Apple eyes MacBook's underside

Patent diagrams show what might lie beneath the next MacBook.

(Credit: Gizmodo)

To all of you who've been craving an ultraportable MacBook: Steve Jobs hears you.

Gizmodo and a few other sources are pointing to two Apple patent applications, published today, as evidence that a smaller MacBook (or MacBook Pro) will be forthcoming. The applications describe an optical disc drive that's accessible via the bottom of a laptop and a novel "access system" for removing discs from the upside-down drive. Why put the drive on the bottom of the laptop? To clear up room for more ports along the edges of an ever-thinner-and-smaller laptop, of course.

We're all for slimmer Apple laptops (our own MacBook seems a bit too heavy for its size), and we're sure that Apple would make the bottom-loading optical drive both elegant and easy to use. But we can't help asking ourselves: would we wait months, maybe a year, for the new, ultraportable MacBook with a built-in optical drive and LED-backlit display? Or would we just buy a Sony VAIO VGN-TXN15P today?

[natejohnstone]

I'd buy a sub-12" Apple MacBook Pro!!

This is what I've been waiting for. But if there's no announcement within a few
months, I'll probably go for the Sony.

[dimasy]

Stop speculating

Companies file patents for ideas they will use and not use. The same logic applies to domain name grabbing. It does not mean Apple will manufacture a notebook with such a ridiculous optical drive setup.