New Apple Laptops *official thread*

[matt]

In addition to my rumor summary yesterday, today's MacRumors post says we might see a bigger, "buttonless", multi-touch trackpad made of glass. Also, MacBook Pro screen will be available only in glossy.

http://www.macrumors.com/

And,

There will be no new 17" MacBook Pro immediately available, and it's unclear when/if it will be revised. The existing 17" model will still remain on sale but with increased storage/RAM options.

2 hours until liftoff.

[matt]

The sub-$1000 MacBook may be $999, not $899 or $799. The $899 product is apparently a new, long-awaited 24" LED display.

AAPL will go down, as it does on announcement days, given any of these pricing levels, but look for it to go down further if the lowest-priced MacBook only goes to $999.

http://www.macrumors.com/2008/10/14/app ... a-macbook/

Based on information we've gathered it seems the $899 product (K29, MB382LL/A) that has appeared on Apple's product lists is likely an LED Apple Cinema Display and not a low-end MacBook.

AppleInsider also confirms that new displays with a DisplayPort connector and MagSafe adapters are likely to arrive. The rumor site also believes the $899 product is likely a 24" Cinema Display.

This throws some doubt into the remainder of the analysis for the part numbers that were leaked.

Update: It should be noted that the $1299 presumed MacBook price point is labeled "Better" so it represents the mid range price for the MacBook. We still don't know what the entry level MacBook price will be.

[particleman]

FWIW, the Apple Store is now down.

[mick e]

They are definitely transitioning away from Steve Jobs. This presentation is interesting in that it is a team effort with various officers contributing, along with Jonathan Ive, etc. Jobs introduces them, and takes a seat.

mick e is guessing that he simply no longer has the strength to carry these events. It is sad, but the other part of transitioning is to feature the young talent and ensure investors of the longterm health of APPLE.

[mick e]

That trackpad seems über funky, but über cool as well.

[matt]

$107.81
Change:-2.45 -2.22%
Volume:40,465,878

New MacBook Pro graphics card and input:

-39% larger tracking area than we've ever had before, multitouch, glass for silky smooth travel (that's a quote)
-Gorgeous multitouch glass trackpad-New trackpad for notebooks
-If you compare this with the pro graphics in the MacBook Pro, we're at 55 percent of 3D graphics performance instead of 10 percent. If you look at overall graphics performance, we're at 82%
-From about 3x to 6x speedups when we go to play games on it (real world performance)
-Chipset + GPU on one die, 70% of die area is GPU, 16 parallel graphics cores, 54 Gigaflops of graphics performance, up to 5 times faster graphics than Intel integrated graphics

[matt]

$107.02
Change:-3.24 -2.94%
Volume:40,609,627

-The entire trackpad is the button now, the entire thing gives you more area, keeps you from hunting for the button

[mick e]

The one-piece machined aluminum shell is classic Apple elitist design.

[matt]

$107.22
Change:-3.04 -2.76%
Volume:40,666,511

MacBook Pro

-Today we're replacing the old one... full glass screen (looks just like iMac), thin display, all connectors on one side

my bolds

[matt]

The one-piece machined aluminum shell is classic Apple elitist design.

Yeup. Steve is really pressing home this point of the new chassis. "Half the parts"... hmm wow.

[matt]

$108.35
Change:-1.91 -1.73%
Volume:41,157,852

-Second config is $2499, 15.4" screen, 2.53GHz, 6MB L2, can upgrade any model to 2.8GHz
-Come in two models, $1999 for 15.4" LED-backlit display, 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo/3MB L2, 2GB 1066MHz DDR3 memory, both NVIDIA chips, 250GB hard drive, slot-loading superdrive

same old prices

-802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1, it's 0.95 inches thick
-Access battery and drives through lid in the bottom, full accessibility to battery and the drives
-MacBook Pro will have HDD and SSD (solid state drive)
-Mini Display is the equivalent of a fullsize DVI connector, building it into everything Apple makes
-Slot-load superdrive, MagSafe on the other side, gigabit ethernet, firewire 800 (no FW400 port), two USB, Mini Display Port, audio in & out, expresscard 34 slot, battery indicator to the side of the product

[mick e]

17" laptop? EOL?

edit
(Maybe the killed it a long time ago. mick e is out of the fanboy loop lately.)

[matt]

17" laptop? EOL?

edit
(Maybe the killed it a long time ago. mick e is out of the fanboy loop lately.)

Rumors said it would not be killed, but not updated. We'll see when the store re-opens.

[mick e]

The regular macbook gets a lot of the same treatments. It will continue to be the best value in computers by a longshot.

[matt]

$107.07
Change:-3.19 -2.89%
Volume:42,727,474

MacBook

-5 hours of battery life [meaning 3, as usual - Matt], all environmentally friendly
-multitouch trackpad (glass), same unibody construction, 5x the graphics performance
-thinner, metal, all-new
-Entry price is $999

[matt]

Let it be said: I'm wary of this new trackpad.

[mick e]

mick e thinks that they endeavored to stress that the $999 model would be the same plastic body of the previous models, while the two new Macbooks introduced today start at $1299.

Confusing, yes.

[mick e]

Now they are having a product design/engineering circle jerk.

[matt]

$106.84
Change:-3.42 -3.10%
Volume:43,942,539

And are the screens really glass? I thought that was a misquote.

[matt]

mick e thinks that they endeavored to stress that the $999 model would be the same plastic body of the previous models, while the two new Macbooks introduced today start at $1299.

Confusing, yes.

Very. I give these new products a C, so far.