MacRumors

Apple will be holding a special media event on Tuesday, October 14th at 10AM Pacific in Cupertino, California.

Apple has made it clear that the event will focus on notebook computers. In addition, a leaked Apple support document confirms that "late 2008" MacBooks and MacBook Pros will be amongst the products announced. While there's been no definite word about MacBook Air updates, it seems reasonable to expect that MacBook Airs could also be updated to latest Intel processors.

The October 14th date was first reported by DaringFireball's John Gruber.

MacBooks and MacBook Pros

Apple last updated both the MacBooks and MacBook Pros in February of this year. The MacBook update was a bit of a surprise as the product line had just been refreshed 5 months prior. Rumors suggested that this represented an interim update to keep the MacBook in line with the current Intel processors and that more substantial updates would come later in the year.

AppleInsider first reported in April that the new notebooks would see "major design changes" to bring it closer to the MacBook Air and iMac designs.

Case Leaks

There have been a surprising number of case photo leaks from Taiwanese and Chinese sites over the past few months. The first leak from Apple.pro in July claimed to show a tapered MacBook Pro bottom and top. Though we were initially skeptical of the leak, AppleInsider has confirmed that it is legitimate. Apple.pro later posted photos of the top and bottom of the MacBook cases as well as a a video, though the authenticity of these images are still in doubt.

The most convincing leak came just days ago from MacX.cn. Case images of both MacBook and MacBook Pro were detailed from many different angles and are believed to be real. The images suggest that the MacBook will not include a Firewire port.

Brick, Glass, Two Tone

9to5Mac seems to be standing alone with these rumors, which have not been corroborated by any other sources. After weeks of speculation about the "brick" codename, 9to5Mac believes that this refers to the manufacturing process for the new notebooks. Other claims have included the use of a glass trackpad and the use of both plastic and aluminum to produce a two-tone appearance in the MacBook.

While 9to5Mac has had accuracy with iPod rumors in the past, they were somewhat misguided in their Rainbow iPod rumor.

NVIDIA

Perhaps one of the most welcome changes to the Apple MacBook will be the rumored inclusion of NVIDIA chipsets and GPUs. The NVIDIA chipsets are said to provide a smaller footprint and significantly better graphics performance when compared to Intel's offerings.

Other Possibilities

- $800 Apple Laptop?
- Networked HDTV from Apple
- Blu Ray support from Kevin Rose, though we heard that Rose described his source as a "bad" one during the taping, so didn't offer much confidence in the possiblity
- One image later posted to the MacX.cn photo set depicts what the MacBook Pro would look like with a trackpad and keyboard in place. This is a confirmed Photoshop mockup and does not represent the actual product.
- While there have been reports of Best Buy part lists showing the same price points, we've been told that Best Buy has no knowledge of upcoming Apple products and insert these placeholders based on circulating rumors.
- PCPer.com: MacBook Air shown but not available until January 2009

Apparently, a new MacBook Air will be announced and shown at the event but it won't be available until January 2009. The MacBook and MacBook Pro will be available almost immediately.

Coverage

We'll be providing SMS/Twitter coverage for the event at http://twitter.com/macrumors. To follow MacRumors news stories on Twitter, follow http://twitter.com/macrumorsrss.

We will provide links to live text and photo coverage of the event as it approaches. There is no live video stream available, but Apple will likely post a video online after the event. If you prefer to watch the video without prior knowledge of the announcements you can sign up for Spoiler Free coverage.

The recently leaked MacBook and MacBook Pro case images have spawned a 1400+ post discussion thread. One of the most debated issues is the analysis of the ports on the side of the upcoming Apple laptops. The two laptop enclosures photographed actually show two different port arrangements, which has caused some confusion.

The larger (presumed MacBook Pro) enclosure contains an additional port which is believed to be a Firewire port:

While the Magsafe connector is not shown on this image, the remainder of the ports are believed to be (from right to left): Ethernet, Firewire, USB 1, USB 2, Video Out, Audio Jack, Headphones, Express Slot, and possible additional port (covered by tape).

This photo of the presumed MacBook enclosure shows the following ports from (right to left): Magsafe, Ethernet, USB 1, USB 2, Video Out, Audio Jack, Headphones.

If these images are believed to represent the upcoming machines, that would mean that Apple has eliminated Firewire support from the MacBook (but not MacBook Pro). Firewire (also known as IEEE 1394) is a common method for connecting external hard drives and digital camcorders to Macs. One interesting possibility mentioned, however, is that the newest Firewire specification does allow for the use of Firewire over Ethernet connectors, but Apple would have to specifically support this implementation. If they did, then users could theoretically use Firewire devices using a special adapter to connect to the Ethernet plug.

Other points of debate which have not found any consensus include:

- The exact video out plug standard. Though it may simply be an Apple-proprietary plug that requires a special adapter.
- The presence of a possible additional port on the MacBook Pro enclosure. Some have suggested that this could predict the iMac docking station in which a notebook would slide into an iMac-shaped dock. While the presence of a right sided optical drive would fit nicely with this design, this possibility still seems improbable.

