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MacBook Announcement Expected on Tuesday 352

Posted by CowboyNeal from the new-toys dept.
wwhsgrad2002 writes "Both ThinkSecret and Apple Insider are reporting that Apple could hold a press conference as early as Tuesday, May 9th, to announce their new line of MacBooks. The laptop will be the Intel-based successor to the company's popular iBook line. The 13.3-inch widescreen MacBook is expected to sport Core Duo processors from Intel Corp and pack novelties such as a completely magnetic latching system, built in iSight video camera, and MagSafe power adapter. Additionally, each MacBook is expected to come bundled with Apple's Front Row and PhotoBooth software applications. A coding glitch with Apple's Web site has all but confirmed the MacBook moniker for the new consumer laptop."
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MacBook Announcement Expected on Tuesday More

MacBook Announcement Expected on Tuesday

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  • Damn, and I just got the 15" version. Would be nice to have one that's a little more portable. Definitely happy with the performance though.
    • Well, I think they're talking here about the iBook replacement, not the Powerbook replacement that the MacBook Pro is.

      • That's what I hate about Apple. (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 06, 2006 @03:33PM (#15278111)
        "Pro" does not mean "bigger screen." I want a 12" or 13" laptop (actually, I'd take a 10" or 11" laptop if it was superhighrez), but I also want non-integrated graphics, backlit keyboard, gigabit ethernet, lots of video out options, and so on.

        The most important feature in a laptop is portability. I don't want a fucking iBook. I want the smallest fully-featured PowerBook imaginable, and, ideally, I want it to have 1600x1200 even on a 12" screen (OK, perhaps that's hyperbole. But 1280x1024 at minimum. Fuck 1024x768.)

        Why can't Apple just make it happen? I don't want to lug around a 15" machine just to get all the real features.

        • The most important feature in a laptop is portability. I don't want a fucking iBook. I want the smallest fully-featured PowerBook imaginable, and, ideally, I want it to have 1600x1200 even on a 12" screen (OK, perhaps that's hyperbole. But 1280x1024 at minimum. Fuck 1024x768.)

          Fuck anything above 1024x768. You know what I want? I want software developers to stop designing their applications to take up the most screen real estate they possibly can. Back in my day I had a Mac IIci running at 640x480x8 an

  • Pricing could be interesting (Score:5, Insightful)

    by mccalli ( 323026 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @12:14PM (#15277242) Homepage
    It's the price I'm interested in. Last time there was a move from G4-based devices to Core Something devices (Solo or Duo) was the Mac Mini. And the price went up quite a lot for that.

    Cheers,
    Ian

    • But for us poor bastards the eBay prices of the G4 Mini's now makes them much more palatable for those that just want one to play around with

    • Re:Pricing could be interesting (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Queer Boy ( 451309 ) * <dragon.76@NOSpAm.mac.com> on Saturday May 06, 2006 @03:18PM (#15278041)
      It went up $100. Is that quite a bit? They added built-in 802.11g+BT 2 (over having to add it), serial ATA (over parallel), 10/100/1000 ethernet (over 10/100), 2 more USB ports, 1 more memory slot, and optical audio (over just analog audio out). Not to mention I think the Intel GMA 950 is probably better than the Radeon 9200 (which sucks). I have a PowerPC mini (with the secret speed bump) and this is WAY better for the money.

  • Video computer game on tv (Score:3, Insightful)

    by soupforare ( 542403 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @12:15PM (#15277246)
    Please, don't put some toilet video card in the macbook. I'm looking at you Intel Integrated.
    If you're going after the college kids market AT ALL, the macbook has to be able to game at least most of the time.
    • The Intel i9XX vid cards are actually pretty impressive. If you can look past the shared ram, they can definitely go up against a pretty modern ATI or Nvidia card.
      Regards,
      Steve

    • Good luck (Score:3, Insightful)

      by StarKruzr ( 74642 )
      Expect Intel toilet-graphics in all but the most powerful MacBook, if even that. Remember, this is their budget machine. The toilet-graphics will allow them to drop the price OR make more of a margin on the computer. Either way, they win.

      This is super disappointing to me. I was really hoping Apple would come out with a small tablet with a discrete graphics controller. I love mine [whiningdog.net], but would get rid of it in a second if Apple came out with something just like it.
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Why during E3? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by dividedsky319 ( 907852 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @12:17PM (#15277256)
    Why would they time it to be the same day as Nintendo's press conference on Tuesday?

