Apple Unveils $999 MacBook, Updates MacBook Pro

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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.

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4 responses to “Apple Unveils $999 MacBook, Updates MacBook Pro”

  1. Francisco Gomez says:

    I can’t say that I love the new design, not yet, but ditching the FW port on the MacBook, to me is just a BIG mistake.

  2. alexisshemale says:

    right i cant believe they would leave off the firewire all together…it sucks that they only left the firewire 800 and you have to get an adapter if you want 400 on the MBP…

    and what about this new video port…

    I AM SICK OF THE COUNTLESS DIFFERENT MINI DVI PORTS ON APPLE PRODUCTS…

    i mean please…i have an imac g4, ibook g4, and a macbook and they all have different MINI DVI ports…its insane and now they come out with a different one…and you have to buy adapters…what happened to them supplying them with the laptop purchase…crazy

    im not happy…but im not surprised…they want you to have to buy a totally different set up everytime you upgrade ur system…god forbid us true mac addicts that have everything from the Cube to the Macbook and TV…forget about us