Apple has published a support document (PDF) specifically for the "MacBook/MacBook Pro (Late 2008)" models. Besides the name, the document is not especially revealing. It appears to be a service document when replacing the display on the new MacBooks.

Before installing the replacement display, install the AirPort card on the display assembly. The display assembly does not come with the AirPort card installed.

Apple will be announcing the new MacBook and MacBook Pro on Tuesday, October 14th at a special media event.

MacHome.com.cn has posted a series of higher quality images of the new MacBook and MacBook Pro cases that were originally posted last week. While there had been some doubts about the details of the blurry photo, these new images show every angle of both the MacBook and MacBook Pro cases.

Additional photos depict the left, right, and underside of the cases. A few observations

- The optical drive appears to be on the right side (when facing the laptop)
- All the ports are on the left side (when facing the laptop)
- Case does not appear to be tapered like the MacBook Air
- Power button is in the far top right corner
- Large trackpad like the MacBook Air
- Appears to be "latchless"
- No Firewire port on MacBook?

Appleinsider reports that they have "confirmed" that the new MacBooks will utilize NVIDIA's new MCP79 platform. While Intel will continue to supply the main processor for Apple's notebooks, the underlying support chips will be made by NVIDIA:

Kept uncharacteristically secret by NVIDIA for most of the year, the MCP79 platform is so far considered a substitute for Intel's Centrino 2 "Montevina" platform, offering support for the same 1066MHz front side bus, optional DDR3 memory and PCI Express 2.0 interfaces.

AppleInsider lists several design advantages over Intel's chipset, including:

- Smaller physical size using one chip rather than two
- DriveCache, which uses Flash storage to speed up boot times
- Hybrid SLI which switches from discrete to integrated graphics when battery is low

Apple may or may not choose to take advantage of these technologies, but the option exists. The biggest advantage in using the NVIDIA chipset, however, will be its enhanced graphics capabilities.

NVIDIA is believed to use a new set of GeForce 9300 and 9400 series integrated GPUs which "will theoretically blow past" the Intel integrated graphics chipsets that currently power Apple's MacBooks. Still, the integrated graphics chipsets will lag behind the dedicated ones that are used in Apple's higher-end notebooks. The use of NVIDIA chipsets will also be of importance when Apple releases Snow Leopard, which will be able to offload general processing onto GPUs.

More rumors are trickling out in the days before Apple's notebook media event scheduled on October 14th, 2008.

EdibleApple reports that Kevin Rose revealed a new rumor at a live recording of the Diggnation podcast (not yet available). According to the report Rose said that the new MacBooks will support Blu-Ray drives.

Meanwhile, Jason Calacanis founder of Weblogs, Inc, claims that Apple is working on a networked television.

These LCD HDTVs will be fully networked, with the ability to stream all your iTunes content from your Mac or PC. In fact, Calacanis told me they'll function like a standard TV with an Apple TV box, only without the need for the box.

Weblogs, Inc was the original parent company for Engadget and was sold to AOL for an estimated $25 million in 2005.

Rose was recently quite accurate in his iPod and iTunes predictions for Apple's September event. We've never heard a previous rumor from Calacanis, so it's unknown how accurate his sources tend to be.

With only four days until Apple's "notebook" media event, the rumor mill continues to ramp up.

9to5mac claims that the laptop pictured on Apple's event invitation does not represent the new MacBook. Instead, they believe that the new MacBook will retain an outer plastic design while incorporating an aluminum inner frame. They describe the final product as "two tone" and expect the new MacBook to come in black at a minimum.

Meanwhile, we're confused by the antics of taiwanese site Apple.pro. The site has been the source of multiple case images claiming to be the MacBook Pro and MacBook. The MacBook Pro casing was also "confirmed" to be real by AppleInsider.

The site has now posted a video of what is claimed to be the new MacBook but looks identical to the current MacBook Air with the exception of the name ("MacBook") stamped on the bezel. In fact, the video doesn't even match up with photos they published two days ago which show a similar case, but with the power button in a different location. The video is being mirrored on YouTube video (via Adflow). Due to all these discrepancies, it's hard to accept that this video is legitimate.

All should be revealed on Tuesday, October 14th when Apple will be launching their new laptops at special media event.

Apple has posted a tech note which reveals that some MacBook Pros may be affected by the manufacturing defect reported in July.

At that same time, NVIDIA assured Apple that Mac computers with these graphics processors were not affected. However, after an Apple-led investigation, Apple has determined that some MacBook Pro computers with the NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics processor may be affected.

Apple states that the company will repair affected MacBook Pros within two years of the date of purchase free of charge, even if the MacBook Pro is out of warranty.

