MacRumors

Intel's processor and chipset codenames have long been a source of confusion, and the adoption of NVIDIA's chipset in the newest MacBooks and MacBook Pros won't help matters.

One of the updates that had been long anticipated for the late 2008 MacBook and MacBook Pro updates has been the adoption of Intel's Montevina platform. This topic got lost with all the recent rumors of hardware redesigns and the adoption of NVIDIA's chipsets.

Despite Apple's migration to NVIDIA chipsets, Apple has still adopted the key advantages of the Montevina platform. This primarily includes a 1066MHz front side bus and the latest Penryn processors. How much of a difference (if any) the higher bus speeds have will have to wait for side-by-side benchmark testing, though the graphics performance of the new NVIDIA GPUs should give the new notebooks a clear graphical advantage.

This likely doesn't change anything for future planning as Apple will certainly adopt Intel's upcoming Nehalem processors over time. Nehalem is expected to offer a dramatic performance boost over existing processors. These next-generation Intel processors will be first launched for servers in Q4 2008, and come to desktop and mobile platforms in 2009.

Meanwhile, Intel confirms that Apple has quietly replaced the processors in the MacBook Air with the latest 45nm Penryn processors.

But new Intel processors did make a debut in the refresh of the MacBook Air. Instead of the Small-Form-Factor (SFF) 65-nanometer Merom chips, Apple has gone with with the more advanced 45-nanometer Penryn SSF processor. Penryn chips typically boast either 3MB or 6MB of cache memory versus the 2MB or 4MB that the older mobile procesors offer. (Cache memory speeds performance.)

The MacBook Air's processors now carry 6MB of cache memory (up from 3MB) and use a more power-efficient design. Apple had previously been using a custom 65-nm Merom chip. Any power savings from the new processors, however, may be offset by the adoption of the NVIDIA graphics card as Apple has not advertised any benefits to the change.

During the Question and Answer session of yesterday's media event, Steve Jobs responded to a number of questions of interest. The Apple Core blog summarizes the answers. Of note:

Blu-Ray - "Its great to watch the movies, but the licensing of the tech is so complex, were waiting till things settle down and Blu-ray takes off in the marketplace."

TouchScreen Display - "so far it hasnt made a lot of sense to us."

Netbook (low cost laptop) - "a nascent market thats just getting started."

While Apple did drop the price of the lowest-end MacBook yesterday to $999, that model retains the old MacBook architecture and casing. Readers should note, however, that the new entry level MacBook ($999) now ships with a SuperDrive. The previous $1099 MacBook contained only a Combo Drive.

Apple's new MacBooks and MacBook Pros have already arrived at retail stores. A forum user posted photos of the Sydney Apple Store setting up the new laptops.

Engadget posts a series of unboxing shots, and both Engadget and Macworld posted their first impressions. We've also gathered a few other notes of interest:

- MacBook is half a pound lighter than previous.
- MacBook Pro is two-tenths of a pound heavier than previous.
- Trackpad is surprisingly usable: "The click feels similar to the traditional button -- though slightly more resistive -- and you're able to do right-clicking by either a two-finger gesture or assigning one of the bottom corners." (Video demo) - Engadget
- "Place four fingers on the trackpad and flick them up, and Expose hides all your windows and exposes the desktop. Flick down with the same four fingers, and Expose shows all windows. Swipe left or right and the application switcher appears." - Macworld
- Kodawarisan has already posted some disassembly photos of the new MacBook.
- The mystery port from the leaked photos is the battery indicator (now on the side)
- The MacBook does not have Firewire
- The MacBook Pro has Firewire 800 (which supports Firewire 400)
- Apple has posted a manufacturing video (QuickTime) of how the new MacBooks are created from a slab of aluminum.
- The $1299 MacBook does not have a backlit keyboard

Gartner has published a preliminary report on U.S. and worldwide PC shipments for the third quarter of 2008. The report pegs Apple's share of quarterly U.S. PC shipments at 9.5%, up from 7.7% in the third quarter of 2007. Apple's U.S. shipments increased 29.4% year-over-year, far outpacing the total industry shipment growth of 4.6%.