    I understand that they're different markets, but all eyes are going to be on Nintendo that day. They could easily put it off a week and get 100% of the attention.

    • Two reasons, IMO (Score:5, Insightful)

      by DavidinAla ( 639952 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @12:37PM (#15277350)
      First, Apple needs to get schools looking at these models for next year. If the company waits much later, schools are already going to make plans based on existing models.

      Second, I doubt Apple thinks it will be upstaged in ANY way by Nintendo -- and I think that judgment will be correct. Many gamers and geeks will be paying attention to Nintendo's announcement, but an Apple announcement will greatly upstage it in terms of media attention, IMO.

      David

    • Re:Why during E3? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Y-Crate ( 540566 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @12:39PM (#15277357)
      "I understand that they're different markets, but all eyes are going to be on Nintendo that day. They could easily put it off a week and get 100% of the attention."
      Right now we are in the beginning of the 2007 educational purchasing season. This is when school districts/universities/etc all over the U.S. are putting together their orders for the next school year. Getting the MacBook to market as soon as possible is extremely important to Apple's bottom line.

      Nintendo's game console is going to get a lot of attention, but in the whole scheme of things, getting the MacBooks out this week rather than next week could mean millions of dollars in additional revenue.

      • Also, right now is right about when prospective freshmen decide which college they're going to. Most of the decisions have been mailed out and the SIR (Statement of Intent to Register) deadlines, at least for the UCs*, have just passed last week. They need to get on the market for those parental purchases now. If they are viewed as having an outdated consumer-level product after this month, they will lose sales, because the parents are starting to shop for their kids now.

        Additionally, a lot of parents use

    • Welcome to the world of completely unrealistic Apple rumors.

      E3 creates a complete media blackout for anything else.

      At least it's better than the constant BS Cringely keeps spewing, and Slashdot keeps posting.
      • E3 creates a complete media blackout for anything else.

        You're forgetting this is Apple. Anything at E3 including Nintendo is far far smaller than an announcement from Apple. There's plenty of people interested in Apple's announcement that don't know what E3 is, let alone WHEN it is. I, for instance, had no clue it's coming up soon and frankly I couldn't care less.

    • Completely different target markets. E3 is only big for gamers and geeks, Apple doesn't market to them, they want "Everybody else".
  • And by floppies, of course, I am referring to your testicles. Be very careful when snapping your mac book shut if you aren't wearing pants.

  • this is news? (Score:3, Funny)

    by mapkinase ( 958129 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @12:25PM (#15277287) Homepage Journal
    ... and on this Tuesday Apple made announcement that they will announce on Saturday the date of the next announcement about their laptop.

  • Will Apple ever release a sub-notebook? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ad454 ( 325846 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @12:34PM (#15277332) Journal
    It would be nice if Apple was less focused on the US car driving market and considered releasing a sub-notebook (<0.9kg) for those of us that walk, fly, and/or use public transit, and need to always carry around a computer. I have desktop computers with large displays at home and work, so I don't need to lug around a monstrosity, when I need a computer during commute and when traveling, just something small that easily fits in my purse.

    As a frequent business traveler, I have been buying and using small Intel based Japanese sub-notebooks for 8 years, and would love to buy a Apple notebook that can run MacOSX, especially now that I can use bootcamp to multiboot other OS's as well. But I don't see that happening anytime soon.

    Maybe Apple should licence an OQO or similar sized device and port their OS to it, if they aren't interested in building a sub-notebook from scratch.

    • Yeah (Score:5, Insightful)

      by metamatic ( 202216 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @01:05PM (#15277470) Homepage Journal
      I have an old G3 iBook, and it's too big. To get me to buy another portable they need to offer something comparable to a Sony VAIO 505 in form factor. Or preferably, a tablet Mac, but I doubt Steve's biases will let that happen.
    • They'd have to design a new notebook keyboard for anything smaller than the current 12" laptops.

      I've used a few 12" laptops, and haven't found a more comfortable keyboard to use than Apple's, it's just so well laid out compared to others that try and cram too many keys into too small a space.

      What it comes down to is that Apple feels that it has the right balance in its product offering, and that being a niche in a niche isn't worth it quite yet.
    • Closest we've got is the iBook and 12" Powerbook. The 12" is a good machine, but it's also the smallest I think we'll get out of Apple anytime soon. They only make a few models and have to choose the markets they go after carefully. Only so many really talented engineers @ Apple, and we all know that you can't honestly hire really good engineers off the street.
    • The most recent round of rumor sites that I have been looking at have started talking about a MacBook Thin. I haven't seen any actual details about this speculated product, but perhaps your wish will becoming true in the near future.

