"Slim" MacBook rumors resurface

Sure, you've had the space of a few minutes without Apple rumors, but be honest with us: it felt lonely, didn't it? Well don't worry, because the rumors are back... with a vengeance. According to 9to5mac (who recently nailed news on the iPod nano), Apple is readying a new line of black and silver aluminum laptops, which might be the slimmer MacBook Pros mentioned previously. Details are, of course, totally speculative and entirely unconfirmed, but it sounds like the systems will be considerably thinner and lighter than current models, will have screens that reach further to the edges (which apparently suggests a smaller footprint), have keyboards in the vein of the new Apple Bluetooth models, and are set to be priced "extremely aggressively." In addition, the report says that there is "something strange about the touchpad," which could mean we'll be seeing some sort of multi-touch functionality, or it could mean nothing at all. We'll keep you posted on what the mill has to say.

[adam.mercier @ Sep 21st 2007 10:56AM]

woot! now if they would just give it a REAL video card instead of "intel integrated graphics"....

[Jonathan Keim @ Sep 21st 2007 10:59AM]

Amen brother! First work on performance, then work on the footprint. I'd much rather have double the FPS then 0.2" reduced height, width or length.

[Homeboy @ Sep 21st 2007 11:08AM]

Sorry to kill your dream but I highly doubt that this baby will have a real video card.

This will most likely be an ultra slim 11 or 12 inch ultra portable with long battery time. More or less a computer which is as easy to carry with you as a high school math book. Perfect for bloggers, journalists and university students who need their laptop at home and on the move.

If it is priced good it might be my first mac. The thought of an aluminum 750-1200gram laptop is mouth watering.

[ekwmin @ Sep 21st 2007 11:57AM]

Sorry guys, but you're barking up the wrong tree. Macbooks are not meant for gaming. Heck, even the Macbook Pros aren't decent for gaming. FPS out of a Macbook? these are computers not consoles, they are not all made for gaming. Getting a Macbook for gaming is like getting a Prius to tow your fifth wheel. It's just not made for that. At the same time I do empathize with you. It would be nice to have a decently priced Mac that can handle better gaming (or at least better graphics card). At the time it seems like the Mac Pros are the only ones you can ditch your PC for, unless you don't mind getting PWND. I guess I'll keep my PC (which I only use for gaming) awhile longer.

[luzzio @ Sep 21st 2007 12:24PM]

i wouldn't mind an integrated graphics card, as long as they boost up the hard disk(at least 120GB?) and change the hard drive to DVD±RW for entry level macbooks. these are the stuff holding me back from getting one at the moment.

as for gaming, there's always my PC =p

[Bill Lin @ Sep 21st 2007 12:24PM]

I disagree with the above poster who said that MacBook Pros are not even decent gaming machines. I've recently been playing BioShock, which is an incredibly demanding machine, on my first generation 2.0GHz Core Duo MacBook Pro w/ Radeon X1600 (booted in Boot Camp w/ Win XP Pro). I had to scale down the resolution to 800x600, but all graphical details are otherwise set to high, and the game looks great and runs at a smooth framerate. And, keep in mind that I'm using last year's tech; nowadays the MacBook Pro has a Core 2 Duo at higher speeds, with an NVidia 8600 GT card installed. Is it equivalent to an Alienware gaming notebook? Absolutely not. But it can still play the latest games with decent performance. I personally qualify that as "decent".

[Liam @ Sep 21st 2007 12:32PM]

Couldn't care less. I don't play games on my laptop, and let's face it that's all a 'proper' video card is there for. Not that a mac has games to start with. A dedicated card would increase cost and reduce battery life. For your average user, that's a total bummer.

[Brooks @ Sep 21st 2007 1:00PM]

Most people begging for a dedicated graphics card are barking up the tree of on the go video editing. You have heard of Final Cut, right? It's kind of a big deal ;).
All kidding aside, it's unlikely to see a dedicated graphics chip in something like this. The form factor and the selling point of "long battery life" kind of prevent Apple from putting in, say, an 8600GT which would suck quite a bit more power than Intel Xtreme. Maybe Intel's new graphics happy chip could be going into this in the future if the realease date is that far off...

[Xavier Gill @ Sep 21st 2007 10:57AM]

"but be honest with us: it felt lonely, didn't it?"


No.

[Kozzi @ Sep 21st 2007 11:40AM]

I wish there is one more level for comment voting, Highest-est !