Symptoms of affected units include:

- Distorted or scrambled video on the computer screen
- No video on the computer screen (or external display) even though the computer is on

Affected systems were manufactured between May 2007 and September 2008 and could 15" and 17" MacBook Pros with NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics processors. Apple specifically lists the following models:

- MacBook Pro (17-Inch, 2.4GHz)
- MacBook Pro (15-Inch, 2.4/2.2GHz)
- MacBook Pro (Early 2008)

Repair and contact information is listed in the technote.

Apple has invited media to a special "notebook" event on Tuesday, October 14th. BoingBoing analyzed the laptop pictured on the invitation and concluded that it was likely a picture of the rumored 13" Aluminum MacBook.

It's hard to tell from the gloomy marketing shot, but the Apple logo is about 1.5 inches wide on my MacBook Pro. From that, this machine would appear to be under 13 inches wide, which would suggest a 13.3" diagonal. The edges, however don't look at all like the MacBook Air.

The existing MacBooks also come in 13" screen sizes but are housed in a plastic enclosure. This assumes, of course, that the laptop on the invitation is an actual photograph and has not been otherwise altered. This finding is also consistent with circulating rumors and leaked photos that suggest the MacBook and MacBook Pro lines will be consolidated under a similar design.

Meanwhile, Planetamac.es appears to have taken the leaked images and composited them into a mockup of what the new MacBook may look like.

Engadget and Gizmodo have posted the invite for the Apple media event which will take place on October 14th at Apple's campus in Cupertino at 10AM PST. The invite simply reads:

The spotlight turns to notebooks.

Apple has been rumored to be delivering new MacBooks and new MacBook Pros this month. A number of leaked photos have been circulating -- some of which are believed to be real.

Apple appears to be trying to make it easy for developers to learn about iPhone programming. Apple has launched a set of free iPhone developer tech talks across the world.

Don't miss this unique opportunity. The event is free, but space is limited.

Apple technology evangelists and engineers will soon be traveling the globe bringing iPhone development expertise to a city near you. Learn about the tools and technologies you'll use to create great iPhone applications, then work with the experts to optimize your code, refine your user interface, and apply the knowledge you gain from the sessions to enhance the capabilities of your iPhone application.

The 12-hour traveling sessions offer lectures on Objective C, iPhone User Interface Design, Game Development and much more.

The first scheduled talk is on October 22nd in San Francisco, with additional U.S. sessions scheduled for Los Angeles, Austin, Chicago, New York and Seattle. International locations include cities in Europe, India and Asia Pacific.

The Inquisitr claims that some Apple retailers have already been given price lists for Apple's upcoming laptops and that there are 12 price points ranging from $800 to $3100. Current laptops are said to have only have 8 retail price points: 3 Macbooks (starting at $1099), 3 Macbook Pros and 2 Macbook Airs.

There has been speculation that Apple could be dropping prices of their MacBooks ahead of an economic downturn, though analysts predicted the drop would only go as far as $999 (from $1099). An $800 MacBook would represent a $300 drop from the current low-end.

While The Inquisitr has no prior track record with Apple rumors, the owner of the site and author of the report is a relatively established blogger. One potential cause for doubt is that their source claims that "retail outlets usually get the price lists 10 days before products hit the market" which is not true. Historically, price lists have appeared as early as a few days ahead of launch. The longest lead time in recent memory was about four days prior to a Monday iMac launch.

As a result, it might be feasible that (assuming this is true) these rumored product lists could foretell of announcements as early as next week. If so, then we'll likely hear further confirmation from other retail sources shortly.

An Apple.Pro blog has posted three small images of what appear to be a new MacBook case. The casing resembles the MacBook Pro case image leaked earlier today, but clearly represents a smaller screened laptop. Absent are the speaker grills of the earlier image.

From above, the keyboard view is nearly identical to the current MacBook Air case design, but the side shots reveal that it is not simply a MacBook Air case. The new laptop appears to have the larger trackpad found on the MacBook Air. The left side of the case (when facing the computer) houses all the ports as depicted in the earlier photo. Meanwhile, the right side carries a slot for the optical drive.

Apple.pro has been responsible for a couple of other case photos (MacBook Pro, MacBook) in the past few months, and the MacBook Pro one is believed to be real. Today's post however, appears to be from a different blogging account than the previous images.

Engadget publishes what appears to be a MacBook Pro casing possibly consistent with rumors that the new Apple laptops would use a new manufacturing process.

Update: The image was first posted to our forums and originated at a Chinese forum.

With the October 14th date quickly approaching, some are speculating that it may be too late to expect an Apple event to be held on that date. That's not to say that Apple can't release new laptops without a media event.

Most of Apple's laptop refreshes have been simple press-release updates that have not triggered full media events. Though, if the recent rumors of radical new case designs are to be believed, one would think that Apple will want to showcase the new laptops to the media.

A rumor posted earlier this month from tw.apple.pro, however, claimed that there would be no October 14th event and the earliest we should expect updates is November.

We're still not sure what to make of Apple.pro. The Taiwanese blog previously posted photos claiming to be of the new MacBook Pro and new MacBook. While the site has not yet established a reliable track record, Appleinsider claimed their leaked MacBook Pro image was authentic.