People who claim to have seen production-ready versions of next-gen MacBooks and MacBook Pros in the US say new Apple notebooks will look more alike than ever before, according to a report in AppleInsider. While clear that its information should be viewed as rumor, the report cites sources with “a lengthy track record” and who have “been privy to early glimpses of some of [Apple’s] other hardware offerings.”
Both the new 13-inch MacBooks and 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pros will share aluminum enclosures, with the new 13-inch MacBooks for the first time matching their higher-priced cousins as if they were members of the same product family, according to the report.
The sources say Apple has made changes to the notebooks’ I/O ports in an effort to reduce their overall footprint. In particular, the FireWire 400 port appears to have been removed from the new MacBook Pro, leaving a backwards compatible FireWire 800 port. In addition, the new MacBook Pro is reported to be missing the 28-pin DVI-I (Dual Link) port, which has been replaced with what appears to be a mini-DVI port like the one found on the existing 13-inch MacBook line and iMac line.
If true, these emerging details would indicate Cult of Mac’s Craig Grannell was not so wide of the mark in his recent piece on Apple’s notebook roadmap.
Expectations for a mid-October product announcement remain high.
Lonnie Lazar is a writer-musician-web designer-attorney. He writes about Apple for Cult of Mac and Mac|Life, and about VoIP and telecommunications for Voxilla. Follow Lonnie on Twitter @LonnieLazar, join the Cult of Mac on Facebook, and find Lonnie’s photos on Flickr.