[Homeboy @ Sep 21st 2007 10:58AM]

Multi-touch touchpads are coming sooner or later. They make sense especially while using big monitors. Instead of having you fingers on the screen you slide them along a very wide touch pad.

Minority Report style=) So I guess that multi touch will be incorporated into Leaopard. Hopefully they'll launch multi touch touchpads as accessories.

[David @ Sep 21st 2007 12:06PM]

My MPB is already multi-touch, isn't it? I use two fingers to scroll, and one on the pad and the other tap to right-click. Any more functionality would just be in firmware/OS, right?

[humpty @ Sep 21st 2007 10:58AM]

Aluminum? Meh, my VAIO TZ is made from carbon fibre.. eat that Mac Fanboys.

[Aaron @ Sep 21st 2007 11:09AM]

But....you are still running Windoze. You can polish a turd, but it's still a turd.

[McGinley @ Sep 21st 2007 11:28AM]

Why would you want to polish a turd?

[Argot @ Sep 21st 2007 11:31AM]

"Why would you want to polish a turd?"

It's a Mac thing.

[MacGuru @ Sep 21st 2007 12:31PM]

Carbon fiber. Nice finish for a virus magnet.

[Titan @ Sep 22nd 2007 3:08AM]

It is said that people living in glass houses should not throw stones at others. I could come up with a dozen areas where the MBP trumps the Vaio but I don't care much for Mac antis.

[enzo @ Sep 21st 2007 10:58AM]

well I hope there are no problems with regards to quality of manufacturing!

[Josh @ Sep 21st 2007 11:01AM]

So if it has "something strange about the touchpad", can we expect it to be a tablet?

[jwrose @ Sep 21st 2007 11:01AM]

Adam.mercier:
These are Macbook Pros.. which already have a video card. The regular Macbooks have the integrated video.

[Scott @ Sep 21st 2007 11:15AM]

The first rumor i read said they were Macbooks...not Pros.

[Picaso @ Sep 21st 2007 11:02AM]

I am so happy held out getting a MacBookPro, been following the predictions from MacRumors buyers guide... I hope its in 15 inches and and offer a Higher Resolution, the brightness is perfect, and throw in blu-ray and a hard-disk/flash combo hard drive and ipod-touch like touch pad... Just saying

If it happens, i called it. :)

[peshue @ Sep 21st 2007 11:02AM]

Great. making them even smaller is really going to help the heat problems.

[James Ollier @ Sep 23rd 2007 3:49AM]

Yes but being made of aluminium, it'll be one huge heatsync

[StreetStealth @ Sep 21st 2007 1:36PM]

If these are going to be Penryn based, the 45nm architecture should go a long way to cooling things off.

[cDub @ Sep 21st 2007 11:04AM]

extremely agressive? most likely this will still means 2K+ to apple.

[halfeatenfish @ Sep 21st 2007 11:52AM]

Last I checked... macbooks start at $1099. I'm no math phd, but that seems closer to $1k than $2k...

[cDub @ Sep 21st 2007 12:20PM]

point taken. i thought this was the pro.

[halfeatenfish @ Sep 21st 2007 3:15PM]

cDub... no malice intended...

[SteveJ @ Sep 21st 2007 11:07AM]

MacBooks and MacBook Pros already have multi-touch touch pads. Where have you been? They support two-finger scrolling (move two fingers around to scroll) as well as two-finger right clicks (hold two fingers on pad and click button.)

[roc ingersol @ Sep 21st 2007 11:07AM]

They should ship a 10" convertible tablet with multi-touch.
Anything less is yawn-worthy.

Of course, they're perfectly poised to dominate the nascent Personal Portable Computer market with the touch iPod, but they seem unwilling to make it a decent platform. (put a HDD in it, put the camera, bluetooth and apps back in)

So who knows what the hell they're thinking.

[peternj @ Sep 21st 2007 11:08AM]

I need a new MacPro and an Apple UMPC/Tablet. I don't need another notebook from Apple but if it's very light, has an express card slot that might be interesting. Still after breaking down and buying an iPhone after a disastrous experience with Helio's Ocean I cannot fault Apple. The iPhone is much better than I ever thought it would be and is easily good enough for my needs till it goes 3G or maybe my contract ends. Perhaps this ultra slim notebook with the strange track pad will be another Apple winner. And I'll hate it and then buy it, while waiting for a MacPro Tower!

