(Credit:
James Martin/CNET News)
Sometime earlier this week, Apple updated its least expensive notebook.
Engadget noticed Wednesday that the white $999 MacBook was slightly--and quietly--upgraded. It now has a newer Intel processor (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo), 2GB of memory, integrated graphics (Nvidia GeForce 9400M), and a faster frontside bus, now 1,066 MHz.
Besides that, almost everything else remains the same. But at $999, it's now much closer to its more expensive, unibody-constructed MacBook cousins.
It appears Apple is getting ready to expand its MacBook Pro lineup.
The Mac maker plans to unveil a 17-inch MacBook Pro, possibly as early as this week at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco, according to reports on 9to5Mac and AppleInsider. Like the 13- and 15-inch models, the 17-incher is expected to sport a unibody construction. But unlike those smaller models, the new MacBook Pro will have a fixed internal battery, much like the MacBook Air's battery setup, according to the report.
The site also reported that we can expect a Mac Mini makeover that will include the same Nvidia chipsets that Apple introduced in October in new MacBooks, the MCP79 chipset. That chipset uses the Nvidia 9400M graphics processor, and would give the Mini a boost in graphics processing power over the Intel integrated chipsets it currently uses.
New Mac Minis are high on the list of systems expected to arrive at Macworld 2009. The Mac Mini has been the subject of much speculation about its future this year after it appeared the systems were headed out to pasture, but it appears Apple will bring it around for another go.
Another unconfirmed rumor has Apple phasing out the 13-inch plastic MacBook.
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