    • Re:Will Apple ever release a sub-notebook? (Score:4, Funny)

      by feepness ( 543479 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @01:37PM (#15277617)
      It would be nice if Apple was less focused on the US car driving market and considered releasing a sub-notebook (

      Yeah! And they could call it the Newton!
    • There's your answer. At least nowadays (the Powerbook Duos were a while ago), Apple seems to feel that the notebook should contain everything you're going to actually need on a frequent basis. So there aren't external drive bays, docking stations, port replicators or things like that - and yeah, they lean toward the larger screens.

      The old 12" iBook was 2.2kg, the 12" PowerBook was 2.1kg. So far, the MacBook Pros have been a little thinner and lighter than the PowerBooks they replaced. If the new MacBook
    • ... and considered releasing a sub-notebook (

      I'm sorry, but I really don't see your problem. I use my 12" iBook daily during my commute by Dutch train, and I don't have a problem. When I fly (tourist class) I can use it too. Yes, if you take it on a long hike it would be nice if it was even lighter, but the current one is something like 1.4kg, which is not exactly heavyweight either. And there are rumours that the new one will be lighter.

      Look at it like this: all you have to do is diet a bit so that yo

    • It's a nice thought, but it's not going to happen. There simply isn't enough of a market there for Apple to chase. Now what would be really useful is if Apple would make the "New iBook" with a 12" wide screen, rather than the 13" unit that's being touted. Size is specifically the reason why I bought a 12" iBook instead of a larger laptop. A laptop computer is never going to be my primary machine, so size is more important to me than a huge screen, but it still has to be useful, meaning it needs all the esse

    • It would be nice if Apple was less focused on the US car driving market and considered releasing a sub-notebook (

      Though I wouldn't get, er buy that is as I've got a pda my sister gave me I've never used, or use a sub-notebook I don't really care if Apple comes out with one. Even for a laptop I want something relatively fast, a juicy hd, and lots of real estate, ie large screen. Weight, what's a little weight, a few pounds? Most of my traveling, getting around, is by foot or riding my bike and if I can'

    • Given:
      1. Origami and UMPC (remember Apple uses modified Intel platforms). The current versions aren't good enough (too heavy; too short battery life and crap (Windows) software).
      2. The arrival of Merom and it's low voltage (LV) variant later this year or in 2007. This will help the battery life.
      3. The speculation on a Mac Tablet (Apple Pantents and Ink in the system)
      4. Increasing size of flash drives and Samsungs hybrid flash drives. This is going to be the biggest change in the next few years. The power consumption do
    • Apple released a sub-notebook in 1992 - the Duo 230 [apple-history.com]. I've often wished for a modern equivalent - I haven't used the optical drive on my iBook since I installed the OS and apps, and I doubt it would be much of a technological stretch to push everything but a USB port and a headphone jack into a Firewire port-extender. The iBook is nice, but it's still too big for convenient day-to-day backpack transport. I'd love to have OS X on something smaller.

  • Why not just wait until Tuesday... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by hey ( 83763 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @12:34PM (#15277334) Journal
    ... then we don't have to guess.

  • MacBook Pros and Core Duos (Score:4, Interesting)

    by segedunum ( 883035 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @12:37PM (#15277349)
    Do those two names strike anyone else as a bit silly? I wish Apple had kept the PowerBook name.

  • Red Hot Chili Peppers Event Expected on Tuesday (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Apple Stores are hosting a pre-release event for the Red Hot Chili Peppers on Tuesday, May 9th. MacBooks will not be released on the same day.

  • Duh, MacBook (Score:5, Interesting)

    by fermion ( 181285 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @01:02PM (#15277455) Homepage Journal
    Some of these rumours are just, like, what do you expect.

    The pro line is called the MacBook Pro, so the consumer line is called the MacBook. I expect the Intel towers, if they ever appear, to be called the Mac, MacTower, MacPC, or the like. They do seem to be moving away from the brand of 'power' to the brand of book.

