Apple Unveils $999 MacBook, Updates MacBook Pro

The ‘will he or won’t he’ question was answered Tuesday when Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced he’ll offer a $999 MacBook in time for the holiday shopping season.

Although the price cut is on the entry-level 2.1GHz white plastic MacBook and not on one of the nifty unibody aluminum notebooks introduced, the news appeared to satisfy some analysts.

“I think it is important to note that MacBook pricing is coming down. Nobody is immune to the consumer,” Vijay R Rakesh, ThinkPanmure analyst, told Cult of Mac.

In September, the analyst said most Apple notebooks had vanished from Amazon’s top 10 list, supplanted by more inexpensive netbooks from Acer, Dell and others.

“I don’t think Apple could have made this announcement without addressing the entry-level pricing” of its Macs, Gartner analyst Charles Smulders told Cult of Mac.

Smulders said the price reduction along with the $1,299 2GHz aluminum MacBook allows Apple to continue growing.

Earlier today, Piper Jaffray analyst Andrew Murphy said he would “be surprised if they (Apple) didn’t have a $999 MacBook option.” Fellow Piper analyst Gene Munster has said the importance of such a product depends on Apple’s 3Q numbers. Apple today said it will release its quarterly figures Oct. 21.

Analyst also noted Apple’s decision to off NVIDIA’s GeForce 9400M graphics chipset was a blow to Intel.

“That is an endorsement,” Rakesh said.

Apple shares were down $5.32.

2 comments »