it's true... It just can't be true this seems like the worst move Apple could make right now...

+++

Looks uncompelling to me at this point but perhaps there are some unreported features to be revealed.

[kai920]

Originally Posted by ladytonya

Anybody know of anywhere to get live info during the conference? While all the speculation is fun (well, maybe not), I want to hear from the man himself. I know there won't be an actual live feed of the conference, although that would be cool, is there somewhere to get realtime updates of what is being said?

Here are a few...

http://www.macrumorslive.com/
http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/14/l...tebooks-event/
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10064559-1.html
http://www.macworld.com/article/1360...p_1?lsrc=top_1

[mcarling]

The only exciting news here is the possibility of higher resolution 15" MacBook Pros.

[bigmc6000]

Originally Posted by backtomac

+++

Looks uncompelling to me at this point but perhaps there are some unreported features to be revealed.

100% with ya on this one. I was really, really, really hoping to replace my 12" PB and was looking in the low 1k range (read 1100-1300) for something with a good processor (I can't understand how the CPU would go down and price go up, that just seems stupid to me). I wonder if Apple would let you downgrade to 1GB of RAM and use that saved money to buy RAM upgrades from Crucial. I'm still holding out hope that changing HDs and RAM will be as easy as it on the current MB.

[SongEmu]

The CPU pricing business had me scratching my head too until I looked around.
The guy in the article is misleading. The CPU isn't necessarily slower. The old generation of Macbooks has a Front Side Bus speed of 800 MHz, the new ones will be running at 1066, or thereabouts. So even though the new CPU is running .4 GHz slower, it will still be able to communicate with the rest of the computer faster. It's also going to be more power efficient. Hence, not as much of a rip off as you think.

[rosstheboss]

Originally Posted by Lorre

No doubt they'll be amazing machines (they better be at that price) but what Apple needs is an Alu MacBook with simple of the shelf components at $899 or $799. Think the current MacBook but with new case and newer chips. These new machines will make Apple even more niche and exclusive than it already is. No matter how "do-want!" these machines will be, not a lot of people are gonna spend twice as much just to get a Mac.

I'm talking from the point of view of switching people to OSX here, but apparently, that's not a priority for Apple (if the rumours are true)

i hear ya...

glossy screen is fine for checkin' yer myspace, but for processing hundreds of RAW images and editing some HD on Final Cut Pro it's a bit crap...


what are crAPPLE playin at?

[Virgil-TB2]

Originally Posted by Lorre

None of this makes any sense to me, more expensive with lower speed CPU? Is this why I told my neighbour to hold out for 2 months? I'll wait one and a half hours before I believe this but if it's true... It just can't be true this seems like the worst move Apple could make right now...

Yeah, this is a waay crazy move on Apple's part if that's all they got.

Glossy only screens will satisfy most but leave out any professionals that want accurate colour. It seems like a move downward into the heart of the consumer market and away from their traditional Pro/Professional market, but the prices are remaining the same?

There's no way to spin this except as Apple offering less value for the money, which is the opposite of what Apple ususally does each year.

Unless they have some secret "one more thing" to dazzle everyone with and detract attention from the disappointment it doesn't look good.

[EauVive]

You guys are too much dollar-centric. There exist other currencies, especially euro and yen. The dollar exchange rate is so low that it is impossible for Apple not to rise theirs prices. Converted into euros, a € 1000 MacBook (that translates to around $1200, since the commercial exchange rate is always at least 10% lower than the actual one) is quite affordable for us over here. Sorry, you're living on the wrong side of the pond (at least these days).

What is much worrisome is this Nvidia stuff. I planned to run a real opensource OS (NetBSD) in parallel with MacOS, but Nvidia has been known to keep secret all the docs related to its hardware, effectively impeding any opensource driver developement, even if the nouveau project is making great effort to reverse-engineer the code. Bummer. I hope it'll work, though.

[DCJ001]

Speculation is one thing. But, until you get the details from Apple, don't get too excited, for the good or the bad.

[sc54321]

Originally Posted by SongEmu

The CPU pricing business had me scratching my head too until I looked around.
The guy in the article is misleading. The CPU isn't necessarily slower. The old generation of Macbooks has a Front Side Bus speed of 800 MHz, the new ones will be running at 1066, or thereabouts. So even though the new CPU is running .4 GHz slower, it will still be able to communicate with the rest of the computer faster. It's also going to be more power efficient. Hence, not as much of a rip off as you think.

That's fine when you know what you're talking about but if Apple are trying to extend their appeal to the wider market they need to acknowledge that the regular Joe is still going to look at raw processor power...

[backtomac]

Originally Posted by SongEmu

The CPU pricing business had me scratching my head too until I looked around.
The guy in the article is misleading. The CPU isn't necessarily slower. The old generation of Macbooks has a Front Side Bus speed of 800 MHz, the new ones will be running at 1066, or thereabouts. So even though the new CPU is running .4 GHz slower, it will still be able to communicate with the rest of the computer faster. It's also going to be more power efficient. Hence, not as much of a rip off as you think.

I don't care what the FSB is, that isn't going to compensate for a 400 mhz slower cpu. The 2.0 MB will be much slower, 15-20%, than the 2.4 ghz model.

[AHeneen]

GLOSSY????????????

And they're uglier at that? What have Ives & Co been smoking lately?

[Pirategleep]

The Store is down!

[mcarling]

If the new 24" CinemaDisplay is matte and supports 2560x1600, then I will buy one.

[SongEmu]

Originally Posted by sc54321

That's fine when you know what you're talking about but if Apple are trying to extend their appeal to the wider market they need to acknowledge that the regular Joe is still going to look at raw processor power...

I do see where you're coming from, but we got along just fine with the Pentium ordeal... Pentium 4's used to go to 3.6 GHz. Nowadays, high end Core 2 procs hover around 2.8 GHz.

Originally Posted by backtomac

I don't care what the FSB is, that isn't going to compensate for a 400 mhz slower cpu. The 2.0 MB will be much slower, 15-20%, than the 2.4 ghz model.

and 1066 over 800 is a 33% increase. plus, with a stronger integrated graphics chipset, less of the CPU is going to be frittered away on drawing the screen. but hey, if you want to benchmark your old model against what i plan on getting, go right ahead.

[AHeneen]

Originally Posted by EauVive

You guys are too much dollar-centric. There exist other currencies, especially euro and yen. The dollar exchange rate is so low that it is impossible for Apple not to rise theirs prices. Converted into euros, a € 1000 MacBook (that translates to around $1200, since the commercial exchange rate is always at least 10% lower than the actual one) is quite affordable for us over here. Sorry, you're living on the wrong side of the pond (at least these days).

Not so fast...the dollar has been GAINING VALUE in the past month or two. A few months ago(all approximate)...
GBP=$1.90
EURO=$1.50
AUS=$0.98
CAD=$1.02
Now (10:50am EDT)
GBP=$1.75
EURO=$1.28
AUD=$0.69
CAD=$0.87
The fall in the Euro and Australian dollar is especially remarkable...so in other words, it will be YOU feeling the impact if Apple raises prices! At time same time it means that Asian components should be cheaper, right? Which has me all the more puzzled at poterntial price increases...at least my curiosity will be eased in a couple of hours.

[Lorre]

Anybody know the price of that new 2.0 GHz vs the "old" 2.4? If it's a lower mass order pricepoint, I don't care if it's faster in practice or not, it's Apple INCREASING their margins. Those new NVidia chipsets might be more expensive than the Intel ones, but they don't cost Apple $300...