Apple’s “brick” manufacturing process to yield a $800 MacBook?
It could easily be argued that the only thing stopping Apple from absolutely blowing away the competition in laptop sales is price point. In fact, I’ve argued this in the past. Apple’s current cheapest notebook is the standard MacBook which has a low-end retail price of $1,099. If you drop that below $1,000, especially in the current economic situation in the United States, and things could get interesting ― fast. If information provided to The Inquisitr’s Duncan Riley is true, that’s about to happen.
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A source tells Riley that Apple is gearing up to launch a whole range of new laptops in the coming weeks. That’s been known for a while. The real juicy bit of information is the price range: $800 to $3,100. Yes, that would indicate we’re going to see an $800 (more likely $799) MacBook of some sort.
The source also tells Riley that there will be 12 laptops of varying price points in that range. The current MacBook line only has 8 different laptops ― so that could mean we’re going to see a whole new product, or an expansion of a line such as the ultra-thin MacBook Air.
Apple used to offer its iBook (the predecessor to the MacBook) at a $999 price point, but hasn’t had one in the sub-$1,000 range since then. I have an old iBook, it ran on the old Power PC chips, it was slow. The new sub-$1,000 laptops will undoubtedly run on Intel chips, for most users they should purr like kittens.
This information of course still has to be taken as a rumor, but Riley is very confident in his source, which would appear to be on the retail end of things. If Apple is close to launching these new notebooks, it’s possible some price sheets are going around to make room for new inventory.
It’s also not clear if these new cheaper notebooks would be built using the rumored laser and water jet manufacturing process that has come to be known under the code-name “brick.” The name seems to come from the idea that this process cuts the frame of the laptops out of a single brick of aluminum.
Also no word on if the rumored leaked shots of the new MacBook Pro casing from earlier today are real.
Copyright 2008 VentureBeat. All Rights Reserved.
Apple to Launch First Sub-$1000 Laptop?
Submitted by Julie on October 9, 2008 - 11:43am.
Apple may soon be launching their very first sub-$1000 laptop, and embarking on a new path to appeal to a broader range of consumers. According to a source at Inquisitr.com, some Apple retailers in the US have been given price lists for a new Apple laptop line, and one of the surprising features on the list is an $800 laptop.
According to their source, the stores were given price sheets with 12 price points for the new range. Prices on the list range from $800 to $3100. Currently the cheapest Apple laptop configuration, MacBooks, starts at $1099. The current line of laptops also only has 8 price points - 3 MacBooks, 3 MacBook Pros, and 2 MacBook Airs.
The source went on to say that the retailers usually get the price lists 10 days before products are launched. Specs are not included in the price sheets, so at this point there is no way to know whether Apple is launching a new ultra-portable laptop or something a little more low-end, or if they're just restructuring prices to compete in today's worsening economic conditions.
EeePCみたいなミニタイプ出さないかなぁ、Atomとかで
10万円切っても今やDellやHPが安くて高スペックなノート出してるからね
でも革命児としてものすごいインパクトを期待している、久々だし
それよりミドルクラスのデスクトップ早く出せっつーの
このままじゃiMac買うしかねーじゃねーか
It could easily be argued that the only thing stopping Apple from absolutely blowing away the competition in laptop sales is price point. In fact, I’ve argued this in the past. Apple’s current cheapest notebook is the standard MacBook which has a low-end retail price of $1,099. If you drop that below $1,000, especially in the current economic situation in the United States, and things could get interesting ― fast. If information provided to The Inquisitr’s Duncan Riley is true, that’s about to happen.
Skip to next paragraph
More News From VentureBeat
A source tells Riley that Apple is gearing up to launch a whole range of new laptops in the coming weeks. That’s been known for a while. The real juicy bit of information is the price range: $800 to $3,100. Yes, that would indicate we’re going to see an $800 (more likely $799) MacBook of some sort.
The source also tells Riley that there will be 12 laptops of varying price points in that range. The current MacBook line only has 8 different laptops ― so that could mean we’re going to see a whole new product, or an expansion of a line such as the ultra-thin MacBook Air.
Apple used to offer its iBook (the predecessor to the MacBook) at a $999 price point, but hasn’t had one in the sub-$1,000 range since then. I have an old iBook, it ran on the old Power PC chips, it was slow. The new sub-$1,000 laptops will undoubtedly run on Intel chips, for most users they should purr like kittens.
This information of course still has to be taken as a rumor, but Riley is very confident in his source, which would appear to be on the retail end of things. If Apple is close to launching these new notebooks, it’s possible some price sheets are going around to make room for new inventory.
It’s also not clear if these new cheaper notebooks would be built using the rumored laser and water jet manufacturing process that has come to be known under the code-name “brick.” The name seems to come from the idea that this process cuts the frame of the laptops out of a single brick of aluminum.
Also no word on if the rumored leaked shots of the new MacBook Pro casing from earlier today are real.
Copyright 2008 VentureBeat. All Rights Reserved.
Apple to Launch First Sub-$1000 Laptop?
Submitted by Julie on October 9, 2008 - 11:43am.
Apple may soon be launching their very first sub-$1000 laptop, and embarking on a new path to appeal to a broader range of consumers. According to a source at Inquisitr.com, some Apple retailers in the US have been given price lists for a new Apple laptop line, and one of the surprising features on the list is an $800 laptop.
According to their source, the stores were given price sheets with 12 price points for the new range. Prices on the list range from $800 to $3100. Currently the cheapest Apple laptop configuration, MacBooks, starts at $1099. The current line of laptops also only has 8 price points - 3 MacBooks, 3 MacBook Pros, and 2 MacBook Airs.
The source went on to say that the retailers usually get the price lists 10 days before products are launched. Specs are not included in the price sheets, so at this point there is no way to know whether Apple is launching a new ultra-portable laptop or something a little more low-end, or if they're just restructuring prices to compete in today's worsening economic conditions.
EeePCみたいなミニタイプ出さないかなぁ、Atomとかで
10万円切っても今やDellやHPが安くて高スペックなノート出してるからね
でも革命児としてものすごいインパクトを期待している、久々だし
それよりミドルクラスのデスクトップ早く出せっつーの
このままじゃiMac買うしかねーじゃねーか
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