MacBook / MacBook Pro rumor roundup
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted Oct 12th 2008 7:53PM
posted Oct 12th 2008 7:53PM
First up, there are new -- and quite detailed -- pictures out of what appears to be those MacBook and MacBook Pro casings we saw during the week. Again, we can't 100 percent confirm that these are the real deal, but they certainly have that Air-meets-MacBook hybrid quality to them that would suggest we're looking at the next iteration of the line.
Secondly, Apple has gone and published a support document for the "MacBook/MacBook Pro (Late 2008)" -- which suggests (gasp!) that there might be some late 2008 refreshes in our future. Oh really? Weird.
Rounding out the excitement, AppleInsider "confirms" the rumor that the new MacBooks will jettison the integrated Intel graphics which earlier models have used in favor of NVIDIA's MCP79 platform. The GPUs apparently use a new set of GeForce 9300 and 9400 chips that will make previous performance look archaic by comparison. Additionally, according to hotshot Mac rumor specialist Kevin Rose, the new systems will support Blu-ray drives, thus finally allowing you to watch season 4 of Lost the way the lord intended it.
As with all rumors, you can never really know which one of these is going to stick, but luckily we won't have to wait very long to get to the bottom of it. In the meantime, feel free to peruse the various links below and soak in the sweet, sweet gossip.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Read - Leaked MacBook / MacBook Pro casing photos
Read - Apple Document Confirms MacBook/MacBook Pro (Late 2008)
Read - Apple dumping Intel chipsets for NVIDIA's in new MacBooks
Read - Kevin Rose drops MacBook Blu-Ray Rumor at Live Diggnation event
Apple fails at keeping secrets
or apple intentionally fails at keeping secrets, it's funny how much buzz there can be around apple "leaking" a support document and then quickly taking it off their site, was it just to confirm the update of their notebooks that they put it online or did someone f up
They are crying all the way to the bank.
Balls, learn to NASDAQ.
@"Balls":
Everyone's stock has fallen a lot lately. And I mean everyone. Technology has done the worst, but it's all of them; Apple, Google, RIM, etc. But, I'm optimistic that the market will rebound.
Look at Apple's stock in the past week. Since these rumors came out, they've gone up. Correlation? I think so.
Apple's stock is based a lot on hype. Hype is what drives the company. Hype makes everyone excited for the next iPhone/iPod/Macs, and what drives hypes? Rumors. Thus, all of these "rumors" may or may not be legit, but it still drives the stock.
Take a look at Macworld '08. A LOT of hype building up to it. iPhone this, iPod that, and when Macworld ended, Apple didn't match the hype with it's releases. Thus, the stock price plummeted. You'll notice after Tuesday that if Apple releases the necessary products to match the hype, then the stock will go up.
@Balls
Share prices have nothing to do with "investors". They are determined by "traders". Yeah. The guys and gals you see on CNBC with blue coats on the floor. Trading is done using borrowed money and credit and since there is a credit crunch, these traders have no option but to offload their "holdings" in Apple. Sometimes massively and at dirt cheep prices.
"Investors" are interested in stuff like "dividends" not the price of the stock. The Credit Outlook for Apple was downgraded not because Apple as a company is doing bad, but consumer market is doing worse. So on Thanksgiving, if the choice is between a Turkey Dinner for the family (Food) and iPod nano (Luxury) then the Turkey Dinner will win hands down. This is not a good news for Apple.
""Investors" are interested in stuff like "dividends" not the price of the stock."
Exactly, and Apple continues to screw company owners by NOT PAYING DIVIDENDS.
Apple is not a struggling startup that's pumping every dollar of revenue into R&D or capital expenditures. Therefore, there's no excuse for not paying dividends. Look at any reference tome on investing, and the refrain is the same: The best long-term investments have always been companies that PAY DIVIDENDS.
Pretending that the stock would go up forever was stupid. Anyone with a brain knew it then, and boy does everyone know it now.
@ryan:
you don't think that insurance companies and Banks have taken the biggest loss? I mean, sure, 30% from RIM, 30% from Apple, and simillar drops in most tech companies is awful, but just look at where the economic issues are. L bros, AIG, WaMu, all failed. Apple isn't showing any signs of collapsing, nor does it need government aid.
oh, and as while I don't fancy Mac OS, I am a fan of Apple hardware design, and an $800 9300gs laptop sounds perfect for windows+linux. I'm psyched.