Apple traditionally demonstrates particularly solid performance in the back-to-school third quarter due to their strong presence in the education market. While this typically results in a drop in market share for the fourth quarter of each calendar year, Apple's overall trend is clearly positive.

Despite continued strong performance in the U.S. market, Apple has yet to crack the top five vendors for worldwide shipments. Toshiba continues to hold the fifth spot with a 4.6% market share in a worldwide PC market that experienced 15% growth in shipments year-over-year.

Apple has posted the Quicktime video stream of today's Notebook release event. Apple released a number of new products at today's event:

- Apple Announces New MacBook Pros, Updates MacBook Air
- Apple Announces New Aluminum MacBooks
- Apple Introduces 24" LED Cinema Display with Built-in iSight

Most of the pre-event rumors correlated with the announcements. We'll post a detailed rumor wrapup in the next few days.

At their Notebook Media event today, Apple announced new 15" MacBook Pros with improved graphics performance, and glass Multi-Touch trackpads.

Starting at $1,999, the MacBook Pro uses the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors available, running up to 2.8 GHz, and a new graphics architecture that allows users to switch between the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics processor for better battery life and the powerful NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT discrete graphics processor for higher performance.

Features include:

- Unibody enclosure
- Mini DisplayPort for Video out
- Two NVIDIA graphics chipsets: 9400M and 9600M GT
- Instant-on LED-backlit displays
- Glass Multi-Touch trackpad with new Multi-Touch gestures
- User accessible hard drive

The new MacBook Pros will provide the following price points:

- $1999. 15.4" Glossy Display, 2.4GHz, 2GB RAM, NVIDIA 9400M + 9600M, 250GB HD.
- $2499. 15.4" Glossy Display, 2.53GHz, 4GB RAM, NVIDIA 9400M + 9600M, 320GB HD.

More details available at http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/. The new MacBook Pro is available immediately.

Apple also provided a quiet update to the 17" MacBook Pro:

The updated 17-inch MacBook Pro keeps its original aluminum design, and now comes standard with a high resolution 1920 x 1200 LED-backlit display and a larger 320GB hard drive or an optional 128GB solid state drive.

And also upgraded some of the features of the MacBook Air:

MacBook Air, measuring only 0.16-inches at its thinnest point, 0.76-inches at its maximum height and weighing just three pounds, now includes new NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics and a faster architecture to provide robust support for 3D games and enhanced performance. Starting at $1,799, MacBook Air is available with a 120GB 4200 rpm hard drive, a 50 percent increase from the previous generation, or a new 128GB solid state drive.

Photos and Updates

- Photos of MacBook Pro removable hard drive and battery
- MacBook Pro photos/hands on: one, two
- Glass Trackpad impressions: "You'll never accidentally click it while moving your fingers around the trackpad to navigate across your computer. It's resistant enough to not click while you're using it for tracking, but easy enough to click while deliberately clicking."

At their Notebook Media event today, Apple announced two new MacBook models which have adopted new all-metal enclosures, improved graphics performance, and glass Multi-Touch trackpads.

Apple has invented a whole new way of building notebooks from a single block of aluminum. And, just as important, they are the industrys greenest notebooks, said Steve Jobs, Apples CEO. The new MacBooks offer incredible features our users will love like their stunning all-metal design, great 3D graphics and LED backlit displaysat prices up to $700 less than before.

Features include:

- Unibody enclosure
- Mini DisplayPort for Video out
- NVIDIA graphics
- Instant-on LED-backlit displays
- Glass Multi-Touch trackpad with new Multi-Touch gestures

The old low-end $1099 MacBook will remain in Apple's product line, add a SuperDrive, and fall to $999, while the new MacBooks will provide the following price points:

- $1299. 13.3" Glossy Display, 2.0GHz, 2GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, 160GB HD.
- $1599. 13.3" Glossy Display, 2.4GHz, 2GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, 250GB HD.

There appears to be no Firewire port as previously discussed. More details available at http://www.apple.com/macbook/. The new MacBook is currently shipping in 1-3 business days from the online store and should be available in retail stores tomorrow.

