Rumor had it that Apple was going to unveil a new sub-$1,000 laptop nicknamed the "Brick" or "iBrick" at Tuesday’s MacBook press conference in Cupertino, Calif., but alas it was just that: a rumor.
Here’s a look at the new MacBook lineup: The white plastic MacBook, which now features an 8x SuperDrive, is the cheapest at $999. For around $300 more, you can upgrade to an aluminum casing similar to that of the higher-end MacBook Pro and get a few additional bells and whistles to boot (see below).
Why "brick"? It’s a reference to the fact that the case of the new aluminum MacBooks is essentially formed from a single piece of metal. If you’re familiar with the MacBook Air, then you’ve seen how sleek and smooth that super-slim laptop’s exterior looks and feels.
A few other qualities that all of the new notebooks share:
- A chip that will make graphics run about five times faster
- An LED-backlit glass screen display that uses less energy and makes colors appear more vibrant.
- A "Mini Display Port," which sounds super fancy, but in reality is simply an outlet where you attach compatible displays to your laptop to, say, work on a bigger screen.
- A multi-touch glass trackpad with — get this — no actual button because the entire trackpad IS the button. According to an Apple press release, the trackpad "gives users almost 40 percent more tracking area than before, making it even easier to use Multi-Touch gestures like pinch, rotate and swipe." Sounds like a cutting-edge feature that will take some getting used to.
Below, a breakdown of key features of the new models:
MACBOOK
- Shipping: today, should be in stores by tomorrow
- Display size: 13.3-inch
- Thickness: .95 inches, just like the Pro
- Battery life: 5 hours
- Weighs: 4.5 pounds (half a pound lighter than previous versions)
- Price: $1,299 for 2GHz Core 2 Duo ("That’s $700 more affordable for these Pro features," Steve Jobs noted durng his spiel), and $1,599 for 4GB RAM, 320GB HD
MACBOOK PRO
- Shipping: today and will be in stores tomorrow
- Display size: 15.4 inches
- Thickness: a compact .95 inches ("The thinnest ever")
- Weighs: 5.5 pounds
- Price: $1,999, but $2,499 will you get a much faster system with 4GB RAM, double graphics memory, and a 320GB hard drive.
OTHER APPLE UPDATES ANNOUNCED
- The MacBook Air‘s entry price will be $1,799, and the new model (which ships in November) will be available with a 120GB 4200 rpm hard drive, meaning it’s now about 50 percent faster than earlier models, or a new 128GB solid state drive.
- A 24-inch Cinema Display monitor was added to Apple’s lineup and includes LED backlighting and built-in iSight. It’s priced at $899 and will be for sale in November.
So there you have it, PopWatchers: the newest must-have computers for the holiday season. Or not. What do you think of the new metal machines? Will you buy one (for yourself or as a gift)?
Shouldn’t a picture of the new Macbooks be used in this article instead of an old Macbook Pro…?
zzzz??? don’t know where you were getting your rumors, but it was pretty clear pretty early on that the sub-$1000 product was not one of the new macbooks. and no one reputable thought that there was going to be a comp called an ibrick. what the ‘brick’ did refer to — making the whole computer from one piece of aluminum — is an AMAZING development in computer technology that is going to be a new industry standard thanks to apple, the perpetual game-changer. and, no, i don’t work for them.
This is a lame writeup but what else would you expect from EW. Please don’t bother trying to cover such news. Just link to Engadget.
“Shouldn’t a picture of the new Macbooks be used in this article…”
I seriously doubt Lindsay has seen the new MacBooks up close and personal and using the 17″ MBP instead is rather amateurish.
Personally, I think the article was written well and informative. So, it’s unfortunate they decided to use the “hit-ho” headline.
Actually, they never said anything about a new computer nicknamed “Brick” or “iBrick” at all. They nicknamed the new process of shaping the computer from a solid piece of aluminum “Brick”. That’s it. The cheap laptop thing was completely separate and you are a terrible “journalist” for not doing 5 minutes of research to find this out.
the trackpad on the current macbook pros are already much too big. You have to be consistently aware of keeping your other fingers raised as to not accidently cause an unwanted command.
It really should be small enough so you can rest your hand on the area outside of the trackpad. I constantly do cursor movements and screen enlargements accidently when my other finger accidently veers into the pad area. It’s hard not to because it’s just too big.
There is nothing “Zzzz” about the new laptop announcement.
First off, the “brick” moniker was sent down the rumor pipeline. In his keynote, Steve Jobs never once used the word “brick”.
I can’t wait to touch the new trackpad. They worked hard to make it really smooth. The new multi-touch gestures are really useful for the Mac. I’m typing on a Toshiba laptop, and for kicks I tried doing those gestures. My fingers drag along the pad. It’s the little details that make the “Mac experience”.
And the new graphics/system chipset is a really big deal. People who heard MacBooks couldn’t play games may have held off from buying one, but the new chips bring a lot of power.
You Mind if I copy and paste this article, I have a deadline on this same topic and I was going to phone it in, but I see that the pinnacle of sheer laziness has been reached.
The article is right on…how much longer can Apple get away with selling overpriced, underpowered laptops?
I’m a PC!
The negative comments in the article just don’t do the new product justice. I really hated apple products for years until I gave the mac a 1 yr trial period… You’ll never go back – no way no how no …… ”use your fantasy”….
I might have considered your arguments more seriously if you hadn’t misspelled “computer” (“comptuers”) in the next-to-last sentence …
we all know what they released in the new notebooks arent anything new. i was expecting more, much more for the consumer but got shorted. yes, they do make a lot of technological advances that should be available to more people but then again they also use technology that they have used last year. iphones were doing what the track pad is doing over a year ago.
Good article, bad article, I don’t know… I’m just wondering what the heck this is doing here. EW covers Apple’s new releases now??? This is news to me.
Sounds like Steve works for Apple.