Apple Notebook Media Event October 14th.

By crazzyyfool
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Grand Master

crazzyyfool

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nvidia_macbook.jpg

With a new MacBook announcement now just days away, speculation is unsurprisingly at a fever pitch as to exactly what Apple in store, and the folks at PC Perspective have now pieced together a few clues to whet your appetite in anticipation of the big event. Most of those are drawn from mounting evidence from the NVIDIA camp, including the image above that made an appearance on the company's website a few days ago and, most importantly, word that NVIDIA would be releasing its GeForce 9400 and 9300 chipsets based on the MCP79 integrated chipset design on October 15th (conveinently not stepping on Apple's toes the day before). The implication there being that the GeForce chipsets would replace the relatively underpowered integrated Intel graphics on the current MacBooks, with the new MacBook Pros supposedly getting an additional boost from a discrete G92-based mobility GeForce 9600. As PC Perspective points out, if true, that would be quite a coup for NVIDIA, especially considering that it wasn't all that long ago some were talking about it quitting the chipset business altogether.

Source: Engadget via PC Perspective

Grand Master

crazzyyfool

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MacX.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"

Edited by kraized
Grand Master

crazzyyfool

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The pics that are leaked only show the top and sides of the case. The bottom part of the case is separate and may be tapered like in the screenshot pic.

Grand Master

Ambroos

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Well it's confirmed that both macbooks and pros are getting refreshed. http://download.info.apple.com/Apple_Suppo.../073-1223-A.pdf

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Doesn't say very much asides from the fact that there is gonna be a new MacBook...

Grand Master

crazzyyfool

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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:

035124-mbp_425.jpg

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).

035124-mb_425.jpg

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. 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.

Grand Master

crazzyyfool

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Today is the day...

2008-10-13mbpleak-4.jpg

2008-10-13mbpleak-5.jpg

Well, maybe -- we're not calling it official until Steve pulls the cloth off himself tomorrow morning . Still, there's no denying the similarities between this image and all those other case leaks we've seen, and the list of specs we've been given matches up as well -- 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. We'll find out soon enough -- oh, and just to amp up expectations, Boy Genius says he's confirmed the existence of an $899 part number in Apple's retail systems. Counting down...

Update: Our source just hit us with another pic, this time from the side -- it's after the break. We're also told that there's not one, but two NVIDIA GPUs inside -- we're guessing an integrated / discrete setup like in the VAIO Z, but we'll find out for sure tomorrow.

Update 2: Our source just hit us again to say that it's two full-on NVIDIA GPUs -- sounds like a hybrid SLI setup to us, which is pretty wild. Wilder still, they say the MacBook and 17-inch MacBook Pro aren't getting refreshed tomorrow, which we find hard to believe, but we'll see when we see.

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.

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 NVIDIA?s 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.

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