Jobs once said he pays no attention to the stock price. There's a good reason for that - AAPL relates to the actual performance of the company only in the long run. Like a yearly average. If you look at the daily roller-coaster ride that is AAPL, correlation with the companies fortunes is next to zero. AAPL investors are about as rational as a headless chicken.
@Information Central
Well Said. That's why Apple shares are doing so bad, since shares of companies that don't pay dividends perform really well in a Bull Market and terribly in a Bear Market. FYI, I think, Apple used to pay dividends till 1995 or something,
@ M, Joseph,
If the leaks were intensional, Apple won't have shut down ThinkSecret and the many articles here. I know there's a marketing strategy that uses anticipation to build hype, but Apple like to just drop the bomb.
@ All discussing about stock,
Please. Investing in any stock is all about valuation and nothing about hype. Any transaction is a buy and a sell. Someone made a better decision, and someone made a wrong decision. Obviously, the one who did more homework wins. People who buy or sell on hype are just gambling. Apple's prices fell partly because of the economic meltdown, partly because of worrying over Steve's health, and partly because of analysts were estimating that Apple will not meet its 08 target by a big margin. Come October's Q4 report, we'll know more. Keep in mind, at current price, 20+% of the stock price is cash. Not liquidated Apple assets. Cash. But why bother punching your calculators when there's more fun speculating or crying hype foul on stocks, right?
@ Seth: "What drives hype?" - A Hyper-Drive. Have you never seen any Sci-Fi?
@liin, this is Engadet. Your facts are not welcome here.
well i got one for the get back to school thingy or whatever. im glad i got a pro. they dont seem to be changed to much. but if i would have gotten a MB i would have been pretty mad
bleh. I was hoping they'd opt for some comparable ATi cards instead of the nVidia 9xxx series for the macbook pros ...
.
.
Cool -- the low end Macbooks are shaping up to be not only a good deal, but better-looking, too. The economy's sure not convincing me I need to run right out and buy anything new and expensive though.
I know, same here. But Apple, on the other hand, does a pretty good job at convincing me to run out and buy the new MacBook like, TWO days ago. I need one without this X3100 POS.
i think that all this rumours are getting confimerd on tuesday
I heard a rumor that every rumor we've heard was just a rumor.
pfft, that's only a rumor
It appears the magnetic closing is coming to the Pro....I hate the latch on my Pro
me too. the button seems kind of fragile compared to the magnet on the Macbook. the whole latch thing on the Macbook Pro feels out of place and sloppy. it doesn't even close evenly.
Does this mean the new Macbook will be impossible to open without a James Bond style laser watch?
If its like all their other "no screwing" products, it usually involves a hair dryer and box cutter.
Umm these look exactly the same as current day Cases. IF they are, then why post about it? Not trying to start a flame war, but come on. Do we need a thousand posts about this? I could see if Apple drastically changed the design, but its no different. If Asus leaked a case design for another Eee Pc would we have a hundred post about it? didnt think so
they dont look anything like the current MacBook / Pro lines....unless you consider the current pro the same simply based on being aluminum. Everything about that pic is different. Better looking speaker holes, Different keyboard, magnetic latch.....
We DO have a hundred posts on the EEE PC. One for every model of EEE.
Imagine what it would be like if they found and posted leaks for every model of Eee.
Well, there's probably no USEFUL change, like a real Delete key.
No they don't. First, the macbook case is aluminum. Second, if you actually go to the source site you will see that the macbook pro has the cut out keys and they are black like the air, it also has laser cut speaker holes which are much sleeker, not to mention that it is thinner than the current gen.
@corey
rly? speaker holes
Why is this important? It's the same as the Mac Book Pro people have now Just different Spec.
probably because ...hmm.. it ISNT just the macbook pro? it's an aluminum macbook.
I remember when new Apple products were totally unexpected. While I love these rumors and would love to see more, they make the eventual release of the hardware somewhat...less exciting.
Oh well, small price to pay for awesomeness.
let's hope Steve pulls a fast one on us and shows something out of left field.
please sell me a tablet
They are crying all the way to the bank.
you like that phrase, don't you?
not that it doesnt perfectly describe this situation.
I like the phrase. I hate engadget's inability to allow for comment deletions when accidentally making a comment instead of reply to one. A preview button would also work.
Well I don't trust nVidia mobile chipsets, I use Firewire in my macbook and love the look of the white one. So i'm glad I got mine two weeks ago if the rumors are true.