Photos and Updates

- MacBook photos/hands on: one, two, three
- Glass Trackpad impressions: "You'll never accidentally click it while moving your fingers around the trackpad to navigate across your computer. It's resistant enough to not click while you're using it for tracking, but easy enough to click while deliberately clicking."

Confirming last minute rumors, Apple introduced their first LED-based Cinema Display today.

The new LED Cinema Display is the most advanced display that Apple has ever made, said Philip Schiller, Apples senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. It is a perfect fit for our sleek new line of aluminum MacBooks with its 24-inch LED-backlit screen, aluminum and glass enclosure, integrated camera, mic and speakers, MagSafe charger, three USB ports and Mini DisplayPort.

The 24" LED Cinema Display adds a built-in iSight video camera, mic and speakers. Other features include:

- Mini DisplayPort
- MagSafe connector that powers and charges your new MacBook.
- Three self-powered USB ports
- 1920x1200 resolution
- LED screen

The new screen is priced at $899 and will be available in November and requires a new MacBook, MacBook Pro or MacBook Air with the Mini DisplayPort connector. More details can be found at http://www.apple.com/displays/

Photos and Updates

- Photos/hands on: one, two, three

Some last minute images showing off the bottom of the new Apple notebook cases and removable battery. Last night, we saw a number of credible details about Apple's expected announcements today:

- More Apple Notebook Details: Clickable Glass Trackpad, GPUs, Pricing
- MacBook Pros with Hybrid SLI, Extra Long Battery? MacBook Announcement?
- Apple's New $899 Product is an LED Display and Not a MacBook

The Apple notebook media event starts at 10AM Pacific, 1PM Eastern. The Apple Store has already gone down for updates. Live keynote coverage can be followed at the following links:

- Gizmodo.com
- Engadget.com
- ArsTechnica
- Macworld

We'll be providing Twitter updates as well as providing summary updates to this news story. MacRumorsLive will return at Macworld San Francisco 2009.

Event Updates

- Event Started. Jobs intros Tim Cook to talk about state of the Mac. 2.5 million Macs sold last qtr. growing 2-3x the rate of the market.
- Cook attributes Mac growth to better computers, software, compatibility (bootcamp), poor Vista reception, Mac v PC ads, and retail stores.
- Jobs intros Jon Ive: challenge of building MacBook Pro both strong and thin. MB Air introed new techniques. Start with 1 pc of aluminum.
- Been working on new Uni-body enclosures.
- Back to Jobs: NVIDIA approached Apple re new chipset. GeForce 9400M. 15 parallel cores. 54 gigaflops.
- MultiTouch Glass trackpad. "silky smooth travel" Entire trackpad a button. 39% larger. new 4 finger gestures. multi-buttons via software.
- New MacBook Pro:glass screen, thin display, connectors on one side, glass trackpad, uni-body enclosure, mini display port, next-gen graphics
- Both GeForce 9400M (integrated) and 9600M GT (discrete) in MBP. 5hrs battery w. 9400M. 4hrs w. 9600M. Battery indicator on side of MBP. (that was the mystery port)
- $1999, 15.4" LED display, 2.4GHz, 2GB RAM. 256MB VRAM, 250GB HD, SuperDrive; $2499, 2.53GHz, 4GB RAM, 512MB VRAM, 320GB HD. SuperDrive.
- MacBook Air update: 9400M in Air. 120GB HD. 128 SSD Option.Same processor speeds as before. mini display port. Also, new 24" LED Cinema Display
- Air prices $1799, $2499. LED Display: $899. Both avail in November. MacBook Pros shipping today. Dropping current MacBook to $999.
- New MacBooks: same features as MBP. Metal enclosure, faster graphics, LED display, glass track pad. $1299, 2GHz; $1599, 2.4GHz; both 13.3"
- MacBooks should be in stores tomorrow. New Apple 24" LED has iSight, speakers, Magsafe to charge notebook, 1920x1200 pixel rez.
- Q/A session: no blu-ray yet, complex licensing issues; glossy only option on laptops "You offset the reflection by the brightness".

