14 DAY TRIAL // Touted as the best-selling Mac for years in a row, the White polycarbonate MacBook has officially reached its end-of-life. Apple made it clear in a message sent out to resellers this week.
Apple had already discontinued the product last year, but continued to ship it to educational facilities. Starting now, that deal is also off.
Not only is Apple no longer producing the old laptop, the company has finally depleted all stock.
The news comes via Apple resellers who have confirmed to MacRumors that Apple made it official via a notice that classified the MacBook as “End of Life.”
No one really knows when the company ceased production of the system, but it is only logical to assume that Apple continued to distribute the computer (even after its discontinuation) only to eat through the remaining stock.
The only way to get a White MacBook from Apple today is by placing an order for a refurbished unit on the company’s online store. And even that’s a long shot, considering how old the computer is getting.
There have been three separate designs of the MacBook. The original version used a combination of polycarbonate and fiberglass casing, much like the iBook G4. This case was prone to cracks.
The second model, introduced in October 2008 in tandem with the 15-inch MacBook Pro, employed a unibody aluminum casing similar to that of the 15-incher. The computer was later upgraded and rebranded as the 13-inch MacBook Pro.
The third and final redesign of the MacBook was introduced in October 2009, when Apple again used polycarbonate to make a unibody enclosure for the computer.
From that point on, Aluminum became the symbol for the higher-end MacBook Pro lineup.
Apple quietly discontinued the MacBook on July 20, 2011. The company had introduced a redesigned version of the MacBook Air priced at $999, the same as the old MacBook.