2.4Ghz is good for me and I'll upgrade the ram at some point. I would have prefered them going ATI and perhaps AMD (its cheaper). I had a X2 2.0 GHZ in my old laptop and Vista is only slightly faster on the Macbook with 2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo.
Sure the X3100 could be faster, but I have dedicated gaming pc and an xbox and X3100 runs Aero fine and light gaming.
X2 over Core 2 Duo? Lawlers. You make me laugh. Core 2 beats the life out of anything AMD has out right now. And while ATI is catching up to Nvidia in the hardware department, they will need to get better drivers before anyone loves them quite like we used to.
Actually, ATI surpassed nVidia in the highest end too, with the 4870x2.
You're forgetting about the LED screens. That is whats going to make these new MacBooks 100x more superior than the current models.
All you do is look at some benchmarks, I have had both and there is only a slight increase in speed in the Intel, and not worth the price. Today doing video editing took forever on the Intel, and not that much better than my AMD. 2GB was in both. Startup is faster, but marginally. Can't do serious gaming on the macbook anyways, I don't see why not use AMD... the price is so much better and you are OVERLY EXAGGERATING the speed benefits on Intel which really have MORE TO DO with the Quad Core line ups.
And perhaps nVidia is faster, but why would you want faster when their whole 8000 series line up is failing. And I suggested ATI since its faster than what Intel has to offer.
Yes I will agree the LED backlit will be nice, but honestly I'd rather want quality. I sold the replacement HP I got because of the bad customer service and quality on it (WiFi Failed, known issue with extended warranty on alot different HP Laptops). So in buying a laptop, I bought a brand that still has US Technical Support on first pick up, better customer satisfaction and quality than most and I looked at the parts such as avoiding nVidia. nVidia needs to show their current chips are okay before I trust them again, because even Microsoft showed that nVidia is reponsible for 25%+ of Vista crashes, so your JARGON about ATI Drivers being bad is way off when ATI/AMD has less crashes.
the more you type the less intelleigent you seem.
some things are based on facts.......core2duo >x2 >coreduo
nvidia 280 gtx > any single card ati offering
yes nvidia had some problems with drivers when vista first came out but if you truly think ati's drivers are better then you need to get you head checked for a little bug known as BFD( Blind
Fanboy Disorder) One last thing, the overheating problem with nvidias mobile gpu's only affected the 8600 series ( which if why apple is offering to replace/repair any MBP with a 8600 in it
the more you type the less intelleigent you seem.
some things are based on facts.......core2duo >x2 >coreduo
nvidia 280 gtx > any single card ati offering
yes nvidia had some problems with drivers when vista first came out but if you truly think ati's drivers are better then you need to get you head checked for a little bug known as BFD( Blind
Fanboy Disorder) One last thing, the overheating problem with nvidias mobile gpu's only affected the 8600 series ( which if why apple is offering to replace/repair any MBP with a 8600 in it
Don't call me an idiot when YOU CAN NOT READ.
I never once said the X2 was faster than the Core 2 Duo. I did say the difference is not as big as you and others make it seem.
In addition, regarding ATI Drivers. I'm not blind. I have several computers in the house, and have no issues with ATI under Vista. Further its funny you finally admit that nVidia has a host of Vista Driver issues but somehow ATI which never did initially (as my first Vista computer had ATI) does now... makes no sense.
Also The Register out of the UK said all 8000 series chips were faulity, which Engadget reported on as well. Also nVidia is being sued by it own shareholders for withholding information about faulty chips for "8 Months".
I think this leaked photos are from the 13 and 15 inches macbooks.
the macbook pro will be very different, i don't see why make them so similar without merging lines, and i don't see why merge lines when people will pay 100 dlls just for the PRO suffix.
Well, one could consider mid-October 2008 as "Late 2008".
You can also call December 31st late 2008 too.
I, too, think the late 08 models are just the ones that would be announced on Tuesday. So, you people who actually believe Apple would introduce new models come December after October 14th's line up, go ahead, low rank me.
If they really get rid of the firewire port on Macbooks there's going to be plenty of pissed off people (Like me) that will have their audio interfaces become useless... that strikes me as one really stupid decision as most pro-audio interfaces are firewire based.
I guess it's macbook pro then...
You obviously don't have a Macbook Pro or you'd already know that is already happening with existing models. Or at least with their batteries. On my 3rd one in 2 years.
Who gives a shit? Why all the jizz loaded fanboy Apple love on engaget now?
You must be new here, or...
How hard is it NOT to click the link, NOT to read the article, NOT to press the "comment" button...?
"I care!"
