Not that we wouldn't eventually expect a 2.6GHz MacBook, but Apple's Hot News site is running this promo that references a new, upgraded model of the laptop (which right now only reaches 2.4GHz). Our take? We're thinking typo, not premature announcement.

[Thanks, Matthew and fr]

Whoops! Apple's gone and leaked its brand new aluminum MacBook and redesigned MacBook Pros to the interblogs. Yeah, it seems old Jobsy has really loosened the binds over in Cupertino -- he doesn't care what gets out these days. No, but seriously, some cats on the internet supposedly discovered a .Mac page which appears to display mockups (or actual product renderings) for a new line of laptops, as well as adverts for iTunes 8 and iPhones in the 32GB variety (for Australia, naturally). Of course, this is wild, crazy, unfounded speculation, and likely has no basis in reality at all. Then again, you never know... stranger things have happened. Steve, we await your takedown requests. See full pages for yourself in the gallery after the break.

Update: Looks like MacRumors got duped by its own forum members -- these are fan-made mockups. Oh well, at least we can dream.

[Thanks, al and sleuth]

It looks like that would-be class action lawsuit over the quality of MacBook and Macbook Pro screens has fizzled out to nothing, as the plaintiffs have quietly settled. Although it's technically true that the 6-bit screens can't actually display millions of colors at the same time, apparently the two photographers who filed the suit had a difficult time finding other people who had bought MacBooks based on the advertised color depth of the display -- and from what we're told, you just can't have a "class action" without a "class." Even still, we hope someone at Apple was paying attention to how much interest the case generated at the outset -- although MacBook Pro screens generally look fine to us, we've seen some awful MacBook screens in our day.

Oklahoma Christian University? Sure as hell (woops) haven't heard of it either, but they must be the Cal to Abilene Christian University's Stanford (or sub your fav rivalry here) as they seem ready to pony up the cash necessary to fund the next free-gear-to-students publicity stunt. This time the offering is not only an iPod touch or iPhone, but a new MacBook as well -- and to sweeten the deal, current students can trade their machines in for a new one. Your tuition (and tithing) dollars hard at work, OCU parents, students, and alumni.

We know, we're getting tired of Apple Blu-ray rumors as well -- they're right up there with refreshed Cinema Displays in terms of rumor persistence -- but until Steve and the gang actually shove a drive into a machine we're stuck with them. The latest says that Apple is actively pressing Sony for slot-loading BD-R drives but quality control issues are gumming up the plan. Reportedly, this latest ho-hum MacBook Pro refresh was to feature BD-R drives, but all Sony could muster up were Blu-ray / DVD±RW drives, which Apple refused. That seems a little odd, frankly -- now that the format war is over and the competition's already shipping mid-range laptops with slot-load BD-R drives, you'd think Apple would want to cash in that Blu-ray Disc Association membership card with whoever can supply the drives. As always, we'll see when we see -- it's gotta happen sometime, right?

[Image courtesy of dadako.com]

We all knew this day was coming. Apple's previous MacBook Pro revision was certainly getting long in the tooth, a MacBook spec bump never hurt anything, and hey, Penryn isn't getting any younger. Still, it's pretty obvious that quite a few of the Apple faithful feel like the MacBook Pro and its cute little MacBook sidekick are in some serious need of a form factor refresh, and perhaps a little bit of SSD. We can understand Apple not wanting to steal the MacBook Air's thunder, and to be fair most major manufacturers put the new Penryn chips inside existing form factors, but that doesn't mean it's wrong for you to be upset. So, how do you really feel?

We've always heard that Apple deliberately sends out misinformation to distract the rumor sites, and it looks like that may actually be true -- check out these shots of the Future Shop inventory system, listing the upcoming MB402LL/A and MB403LL/A SKUs from Apple as being priced at CA$1149 and CA$1349, respectively. That's MacBook pricing, if we had to make a guess -- but remember that earlier Best Buy shot that showed a box size of 17 inches square, which is way bigger than any non-Pro MacBook. So, to recap: there are definitely new Apple laptops coming soon, but we have almost no idea what kind -- based on product cycles, we'd say it's the MacBook Pro, but signs point to the MacBook as well. Confused yet? Yeah, we thought so -- but hopefully answers are coming soon.

Our tip jar, it brings us so much joy -- and it brings you, dear reader, this printout of what's purported to be the Best Buy database listing for one of those heretofore-unknown MacBook model numbers. You'll note that whatever MB402LL/A turns out to be, it's said to be in stock on March 2nd, which is just a few days away -- but also note that current MacBook Pros have MA-series model numbers, while the regular MacBook has traditionally carried the MB designation. That's interesting, but we doubt a $1,999 MacBook is about to surface -- besides, the current MacBook box is 15 inches square, smaller than the 17 inches listed here. (Yes, we measured.) As always, we'll see when we see -- come on Tuesday, you're almost here.

Although Apple has said that it's still on track to ship 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008, it looks like that rumor about scaled back production may have been true after all: several analysts are now reporting that the company's pulled back iPod touch, iPhone, and MacBook production for Q1. Of course, Apple is known for managing its channel inventory pretty ruthlessly, so it's not known if this is a permanent decrease or just a reaction to what some analysts are calling "overbuilding" in Q4, but there is some good news out there -- strong sales of the iMac have led to a forecasted 35 percent production increase. You know, the last time the economy soured, Steve promised that Apple would "innovate out" of the downturn -- we'd say some new MacBook Pros would be a fine start this time around, eh?

[Via X-bit Labs, thanks Mack]

We've definitely been curious about the difference sticking an SSD would make in the MacBook Air's otherwise average performance and battery life, and it looks like the answer is a resounding "meh." The crew at Ars Technica ran an SSD-equipped Air through a battery of tests, and found that while the increased random disk read / write speeds and slightly faster processor led to a minor overall speedup and less pinwheeling, the dramatically lower sequential read/ write speeds of the SSD made things essentially a wash. What's worse, battery life -- where the SSD should have shone -- was decidedly mediocre. Ars was able to coax the SSD model in to lasting 29 minutes longer than the HDD version they tested, but on average the SSD-equipped MBA didn't have the juice to last any longer than the HDD model, getting to about 2 hours and 31 minutes before petering out. All said, Ars says the extra $1300 for the SSD MacBook Air just isn't worth it -- but c'mon, you know that's not stopping the people who are buying Airs in the first place.

[Via Digg]