[Matteo @ Sep 21st 2007 11:09AM]

@peshue
it depends on the processor you put in them. I heard that the new smaller Intel processors develop much less heat. The form factor and design of that image seem to "match" the new Apple trend. Such a computer would be great.
Still open is the question about graphics. MacBook Pros have had graphic cards a long time now (ok, maybe not the best cards for games) while MacBooks have an integrated one (albeit, since last revision, it is slightly better than previous models).

All in all I am looking forward, particularly because of the "aggressive pricing" mentioned in the article. Hope it is true.. I bought my MacBook white less than a year ago (december 2007, you know.. Santa and all that :-) ). But such a model would force me to start putting away my cash for it.

[geekmorgan @ Sep 21st 2007 11:09AM]

I'm just waiting for apple to come out with a 10" or smaller notebook, that can drive a 24" LCD. I'd even buy a first gen product, which I know is the worst thing to do with Apple.

[peterskruger @ Sep 21st 2007 11:14AM]

so that would be the product result of this patent http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/09/revenge-of-apple-patent-attack-giant-laptop-touchpad/ maybe, please? If so, i may have found my G4 replacement.

[Jim Halpert @ Sep 21st 2007 11:16AM]

Ok lets think about this...a slimmer mac ..if it be MB or MBP who knows but I am pretty sure that they will roll out with these in October or by the latest November..Why? Well, Apple as we all know is rolling out an operating system called Leopard..which is a very considerable improvement from Mac OS X...so what else would Apple like to capitalize on for the Holiday Season...Not only kind of over priced ipods...i bought a touch..but also Apple's new OS Leopard...with new and improved and apparently slimmer Mac's ..again who knows if its a MB or MBP my educated guess is that its a MB because intel is releasing new set of chips in November and january mac has there conference and thats when MBP will be released cuz MB are always before MBP..so..just watch this come true!!
later guys

[Anywize @ Sep 24th 2007 4:00PM]

Did you just say MB are always before MBP? Just checking......

[anderesp @ Sep 21st 2007 11:26AM]

ohhhhh Santa....


i know what i want for christmas!

[anderesp @ Sep 21st 2007 11:28AM]

ohhh and does anyone else notice that the picture above is actually a MBP in a black scheme?

how weird.

[jonthedog @ Sep 21st 2007 11:29AM]

"something strange about the touchpad"... How about a right-click button??? Get with the times!

[Geoffrey Sperl @ Sep 21st 2007 11:57AM]

Put two fingers on the touchpad and click.

Was that really that hard?

[Stewart Dean @ Sep 21st 2007 12:00PM]

To right click just switch on the option to use two fingers and you have right click - it also does scroll. Personally I don't use the button at all.

[Barry @ Sep 21st 2007 1:56PM]

The touchpads on Mac laptops negate the need for a left button, let alone a right one. Two-finger right click. Get with the times.

Hint: if you really want to hit a sore spot with Mac owners, rip on the Finder. Nobody gives a shit about the right mouse button.

[wrabbit @ Sep 21st 2007 11:30AM]

Not that I have anything against multi-touch touchpads but where would you find the room to multi-touch on those things? Why not do touch screens? I don't see why a laptop haw to be a tablet to have a touch screen - just have a regular laptop with a touch screen. It's still not as good as a mouse but it's better than a touch pad.

[elblando @ Oct 20th 2007 6:58AM]

"where would you find the room to multi-touch on those things"
Well make them bigger. You probably haven't used a MBP coz then you'd notice that the touchpad is a lot bigger than most. I don't know if there's bigger, but it's the biggest I've used on a laptop.
"regular laptop with a touch screen"
If there's one thing I hate, it's finger prints all over my screen. Bleah.

[burp43 @ Sep 21st 2007 11:30AM]

Think iphone screen in place of touchpad...

[Kozzi @ Sep 21st 2007 11:42AM]

then you get DS-Pro

[hahaoops1 @ Sep 21st 2007 11:34AM]

sure hope it isnt coming out too soon, i just bought a MBP for school about a month ago :*(

[Liam @ Sep 21st 2007 12:40PM]

Good for you. I'm going to Uni in a few weeks, I need something small, light and that won't break on me. If this is cheap and has flash, perfect for me. Not so good for you, but I'm holding out for as long as I can to make sure I don't miss anything.