- Luke Skywalker
Anyone notice that the distance from the bottom row of keys to the front edge on the new macbook looks bigger by about an inch larger than the current macbook?
looks like its a 15 inch model...it looks wider too...
Yawn on the new MacBooks.....
Err.. that's a bezel. That's not a MacBook.
You mean you're yawning on something that you don't know anything about yet? You sure are smart, mister.
I'm excited, I've been holding off on a new laptop purchase for about 6 months now, hoping that Apple will update the MacBook Pro. Hopefully it's worth the wait! As long as I can play Civilization IV on it, I'm good on the gaming side. I hope it doesn't take too long to switch from being a windows user for the past 20 years to a Mac user.
Say what you will about the iPod and iPhone, but those two items convinced me to hold off on my new notebook purchase to see what else Apple can throw at me. If not for those two devices that I own and love, I probably would have never thought of buying an Apple computer.
Am I the only one who can't stand the keyboard set up like that? I can't stand typing on the new macbooks or macbook air. And now they're just carrying over the same design to the mbp. It looks like i'll be keeping my current mbp for quite a while.
yes, you are the only one...
Confirmed. Chris is the only one.
im thinking about getting a mac even if new ones come out I wouldn't mind getting the one that is out now, but if new ones come out what happens to the old ones already manufactured? do the prices lower down or do they just stop selling them?
they sell them till they are gone, dumbass. You don't need an overpriced overhyped Mac.
yeah the old models get marked down and the new models come in at the same pricepoint of the old models when they were new
I couldn't care if Apple created the world's first foldable, paper thin laptop that can roll up into a tube and has a virtual 3D display that hovers over the rolled out pad that gets 26 hours of battery life.
As long as Apple has one of the world's shittiest warranty's out there where I have to drop off my laptop and it sits on the shelf until they get to it, meanwhile I have no computer. Until they implement a tier of next business day support where someone comes to ME to do the repair work Jobs can take his iHype of the month and jam it up his ass.
Gateway of all companies. gateway will even send a tech out to you to repair your system. Yet Apple who has one of the most expensive warranties on the market doesn't do this. Premium brand my ass.
Wow! I am sorry to hear that you've had such a bad experience with Apple. I've been a Microsoft user since the get-go and have had almost zero Mac time, but I've been considering a MacBook Pro. If these experiences are genuine and have been shared by others I am less inclined to make that platform leap.
If Windows fouls up, I usually can fix it. I use computers for learning and entertainment, I've learned by trial and error, no computer science degree, so I'm familiar with most of the problems associated with Microsoft.
Mac is all new to me. So if there are problems with software I will be lost lol. I understand that the problems you've stated are hardware related, which is really more of a hassle, especially in a notebook, but my PC hardware has rarely failed on me, across brands, Dell, Gateway, Sony, WD, Intel, all have worked great for me. I just don't want to buy a Mac only to get a few software headaches associated with learning along with hardware issues.
Dunno. Apple warranty has worked pretty well for me in the past. I'd say service is actually one of the best out there, which is reflected in the fact Apple has the highest ownership satisfaction ratings of any computer manufacturer. You do have to pay for the 3 yr warranty, but it's international and honored around the world.
PS: Don't know about Gateway (wait... Gateway??), but my experience with Dell 24 hour on location service was this: Dell laptop DOA. Service guy arrives at the door next day. Determines logic board is blown, laptop gets sent back to Dell. A new, working one arrives a week later. Total downtime: 1 week. Meanwhile, I had bought an Acer which was still a lot cheaper than me taking 5 days off...
Whoa..John Doe-boy. easy guy..You got a history with Mac? Its just a computer.
Yah my history is 4 repairs the first year. (motherboard, motherboard, sleep module, fan.) they then replaced the system outright when the depot over torqued the screw and I couldn't upgrade the HD. Year two was 2 repairs. (motherboard for audio port that would stick with digi audio on and disable the internal speakers, motherboard for bad memory port) This year was 1 repair that I'm waiting on. I dropped off my MBP Thursday to replace the optical drive because it lost the buring capabilities. All told over the last 3 years Apple has had my MBP over a month total. then there are the crashes that stopped after 10.4.7 came out. Crashes that started up again on 10.5 but things finally got better in that regard.
going into the Mac I was told my multiple Mac users the experience is so much better then on Windows. I haven't found this to be the case. the one thing I do like about the Mac are some of the unique apps on the platform. However the countless headaches I've run across, example. WIFI dropping my connection and the only way to regain it was to reboot the system outright, makes me think that either A. Too many people are drinking the kool aid. or B. I have the reverse of what many people have on Windows. Where all they have are problems? Well I never had many problems, but I was getting sick of MS's bullshit. So I went Mac. I regret it. Nothing but problems.