    As far as the screen size, the industry does seen to be standardizing on the 13.3 screen as the small entrant. In terms of cost, this is probably the best choice for the entry level portable. What is interesting is that this probably means that we will see a consolodation of the iBook and Powerbook into a Macbook. The MacBook will be a compromise dimension betwen 12 and 15 inches, while the pro models will be 15 and 17 inches.

    Which also leaves the 12" models in limbo. These are really a perfect size, and if the 12" PowerBooks are ever $800 dollars I may buy one, as we are unlikely to see such a machine again. I wonder how long Apple is going to produce PowerPC based macines, which is, really to ask, how long until the PowerMacs are replaced. Or is Apple just going to produce laptops and media centers, and leave the pro image editing to the MS crowd? I shudder to think.

    In any case, we will see what happens over the next few day and the next year. Certainly Apple has plenty of time to pull an rabbit out of it's hat since we won't see big PC sales until christmas of 2007 when MS vista will be ready for prime time.

    Oh, the joys of life. Perhaps I will get a PowerMac G5 yet, even if they slurp electricity like it is water.

    • They do seem to be moving away from the brand of 'power'

      Holy shit, you mean to tell me now that they no longer use powerpc chips, they are moving away from the power brand? God damn, mod parent +100 insightful.

      As far as your speculation that they might just stop updating the pro desktop lines... WTF? Seriously, there's nothing else to say but WTF.
    • I expect the Intel towers, if they ever appear, to be called the Mac, MacTower, MacPC, or the like.

      Actually, I would expect the Intel towers to be called the "Mac Pro" to mirror the portable line. In fact, I expect the Xserve to change its name to Mac Serve or Mac Server.

      Considering Apple would like to have their pro software -- Aperture, Final Cut, Logic, Shake -- and the pro software of others -- Photoshop, AfterEffects -- run blazingly fast for those of us who use Macs, have no doubt that Intel towers
    • Uh, how about Mac Pro?
    • I wonder how long Apple is going to produce PowerPC based macines, which is, really to ask, how long until the PowerMacs are replaced.

      Well, during Steve Job's keynote in January, he said the whole year of 2006 would be the complete product line transition to Intel. It's only May, and we've already seen the iMac, the Mac Mini, and the MacBook Pros. That only leaves MacBooks and then the desktops. Not bad for a few months.

  • I work at Apple and can confirm.. (Score:4, Funny)

    by eebra82 ( 907996 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @02:56PM (#15277951) Homepage
    I work at Apple and can confirm that there will be Intel processors in this line-up of notebooks. Hope this valuable information helps.
  • "coding glitch" Maybe. Maybe not. Perhaps it's subtle viral marketing- let the nerds think they've spotted an error in the apple shrine / website and create excitement over the product.

    Perhaps Jobs is sitting in his execs chair reading /. stroking his white cat and laughing manically as his latest plan comes together.

  • A quick thought (Score:3, Interesting)

    by ndpatel ( 185409 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @05:29PM (#15278485) Homepage
    I've been using an Apple machine in one way or another since 1987, when my family got an Apple IIGS. I've never owned a PC. I've had an LC, an LC II, a Centris 660av (the machine of the true believer), a PowerMac 7500 (that lasted through so many upgrades by the end it had no original parts left except the case and power supply), a white iBook, PowerBooks 180c, 520c, Wallstreet II G3 and Al G4, and a Sawtooth G4 (I got lucky and got one of the original 450MHz ones, before the speeds were reduced.)

    Right now I have the PB G4 and a Core Duo Mini. I sold the G4 tower (it was also pumped full of upgrades) and just about made enough to cover the cost of the mini--try doing that with a 6 year old PC.

    Here's my point--the Core Duo Mini is the coolest piece of Apple kit I've used since OS X 10.2 came out and I switched over permanently. The 1.66 Duo is enough faster than the 1.25 G4 in my PowerBook that I have started to complain about the PowerBook. The OS feels tighter, somehow. I've never had a single problem with Rosetta, apart from a few PrefPanes and plug-ins not loading, which was expected. Mundane things, like browsing in Safari, are hilariously faster. Harder things, like transcoding video, are noticeably quicker. Parallels is nice to have around, even if I never use it.

    If the new Macbooks are this good, they're going to be the biggest hit Apple's ever had, particularly at the college level. I don't know any non-geek students who still buy desktops, and the speed and polish of the MacBook coupled with the whole BootCamp/Parallels thing is going to wow a lot of people. I was initially hesitant about the Intel thing, but it really has breathed a whole new life into Apple's product line.

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