Daring Fireball confirms the leaked MacBook Pro photos from earlier this evening and adds some intriguing details about the new notebook.

Specifically, Gruber confirms that the new MacBook Pros will have "buttonless" trackpad which is made of glass. However, it appears the entire trackpad is one large button:

The new trackpad is similar to the Airs, in that it is bigger and supports additional multi-touch gestures. But unlike the Airs, the MacBook Pros new trackpad is made of glass, and is a button itself. You just press and it clicks.

In addition, he confirms what some have suspected -- that the new MacBook Pro is not available in matte-finish, only glossy. 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.

Gruber also confirms that regular MacBooks will be revised and that Engadget's footnote is wrong. The MacBook will contain the same buttonless trackpad and similar case design as the new MacBook Pros. MacBook Airs will be updated with a larger 120GB hard drive and larger 128GB SSD option. He also confirms our report about an $899 24" LED Apple Cinema Display.

CPU speeds are expected to remain about the same across all models, however, the MacBooks will benefit from improved graphics performance with built in NVIDIA 9400M GPUs. MacBook Pros will also contain a dedicated 9600M GT GPU, which should provide a large performance benefit as we've previously detailed.

Finally, Gruber addresses the pricing confusion from today. Apple apparently will only be offering two new MacBook configurations

- $1299: 2.0 GHz, 2 GB memory, 160 GB disk
- $1499: 2.4 GHz, 2 GB memory, 250 GB disk

The existing $1099 2.1GHz MacBook model will apparently remain to fill a $999 price slot but will not have the advantages of the new machines. Gruber was the first to accurately predict the October 14th announcement date for the new Apple notebooks.

MacNN adds more details and confirmation that the leaked MacBook Pro photos are legitimate. They are also able to add a few additional tidbits which tie together some of the circulating reports.

Most noteworthy is that the new MacBook Pro will support Hybrid SLI from NVIDIA. NVIDIA describes the technology:

Hybrid SLI technology, based on NVIDIAs industry-leading SLI technology, delivers multi-GPU (graphics processing unit) benefits when an NVIDIA motherboard GPU is combined with an NVIDIA discrete GPU. Hybrid SLI increases graphics performance with GeForce Boost and provides intelligent power management with HybridPower.

Such a configuration will also be beneficial when Apple introduces OpenCL with Snow Leopard in 2009. OpenCL will allow applications to offload processing to GPUs.

Other features described for the new MacBook Pros include speeds up to 2.8GHz, improved wireless connectivity, 7200 RPM hard drives, HD displays, 128GB SSD option, user-serviceable hard drive and an extra long battery.

MacNN also confirms that Firewire will be a feature reserved for MacBook Pros and the MacBooks will not contain Firewire. However, they do believe that MacBooks will be announced during the event, despite a curious footnote by Engadget indicating otherwise.

Readers should note that the price list represents products currently in-transit to the Apple Store. As a result, those products should have near immediate availability. The low end MacBook appears to be absent from that list, which may mean it will not ship until later. At this point, we don't know what the price of the entry level MacBook will be.

Separately, we have heard that the new DisplayPort technology will support an adapter for Dual-Link DVI to be able to drive existing Apple's 30" monitors.

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.

Engadget posts two photos of what appears to be the new MacBook Pro. The new Macbook Pro has a black bezel similar to the iMac. Also, of note is that there are no buttons on the MacBook Pro trackpad, indicating the use of a "tap" system instead.

...that "metal and glass" enclosure now houses an NVIDIA GPU, but no FireWire 400, and video-out is apparently through a connector "more compact" than MicroDVI.

There are said to be two NVIDIA GPUs inside, indicating both integrated and discrete graphics chipsets.

They have since updated and say that the MacBook and 17" MacBook Pro will not be refreshed tomorrow and that the notebook containts "two full-on NVIDIA GPUs". While no 17" MacBook Pro would not necessarily be a surprise, it's hard to believe the MacBook will not be updated tomorrow.

Update: Confirmed legitimate by AppleInsider.