Hmm. Not counting my Macs before Jobs' return, I've had an CRT iMac, eMac, Intel iMac, and currently Mac Pro plus my wife's MacBook. I had 3 problems. My eMac's CRT, all of a sudden, was out of alignment. Repair was a week. My wife's MacBook's HD went dead. No data rescue. Replacement was two hours. I had that well-known WiFi signal dropping after upgrading my Mac Pro to Leopard. I cursed Apple for months for not updating with any fix. I finally gave up and replaced my old Express (b/g) with new Extreme (n-enabled) so I can connect via a 20ft ethernet cable. And found out I didn't need the cable. The replacement fixed my WiFi issue. Two were hardware issue, and one was compatibility/driver issue. The OS itself was problem free. These are unpleasant. But.
Not counting my DOS experience, I had years with Win95,98,NT,2000. Between DOS and 95, I was on AmigaOS. I'm still on Win2k. On Windows side, all my machines, desktops and laptops were from IBM. I don't have those exaggerated stereotypes of crashing few times a day, but I do have frequent frustration with endless nights trying to locate problems but ended up going through the recovery process. Granted, I have no experience with XP. But I think NT was the most stable, XP won't have bring me a better experience.
So I guess everyone's experience do differ a lot.
"hotshot Mac rumor specialist Kevin Rose"
Ummm....remember the iPhone?
Dead wrong...
Rember the 3rd gen fat nano ..............DEAD ON!
Remember his information on iTunes 8 features? DEAD ON.
I "Hate" my Chapped Lips.
My new ad for Engadget.
haha well put.... well put...
APPL will be hit the hardest of all of the Techs in this Downturn. No company has Benefited more from Disposable Cash over the last 5 years than Apple.
I am sorry you bet against AAPL, however they are currently trading at an insane discount, having $25/share in cash on hand and a business that's on a steep up slope.... I am gobbling up all I can afford... ;)
Why do you hate your Monez?
I just received my refurb'd MacBook Tuesday; just the base model. So far, I'm absolutely loving it. I'm not entirely sold on the MacBook Air aluminum look. The MacBook Pro looks slick, but the tampered edges don't really do it for me. Not to mention if you google MBP or flickr it, you'll see plenty of dents or dings in the casing. Not exactly more durable if you ask me.
I still have a week after Tuesday's announcement to return my MB, which might happen ... but it depends on specs really. So far it looks like *yawn* the same thing many people have talked about for what, THE LAST 3 MONTHS?
Tapered (edges).
gah! you know what I mean :( Not tampered!
Hi, can anyone tell me how long after the talk on Tuesday will it take for the new laptops to hit the stores? I am getting a new one for work, and can hold of for a little while, but if it it going to take months, then I won't bother waiting. thanks, C
More pictures here http://www.mactropolis.com/rumors/new-macbook-and-macbook-pro-spy-shots-surface/ ;]
Did anyone look at the pics on the first "Read" link? What is the round hole at the front left of the case? Its present on both sizes of cases, and I can't figure out what it is. Also, it looks like the pro has something next to that mysterious round hole. It looks like an IR port, but that would make no sense. Perhaps a fingerprint reader, but being on the side would be something unique, to say the least.
Also, to everyone worried about losing firewire, its not going away its simply changing to a FW800 (maybe 3200) port. You will need to use a cable or adapter to use a 400 cord.
Good job! You understood Apple's marketing idea!
I agree with Corey. The latch on the MacBook Pro is poorly engineered. I need to raise the MacBook to the vertical so i can engage the latch to open the lid. Any improvement on that would be welcome.
^ wtf is ftl?
The MacBook (which I have) keyboard really rubs me the wrong way. I am more apt to miss some keys with it (my smileys sometimes end up like "-)", and it appears to be essentially non-removable unless you want to tear your notebook apart (which I learned when disassembling my iBook for repair is by no means a simple task). I don't believe the keys are even removable, so if you spill some soda or something into them that causes a key to stick, it won't be an easy cleaning....
^ urbandictionary is your friend...
i hope they add HDMI sockets this time! plus a smaller 13" macbook pro would be nice too!
Yes it's in just one piece, check it out - http://peekablog.net/2008/10/new-macbook-2008/